Apr 2, 2019 | Teaser Tuesday
Stupid Amazon is still holding back on publishing reviews, and I’m pretty sure it’s impacting sales. Inheritance never even broke the top 1000 on Amazon, sales are already dropping, and I’m just feeling so defeated. I was so excited for Inheritance and Amazon is doing a great job of making me feel like this was a huge waste.
Thankfully I have people talking me up, and I am trying to ignore this failure by focusing on the book I am releasing next month. I have Breaking Beth coming, a spinoff of The Thalia Series, and I am trying to focus on the positive. Like Golden Angel! She just published the next book in her Big Bad Bunnies Series, ‘Chasing His Honey Badger’, because what is more badass than a honey badger?! AND of course she released it on April Fools Day, because that is the best time to release such a fun book.
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Chasing His Honey Badger
Honey Badger Princess Rana Morn has anosmia – she can’t smell a thing. And honey badger don’t care, except the condition prevents her from ever knowing who her true mate is. With two so-called ‘mates’ in her past, this shifter strictly guards her heart now. The reward of finding her forever love just isn’t worth the risk of more pain.
After years of captivity and relentless experiments, Brice Bunson has no fear. That is, until he meets his mate and realizes she may never know they are a match. But with the help of his eager and nosy siblings, Brice is sure he has what it takes both in determination and charm to eventually claim Rana’s heart.
Yet before Brice and Rana can sort out their pairing, The Company mounts a new threat that threatens them all. This battle of the heart will quickly become a battle for everyone’s lives
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Excerpt
“Is this about your brothers’ third date rule?” Rana asked. The bed creaked and Brice’s eyes flew open at the noise.
“You know about the rule?” he asked, tracking her movements as she sat up. Then whimpered as she ran her hands over her breasts and down her stomach, skimming them along the tops of her thighs. Her legs were slightly spread, as if inviting him to come closer and push them wider, and he could see the swell of her nipples pressing against the thin material of her bra. “Then… wait, are you here because you don’t take me seriously? Or is this a test?”
She blinked, her hands pausing in their movement, obviously confused. “What do you mean, take you seriously?”
~~~~
The earnest expression on Brice’s face was adorable, although not nearly as much fun as when he’d first come through the door and looked at her like he wanted to run his tongue over every inch of her exposed body… and like he planned on making sure all of it was exposed.
Still standing in the doorway, Brice looked uncertain—and like he might bolt at any second. Normally that wouldn’t be flattering, but since he had a massive bulge at the front of his pants, lust in his eyes, and she knew that he was trying to stick to the timeline he’d been given, it was actually very flattering. He thought he might have to run away because he couldn’t resist her.
She liked that.
Chase!
If he ran, her honey badger was definitely ready to run after him.
Brice frowned down at her, starting to look kind of suspicious. “Brady and Brock said waiting till the third date before sex proves that I’m serious about you… is this your way of saying you’re not serious about me? Or is this a test to see if I’m actually serious?”
One thing about the Bunsons, they were very direct, with none of the games people sometimes like to play. It occurred to Rana that she probably could have just asked Brice at any time why he’d stopped kissing her and he would have told her. Noted. Now she knew for next time.
“Brice, you told me I’m you’re mate, passed the honey-badger-honey-pot test, braved breakfast with my cousins, and let my honey badger ride your bunny like a horse—twice. Exactly what makes you think that I wouldn’t think you’re serious?”
He opened his mouth. Closed his mouth. His forehead wrinkled. Then he gave her a look. “The fact that you’re trying to trick me into sex before the third date?”
That shouldn’t be cute, but it was. She was beginning to realize that was Brice though—confidence, charm, a take-charge attitude, and a big dose of adorable all rolled up together in one irresistible bundle.
Rana stood. He rocked slightly, like he was about to take a step back, but had stopped himself. Her honey badger churred, softly, as if trying to soothe him even though he couldn’t hear it. “Okay, so sex is off the table,” she said, smiling amiably as she sauntered forward. His eyes dropped to her breasts and then jerked back up to her face. Rana let her gaze fall down to his tightly fitted black t-shirt and the baggy black cargo pants that made up the uniform of all of Steele’s soldiers when they were on duty. It was a sexy look and it looked particularly good on Brice.
“What about kissing?” Brice audibly swallowed as she reached him, coming to a halt a few inches away from him and tilting her head back to look at him with a seductive expression. She parted her lips slightly, as if waiting for his kiss.
“Kissing is fine.”
“What about… touching?” She trailed her fingers over his chest, felt his breath stutter, and ran them down over his stomach, pulling away just before she reached the waistband of his pants. The air seemed to sizzle around them, the tension thick enough to cut, and Brice’s breaths were short and sharp as he struggled with his control. Her own breathing was shallower and faster than normal, she could feel what was inevitably coming, she was just waiting to see how long he could hold out.
“Fuck… Rana…” Strong fingers clamped around her hips, dragging her body against him as his lips descended. She met his kiss eagerly, grabbing at his sides and pulling his t-shirt out from where it was tucked in, opening her mouth for his tongue. He groaned as he practically devoured her, his hands sliding over her bare skin, caressing her like he was trying to touch every inch of her.
* * *
I have a lot of plans for 2019 and I am not going to let Amazon kill them on my first release as a new author. We are going to get through this, together, and you are going to help me remember this was the right decision. I love you guys!
Amazon: 1-click now!
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Want more of Golden Angel?
Angel is a self-described bibliophile with a “kinky” bent who loves to write stories for the characters in her head. If she didn’t get them out, she’s pretty sure she’d go just a little crazy.
She is happily married, old enough to know better but still too young to care, and a big fan of happily-ever-afters, strong heroes and heroines, and sizzling chemistry.
She believes the world is a better place when there’s a little magic in it.
Mar 26, 2019 | Guest Spot, Teaser Tuesday
There was so many bad things that happened IMMEDIATELY after quitting the day job, so it’s been hard to not think the universe is telling me this is a very bad idea. Thankfully I have had so freaking many of you remind me that ‘correlation does not equal causation’ and I think it is starting to sink in. (a little bit)
Enough about me, today I want to bring you a story that I FUCKING LOVE by an author who I FUCKING ADORE. Myra Danvers released her new story and it is absolutely everything! Get ready, because you are going to love these psychotic characters.
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Delirium
“We’ll never be done, you and I.” He pushed off her desk. Closed the distance between them with prowling steps, clenched fists, and oh, so much determination. “Too much unfinished business to ever call it over.” He stopped a few steps away from uncomfortably close. Braced his palm on the wall behind her head, forearm brushing the side of her throat. “’Sides”—he licked his lips, glanced down her shirt—“we never got our hate fuck, baby girl.”
Iris knows he’ll come.
He’ll come lookin’ for what she stole, what she refused to give up when everything went to hell.
Won’t find it, of course.
There’s nothing left but a pipe full o’the good stuff and the dregs of the past that refuse to die.
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Excerpt
Something cold slithered into Iris’ guts. Something that tasted a lot like Big Evil’s charred, yet somehow undercooked skin, but she didn’t bother to squash it—even when it wriggled and wormed. No, she left it to marinate in the festering stew of everything else she’d refused to deal with or acknowledge over the years. That’s what antacids were for.
“So,” she asked, and took another drag because goddamnit, how? She could feel Death lurking in her peripherals even now, after number Six had done its damnedest to keep her heart functioning at full capacity. And yet Big Evil survived in spite of her calculations and obsessive planning? Survived being left in the detached cargo hold, floating without breathable oxygen in temperatures well below freezing? “That human cockroach can endure anything, apparently,” she grumbled, stretching out her dead fingers. “Just my luck, he’s probably immortal, and I’ll never be free of that stain. But you can’t be sure of anything until we’ve launched his still-breathin’ body into the deep.”
“I said no, Iris.”
“What’s the issue? You’ve stooped low enough to breed a roost of vultures, Mister Morals—a little cold-blooded murder won’t tip the scales much at this point. Hell,” she continued, “it’s not even murder, really. I did most of the killing. I’ll even push the button for you, baby. But I’ll be a rotting corpse before I share air with him again.” Daxx grinned. Sucking his teeth. “Poetic, but dead bodies don’t need air, pet.”
“Apparently that one does,” she returned, flinging her ruined hand in the direction of The Seeker’s cargo floating a few thousand klicks away—in the general direction of one still-breathin’ corpse. “Launch him into the ether before he gets the chance to get a little stab happy.”
“‘Big Evil’ is a man in high demand, which means I’ll be collectin’ him from the cargo hold before he dies, pet.” For a moment, he fiddled with her make-shift pipe, then tossed it aside, and said, “Now come. You’ve got a date with the detox fairy.”
“Well, that’s a poor choice,” she said, but allowed him to pull her from the pilot’s chair in spite of the burns and the slippery, slimy feet squelching in her boots. “Sober Iris isn’t half the Mech I am.” “Think I’ll take my chances, thanks.” The lane boss snorted, guiding her aft, toward The Seeker’s back exit. The rest of his ragtag crew followed along without being told, all obedient n’shit. Iris shrugged. “Whatever tickles your taint, Daxx.” And then, because she needed Daxx to know exactly how serious she was about turning The Seeker into an untouched mausoleum dedicated to no other but her, she said, “Seeker? Initiate protocol Tangerine Dream.”
In response, The Seeker’s dash flashed with a flood of orange light. Glowing in spurts between bright and almost black, her words plunged Daxx’s crew into near-dark. Serenaded them all with the dull hum of The Seeker’s life support systems going offline and the hissssss of precious gases being jettisoned into the deep, all at once. But it was the inverted pop of her electromag shields shutting down that drew a furious curse from Daxx’s lips. “What the fuck, Iris?” the lane boss snapped, and jerked her through the exit hatch. “Couldn’t have waited for us to be gone before you shut her down? Fucking junkie!”
He had reason to fear, she’d give him that much. Without those shields, it wouldn’t be long before all manner of galactic cosmic radiation smashed into the squishy, delicate humans within.
Unraveling their DNA with gleeful abandon just to see what a sentient being might look like when reduced to nothing more than base elements. Grinning, even though she’d just destroyed her entire crop of opium, Iris stumbled along at his side. A wet noodle of perfect obedience. “Daxx, baby! Come on. I thought you were all about taking risks? What’s more thrilling than the very real threat of having your lungs turned inside out and crystallizing before your frozen eyeballs? Maybe the radiation will give you superpowers.”
He didn’t reply. Merely hustled her along behind his crew, shoving her faster than her blistered feet could keep up with. And when Iris stumbled—skinning her knees on The Seeker’s floor panels and bending one of those dead fingers about thirty degrees in the wrong direction—Daxx didn’t stop to ask after her health. He scooped her up with a burly arm around her ribs, and tossed her skinny junkie ass through the exit. She landed with skin-splitting force, but didn’t feel it through the haze. Knowing to enjoy that particular lack while she could. Knowing what was coming next.
But to watch the wall of freezing air chasing them from The Seeker’s belly wasn’t a sight she often got to enjoy, so there, on the floor of Daxx’s spiffy little scouting skiff, she watched. Hair pulled toward the vacuum sucking the life from The Seeker’s entrails, she watched, grinning that mad grin only an addict could pull off. Because, really. Most people didn’t get to see this more than just the once, as it usually preceded a horrific, suffocating death, given that most were too lazy or stupid to install the necessary fail safes.
Which wasn’t to say that she had created those necessities. Only that it was stupid to go without. When the last of the vultures had scrambled into the little scouting ship suckered onto The Seeker’s butt cheeks, Daxx slammed the door shut with plenty of time before the frost crackled through his hull.
The drama queen.
“Fuck,” he snapped, really biting that word in half before turning dark eyes down at her. “You,” he said, and closed the distance between them. Pulling her up by the lapels of her leather jacket. Making the seams bulge in protest, even if she didn’t. And then, with shaking hands, Daxx spun her, pressing her bruised, scarred cheek to a stack of frigid plastic storage bins. Wrenching first her left, then right arm behind her back no matter that bent finger or her failure to fight back, he kept her pinned with the weight of his body. With his groin and hip.
“Easy,” Iris rasped, teeth gnashing against the pain she shouldn’t be able to feel, but did. And when his elbow caught at one of those places number Six had told her qualified as a third degree burn, she couldn’t help the squawk of protest.
Daxx thumped her against the boxes. “Shut the fuck up. I’m more’n capable of finding something to gag you with.”
And then he snapped his fingers at one of his men and bound her wrists behind her back with what might have been a belt or several linked zip-ties. Wrenched so high, so tight, not even the opium could mask the pain. With a huff, he sat her in a jump seat beside the skiff’s only toilet, and took the spot opposite her. Planting his boot on her chest as he crossed burly arms. Glaring. Iris grinned, right knee bouncing.
“Nothing to say for that little stunt? You almost got us all killed, Iris. I’ll have to have the whole crew treated for radiation poisoning, and so help me, if even one of them dies…”
“Puhl-ease,” she drawled, trying to ease the strain on her shoulders, though it was largely impossible given the size thirteen boot planted on her sternum. “Vultures are easy to breed. You’ll have another crew in no time.”
Daxx didn’t so much as crack a smile, but one of the filthy scavengers did. “Not gonna be so high’n mighty when she’s servicin’ the whole crew. Gonna enjoy makin’ her cry. Gonna enjoy planting a few vultures in her belly after that comment. And that stunt. She can be our little breeder…”
“Aren’t you a charmer,” Iris said, eyes flicking over his crisp uniform. Pegging him as an officer, though that rank was sorely misplaced amongst vultures.
“What’s your name, sweetness?” The nameless one frowned, taken aback. “Why?”
“I’m a sucker for propriety. ‘Specially when I’m planning to unleash something naughty. Target needs a name, baby.”
Daxx snorted. “She’s my property until I say otherwise,” he said, cutting them off, not bothering to remove his boot from her chest, or allow her to name the man who wanted to breed her. The lane boss merely watched her as the skiff kicked off. Dragging The Seeker’s dead weight toward his ship. Slow and lazy.
“That’s mighty unfair of you,” the unnamed vulture said, eyes sticking on the bare skin of her thighs. The way her ratty boxer-shorts sagged and hinted at what might lie in shadows. “Don’t see why she can’t take a few cocks and work for you at the same time. Her holes are separate from her brain, aren’t they?”
Accustomed to such blustery nonsense, Iris yawned. Jaw cracking. Eyes watering. Body aching.
“What makes you think I want to share with you, Shantz?” Daxx smirked, tipping his head back as they made their lumbering progress. “I’ve got plans for the girl.”
Unimpressed, she let the opium close her eyes. Rolling Shantz’s name around her tongue, just to get the feel for it.
* * *
This last weekend involved a very significant amount of alcohol, hanging with some friends, getting authorlandia stuff done, and I am actually starting to feel better now. ‘Inheritance’ even has THE END typed out, I have done a read-through and am working on some edits! Let’s hope I can get this done so I can get it out to you, I can see the end in sight lovelies!
Until then, grab ‘Delirium’ because it is just amazing and enjoy the very twisted sci-fi trip!
Amazon: 1-Click Now!
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Want more of Myra Danvers?
Raised by her awesome parents in Canada’s snowy north, Myra learned perseverance from an early age. She learned to speak in third person, via extensive reading as a child, because… well… Northern Canada gets a LOT of snow. And when one isn’t snowboarding, building quinzees, or waking up to teddy bears frozen to the floor, one tends to read about places that are warm–even if being cold is preferable to being hot, every-damn-time.
All that reading gave Myra the gypsy bug. So, after college, (where she majored in professional gypsying) she moved to a ski resort in British Colombia to be a ski bum and chase the winter, because the cold was in her bones and it never bothered her anyway. (Points because Elsa of Frozen is her spirit animal?)
But then life caught up with her, as it does, and now she’s stuffed full of enough life experience to write until transcendence (where she will be first in line to get a sweet android body and travel the universe until the end of time). So that’s what she does, when she’s not listening to the voices or taking apart the electronics just to see their insides.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyraDanvers/
Website: https://myradanvers.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18846707
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myradanvers/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyraDanvers
Mar 19, 2019 | Teaser Tuesday |
How did my first week as a full time author go you ask? Last week my grandfather passed away from a sudden, severe heart attack while mowing the grass. And my great aunt (his sister) died mere hours before he passed away. I feel so numb. I’m very sure I’m in shock, and I have no idea what my world is going to be like without him in it. And then our new pet tarantula died in transit to my home, she didn’t even make it out of her container. This feels like a sign, right? First week as an author, and the universe is speaking pretty loudly.
The sliver of good news in all this chaos is that I was working on Inheritance over the weekend before everything caught fire. I haven’t written much since, so I don’t have any words to share with you, however Kay Elle Parker DOES have words to share in the form of her new release that came out last week!
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King Of Shadows
One Lord of Shadows with ambitions to be King.
One Commander in love with the future Queen but loyal to his Lord.
One Queen to Be with feelings for two men and an overwhelming need to do what’s right.
Who will reign over the Shadow realm when the axe falls?
All hell is about to break loose in the Shadow realm.
Literally.
Born to a mortal woman and an archangel father, Allianna is a breed apart from others. So much so, she has been the ward of the Lord of Shadows and his Second-in-command since birth and raised to become the Queen of Shadows. However, she’s not the quiet little bride they might wish her to be. She’s strong, and feisty, and knows her own mind. But where there is a monarchy, there are those who would do anything to wear the crown…
Kian is the Lord of Shadows. For decades he’s longed to be more, to rise above being Lord and lay hands on the coveted Kingship. An impossibility without the right bride at his side. With Allianna set to be his Queen, the Kingship is within his grasp once the marriage is consummated. But Kian hides more than just secrets within his human form. Something dark and dangerous threatens the man he’s become, puts everything he’s worked toward into jeopardy. When bad decisions and reckless actions have the power to end the man and destroy the crown, will there be anything left of Kian to save?
Islador is Kian’s right-hand man. His second-in-command, his commander of the Shadow army. Strong, powerful and highly skilled in his own right, Islador has been loyal to the Lord, the realm and his heart for centuries. Falling in love with his best friend’s woman, the woman raised to be the second most powerful entity in the realm, probably wasn’t the smartest idea, but then his heart was lost when tiny fingers wrapped around his. When the world seems like it’s coming to an end, who will command his loyalty – the King or his Queen?
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Excerpt
Savage blue eyes darted from his hands to the door, back to his hands. When they met his, the challenge rose between them, and damn if she wasn’t going to rise to it.
Rise to it? Fuck, she stepped up to it, her hands on her hips and that luminous fire in her eyes all but singeing him down to the bone. Excitement raced through him at the glimpse of submissiveness she was stubbornly keeping buried beneath her nerves and humiliation; once he had that thread of sweetness wrapped around his hand like a leash, Allianna would kneel at his feet and be the epitome of grace and poise.
“Think long and hard,” he murmured, slapping the folded leather against his palm lightly as she focused on it. He could feel her vibrate, her body ready to leap and grab for it. “You earned this punishment, Allianna; I’ll double it without a qualm.”
Her head tilted to the side, just a fraction, and he watched the calculations run through her quick and clever mind. She sighed softly and relaxed her edgy stance, but Kian wasn’t fooled into complacency. Quick and clever summed her up exactly, and she wasn’t going to like the lick of his belt on her untried flesh.
His gaze roamed over her, all lean muscles and porcelain skin. She obviously hadn’t been eating as she was accustomed to—the sweet curves she once bore had whittled away over the months, leaving her honed, toned, and with hints of ribs and hips showing. That displeased him almost as much as the hair disaster.
Her breasts would be just right to fit in his palms, he decided, weighing them by sight alone. While he wanted to fondle and arouse the soft flesh, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from tasting, mauling her. The demonic side of him demanded it.
But the real prize lay hidden beneath the neatly trimmed mound of very fine, white pubic hair. Had she groomed herself for him, knowing he was coming for her? That he would find her and claim her? He hoped so.
“Turn around, set your hands on the back of the chair and hold on,” Kian ordered, subtly adjusting his cock in the confines of his pants when she obeyed. If he wasn’t careful, his first ejaculation of the night would be wasted in the most undignified manner. “Get that ass up, present it.”
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I love how Kay Elle Parker creates such multi-dimensional characters with a lot of development so I can’t wait to find time to read this one. Make sure to tell me what you think of it, lovelies, and if I really need to bump it up on the list!
In regards to me, I love you guys so much for all of the kind comments, the sweet words, and the supportive messages I received last week. Everyone is reminding me that life may kick us around but eventually we get back up. I don’t quite believe it right now, but I know I’ll be able to make it with all of you at my side. So, thank you.
Amazon: 1-Click Now!
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Want more of Kay Elle Parker?
Kay Elle Parker lives in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, with her four Border Collies. She works with horses by day and writes under the cover of darkness, often till the wee hours of the morning, spinning tales of erotic and paranormal romance (with elements of dark and BDSM).
Writing has been a passion since she was eleven years old (reading is another, but that started at two years old so she had a headstart) after she was sexually assaulted. Kay submitted a novel at age thirteen to a children’s publisher, much to her excitement – only to be told that while it was very good, it was too adult to be published as a children’s book. She has always been an old soul with a dark and twisted sense of humor.
While the writing continued – twenty-seven manuscripts are sat in a folder in varying degrees of completion – her pursuit to be published was set aside for a few years.
Kay’s partner was sadly murdered in 2007; since then, she remains single and focused on her work.
In 2013, Kay was chronically ill, and in July 2014 she was rushed to hospital with a ruptured stomach – it was during a six-week incarceration in hospital that “Always” was written. Not long after, she was rushed back to hospital after a routine endoscopy with a perforated bowel (ouch) and “Always” was completed. During her recuperation after surgery, “Always” was submitted to a publisher and accepted.
Since then, many additional books have been published.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kayelleparker/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kayelleparker
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14988089
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kay-Elle-Parker/e/B079P5WDDL
Mar 12, 2019 | Teaser Tuesday
I hope you joined me on Friday, lovelies, because I had the BEST news. Did you hear? I quit the corporate life and am officially a full time author. That’s right, ME, I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and I now write words for you full time. I mean, leaving corporate America behind left such a gap in my anxiety and everything. And everyone enjoys panicking before an evaluation, or knowing that people are monitoring everything you say in order to document it for a constructive feedback session. I’m sure with expecting great productivity from me is going to go over wonderfully…
That said, I PROMISED you that I was working on Inheritance and here is another excerpt. I can’t wait to bring you this story and now that I have time to actually WRITE, I hope I can bring it to you even faster.
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Inheritance
Sooo….yeah I STILL don’t have a blurb yet. But that’s okay because you know the gist of things now, right?
* * *
Excerpt
Pulling another page of the newspaper free, Lianna folded it around a coffee cup, tucking the excess paper inside before she nestled it in the box with its brothers. One more cup and that shelf was empty. Which meant she was possibly five percent of the way to having her apartment packed. Staring at all the open cabinets, she sighed and grabbed her wine glass.
There were boxes everywhere. Most of them still open, because she couldn’t figure out how much to put in a box, or what to put in them.
But it’s not like she’d ever packed her own apartment before.
David had rolled his eyes when she’d told him. Time to learn, angel, he’d said before handing her the packing tape. He’d at least taken the time to show her how to tape off the bottom of a box before she put shit in it, but then he’d gone to work.
She was supposed to have one room finished by the time he got home, but there was no way in hell that was going to happen. It felt impossible. Too overwhelming to pack her whole life into boxes.Especially the ones marked sell and donate.
Going through her closet had added a few things to each, but on top of everything else going on… it was more tempting to empty the last bit of wine in the bottle and open another one to keep drinking. Getting drunk before six o’clock in the evening was acceptable under these circumstances, right?
“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath and walked out of the kitchen. Moving past the scattered boxes, she paused before the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the sun drooping low in the sky where it peeked between two skyscrapers as it painted the world orange.
Only a week and she’d never see this view again.
Her twenty-fourth-floor corner apartment had a panoramic view of the city. It was what sold her on the place the moment she’d walked inside. Not the custom cabinets, or marble countertops, or high-end appliances… it was this. The wide view of the city that wrapped behind the fireplace, high enough that the noise of the city faded, suspended like a bird flying high in the sky. As she stepped closer to the edge, planting her toes on the metal windowsill, she looked down at the street far below and, for a moment, it felt like she was up in the air. Hovering on the wind so high above the cars and people that the world faded away — which was a stupid thought. She wasn’t flying anywhere, wasn’t escaping. This was her new reality.
A life that had never been real, never honest, but was ruined all the same.
Pulling herself away from the window, she swallowed a mouthful of wine. The apartment wasn’t huge, but it was hers. She had paid for it out of her own money, her own paychecks from Mercier Systems. Back then it had mattered to have something that she could claim instead of something her father handed her. Even if the job that supplied the paychecks had been, even if every dollar was tainted. She had still earned it.
Not like that mattered anymore.
Groaning, Lianna walked back into the kitchen to pour the rest of the wine in her glass, tossing the bottle in the recycling. She had just opened a drawer of kitchen utensils to continue packing when she heard a series of knocks on the door. Laughing under her breath, she shut the drawer.
“Did you get more groceries? I told you that we needed to do take out for—” Ripping open the door she saw a tall man with light brown hair, and he smiled at her as she reminded herself to speak. “Um, hi. I think you have the wrong apartment. This is 2402.”
“I don’t have the wrong apartment, Lianna.”
The use of her name in that subtle French accent sent a chill down her spine, and she tried to slam the door but he nudged his foot into the gap too quickly.
* * *
While I have all kinds of good news, I also have some other news I wanted to share. Addison Cain is one of my best friends on the planet, my dark and twisted soul sister, and over the last year I’ve seen her handle a nightmare situation of plagiarism, harassment, lawsuits, and general insanity with such grace. She’s never been one for drama (yet another reason I love her) and so she stayed silent about it. She kept it to herself, and shielded her readers and her author friends from just how much of a nightmare her life has been. I am SO PROUD OF HER for deciding to speak up now and for letting her friends finally do something to support her with this GoFundMe.
In our current climate in authorlandia, I think it’s more important than ever to stand up against this kind of harassment, and I’m happy to #GetLoud with her about this BS and support her as she continues to deal with the bitch-who-I-wont-mention and the financial burden of this insanity.
I do have a GoFundMe set up if you are able to donate. If you want to read the whole story, check it out on her blog over here.
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Want more of, well… me?
Jennifer Bene is a USA Today bestselling author of dangerously sexy and deviously dark romance. From BDSM, to Suspense, Dark Romance, and Thrillers–she writes it all. Always delivering a twisty, spine-tingling journey with the promise of a happily-ever-after.
Find her on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/jbeneauthor
Like her Author Page – http://www.facebook.com/jenniferbeneauthor/
Follow her on Twitter – https://twitter.com/jbeneauthor
Get a free book – http://tinyurl.com/jbeneauthor
Mar 5, 2019 | Teaser Tuesday
There are only 3 days left until I share all of my of BIG news! On Friday at 3:00pm CST, I am hosting huge reveal in a live chat in my Dark Haven group. If you haven’t yet, RSVP to my big reveal so you can find out what all the secrecy is about! But that’s not all. Not only have my author friends been anxious to hear my secrets, they have tried tempting me to spill early by sharing free books and contests in my group. I love them SO HARD for doing this, make sure you drop by to enter and grab free stuff!
This week I wanted to share with you some ACTUAL words I have down for Inheritance. I swear it is coming, lovelies, and I can’t wait for them to stop talking so I can bring you the book!
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Inheritance
Sooo….yeah I don’t have a blurb yet. I can’t have a blurb when I don’t even know exactly how things are going to play out #PantserProblem. I am spending what little free time I have with my time writing, not blurb writing! Just know it is book two of Fragile Ties and follows Destruction. Also, in honor of my girl Addison Cain… it’s #ComingSoon. XD
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Excerpt
Lianna was sleeping hard, because… shit. Of course she’d fucking crashed. He’d completely lost control. Laid that belt across her ass and thighs so hard that he’d seen dark purple spots appearing long before he’d actually stopped. He’d wanted to hurt her, really hurt her, and so he had. Let the monster take over and listened to her scream, writhe, and beg, which had only made him crave more. Made him put more of his strength behind the next stroke.
If she wasn’t black and blue right now, she would be by morning. And if he felt the least bit guilty over it, there might have been some hope for him — but there was nothing. Just the bitter aftertaste of his rage, simmering down deep beside the sleeping monster.
On some level he knew what he’d done was wrong, that it had crossed an invisible, fuzzy line between them. But when he’d had his hand around Lianna’s throat, feeling those little muscles in her neck convulse, desperate for air… he hadn’t even thought about stopping. Hadn’t thought about lines or their months together, he’d just tightened his grip. Told her exactly how she’d fucked up, exactly how wrong she was, and exactly what he’d do if Jean-Luc — or any of the Faures — tried to take her.
And none of it was a lie.
When she’d started to go limp, he’d only let go because he hadn’t wanted to fuck her while she was unconscious. So, he’d let her breathe, let her gasp and choke on air, and then he’d sought her eyes. Craving the hate, the fire, the fight… but she hadn’t given him that. Hadn’t given him what he fucking needed in that moment.
No, Lianna’s dazed blue eyes, made all the brighter from the flush in her face, had met his with something like pity. Even in pain, whimpering, and still trying to get her throat to work so she could fucking breathe — she’d pitied him. The bastard who hurt her over and over and over. The demon that couldn’t walk away even though it was his only chance at redemption. A possessive monster that had tightened his fist in her hair and demanded submission from a girl too weak to even hold herself up. And even when she’d said the right words he didn’t believe them. Couldn’t believe her, couldn’t face her anymore, when she’d already made her choice. So, he’d finally given in to the pounding pulse in his cock. Slid deep inside her wetness, and then held still so he wouldn’t pop off like a teenage boy. Straight out of one of his fucked-up fantasies, Lianna had been a gloriously wrecked mess. Cheeks flushed, ass welted and bruised and warm against his hips as he’d moved slow enough to maintain his self-control. Just the sight of her wrists wrapped in that black cord, bound and at his mercy, had almost sent him over the edge. Balls tight, that tingle of electric fire buzzing down his spine as she’d begged for more. Begged for him, wanted him, even after everything he’d done.
Fuck.
The heat of her skin against his was stifling and, although she was out cold, there was no way he could sleep. Not beside her. Not with his head still so fucked up. She was wrapped around him, but he managed to shift her off his chest without waking her.
His crazy, blonde, damaged angel.
Staring at the shadow of his fingers on her throat summoned a slight thump in his chest, something muted and weakened by the monster’s hunger. Still not sated because she still wanted to go see the Faures — still wanted to leave. A betrayal that he hadn’t expected with as much as she knew about her distant relatives. If he still had his father’s files he could have reminded her of the other side of them. The truth. The reality under the pretty lie. But all of that was gone, most likely destroyed by Michael Turner, and that meant all she had was his word that they were dangerous… and all he had was her promise. A promise to stay away from Jean-Luc Faure that she’d broken at the first opportunity, as if her defiance meant nothing.
That was what had really woken up the demon in his chest. Her casual betrayal.
Growling, he turned away from her and climbed off the bed, leaving the room in silence. Not looking back, ignoring the dark bruises blooming on her skin, because he still wasn’t in control. Not of his inner monster or himself. Every time he thought of Jean-Luc, heard his miserable voice and Lianna’s soft laughter echoing in his mind — he wanted to wake her up just to hear her scream again. To prove to her that he wouldn’t let her betray him, no matter what he had to do.
Digging through the liquor cabinet, he found the bottle of Sailor Jerry and took it to the couch. The whole apartment glowed in the late afternoon sun, too bright and cheery for his mood, but that was easily fixed with the click of a remote. As soon as the blackout shades slid down, he unscrewed the cap and swallowed a few mouthfuls. Sweet and fiery, just like it had been in the cell. He remembered the taste of the rum on his tongue the night before he’d ruined her life. The stagnant chill of her prison as he’d sat on the mattress beside her trying to explain why she bothered him, trying to understand how she was still so fucking good.
Then she’d tried to crack his skull open with the bottle.
A dark chuckle rumbled in his chest as he shook his head. Lianna had always been defiant — today was just the first time she’d defied him since the cell. They had been on the same twisted page for so long that he’d forgotten just how fucking brazen she could be. And, as frustrating as her defiance over the Faures could be, that strength inside her had always drawn him in. Fascinated him enough to even make the monster pause. Because Lianna had never been the broken, mindless little doll he’d expected.
She was damaged, yes, but not broken. Not ruined, even though her life was, even though everything she cared about or believed in was burning down around her. Collapsing into nothing but cinders… and he was the one who’d struck the damn match. Standing right at the center of it, ground zero, happy to stand by her side in the flames because he had nothing to lose.
His life had burned down years ago. He’d grown up amidst the ashes, watched the lingering cinders eat his father alive until he had nothing left. Just the lingering smoke of a life that could have been his if only his father had never met Robert Mercier.
Yeah, Lianna was damaged, and so was he. Two halves of the same burned, dented, fucked-up coin — but she was somehow still good inside, still had hope and a heart… and because of that he didn’t want to break her. Couldn’t break her, because it would snuff out the light inside her, and then they’d have nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing.
But even knowing that didn’t keep the monster at bay.
He’d wanted her to suffer, hell, he still wanted her to suffer… but he couldn’t put her back in a cell. The idea had terrified her, exposed something fragile, a weak point, and as effective as it would be at keeping her from the Faures — he wouldn’t do it. Not just because of the expense, and all the trouble it would be to build another one, but because the only thing that actually scared him… was losing her.
And there wasn’t enough liquor in the fucking apartment to face the monster he’d become without Lianna’s light to balance his darkness.
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What did you think of that, lovelies? Are you excited to get back in bed with David? I know I’ve been having a blast with this now that I’ve worked through the goddamn writer’s block and can finally GET THE WORDS DOWN! It’s thrilling, seriously, and I can’t wait to get you this book. My editor is already screaming at me because I *might* have left her in the middle of a sex scene. XD That doesn’t count as a spoiler, right?
OH! In addition to my big reveal, I am getting ready to attend the Home Run Author Event in Arlington, TX. I do hope you come and visit me, because all those buttons above? I have all of them and I’m giving them away! I will also have a bunch of books, swag, and other fun stuff, so I do hope you swing by. The tickets are on sale now, so grab them while you can! VIP are the best!
I promise to bring you more words of Inheritance soon and get ready, because you are going to totally fall for David. I hope to see everyone on Friday for my big reveal, don’t forget to RSVP!
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Want more of, well… me?
Jennifer Bene is a USA Today bestselling author of dangerously sexy and deviously dark romance. From BDSM, to Suspense, Dark Romance, and Thrillers–she writes it all. Always delivering a twisty, spine-tingling journey with the promise of a happily-ever-after.
Find her on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/jbeneauthor
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Feb 26, 2019 | Teaser Tuesday
I had such an amazing time at Wild Wicked Weekend, participating in the BDSM panel on Friday was so cool! I hope I saw you there, I talked to so many people. This week I am featuring the amazing Alta Hensley who dropped a surprise release on everyone with a fun author/PA story. This hot little story will definitely turn the heat up if you are chilly!
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Bared
He told me he would demand obedience. He took much more than that.
When I agreed to work for him I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but I was wrong. I knew he would be stern. I knew he would be demanding. What I didn’t expect was to find myself over his knee for a painful, humiliating spanking the very first time I displeased him.
But that was just the beginning. As he strips me bare and uses me as roughly and shamefully as he pleases, my body’s response to his firm-handed dominance is undeniable. I’m going to take everything he gives me, and in my heart I know it won’t be long until I’m begging for more.
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Excerpt
Yes, I thought as he swatted my behind relentlessly. This is what I needed. This is what I craved without even knowing it. Not just a spanking, but a spanking by Price. Somehow this all seemed right. So fucking wrong, but so fucking right.
He paused a moment, rubbing his hand along my heated flesh. Dipping his finger down the crease of my butt, he pressed past the cheeks of my ass and rested his finger on the entrance of my tight rosebud,teasing me with the unknown of what was to come.Maybe I should have stopped him, or at the very least tensed up, but I didn’t. I didn’t scream no,though I should have. I didn’t shoot up off his lap, though I should have. I didn’t curse him out in outrage,though I should have. Had he spanked all the resistance out of my body? Had he beat my backside into complete submission? Or was I so desperate for any touch besides the searing swats, that his hand giving me anything besides pain was welcome?
Slight pressure was added, but not enough to break past the puckered flesh and enter me fully. Slowly, he lowered his finger to my silky folds, pulsing with desire. I didn’t know if it was the spanking that caused it or not, but I was dripping wet, and there was no hiding my hunger from Price who nows pread the signs around my bare skin.
A deep moan rumbled in his chest and escaped as he thrust his finger, followed by a second, into my hungry sex. I bucked against his hand, mewling in pleasure. Lightheaded and panting with the need for more, I did everything I could not to beg to be fucked right then and there. The fingers weren’t enough. I needed his cock buried inside of me. I needed it thick, long, and hard, and I had no shame in admitting that fact.
His two fingers were soon followed by a third, as he pumped in and out of me, demanding my passion. Crying out as he stretched me wide, I’m not sure how I knew, but I knew it was required so I could comfortably take the size of his dick. It was his silent way of warning me of what was to come. It was if I could read his sinful and dirty thoughts.
Lying over his knee, recently spanked, I could do nothing more than allow the climax to build. And when he removed his slick fingers and pressed one into my anus without warning, the orgasm rocked my body at an intensity that had me screaming out. Submission exploded through my body like the crack of a leather whip. Moaning, I pressed back against his hand, driving his finger deeper into my forbidden channel, his touch entrenched within me as I melted against him. I liked his finger inside of my ass, and had no shame in admitting that I did.
With one hand buried in the taboo place, he placed the palm of his other hand on my still searing behind, continuing on with the spanking. One, two, three, I finally freed my mind and stopped counting as the spanking continued. My breath caught in my throat as I held back a cry of erotic yearning and years of need. I couldn’t focus, lost in a haze of ecstasy. Pleasure and pain wove themselves together, escalating until I cried out his name.
After the final swat, he cupped his hand over my pussy, using it to adjust my body until I was tucked snugly into his arms. Unconsciously, I nuzzled my face against the warmth of his neck, and my body melted against him. The feelings, the emotions… nothing could describe them other than safe and cherished. He had handled me his way, and I had allowed it. What I didn’t expect was this aftermath. I didn’t expect to enjoy his warm and soothing touch after the harsh sting.
He slipped his hand around my waist, lowering me to the rug-covered floor below. Fingers laced, thighs rubbing against thighs, my breasts molded into his torso, the clothing between us begging to be ripped off. Not wasting another moment, Price unzipped his pants, freeing his hard cock from its restraints.
He kneeled before my face and placed his thick shaft to my lips. I looked up and into his eyes. No words needed to be said. I opened up my mouth and allowed his cock to lie against my tongue. My natural instinct was to pleasure him. Nothing got in the way of how badly I wanted to make him groan out my name. Watching bliss blanket his face filled me with a purpose I had not known existed, and I wondered if I would ever get to experience again in my lifetime. As I hungrily sucked his ready dick, I fully submitted to a man who demanded it. Up and down, I moved my mouth until I was rewarded by my name escaping his lips in the most passionate of ways. My name never sounded as good as it did the moment it slipped from his mouth.
I added my hand and began to pump his cock while licking all around it. His body shook and tensed, and he pulled me away as he took a deep breath.“I’ve fantasized about your kiss,” he said, his gaze dipping to my lips.
Reflexively, I moistened them, slipping my tongue across my mouth, waiting for his to make contact. Slowly, we kissed, soft, romantic, and pure. He slid his hand to my pussy, driving my thirst for sex to a whole new level. I felt nearly driven to the edge, wanting desperately to beg him for more.“Please, Price. I need you.”
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Isn’t that fucking HOT!? Alta is so good at writing hot, filthy sex and she certainly didn’t hold back in ‘Bared’. For me, I am working on Inheritance, words are actually flowing and I have a plan. Let’s hope the day job doesn’t kill me before then! Make sure you RSVP to my big reveal on March 8 though, I have lots of secret news that I will be revealing and I want to make sure you are the first to hear it, lovelies!
Amazon: 1-Click Now!
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Want more Alta Hensley?
Alta Hensley is a USA TODAY bestselling author of hot, dark and dirty romance. She is also an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. Being a multi-published author in the romance genre, Alta is known for her dark, gritty alpha heroes, sometimes sweet love stories, taboo undertones, and engaging tales of the constant struggle between dominance and submission.
Alta also loves to connect with her readers via social media. She invites everyone to join her Facebook room called Alta’s Hot, Dark & Dirty Romance room.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltaHensleyAuthor/
Website: https://www.altahensley.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AltaHensley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/altahensley/
