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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Women and #GayPorn by Jacqueline George

Please welcome the irrepressible Jacqueline George! I have to say, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. Having many close gay male friends, what's always given me pause about M/M erotic written by women is that it comes across sounding like two women trapped in hyper-sexualized male bodies. Gay men are first and foremost men and they behave toward each other in many of the same ways hetero men behave toward their partners. Hearts, flowers and frilly language...yeah, right. But enough of my two cents. Take it away, Jacqueline!
Cheers,
Cindy
___________________________________________

A Walk on the Wild Side

  ~ or women and gay porn

 


Now that gays have suddenly become people... Haven’t times changed! Gay sex has been going throughout recorded history, and presumably for a good while before that, but in recent centuries no-one has been talking about it. Same applies to gay relationships. When the social divide between the sexes was wider, educated city men seemed have spent most of their days at work or in exclusively male company. Their lives were divided between their male friends and their home, and you can’t help thinking that home life came second.

I suppose most close male friendships were chaste, but who knows? They were happy enough to write (anonymously) about MMF threesomes, and in the better city brothels you could indulge in whatever took your fancy. Knowing what men are like, I’m sure most of them tried everything they could afford, and as often as possible.

Now the covers are off, and we can read about or watch whatever variety of sex that intrigues us, something interesting has happened. It turns out that women are very interested in gay sex. They like to read about it, and buy erotic romances with exclusively male action. How strange is that? I know men drool over ‘lesbian’ porn, but I think everyone accepts that sort of thing bears as much relation to reality as Pro-Wrestling. They like to watch two girls having fun simply because there are twice as many of those interesting sexy bits on display. Is the female fascination with gay erotica no more than that?

I don’t believe it. Not for a minute, because we’re not like that. We want more from our books, more depth, more personality. We want to believe.

That’s a problem, right there. We want gay romance, and we want reality. We want sensitive young men (with finely chiseled abs, of course) to fall in love and really care for each other. We want the exciting, sexy stuff too, but it has to be done right. If not with roses, at least with designer clothes and expensive watches.

The thing that bothers me is it all sounds, well, a little girlie. I don’t believe men are like that. Sure, some are thoughtful and sensitive but scratch the surface and you will find the same old sex maniac underneath. Once their blood is up, they don’t much care. Sure they might prefer to see an attractive girl - sorry, I mean, a woman with an attractive personality - drinking at their fountain, but in the end they will take whatever is on offer. High on their requirements for the ideal woman is sex without hassles, (you know I am right, admit it!) and ideal women are as rare as hen’s teeth.

Once a man has dabbled in gay sex, he is faced with a choice on Friday night. He can go looking for a lady who might be persuaded to play games, and accept that an evening of politeness, sensitivity, dinner and drinks probably won’t give the desired result. Or he can look up his gay friends, who are every bit as hungry and obliging as he is himself. He can guarantee himself an evening of hot, cheap sex with no prospective mother-in-law in sight. It all sounds terribly cold and impersonal to me, but we’re talking about men here, not women.

What do our readers want? I’m really not sure. If they seriously want stories on the intimacies of long term gay relationships, I don’t think I could manage. I don’t know any of my gay acquaintances well enough to ask. If readers are looking for the sort of hot and exotic sex that spills over into M/M contact, I am on surer ground but - I don’t know - there is still a touch of cold and impersonal about it all.

In the right circumstances, real men take almost any opportunity to get off but do we want to read about getting a blow job from a complete stranger? Perhaps we do...

A Walk on the Wild Side - Buy-it-now link:
http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Wildside-Yellow-Dreams-ebook/dp/B009W9ZE4W
Jacqueline lives in Far North Queensland, on the shore of the Coral Sea. She keeps herself busy with her cats and garden, and by writing books - some of which are far too naughty for her own good. You can find out more about Jacqueline and her books at www.jacquelinegeorgewriter.com

 

Friday, March 22, 2013

SAILOR'S KNOT is here! #NewRelease

I'm so excited about this release, I'm Snoopy dancing around my living room. This is my favorite book in the Pirates at Heart series thus far, but really I love them all. I hope you do too!

Get your copy today!
http://www.ellorascave.com/sailor-s-knot.html


Pirates at Heart, Book Three

The year is 2037 and the next generation of Logan family pirates have taken over the helm of The Yellow Rose. Running bootleg booze and smuggling runners from the Reformed States of America into the Republic of Texas, business couldn’t be better…that is, if brothers Marcus and Nathaniel don’t kill each other in the process.

Captain Marcus Logan is serious, brooding and haunted, carrying a torch for his first mate, Amelie. Nathaniel—the resident party boy—is none of those things, but somehow they’d made their differences work for them until recently. When tall, leggy blonde Captain Ruby Delaney is a guest aboard The Rose, she turns Nathaniel’s head and stirs up all sorts of trouble, not the least of which is winding up in Marcus’ bed one drunken night. This ill-advised one-night stand ignites a love quadrangle so intertwined that the phrase “it’s complicated” doesn’t begin to define this sailor’s knot.

A Romantica® futuristic erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
 
Need to catch up with the Logan family pirates? Get books one and two here:

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Enchanted #NewRelease


Check out my latest release and my first with this lovely group of authors: Jacqueline George, Jocelyn Modo, and Gemma Parkes.

Buy-it-link: http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Yellow-Silk-Dreams-ebook/dp/B00BSNKCEC/

Blurb:
Do you believe in magically ever after?

Enchanted is the second, long awaited anthology of erotic stories from Yellow Silk. Four of the best writers of modern erotic fiction have created a different story of the magical enchantment of love and passion. Excellent story telling, guaranteed to stimulate not just the mind. This anthology is strictly for romantic adults.

Passion and Mystery
"Thank you Yellow Silk Dreams for collection of romantic stories that took me on a journey of passion, and mystery… I liked all the stories and my favourites were Spellbound by Jocelyn, and Jacqueline’s On a Summer’s Afternoon. I can’t wait for more stories..." - Aneta Horne, Townsville

Romantic, Sensual, Playful, Steamy...
"Four stories from four different writers, each of whom has a very different take on what 'enchanted' means in an erotic tale. I found Cindy's story full of romance, Gemma's to be a sensual treat and Jacqueline's to be playful, while Jocelyn's was simply steamy and hot. Whatever flavour you're looking for - it's here." - Chris Katyla, author

Saturday, March 16, 2013

#BlogHop--Big Cocks and Shamrocks


Happy Saint Patty's day to all you blog hoppers! I'm offering a signed copy of the anthology WEDDED AND BEDDED and some bathtime goodies to relax with after a hard day of inspecting all those...ahem **shamrocks**. One lucky commenter will be drawn at random from all US participant who leave a comment. So sorry to my worldwide friends, but international shipping costs can be prohibitive. Sorry! Starving author here :)

Okay, today I have for you a snippet from something special I'm working on...and it's the closest to Irish characters I've written to date. SHELTERING ARMS is actually set in a fictional medieval kingdom called Cherte, but hey, it was inspired by Anglo-Saxon and Celtic lore. Close enough, right?

Here's an unedited excerpt in which my star-crossed lovers are saying their final goodbyes. Enjoy!

SHELTERING ARMS
Copyright Cindy Jacks, 2013

Excerpt:

Pressing her forehead to his chest, she cried silently. A rough hand wiped at the tears streaming down her face.
“You should get back before you are missed.” Jostling her, he moved toward the back of his cell, but she caught his shoulder.
“This cannot happen.”
“It can. And it will, milady.”
A clumsy step forward and Merewyn clutched her arms around his neck. Her mouth pressed to his, she kissed him still weeping. For a moment, he gave himself over to the rush of heat and electricity, letting it warm his loins. Then he remembered that such passions were for the living and he was already a dead man.
He moved away again, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
She gasped, sobbing harder.
The weight of his cruelty bore down on his shoulders. His imprisonment was not her fault. The trap in which he found himself had begun with his own meddling—interfering in a situation he had no right to put his hand in.
Even tear-stained she was the loveliest woman he’d ever seen. Was it her beauty that had besotted him or was it the cruel hand of fate that she’d been dealt that compelled him to act. He had no regrets. She and Owain and her other children had a chance now. Was it not his duty to protect the monarchy from threats both foreign and domestic? He had carried out his duty and now he would die with honor, if not in historical record at least in his heart. He could die in peace. Why then did the image of Merewyn in Leontes’ bed haunt him, tearing apart his peace, mocking his resolve to die like a man?
“Please go, milady. Before you are discovered here and my sacrifice comes to naught.”
She clutched at him, but he shook her off.
“Go!” he rasped. “Do not kiss me with same lips that he tastes. Just go.”
She spun around as though he’d slapped her, tearing open the door and fleeing from him.
It was better this way, he told himself. In two more dawns, he would be but a memory, a number of dawns after which that memory would fade into oblivion. She would move on…no, not would. She already had.
-------------------------------------------------------
Check out more Cindy Jacks books here: http://cindyjacks.com/books
Don't forget to keep on hopping! There are lots more goodies to be had and more talented folks to visit: http://closeencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com/2013/01/big-cocks-and-shamrocks-st-patricks-day.html
Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!





Friday, March 15, 2013

#IOBookTours SEDUCING THE PRINCESS by Mary Hart Perry



BLURB:

Seducing the Princess by Mary Hart Perry

            Mary Hart Perry’s acclaimed series of romantic Victorian thrillers continues with Seducing the Princess, inspired by the life of Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter Beatrice. Painfully shy and lonely, convinced she is unattractive and unloved, the dutiful Princess Beatrice finally accepts that she will never marry and vows to devote herself to the queen in Victoria's waning years. In fact, her mother has secretly discouraged suitors for Beatrice’s hand. Just when Beatrice has all but given up on love and happiness, she meets Henry Battenberg, a dashing nobleman from the Continent who matches wits with the aging Victoria and risks his life and liberty to woo Bea.

            But Henry isn't the only man interested in being welcomed into Beatrice's bed. The timid princess has become the target of a cruel plot hatched by her nephew, the madman destined to become the last Emperor of Germany. Wilhelm II sends a ruthless agent, a charming Scot, to seduce the naive princess and spy on the queen. How can the sheltered princess hope to fend off a man capable of murder, and perhaps worse, to get what he wants? But Beatrice is not without her own allies--her older sister Louise and Louise's American soldier-of-fortune and lover, Stephen Byrne. Will Beatrice discover which of the two men pursuing her she can trust, before it's too late? Drama, romance and peril chase the royal family from Buckingham Palace to a storm besieged castle on the Isle of Wight.

 

Brief excerpts from Seducing the Princess by Mary Hart Perry:
 
                                                            #1
Gregory watched the queen’s daughter weave down the alley of the dim barn and out into the sunshine. He laughed to himself. Girl didn’t know it but she was his.
He had seen it in her eyes. They had dilated nearly all-black at his touch. She’d trembled and reacted to him with unmistakable sensual awareness. He’d waited patiently for such signs these months as they’d ridden together, as he’d gently urged her to open up to him.
At first he’d worried that she might cling to her hope of Battenberg coming for her, but the missing letters did the trick. She no longer seemed to believe the Prussian loved her. He just hoped his agent had destroyed their correspondence as they’d discussed. Without the princess’s letters ever leaving London, and Battenberg’s missives intercepted before they could reach Beatrice, communication had been completely severed between the two. Moreover, his spies assured him that, whatever had transpired between the pair in Darmstadt, or later in London, their relationship hadn’t yet progressed to the bedchamber. Kisses and hand holding maybe, but Beatrice was still a virgin.
Which meant she knew almost nothing about sex.
Which meant he could use her naiveté to his advantage.
And now? He’d wait and let today’s little encounter sink in. Let Beatrice think about touching hands, about how much she missed Henry’s kisses and how nice it would be to be kissed again—by someone conveniently close by, someone she’d learned to feel safe with, and who knew how to please a woman.
In the meantime, there was this bloody job in the mews to get rid of. He needed to move up in the world, and fast, if he was to woo a princess, the task set for him by Wilhelm. That’s where he needed the help of the queen.
 
                                                            #2
She gathered her skirts, dismayed by how odd she’d look on the dance floor, like a widow in her weeds among all the pretty young things in their floaty white and pastel tulle. A raven among peacocks. A toad among flitting rainbow damsel flies.
He drew back her chair for her as she stood, giving her room to step away from the table and ease her full skirts clear of the furniture, and offered his arm. She took it, her mind whirring with a long list of names, none of them fitting the tall, elegant, beautiful young man beside her.
Oh, God…oh, God, who are you?
His hair was dark, his eyes mesmerizing when he looked down at her. They seemed bright with curiosity, or amusement. What did he see when he observed her with such intensity?  She feared it was unpleasant. She hoped she wasn’t repulsive to him.
The music had faded from the previous gavotte by the time they reached the edge of the dance floor. Ladies were being escorted back to their seats, new partners located, couples sorted out. The orchestra tuned up again, and lively chatter filled the ballroom.
“I believe it’s to be a Viennese,” her partner said. “Does an aggressive waltz please you, Princess?”
She was momentarily terrified that she’d lost her voice but, miraculously, sounds crackled out. “Oh…why yes. Viennese. Lovely.”
“Battenberg! Liko, how goes it, old man?” A man in a black swallow-tail coat passed by, clapping Beatrice’s dance partner on the back.
Ah.  Now she had it. One of bridegroom’s brothers. The youngest? No, there were four, she recalled, and she’d never met the youngest. But she had met the eldest, Alexander—Sandro to his friends and family. And the second son was Louis. Then came Henry, who also had a quirky family nickname, Liko. Henry. Henry. Henry. Yes, now she remembered. She recalled having played with him when they were very young. She should say something to show she was pleased to see him again.
Beatrice cleared her throat and straightened up as tall and slim as she could. “Henry,” she said, to let him know she really did recognize him.
“Yes?” He was still smiling but with a touch of restraint, perhaps even concern that he was now obliged to a dance with a woman incapable of expressing her simplest thoughts.
“It’s been a very long time,” the words burst from her lips all at once, “since you were last in England.”
“Yes, it has, Princess. I should like to visit again, soon.”
Violins broke into the opening strains of The Blue Danube, one of her favorites by Strauss. Beatrice felt her partner’s palm settle gently yet firmly at her waist. His other hand opened, palm up, inviting her fingertips. She timidly rested her gloved hand in his. As soon as they were in proper position, he stepped bravely into the whirl of dancers. Off they flew, as if on a hawk’s wings. Beatrice tensed, suddenly aware of the speed at which her feet must continue moving to avoid tripping herself up.
“It’s all right,” Henry whispered, his breath warm against her ear. “Relax, let me guide you.”
It was the strangest thing. Just his saying those words made every taut muscle in her spine and shoulders loosen a notch. It hadn’t sounded like an order, the way her mother would have made it seem, but her body obeyed instantly.
Beatrice tilted her head and gave him a shy smile. “You dance very well, Henry.”  She meant it. Her partner wasn’t a hobbling octogenarian or, just as bad, a brother or cousin with a stiff gait and sweaty shirt front.
“Thank you. As do you.” He executed a clever heel turn at the end of the room and brought them back into the swirling crowd with a roguish twinkle in his eyes. “I ought to, after all the damned lessons Mother and Father forced upon the lot of us.”
“I love to dance,” she said a little breathlessly.
“Do you? I’ll have to ask you more often. If you like, that is.”
“Oh yes,” Beatrice said, “this is ever so much fun.” Then she laughed because she sounded like a child, pleased to be taken out to play on the swings. Push me higher…higher!
He chuckled. “What’s so funny?”
“Just that, I don’t know, I feel years younger when dancing, don’t you? Sitting all night and making polite conversation becomes so very dull.”
His eyes fixed on her face, and she thought she saw his mind working. “It does, doesn’t it?” he agreed. “All the silly gossip, the forced chit-chat. I’d rather be doing something too. I guess tonight we’ll have to settle for dancing. Though a carriage ride would be brilliant, on a full-moon night like this.”
She gasped in delight at the thought. “Oh, it would—wouldn’t it just be too perfect?” The music swelled, the tempo raced, pulling her pulse along with it. She tried not to think about her feet, letting them do the work for her. It was better that way. If she thought too hard about the intricate steps, she’d flub it up and they’d end in a sprawl on the floor.
“Do you ride?” he asked. “Horseback, that is.”
She gave him a sideways look that said, Are you joking? “Remember who my mother is?”
He blushed. “Of course. The queen is a dedicated horsewoman so certainly her daughter must be too. I understand you’re inseparable, the two of you. Mother and daughter. ” Was there a question behind his words? Or teasing? She wasn’t sure.
“I love to ride,” was all she could think to say at first but then plunged on. “Riding fast is the best. Faster than she ever does. At a canter at the least, better at a gallop. Mother says running a horse is far too dangerous, but I think racing across a field is rather like dancing the Viennese.”
“Exactly.” He grinned. “Funny. I wouldn’t have thought you’d be so keen on speed.”
No, of course not, she brooded. You’d think me dull and clumsy and uninteresting, like the rest of them do. She ducked her head and lowered her eyes, feeling chastened and reminded of her many inadequacies.
Too late, Beatrice realized her mistake.
How many times had she been scolded by her dance master for peeking at her feet while dancing? It threw off the body’s posture, disturbed the fragile balance between partners, and courted disaster.
Then, she missed a step. And another.
Before she could recover she felt herself falling forward, out of control, the toe of her slipper catching the hem of her gown, making everything impossibly worse. She imagined herself dragging Henry Battenberg down with her to the floor, other couples coming upon them at speed, so suddenly they would be unable to avoid the fallen pair beneath their feet. Dozens of dancers would plummet to the floor, creating a messy, embarrassing pileup.
All because of her clumsiness.
 

BIO:

  Kathryn Johnson lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and two feline writing partners, Tempest and Miranda. The author of over 40 novels, she's written under her own name and a variety of pen names, including Mary Hart Perry, Kathryn Jensen, KM Kimball and Nicole Davidson. She also teaches fiction-writing workshops for the renowned Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. And, in 2008, she founded Write by You (www.WriteByYou.com), to coach other writers interested in reaching publication. She has been nominated for the prestigious Agatha Christie Award, and won the Heart of Excellence and Bookseller's Best Awards (sponsored by the Romance Writers of America) in 2011.

            Her works in progress include a series of Victorian thrillers inspired by the lives of Queen Victoria's five daughters. The first novel, The Wild Princess, focuses on Princess Louise, who desperately wanted an education as a professional artist, at a time when women were not admitted into art schools. Her personal life becomes complicated when she uncovers a secret about her husband and must help protect her mother from an assassination attempt. The second book of the series,Seducing the Princess, launches April 2, 2013, and features Victoria’s youngest daughter Beatrice. Painfully shy and lonely, the dutiful Princess has promised never to marry and to devote herself to the queen in Victoria's waning years. Just when she has all but given up on love and happiness, she meets Henry Battenberg, a dashing nobleman from the Continent who risks his life and liberty to woo Bea and save both his beloved and the queen from a cruel plot. A third novel, to be published later in 2013, will star Crown Princess Vicky.

ONLINE LINKS:

                Facebook:    

                                Please "like" Mary Hart Perry (Here's the bit.ly short link):  on.fb.me/Kj7hzU

                                Also find me on FB:  http://facebook.com/Kathryn.K.Johnson.3

                Twitter:   @Mary_Hart_Perry      and    @KathrynKJohnson

                Goodreads:  Come find me as Mary Hart Perry  

                Linkedin:  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kathryn-johnson/21/8b3/350

                Website:  www.WriteByYou.com

                Contact me: Kathryn@writebyyou.com or Mary@MaryHartPerry.com

BUY NOW LINK:  

Suggest to readers to go to Goodreads and mark it as “Want to Read”


 

This is a link through Ganxy, which  updates  as places to buy the book become available. 

See Ganxy instructions for link to sell copies on various sites. This is the sale link:

 



 This html contains the book cover, blurb and any available buy links.

https://ganxy.com/i/76010"; data-width="600" data-style="bare">"Seducing the Princess" by Diversion Books on Ganxy


FACE BOOK EVENT Running March 31st to April 4th  With an all day hoopla on April 2nd to celebrate the release of “Seducing the Princess


Join Mary Hart Perry and Vickie Ann in celebrating the launch of Seducing the Princess. Mary Hart Perry will be doing random giveaways at this event, so keep an eye out for prizes and help spread the word!!!

Book Blurb for Seducing the Princess:
Mary Hart Perry’s acclaimed series of romantic Victorian thrillers continues with Seducing the Princess, inspired by the life of Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter Beatrice. Painfully shy and lonely, convinced she is unattractive and unloved, the dutiful Princess Beatrice finally accepts that she will never marry and vows to devote herself to the queen in Victoria's waning years. In fact, her mother has secretly discouraged suitors for Beatrice’s hand. Just when Beatrice has all but given up on love and happiness, she meets Henry Battenberg, a dashing nobleman from the Continent who matches wits with the aging Victoria and risks his life and liberty to woo Bea.
But Henry isn't the only man interested in being welcomed into Beatrice's bed. The timid princess has become the target of a cruel plot hatched by her nephew, the madman destined to become the last Emperor of Germany. Wilhelm II sends a ruthless agent, a charming Scot, to seduce the naive princess and spy on the queen. How can the sheltered princess hope to fend off a man capable of murder, and perhaps worse, to get what he wants? But Beatrice is not without her own allies--her older sister Louise and Louise's American soldier-of-fortune and lover, Stephen Byrne. Will Beatrice discover which of the two men pursuing her she can trust, before it's too late? Drama, romance and peril chase the royal family from Buckingham Palace to a storm besieged castle on the Isle of Wight.

Don't miss the fun! Invite your friends to join in! And ask Vickie how to get Seducing the Princess for free in exchange for an honest review on Amazon. Vickie@iobooktours.com

Need to catch up? The Wild Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria's Defiant Daughter Amazon. 
http://tinyurl.com/aeq6vdn

Facebook: 
Please "like" Mary Hart Perry (Here's the bit.ly short link): on.fb.me/Kj7hzU
Also find me on FB: 
http://facebook.com/Kathryn.K.Johnson.3
Twitter: @Mary_Hart_Perry and @KathrynKJohnson
Goodreads: Come find me as Mary Hart Perry 
Linkedin: 
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kathryn-johnson/21/8b3/350
Website: 
www.WriteByYou.com
Contact me: Kathryn@writebyyou.com or Mary@MaryHartPerry.com

 

Giveaway: 2 $10.00 Gift Cards




If you cannot use rafflecopter here is a link




 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

#IOBookTours SEDUCED BY PAIN by Kimberly Kinrade

 

I enjoyed SEDUCED BY INNOCENCE very much and was thrilled when invited to read SEDUCED BY PAIN. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. So now for the good stuff.

Book one left off with all sorts of questions: Will Derek and Rose reunite? Can they accept their feelings for each other, especially after what happened with Derek's brother? And then there's Rose's mother!

While this book is chock full of paranormal goodness, what really shines through is the intense romance between Rose and Derek. Definitely star-crossed lovers, they have plenty of reasons to stay away from each other, but their love is clearly too powerful for each other to resist. It's also the key to Rose's essential dilemma--how to control her powers. Ms. Kinrade has done a beautiful job constructing a steamy, chemistry-fueled tension and the lovescenes...yowza!

Aside from the romantic aspect, SEDUCED BY PAIN is also a thrilling read. There are lots of twists and turns to keep the readers guessing. Book two is definitely darker then book one, but there's also much about it that offers the reader a sense that all will work out in the end...of course now I'm dying for book three.


If you enjoy paranormal romance I recommend you pick up this series!


BLURB:

Their passion will destroy them.

Only true love can save them.

 

"Hope is a fragile thing, yet strangely enduring. It hides in the crevices of pain, burrowing deep until unseen, for fear that sorrow, in its rage, will devour hope's desperate hold on the heart. 

It can live there for years, silent and waiting. Or, it can be slaughtered with a word-- mankind's most powerful weapon.

They say that universes are created with words.

And with words, they are destroyed.

Just as mine has been."


***

In the sequel to Seduced by Innocence, Derek and Rose face even greater threats to their love as Derek fights to protect the core of his family's power while Rose struggles to control her own dark gift.

 

***

Recommended for 17+ due to explicit sexual content. This is a new adult paranormal romance with erotic content and includes shifters, demons and witches. 

 

**Rose's story is a trilogy, not stand alone books. The first two books have cliffhanger endings. Her complete story in one book will be available as "Seduced" when the author finishes writing all three books and they are out. If you do not like cliffhanger endings, please consider waiting to purchase until Seduced the omnibus edition is out.**

 

Submit to the Seduced Saga as Derek and Rose face their future while unraveling the mysteries of their past.

Look for these books in the Seduced Saga coming 2013.

Seduced by Innocence (Rose's Story, Book 1)
Seduced by Pain (Rose's Story, Book 2)
March 2013- Seduced by Power (Rose's Story, Book 3)


TBA - Seduced by the Sea (Ocean's Story)

TBA- Seduced by Love (A Surprise!)

 

BIO:

Kimberly Kinrade was born with ink in her veins and magic in her heart. She writes fantasy and paranormal stories for all ages and still believes in magic worlds. Check out her YA paranormal series The Forbidden Trilogy, her lower grade fantasy series The Three Lost Kids, and watch for her New Adult romance and fantasy books coming in 2013 including The Seduced Saga, Sunrise and Nightfall, Death by Destiny and The Fallen Trilogy and her next YA fantasy adventure, The Reluctant Familiar. You can find her books on Amazon, B&N and Goodreads among other fine retailers.

 

When she's not writing, she runs Daring Books Design & Marketing with her husband, Dmytry Karpov, where they help authors with all manner of marketing, editing, and design needs until such a time that their brilliant children take over the business for them.

 

She lives with her three little girls who think they're ninja princesses with super powers, her two cats who think they're gods (and probably are), her two dogs who think they're humans and her husband, also known as the sexy Russian Prince, who is the love of her life and writing partner.

 

ONLINE LINKS:

 Website  http://KimberlyKinrade.com 

Twitter: @KimberlyKinrade 

Facebook: /KimberlyKinrade 

Amazon: http://Amazon.com/author/kimberlykinrade 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4687115.Kimberly_Kinrade 

BUY NOW LINK:


 
http://KimberlyKinrade.com

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Scandalous Ms. Steinheil by Jacqueline George

Back to regale us with tales of the naughty, please welcome Jacqueline George!

Cheers,
Cindy
_________________________________________________

A hundred and twenty years ago in 1890’s, the world was a very different place. The centres of power, industry and culture were on the other side of the Atlantic. You might even think that France mattered more than America. It was a racy time in Paris. The Impressionists had taken the art world by storm. Toulouse Lautrec was drinking himself to death in the cafés of Montmartre, and the risqué dancers of the Moulin Rouge were shocking the world.

In French politics, everything was taking second place to l'affaire Dreyfus (The Dreyfus Affair), a complicated story involving an army officer who had been imprisoned largely for the crime of being Jewish.

The President of the day, a charming man of simple origins, was Félix Faure. He was a surprise appointment, chosen because he had the smallest number of enemies in the Republican party (does that sound familiar?)

I think I would have liked him. Faure had a job to do, representing the young Third Republic before the great states of Europe. Victoria still reigned as Queen-Empress across the channel in England, and Kaiser Wilhelm II had taken the reins of Chancellor Bismarck’s Germany and was looking for war. The Tsar of Russia in all his enigmatic grandeur might be an enemy, or an ally. Still, Félix Faure, son of a cabinet maker, gave nothing in dignity to kings and emperors.

Faure was handsome, and dressed well. He cared for himself, and changed clothes perhaps three times in a day. He also loved ladies, and people believed that he had impressed a formidable list of them very deeply.

One of the ladies he impressed was Madame Marguerite Steinheil, the wife of a painter. Faure became a frequent visitor to the family home, and Marguerite began to visit the President privately. She claimed to be his ‘psychological advisor’.

Her visits settled into a routine. In her memoires, she later wrote “A private detective dispatched by the president would accompany me to the Elysée Palace. I always entered through a little door overlooking the gardens. I crossed the ground floor, and reached the Blue Drawing Room where the president was waiting for our work session.”

On 16th February 1899, Marguerite was alone with Faure in the drawing room when screams were heard by the President’s staff. They rushed into the room and found President Faure dying on the sofa. That much they were agreed on.

What they could not agree on, or perhaps could not talk of without disrespect, was Madame Steinheil. You can imagine that, in a small town like Paris, rumours began to fly in minutes. Let me give you the most generally accepted scenario:
When the President’s aides flung open the doors of the Blue Drawing Room, they found the President breathing his last on the sofa. Kneeling between his legs and struggling to get free, was a partially clothed Marguerite. She had been giving her lover a blow job and done it so well that his climax was final. He expired with his hands so firmly gripped in her hair that she had to be cut free. She was discreetly hustled away through a side door.

The Parisian press did not let her escape so easily. The President’s life had been ‘sacrificed at the altar of Venus’ and everyone knew just how it had happened. They also knew about Marguerite and although they did not print her name, they did talk a lot about la pompe funèbre. Now that is an unfortunate phrase in French because while it normally refers to funeral solemnities, a pompe is also slang for a blow job. Poor Marguerite was famous for all the wrong reasons.

Marguerite was thirty at the time, and had suddenly become a symbol of the grandeur and hedonism of her time.

Fame brought a surprising number of rich lovers, presumably drawn to sample her skills in bed. Life went very well until 1908 when she became involved in another strange incident. One night, her apartment was broken into, and her father strangled to death. Her stepmother beside him also died - by suffocating on her false teeth. There were no sensible theories about why the murders had happened, and an immediate attempt was made to pin the incident on Marguerite. In the end, commonsense prevailed and the police accepted her alibi - she had been found gagged and tied to her bed by the intruders.

Marguerite moved to England and faded from the public stage. In 1917, she married Robert Scarlett, a naval officer and the 6th Baron Abinger and by the greatest good luck a film clip of her wedding survives here . She died in a seaside nursing home in 1954, a world away from that terrible day in the Blue Drawing Room.




Jacqueline lives in Far North Queensland, on the shore of the Coral Sea. She keeps herself busy with her cats and garden, and by writing books - some of which are far too naughty for her own good. You can find out more about Jacqueline and her books at www.jacquelinegeorgewriter.com