A Beast of a Book!

Coming at ya on April 5th! The second book in the Breathlessly Ever After series, Bargain with the Beast! Ellora's Cave is re-releasing my fairy tale book based on the timeless classic, Beauty and the Beast. A scarred man. The woman who wantshim and hopes to heal him with her love. Le sigh.

“What will you have, Beauty?” said her father.

“Since you have the goodness to think of me,” answered she, “be so kind to bring me a rose, for as none grows hereabouts, they are a kind of rarity.”—Beauty and the Beast

 

 “Show me someone who says they don’t want anything from you and I’ll show you some real estate in the land of Wake the Fuck Up.”—Xavier St. James

In a last-ditch attempt to save her beloved community center, Gwendolyn Sinclair corners childhood friend Xavier St. James, brother of her dead fiancé…and the man who secretly owns her heart. Surely his wealth and contacts can save the run-down building from ruin. The arrangement he proposes confirms what she’s long suspected. He’s become a beast, and he offers a beast’s bargain, one that offends her pride even as it stirs her every desire and titillating fantasy—submit her body to his whim for seven days and the community center remains open.

Losing both his father and brother has left Xavier scarred in more ways than one, but forbidden lust overrules conscience when Gwendolyn appears, asking for help. He’s craved her for years. At last he’ll discover if the passion in her eyes blazes just as hot between the sheets. Her fiery surrender leaves him hungering for more, but their bargain is only for seven days and, ultimately, she could never truly love a beast.

A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Publisher’s Note: This story was previously published elsewhere in 2011 under the title Loving the Beast.

Nope. Not in My Book!

The release of my second fairy tale-based book in my Breathlessly Ever After series is eminent so that means I have to start thinking about the next one. What story do I tackle? What spin do I place on it? What genre? I've been kicking around ideas for the last couple of weeks and yeah, still stumped. The ideas are brewing but nothing's solidified into that perfect blend of characters, motivation, conflict and love. Y'know, like a good cup of coffee. Yet something did come out of my weeks-long ruminations. I know what I definitely DO NOT want in my book. Basing my books on classic, much loved tales, there are certain elements I have to include. Like in Bargain with the Beast, the hero had to be wounded both inside and out. And the heroine had to be able to look beneath his beastly appearance to the beautiful soul of the man.  In Stroke of Midnight, though the "evil" stepsister was the heroine, she was rejected by her family and for one night found magic in the arms of her prince. But...there are some things I refuse to incorporate. Why? Because they're just plain jacked up!

For instance...

Little Red Riding Hood - Besides the hood because it's just a tad bit too cliche-ish for me, there won't be any splitting of wolves' guts and people spilling out. Don't get it twisted, I don't mind a good disembowelment in a book but the only time my heroine is gonna be eaten is...well, you get the picture! In my story Red would kick ass and take names, not be taken down and saved by a passing woodsman. Unless she was taken down by the woodsman...

The Little Mermaid - Anyone within the sound of my voice or has 20/20 vision of their screen, please understand this...I detest Hans Christian Andersen's version. Like loathe. She gave up everything for the prince--her voice, her long lifespan, her heart and eventually, her life. Not to mention endured excruciating pain just to dance for that ingrate. And he was so blind to who stood right in front of him--the very woman he was holding out for!--that he broke her heart and married another woman. There won't be a stupid, short-sighted hero (with no redeemable qualities), a self-effacing heroine or a sacrificial suicide in my book. Damn, I wanted to punch that mermaid's face in... There's meek and then there's mealy-mouth... Grrr! Don't get me started!

Sleeping Beauty - None of that waking with a kiss stuff. I'm sorry. Halitosis, people! Nothing romantic about it! That's all I'm saying. After one night I've been known to have one helluva case of dragon breath! Now one hundred years?? Forget that--a week! Naw. If someone wakes from a coma, there will be breath mints running through their IV instead of saline.

Snow White - First, a huntsman almost takes her heart. Then a peddler woman laces her stay so tight she almost dies because her breath is cut off. After escaping that harrowing experience, another merchant woman comes by and pops a poisoned comb in her head, almost killing her...again. She's saved. Then another old woman comes by and offers her an apple. Which she bites and falls into a cryogenic state. Soooo which murder attempt should've been the tip off that an old woman was out to kill her? I mean, after the laces, I would've have 'ol girl's IQ tested. Therefore, no TSTL heroines in my book!

So two weeks later, I haven't come up with what my new book will be about. But I DEFINITELY know what it won't be about!

Cover Reveal!

I just got back from the Authors After Dark conference in New Orleans. Can you say, pooped?? But pleasantly so. I had a wonderful time—which I will regale you with more details and pictures in my next post. Nice little tease, ain’t I? Hee-hee! Since I’m still recovering, I thought I’d reveal the covers for my two upcoming books from Ellora’s Cave Publishing! I just received them last week and I’m so excited! One is for my first paranormal ever, Under His Wings. And the second is for the first book in the Breathlessly Ever After series, Stroke of Midnight, based on the Cinderella fairy tale. I’ve included the blurbs below because…well, because I’m shamelessly pimping these two books!

Mundane and boring are seriously underrated, so sixth grade social studies teacher Tamar Ridgeway believes. After surviving a horrible plane crash and enduring years of painful therapy, she’s entitled to a couple of phobias and a normal, humdrum life. So what, she’s afraid of the dark and refuses to ever step foot into anything that flies… At long last, she’s happy—until the night she and a friend are attacked by a mythical creature out of her worst nightmares. Suddenly she’s on the hit list of a homicidal half eagle-half horse monster, and the sexy warrior with chocolate and gold wings who steps out of her dreams—literally—is vowing to save her, whether she wants his protection or not.

Nicolai Abioud, Dimios of the hippogryph, is stunned to realize that the human he saves from a vicious attack is the woman he has shared dreams with for the past six months—very erotic, hot dreams. Five hundred years ago, he failed to protect his wife and swears not to allow the same fate befall Tamar. He’s fascinated by her beauty, and mesmerized by the warrior spirit that burns bright inside her eyes. Yet he refuses to submit to the stirring in his body and heart. He’s had his one, true mate and lost her, and falling for a human—no matter how hot and demanding the desire—is foolish and doomed. Yet the choice to accept this unexpected love may be snatched out of their hands. Danger is closing in, and somehow they must find a way to conquer their fears or lose the love of a millennium.

Once upon a time, there was a young woman of beauty, grace, and good nature…

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Rowyn Jeong knows her no-nonsense, less-than-warm personality cannot compare to her stepsister Cindy's bubbly charm and beauty. Hey, everyone has their niche, right? But being the plainer, wicked stepsister has never bothered her more than when Darius Fiore reappears in her life. Darius Fiore, the man she indulged in a one-night stand with six months ago, the businessman threatening her position within her stepfather's company, and the man her sister has her eyes—and hands—on.

Rowyn has never forgotten the man who allowed her to be someone else for a few sex-filled hours. Now that Darius has turned up in her territory, will he see past the hard exterior to the woman beneath, the one hungry for love and acceptance?

So, ta-da!! Hooked up by Ellora’s Cave again!!