Dani Collins's Blog, page 55

Signings And Appearances - Summer 2014

I'll be signing books while I'm at conference this summer. I hope you can join me:

July 23, 2014 - Romance Writers Of American, Literacy Autographing, 5:30-7:30pm, Third Floor Ballroom, San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter, Texas
July 25, 2014 - Harlequin Signing, 9:45-11:15am, Ballroom C&D, San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter, Texas
August 9, 2015 - , Romance Writers of Australia, ARRA Book Signing, 5:00-6:00pm, Pullman City Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia

#SampleSunday - The Ultimate Seduction (3)

Hello #SampleSunday fans. I have one foot out the door--such a lie. I still have to get ready, but I do have a date with MrC and I wanted to get this posted first. If I wind up with typos, you'll know why.

If you're a regular visitor, you know I've been posting excerpts from my four August books, including this new #SampleSunday series for The Ultimate Seduction. Here's a quick round up if you've missed any:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - Okay, this was my June book, but if you missed it, there it is. That post links to the previous five.
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - third instalment, includes links to previous
#Thursday13 - The Secret In Room 823 (part of
Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series).

And if you've missed any posts in this series for The Ultimate Seduction, here's what's happened thus far:

Tiffany receives her invitation to QVirtus
Ryzard arrives at QVirtus

Here's Tiffany in her room:

~ * ~

TIFFANY WAS STUCK and it was a sickeningly familiar situation, the kind she’d sworn she’d never wind up in again.

She’d love to blame Christian. He had urged her to step through the door when he’d been refused entry. Go in and ask, he’d hissed, annoyed.

Since her worst nightmare these days was being stared at, she’d forgone arguing on the stoop and stepped through the entranceway. Inside, pixies in designer nightgowns had fawned over the arriving men in masks. She’d looked around for a bell desk, and a stud named Julio had come forward to introduce himself as a petite q.

She, a seasoned socialite, had become tongue-tied over the strapping young man in a red footman’s uniform. It was more than two years since she’d been widowed on her wedding day. Even without the scars, that would be bad mojo. Men didn’t call, didn’t ask her out. If she was in a room with a live one, they rarely looked her in the eye, always averting their gaze. She didn’t exist for them as a potential mate.

Julio didn’t attract her so much as astonish her. He didn’t know what lurked beneath the mask and was all solicitous manners as he offered his services. “I see this is your first visit with us,” he said after a brief glance at his tablet. “Please allow me to orient you.”

She was completely out of practice with his type—the valet who never overstepped his station, but still managed to convey that he appreciated being in the presence of beauty. She’d haltingly fielded his questions about whether her travel had been pleasant as he smoothly escorted her into an elevator.

When he asked if she had any specific needs he could attend to while she was here, she’d come back to reality. “My brother needs a hall pass, or a mask. Whatever. Can you make that happen?”

“I’ll send the request to Zeus, but the doors will be closing in a few minutes. Once we’re in lockdown, no one comes or goes. Unless it’s an emergency, of course.” He’d lifted his head from tapping his tablet.

Lockdown? Alarmed, she’d tried to text Christian only to be informed that external service was cut off while inside the club.

“Cell phones and other cameras are discouraged, as is the sending of photos outside the club. Security will locate him and communicate his options,” Julio assured her, then explained that if her requested meeting was accepted, the time and location would be sent to her Inspector Gadget watch.

“Where are we? A hollowed-out volcano?” she asked as he set up her thumbprint entry to her room.

“No, but we’re working on obtaining one,” he said, deadpan. “Now, you’ll want to wear your watch throughout your stay. It tells a lot more than time. May I show you?”

Hearing that her scheduled meeting with the Bregnovian dictator wasn’t a sure thing was a relief. Her father would be furious if she didn’t go in Christian’s place, but if the request was rejected, she would be off the hook. Still, she hoped her brother would be granted entry and save her worrying about any of it. She pressed Julio out of her suite with instructions to inform her about Christian as soon as possible.

Her suite was enough of an oasis to calm her nerves. Her privileged upbringing had exposed her to some seriously nice digs, but she had to admit this was above and beyond. No expense had been spared on the gold fixtures, original art or silk bedding. The new clothes in the wardrobe were a pleasant distraction. Christian had said something about samples of prototypes being handed out to members. If you don’t want them, I do.

She supposed he was referring to the spy watch Julio had shown her, but she was more interested in the designer gowns. Discreet labels informed her they were from the best of the best throughout South America, all in stunning colors and fabrics. Several were off-the-shoulder, figure-enhancing styles that would cover her scars.

Interesting.

Not that she had anywhere to wear them. She didn’t intend to leave her room, but she would make the most of the in-suite amenities, she decided. Call it a vacation from her family. She’d work in peace for a few days.

Work, however, was next to impossible without Wi-Fi service to the external world, and besides, a calypso band was calling to her from below her open French doors. She loved dancing.

Full darkness had fallen, so she sidled into the shadows behind a potted fern on her balcony and gazed longingly at the party below, feeling rather like Audrey Hepburn in that old black-and-white. It was such a world beyond her. The pool’s glow lit up ice sculptures on the buffet tables. Bartenders juggled open bottles, putting on a cocktail show as they poured fast and free while women in red gowns cha-cha’d with men in tuxedos and masks.

This whole mask thing was weird. As they’d flown south in the company jet, Christian had explained it allowed the world’s elite to rub shoulders in a discreet way. Sometimes it was best for the biggest players to take their meetings in secret, so as not to cause speculative dips in the stock exchange. Certain celebrities stole these few days to relax without interruption by fans. QVirtus catered to whatever the obscenely rich needed.

I need a new face, she thought sourly, but even the cavernous pockets her husband had left her weren’t deep enough to buy a miracle.

She looked to where she’d left her mask dangling off a chair back’s spire.

Despite her anxiety with the abrupt change of plans when she arrived, she had felt blessedly anonymous behind her mask as she had walked through the lobby and halls to her room. It had been an extraordinary experience to feel normal again. No one had stared. She had looked exactly like everyone else.

Hmm. That meant she didn’t have to stay here like Rapunzel, trapped in the tower with the real world three stories below and out of her reach.

With her heart tripping somewhere between excitement and trepidation, she fingered through the gowns hanging in the wardrobe. The silk crepe in Caribbean blue would expose her good right leg, but not so high as to reveal where her grafts had been taken. After months of physiotherapy, she’d moved back into her old workout routine of yoga, weights and treadmill. She possessed all of her mother’s vanity along with the genetic jackpot in the figure department. Only family saw her these days, and she hardly dressed to impress, but she was actually very fit.

Alone in the suite, she held the gown up to her body, then, without her mother there to discourage her, dared to try it on.

Whoever this Zeus guy was, he sure knew how to dress a woman. Especially one with defects to hide. The single sleeve went past her wrist in a point that ended in a loop of thread that hooked over her middle finger. The bodice clung to her waist and torso, plumping breasts that remained two of her best original features. She had to give her backside the credit it deserved, too. When she buckled on new shoes that were little more than sky-high heels and a pair of saucy blue-green straps, it was like being hugged by old friends. She almost wept.

Filtering her image through her lashes as she looked in the mirror, she saw her old self. Hi, Tiff. It’s nice to see you again. 'bout time, too.

Makeup didn’t completely cover her scars, nothing could, but she enjoyed going through her old ritual after using the concealer, taking her time to layer on shadow and liner, girling herself up to the max. By the time she was rolling spirals into her strawberry blond hair, she was so lost in the good ol’ days, she caught herself thinking, I wonder what Paulie will say.

The curling iron tagged her cheek where she would never feel it, and she nearly broke down. You’re not Cinderella, anymore, remember? You’re the ugly stepsister.

No. Not tonight. Not when she felt confident and beautiful for the first time since her wedding day. Had she been happy then? She couldn’t remember.

Don’t go there.

Gathering the top half of her hair over her crown, she tied the mask into place, then let her loose curls fall to hide the strap that circled her skull. Oddly, the mask wasn’t as traumatic to wear as she’d feared. It didn’t suction onto her face and make her feel trapped in a body that writhed in agony. It stood cocked like a fascinator to cover the left side of her face, while the feathers arranged around her eyes gave an impression of overly long lashes that layered backward to cover her forehead and hairline. She had expected it to be heavy, but it was as light as, well, feathers. They tickled the edges of her scars, where her skin was extra sensitive, making her feel feminine and pretty.

Staring at herself in the full-length mirror, she allowed that she was pretty. After painting on a coat of coral lipstick, she did a slow twirl and caught herself grinning. Smiling felt odd, as if she was using muscles that had atrophied.

She lifted the weighty watch on her wrist, the one that identified her as Steel Butterfly. More like a broken one. Her sides didn’t even match.

It didn’t have to make sense, she assured herself as she tossed her lipstick into her pocketbook then realized she didn’t need either room key or credit card. Such freedom! For a few hours, she would be completely without baggage.

Taking nothing but lighthearted steps, she left to join the party.

~* ~

The Goodreads Giveaway for this book closed on Friday and I've already sent the winners their books. (Congrats Noelle, Suzann & Kristina.)

But if you like free books, join my newsletter list. You'll always be entered for a signed copy of my new release because I draw from my subscriber list before each print book releases.

Wait! Don't guess yet! If you join through Dani's Masked Desires Contest you'll also be entered for one of these awesome masks and will double your chances for an autographed copy of the book.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest (closes August 17th, 2014) then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

I'll have more chances to win giveaways of this title when I start my blog tour mid-July.

In other news, my Chatsfield short is available in the UK. You can pick it up as The Secret In Room 823 as a stand alone title, or as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2. In North America, preorder it as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2.

For quickest delivery on all my titles, buy from Mills & Boon UK site, eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus as they appear there soonest.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

or these other fine retailers have it as well:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo

I'm cutting this one short and flying out the door for a friend's 50th. Have a great weekend--a long one for many of us in Canada, if you're taking Monday instead of the 1st. I'll be working Canada Day, posting my next #TeaserTuesday so please check back here for it.

#Thursday13 - Lines from The Chatsfield (2)

If you're losing track, you're not alone. I knew promoting all these summer titles would be a challenge. Today's is another snippet from my August novella, The Secret In Room 823, available in the UK as a lone title and up for preorder here in N.America as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set, Vol 2.

Basically, the #SampleSundays are my Presents titles, the #TeaserTuesdays are from my Erotic Romance Collection and these #Thursday13s are a bit more random. I did the opening 13 lines last week, which was probably premature, but I got lazy. It happens. And thus, I feel committed to continue with the next 13. This impulse may or may not last. I'm learning that I'm extremely rigid and organized except when I don't feel like it. Then I do something else. Yes, you should pity my husband and probably most of my previous employers.

Before I jump in with the magical 13, I'll offer up the links to the latest excerpts in the other categories, in case you haven't seen them yet:

An Heir To Bind Them #SampleSunday - six posts, this one links to the previous five
Book Blurbs - for all five titles in one handy post
The Ultimate Seduction #SampleSunday - two so far, watch for another this weekend
Mastering Her Role #TeaserTuesday - third instalment, includes links to previous

Click this link if you want to read last week's #Thursday13 from The Secret In Room 823. And click this link if you want to know more about

Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series.

Also, if you like entering contests for free books, be sure to scroll down after the excerpt. There are quite a few opportunities listed there. I'll just mention here that the Goodreads contest for The Ultimate Seduction closes this Friday and you can enter today (Jun 26th) for a copy of An Heir To Bind Them by visiting my interview at Minxes Of Romance.

Whew! Are we ready yet? Okay, here goes:

~ * ~

Therefore, she found herself fighting the beaming grin that wanted to break across her face and offering him her cool Lady Hamilton-Smythe barely-there smile.

That was, after all, the bitch who was meant to be exorcised tonight.

But appearing aloof was hard when his mouth pulled into a sneer of dismay at her white wig with its prism of color streaked over her left eyebrow.

Call me Hayes, he’d said at their first meeting. She didn’t know if that was because of the deceptive color of his eyes, shifting between brown and green with his level of arousal, or whether it was his real name, first or last. She only knew that she’d looked into those clear, steady eyes at their initial meeting and trusted, blindly and probably very stupidly, but here she was. Again.

He was only wearing his jeans, as if he’d thrown off his shirt in a fit of overheating. Another hint that she affected him as strongly as he affected her, but she squelched the yearning for an emotional connection and focused on the physical. Tanned skin stretched taut over gorgeous shoulders, hard pecs and washboard abs as he hooked one disgusted hand at his waist, the other continuing to hold the door open.

Behind his fly, he was hard, making her pulse lunge into a gallop.

‘No,’ he said flatly, demanding that she lift her gaze to his uncompromising stare. She took in the whole of his face with his stubbled jaw set in displeasure, his black hair getting long again and messy, as if he’d run his fingers through it.

~ * ~

This short story gets pretty hot and if you like that sort of thing, check out that #TeaserTuesday from Mastering Her Role. Purchase of the erotic collection counts as an entry in Dani's Masked Desires Contest too. You could win one of these awesome masks or an autographed copy of my August Harlequin Presents The Ultimate Seduction.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest (closes August 17th, 2014). Enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

You can also enter for a chance to win one of three signed copies of The Ultimate Seduction through this Goodreads Giveaway. It closes this Friday, June 27th.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway








The Ultimate Seduction


by Dani Collins

Giveaway ends June 27, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

You'll always be included in a draw for a signed copy of my new release if you join my newsletter. I draw from my subscriber list right before the book comes out.

I'm also giving away two books in a Huge Giveaway over at Lisa Perry's Blog. It closes July 11th. Pop over to win, among all the other great titles, a copy of An Heir To Bind Them and

The Ultimate Seduction, signed of course.

I'll have even more chances to win The Ultimate Seduction when I start my blog tour mid-July, so keep checking back for those opportunities.

Meanwhile, The Secret In Room 823 is available for preorder in North America as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2. In the UK, it's on sale now. You can pick up The Secret In Room 823 as a stand alone title, or as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2.

For quickest delivery on all my titles, buy from Mills & Boon UK site, eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus as they appear there soonest.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

or these other fine retailers have it as well:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo

I'll be back on the weekend with a new #SampleSunday for The Ultimate Seduction. Now I'm off for a run and a workout. Gotta keep my writing muscles toned, doncha know.

#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role (3)

I have not forgotten about you, #TeaserTuesday enthusiasts. Here is your third excerpt from Mastering Her Role, Book One in The Dani Collins Erotic Romance Collection.

Originally I said I'd do three snippets from Mastering Her Role, then three from Playing The Master, which is the second book in The Dani Collins Erotic Romance Collection. BUT, I recently realized I can't count. I'm a writer, not a mathematician, Jim.

So you can actually expect five (5!) excerpts from this story and at least four from Playing The Master.

I'm laughing at myself right now as this Teaser has turned into a huge blog post, partly because I just remembered to include some links to the other snippets and excerpts I've posted lately. Real quick round-up:

An Heir To Bind Them #SampleSunday - six posts, this one links to the previous five
Book Blurbs - for all five titles in one handy post
The Secret In Room 823 #Thursday13 - The opening 13 sentences from this novella (part of
Mills & Boons The Chatsfield series)

And if you missed the first two in this series you can read them here:

Opening scene where Arianne asks to meet Dominic
Jason tries to talk her out of it

Please continue to scroll down after today's excerpt for information on several contests and giveaways. There's a new one for a loaded Kindle Paperwhitethat includes a ridiculous amount of print books (over 50!) Even the most voracious reader will be set for a year or more.

Now we are very much getting into NSFW territory with this excerpt. Graphic Language Ahead:

~ * ~

Her head dipped and he felt little shivers chase over her skin again.

“I—” She waved modestly at the table. “This is a celebration. I’ve been the top agent twelve months running. I received a bonus. A cruise.”

“Well that’s wonderful isn’t it?” He opened his hand on the softness of her upper arm. Women’s skin was always soft, but Arianne’s compelled him to pet and stroke unceasingly. If only she would let him, if only—but he was supposed to be listening. Giving her the admiration she rightly deserved. “I’m not surprised but I’m very proud. Well done, beautiful.” He touched his lips to her skin for the first time, a light press at her temple that made her breath stall. Heat surged through him.

“For two,” she added after a moment of significant silence. She kept her chin tucked. “I leave in a week.”

He used a gentle touch to tilt her face up to his. “Two?”

“It’s a cruise for two. At first I thought I’d take a girlfriend, perhaps Ella from the office. But there would be politics and on the boat she’d be intent on cutting one of those sexual swathes you talked about. Essentially I’d be cruising alone. Then I considered trying something like that myself but aside from the fact I’m hopelessly ill-equipped, I’m built for relationships.” She shrugged awkwardly. “It’s just who I am. I’d rather invite a man to share the cruise with me. I even had someone in mind—”

“I beg your pardon?” His hand firmed involuntarily on her jaw.

“There is a man to whom I am attracted,” she said, lashes lowered in uncertainty. “I would like to invite him on this cruise, but I can’t. Not if I’m going to ruin everything by being some kind of sexual introvert.”

“Who is he?” he demanded. He was jealous, he realized. Insane with it.

She pulled away and bent to blow out the candles. “Do I ask you the names of the women you pursue?”

There was only one. Arianne. She’d been in his thoughts for eleven months. Over a year, if he wanted to be honest, but he didn’t want to be that honest. She might guess the rest and he dreaded that.

“The problem is, if this man shares my bed, he’ll find out what a dud I am—”

“Stop talking about yourself like that.”

“It’s true! I don’t know what I’m doing there. I don’t even know why other people are so keen to test the limits of what can be done there. I don’t want to be this ignorant, Jason! I want to know how to satisfy a man in bed.”

“Fine. Invite me.”

She snorted. “Right. How would that work? You’d bring me up to speed then release me into the world after the cruise? Then what? We continue our cozy dinners with that between us?”

“It could be the beginning of a relationship,” he said through clenched teeth. “Did you think of that?” She could forget this other man to whom she was attracted.

“And when you found out what a dead fish I am, you’d be outta there and how in the world would I ever sit across a table from you again? No, I’d rather spend a week taking lessons from someone I’ll never have to face again.”

She didn’t know who Dominic was. She couldn’t. Either that or she knew everything and was punishing him. Thoroughly.

Deep down, he didn’t care one way or another. There was an iniquitous part of him exploding with excitement thinking of her with Dominic. She’d test the hell out of him. It was beyond exciting to consider. His entire body coiled with anticipation.

At the same time, the velvet of an ocean-scented breeze swirled around him, but it wasn’t warm enough to quell the icy tendrils of guilt wrapping around him.

“But I do need someone I can trust, and you trust him, right? I mean, you trusted him with Celine didn’t you?”

“I indulged her desire for him. They had a history,” he said reluctantly.

“So I could trust him, too. Otherwise I’ll have to find someone else—”

“Are you truly going to be that stubborn about this? You’ll put an ad in the classifieds or something unless I arrange this?”

“Well there is that guy at work who seems to know his way around the bedroom, but I don’t really want—”

“Neither do I,” he cut in, flaring his nostrils to take a deep, calming breath. “But I think you’re being foolish. If this man you are so attracted to calls himself a man, he would find your natural innocence as charming as I do.”

“I don’t want to be innocent! I want to be passionate.”

“You’re highly passionate. You once lectured me for half an hour on recycling.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it. Every time I think about sex, a little voice inside me says, ‘but that’s not me.’ When a guy asks me on a date, I freeze up, terrified because he’ll expect me to be something I’m not. I’m curious, but the internet is just words. It’s not real. I want to feel what it’s like, learn things I didn’t know were possible. Orgasm, okay?”

“I can give you that.” Frustration drove him to slip the leash on his control. He pulled her against him, letting her feel the hardness of his throbbing wood against her stomach. “How do you want it? A long, slow build up then a hard push over the edge? What do you want me to use? My dick or my tongue? Fingers? All of the above until you can’t speak?”

“Jason.” She sounded breathless. Her hands pressed against his chest in resistance but he held her close enough to feel her heart racing.

“Because that’s what Dominic will do. Do you understand that? He’ll run his tongue between your legs and ask you to suck his fingers and cock. He’ll expect freedoms for every lascivious pleasure he can conjure. He’ll fuck you. Often. As fast or slow or hard as your pussy can stand. Are you prepared for that?” The images blew his mind and tightened his grip on her arms.

“No,” she breathed. “But that’s the point, isn’t it? I should be.”

He could sense the contradiction in her, the opposition of her arms, straining for release, yet the faint scent of physical excitement rising off her skin. He suffered a similar incongruity in himself. He was drowning in such possessiveness he wanted to overcome her protests and seduce her right here and now.

Arianne wasn’t with him, though. She was biting her lip, her sexual confidence balanced on a knife’s edge as she waited for his decision.

The blade of guilt in his chest gave a few twists. If she needed to hear from a stranger that she was sexy as hell, he should arrange it. Hell, Dominic had enough control to bolster her without touching her, then point her in the direction she ought to be looking: right here.

Or was that a bullshit rationalization? He didn’t let himself overthink it. It was only one encounter.

“If you insist,” he growled. “You can meet him.”

~ * ~

I think we know where this story is going...

Did you know that purchase of this collection counts as an entry in Dani's Masked Desires Contest? You could win one of these awesome masks or an autographed copy of my August Harlequin Presents The Ultimate Seduction.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest (closes August 17th, 2014). Enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

You can also enter for a chance to win one of three signed copies of The Ultimate Seduction through this Goodreads Giveaway. It closes this Friday, June 27th.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway








The Ultimate Seduction


by Dani Collins

Giveaway ends June 27, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

You'll always be included in a draw for a signed copy of my new release if you join my newsletter. I draw from my subscriber list right before the book comes out.

Looking for that Huge Giveaway I mentioned above? That's over at Lisa Perry's Blog. I'm giving away both An Heir To Bind Them and

The Ultimate Seduction, signed of course.

I'll have even more chances to win The Ultimate Seduction when I start my blog tour mid-July, so keep checking back for those opportunities.

Meanwhile, read the #Thursday13 from The Secret In Room 823. If you like it, it's available for preorder in North America as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2. In the UK, it's on sale now. You can pick up The Secret In Room 823 as a stand alone title, or as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2.

For quickest delivery on all my titles, buy from Mills & Boon UK site, eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus as they appear there soonest.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

or these other fine retailers have it as well:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo

Have I yammered on long enough? Anyone who makes it to the end of my blog posts deserves a gold star. If that's you, send me an email off my contact page telling me you want a gold star, include your snail address, and I will send you some of my coveted Dani Collins post-it notes along with heartfelt appreciation for your time and attention.

Please also check back for the #Thursday13, which will be more from The Secret In Room 823.

#SampleSunday - The Ultimate Seduction (2)

Happy Saturday. I have plans today so I'm prepping this on Friday, hitting post on Saturday morning, then goofing off with my husband. First stop: that coffee place that serves Canadianos - like an Americano, but they use coffee instead of hot water.

If you're a regular visitor, you know I started a new #SampleSunday series last week for The Ultimate Seduction, my Harlequin Presents releasing August 1st.

I'll post the link to the first excerpt in a minute, but I wanted to share this review from Romantic Times, which I loved. Not because she gave the book 4.5 stars (which is awesome!) but because I dig anything with an umlaut especially if it's used on a twenty-five dollar word like uberopulence.

Now, I may have mentioned that I have a lot of books out this summer. O_o <umlaut. Me.

So I have quite a few samples and teasers and excerpts and snippets going on. Give me another word meaning to offer a portion of a book for free (Scene-Cap?) and I will use it to promote these books. Here's what I've done so far:

An Heir To Bind Them #SampleSunday - six posts, this one links to the previous five
Book Blurbs - for all five titles in one handy post
Mastering Her Role #TeaserTuesday - this is the 2nd of four posts planned. Watch for the last one Tuesday June 24th
The Secret In Room 823 #Thursday13 - The opening 13 sentences from this novella (part of
Mills & Boons The Chatsfield series)
Playing The Master - Watch for three (or four) #TeaserTuesdays for this one starting July 15th

Now, if you read last week's #SampleSunday for The Ultimate Seduction, you may recall that Tiffany had received an unusual invitation by way of a masquerade mask to attend an upcoming QVirtus event. Given her scars, she didn't want to go, but her father and brother insisted.

Here Ryzard arrives at the event:

~ * ~

Ryzard Vrbancic abided by few rules beyond his own, but he left his newly purchased catamaran as the shadow of its mast stretched across the other boats in the Venezuelan marina. If he didn’t climb the stairs before the red sky had inked purple, he would be locked out of the QVirtus quarterly.

Story of my life, he thought, but hoped that soon he’d be as welcome worldwide as the famous black credit card.

Security was its usual discreet step through a well-camouflaged metal detector that also read the chip in his mask. One of the red-gowned staff lifted her head from her tablet as he arrived and smiled. “We’re pleased to see you again, Raptor. May I escort you to your room?”

She was a pretty thing, but the petite q’s were off-limits, which was a pity. He hadn’t had time to find himself a lover for weeks. The last had complained he spent more time working than with her, which was apparent from her spa and shopping bills. They were as high as his sexual frustration.

His situation should improve now, but he’d have to be patient a little longer. Like the music that set a vacation tone, the petite q’s provided atmosphere. They could stroke an ego, dangle off an arm, flirt and indulge almost any reasonable request, but if they wanted to keep their job, they stayed out of the members’ beds. Being smart and career minded along with attractive and engaging, the petite q’s tended to side with keeping their jobs.

Such a pity.

His current escort set up his thumbprint for the door then stepped inside his suite for his briefing. “You have a meeting request from Steel Butterfly. Shall I confirm?”

“A woman?” he asked.

“I don’t have the gender of our clients, sir.”
And if she did know, she wouldn’t say.

“No other requests?” He was hoping for a signal from international bodies that his petition to the UN was receiving a nod.

“Not at this time. Did you have any?”

Damn. He’d come here knowing he had a meeting request, hoping it would be a tip of the hand on his situation. Now he was under lockdown and liable to be taking a sales pitch of some kind.

“Not at present. I’ll accept an introduction on that one, nothing longer.” He nodded at her tablet.

“The time and location will be transmitted to your smartwatch. Please let us know if I can arrange anything else to ensure your satisfaction while you’re with us.”

He followed her out, confident that everything he’d preordered was in the suite. Zeus was exceptionally good at what he did. Ryzard had never had an issue of any kind while at QVirtus, which made the exorbitant membership fee and elaborate travel and security arrangements worth the trouble.

Entering the pub-style reception lounge, he saw roughly thirty people, mostly men in tuxedos and masks. They stood with a handful of gorgeous petite q’s wearing the customary red designer gowns.

He accepted the house drink for this session, rum over ice with a squeeze of lime and a sugared rim, then glanced at his watch. At his four o’clock, a collection of dots informed him the small conclave of men to his right included Steel Butterfly.

He had no idea where Zeus came up with these ridiculous nicknames, but he supposed Raptor was apt for him, coming from the Latin meaning to seize or take by force. The bones of several dinosaurs in that category had been uncovered in his homeland of Bregnovia, too.

Eyeing the group, he wondered which one was his contact. One accepted a drink from a petit q and handed her his watch. It didn’t matter, he decided. He wasn’t interested in beginning a conversation in public that he was scheduled to have in private tomorrow. He waited until he was out of range in the gambling hall to activate his identity on his own watch. This resulted in an immediate invitation to join the blackjack table.

He sat so he could read the screen mounted near the ceiling in the corner. It subtly manifested and dissolved with blurbs on presentations and entertainment to be held over the course of the QVirtus Quarterly. Tastemakers, trendsetters and thought leaders were flown in to provide rich, powerful, political forces such as himself with the absolute cutting-edge information and samples of global economics and technology. Meanwhile, at tables such as this one, he would pick up the other side of the coin: gossip about a royal’s addiction, a cover-up of a coup attempt on a head of state, a lie that would be accepted as truth to stem international panic.

He could only imagine what was said about him, but he didn’t let himself dwell on what was likely disapproval and distrust. His people were free, his country independent. That was the important thing.

Still, thoughts of what it had cost him crept in, threatening to inject disappointment and guilt into an otherwise pleasant if staid evening. He folded his hand, left the table and lifted a rum off a passing waiter’s tray as he moved outside in search of entertainment.

~ * ~

Insider note: I deliberately included the watch being handed off as a similar scene happens in Maya Blake's prequel to my story, The Ultimate Playboy.

Want to enter for a chance to win a signed copy of The Ultimate Seduction? I've got several contests on the go right now. The Goodreads Giveaway closes this Friday, June 27th, so enter now if you want in.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway








The Ultimate Seduction


by Dani Collins

Giveaway ends June 27, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Also, if you join my newsletter list, you'll always be entered for a signed copy of my new release because I draw from my subscriber list before each print book releases.

BUT if you join through Dani's Masked Desires Contest you'll also be entered for one of these awesome masks and will double your chances for an autographed copy of the book.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest (closes August 17th, 2014) then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

I'll have even more chances to win giveaways of this title when I start my blog tour mid-July. (Note to self: write blog posts.)

Meanwhile, The Secret In Room 823 is available for preorder in North America as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2. In the UK, it's on sale now. You can pick up The Secret In Room 823 as a stand alone title, or as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2.

For quickest delivery on all my titles, buy from Mills & Boon UK site, eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus as they appear there soonest.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

or these other fine retailers have it as well:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo

Hopefully I'll have some photos on Saturday to post from my little daytrip with MrC. Watch my Instagram/Twitter/Facebook for those and check back for my next #TeaserTuesday. Have a great weekend!

#Thursday13 - Lines from The Chatsfield

I'll be back on the weekend with a new #SampleSunday for The Ultimate Seduction. Meantime, my fourth August book, The Secret In Room 823, is available in the UK, and up for preorder here in N.America, so I thought I'd offer the opening Thirteen lines.

What is ChaptersIndigo

Have a great day. See you for the next #SampleSunday on, honestly? Probably Saturday.

#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role (2)

Welcome to my second #TeaserTuesday for the first book in my third release for August. Yeah, I'm hilarious, I know.

I thought I'd do three snippets from Mastering Her Role, then three from Playing The Master, which is the second book in The Dani Collins Erotic Romance Collection. They're not really a series, but if you prefer to read in order, you'll want to read this one first.

If you missed last week's excerpt, it was the opening pages where Arianne asks to meet Dominic. Here Jason reacts:

~ * ~

Jason pushed himself away from the table, from watching all that he’d carefully built come crashing down. When he reached the short stone wall surrounding Arianne’s patio he turned to face West, to the dark border of hedges and the streetlights beyond, rather than looking at his own mansion and the window to his downfall.

Only when he felt the butt of concrete against his knee did he realize it was too late to say, “Who?” It came out anyway and he heard Arianne’s scornful noise behind him. Funny, but he didn’t appreciate her impudence this time.

“Don’t play dumb,” she said. “Celine told me—”

“What?” he demanded. His hands clenched into fists as he braced himself for the lash of Arianne’s contempt. Surely she would express some. Maybe even worse.

Then it struck him, what she’d said.

“You want me to introduce you? Why? Do you even know who he is?” His gut knotted around the little dinner he’d eaten. He didn’t want to explain. How could he? He barely understood it himself.

“Celine told me he helped her discover herself. Sexually.” Her voice strained to pronounce the last word.

“When—?”

“I bumped into her at a salon a few weeks ago.”

“What else did she say?”

“Would you quit yelling at me?”

“I apologize.” He reined in his flare of temper. “I wasn’t expecting this.” He caught back cynical laughter at the understatement. No, he had begun to imagine something else entirely would come from this dinner. Attempting a calm tone, he forced himself to turn and face her. “Why would you like to meet him?”

She was still seated and kept her head down so she spoke into her lap. “I’m not exactly the most sensual person in the world. I thought he might help me with that.”

Disbelief pressed against the back of his throat.

“Arianne,” he scolded. “Look at yourself. The way you cook,” rich and delicately spiced, “your home,” plush in texture, with splashes of exciting color, “your hair...” She didn’t know what to do with the thick, waving mass, she’d said once, but leave it to fall around her shoulders. He could think of a thousand things to do with the mink-colored tresses, all of them involving naked skin.

She shook her head. “Craig—”

He made an angry noise and took a step toward her before he reminded himself to remain in control. She had the capacity for passion, but it still startled her. “Your ex-husband was not the type of man to bring out that side of any woman.”

“He lacked sophistication, true, but so do I. At least he had the nerve to explore new horizons.” She buried the words in a quick sip from her wine glass.

“Are you calling the lower end of town the horizon? Because that’s as far as the two of them got. They’re currently cutting a sexual swath through the natives there. I hope that’s not what you aspire to.”

“Of course not! I just want to be...different.”

“Different how?” She was positively seductive exactly as she was. When color rose in her cheeks like that and carnal promises grew in the curve of her pouted lips, he imagined exploring the finer points of erotic pleasure with her. Teaching...learning. Oh yes, she had it in her to expand his own horizons, but until tonight she’d quelled every hint of interest in doing so.

The way her marriage had crumbled was to blame and he couldn’t rush the kind of healing she’d needed. He’d understood so he’d tried to be patient while she found her way back to feeling attractive. Now that she was here, he wanted her to explore her sexual boundaries with him.

Not Dominic.

Clasping his hands over the back of the chair he’d vacated, he said, “Why would you feel a need to be different?”

“Because no man wants a woman as stifled as I am.”

“You’re shy.”

“Would you quit patronizing me?” She threw her napkin onto her plate and stood to stack dishes. “I’m so inhibited that just pressing my foot against yours made me feel...”

“What?” he prompted, excitement sweeping through him again at the remembered glory of her making advances for the first time.

“Like it’s wrong. Like I’m a slut or something.”

“Arianne.” She had only hinted at this before with brief remarks about a strict upbringing by elderly parents. A confession once that she’d developed early and was teased mercilessly. An embarrassed retelling of the office-Romeo calling her a tease.

Until this moment he hadn’t recognized the true height of the walls erected around her sexuality.

“Did you like it? The touch of my boot against your foot?” he asked, feeling tension coil in his center.

“I don’t know! But I wanted to let it happen without—” She clunked down the plates she’d lifted and her gorgeously full breasts heaved. “I’m tired of being a freak.”

“You’re not a freak.” He stepped behind her and placed his hands on her slumped shoulders, digging gentle thumbs into the ridges on either side of her spine. Months of carefully introducing innocuous touches had brought him this far. It was the only tension release she allowed him to offer and it never seemed to relax either of them no matter who gave or who received. Nevertheless, he took advantage of the liberty so he could reassure her. Touch her. Drink in the luscious feminine scents of cosmetics and unacknowledged arousal.

“You’re still patronizing me,” she said.

“I’m not and you’re insulting me by saying so.” Her hair tickled his knuckles. It was all he could do not to pull her back against him so he could ease the ache in his groin by pressing into the firm, lush curves of her bottom.

“I have hang ups,” she murmured. “I can’t even relax when you give me a harmless massage.”

Because she sensed it wasn’t harmless, he thought wryly.

“Feeling self-conscious about the way your body reacts to sexual stimulation does not make you a freak. And there are other ways to overcome it than what you’re suggesting.”

“Don’t you dare offer a pity—” She knocked his hands away and turned on him. “—l-lay.”

“Fuck,” he provided. “It’s called a pity fuck. And you’re bent on pissing me off tonight, aren’t you? Why would you accuse me of offering such a thing?”

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t exactly what I meant, only that you’ve never thought about me like that so you must be just trying to be nice right now.”

“Which would still amount to a pity fuck and aside from the fact that it’s not in me to be that nice, if you would like the truth, I began thinking of you ‘like that’ the very day we met across this stone wall. You were wearing a yellow summer dress and I thought it would look better without the bra.”

She swallowed and brought her arms up to hug herself, shock seeming to steal a layer of color from her skin. “Well, you can see how ignorant I am. I had no idea.”

He wondered if he should mention that he could see her nipples hardening now beneath her silk blouse and lacy camisole as she plumped her breasts with her crossed arms. No, she was doing her withdrawal thing, turning away to collect more dirty dishes.

“And now that you do? Have an idea, I mean?” he asked, moving in front of her so she couldn’t retreat to the house.

She put down the dishes with a clatter and another little sigh.

“I don’t think these inhibitions of yours are so monumental, Arianne.” He stroked one knuckle on her bare arm, up to the ruffled cap-sleeve of her blouse. “Let’s talk about them. I’ll be honest with you, you know that.”

“And then you’d know what a neophyte I am! I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of you like that. Our friendship would suffer. I value this you know.” She nodded at the table in disarray with abandoned silver and the pepper mill knocked on its side. She set it upright again. “I can’t risk losing your respect.”

“Surely I deserve better than a We’re Just Friends brush off?”

“That wasn’t—you just won’t understand, will you?”
Her skin pimpled under his touch and he soothed away the bumps, felt the heat rising beneath her skin. His shy little sensuality artist. “Explain it to me. Help me understand because if you won’t allow someone you know and trust to help you, then I can’t fathom what’s driving you.”

~ * ~

You can pick this one up from HarlequinE as an eBook. No word yet on if or when it will come out in print.

By the by, purchase of this 2in1 counts as ten entries in my Masked Desires Contest! Check out the masks below. You'll also be entered for a signed print copy of The Ultimate Seduction.

Deadline to enter the contest is August 17th. Here's the link to the rules and the entry form:

Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest 

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

If you like contests, you might also want to enter my Goodreads Giveaway. I have three signed copies of The Ultimate Seduction available. Enter here:

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Goodreads Book Giveaway








The Ultimate Seduction


by Dani Collins

Giveaway ends June 27, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

And yes, I'm still promoting my June book, An Heir To Bind Them. I have a couple more blog stops to add to the list this week:

02 Jun - Romancing The Book - Interview & Giveaway
02 Jun - iHeartPresents - Great Idea? Or No Idea? & Giveaway
02 Jun - Just Contemporary Romance - The Contemporary Woman & Giveaway
03 Jun - Crazy Four Books - Four Books, Accidentally & Giveaway
05 Jun - Get Lost In A Story - Interview & Giveaway
07 Jun - Contemporary Romance Cafe - Worst Writing Advice I've Ever Received & Giveaway
08 Jun - Savvy Authors - How To Act Like A Professional Author
09 Jun - Harlequin Junkie - Spotlight & Giveaway
17 Jun - Romance Junkies - Interiew
18 Jun - Love Romance Passion - Interview

An Heir To Bind Them is on shelves right now and the August ones are available for pre-order. Head out to your fave book store or purchase online here:

Mills & Boon UK 
eHarlequin
Mills & Boon Aus.

Or Amazon: US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

and these fine retailers have it as well:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo

Whew! That's all for now. Look for a #Thursday13 later this week.

#SampleSunday -The Ultimate Seduction

Welcome to a new series of #SampleSunday, this one for The Ultimate Seduction, my Harlequin Presents releasing August 1st.

I'm starting a bit early as I have several books releasing in August and want to give samples for all of them. You'll have six of these here then a special sneak peek at my Chatsfield short at the end of July.

I won't chat long today. I'm super close to finishing a book that's scheduled to come out March 2015, but the story is giving me fits. I've been dancing around 47,000 words, getting all the way to 49 then deleting a few things, sliding back to 47, rewriting a passage and getting back up to 48... It's like snakes and ladders! I'd like to have it finished last Thursday (ahem!) but I'll settle on this weekend.

So no backstory or previous links for my excerpt today. This is the opening, but I will give you some background. My editor contacted me last year with a very nifty offer to collaborate with two amazing Presents authors, Maya Blake and Victoria Parker. The concept was to give a 21st Century spin on an old-fashioned gentlemen's club. This is a place where the rich go to party, gamble, network, um, seduce virgins...

If you like to read in order, you'll want to pick up Maya's

The Ultimate Playboy in July and look for Victoria's The Ultimate Revenge in September.

Here we go:

~ * ~

Tiffany Davis pretended she wasn’t affected by the hard stare her brother and father gave her when she entered her father’s office. It wasn’t easy to let people she loved pass judgment on whether she’d used sufficient concealer on her scars. Sometimes she wanted to throw the bottle of liquid beige into the trash and scream, There. This is what I look like now. Live with it.

But her brother had saved her life pulling her from the fiery car. He felt guilty enough for putting her in it. He still grieved for her groom, his best friend, and everything else Tiffany had lost. She didn’t have to rub salt in his wounds.

Good girl, Tiff. Keep biting back what you really want to say. It’s not like that got you into these skin grafts.

She came to a halt and sighed, thinking it was probably time for another visit to the head doctor if she was cooking up that sort of inner dialogue, but her harsh exhale caused both men to tense. Which made her want to rail all the louder.

Being angry all the time was a character shift for her. Even she had trouble dealing with it so she shouldn’t blame them for reacting like this, but it still fed her irritation.

“Yes?” She clicked her teeth into a tight smile, attempting to hold onto her slipping patience.

“You tell us. What’s this?” Christian kept his arms folded as he nodded at the large box sitting open on their father’s desk. The lid wore an international courier’s logo and the contents appeared to be a taxidermist’s attempt to marry a raven to a peacock.

“The feather boa you asked for last Christmas?” Lame joke, sure, but neither man so much as blinked. They only stared like they were prying her open.

“Be serious, Tiff.” Christian said. “Why is the mask for you? Did you request to go in my place?”

A claustrophobic band tightened around her insides. A year in a mask had left her vowing to never feel such a thing on her face again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The frost in her voice made both men’s mouths purse. Why did all of this have to be so hard? The touchiness between her and her family was palpable every minute of every day. If she was short, they were defensive. If she was the least bit vulnerable, they became so over protective she couldn’t breathe.

They’d nearly lost her. She got that they loved her and were still worried about her. They wouldn’t relax until she got back to normal, but she would never be normal again. It made the situation impossible.

“Where is it you think I want to go?” she asked in as steady a tone as she could manage.

“QVirtus,” her father said, like that one word sufficed as explanation.

She shook her head and shrugged, still lost. Did they realize she was in the middle of an exchange worth five hundred million dollars? She didn’t have much, but she did have a job now. Seeing as it involved running a multi-billion dollar company, she tried to do it well.

“Ryzard Vrbancic,” Christian provided. “We put in a request to meet him.”

Pieces fell together. QVirtus was that men’s club Paulie used to talk about. “You want to meet a puppet leader at one of those rave things? Why? The man’s a despot.”

“Bregnovia is asking for recognition at the UN. They’re a democracy now.”

She snorted in disbelief. “The whole world is ignoring the fact he stole the last dictator’s money and bought himself a presidency? Okay.”

“They’re recovering from civil war. They need the sort of infrastructure Davis and Holbrook can provide.”

“I’m sure they do. Why go the cloak and dagger route? Call him up and pitch our services.”

“It’s not that simple. Our country hasn’t recognized his yet so we can’t talk to him openly, but we want to be the first number in his Rolodex when recognition happens.”

She rolled her eyes. Politics were so fun. “So you’ve set up this clandestine meeting—”

“It’s not confirmed. That happens when you get there.”

“That would be the broad ‘you’, right? Like the universal ‘they’?”

Christian’s mouth tightened. He lifted out the feathery contents of the box. It was actually quite beautiful. A piece of art. The blend of blue black and turquoise gold feathers covered the upper eyes and forehead and—significantly—splayed down the left side in an eerily familiar pattern. Ribbons tailed off either side.

It was like looking in the mirror, seeing that reflection of her scar. A slithery feeling inside her torso made her heart speed up. She shook her head. She wasn’t going anywhere, especially in public, with or without a crazy disguise.

“You understand how QVirtus works?” her brother prodded. “This mask is your ticket in.”

“Not mine.”

“Yeah, Tiff, it is.” He turned it around so she could see where her name was inscribed on the underside, along with Isla de Margarita, Venezuela. “See? None of Paulie’s old masks will work.”

His terse tone and shooting glance toward their father made it clear they’d spent some time pondering alternate solutions. Both men showed signs of deep frustration, a level of emotion usually reserved for when approval ratings were low. To see them so bent out of shape activated her don’t-make-more-waves genes.

Your father is under a lot of pressure, dear. Do as he asks for now.

No, she reminded herself. She was living her life, not waiting for it to make everyone else’s list of priorities. Still, she’d been raised to have civilized conversations, not be outright defiant. “I would think that taking off the mask to show your name defeats the purpose.”

“There’s a chip embedded. They know which masks belong to which person and as you can see, they only fit one face.”

“They obviously know a lot about me. That’s creepy. Doesn’t it seem weird they would know how to cover my scars?”

“QVirtus has an exceptional history of discretion and security,” her father said, defending it with a kind of pompous grumpiness that surprised her. “Whatever they know about us, I’m sure it’s kept very well protected.”

A remarkably naïve comment from a man who’d been in politics and business long enough to mistrust everyone and everything. Heck, he’d dragged her in here because he thought she’d undermined him with his brotherhood of secret handshakes, hadn’t he?

“Dad, if you’re a member—”

“I’m not.” He smoothed his tie, one of his tells when his ego was dented.

“Christian?”

“No.”

She was quite smart, had always had better marks than her brother who fudged his way through just about everything, but she was missing something. “Who then?”

“Paulie belonged. Paul Sr. was a member and once Paulie inherited, he had the means to pay the fee,” her father said in a level tone.

Of course. Therein lay her father’s envy and reverence. It must have eaten him alive that his best friend and rival for her mother’s affections had possessed something he hadn’t.

“When you were still in hospital, I applied on your behalf, hoping to go as your proxy,” Christian explained. “I didn’t hear back until today.” Glancing at their father, he added, “It is kind of creepy they know Tiff has finally recovered and taken over the reins of Davis and Holbrook.”

“Everyone’s talking about it. It’s hardly a secret,” her father dismissed with a fresh heaping of disapproval.

Tiffany bit back a sigh. She would not apologize for grappling her way into running the company now that she was well enough. What else would she do moving forward? Trophy wife and having a family was out of the question with this face.

Still, it was so unladylike to work, her mother reminded at every opportunity.

“I don’t understand why they’ve accepted her. It’s a men’s club,” her father muttered.

She eyed the mask, recalling the sorts of stories Paulie used to come home with after attending one of these QVirtus things. “It’s a booze fueled sex orgy, isn’t it?”

“It’s a networking event,” her father blustered.

Christian offered one of his off-side grins. “It’s a chance for the elite to let their hair down,” he clarified. “But a lot of deals are closed over martinis and a handshake. It’s the country club on a grander scale.”

Right. She knew how that worked. Wives and daughters stood around in heels and pearls planning the Fourth of July picnic while husbands and fathers colluded to keep their money amongst themselves. Her engagement to Paulie Jr. had been negotiated between the seventh and ninth holes of the top green, her wedding staged on the balcony by their mothers, her cake designed by the renowned chef, and all of it exploded into flames against the wrought iron exit gate.

“This is all very interesting.” It wasn’t. Not at all. “But I’m in the middle of something. You’ll have to sort this out yourselves.”

“Tiffany.”

Her father’s stern tone was the one that made any good daughter spin, take a stance of dutifully planted feet, knees locked, hands knotted at her sides. She caught her tongue firmly between her teeth. “Yes?”

“Our friends in Congress are hoping for good relations with Bregnovia. I need those friends.”

Because his hat was in the ring for the next election. Why was that always the only thing that mattered?

“I don’t know what you expect me to do. Pitch our services while wearing a showgirl costume? Who would take that seriously? I can’t go into a meeting without it, though. No one likes face to face interactions with this.” She pointed at where her ear had been reconstructed and a cheekbone implant inserted.

Her father flinched and looked away, not denying that she was hard to look at. That hurt more than the months of screaming burn injuries.

“Maybe I could be your date,” Christian said. “I don’t know if members are allowed to bring an escort, but...”

“Bring my brother to the prom?” That certainly reinforced how far down the eligibility ladder she’d fallen. Her hands stayed curled at her sides, but mentally she cupped them around her tiny, shrunken heart, protecting it. Love yourself, Tiff. No one else will.

“Get me in to the club and you won’t have to leave your room until it’s over,” Chris said.

Hide the disfigured beast.

She had to close her eyes against her father’s intense stare, the one that willed her to comply.

You weren’t going to let yourself be a pawn anymore, she reminded herself.

“How long is this thing?” she heard herself ask, because what kind of family would she have, if not this one? Her friends had deserted her and dating was completely off the table. Her life would be very dark and lonely if she alienated her parents and brother.

“We arrive at sunset on Friday night and everyone is gone by Sunday evening. I’ll make the travel arrangements,” Christian said with quick relief.

“I wear this thing in and out. That’s the deal, because I won’t do this if I’m going to be stared at.” Listen to her, talking so tough. She was actually scared to her toenails. What would people say if they saw her? She couldn’t let it happen.

“As far as I know, everyone wears masks the whole time,” Chris said, practically dancing, he was so elated.

“I’ll be in my office,” she muttered. Searching for my spine.

~ * ~

Want to enter to win a free copy? I've got several contests on the go right now. First, there's three up for grabs on the Goodreads Giveaway running until June 27th:

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Goodreads Book Giveaway








The Ultimate Seduction


by Dani Collins

Giveaway ends June 27, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Next, if you join my newsletter list, you'll always be entered for a signed copy of my new release because I always draw from my subscriber list before I send a new one out.

BUT if you join through Dani's Masked Desires Contest you'll also be entered for one of these awesome masks and will double your chances for an autographed copy of the book.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest (closes August 17th, 2014) then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

I'll have a few more blog tour stops this week for An Heir To Bind Them. And if you missed them, you can catch up on the #SampleSunday for An Heir To Bind Them here. That post has links to all six of them.

I've also started a #TeaserTuesday for my erotic romances. Watch for three and three on those (sounds kinky, doesn't it?) That collection launches August 4th and you can preorder on Amazon right now if you like the teaser.

For quickest delivery on all my titles, buy from Mills & Boon UK site, eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus as they appear there soonest.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

or these other fine retailers have it as well:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo

It's Saturday evening here, Sunday morning somewhere, I'm sure. Happy Father's Day and check back for #TeaserTuesday :)

#Thursday13 - Pretty Flowers

I have a small illness that requires I take photos of flowers. Thank goodness for Instagram, but then what? I have loads and I'm not a particularly good photographer, more enthusiastic than talented. But a few are nice so I thought I'd repurpose them into #Thursday13.

1) Here's a clematis from my very own garden

2) I stole into my neighbor's garden for this one.

3) This is the orange/yellow azalea you can see behind the pink one above. I must know their secret.

4) Although I didn't do too badly with this rhodo from our garden. Dumb luck. The previous owners planted it on top of a sprinkler so it does pretty well in the conditions of gross neglect that I provide.

5) I never got the name on this. It's on a summer property at the bottom of our street. Smells fantastic in the evenings.

6) This one was from 'Laura's Garden' on a recent visit to the Laura plantation outside of New Orleans in Louisiana. Not sure what these are called, but they're stunning, right?

7) And I do declare, I had to get some magnolia blossoms. (Also fabulously scented.)

8) My Mother's Day bouquet, thanks to MrC.

9) These were the roses my chapter-mates at RWA-GVC sent me when I got The Call (my first publishing contract.)

10) Speaking of mother's, this photo was taken on my mother-in-law's birthday. Who doesn't love violets?

11) Going back to our family trip to Disney World and Epcot a few years ago. This display was so welcome to Canadians in the middle of February.

12) Periwinkle! So hardy and cute.

13) Another welcome respite from snow when I visited Burlington in October one year.

That is all. Cheers.

#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role

If you're visiting from Facebook, Welcome! Unlike my #SampleSunday excerpts, some of these will be short and/or random snippets from my erotic romances releasing August 4th. Know why? Because they're too sexy for my website!

Mastering Her Role is one of two full-length novels in The Dani Collins Erotic Romance Collection. They're not really a series, but if you prefer to read in order, you'll want to read this one first as the characters have a brief cameo in Playing The Master.

Here's the first half-dozen pages to get you started:

~ * ~

“If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect you of trying to seduce me,” Jason said.

Arianne looked up from her coq au vin. A prickling sting crept into her cheeks and her heart stuttered. Was she that obvious?

Her nerveless fingers pleated the napkin in her lap—the cloth napkin that matched the linen tablecloth tinted golden by the late-summer sun.

“Because I went to a bit of extra effort? The catered meals you order outshine this any day.”

He took a moment to nip the last bit of flesh from a petite drumstick, set it aside and licked his glossy fingertips. The wet sound and flick of his tongue, coupled with the way his gaze stayed fixed on her face, made her breathless and fluttery. Hot.

Who was seducing whom?

Her scorching cheeks continued to burn, but she couldn’t look away.

“If you think so highly of what I serve, why have you been declining to join me lately? This is the first meal we’ve shared in weeks. What’s going on, Arianne? Have you been angry with me about something?”

She shook her head, growing even more self-conscious and uncomfortable. This attraction, crush, obsession—whatever it was—had already become impossible to stifle, even before she’d heard a snippet of gossip about him that had thrown her into a tailspin.

“I’ve had a lot on my mind. I wanted to ask you a fa…vor.” Her voice quavered. “But I wasn’t sure how to approach it.” She cleared her throat.

“Yes?” He took up his wineglass and sipped from the oversize bowl.

It was a good white. She’d asked around to be sure. He didn’t seem to notice, only stared like a predatory cat. His eyes were keen slits and his body still and ready. He looked that way when he taught her fencing, and she knew it meant he’d be giving no quarter.

Honestly, why on earth did such a dynamic, chiseled, sexy man waste his time with his frigid, repressed neighbor? His body belonged on a professional athlete, all lean muscle and economic movements. He was intelligent with a dry wit and had excellent taste in everything. He couldn’t lack for female company, yet they’d been sharing two or three meals a week for nearly a year. She’d been the one to reach out initially, thinking he must be as heartbroken as she was when their partners ran off together, but now…

Now she felt like the most naive fool in the Western world.

“I don’t know how you pass yourself off as a writer of technical manuals,” she muttered with mild disgust, sipping her own wine and looking toward his stately mansion with a view of the ocean. What a Cinderella she was in her modest guest cottage, purchased from the mansion’s previous misfortuned owner by mortgaging herself to the rafters. She was so beyond her league here.

And so besotted.

“I didn’t hear a request for a favor in that statement.”

“No.” She almost wanted to quit now and look a small fool than pursue insanity and become a bigger one, but after weeks of wrestling this problem, she had made a decision and would stick to it.

In a minute. When she found her nerve.

She buried her nose in the bouquet of chilled sauvignon blanc.

“I don’t know how you pass yourself off as a successful real-estate agent,” he mocked gently, swirling the liquid in his glass. “It requires a great deal of risk, yet you balk at taking the small one of asking me a favor? Does it have to do with my work? Do you need an engineer’s perspective on something? A house?”

“I would get that from a construction engineer, wouldn’t I? Not someone with a doctorate in biotechnology. Why does that make you smile? I always have the feeling you’re laughing at me.” From the very first meeting she’d sensed he was—not better than her, but more. More worldly. More experienced.

“I’m not laughing,” he said, amusement hedging his words. “I just like it when you take that tone with me. I hear it when we’re fencing sometimes, and I know it means you’ll give me a fight. That’s the woman capable of closing the million-dollar deals, isn’t it? Why don’t I see her more often?”

“Why don’t I see the technical-manual writer more often?”

“Touché.” He tilted his wineglass. “We all show different personalities for different occasions, don’t we?”

He shows his wild side in the bedroom, not the boardroom, Celine had told Arianne once. It had jump-started Arianne’s curiosity, making her wonder what it was like to possess a wild side. Pretty soon her marriage had seemed tame. Too tame.

She hadn’t known how to change it, though. Telling her husband that she’d like to spice things up would have been the blind leading the oblivious. And it hadn’t seemed worth the potential consequences of looking foolish and perhaps denting her husband’s tender ego. Craig had been a pouter. And she hadn’t thought he’d want to try new things. Craig had been gorgeous, but conservative and very set in his ways. He’d fought her on buying this cottage, calling it too risky.

The purchase had come with grave consequences for both of them, but Arianne had wanted this house very, very badly, and now she had it. That risk had been worth it. She knew how to sell and negotiate and cut a deal. Surely she could channel that for a moment here? For something else she wanted very, very badly?

“You keep spacing out on me.” Jason leaned forward, his long fingers tucking her hair behind her ear.
Her pulse rushed to pound in her ears and make her arteries tingle. “Rude of me. I’m sorry.” Her face heated. Below the table she felt the leather of his boot brush the arch of her bare foot.

She withdrew, then could have kicked herself. This was exactly what she was trying to overcome, but his boot felt so male and dominant. It made her heart beat fast. It reminded her she wore only panties, no pantyhose, for the first time. For him, because he didn’t like nylons.

That was something she loved about him, the way he encouraged her to loosen up, telling her women shouldn’t buckle to convention, but wear what they liked. Do what they liked.

When he’d said that, slightly drunk a few months ago, it had been with his hand on her knee. She hadn’t exactly rebuffed the light pass, she just hadn’t known how to react to it. While other girls had been losing their virginity in high school, she’d been helping her father care for her mother. While her twentysomething friends had been perfecting the art of hooking up, she’d been studying for her real-estate license. Now she was divorced, aching in ways she didn’t even know how to describe, but too busy paying her mortgage to get out and date.

How much easier this might be if she had let Jason take her up to the room he’d shared with Celine, but she had been certain it was only the approaching anniversary of their shared humiliation that had prompted his offhand invitation. And she’d known she was no match for him—no competition for Celine. It would have killed her to have him once, only to disappoint him. There was no question she would have. Then she wouldn’t even have their friendly suppers any longer. No, if she truly wanted to win him, she would have to be more woman than she currently was.

She deliberately placed her foot back next to his. She was hyperaware of the slight abrasion against the side of her bare foot and ankle. Heated prickles climbed her calf. Being so forward embarrassed her. She could barely lift her head to see if he noticed.

He betrayed nothing, seemed lost in his thoughts, hardly breathing as he stared into his wineglass.

She caught her breath at how handsome he was with the candlelight throwing shadows across his face now that the sun had set. She was as tongue-tied as she’d been when Celine had introduced herself and her “lover,” Jason, eighteen months ago.

Celine had been as stunning as he was, if not a stark contrast with her fair looks against his black hair and toasted-almond skin. Arianne had wished herself to be as blonde, lithe and given to grace. She didn’t know why she had longed to attract Jason’s notice—not when she had her steady, sturdy husband—but the yearning had been there.

There had been fear, too, of course. She had felt the power of Jason’s potent sexuality and had been both frightened and fascinated, unaccountably shy and wanting to hide behind her husband. Craig had fallen under Celine’s spell in a similar way. The difference was, when the time came, Craig hadn’t been afraid to act on his urges.

“Tell me what you need, Arianne,” Jason said in a husky tone, his gaze lifting. She could have sworn the pressure of his boot against her foot increased, making her blood race in an alarming way.

She needed to stop being so afraid of such feelings. “I want you to introduce me to Dominic.”

~ * ~

This one is coming out with HarlequinE, their digital first line so there's no telling if or when it will come out in print.

Purchase of this book counts as ten entries in my Masked Desires Contest! See the masks and cover forThe Ultimate Seduction below.

Deadline to enter the contest is August 17th. Here's the link to the rules and the entry form:

Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest 

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

Meanwhile, I'm still busy promoting my June book, An Heir To Bind Them with a blog tour that includes several giveaway draws. Visit and enter here:

21 May - The Reading Frenzy - Interview (Giveaway closed)
28 May - Caribbean Accent Book Reviews - The (New) Old World Heroine (Giveaway closed)
30 May - Harlequin Blog - Love Babies? & Giveaway
ChaptersIndigo

That's all for now. Look for a #Thursday13 later this week.