Lia Davis's Blog, page 38

I never knew gargoyles could be so hot

Yep, I said gargoyles. Gorgeous shapeshifters by night and stone guardians by day. When I first heard some authors talk about romance stories with gargoyles, I was like, “What?” Then I saw the movie I, Frankenstein. I don’t know about you, but the gargoyles were my favorite part of the movie. They were hot and fought off evil.

Now I’m intrigued. I want to read about sexy gargoyle shapeshifters in romance. Have you read any? Any favorite gargoyle series out there? List them in the comments. I’d love to check them out.

 

 

Giveaway Friday: Starbucks and swag

Happy Friday the 13th! This weekend’s giveaway is a $10 Starbucks gift card and some cool swag. Tell me what the craziest thing that happened to you or you heard about on a Friday the 13th.  I’ll pick winners via random.org on Monday morning.

For me, Friday the 13th has always been a regular day. I’ve heard of others having “bad luck”, but nothing crazy.

 

 

Thursday’s Sensual Tease: Playing with a Dragon

Hi! i missed last Thursday’s tease so I’m making up for it with a hot scene between Ashlynn and Ty in my upcoming release, Ashes of War.  Are you new to the Sons of War series? Then I suggest you pick up book one, War’s Passion, and prepare to be seduced into the world of dragons and Greek gods.

Here’s your sensual tease…

Ash bit down on Ty’s lower lip, drawing a low, husky half-growl, half-groan from him. He pressed his hard, jean covered erection into her abdomen. “Are you sure you want to play with a dragon?”

She drew back to study the dark shades, desperately wanting to snatch them off his face so she could see his eyes. Yet she couldn’t do it, couldn’t take the sense of security or whatever he clung to away from him. He’d have to be ready to allow her access to all of him. “I’ve been ready to play with you.”

“I’m not a gentle lover.”

“I don’t need gentle right now.”

A slight glow flickered from behind the lenses as he walked her backward until he pinned her against the wall. She tugged at his shirt until he backed away then yanked the thing over his head and let it fall to the ground. Following her lead, he had her sweater removed in a flash. Whether it was by magic or not, she didn’t care. Then, he ripped her pants off.

She bit his ear and snarled. “I liked those jeans.”

He sucked in a breath and pressed his still clothed lower body into her. “That’s too bad.”

A shudder rippled through her at the sound of his arrogant, yet sexy, husky tone. She scored his shoulder blades with her nails and rotated her hips against him, drawing another growl from him.

When she slid one hand down his back to the waistband of his jean, he gripped her wrist and jerked it over her head, pinning it to the wall. Scorching desire raced in her veins, making it impossible to think of anything beyond having him inside her.

The real life story behind Business Pleasures

The inspiration behind Business Pleasures was to tell a story of a woman’s gain of independence and how she learned to love and trust again. Domestic violence is real and effect so many women, and men. It doesn’t always involve physical abuse. Emotional and verbal abuse are just as painful. The only difference is the scars are warn on the inside.

I was a victim of emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse from my first marriage. Married out of high school with a baby on the way. Thought life was great. Until about six months in. It started off slow. And I truly believe that if I had stayed, it would had turned physical. I was young and naive and thought it wasn’t abuse because he didn’t hit me. I was isolated from my friends that weren’t his friends. He broke down my self-esteem. My only life were my kids.

I didn’t leave at first because I was afraid of being alone. Because I was kept inside “his” bubble. Then there was the kids. They need their father, right? Not if he’s a deadbeat abusive ass.

My wakeup call was when he spent 2 weeks in jail for drug possession. I was on my own for two weeks. No one telling me that I’m worthless and no one spending my money. I filed for divorce and got out.

About a year and a half later I met my current husband. He showers me with everything I didn’t have. I’m now pleasantly spoiled and cooed over like a woman should be. We think alike, even finish each other’s sentences. We’ve been together for almost 14 years now and in love as much, if not more, than the day we started dating.

Aimee’s story is based off of my happy ever after. It is not my story, but similar in the fact that she found her strength and independence with the support of her family. Her hero is everything she deserves and more.

There are happy ever afters for abuse victims. Today is my 8th wedding anniversary. I couldn’t be happier with anyone else.

 

 

What’s so good about Mondays?

Mondays can be good. No, really. We just have to look for the positive. Think of the one thing you look forward to in your day. if your at the office, what do you like about your job that keeps you there? If you stay at home, what do you look forward to in your day?

The positive thing I look forward to today is getting my nails done for RomCon next week. I’m so excited and about going to Denver. Not only to I get to spend time with my girls, Carrie Ann Ryan, Charity (our assistant), and Ann Mayburn, before and during the conference, I get to see my readers and meet new friends! I do hope to see you there.

What is the one positive thing you look forward to today? Remember, focusing on the positive will chase away the negative in your life.

Happy Monday!

 

Love #dragons? What about dragon T-shirts?

For limited time I have T-shirts on sell. And not your ordinary dragon T-shirts eithers. These are for the dragon lover in us all and thoses who are holding out for a certain type of book boyfriend. Reserve you shirt or hoodie or both before the campaign ends. teespring.com/holdingfordragon

Spotlight Sunday: Sinful Rewards 1 by Cynthia Sax

Thank you, Lia, for having me on your blog today. (big hugs) I’m super excited to be here and to be sharing an excerpt from Sinful Rewards, my sizzling 12 novella contemporary erotic romance serial from Avon. The first 100 page plus story releases on July 15th, priced at a ridiculous 99 cents (ALL of the stories will be 100 pages plus and priced at 99 cents or less), and is available for pre-ordering right now.

Don’t let the tame excerpt fool you, Sinful Rewards is a hot, hot, HOT love triangle between Bee, a financially struggling new grad, Nicolas, a handsome billionaire with a dark secret, and Hawke, a tattooed bad boy biker. I love this story and I hope you will also!

 

Blurb:

Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. He is everything she wants in a man.

Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. Hawke is mysterious, the bad boy she knows will bring only heartbreak. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing.

But when a mysterious and anonymous text message dares her to do something bad, she must decide if she is really the good girl she has always claimed to be, or if she’s willing to risk everything for her secret fantasy of being watched.

Is her mystery man the reclusive billionaire with a wild side or the darkly dangerous bad boy?

 

Pre-order Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-1-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

 

 

Excerpt:

Voices murmur outside the condo’s door, the sound piercing my delightful daydream. I swing the telescope upward, not wanting to be caught using it. The snippets of conversation drift away.

I don’t relax. If the telescope isn’t in the same spot as it was positioned last night, Cyndi will realize I’ve been using it. She’ll tease me about being a fellow pervert, sharing the story, embellished for more dramatic effect, with her stern serious dad or, worse, with Angel, that snobby friend of hers.

I’ll die. It’ll be worse than being the butt of jokes in high school because that ridicule had been about my clothes and this will center around the part of my soul I’ve always kept hidden. It’ll also be the truth and I won’t be able to deny it. I am a pervert.

I have to return the telescope to where it was positioned. This is the only acceptable solution. I tap the metal tube.

Last night, my man-crazy roommate had been giggling over the new guy in three eleven north. The previous occupant had been a gray-haired, bowtie-wearing tax auditor, his luxurious accommodations supplied by Nicolas. The most exciting thing he ever did was drink his tea on the balcony.

According to Cyndi, the new occupant is a delicious piece of man candy, tattooed, buff, and head-to-toe lickable. He’d been completing arm curls outside and she’d enthusiastically counted his reps, oohing and aahing over his bulging biceps, calling to me to take a look.

I’d resisted that temptation, focusing on making macaroni and cheese for the two of us, the recipe snagged from the diner my mom works in. After we scarfed down dinner with Cyndi licking her plate clean, she left for the club and hasn’t returned.

Three eleven north is the mirror condo to ours. I straighten the telescope. That position looks about right but then, the imitation UGGS I bought in second year college looked about right also. The first time I wore the boots in the rain, the sheepskin fell apart, leaving me barefoot in Economics 201.

Unwilling to risk Cyndi’s friendship on about right, I gaze through the eyepiece. The view consists of rippling golden planes, almost like…

Tanned skin pulled over defined abs.

I blink. It can’t be. I take another look. A perfect pearl of perspiration clings to a puckered scar. The drop elongates more and more, stretching, snapping. It trickles downward, navigating the swells and valleys of a man’s honed torso.

No. I straighten. This is wrong. I shouldn’t watch our sexy neighbor as he stands on his balcony. If anyone catches me…

I glance behind me. There’s no one here to catch me. Cyndi won’t know I looked. The hunk in three eleven north won’t know I looked. I’m not harming anyone.

I bend over and take another peek.

 

About the Author:

Cynthia Sax lives in a world filled with magic and romance. Although her heroes may not always say, “I love you,” they will do anything for the women they adore. They live passionately. They play hard. They love the same women forever.

Cynthia has loved the same wonderful man forever. Her supportive hubby offers himself up to the joys and pains of research, while they travel the world together, meeting fascinating people and finding inspiration in exotic places such as Istanbul, Bali, and Chicago.

 

Author Website: http://cynthiasax.com/

Blog: http://tasteofcyn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cynthia.sax

Twitter: @CynthiaSax

Sign Up For My Release Day Newsletter:  http://cynthiasax.com/newsletter/

#Giveaway Friday: Win 1 of 3 eARC copies of Ashes of War

Happy Friday! Yes you read the title right! I have ARC copies of Ashes of War, book 2 in the Sons of War series, and I’m giveaway away THREE copies! Pretty cool, huh?

All you have to do is tell me if you had your own dragon, what would do with him?

 

Ashes of War Blurb

Ashlynn Blake, minor goddess of the hunt—lethal, beautiful, and able to connect with animals on a psychic level—is the perfect person to place judgment upon an accused dragon. But first she has to prove to the gods that Ty Sullivan is innocent of his crimes. If she fails, she’s doomed to lose her heart along with him forever.

Ty’s been beaten, scarred, and betrayed by females. He doesn’t trust them, can’t stand being around them for longer than he or his dragon needs to be. Yet, when he meets Ashlynn, his dragon is ready to mate, but the man believes she’s no different than the others.

The Fates have thrown them together, forcing secrets to be told and igniting a passion so fierce it may destroy both of them.

#NewAdult Romance: My journey into a new genre

First, let me clarify the difference between NA and YA. New Adult is a new genre of romance involving “new ADULTS”. The heroes and heroines are 18 to 26 years of age and are consenting adults. I say this because many people don’t know what NA is. Many think it’s YA with sex. That is not true. YA is targeted for younger readers and the main characters are commonly high school age (under 18). NA is targeted for adults readers with the characters being over 18.

NA surrounds the lives of 18-26 year-olds entering the “real” world for the first time. They range from attending college, to entering their careers, to living on their own for the first time.

I’ve tossed around the idea of a NA series for a while. When I was invited to write for the new Decadent line ROAR, I jumped on. One, I love working with Decadent Publishing. Two, I love a challenge of writing something new.

I’m overjoyed and very excited to be part of the line. Last month I signed a contract for Imperfect Mate, the first in a series called Harmony Springs, for the ROAR line. Monday, the tentative release dates for the first books in the line were announced! Imperfect Mate is targeted for October 20th release!! Yes, this year!

What is ROAR? Well the ROAR line with stories surrounding shifters leaving the den for the first time. They are going to college or entering into the work force and dealing with being an adult for the first time away from the Pack. It’s a time in their lives they find themselves and learn what it is to be all grown up.

Harmony Springs is a small college town. The shifter to human ratio is about 1:6. Secrecy is important and the young shifters attending Harmony University are faced with difficult decisions and challenging life events. I can’t wait to share this world with you.

You can learn more about the ROAR line from the Decadent Publishing ROAR blog.

 

#SummerForLoveHop: Dragons and the ocean

Hello! Welcome to the Summer For Love blog hop! I’m not much of a Summer person. mostly because I live in Florida and the summers are very humid and hot and it’s hurricane season. I do love romance! And summer love can be found everywhere. When i think of summer, I think of the beach. At the end of the post is an excerpt from War’s Passion with Markus and Gwen enjoying the ocean and sand. be sure to check that out!

 

First the GIVEAWAYS!

My giveaway:

TWO winners will be selected to receive an early eBook copy of my upcoming release , ASHES OF WAR (Sons of War, book 2)

 

GRAND PRIZES
(6) $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Cards
 
Comment with your name and email to be entered into the Grand Prize drawing. Comments without name and email will not be counted. Commenting on each and every stop will increase your chances of winning.
Winners for the (6) Grand Prizes will be drawn and announced on THE ROMANCE TROUPE blog by June 10th.
 
Find a list of all stops here!

http://www.theromancetroupe.com/p/a-summer-for-love-blog-hop.html

 

 

War’s Passion, Sons of War #1

Excerpt:

Beside him, Gwen drew in a deep breath and sighed. “I love the ocean.” When she look up at him, she let out a soft, musical laugh.  “I guess I told you that already.”

His lips tugged into a smile as he ran his knuckles down her cheek and watched her lean into his touch. “What else do you love?”

She tilted her head. “I don’t think there is anything that I don’t love.” Her brows dipped as she frowned and added, “Beside Garrick and anyone out to harm my family and friends.”

Markus smiled again and couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled like this. There was a time that he was content with life enough to be happy, but never felt so alive just by being near someone.

“Go for a swim with me?”

Gwen looked around the beach, then to the ocean. “You’re serious? I don’t have a swimsuit.”

He waggled his brows. “You don’t need one.”

Her eyes grew round and she stepped back. “You mean skinny dip? In the ocean?”

Irritation started to set in, dampening his good mood. “Are you chicken?”

She bit her bottom lip, which made his cock twitch behind the zipper of his jeans, and glanced at the water. “Is this beach private?”

He nodded. A shy smile formed on her lips as she stepped closer to him. “Do something for me first?”

Unfolding his arms, he wrapped them around her waist and drew her into him. “What does my little love goddess want?”

Her nose scrunched up at the title, and she flatted her hands on the chest. “Change into your dragon.”

Drawing back, he studied her. There was no fear in the blue depths of her eyes, just curiosity.  “Are you sure?”

Her head bobbed up and down. “I need to get over my fears. I trust you, even in the short time that we’ve known each other. If I agree to have sex with you to gain my strength back, I need to be able to accept all of you.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then stepped back, knowing her eyes never left him while he stripped. Her gaze caressed his naked skin and, gods, if it didn’t feel like a physical touch.

Fuck. His body warmed and his skin tingled, needing her hands on him.

Once his clothes were removed, he turned and walked about twenty feet from her. He didn’t want his tail or wings injuring her as he shifted. Turning to face her, he spread his arms. Usually he could shift in a matter of seconds, sometimes faster, depending on the situation, but right now he wanted to take it slow.

Mostly because he didn’t want to scare her.

“What are you waiting on?” she called out, teasing.

The corner of his lips lifted as he visualized his dragon in his head. It was an automatic process. One he’d been born knowing, since he was never a child and most things came naturally to him and his brothers.

Giving into his dragon and allowing the beast to take over, he completed the transformation. The burn of power grew from the center of his chest then shot out in all directions as his body grew and changed in a flash of black and blue.

Extending his wings, he stretched them wide before folding them back into his body. He stared down the beach and spotted Gwen where he’d left her. Only now she appeared to be closer due to the fact he was now the size of a passenger train car.

Lowering his large body into the warm sand, he waited—hoping she wouldn’t have a panic attack—for her to approach him. It was ten painfully slow minutes before she approached. Excitement he never knew before filled him at her acceptance.

Hesitation slowed her steps and when stopped about a foot away from his snout, she just stared.

Growing impatient, Markus sent her a thought, unsure if it would work. Although he could connect telepathically with his brothers and the gods with ease, he wasn’t so sure it would be the same with Gwen. Yet there was always a small chance it would, considering she was almost a full-blooded goddess herself.

I will not harm you. Besides it is killing me to hold onto my patience for much longer.

Surprise lit up her face, showing she heard his thoughts. “How?”

I can communicate to most gods and my brothers through thought.

Her blue eyes danced with delight and he wanted to kiss her. “I’m not a goddess.”

A growl rumbled through him and she stepped back. He sighed and laid his head on the sand. Come here, Gwen.

With her hand extended, she stepped forward until her palm touched his nose. Smiling, she ran her hand down the side of his jaw. “You are incredibly soft.”

Thanks, I think.

Gwen laughed and relaxed her shoulders. “It is a compliment. I expected the scales to be rough, but they almost feel like soft leather.”

With her hand still on him, she walked along his side. He turned his head so he could watch her. Stopping where his wings started, she ran a careful hand over the joint and down the edge of his wing. He shuddered, making her jerk her hand away.

Don’t stop. That feels good.

“Oh.” A glimpse pink appeared in her cheeks.

Would you like to fly?