Cassandra Dean's Blog: Blog of Bloggy Blogness, page 4
May 7, 2015
Spotlight: Club Beam by Erzabet Bishop #beyondfairytales
In the Shadow World, nothing is as it seems.
Detective Sydney Marr is having a very bad day. Her boss is on the warpath, she’s being treated for a werewolf bite, and her current case has hit a dead end. When her friend Erika talks Syd into going with her to Club Beam, she jumps at the chance, even if it means spending an evening without her spell arsenal. A high-class vampire bar and fetish club, Club Beam is fantasy made real.
Club owner and Dom Gideon Raines spies the red-haired beauty and is transfixed. A fight against a skillful murderer brings war for fae and vampire alike. Sometimes when you play with monsters, the monsters play back.
Available NOW
Amazon US | B&N | ARe
Google | Kobo | iTunes
~ Excerpt ~
“Once upon a time….” Erika sang and waggled her eyebrows. “Come on, Sydney. Live a little. This club is smoking hot, and you’ll love it.”
Sydney grumbled under her breath and watched the club-goers parade past, each dressed like a fairy-tale character. The Little Mermaid trounced by in a see-through, diaphanous gown revealing too much in the way of personal attributes. Sleeping Beauty sashayed down the sidewalk with a leash around the neck of her Prince Charming. A woman in a way-too-short Red Riding Hood outfit approached. Her arm was wrapped around a seductress dressed in wolf ears, a tail, and a skimpy thong-style bikini. Red carried a basket full of what looked like pink fuzzy handcuffs and a can of whipped cream, which she swung into Syd.
“Hey!”
The red-cloaked vixen sent her a wink and traipsed on by, joined by a near-pornographic version of the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland. Any shorter and the skirt would show her naughty bits. Or maybe that was the plan.
Syd had just gotten off her day shift as a detective, and the last thing she wanted to do was be around more people. Especially people with more skin showing than on late-night cable shows. Her head hurt from the lights and the pulse of the music, and her stupid witch costume was pinching her toes. Erika’s scant fairy costume hugged all her curves, her breasts bursting from the bodice. The skirt barely covered her backside, and the strappy silver sandals showed off her silver-glitter nail polish.
The building loomed next to them. A giant warehouse-like structure, it was large enough to house all manner of mischief, and Syd was itching with the desire to get inside and find out just what was going on behind its doors. The sidewalk was flagged by trees lit up with twinkly white lights, adding an upscale ambiance to the area. What in the daylight looked like an industrial area gone to the dogs had been transformed into an attractive and well-attended venue.
She didn’t have the heart to tell Erika she’d been here once already today for the case she was working on, but the entrance had been sealed up tighter than a drum. Sydney’s recourse was to infiltrate Club Beam by night as a patron. Her sergeant, Debra, would kill her if she realized Syd had even considered going in without backup. So would her partner, James. Erika had asked her to come so she wouldn’t be alone, and, despite herself, Syd couldn’t resist. To catch a vampire, you had to go out at night, and Club Beam was the hot spot. After last month’s fuckup, she had to do this and do it right, even if it killed her. James was on medical leave, and it remained up to her to get this guy before someone else got killed or turned furry.
I will not think about becoming one of the terminally furry. It’s over. Move on. Take the pills the doctor gave you and freaking pray.
“Oh look. I think I see Snow White.” Erika stood on her tiptoes and craned her head along the huge expanse of line they still had to navigate to get inside.
Syd peered into the crowd and grimaced. Hairy legs. More makeup than a Mac commercial. “Nope. That was a guy in drag.”
Erika narrowed her eyes. “God, Syd. You’re the world’s biggest wet blanket ever.”
Sydney shifted her weight and moved another two steps toward the door as the line inched forward. “I told you, I’ve had a hard day. We had a homicide case come in, and I’ve been out beating the street. I want to go home and bury my head under my pillow. But, no. Out of the kindness of my heart, here I am standing in line at a vampire bar with a bunch of overgrown kids playing dress-up in fairy-tale fetish wear.”
Erzabet Bishop is the author of Club Beam, Sigil Fire, Written on Skin, Tethered, Fetish Fair, Temptation Resorts Jess and Marnie interactive choose your own adventure romances and more. She is a contributing author to The Big Book of Submission, Slave Girls, Hungry for More and many other anthologies. She is a finalist for the 2015 Goldie Awards and an active member of the Romance Writers of America. She lives in Texas with her husband, furry children and is often playing at local bookstores. Follow her posts on Twitter @erzabetbishop.
Newsletter sign up: http://erzabetwrites.wix.com/erzabetbishop
April 28, 2015
SILK & SCARS Excerpt #newrelease #histrom
Peeps, things are chugging along with SILK & SCARS. The galleys are done and sent back, and now I can announce…we have a release date! Lock 2 June into your diaries, peeps, because that’s when Gwen and Edward will be available for you all. Huzzah!
To celebrate, here’s the official excerpt. You may have heard me read it (badly) over on SoundCloud, but here it is for your eyeballs. Enjoy!
For over a year, Miss Gwendolyn Parkes and the Duke of Sowrith have corresponded. At first an error, the letters quickly became something much more, a friendship forged on like minds and perhaps the hope of something more…
When Gwen is compelled by her employer to attend the duke at his Dartmoor estate, she is devastated to find her beloved friend cold and imperious, even if he is the most handsome man she’s ever seen – despite his scars.
Edward, Duke of Sowrith, has longed to meet Gwen. Arranging her passage to his estate, he is tongue-tied when confronted with her quiet beauty. All too aware of the twisted ruin of his face, he allows fear to hold him silent…until Gwen’s safety is threatened.
Finally together, they grow closer until it seems they can never again be apart – but can a commoner and a duke find a happily ever after?
Available SOON from Decadent Publishing
~ Excerpt ~
Crossing her arms over her stomach, Gwen leaned forward, pressing deep. Good heavens, she was nervous, and excited, and nervous. She was going to meet Edward. One moment soon, he was going to open that door, and she would see him. She would see the man she’d corresponded with for over a year, to whom she’d expressed every thought, and who had expressed his to her. It did not matter that he was a duke, so far above her in consequence as to be laughable. He was her friend, and, at last, they would meet.
Foot tapping wildly, she leaned her head back against the wall. This was all so ridiculous. She was ridiculous to have this unbridled excitement rioting through her. Exhaling, she caught the stare of the gargoyle. The gargoyle knew how ridiculous her thoughts. Its stone features laughed at her, and in a fit of pique, she poked her tongue out.
The study door opened. Leaping to her feet, she swayed as the blood rushed from her head.
Lord Beecham appeared in the door way and, his eyes lighting upon her, crooked a finger. “Miss Parkes. Come.”
Heart beating a rapid tattoo, she bent to grip the handle of her carpet bag. Lord Beecham had abandoned the door by the time she had gathered herself enough to approach, the worn wooden handle of the bag pressing deep into her palm.
Passing through the doorway, Gwen stopped, her jaw slack as she looked about the chamber. Lit only by the flame of the massive fireplace dominating one wall and the wan flicker of a lamp seated on the enormous desk, the room was huge, cavernous even, and dark. So dark. The faint light picked up rows upon rows of books while heavy drapes of an unidentifiable fabric covered what she could only presume were windows. The floor was the same stone as the hall, the only carpet appearing before the fire under the clawed feet of a large armchair.
Her gaze returned to the fireplace. A man stood before it, his back to her, right hand held by his left.
Her heart, already racing, started a wild thud against her ribs. That was him. The duke. Edward.
He did not turn, though she willed him to. Willed him to turn so she could utter that most important of phrases, the one she’d longed to say for an age now.
Hello, Edward.
April 23, 2015
TEACH ME is available as an #audiobook!
Peeps, check it! TEACH ME is available as an audiobook! Below are links to a sample on SoundCloud and how to purchase. Enjoy!
Ever curious, Elizabeth, Viscountess Rocksley, has turned her curiosity to erotic pleasure. Three years a widow, she boldly employs the madam of a brothel for guidance but never had she expected her education to be conducted by a coldly handsome peer of the realm.
To the Earl of Malvern, the erotic tutelage of a skittish widow is little more than sport, however the woman he teaches is far from the mouse he expects. With her sly humor and insistent joy, Elizabeth obliterates all his expectations and he, unwillingly fascinated, can’t prevent his fall.
Each more intrigued than they are willing to admit, Elizabeth and Malvern embark upon a tutelage that will challenge them, change them, come to mean everything to them…until a heartbreaking betrayal threatens to tear them apart forever.
Listen: SoundCloud
Purchase: Amazon | Audible | iTunes
April 21, 2015
Excitementnessness!!!!
Peeps, guess where I’m off to tonight??? To the movies, to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron!!!! I’m so super pumped!!!!!
…Yeah, I guess you can tell that, hey? There are a lot of exclamation points there.
Seriously, though, I’m so excited. My love for Joss has been well documented here and in various other arenas (sorry for the obsessive love, Joss) and I’m so excited and happy for him that he continues to kick goals all over the place. He’s inspired and taught so many writers how to be awesome, including myself (because I’m so totally super awesome, you know). I mean, just look at the list of people who worked on Buffy/Angel/Firefly and tell me those people are not super awesome at what they do and, most of them, praise Joss to the high heavens. I would LOVE to meet him one day, to chat about writing and other fun things…although I’d probably be intimidated out of my head.
Still. I’m going to see The Avengers tonight. Sweet!
April 16, 2015
Netflix has a red right hand
So. Peeps. I’ve discovered Netflix.
Recently launched in Australia, Netflix is just da shiz. I signed up last week mainly so I could stream the new Netflix series, Daredevil. part of the Marvel Universe, created by Drew Goddard and now run by Stephen S. DeKnight, Daredevil blew me away with its awesomeness. The only problem is I desperately want to watch it again, but by binging the series on the weekend, I’ve already blown half of my download limit for the month.
Here in Oz, we have a pesky sitch where you have a limit on the amount you can download. If you want a greater limit, you have to pay more. In addition to this, I’m in an area where I’m limited in which ISPs I can have, so I’m kinda stuck with one who won’t count Netflix as unmetered content. However, it seems a LOT of other providers are cottoning on to this very clever idea and hopefully my provider will too. Eventually. One day. Probably after my contract has ended and I can go with another company.
In the meantime, I’ll sparingly enjoy the wonders of Netflix and watching downloaded television in a legal manner.
April 7, 2015
Rediscovery
As some of you might now, TEACH ME is currently being produced as an audiobook. The audio files came through and I was tasked with checking each one to ensure accuracy, tone, etc. Revisiting Elizabeth and Malvern’s tale has made me remember how much I love them, and how much I enjoyed writing a longer form story. I loved some of the descriptions, the way I could take the time to really describe the feel of a cold February night or the exact taste of Malvern’s kiss. I enjoyed really delving into Malvern and Elizabeth, what made them tick, what made them fall in love with each other.
Re-reading TEACH ME made me want to write the next in the series. I’d always intended Bella, Elizabeth’s sister, and Bella’s husband Anthony to be the next tale, but circumstances lead to ROUGH DIAMOND, then FOOL’S GOLD and before I knew it, I’d written other tales and never gotten around to Bella and Anthony. However, I had started writing WICKED and over the last few days I’ve been revisiting what I’d done. The bones are there, and I’ve been thinking about this story for ages, working out the kinks and trying to figure out why I found it hard to write the first time around.
I know why now. I had no idea what the story was about.
However, I now know who Bella and Anthony are, what their conflict is, and how they find their happily ever after. I’m excited to delve into them, to figure out what makes them tick, what brings them together, what breaks them apart and what ultimately leads to their happily ever after. I hope you guys will enjoy their story, too.
April 1, 2015
Sweet Imperfection by Libby Waterford
Available from Decadent Publishing March 31, 2015
A contemporary multi-cultural erotic romance novella
Single and childless, Emma Chen-Delvaux is finding her ten-year college reunion almost more than she can handle. Running into recently divorced Nate Hirsch is a welcome distraction, especially when the old friends’ flirtation escalates from banter to the bedroom. Nate and Emma have off-the-charts chemistry, but will their imperfections end their affair after one red-hot reunion weekend?
Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play
~Excerpt~
She told herself a woman was entitled to change her mind and that going to Nate’s room close to midnight didn’t make her slutty. Some of the things she wanted to do to him once she got there might qualify her for the designation, but that would be between them. God, it had been so long since she’d had sex she was practically wet just thinking about making out with him.
She barreled into the building since the door was conveniently propped open, but then stopped. She didn’t know which room he was assigned to. She’d meant to get his phone number, but had been so flustered by the kiss it had slipped her mind.
Oh well, she’d have to do this the old-fashioned way.
“Nate!” she called in a fairly loud voice as she trailed through the first-floor hallway. “Nate!”
The hallway was dead quiet, so he was either ignoring her or the floor’s occupants were very sound sleepers. They were probably all at the party in Ashworth 10.
She climbed to the second floor, calling his name, feeling slightly foolish, but also pretty horny, which was more important.
“Nate!”
A woman came out of the bathroom and looked startled when Emma rushed up to her.
“Hey, do know what room Nate Hirsch is in, by any chance?”
“Um, no, sorry,” she said, then scurried back to her room on the opposite side of the hall.
Emma wasn’t giving up so easily and again called, “Nate!” She was about to climb the stairs to the top floor of the building when the door of the corner room opened and Nate stuck out his head.
“Emma?”
“Nate.” She rushed up to him, relishing the confused but cute smile on his face and the crinkles it formed around his eyes.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m an idiot. I thought it would be taking things too fast, but we’ve known each other forever. Plus, there’s a rager going on right outside my room, and I’d rather get no sleep this way.” She planted an open-mouthed kiss on him that had them both stumbling backward into his room. The door clanged shut behind them; Emma paid no attention to anything except the fierceness with which Nate’s arms clamped around her, holding her to him as if for dear life.
About the Author
Libby Waterford writes steamy contemporary romances. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons, where she works off her weekly pilgrimage to In-N-Out by swimming and climbing the city’s secret staircases.
Find her at:
Website: http://libbywaterford.com
Email: libby@libbywaterford.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbywaterford
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LibbyWaterford
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/libbywaterford
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/libbywaterford
The Weston University Novella Series
Book One: Passionate History
Book Two: Sweet Imperfection
March 31, 2015
Unmissable TV
There are a few shows I’m on tenterhooks each week to see. None quite reach the dizzying heights of Spartacus or, sniff, Buffy, but I do love these shows and look forward to them.
And, of course, Game of Thrones and Penny Dreadful start up again real soon…
March 9, 2015
SILK & SCARS Cover Reveal
Today’s the day, peeps! Check out the beauty of the SILK & SCARS cover below!
For over a year, Miss Gwendolyn Parkes and the Duke of Sowrith have corresponded. At first an error, the letters quickly became something much more, a friendship forged on like minds and perhaps the hope of something more…
When Gwen is compelled by her employer to attend the duke at his Dartmoor estate, she is devastated to find her beloved friend cold and imperious, even if he is the most handsome man she’s ever seen – despite his scars.
Edward, Duke of Sowrith, has longed to meet Gwen. Arranging her passage to his estate, he is tongue-tied when confronted with her quiet beauty. All too aware of the twisted ruin of his face, he allows fear to hold him silent…until Gwen’s safety is threatened.
Finally together, they grow closer until it seems they can never again be apart – but can a commoner and a duke find a happily ever after?
Available SOON from Decadent Publishing
SILK & SCARS is also revealed at the following sites. Thank you so much for hosting me and SILK & SCARS:
Monday 9 March
ARe Cafe
T L Reeve
Sara Daniel
Kathleen Ann Gallagher
Cate Masters
Libby Waterford
Tuesday 10 March
London St James
Gina Wynn
Dark Desires Book Blog
Wednesday 11 March
Jessica E Subject
March 3, 2015
Sneak peak of SILK & SCARS, The Silk Series Book 3
We’re deep in edits for SILK & SCARS and I’m so excited to share with you Gwen and Edward’s story. There’ll be a Cover Reveal next week, so make sure you stop by to see the GORGEOUS cover.
However, while we wait for the reveal, I’d like to share with you all a snippet. Here, Gwen meets Edward for the first time in person:
==============================
Passing through the door, Gwen stopped and, jaw slack, she looked about the chamber. The room was huge, cavernous even, and dark. So dark. Lit only by the flame of the massive fireplace dominating one wall and the wan flicker of a lamp seated on the enormous desk, the light picked up rows upon rows of books while heavy drapes of an unidentifiable fabric covered what she could only presume were windows. The floor was the same stone as the hall, the only carpet appearing before the fire under the clawed feet of a large armchair.
Her gaze returned to the fireplace. A man stood before it, his back to her, right hand held by his left.
Her heart, already racing, started a wild thud against her ribs. That was him. The duke. Edward.
He did not turn, though she willed him to. Willed him to turn, so she could utter that most important of phrases, the one she’d longed to say for an age now.
Hello, Edward.
