Liv Rancourt's Blog, page 31

Sunday Stud Snippet

So I don’t mind saying that last week was exceptionally awful at Chez Rancourt, and the blogging, well, it didn’t happen. Another day has dawned, though, and things can only get better. Inspired by that thought, I want to share another snippet from Chapter 1 of King Stud. (Jump HERE for the first snippet and HERE for the second.)

Earlier in the chapter, Ryan pointed out that the breaker box at her Grandmother’s old Craftsman house was a total fire hazard, so now Danielle needs to find some place to stay. Keep reading to see how they work it out…

Ryan pulled back a little as she reached for her phone. Because of the noise in the room, she had to duck her head and cover both ears to hear it ring. It went to voicemail, so she left Maeve a message.

            “No answer?” he asked as she came up for air.

            She shrugged and tossed the phone in her bag. “There’s always Motel 6.”

            “Seriously, you can stay at my place. It’s a three-bedroom house, and my roommate’s out of town.”

            Seriously? The crowd noise surged around them, as if everyone was laughing at her conundrum.  She wanted to jump him so bad it would blow the socks off both of them, except Maeve had always been weird about mixing her brothers and her friends.

            And that was in addition to their nine-year age difference.

            “Alright, but you have to promise me you won’t ever tell your sister.”

            It must have been the tequila talking.

         “Promise.” Ryan grinned.

             Feeling like a total cougar, she smiled back.

Pulled this off the NYT website, and it’s too perfect not to use…

 

 

Another Six-ish Sentences…

So last Sunday I introduced you to Danielle and Ryan, characters from my WIP King Stud. Danielle’s just moved back to her home town after inheriting her grandmother’s house, and Ryan is her best friend’s (much) younger brother – who also happens to be a carpenter. Just the kind of guy Danielle needs, right? As long as she can keep things focused on the house, they’ll be fine. But can she?

After checking out Grandmother’s house , they strategize the repair work over dinner at a Mexican restaurant…

          “Seriously,” she said, taking a long draw off the straw. As she swallowed, her eyes closed and her head tipped back, forcing him to shove his hand in a pocket to keep from running his fingertips down the  line of her throat. She’d been a pretty high school senior, but she was beautiful now. And she wasn’t Cherry, his psycho ex-girlfriend.

            Today was his lucky day.

           “So if Maeve asks, this didn’t happen.”

            Ryan took a drink of his margarita and said the first thing that came into his head. “Why? Ashamed of me?”

            Her look of surprised dismay reassured him more than her words. “You know how she is.”

            He swallowed some more margarita, lightheaded from a combination of the cold and the fact that a goodly portion of his blood had headed south. “Actually, I do. She’s always been weird about mixing her friends and her brothers.”

           “Survival strategy,” Danielle said, her dark hazel eyes meeting his for a couple beats too long.

             Damn. He wanted to take a bite outa that in the worst way, but she had a point. Dating Maeve’s best friend could be all kinds of complicated.

Can I just say that the hardest part about writing contemporary romance is not plunking a vampire down in the middle of things to stir up trouble?

Book Fair

Welcome Book Fair visitors! So glad you came by my blog. And thank you, Francine, for coordinating the Book Fair! Today I’m featuring my newest release, Forever and Ever, Amen, a paranormal romance that came out last January. Keep reading to learn about it…

Blurb

Molly, a forty-something single mom, tangles with the wrong guy and gets a hell of a hickey. That blotch is really a demon’s mark, and she’ll have to face the three things that scare her most to get rid of it. First, Molly loses her job and then she has a near-sex experience with her philandering, not-quite-ex-husband. Worst of all, she has to sit by a hospital bed, wondering if her son is ever going to wake up.

The Powers That Be assign Cass to help her. He’s an angel who’s trying to earn a seat in the celestial choir by helping out a human in need. Vanquishing the demon would be his ticket up, but only if he plays by the rules. He’ll never earn his wings if he loses his heart to the lovely Molly. But she has even bigger things to worry about. She stands to lose her soul.

Now Cass is an angel, right? He’s not supposed to take a physical form, which is something he regrets more and more as his feelings for Molly grow. In this scene, things between Cass and Molly get a little more complicated…

Molly ran her hands through her hair in frustration. “So far he’s cost me my job and nearly dumped me into bed with Ford. I do not want to live through whatever the third trial is.”

            “You don’t mean that.” Cass moved closer to her, nearly close enough to touch. He took a deep breath and reached out towards her.

            She automatically reached toward him, her fingers brushing through cool air where she saw his hand. Shit.

            His expression was as sad as she’d ever seen it. “Look under your pillow.”

            “What?”

            “Your pillow.”

            “Why? Are you the tooth fairy now?”

            Cass chuckled, sounding more like himself. “Just trust me.”

            The rich earthy smell of the forest got stronger. Molly raised an eyebrow and ran her hand under the closest pillow. Her fingers brushed against something cool and round. She pulled it out. It was a gold ring about a quarter inch thick and carved with a delicate vine and leaf pattern. “Wow,” Molly whispered. “It’s beautiful.”

            “Put it on.” 

            She did. It fit the ring finger of her right hand. She held her hand out, watching the way the light made the ring glow, just like Cass’s earring did.

            “Now sugar, this isn’t just an ordinary ring,” he said. “It’s sidhe gold, and while its magic won’t last forever, it’ll hold off Zepar’s last trial until you’ve had time to get your feet on the ground a little bit.”

            “I thought the rules said you could only talk and listen.”

            Cass shut his eyes and pressed an index finger to his closed lips.

            “Okay then,” Molly said. “I won’t tell if you won’t. I don’t have enough friends that I can afford to piss one of them off.”

            “We’re friends?” Cass sounded tentative, and Molly could feel him watching for her response.

            “I hope so.” She smiled.

            “Good.”

            “I do appreciate what you’re doing. You’ve been really…I don’t know how I’d be handling all this if I didn’t have you to help me work things through.”

            “Just listening and talking, right?”

            “Yeah, and keeping my daughter’s boyfriend in line and making me laugh.”

            “It’s always easy to help a pretty girl.”

            “You know, if I ever get married again, it would have to be with someone like you.” Surprise made Molly blush to the roots. She didn’t know where the idea had come from but knew to her bones that it was true. “I’m sorry, that was…”

            “You might want to find someone a little more substantial.”  Cass smiled, but he was blushing, too.

            “Yeah.”  Their glances met and held. Molly looked away first.

            “You sleep good tonight, Molly.” Cass bowed and disappeared.

Forever & Ever, Amen is available at Crimson Romance/ Amazon/ Barnes & Noble/ ARe.

Thanks so much for checking out my post! You can click HERE to get to the whole list of participating blogs.

Peace,

Liv

 

The Garden In Springtime

This, my friends, is the garden of a woman who spends too much time writing.

Sad, isn’t it? If you look closely, you can see the hydrangeas that are just starting to leaf out. Actually, you’ll have to look VERY closely. Even my son, who was down on his knees yesterday helping me take the grass out, was like, “Um, Mom, can these dead shrubs go, too?”

“They’re not dead, son. See? There’s a little leaf about half way up that branch.”

*long pause*

“Right. Whatever.”

Now, I know I rank on my son a lot, but he did give me almost forty minutes of half-committed effort, without which I would have finished in even less time, because I wouldn’t have had to go back over the sections he worked on.

But I’m not picky or anything. It was forty minutes he DIDN’T spend in front of the computer, so there’s that. And any self-respecting gardener who lets a bed get to that state deserves all the help she doesn’t get.

It’s not done yet, but we made some progress. See?

A couple bags of compost and some more ground cover, and it’ll look totally different. And just in case you’re worried about my gardening cred, here’s a shot of my front yard. Ignore the white drainage tube my husband thinks is so clever. Aren’t the tulips pretty?

I have big plans for the front yard, which hopefully I’ll be posting soon. In the meantime, I hope spring is in the air where you are.

Peace,

Liv

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

So my current WIP, a contemporary romance with the working title King Stud, is about a woman, Danielle, who returns to her hometown when she inherits her grandmother’s house. It’s a beautiful old Craftsman, but it’s pretty much a wreck, so she’s at the Home Depot for some supplies because water damage has put a hole in her kitchen floor. She runs into her best friend’s (much) younger brother, who happens to be a carpenter. The last time she saw little Ryan O’Connor, he was nine years old and had dirt on his face and holes in his jeans. He still has holes in his jeans, but  otherwise the packaging has changed significantly.

Oh, and her best friend has a hard and fast rule against ANY of her brothers fraternizing with ANY of her friends.

Ryan offers to help Danielle with the house, and the first thing he wants to do is check the foundation to make sure it’s worth saving. In this snippet, the two of them are in the basement…

He flipped a toggle at the bottom of the row of fuses and put a hand on her shoulder, though in the limited light she couldn’t read his expression. “You want the bad news first, or the good news?”

“Bad news.”

“That’s no fun. The good news is, the foundation’s solid and the woodwork rocks.”

Her fists were still planted on her hips from the planned tell-off. She let them slide down her sides, encouraged by the enthusiasm in his voice. “Oh.”

“The bad news is, I just cut the power, and you cannot stay here until you get an electrician to pull a permit and come out and rewire the place.”

“What?”

“C’mon. We’ll go find some dinner and come up with a plan.”

“You’re going to help?”

“Yep.” He rubbed his mouth with the palm of his hand. “There’s so much original trim in this place it’s making my dick hard.”

She huffed a laugh despite her ratcheting stress level. “Dude, you’re what? Twenty five? A gust of wind makes your dick hard.”

He shot her a sly grin. “Twenty four, and, well…”

Maeve was so going to kill her.

Dirty Pool

I love Pandora.

There, I’ve said it out loud. I know that the cool kids listen to Spotify, but that seems unnecessarily complicated to me. And I’m an old dog, right? I don’t need to learn too many new tricks.

So I stick with Pandora, listening mostly to an Alt-Country station I created myself, seeding it with the Dixie Chicks, John Doe, Steve Earle, & Maria McKee. It’s mostly roots country with side trips into rockabilly territory. Over time it’s taken on a bluesier tone, and today, while I was supposed to be writing, my attention was totally grabbed by the guitar playing on this piece. It’s called Dirty Pool, by a guy named Melvin Taylor. I’ve never heard of him before, but WOW he can play. I couldn’t get over here fast enough to share it with all you lovely Rancourtesans.

So what’s the verdict? Pandora or Spotify? Blues or rockabilly? Leave me a comment…

Peace,

Liv

Music for the Easter Season

Last year I did a post with links to some of my favorite Good Friday music. You can check out that post here. Might be worth doing, especially if you didn’t realize there was music written specifically for that service.

For this year’s Easter post, I wanted to share three fabulous pieces of music for Easter morning. If you scan the titles, you won’t see anything from Handel’s Messiah. Nothing against Mr. Handel, but some of us could sing the Halleluja Chorus in our sleep, and I wanted to feature music you might not have heard before.

Regina Coeli by Antonio Lotti (1666 – 1740).

Lotti was organist and maestro di capella at St. Mark’s Basillica in Venice. He wrote operas, madrigals, and instrumental music, in addition to the Masses and sacred choral music that I’m most familiar with. His Crucifixus for Six Voices was one of the pieces in my Good Friday post, so it’s appropriate that he show up here, too.





Dum Transisset Sabatum by John Taverner (1490 – 1545).

This was the final choral piece at our Easter Vigil service last night. It’s the best known of Taverner’s motets, and was glorious fun to sing. Taverner’s life story isn’t well documented, and appears to encompass a great deal more than his musical work. For a time he was Organist and Master of the Choristers at Christ Church, Oxford, a position that ended in 1530. His compositions date from before the 1520s, and he was one of the most important English composers at that time.

Cantate Domino by Hans Leo Hassler (1564 – 1612).

Mr. Hassler may not be remembered as well as Lotti and Taverner, but I so love this piece of music I had to include it. This setting is for women’s voices, which is the one I know, although YouTube has more hits for an SATB arrangement. (Here’s the Concordia Touring Choir rocking that version). Mr. Hassler was a German who studied for a time in Venice, and who was as well-known as an organist and organ designer as he was as a composer.

I hope you enjoyed these examples of music for the season. Happy Easter to you all!

Liv

Homemade Hijinks

So I’ve been a bad blogger this week. Real Life has been right on up in my face, which has distracted me from the important stuff. Like blogging.

Heh.

Anywhoodle, yesterday I saw Amazon had pushed up the publication of Debra Kayn’s new project by a couple days. Debra and I have bonded over Twitter – and not just because she frequently posts pictures of hot men on motorcycles. She needed places to promote Homemade Hijinks, and I needed a blog post, so here we are. I haven’t read it yet, but it looks like a lot of fun. You should totally check it out!

Have a lovely weekend!

Liv

Blurb

Can a house make unlikely demands…and be the savior for unsuspecting lovers?

After being dragged around the world since birth by her parents, quirky hairstylist Shannon Johansson has sworn to plant her business…and her butt…in Seaport, California. Risking the loss of the love of her life, she settles in a defective Smart House.

A bulldog in the courtroom, Alex Yager has to convince Shannon he still loves her. Nine months apart has proven his success is nothing without her to share it with. When Shannon’s pain of a Smart House locks them in during his New Year’s visit, he seizes the opportunity to win back his girl once and for all. No matter what it takes.

Alex is back and playing hardball like the attorney he is, and Shannon’s tired of fighting. Can she give in to her love for Alex? He’s hoping he can get them out of the crazy house and propose before the town rings in the new year.

CONTENT WARNING: Old flames, a smartass smart house and NO dog. Hot reunion. There’s more than one way to ‘ring’ in a new year.

You can find Homemade Hijinks at…

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

All Romance

And most other ebook stores

Author Bio

Top Selling Romance Author, Debra Kayn, lives with her family in the beautiful coastal mountains of Oregon on a hobby farm. She enjoys riding motorcycles, gardening, playing tennis, and fishing. A huge animal lover, she always has a dog under her desk when she writes and chickens standing at the front door looking for a treat. She’s famous in her family for teaching a 270 lb hog named Harley to jog with her every morning.

Her love of family ties and laughter makes her a natural to write heartwarming contemporary stories to the delight of her readers. Oh, let’s cut to the chase. She loves to write about REAL MEN and the WOMEN who love them.

When Debra was nineteen years old, a man kissed her without introducing himself. When they finally came up for air, the first words out of his mouth were…will you have my babies? Considering Debra’s weakness for a sexy, badass man, who is strong enough to survive her attitude, she said yes. A quick wedding at the House of Amour and four babies later, she’s living her own romance book.

Website: www.debrakayn.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/DebraKayn

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DebraKaynFanPage

His Desire, Her Surrender

And now I am tremendously excited to welcome Malia Mallory to my blog. Not only is Malia a popular author whose erotic romances are a whole lot of fun to read, but she’s from Hawaii, so after working with her on this interview I’m all nostalgic for my days at UH…

Welcome, Malia!

Thank you Liv for hosting me today! I’m excited to share with your readers.

LR: Okay, so usually I ask authors what keeps them in the chair through hours of writing and edits, but for you, I’m particularly curious. How do you stay off the beach long enough to get any work done?!?

MM: I’m on the windward side of the island so it is rainier. This is good because it is a little cooler. That means that beaching it isn’t as big in my area. In addition, the close beaches are more rocky than sandy…so really it isn’t a problem. At least being distracted by the beach isn’t a problem. Keeping butt in the chair, that can be a problem. I can always find something to distract me.

LR: Tell us about your upcoming release. Is it the start of a new series?

MM: My newest release is His Desire, Her Surrender. This is book two in the Dominating BDSM Billionaires series. It is also the sequel to His Need, Her Desire. This book will wrap up Tabitha and Marcus’s story. I’m very excited about the story and hope that readers enjoy it!

LR: Your ABCs of Erotica series is really popular, but it looks like you’re not going in alphabetical order. What letter are you taking on next?

MM: The next entry will be K is for Kinky. This was decided by a fan vote on my blog. This is a story about three female friends who make a bet with one another – who can do the kinkiest thing!

(OMG that sounds like fun!!  LR)

LR: Clutter or quiet? Describe your perfect writing situation.

MM: I like to play instrument music. Outside noise (neighbors, dogs barking) does disturb me if I’m trying to write. I usually wear headphones. I’d like a nice clutter free desk, but that isn’t happening right now.

LR: How to you juggle all your hats (spouse, parent, worker-bee, housekeeper, writer)?

MM: I don’t! That’s the problem. One of the balls is always hitting the ground. I’m hopeful that I can get a little assistance in the future and try to bring a little more order to everything.

LR: What’s your favorite non-writing activity? Travel? Cooking? Surfing?

MM: Between writing and caring for a baby, there isn’t too much left over time. I do quite a bit of cooking. I’d like to travel more but perhaps that will happen in the future. I enjoy reading and I can get away with calling it “research.”

LR: Cecilio & Kapono or Kalapana? The question alone will tell you how long it’s been since I lived in Hawaii…

MM: I consulted an expert on this one. My husband says Cecilio and Kapono. He grew up hearing their music.

LR: What’s next on your horizon? Describe your current WIP(s) or other upcoming project.

MM: I have several items in the works. I am about half done with Clockwork Caning, a steampunk erotic novella. I have been working on K is for Kinky which will be the next entry into The ABCs of Erotica series. I am also outlining the third installment of the Dominating BDSM Billionaires series. It is tentatively entitled Her Wish, His Command and it follows the romance of Marcus’s brother, Jonah. I also have a few promised items on the back burner. One is part three of Mia’s Cop Craving and the sequel to G is for Gigolo.

Thank you for letting me share a little about my work!

Blurb for His Desire, Her Surrender

Tabitha Quinn’s Hawaii vacation was anything but ordinary. Dominant billionaire Marcus Granger saved her life, swept her into his bed, and then left her heartbroken. Now she’s back in New York, mourning the man she’s sure she’ll never see again.

Marcus may have left handprints on her skin, but Tabitha’s left handprints on his heart: he tracks her down, and they resume the sizzling affair they began in the islands.

Tabitha belongs to Marcus body and soul in bed, but she worries she doesn’t belong in his high-stakes world. They’ve already dodged a murder attempt, and now Marcus is fighting off a competitor’s takeover. When the rival company obtains critical information, suspicion falls on Tabitha. She has to prove she’s innocent–and worthy to wear Marcus’s collar.

Excerpt from His Desire, Her Surrender

Marcus tapped his stomach. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry. If you fix something, I’ll reward you later. Deal?”

“Sure.” Tabitha pulled chicken from the refrigerator as Marcus left her to find her way around the kitchen. She planned to cook something quick and easy on the stovetop. She located onions, chopped them and tossed them into a sauté pan. Further searching turned up rice and spices. A little saffron and cardamom and she’d have something tasty.

Once everything was in the pan, she tracked down the makings of a salad. That would do, she thought, chicken and rice with salad. Simple but appetizing.

As she set the table, Marcus reappeared, towels in hand. “I thought you might want one for sitting.” He spread one on the chair at the head of the table and the other on the chair to the side.

Tabitha handed Marcus the salad bowl. “This whole nudity thing. I’m not sure if I’d get used to it. Might get chilly.”

Marcus stole a carrot slice out of the salad and tossed it in his mouth. “I imagine so. But it can be a fun change of pace.”

“Yes.” Tabitha brought the chicken and rice to the table, and they settled in.

Marcus gazed on the food with appreciation. “This is great. I’m starving.”

“I hope you like it. I make it quite often.”

Marcus placed one hand on her thigh as he took a bite with the other.

Tabitha’s fork stopped in mid-air as heat flooded her. She was glad for the towel underneath her. The last thing she wanted was to stain the upholstery.

Marcus massaged her skin and slid his hand between her thighs.

Tabitha set down her fork. “Marcus!”

He continued eating. “Yes?”

“I can’t eat when you do that.”

“You can’t?” He took another bite of chicken, clearly enjoying it. His fingers searched her intimate recesses.

Tabitha pursed her lips, displaying an amused frown. “No. I’m too distracted.”

“Mmm. That is unfortunate. This meal is wonderful.”

“It’s hard to think about eating right now.”

Marcus maintained his innocent air while he explored her moistening skin. “Really? I’m having no trouble at all.” He ingested another bite.

*****

Malia Mallory is currently on virtual tour with 15 other awesome romance authors as part of the Insatiable Reads Book Tour. From March 4-31st, readers will be invited to enter for a chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite, free books, and other fun goodies. Readers will also be able to participate in author chats, get insights into writing and publishing romance, and collect story swag.

To enter giveaways and meet the other writers, follow us at:

Website: www.insatiablereads.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/insatiable.books

Twitter: www.twitter.com/insatiablereads/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/100902224798608127488/posts

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/selenakitt/insatiable-reads/

*****

Biography

Malia Mallory lives in Hawaii with her husband and daughter. She’s been working with words since alphabet blocks rolled into her crib, not only writing her own work but copy editing and proofreading the work of others. She has loved to read about relationships since she first sneaked off with her mother’s Harlequin.

Malia Mallory is the best-selling author of The ABCs of Erotica series, which covers the erotic spectrum from BDSM to ménage and everything in between. More releases in the series are on the way. She has also released the Mia’s Cop Craving series and Santa’s Backdoor Baby. Malia’s books have hit the bestselling erotica lists at both Amazon and iTunes. Her books are available in electronic format at major retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Sony, Diesel, Smashwords and AllRomance Books.

For a free copy of B is for Beach from The ABCs of Erotica, head to her website and sign up for the newsletter at http://www.maliamallory.com/Join_My_M....

Connect with Malia Mallory

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/@MaliaMallory

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/MaliaMallory

Blog – http://abcsoferotica.wordpress.com/

Web Page – http://www.maliamallory.com

*****

Buy Links -

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

All Romance

Teasing Tuesday…

Woody the cat cracks me up. He’s draped across the top of the cat tree, glaring at the crows outside and doing that weird chirping thing cats do. He’s such a strange creature.

Cats run the internet.
They do.

Usually he’s draped across my lap, impeding my ability to get more coffee.

It’s a Kitty Conspiracy, I swear.

So enjoy this view of one of my favorite creatures on the planet. Tomorrow I’ll have a guest post from erotic romance author Malia Mallory, and by Friday the kids will have done something funny and I’ll tell you all about it. Have a good week!

Peace,

Liv

BTW, cats or dogs? Which do you prefer? Justify your decision in the comments…