Liz Everly's Blog, page 13

Sexy Sunday Snippet: Venomous Craving by Mary Auclair

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Lady Smut welcomes Mary Auclair with a bit about and a sexy excerpt from Venomous Craving, book 1 in the Eok Warriors series.

Blurb:

A desperate woman.

A warrior whose craving knows no bounds.

A passion that will change the fate of humanity.

In a world where humanity has been hunted to near extinction, Rose is captured and on her way to be sold on the lucrative black market. Seizing her only chance, she escapes and finds fate waiting for her in the form of another captive of terrifying strength: a legendary Eok warrior.

Together, Rose and the Eok warrior Karian will fight for their survival – and ultimately for the fate of the entire human race. During that fight, a dangerous attraction is born.

Karian, the unyielding Commander in Chief of the Eok armies, feels his control fading a little more every time he looks at the fragile but headstrong human. Soon, the call to make her his mate torments his body, turning his desires into an imperious craving. She seems to want him, too, but she has no idea of the consequences for her should he claim her.

Will Rose accept him as her bloodmate and seal both their destinies, before everything is lost?

Excerpt:

A few hours later, Rose held her knees up to her chest with her arms to ward off the frigid desert night, but from the sharpness of her breaths, he knew the cold still slithered from the sand and slipped into her body, depleting it of much needed warmth. Her biosynthetic cotton clothes were sorely inadequate and offered no protection. He knew she couldn’t stand much more of this cold, but he didn’t trust himself to touch her.

If he did, there was no telling where he’d stop. And when the Mating was sealed, he wouldn’t be able to think straight. He would be nothing but a lust-crazed fool for a few days, and those were days he couldn’t afford to spend.

Her teeth began to chatter and long, bone-deep shivers ran through her body. Guilt riddled each cell in his own body, and Karian turned to her. By fearing to lose his control, he’d let her get dangerously cold.

What a poor protector I’ve been. Look at her, she’s freezing.

“You’re losing too much heat.” He got up and walked over to Rose, then sat at her side. “Let me warm you.”

“It’s okay.” Her voice shook, and guilt lashed at him in blazing strokes of shame. “I’ll be fine. Keep watch.”

“You’re not fine.” His arm circled a shoulder of ice. “Midnight God, Pretty Thing! Your body is about to shut down.”

Karian grabbed Rose’s shoulder and pulled her into the cradle of his body. She made a face at his possessive gesture, but didn’t protest. She needed the heat too much. She was so small against him, her body made of subtle curves and secret places.

Lust came, unyielding and imperious. He had known it would, and ignored the tingling of the Mating Venom on his tongue. There was no way around it, the venom slipped through, entering his bloodstream.

I would warm her faster if we were both naked.

No. This was the Mating Venom talking again.

His hand reached up a goosebumps-covered arm, kneading the soft flesh, massaging his own heat into it. Rose moaned and hid her head in the crook of his neck, nestling her body closer to him. Heat flared from deep inside his body and he squeezed her closer, breathing in her intoxicating scent. His hands were animated by a will of their own as they explored her small, female body, running across her legs to grasp her firm, shapely thighs.

Rose’s breath on his neck turned raspy as she molded her breasts to his chest, leeching every sparkle of fire from his contact, sending his desire into overdrive. Karian’s blood turned to a flow of lava and he was remotely aware of his fangs, trickling with the Mating Venom, pushing the boundaries of his control just beyond his reach. Each second that passed made him more intoxicated, more lost in the lust for this female.

Her cold, full lips closed on the skin of his neck and a deep shudder traveled through his body, ending at his crotch. His seed stem was so hard it hurt, and when she pressed her firm ass on it, he could barely contain his impulse.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Pretty Thing.” Karian nipped at the taut skin of her neck, then licked where his fangs had pinched her. His grasp on the Mating Venom was becoming thinner by the moment, and what was worse, he wasn’t sure he cared anymore. “Are you sure of what you’re asking?”

“No,” Rose said truthfully. “But we might die in a few hours. It seems to me like there’s no point in overthinking it. If I’m about to die, then I’d rather die with your taste in my mouth.”

He held her chin between his fingers and turned her head to him. Their gazes met and melded together. They were trapped inside each other’s souls.

Gazing into the gray depth of her eyes, Karian wasn’t sure where the female ended and where he began. His life before her, his impressive rise to the highest rank of Eok military and his years of relentless dedication, seemed empty and void of meaning in the face of what he felt now that he had her in his arms. Maybe she had always been there, somewhere in a corner of his mind, waiting.

“You have no idea what you’re asking of me,” Karian said. “You have no idea—”

He didn’t finish what he wanted to say. Rose closed her now warm mouth on his in a hungry kiss that lay waste to his sanity. Grasping her, he turned her around so she faced him and she wrapped her firm thighs around his waist, pushing her hips against his crotch. Karian tore his lips from hers, then covered the supple, soft flesh of her neck with his mouth, kissing every inch of skin deeply.

He stopped at the curve of her neck, his jaws opening and his tongue flicking over her quivering skin. A trickle of Mating Venom dripped from his fangs, the slick drug covering her tender flesh. Over his ear, Rose moaned and pushed her sex harder against his. The smell of her arousal invaded his nostrils and his burning erection throbbed, imperious with need.

Far in the back of his mind, a small voice suggested: Take her. Take the female. She’s yours.

His hand slid to her breasts, kneading them softly until her nipples perked, hard and needy, through the fabric. His fingers rolled the hard knobs of flesh and she arched her back, whimpering in pleasure, making her breasts protrude even more.

“Pretty Thing, you don’t know how I hurt for you.”

“Then don’t hurt anymore. Take what you want.” She managed to talk through the panting. “I want you, too.”

Karian’s lips landed on her throat with all the hunger of a long-held starvation. The impulse rushed through him and he opened his jaw to enclose the fragile flesh, fangs at the ready. Mating Venom coursed through his veins, veiling his thoughts with the need to make her his, to seal the bond with the bite. His jaw tightened and the fangs pushed against her skin, piercing the membrane slightly. The taste of blood entered his mouth, coppery and salty. It made the rage all the more urgent, the possession all the more pressing. He had to take her. He had to make her his mate.

“Are you going to hurt me?” Rose’s voice came, shaky but still laden with desire.

Her words reached him through the dense fog of lust. She was afraid. She should be. He was seconds away from giving in to his instincts to bind her life to his irremediably. Without her approval, without her knowledge.

He should be ashamed of himself.

With a supreme effort, he opened his jaw, releasing her throbbing throat. His breathing was fast and jagged, and his entire body vibrated with frustrated need.

I resisted this time, but I won’t be able to resist much longer.

*****

Venomous Craving’s is out now, and you can get your copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo.

*****

Mary Auclair grew up in the quiet peace of a small rural village in the heart of Quebec, Canada.

​She now writes as much as her busy schedule allows to bring to life her inner world, filled with exotic planets, mysterious creatures and off course, hot, alpha heroes and the women who melt their hearts.

When she’s not writing, she can be found in the garden, walking her dogs or playing with fire in her kitchen as a part time hit-or-miss chef.

 

The post Sexy Sunday Snippet: Venomous Craving by Mary Auclair appeared first on Lady Smut.

Sexy Saturday Round Up

[image error]By Elizabeth Shore

We’ve crossed over into December, Sexies, so we’re now officially in “holiday madness” month. Mad indeed! The stores, the food, the parties – and what’s with the upside-down Christmas tree trend?! Who knows? Who cares! Spin the dreidel, grab a cuppa ‘nog, and take a break from the bizarre by settling in for the fun reads we’ve gathered up for you this week. Bottoms up!

Does your real family or your office family want to do Secret Santa? Check out these 5 free websites for making the gift exchange a snap.

Sexual harassment allegations giving guys anxiety about how to behave when dating. Yeah. Really.

Yet another good reason to put down your phone – cause it’s messing with your brain.

Robots! Sexiness! Cyberpunk Dystopia! Strap in and turn on Netflix’s new series Altered Carbon.

How to moan.

From Madeline:

Did you know that NYC strippers are on strike!

Would an intimacy director help? Movie studios are working to find ways to make sex scenes safer.

A show about SMILFS! Single mothers…

Ever tried wooing an office crush with a $12.00 chocolate chip cookie? This woman tried.

Tales from the orgasm lab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Facebook’s New Teacher: The Porn Industry

[image error]By Elizabeth Shore

Love it, hate it, or fall somewhere in between, the impact Facebook has had on the landscape of social media is undeniable. Since Facebook launched back in 2004, the world has become smaller, more accessible, and certainly less private than it ever was before. We can connect with old friends, old classmates, even stay in touch with family without having to actually visit them. It’s great!

Facebook has also been used in ways not so good, and the rise of revenge porn is among the worst. Having intimate images of yourself splattered all over the digital landscape by a pissed off ex can be done in seconds with the click of a mouse. The devastating effects can last a lifetime.

Ever wanting to be the goodguy, last spring Facebook launched a feature that allows users a means for reporting the posting of unauthorized images, and the opportunity to have those images taken down and perhaps even shutting down the  account of the poster.

That’s all well and fine, except that it’s a reactive solution. Before a victim can do anything, the image has to be out there for the world to see. Once she (and yes, it’s primarily women who are the targets of revenge porn) learns that the image has been posted, she can spring into action and fill out a report to Facebook asking them to take the image down. That’s assuming she even becomes aware of it at all.

Seems to me (and millions of others) that it would be a lot better if there were a way to prevent the image from being uploaded in the first place. amiright? Oh, but wait! Facebook thinks it has the answer to that, too, and it’s being test-piloted in Australia. Here’s how it works: let’s say you’ve got a nude picture of yourself that you know you’d shared with your ex back when you and he were an item. Now that you’ve moved to splitsville and he’s madder than Donald Trump getting bad publicity, there’s a good chance your former flame might want to get his jollies off by plastering that nude pic of you on his Facebook feed. What to do? As mentioned above, you can use Facebook’s “report” feature to address the problem. But now – at least for folks in Australia – you can do one better. Instead of waiting for your ex to upload the nude pic, you can upload it yourself – to Facebook!

Sadly, I’m not making this up. Once Facebook receives your photo, one of their “specially trained employees”  – unclear what exactly they’ve been specially trained to do – will review the image. That’s right. Your nude photo is now in the hands of Facebook’s employees. From there this nude-reviewing expert will “hash” the photo, i.e., convert it into a series of digital numbers which can then be blocked on Facebook’s platforms if someone tries uploading that photo.

Soooo….ah, Facebook. I have questions. Why exactly must a “specially trained employee,” (read: real person), review the photo at all? If someone doesn’t want a private image posted, shouldn’t that be all the information you need? Wouldn’t it make more sense for Facebook users to upload the image to some sort of hash program themselves and have the image automatically converted without anyone needing to first see it?

Does the specially trained employee ever decide that a private image shouldn’t be blocked? On what basis would such a determination be made? Do users have no recourse if their request to hash an image is denied? And about that specially trained employee…how do we know for sure that he wouldn’t secretly stockpile the images himself? What if a woman concerned about revenge porn knows that her ex works at Facebook. It could happen. There are over 17,000 of you folks, after all. Lastly, what if you get hacked, Facebook? What happens to that bounty of nude photos?

I’m not faulting Facebook for trying to address the very serious issue of revenge porn. In fact, I applaud them. At least it’s a start. But to truly make headway into providing real solutions for users, Facebook might want to take a lesson from the porn industry.

Revenge porn is all about the lack of consent. Images being uploaded without the victim’s permission. In the adult entertainment industry, every single performer must sign a “model release” before any image or video is distributed. Why couldn’t Facebook do the same? As writer and assistant professor Amy Hasinoff states in her excellent article about this situation, with the giant force of technology experts on its payroll, surely Facebook could come up with a method for us to provide our consent before private images of us are uploaded to the world. Take a lesson from the porn industry, Facebook. Because all you’re giving us now is the ability to report a violation after it occurs. That’s not good enough.

Elizabeth Shore writes contemporary and historical erotic romance. She’s the author of  Hot Bayou Nights, Desire Rising, The Lady Smut Book of Dark Desires and (as Liz Madison) Season of Splendor and With His Promise. Her next release, Hot Bayou Fire, the second in the Bayou series, will be out in 2018. Release date announced as soon as it’s known. 

 

 

 

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Sexy Sunday Snippet: Blind Magic by Natalina Reis

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This week we have some witchy magic from  Natalina Reis’ single title romance, Blind Magic.

Book blurb:

Marcy has never been in love. But when Oliver Dawson walks into her store, she falls head over heels. Unable to shake the feeling that she and Oliver were made for each other, for the first time in her life, the quirky witch considers casting a love spell for herself.

Oliver’s life is turned upside down when he’s shot and almost killed. Even though events haven’t been kind to the sexy police detective, he’s determined to make the best of his situation. But still, nothing could have prepared him for feisty Marcy breaking down his defenses, nor the healing tea that leaves him gagging.

Unconventional and hell-bent on getting her man, the little witch soon weaves her magic and captures his heart. He’s more than willing to give it to her, but when faced with his painful and turbulent past, neither are sure they’ll get their happily ever after.

Book excerpt:

“Nice bunnies, it’s time to go.” I often muttered to myself or things around my shop. It made for a less lonely day to hear my own voice. The dust bunnies seemed to be imitating their live namesakes and were reproducing at an alarming pace. I wiped under the shelf with an enthusiasm rivaled only by my eagerness to finish the task and have a good cup of Oolong tea. The Polka Dots and Eye of Newt witchcraft shop was not exactly busy these days. I had my loyal customers who always came back for more, but getting new ones seemed to be an issue. So when I heard the telling sound of my door chimes echoing through the shop, my heart almost skipped a beat with surprise.

A man and a woman waited by the register. I didn’t recognize them.

New customers!

They hadn’t seen me yet so I had the chance to study them while I approached from the back of the store. The woman was tall and gorgeous with beautiful long, dark hair that fell in cascades of silkiness down her shoulders and back. She held herself slightly apart from the man, looking around her with a tightness around her mouth that could only mean she didn’t like what she saw. The man looked familiar but I couldn’t place him. Handsome and standing at least one foot taller than me, hair just as dark as the woman’s but cropped very short in an almost military cut. Both were dressed elegantly in conservative suits, as if they had arrived from a business meeting somewhere. The man didn’t move much, staring ahead, apparently interested in whatever was displayed on the shelf behind the counter. Weird. There was nothing but an empty shelf there.

As if suddenly aware I was watching, the man glanced over at me. I stumbled backward, teetering on my high heels and overcome with an emotion I couldn’t explain. My heart raced at the speed of light, assailed by images of me and the stranger. Heat ran through me, frizzing my hair and curling my toes as vivid memories of his lips moving over mine took over all my senses.

I don’t even know the guy. How can I remember his taste?

But I could. I could taste coffee and dark chocolate, life and happiness, heaven. My body tingled in anticipation and pleasure as I recalled how his hands had cupped my breasts, enticingly warm and eager—

What the hell?

I could almost hear the crackling of fire, the eruption of feelings long forgotten, and the overwhelming yearning for a man who felt so familiar and yet, was but a stranger. Something’s coming this way— I forced myself to snap out of whatever this was and stepped forward.

“Welcome to the Polka Dots and Eye of Newt!”

My greeting startled the woman enough that she swiveled to look at me, but the man barely moved, acknowledging my arrival only with a slight nod. For a moment—a tiny fraction of a moment—I worried I would scare them away with my eccentric ways. Throughout the years I had found that people were a bit put off by my loud sense of style and odd choice of accessories. The moment past, I focused on making the newcomers feel at home.

“What can I do to help you? There is a potion and a spell for every ailment.” I giggled at my own statement. “I just can’t bring back the dead.”

The stunning woman wrinkled her nose as if she had smelled something bad, and licked her red, generous lips. Her gray aura was covered in an overlay of bubbly yellow—joy, slightly marred by guilt maybe. “Are you Marcy, the witch?”

“My reputation precedes me, I see.” I laughed again as I came around to the back of the counter. “So what can I do for you today?”

“I feel a little weird asking this, but….” The woman looked around as if afraid she would be overheard. I stole a glance at the man, still standing and staring stoically at the very empty and totally uninteresting shelf behind me. “Do you have something to help Oliver?” She looked at the man next to her. He twitched a little, the corners of his mesmerizing blue eyes crinkling.

“I’m assuming you’re Oliver.” I pointed at the man, but he didn’t move. A wave of electricity coursed through my body, and I shivered. “Help you with what exactly?”

“Is there a more private place to talk?” Lord, really? The shop was empty. It didn’t get much more private than this. The customer is always right. I pointed toward my small lounging area where a couple of overstuffed armchairs and a sofa surrounded a bright, tile-top coffee table.

The woman looped her arm through Oliver’s and they both followed me into the seating area. “Would you like some tea?” God, I hoped they did. My stomach was begging me for the comfort of its heat and tangy flavor.

“No, thanks.” Why wasn’t Oliver saying anything? And why did she help him to the chair? He was fully grown—and beautifully so, if I was honest with myself—and seemed to be totally capable of sitting himself down without any help. I sat next to the woman. “My name is Eva Dawson. This is my brother, Oliver.” She licked her lips again and placed her hands on her lap, her legs crossed at the ankles. She was the living picture of decorum and elegance. “Oliver is a policeman. You may remember him from about a year ago when he was shot while protecting two witnesses.”

“Of course!” I remembered now. No wonder he looked familiar. He was one of the cops who had been shot while on protection detail for my friends, Em and Jem. Not that it explained the connection I felt with him. “How are you doing, Oliver? You look like you’ve recovered well.” Oliver’s eyes twitched again but didn’t quite turn to me, choosing instead to stare at the wall.

Look at me, fool.

The yearning for his attention overshadowed everything else.

Look at me, please.

*****

Blind Magic is out now! Get your copy in your favorite format here.

*****

Natalina wrote her first romance at the age of 13 in collaboration with her best friend. Since then she has published five romance novels. She doesn’t believe you can have too many books or too much coffee. Art and dance make her happy and she is pretty sure she could survive on lobster and bananas alone. When she’s not writing, she shares her life with her husband and two sons.

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How I Married the Rock Star

 

By Alexa Day

In 1992, I married a rock star. Did you know?

I’m sure some people thought I was one of his phases. That was a big part of his career, the transition from one part of his identity to another. I’m sure people thought this was like that. Something new for him to try out.

How many times have you heard that one, right? I’ve always wanted to try one.

But this wasn’t like that at all. The man the world knew as a rock star was very different at home. When we were together, we didn’t have to wear the faces we presented to the world outside. We were just … us. Just the two of us, boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, father and mother. Just us.

Our 25-year relationship might be the most vanilla thing he had ever done. But he made it extraordinary.

Fifteen days ago, I married a millionaire. Did you know?

When we started seeing each other, I didn’t know about Reddit, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t follow tennis. I wasn’t so sure about him at first. We spent a lot of time together, just hanging out. Six hours wandering around Paris. The rest grew out of that.

I wore three dresses at the wedding, starting off with a beautiful ball gown. It came with a cape. The sort of thing girls dream of wearing. Something that would let them be superheroes and princesses at the same time.

He called me a queen. He said his whole life had led him to me.

In the end, we were swept away on carousel horses.

Next spring, I’m going to marry a prince. Did you know?

How do you meet a prince? Through a well-connected friend. The same way lots of women meet princes. The same way they meet us, if they’re lucky.

His family doesn’t do things small. Spectacle might well be a shared middle name. But he and his brother know that all the opulence in the world can’t save a failing marriage, and the two of them know what makes a relationship work. More importantly, they care about what makes a relationship work. We were actually making dinner when he proposed. The prince and I. Making dinner.

The wedding’s going to be enormous. A word can’t capture how enormous it’s going to be.

After that, though, I think we go right back to being a couple living in the public eye, using the attention to do good for others, and enjoying dinners at home.

I remember the first time I heard I wasn’t beautiful.

I remember the first time someone let me know I wasn’t special.

I remember the first time I was told I’d never get married unless I shrank some part of myself and made myself small. I was too much. Too smart. Too talented. Too plain-spoken. Who would want that, after all? Who did I think I was?

I’m not the only one. You have friends — a lot of friends, I promise — who had exactly the same experience. If you’re good friends, she might tell you who let her in on these essential truths. She might tell you who made sure she knew she was so undesirable. She might not tell you. She might not ever tell anyone because she still feels a little silly for thinking she was beautiful and smart and capable and good enough and wonderful, just as she was.

The truth became a pericardium of stone. Protective at first for a little girl, or so everyone says when they realize there isn’t really an excuse for telling a little girl she isn’t beautiful. No one says that the stony wall will stifle a woman’s heart as she grows and the barrier doesn’t. That kind of a warning might lead her to think that the wall is unnecessary, and that really would be a problem. She has to live with the truth of her smallness and inadequacy, the reality that she is not beautiful, in a world wallpapered with cartoons that depict her as a man or an ape wearing a dress, where the only literature about her glorifies her for the depth and nobility of her endless suffering.

We’re not supposed to marry rock stars and millionaires.

We’re not supposed to wear glittering ball gowns with bejeweled capes.

We are certainly not supposed to face all the ways our lives will change when we join a royal family.

We’re supposed to live with the truth. Someone told us so, and they wouldn’t have sealed our hearts up with words like “not beautiful” and “not special” and “who do you think you are” if there were no truth to these words.

So it matters when someone tells any one of us that love is very different from the tomb we are taught it is.

It matters when he makes his way under or around or through the wall, like it doesn’t exist. It matters when he shows us a way under or around or through the wall.

It matters when he says, “Of course you’re beautiful! Who said that foolishness?!”

Or when he says he couldn’t sleep before your first date, like the rock star did.

Or when he says your life together is a fairy tale, like the millionaire did.

Or when he says he knew you were his match immediately upon being introduced, like the prince did.

When something like that happens to one of us, or three of us, or more of us, it happens to all of us, just like it’s happened to me.

So we all married the rock star and the millionaire, and next May, our family trees will reach up from slavery into the British royal family.

Maybe it shouldn’t be amazing, but it is.

So enjoy the spotlight. Revel in the magic.

And don’t forget to bring a little girl with you.

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Alexa Day is the USA Today bestselling author of erotica and erotic romance with heroines who are anything but innocent. In her fictional worlds, strong, smart women discover excitement, adventure, and exceptional sex. A former bartender, one-time newspaper reporter, and licensed attorney, she likes her stories with just a touch of the inappropriate, and her literary mission is to stimulate the intellect and libido of her readers.

 

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Dragons DuJour: Shifter Romances Are Having a Dragon-y Moment

By Madeline Iva

We seem to be having a dragon moment in Romance-landia, so let’s take a wee look at three books doing the dragon thing and talk about why someone like me–who may be somewhat like you–finds myself diving into dragons even though I’m usually not into the shifter thing.

DRAGON ACTUALLY (Dragon Kin #1): [image error]

G.A. Aiken’s books have always been highly recommended by my reader pal Donna, who’s all up on the shifter-romance scene. Everyone else in the PNR world knows G.A. Aiken too, of course, and worships at her alter.

Look! A blurb:

It’s not always easy being a female warrior with a nickname like Annwyl the Bloody. Men tend to either cower in fear – a lot – or else salute. It’s true that Annwyl has a knack for decapitating legions of her ruthless brother’s soldiers without pausing for breath. But just once it would be nice to be able to really talk to a man, the way, she can talk to Fearghus the Destroyer.

Too bad that Fearghus is a dragon, of the large, scaly and deadly type. With him, Annwyl feels safe – a far cry from the feelings aroused by the hard-bodied, arrogant knight Fearghus has arranged to help train her for battle. With her days spent fighting a man who fill her with fierce, heady desire, and her nights spent in the company of a magical creature who could smite a village just by exhaling, Annwyl is sure life couldn’t get any stranger. She’s wrong…

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it already: Fearghus and the hot knight are the one and the same…no surprises there.  Three things to convince you to try this book if the 1200+ reviews on Goodreads hasn’t…

#1 As one reviewer put it: a bloodthirsty, batshit crazy warrior princesses Yes. My kind of gal. Tods.

#2 Hot semi-nekkid guy on the cover –now that’s *my* kind of fantasy! (Note the semi-nekkid guy on the cover of my own fantasy romance Wicked Apprentice) As readers the semi-nekkid guy seems to offer us the promise of hot sex between the pages.  Indeed there is a lot of hot sex in DRAGON ACTUALLY.

#3 Humor & Fluff = mindless entertainment.  I hope the author doesn’t mind my saying that.  It’s just that these days, I’m all about mindless entertainment.  And I very much appreciate humor in my romances.

But let me put out a hypothesis: I think dragons are a very different from typical shifter romances.  (And by ‘typical’,  I mean wolf-shifter.  I know not from all other kinds of shifters: lions & tigers & bears–oh my!)  See, to be honest—I’m not a real shifter reader.  In fact, I want to say that there are two kinds of paranormal readers out there: wolf-shifter readers and vampire readers. Wolf shifter readers like packs and pack hierarchies. Vampire readers don’t.

Which is not to imply any disrespect to shifter readers at all.  But I wonder if dragon shifter romances are shifter romances that can snag in the rest of us–the vampire gals. Why? We’re talking loners in lairs.  Heroes who are not enmeshed in pissing contests with others for supreme alpha status.  They’re not up to their necks in pack politics–tropes which are fabulous, don’t get me wrong–but aren’t really my thing as a romance reader.

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I lurv this cover. Just sayin.

FIRE IN HIS BLOOD (Fireblood Dragon #1):

Sue London turned me on to Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarians series. The aliens in that series were massive, blue, and their dicks had some extra features. (!) That series totally hit the entertaining-light n fluffy-sweet spot. Adriana Anders made me aware that Ruby Dixon has created a dragon series set in post-apocalyptic Texas. A much more edgy series–there is a rift in the sky through which dragons from another time/world enter into our world, wreaking havoc upon humanity and the planet, while ordinary people scramble to survive.

Ruby Dixon’s dragons come in different color assortments which designate different things about them (red dragons are females, apparently) but they’re still all about the solitary alone time with the female love-interest.

Our heroine is sent out in very much a ye olde sacrifice-y way.  She’s cast out from the community as dragon bait. But this gal is not your typical shrinking virgin offering. Despite the fact that they can’t understand each other at first, her dragon manages to forge a link of communication with her. And it turns out that the dragon is very sweet, (aside from the dragon mayhem destroying the world stuff, of course…) Unlike Aiken, Dixon makes us wait wait wait for them to knock boots – something that annoyed some readers. Yet for others, the trust-building was well worth the wait.

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Love this cover too!!!

A DRAGON’S DESTINY (Dragons #1) is a third and completely different take on the whole dragon thing. This series involves time travel and the Viking Gods. Gods like Odin are worried about dragons bringing forth their final downfall. So they want all the dragons destroyed. One of the gods doesn’t agree with this plan.  She gathers up some dragons eggs and hides them like massive easter eggs through different times in history.

Our heroine growing up in our modern age is mastering all kinds of ye olde skills at the same time that she works as a police officer. She is a warrior in training, really, and one with a crappy love life.  She winds up discovering that she’s well neigh unkillable and also a (wait for it!) a dragon.  Skipping through time to fight bad guys, she finds her one true love who is managing his own political hornet’s nest back in the 1520’s.

This is a very different series from the others. Namely:

Female dragon shifter (Nice!)
POC heroine
Viking Gods

As a side note, Glasneck’s series takes an interesting right turn towards another kind of Viking god – Hel.

Having loved Thor:Ragnarok and slavered over slinky Hela—Thor’s evil sister–I really liked the description for book #4 HELLISH in Glasneck’s Dragon series—which is also book #1 in the Hellish series:

Lady Hel, the ruler of Helheim, is cursed for disobeying Odin’s order. Stripped of her position, she’s imprisoned on an ostentatious estate until she is able to find love. Unfortunately, Lady Hel has never had luck or use for love.

Harley Anderson is a seven-year college senior with no idea what to do with his life. So far all he’s come up with is killing time. When his best friend dares him to hop the gate of what’s supposed be a haunted house, he encounters a woman who steals a lot more than his breath. And what she’s offering could give him the future he’s missing.

So check it out my pretties! Click on any of the book covers above to go git you some Dragons.  Let me know in the comments section below if you you buy into my “There only two kinds of PNR romance readers” theory.  If you don’t agree–tell me why not! 

Sexy Sunday Snippet: Marital Duty by Ingrid Hahn

Ingrid Hahn in the house with a sexy snippet from Marital Duty.

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Book blurb:

Marital duty has never been so satisfying…

Each morning while pretending to be asleep, Evaline St. John, Lady Kingston, submits to her husband’s attentions. She can never dare admit she yearns for more…until her friend Selina, Lady Beaumont, initiates a conversation about what she does with her own husband in the bedroom.

But Selina is bored with her intimate life and suggests that she and Evaline seduce their husbands. She will begin while Evaline will hide in the bedroom to watch. Evaline and Selina do more than make a pact, however. They give in to unspeakable desires and soon they are exploring each other’s bodies as they always dreamed.

When Evaline is forced to confess her misdeeds to her husband, Lord Kingston, he is shocked, but also aroused. The admission changes everything he believed about his wife–for the better. Now, whatever Evaline demands, he happily delivers.

Evaline and Selina realize they are falling in love–with each other–yet they still love their husbands. What are the two women to do?

When Selina’s husband catches all of them together in bed, he flies into a jealous rage and forbids them from ever seeing each other again. Now, it’s up to Lord Kingston to issue the ultimatum to Beaumont: come to their bed or lose them forever. Kingston must show his former friend that he has nothing to fear…and everything to gain.

Book excerpt:

A heavy pulse beat between her legs. She hadn’t wanted to stop. But, God save her, she was married. She couldn’t be doing this with anybody else. Least of all a woman.

Evaline could only hold her breath and flick her tongue out to wet her bottom lip, praying that Selina could find something to say that would somehow make this all right.

“I want to be your friend, Evaline. I do.”

Was that all? Bitter disappointment so crushed upon her that she felt as if she might wilt. The only thing that mattered was showing Selina a brave face. “And I want to be your friend.”

Selina shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. I want to be your friend, but I also want… I want more.”

“I can’t…I can’t give you more.” If only she could.

“Can’t you?” Selina crossed the room and took Evaline’s face between her hands, bringing them close.

It was going to happen again. And this time, Evaline couldn’t stop it.

Selina’s lips swept over hers, and she melted, stifling a moan. The response must have worked to embolden her, for the kiss deepened, becoming hard and insistent and demanding. Selina stepped closer. Evaline’s back met the wall. There was an unexpected force from the softness of Selina’s body pressing into hers—breasts crushing breasts, belly pressing belly. Their tongues met, wet swirling over wet.

Fornication with a member of the opposite sex was enough to earn a place in hell. To do this with another woman… God, forgive them. It felt so good. So right. So perfect.

Damn her wretched corset, damn it—her nipples were imprisoned below the binding, and sweet Lord in heaven, they ached for attention.

Without meaning to, Evaline reached up and grabbed at Selina. She’d scarcely imagined people could do such things, and yet here she was, wild and wanton in the arms of another. Never had another body been so close to hers, not in such a manner as this, not even her husband’s. Kingston would sometimes kiss her on the cheek at the end in that moment before his body slid from hers.

Selina’s hand worked down the front of Evaline’s body and settled at that very place. Their lips came apart.

Selina leaned in to trail her lips over Evaline’s neck, her breath warm as she panted. “I think of you. I touch myself and think of you. I think of you dressed for dinner, and Kingston so wild with want for you that he rips the fabric right off your body, and then he pushes you against a wall just like this”—she jerked against Evaline, hard, for emphasis—“and then he ruts into you like a feral madman until you scream from pleasure, and all the while I’m there in the room, and you know I’m there, but he doesn’t, and I have my skirts up, and I’m touching myself as I watch you, and at the moment you can’t take it anymore, I break into a million pieces.”

“You imagine that?”

Selina pulled back, her plump lips a shade darker than they’d been before. “Surely you too must imagine certain situations.”

“I-I hardly know.”

“Sometimes I imagine it another way. I imagine you watching me with him.”

The tension between Evaline’s legs pulled to an impossibly tight point. Oh, what that would do to her. To see for herself what another couple was like together in bed. She could hardly dare believe people did such things. “Me? Watch you with your husband?”

Selina nodded. “When Beaumont comes to me, I picture you’re there. Hiding behind my screen, watching as he takes me…” She trailed off, lost, it seemed, a league away. She licked her lips. “I want it so much.”

Evaline’s throat was dry, her voice husky as she made a shocking admission. “If you want it half as much as I want it, I don’t know how you stand it.”

Who was she? How could she be saying such shocking things? Among the waves of different emotions pounding through her now, none were regret.

Her friend’s lips parted. “I’m going to do it.”

“Do what?”

“Seduce him. My husband, I mean. I have needs. And he is going to attend them.” Selina gave a decided nod, then looked to Evaline, an unholy glint in her eye. “And you’re going to watch.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Buy links:

iTunes

Amazon

Kobo

Ingrid Hahnis a failed administrative assistant with a B.A.

in Art History. Her love of reading has turned her mortgage

payment into a book storage fee, which makes her the friend

who you never want to ask you for help moving. Though

originally from Seattle, she now lives in the metropolitan

DC area with her ship-nerd husband, small son, and four

opinionated cats. When she’s not reading or writing, she

loves knitting, theater, nature walks, travel, history, and is a

hopelessly devoted fan of Jane Austen. Please connect with

her on social media! Find her on Twitter as @Ingrid_Writer,

on Instagram as ingrid_hahn, and on Facebook as Ingrid

Hahn.

The post Sexy Sunday Snippet: Marital Duty by Ingrid Hahn appeared first on Lady Smut.

Sexy Saturday Round Up

[image error]By Madeline Iva

Hello Post-feast Revelers– Hope you’re exhausted after a joyous holiday.  If you’re like me you’re enjoying a breakfast of left over pie, planning on huddling inside all day and soaking up our sexy smexy round up of news about romance, gender.  And if you didn’t see it yesterday, please check out our Black Friday Giveaway!  Now on to the fun stuff.

$25 Amazon.com Gift Card and Books in the Black Friday Giveaway

By Elizabeth SaFleur, Isabelle Drake, Elizabeth Shore, Kiersten Hallie Krum, and Madeline Iva

You could use a $25 Amazon.com gift card, right? And more book boyfriends? How about a surprise present, too? One winner will receive all these prizes in the LadySmut Black Friday Giveaway happening today through December 1. Winner announced on Sunday, December 3 on this blog post and on the Lady Smut Romance blog Facebook page.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post $25 Amazon.com Gift Card and Books in the Black Friday Giveaway appeared first on Lady Smut.

Thor: Ragnarok: Anti-Patriarchial Action Adventure

 

 

I knew going in what I wanted fromThor: Ragnarok going in–And I got it.  But it also had some excellent surprises.  First let’s go over the good stuff we expected:

I wanted humor. The very first Thor film had a lot of excellent humor–and who doesn’t love a hero–and a franchise–that doesn’t take itself too seriously? Who doesn’t love riffs on anti-cool-ness? (I do!)

I wanted Hela! I was excited to see an all-powerful villainess with the most-est.[image error]

As played by Kate Blanchet, Hela in all her glory is a lot of Goth eye make-up and a lot of scorching fury. Her tortured, slinky self was magnificent. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: her antler horns are ridiculous–almost as ridiculous as Loki’s–which is saying a lot. It takes quite a good actor to wear it well, and Blanchett did.

I wanted Loki – Hiddlesbum, you hot thing you.  He was expected, even needed in the film every bit as much as Thor was. Always elegant, and in this film not given particularly much to do. He nevertheless did a good job of portraying his own skewed agenda throughout. Sometimes a reluctant part of the team, Loki’s never one of the mob. He’s an independent thinker, with his own perspective, and that’s why I like him so much. [image error]

Idris Elba as Heimdall, alas, has never pleased me in the Thor franchise. Three reasons why:

They loaded him down with some crazy eye contacts
and about five tons of too much sincerity
in too small a role. Sigh.

What I wasn’t expecting was:

Valkyrie! Tessa Thompson got to play the reluctant hero role as a POC side-kick. YAY!  I found her arresting.[image error]

Thor gets a make-over! He gets a haircut. (Yay!) There is also some gratuitous shirtless Hemsworth time. (Was that abdomen CGI? I don’t think it was, but day-am!) Hemsworth, really is at his best as an actor playing a frank, yet dumb warrior dude. He doesn’t deserve his role because of pure acting skill; there is no denying the man’s super-human arms. Whew! In a way, I’m glad his shirtless moment didn’t go on and on, because I have no idea what was being said in that scene, and wouldn’t have been able to follow the movie’s plot had such shocking Hemsworth shirtlessness continued.

WHAT YOU DIDN’T SEE IN THE FILM BUT I COULD TOTALLY IMAGINE:

I think the creators of Thor know us by this point, ladies. That Thor ending—where there’s a bit of a singular moment between Thor and Loki when they’re alone. Full of emotive unspoken feelings. Full of pauses.

This is what I said to my sweetie on the way back to the car afterwards:

In my version of the film that’s where they would have started having sex.

Sweetie said: No way! They’re brothers.

Adopted!

Please.

Look it’s been a hard year for us women. We need Thor & Loki sex.

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META-NARRATIVE ABOUT THE DEATH OF OLD SKOOL PATRIARCHY, ANYONE? (!!!)

It was a surprise to see Karl Urban with a bald head and heavy make up at the beginning of the film, yet he was there purely as a representation of Old skool masculinity.

A sop to a certain kind of gun-loving guy, Karl Urban has babes and guns at the beginning of the film. But the film really deflects that. An instant later, some creature spits up all over the babes, and things go to hell in a handbasket. Poor Karl really just wants to have his one true warrior moment. At the very end, he gets to have that moment—along with all the gun-toting idiot dudes out there–as he go down in a blaze of old skool masculine glory, seemingly selfish at first, but sacrificing himself for the good of others.

LET’S GO DEEPER PEOPLE: That’s one layer of the film–and it’s thin.

I would posit that the rest of Thor is attempting to shift Action Movies in a new direction—make them more progressive. (Shocking, I know.) How did THOR: RAGNAROK mark a profound shift in action adventure movies of the future? Many critics are buzzing about the different meaningful aspects of this new directorial vision – the first POC director in the franchise. I want to argue that the film is (as much as it is anything else) literaly dismantling patriarchy, as well as creating space for women as active players in the Thor Universe.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!

First the women: Hela is a great villain. She could have been more clever, could have gotten deeper, but her role involved a shocker—see below.

There’s also the Valkyrie. No more Thor’s mother and sister sitting around at home while all the action was happening elsewhere. The Valkyrie is right up in it. She is the female Karl Urban, taking up far more space in the film.  She also fights in the end, knowing she’s gonna die.

No women need to be saved because they’re the weaker sex in this movie—on Valhalla the entire population needs saving. Nor are the women reserved for romantic interest fodder. There are no romantic interests at all in Thor: Ragnarok (unless you buy my Loki & Thor m/m fantasy. ;>) Women are included as players, pure and simple. Hela kicks ass, and the Valkyrie—full of doom and foreboding–wads into a losing battle, then pounds away at it just like the men.  Why not, right? They’re all gods–it’s not like their physical forms really matter.

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Credit:Jasin_Boland/Marvel Studios 2017

But what was even better and more riveting to me—was this fabulous tearing down of Odin—Thor’s father (played by Anthony Hopkins.)

The back story in this movie is that Odin had a daughter, named Hela – and they ravaged 9 kingdoms together, raking in the booty. That is, until one day Odin seemed to grow a conscience about all the plundering and decided to go in another direction. So Odin’s solution was to cast his daughter out of Valhalla. Her very history was written over, with other remnants and symbols from that time buried and forgotten. Until Odin’s death. As he’s dying, he tells his two sons about their lost sister—and once he’s dead, she’s back, with a big old chip on her shoulder and some major daddy issues.

The first thing she does is go and uncover all this erased history in Valhalla, (I couldn’t find pictures of the cool moving ceiling mural–but it was really well done) staking her claim as first born to rule all of Odins 9 realms. And what the hell—she wants to go out and conquer all the remaining realms as well.

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The picture of Valhalla literally crumbles to reveal a hidden truth underneath.

So as a villain, her major lasting strike is that she complicates the idea of Odin as a good guy. Nor is he ever vindicated in the end. There’s no rolling back from her revelations once she’s vanquished.  The upshot: Valhalla, built upon ill-gotten, illicit colonialist wealth, is destroyed.

Buh-bye patriarchal kingdom.

In the end, yes, Hela is displaced by Thor. It’s not done with a “the man’s supposed to rule” kind of presumption. Thor acknowledges that as eldest born Hela has a legitimate claim to the throne.

But then Thor points out that she’s the worst. True. Hela has an unquenched desire for conquest, totalitarian rule, and a cavalier disregard for the death and destruction of her subjects. That’s what they say, but that’s not how actions play out.  At the very end, Hela **is** left to rule Valhalla–and to destroy it. A world born out of multiple sins is pulled down into flames and destruction, while Thor and his people seek a new place to start fresh.

Want to read more interesting discussion about the film?  Here’s a Mashable blog post on Thor’s themes of colonialism.

and a blog post about the deliberate use of Maori humor in Thor:

Thor and his magic patu: notes on a very Māori Marvel movie

 

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Lady Smut – our Black Friday giveaway that starts tomorrow, Nov 24, 2017. Check it out![image error]

Madeline Iva  is the twisted sister you always wish you had.  She’s also the author of the fantasy romance Wicked Apprentice.  Check out her other Lady Smut posts, Join her newsletter or follow her on Facebook, twitter, and Pinterest. 

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