Hello! I have a limited number of bookplates and bookmarks to give away for those in the U.S., Canada and Europe, for my upcoming Addicted to You under the pen name Bethany Kane. If you’d like one, please write me at bethkery@aol.com.

Have a great week,

Beth

#42, Tiffany D!

That was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone for taking part, and to Danielle for asking me to participate!

Welcome to the Bunny Hop!

Yesterday I saw the 10 Most Challenged Book List released by the American Library Association and got a smile out of it. (The ALA isn’t challenging these books as an organization, by the way, they are designating ‘controversial books’ or books that were most frequently challenged). As a writer of erotic romance, among other genres, I empathized with authors of books on that list. As a reader, I admit that the list sounded like a ‘must read’ list vs. anything I’d avoid because of controversial matter.

For instance:

5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
OR
3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: Insensitivity, Offensive Language, Racism, Sexually Explicit

Umm…Brave New World was sexually explicit? And I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from authors Tracy Wolff and Julie James about The Hunger Games. Sometimes, you have to wonder about people who doth protest so much about books. Do they not realize that’s going to make the books that much more appealing, probably most notably to the audience thery are trying to ‘protect?’
.
I’m putting together my own warnings for my upcoming novella, On the Job, which can be found in the Three to Tango anthology with Emma Holly, Lauren Dane and Megan Hart, to be released in May, 2011. (I’ll be writing as Bethany Kane for this). Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Menage a Trois, Potential for reading addiction. Okay, I made up that last part, but given who I’m in the anthology with, and the spicy theme, there might be some potential. And yes, I assume there would be people out there who would find this anthology controversial. Strike that. If The Hunger Games is deemed controversial, Three to Tango would be considered incendiary and downright indecent.

So don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Here’s a bit about Three to Tango. Be sure to look for my first novel under Bethany Kane—another smoker that requires dire warnings—called Addicted to You, out June, 2011.

Blurb
Four of erotic fiction’s most talented authors carry readers away with all-new tales of ecstasy that prove that the most delectable things in life come in threes…

In Emma Holly’s FLIPPING FOR CHELSEA, Shay and Liam shared an unforgettable night with their lifelong friend, Chelsea, awakening a rush of forbidden feelings–feelings they have to reckon with when the three reunite, and the unrequited lust between them is too much to bear.

Though Ava left her hard-knock Georgia childhood behind, she never forgot Luca and Angelo. Together they were best friends with a bond that could never be broken. But when she returns, the three must decide whether to face the fires that burn between them, or forgo their desires forever in Lauren Dane’s DIRTY/BAD/WRONG.

In Megan Hart’s JUST ONE NIGHT, fun-loving couple Kerry and Jeremy find themselves in a triangle of trouble when Kerry’s old crush, Brian, returns for a school reunion, and Jeremy gives her his enthusiastic approval to seduce him. But while Jeremy has no trouble sharing Kerry, Brian isn’t sure he can handle what’s coming.

Years ago, Walker walked out on Madeline when she needed him most. Now, the ex-Secret Service agent is back—hired to protect both Madeline and their billionaire friend, Tony. Madeline is determined to make him pay for denying her desires—and she’s not above bringing Tony in to sweeten the deal in Bethany Kane’s ON THE JOB.

MY PRIZE for the Easter blog hop is a $15 Amazon gift card AND a copy of the THREE TO TANGO anthology.To enter, leave a relevant comment on this post, and remember to follow the hop to other participating blogs and prizes below! Just follow the next link to the next awesome giveaway. Many wonderful prizes are being offered over Easter weekend, and with these numbers, you’ve got an excellent chance to win!

I’m back! Exhausted, but glad to say this was the best RT I’ve yet attended. Why? I’m trying to figure that out. For one thing, it was comfortable and laid back, and for lack of a better word, classy. Plus, the west coast seemed to offer a plethora of talent for the panels. For instance, I was held spellbound by D.P. Lyle’s–physician and author of Forensics for Dummies– panel on forensic science. He made it specific for writers, and was he a goldmine of relevant and interesting information. Needless to say, I downloaded his book and gobbled it up on my plane ride home. Among other panels of interest was Dean Koontz’s talk for authors. He’s funny and wise. Here’s a photo–that’s him sitting there at the table in front of the microphone. Sorry, but with all the avid authors and Dean’s bodyguards, getting a photo was difficult.

I sat on two workshop panels myself. Here’s a photo of the panel for How to Create Emotionally Intense Love Scenes, which I thought went really well. My panel-mates are some very smart ladies. Below, from left to right, me, Tracy Wolff, HelenKay Dimon, Lauren Dane, Megan Hart.

Of course, what’s RT without the opportunity to meet up with friends, bloggers, authors and readers?

Lorelie James, Lauren Dane, Beth Williamson

Tracy of Desert Island Keepers, Julie James, Jane of Dear Author

Shelli Stevens and Kelly Jamieson at the Bradford dinner

And what would RT be without the Mr. Romance competition? Mr. Romance is the short-haired, dark guy in the middle. His name was Len.

Well, as of 6:15 tomorrow morning, I am L.A. and RT bound. Can’t wait to see all my writer and reader friends, kick back and chill, and talk books, romance, writing…life.

I got a very special picture over at Twitter from Rissatoo, who won The Hometown Hero Returns contest and 150 dollars toward an eReader of choice. She chose to upgrade to the premium Kindle, and was kind enough to send me a pic of her baby.

Thanks for letting The Hometown Hero Returns be the first book, Rissatoo!

Hi all! Hope you’re enjoying a relaxing weekend. I’m frantically trying to get things done before leaving for RT on Tuesday. Can’t wait! I’ve got a short excerpt for you from my story ON THE JOB from the Three to Tango anthology coming out in May!

Three To Tango
An anthology coming from Emma Holly, Lauren Dane, Megan Hart and Bethany Kane
Four of erotic fiction’s most talented authors carry readers away with all-new tales of ecstasy that prove that the most delectable things in life come in threes…

Sex is best when it’s one-on-one…plus one.

Excerpt
ON THE JOB by Bethany Kane

He was back there, watching her. He was on the job, and Madeline knew better than most how important his job was to him. He wouldn’t abandon it, even if he had abandoned her. She held him in a trap, and it was sweet . . . delicious to torment him for his sense of duty, to make him pay for his noble intentions.

She reminded him of what he’d sacrificed as she stroked her erect nipples beneath a hot Tahoe sun. So what if they’d just been kids at the time, fools suffering from the heatstroke of a wild infatuation? She’d needed him, and he’d failed her. First Madeline’s father had died unexpectedly, then Walker had left. Madeline’s hurt had changed to anger over the years. Eventually, the sting had faded.

It had, anyway, until she’d walked onto the terrace this morning and seen Walker Gray talking to Tony.

Her clit begged for attention, but Madeline refrained. With effort. She longed to punish him, not only for eleven years ago, but for having the temerity to suddenly appear again in her life. His brisk, professional manner made a mockery of the fact that she’d been floored by his unexpected presence. He’d barely said two dozen words to her since Tony had asked her if she recalled their old friend from their high school and college days, Walker Gray.

She recalled, all right.

She’d make sure the bastard remembered just as graphically.

She sat up and took a sip from her glass of iced hibiscus tea mixed with lemonade. Her fingers strayed to the tie at her back. She pulled slowly on the string. She tossed the flimsy top next to the sweating glass and stretched out again on the dock.

It wasn’t a big deal. She sunbathed topless once in a while on Tony’s boat. True, she’d never gotten the impression that her bare breasts had received any of the focused interest from Tony as they once had from the man who stood behind her in the yard. Sure, she’d never have done it if it were another one of Tony’s employees standing guard. The point was, Madeline was perfectly comfortable sunbathing topless in this situation.

Perfectly aroused.

She doubted very seriously she would have ever cupped her breasts in her slick hands from below, making the nipples point upward, like dark pink arrows, to the sky even in front of Tony, but the heretofore unprotected parts of her skin needed SPF, didn’t they?
It felt good, so warm, so arousing . . . so powerful.

She let one hand trail across the sensitive skin at the sides of her ribs and across her belly. Her clit beckoned. It burned in protest at being ignored. She slipped two fingers beneath the top of her bikini panties. Her labia were moist and swollen.
She slid a finger into the juicy cleft and moaned in pleasure.

Was he suffering? God, she hoped so.

Her eyes popped open a few seconds later when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. He’d moved so quietly, and she’d been so involved in her little game, she’d never heard his tread on the dock.

“What—?”

“Surely you’re not going to ask me what I’m doing, Madeline.” She saw his clamped jaw and her shocked reflection in the mirrored lenses of his sunglasses. “Because I would have thought that was obvious. I’m giving you what you’ve been asking for.”

She gasped in surprise when he slid his forearm beneath her thighs and lifted. The next thing she knew she was flying down the dock in Walker Gray’s arms.

–Four red-hot writers take you on a wild ride…Kane’s story particularly shines, with a strong plot and well-defined characters.
4 stars from RT Book Reviews