Weekend Dirty Dozen

This weekend's twelve are another little teaser from Lure Of The Blood.

Blurb 
Marnie's decision to finance her law degree by pole dancing awakens her latent sexuality and the mysterious stranger lurking in the shadows sends her libido into overdrive. Attacked on the way home, she wakes up the next morning covered in bruises and with no recollection of what happened. The newspapers are full of a suspected animal attack and Marnie finds herself in her very own Twilight Zone.

Realising her sexy lurker is a vampire is bad enough, but her boss is the alpha wolf of a pack of shifters? Torn between her attraction to both men and surrounded by danger, she has a decision to make, that will change her life forever.

My twelve

    A ruthless determination emanated from the man carrying her up the stairs, three at a time, as easily as though she weighed no more than a feather. His heartbeat thundered in her ear as erratically as her own and his arms tightened around her, when she wriggled closer into the warmth of his skin, not able to stop her instinctive need to lick his chest.

   The scent and very essence of Ion exploded on her tongue. Need slamming into her, all thoughts of injuries fled her befuddled brain, when Ion pinned her against the wall, the minute they reached the safety of the bedroom.

   He slid her down his naked body with infinite slowness and they groaned in unison when his rock-hard erection made brief contact with her groin on the way down. Marnie couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. She was locked in the prison of Ion’s arms, every cell in her body craving his touch. Her knees buckled when he sniffed her neck, inhaling deeply. One of his thighs, between her legs, stopped her descent and his wolf’s grumble vibrated through her, causing more moisture to seep through her soaked thong. He had to feel that! Heat rose in her cheeks, even as his cock seemed to grow bigger still, a hard shaft against her belly, setting her skin alight where it touched through the thin barrier of her summer dress.

   Ion’s barely controlled growl in her ear was the most arousing sound she had ever heard. 

Lure of the Blood will be released by Evernight Publishing on November 16^th  

^{To celebrate my release I'm offering another chance to win a free PDF copy. All you have to do is leave a comment and/or like my Facebook page. Do both and you get two chances :-)}

I hope you enjoyed my twelve.

You can  find other authors participating In the Weekend Dirty Dozen here and be sure to check out The Dirty Dozen Facebook page.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone :-) 

xx

Guest blog by Diane Alberts

One thing is always the same in my books, no matter what genre or type of book it is. In my head, the hero always is the same guy. I could be sentimental, and say that it’s my husband. And, truthfully, a bit of him shines through in all my heroes. Don’t tell anyone, though—I want to keep him.

But I’m talking about my fantasy—will never meet—let alone get to touch—yet I love him—guy. We all have him. Or more than one of him. For me, it’s him. In Kill Me Tomorrow, my new paranormal 1NightStand romance from Decadent Publishing, he had blonde hair and purple eyes.

But he looked like him, anyway. And I drool over him every Monday night on CBS. My hero, ladies and gentlemen, is always….Alex O’Loughlin. Man, he gives me inspiration. In many ways.

Here’s some drooling pleasure for you. And read about him…um, Gavin, in Kill Me Tomorrow, out now from Decadent Publishing.

Kill Me Tomorrow is a paranormal romance book, in Decadent Publishing’s fabulous 1Night Stand series. The series revolves around the enigmatic Madame Eve who always seems to be able to find the perfect match for that special someone.

Blurb:

Jasmine Baruch is a jinn-a supernatural being who fights demons with fire. While that’s difficult enough, she’s got bigger problems. She’s a virgin, and in the jinn culture, that is sheer blasphemy. Jinn are supposed to be passionate, promiscuous creatures-everything she isn’t. Due to marry the next day, she takes matters into her own hands by using 1NS. But, like the rest of her life, nothing is easy. The man chosen for her, though incredibly gorgeous, is a demi-sanguine; a half-human, half-demon-her enemy.

Gavin Werbato is looking for an easy night of sex. Nothing more, nothing less. Instead, he gets a gorgeous jinn convinced it is her duty to kill him. He can certainly think of better things to do with her soft hands than murder. He need only convince her of that…

Can the fire sparked when these beings collide be controlled, or will it consume their world as they know it?

Excerpt:

She’d accomplished nothing at all.

Nothing.

A weight sank beside her on the bed, and she shrieked. She darted a glance at the door, but it remained locked. Of course it did— portals didn’t hold back demons.

“Good punch.” He laughed and rubbed his nose. “Some men might hold a grudge—but not me. I heal too fast.”

Indeed he did. A glance at his face revealed features as gorgeous as ever. This sucked for the self-pity party she’d been trying to throw.

She preferred him bloody and not so devilishly striking.

She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “Why won’t you just leave?” He caressed her arm in a lazy, seductive way, and she shivered. “Stop that.”

His hand stopped moving, but he didn’t remove it. “Why do I have to stop?” he murmured. “Why do I have to leave?” He traced an invisible path leading up to her shoulder. From there, he grasped a curl and twirled it between his fingers, as if testing its elasticity. Her scalp tingled at his tender tug, and a jolt of lightning shot straight to her stomach, causing her to bite back a moan.

“Because….” She lifted her head, and turned to face him.

His eyes were so blue they were nearly purple, which, combined with his light blond hair, made him a lethal opponent indeed. How could she resist such a gorgeous creature, knowing that it might be her last chance to rid herself of her virginity? Yet, how could she say yes? “Because you are half demon, and I am a jinn. We are adversaries, you and I.”

 “I’m not an evil demi-sanguine,” he assured her calmly. “I don’t rape, kill, or pillage. I’m unremarkably human—plus a few small details. But you are hardly normal yourself,” he drawled with a lazy grin. “And I’d like to make love to you.”

 Find Diane here:                   

Trailer                                             

Website

Blog

twitter

Facebook

Buy links:

Decadent Publishing

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Interview with Renée Vickers

I have fellow Noble Author Renée on my blog today. Her Debut Novel Sly's Surrender is coming soon from Noble.


Hi Renée, so glad you could make it.

Hi Doris, thanks so much for having me on your site today! To those who don’t know me, I’m R. Renée Vickers, call me Renée.  I’m a new author expecting my first official literary baby towards the end of the month. Sly’s Surrender is set to be released on November 21^st. So right now I’m just making some rounds, getting to know everyone and having a grand time with it.

Such an exciting time. 

So, tell me, what made you write ‘this’ story?

Sly’s Surrender is a contemporary M/F BDSM story about a very empowered restaurateur, Sly, who is very much accustomed to being in control. She succeeds at everything and is at the top of her game but there is still something missing. She decides to hand her control over to her (very sexy) partner Jake for a change.

I wrote this as a challenge by a good friend of mine, and well known author around these parts, J.S. Wayne. Until the challenge I’d written a variety of poems and short stories but only a very small fraction would have been considered romance. Writing erotic romance was even on my radar at the time. But I was at the point where I felt I had a good base of skills and wanted to expand.  Some ideas got tossed around and I admitted I wasn’t shy about writing explicit material, I’ve just never had the opportunity to really go at it. So, the challenge to write a M/F BDSM piece with a 3,000 word minimum threshold was laid down and I jumped on it.

Glad you did, the story sounds great!

Describe a typical day’s writing for us

I work a full time day job and have a family so my writing time typically happens in the last 2-4 hours of my night or at any time on the weekends. Half of the time I’m curled up on the couch with my netbook on my lap and headphones blaring everything from Atreyu to Volbeat in my ears, the other half is spent at my desk. It doesn’t matter where I sit really as long as I have my headphones. Then once I’m done puttering around with my networking or promotions, checking email and social networks I get to work. Some days I’m focused, others – not so much. The internet is a real distraction and I have a profile on my netbook where I’ve disabled nearly everything just so the temptation’s gone.

What inspires you?

Different things inspire me at different times. Sometimes it’s music while other times inspiration attacks me after a long conversation with a good friend. I’ve often been woken out of a dead sleep when my muse attacks. More often than not though, I find great inspiration while reading the work of others. I have a hard time tearing myself away from writing to read because the plot bunnies gang up once I put the book down.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

Good question. I’m not sure. I wear many hats but have been pursuing creative opportunities for as long as I can remember. I always thought I was going to be an artist and went through school for fine arts. But as life happened my life has taken different paths though I’ve always done art and other creative activities as hobbies. But I’ve never been so obsessed with anything more than writing. I want to grow creatively in this field more than I ever wanted with anything else and hope one day I can quit my EDJ and pursue a life as a recluse writer.

Do your characters ever surprise you?

Often! I’ve had a few that have had a life of their own. I know that’s the point with creating characters but there have been times when I’ve handed them their game plan and they’ve ripped it to shreds and went their own way. What do you say to that as their creator especially when their moves worked out better than you imagined? It’s usually a happy surprise.

Sounds very familiar, mine are forever going off on a tangent, lol.

What could you not do without when you’re writing?

I have two things that I must have for writing, everything else is secondary: my Sansa Fuse MP3 player and my SkullCrusher Skullcandies headphones. I could be in the middle of Time Square, or worse a daycare center and as long as I have my tunes I’m good to go. They’re not for inspiration, they’re for focus, like blinders. Something about a good heavy metal tune gets my brain working on the straight and narrow.

What words of wisdom do you have for the aspiring authors out there?

Never quit. Next to parenting, writing well is the most difficult and rewarding thing I’ve ever tried to do. Be humble, there will always be someone better than you so if they offer advice, take it. And last read as much as you can. Those are the three pieces of advice that I’ve found invaluable.

Wise words indeed, couldn't agree more.

Where do you see yourself in ten year’s time?

In ten years my children will all be out of high school which means that will be around the time we’re planning on moving to Tallahassee Florida. This is definitely something we’re looking forward to because not only is Tallahassee and the surrounding area beautiful, but that’s where my husband’s family and many of our friends are. As far as writing, I hope to be doing what I’m doing now, except better and faster. And maybe doing it without an EDJ, that would be nice.

Fingers firmly crossed for you .

Do you have a favourite quote?

Mahatma Ghandi is one of my favorite people to quote. This is my favorite of his, followed closely by his Seven Deadly Sins: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

What other books can your readers look forward to?

I have several projects in the works and hope to not be too long in getting them out. My focus is in the paranormal fantasy and science fiction areas of the romance genre. I also like working with Asian and SubAsian mythologies so I hope to have a piece or two coming out soon with those themes.

Sounds interesting!

And finally can you share an excerpt with us?

It would be my pleasure to. Here’s an excerpt from Sly’s Surrender.

“Hey, sexy.” Sly’s smooth voice purred just behind Jake, just as her fingertip caressed from his chin to his jaw in one long motion ending up just behind his ear. Shivers ant-marched down Jake’s body. In that instant Jake knew. This is why. All of the anger, indignation, and embarrassment fled his mind as she wrapped an arm over his shoulder and down his chest. As her hot breath caressed his neck, her honeyed voice flooded his mind. “I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.”

It took everything he had to not swallow, to show no outward reaction to what she was doing to him with these miniscule teases. This was just another game to her. She’d make him wait until he’d be ready to walk out, until he was so mad he couldn’t stand it and then she’d show up making him switch gears. Just like that. He shot a quick glance at Tony, who watched this dance out of the corner of his eyes pretending like he was too busy toweling off a pristine glass to notice.

When Sly’s tongue flicked Jake’s thick, silver-hooped earring he lost what small shred of control he had, albeit for a fraction of a second. He could feel her smile as her cheek rested against his neck. A prickling flash of anger growled in some dark recess of his mind.

She moved to half-lean, half-sit on the vacant stool next to him and he had to strangle a gasp threatening to break. If he hadn’t, his body would have given away just how badly he wanted her. This was high-stakes poker and so far the house was winning. Sly wore a tight black corset. Though no doubt made of the finest and most sturdy materials, the bone-rib garment threatened to break under the flood pressure of her ample bosom. It must have been a custom piece because it slithered down her slim waist with precision. No department wares could hope to cope with a curvy form such as hers. He noticed the striking color contrast as the thick black material lay against her flawless, smooth. Ivory-colored skin.

As his sight drew down, he soaked in just how short her layered black and burgundy diaphanous skirt was. She couldn’t sit down without flashing her all to the world. Jake gulped, carelessly abandoning any desire to restrain himself. Seeing his reaction, Sly barked a throaty laugh. He refused to look up until he saw his favorite pair of strappy black, four-inch stiletto heels. When he came up for breath he found her glossy wine-colored lips slithering a Cheshire pattern across her gleaming teeth and humor glistening in her hazel eyes. Oh, how she loves this game.

I am loving that excerpt. This is going on my to read list!

Thank you very much for having me here today, Doris. I enjoyed our time together and the opportunity to share myself with your readers.

Thanks for popping over  Renée, it's been a pleasure.

Come and visit  Renée on her blog here. She would love to have you visit :-)

Weekend Dirty Dozen

It's that time again. Where has the week gone?

My twelve are once again from my upcoming release Lure Of The Blood by Evernight Publishing.

   Unease trickled down her spine at the renewed growl rumbling from Ion’s broad chest. He looked as tense as a bow string, his grey eyes pure steel, holding her captive, one large hand curling round the base of her neck, forcing her to look at him. 

   “This is very much my concern. You’re coming home with me and I’m not taking no for an answer. Someone needs to look after you.”

   “I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself. I don’t need a man for that.”

   The calloused fingers on her neck tightened painfully and she couldn’t help the wince escaping, even as her body reacted to the raw, barely-controlled masculine power radiating off him with embarrassing predictability. Heat rose in her cheeks at his knowing smile. She watched in helpless fascination as his nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed, before he came so close the heat of his skin seemed to melt into her bones. His breath fanned across the sensitive skin of her neck, before he seemed to sniff her and his growled words in her ear sent her heart beating into overdrive.

   “Just as well I’m not just a man then, little one.”

Lure of the Blood will be released November 16th.

For a chance to win a PDF copy,  leave a comment with your e-mail.  Winners will be announced on release day :-)

You can find other participating Authors here, so do go and check out their twelve and like the Facebook page, if you're on there.

Till next weekend, folks.

It's here! *excited squeal*

What made me jump out of bed and dance around the house this morning? Had the kids wonder whether they should call for the men in the little white coats?

No, I didn't win the lottery - I received my cover for Scandinavian Scandal!

BLURB:  Sven Larsson, international movie star, is out to repair his scandalous reputation. The last thing he needs is for an enticing bundle of curves to fall into his arms, making his libido sit up and growl Come to Papa. However, the instant sexual chemistry between them is hard to ignore…

Sylvia, young widowed mum of three, knows Sven is everything she doesn’t need in a man. Can she risk giving in to temptation and enjoy the no strings sex on offer?

With the paparazzi breathing down their necks and both of them scarred emotionally by their past demons, will they manage to heal each other...

Like the sound of that? I sure hope so :-)If you do, come and like my Facebook Page for a chance to win a copy of Scandinavian Scandal and my other November release Lure of the Blood.


Here is a little excerpt from Scandinavian Scandal due for release on November 21st with Noble Romance

Lost in thought, Sven flipped the bacon expertly, his smile widening at the thought of waking his little firecracker up with a kiss. Maybe it was just his self-enforced celibacy that had made last night incredible. Yeah, that had to be it. It was just sex. Okay, it was the best sex he ever could remember having, but it didn't mean a thing, other than he hadn't had it in far too long. He would just have to make the most of the weekend, so that neither party was left with any regrets, and she would be out of his system.  And if she wasn't, well he would just have to convince her that being his fuck buddy every time he was in town would be good thing. Who are you kidding man? She is never going to go for that sort of arrangement.

But if he laid his cards on the table, so she knew this wasn't forever, then maybe, just maybe they could enjoy a relationship of sorts anyway.

The feminine gasp behind him made him spin round, his body reacting instantly to the sight of his firecracker standing in front of him, tugging at the hem of his shirt self-consciously, a slow blush spreading across her skin at his blatant appraisal of her. She had to be naked under that shirt, her suit case was still unpacked on the deck where George had placed it last night, and his hands had made short work of her underwear. He would have to buy her some more—now there was a thought.

"God morgon, älskling."

 "Hi."

He chuckled to himself at the way her eyes strayed downwards to where he knew he was tenting his apron before she hurriedly brought them back up to his face and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear in another self-conscious gesture. And fuck him if he didn't find her natural shyness the sexiest thing ever. She clearly had no idea how hot she looked standing there with her hair still mussed from his fingers, her soft skin marked by his stubble, the scent of sex and arousal wafting across the room to him in the breeze. Jeez man, think of something else, after last night she won't be up to a quick roll yet. Or a nice, leisurely wake up fuck, for that matter. No, he would have to pamper her a bit first.

"You beat me to it. I was going to wake you up with breakfast in bed. I figured you'd be hungry after last night."

As if on cue, the rumble of her stomach made them both laugh, and some of the tension left her shoulders.

"I take that as a yes, baby. Now come here."

Turning the hob off with one hand, he drew her into him. Barefoot, she barely reached his shoulder, and, silencing her soft gasp with his kiss, he lifted her on the worktop, his protective instinct kicking in at the slight wince she tried to hide.

"Sore?"

"A little, yes. I can't think why."

"Sorry. I guess I was a bit demanding last night."

Her breathy, "No shit, Sherlock," made him smile ruefully, whilst pulling her closer into his chest, relieved at the way she leant into him.

"I thought you were going to feed me. Least thing you could do in the circumstances."

His smile turned into a full blown belly laugh at the expression on her face at his next murmured words. "Trust me, lady, breakfast is only the start," and he popped a slice of bacon into her rounded mouth, sealing the deal with a kiss.

It was much later—after he had run her a bath in the Jacuzzi, his whole body tense after hearing her feminine sighs of bliss as he lowered her carefully into the fragrant bubbles—that the truth hit him. He had forced himself to walk away and into an ice cold shower, willing his erection to go down. One weekend was never going to be enough.  In the short time he had known her, she had gotten under his skin, and he was fucked if he knew what to do about it.

COPYRIGHT Doris O'Connor 2011

My Nano effort

November is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. Participants aim to write a 50K novel in a month.

You may remember I won this last year. I wasn't going to join in this year's efforts, I really wasn't. Am far too busy or so I thought...

However, as per usual one of my heroes took over and after not much sleep the night before Nano and some gentle persuasion by my crit group *glares at Suz* I joined up yesterday.

The working title for this story is Lucas's story - I know, I know, call myself a writer, lol, it's not very original. I will think of a more suitable title, just as soon as Lucas has figured out where we're going with his story. That's if Coralie lets him, she's rather feisty, that one and is sitting on my other shoulder.

You will meet Lucas in my upcoming release Lure of the Blood which is being released on November 16th, just in case you haven't heard me shout that bit of news from the rooftops ;-)

I fell in love with Lucas when I wrote Lure of the Blood and I knew he needed his own story, so, all being well, he will have it come the end of November.

So, without further ado meet Lucas

 and Coralie

 

and this is how they meet...

(please note this is unedited, so forgive any mistakes)

Who in all that was holy would want a strippogram on a canal boat.  Not only that, it had to rain didn’t it. Coralie grumbled under her breath, clutching the by now lukewarm cup of costa coffee to her half naked chest in a vain effort to warm up. Why ever had she agreed to this? Surely there had to be an easier way to earn a living.

Tottering along the canal path, her thigh high stilettos kept slipping in the mud underfoot. Not so much strippogram as mud wrestler going on here. Never again! Jerry would just have to do her own dirty work in future.

The creaking lantern lighting the canal boat suddenly appearing round the corner announced her destination. Right, here went nothing. She pushed her sodden strands of chestnut hair out of her face, tossed the useless coffee and straightened her shoulders, better to show of her cleavage.

Before she could wrap on the door, it swung open and Coralie’s jaw hit the floor. Good god, what was going on here?

The man standing in the open doorway had to be at least six foot three of sex-on-legs, drop-dead-gorgeous male in tightly packaged designer jeans. The light spilling out of the door silhouetted the broad shoulders and muscled torso, tapering off to lean hips and strong thighs, ending in Italian designer shoes. Who wore designer shoes on a blinking canal boat?

Before she could voice that opinion however, the man grabbed her round the waist with a growl that trembled through every fibre of Coralie’s body and shoved her into the bright interior with a muttered French curse.  She collided with another, extremely warm male chest and looked up into amused silver grey eyes.

“Forgive my friend Lucas. He’s just had some bad news.”

Oh wonderful, another mountain of a man. His rugged features held an appreciative smile as he ran his eyes slowly over her body, before he winked at her and let her go. She stepped back, unease travelling down her spine. The boat was filled with several more eye watering examples of wannabe Chippendales and one ethereally beautiful blonde woman, who’s assessing ice cold blue stare made Coralie feel as though she was dessert. All too aware of her half naked get up she wished she’d brought a coat to hide behind.  To top it all, she was dripping water on the immaculately polished oak flooring.

“Oh, is it snack time? You could have found something cleaner…”

Cleaner? Who did this woman think she was? And what did she mean snack time? The tendril of unease increased and Coralie shook her head. She shouldn’t have watched that old horror movie last night, clearly. Were those fangs in the woman’s mouth? A quick glance round showed that half of the other people also sported fangs and the mountain she’d stumbled against didn’t look amused anymore. At least he wasn’t sporting fake teeth. Thank the lord for small mercies.

 Oh good god, she’d walked into a boat full of wannabe vampire loonies! It wasn’t even Halloween for pity’s sake. Coralie took another step back that brought her into direct contact with Mr. Super Gorgeous.  He looked positively murderous, his moss green eyes glittering in barely suppressed fury as he shoved one hand through his mob of black hair and Coralie groaned to herself. That bed hair looked way to sexy. She could almost forgive him the fake teeth, he was also sporting. Typical, the first man in ages to make her libido sit up and take notice and he was some sort of weirdo with a vampire fetish.

“Ok, you … you… whatever you may be,” Coralie pulled her shoulders back and tried for a seductive smile. The sooner she did her number the better and she could get away from these – people. Calling the murderous looking hunk, whose seductive gaze now settled fully on her, a crank pot would probably not earn her a generous tip. “Just tell me who the birthday boy is and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Birthday boy?” Mr Delicious growled. His eyebrows drew together as he glared at her.

Heaven help her - that deep, slightly accented voice came straight out of every one of her fantasies. Too bad the man himself was not only weird but also clearly not the brightest fishfinger in the pack.

“Yes, the birthday boy. Believe it or not, I don’t normally run around dressed like at a third rate hooker,” she pointed to her lace up ivory top and short black skirt that made up the French maid’s outfit, she’d just about managed to squeeze into. “And I don’t go knocking on strange men’s door for the fun of it. You booked a strippogram for the birthday boy, so tell me who he is, so that I can get this over with.”

And please stop staring at me as though you’ve never seen boobs before.

Mr. Delicious had stopped glaring at her during her little speech and his eyes weren’t frosty anymore. Quite the opposite in fact, if the way her body reacted to him was anything to go by. Damn it all, what was wrong with her today?  This was all Jerry’s fault. She had to find herself a decent job and not rely on Coralie to bail her out all the time – not that Jerry could be blamed for little Suzie’s chicken pox taking a turn for the worse, but still. Now what was he saying?

It was Handsome’s turn to stare at her as though she wasn’t quite right in the head. Thankfully the slightly puzzled expression on his face meant she could breathe normally again. It had to be the fact that she had been caught in the rain in this ridiculous outfit that made her feel all strange. She was probably coming down with the flu, yes that had to be it, nothing at all to do with the man addressing her again in that to die for voice.

“Are you suggesting I would call a strippogram?”

He sounded positively offended, whilst mountain behind him erupted into gales of laughter.

“Well Lucas, you could do worse.”

“Shut up fleabag, this isn’t funny. “

“It so is, but if you didn’t call her then who did? Unless…” he sobered up throwing Coralie a considering glance. Heck she felt better when they were staring down her cleavage.

“Unless what? For goodness sakes, stop playing games and tell me where you want me,” heat rose in her cheeks as Lucas’ gaze was once again settled on her nipples, poking through the sheer fabric of her top like come and get me beacons. She crossed her arms and continued,” or I shall just leave now and tell the agency this was all a mistake. “

And lose Jerry her much needed payment? Who are you kidding girl, you wouldn’t do that. It was strange though. The agency had offered extra pay due to the location and that’s why Jerry had pleaded with her to go in her place. She couldn’t afford any more no shows, or the agency would let her go and she needed the money for little Suz.

So if these two didn’t ring her then…

Embarrassment flooded her when Coralie realized what must have happened. In the dark and her befuddled, half frozen state she stumbled on the first available boat. What’s the betting her destination was round the next bend. Great she would have to make her excuses and endure this whole scenario again and what’s more she’d have to step out into the rain that was now pelting the roof of the boat.

Sighing deeply she stared at the mud on the floor with a frown. This was so embarrassing. Not only had she turned up on the wrong boat, she also had dragged a shed load of mud and water in with her.  May the ground swallow her whole right now. Of course that magic rabbit hole was never there when you needed it, not that she believed in magic.

“I’m sorry, it seems I got the wrong boat. I will leave you be to do whatever it is that you were doing then.”

The cool hand on her arm stopped her. Great, now he wanted her to stay?

“What do you mean you  got the wrong boat? I’m the only barge moored here, unless…” the grip on her arm grew painful and Coralie’s eyes widened with the discomfort. “Ion, check it out. If he uses a boat the location of the unfortunate girls would make complete sense. But she’s not his type. He prefers blondes it seems.”

Coralie stopped breathing. Jerry was blonde, what on earth were they going on about? Before she could ask, Ion took off through the door as though the hounds of hell were after him. He was followed by the other non- fanged men in the room, leaving her in the company of the weirdos. Oh great!   She stared pointedly at Lucas’ hand, which still held her arm in strangle hold.

“Would you mind letting me go? You’re hurting me and I really need to go.”

He released her immediately with a mumbled French apology, but he didn’t budge. Another two men moved in the way of the door, arms crossed over their chest. There was no way out it seemed. Coralie’s heart turned into a jackhammer, as her earlier unease returned with a vengeance. What the hell was going on here? Who were these people?

“What did you mean, he prefers blondes?”

“Nothing you need concern yourself with, human,” the blonde woman replied. Her icy tone chilled Coralie to the bone. Hells bells! Her freezer gave off more warmth than Madam Icequeen. And human, really? They took their vamp fantasy a bit too far.

The words were out in the open before she could stop them, “Considering I’m the one standing here dripping all over the floor and the friend I’m standing in for is blonde, it seems to me, it’s very much my business. “

“What friend?” Lucas growled in her ear and the blonde was on top of her before she could blink. Heck she moved fast.

“Lucas asked you a question. You would be wise to respond, human.”

There she went again with the human crap. Ice queen sure fancied herself. Coralie rolled her eyes and bit her tongue. There was something really unsettling about the ice cold, unblinking stare leveled at her.

“Carmen, I will deal with this. Perhaps you ought to leave. “  The deep voice just behind her washed over 

Coralie’s senses and her body responded with a mind of its own. She had to stop herself from leaning back into the cool presence behind her back.  It was the accent that’s all. Nothing else, she would snap out it any minute now.

Carmen gave her one last, long look and with a clap of her hands everyone else in the room got up and left with her, which left Coralie completely on her own with the man slowly turning her around by the shoulders.

Before she could step back, he cupped her chin in his hands and Coralie lost herself in the deep, hypnotic quality of his gaze.

“Listen to me chere, you will not remember this…”

Copyright Doris O'Connor 2011 

Guest Interview and give away - Maxim Jakubowski

I am delighted to have Maxim Jakubowski on my blog today with his new erotic novel

Blurb:

Lolita meets Story of O, another memorable tale of love, sex and feelings from ‘the King of the erotic thriller’

When Ekaterina meets Alexander a shockingly sexy but tender romance develops.

She is a young Italian trainee journalist, who dreams of wild sexual adventures. He is the older Englishman who she believes can fulfill her fantasies. When Ekaterina is sent to interview the ageing writer Alexander in London, she is blinded by his charm and experience. Their relationship explodes in a sensual orgy, which defies society’s acceptance.

When a mysterious angel of death who calls herself Emma enters their lives, Ekaterina and Alexander know their days together are numbered.

A shocking climax set in Venice in winter brings the three protagonists together.

A tale of sex and tenderness that ranks alongside Jakubowski classic The State of Montana.

Buy it here

Paperback (available in the US slightly later than the UK)

Amazon UK

Amazon US

eBook

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Say Hi Maxim J

-Hello out there in the electronic wilderness

So, tell me, what made you write ‘this’ story?

-The bittersweet memories of certain people I have known and the desire, as I grow older, to write about death but make it sexy enough to entertain readers

Does your cover reflect the book? To me it speaks volumes of what may be going on inside! ;-)

-I'm privileged that Hazel Cushion at Accent Books (who runs the Xcite list) allowed me to choose the cover image (and then incorporated it into a most effective design), although I had to make my selection from a picture library which was somewhat restrictive. It partly reflects the contents, but as an ex-publisher I feel it is both commercial and honest, the right compromise.

Describe a typical day’s writing for us

-I wake up between 6 and 6.30 in the morning, wash my face and head straight to my keyboard on an empty stomach and write or translate until about 11 when I stop for a hearty late breakfast. That's it. Afternoons are then devoted to reading (much of it submissions for anthologies), watching DVDs or going out to see movies (I run London's annual Mystery Film Festival, Crime Scene and advise a couple of film festivals in Europe, so seeing movies is both a pleasure and a job)

What inspires you?

-The beauty of women and bodies, that delicate point where life meets art.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

-It has always been my main ambition in life, apart from dreams of becoming a bicycle racer and winning the Tour de France when I was a kid. Or be a bass player in a rock n'roll band, but I've always known that wouldn't happen as I can neither play an instrument nor read music; but I'm a first rate air bass guitar player.

Do your characters ever surprise you?

-Always.

Thank you for stopping by Maxim. Can’t wait to read your book J

*****

MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI worked for many years in book publishing as an editor (including titles by William Golding, Peter Ackroyd, Oliver Stone, Michael Moorcock, Peter Ustinov, Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Paul Ableman, Sophie Grigson, Marc Behm, Cornell Woolrich, etc...) and launched the Murder One Bookshop, which he owned and ran for over 20 years. He now writes, edits and translates full-time in London.

*****

COMMENT TO WIN!

Courtesy of Xcite Books, three lucky winners can get their hands on a copy of Ekaterina and the Night in their choice of paperback or digital format. (International entries welcome)

Simply leave a comment on this post to win. Be sure to check out the rest of the posts in the tour, because the more comments you make, the more chance you have of winning! Go here to see the blog tour schedule.

PLEASE leave your email address in the body of the comment. No email address = no entry. Winners will be drawn and contacted on the week ending 11th November 2011.