For the choice of a Dakota book from Amazon and a small Hawaiian gift pack: #23 Beverly!
For the 20 dollar Amazon gift certificate: Lauren D
Ladies, write to me at bethkery@aol.com. Beverly, I’ll need your address, Lauren–better send me both your street address and the email you prefer–I’m not sure if Dakota’s gift certificate is physical or the email variety.
Many thanks to Dakota for a fun-filled day!!
Up next, I ramble on, give a couple peeks at Paradise Rules, and put up a fun-filled goodie bag of Hawaiian stuff and your choice of a Beth Kery book.
We’re lucky to have a crowned Princess of Romance Funny Side Up here with us today: Dakota Cassidy. :) Give her a great big welcome! Leave a comment and qualify to win your choice of one Dakota book from Amazon.Plus, to keep you in that Hawaiian mood, a small gift pack filled with lovely smelling Hawaiian bath salts, incense, and a silver toe ring from Hawaiian Heirloom Jewelry Factory located in Honolulu, Hawaii –for the beach, you know. Update: Because Dakota thought she was giving the prize, and I thought I was, there are now going to be TWO winners. One winner will get the prize above, the other will get a $20 dollar Amazon card from Dakota! How sweet is that?
Immortality bites.
Wanda Schwartz is raking in the dough selling Bobbie-Sue Cosmetics—and she’s a pro at recruiting new saleswomen. So, she’s shocked when a man comes to one of her in-home parties—a very hot man. Heath Jefferson is sure to put some extra spin into a lot of women’s color wheels.
When Wanda is diagnosed with a terminal illness, it doesn’t have to be a death sentence. With a werewolf and a vampire for best friends, she has options that most ordinary people wouldn’t. As Wanda ponders what to do about her mortality, Heath reveals he has secrets, and one of them is that his former bloodlust has turned into an old-fashioned lust—for Wanda. And he’s already given up too much to lose the love of his lifetimes.
DC: Thanks for having me… AGAIN. You sick of me yet? LOLLOL
BK: What future projects are you especially excited about?
DC: I’m super excited about Suck It Up, Princess, the beginning of my contemporary series with Berkley Sensation. It’s based on ex-trophy wives who’ve never worked and are left high and dry with no money and no job skills. They have to learn how to survive on coupon clipping and expeditions to Wal-Mart. Not only am I excited about writing this series, but I’m stoked to be in a different genre!
BK: Ooh, the scene when they discover Wal-Mart doesn’t carry Prada. :) Sounds like a hoot, Dakota.
Every writer has moments they cringe when they read past stuff, and moments when they think…yeah, that’s good. Would you please share with us a paragraph or two of a sample of your writing of which you are particularly proud and say why you like it?
DC: Uh… I think I’ll leave this space blank. You know, for people who’re proud. LOLLOL
BK: Oh, you’ve never had a loved that line moment? You should have! Okay, so you’re modest. How about telling us a “˜blush moment,’ an especially humorous or mortifying moment in your writing career?
DC: When I met Nina Bangs for the first time—I behaved like a screaming, crying, whimpering teenager who’d just met like Justin Timberlake. I blush every single time I think about it.
BK: What are you working on right now, and when can readers look forward to seeing it?
DC: Right now it’s Suck It Up, Princess and it’s out December 2010!
BK: You just won the dream vacation of your choice. Where would you go? Why? Who would go with you? What book would you bring with you? What would you make SURE you left behind?
DC: I’m goin’ to Italy, baby!!! I’m a foodie of sorts, and I’ve always wanted to try gelato. The real stuff—not to mention all that pasta and pastry that fo sho’s gonna end up on my back end. I’d bring my BF, Rob. And I’d leave my two sons and my parents at home in their appropriate cages. OMG—did I say that out loud? LOL
BK: Well, we did hear it but we’re discreet. Yeah, I lived off the sorbet when I was in Roma.
Dakota, you’re a doll for hanging out with us a bit. Best of luck with your writing…and getting to Italy.
#6, Marjana kaly! Congrats! Marjana, you can write me with your address at bethkery@aol.com and I’ll forward your info to Tracy. Thanks to all who participated.
We’re in for another fun day at the Paradise Rules contest. Dakota Cassidy is visiting, and we’ve got some great prizes. Stay tuned…
One of the reasons I love to do these contests is that I get to meet some amazing authors. I just met Tracy at the beginning of the month, and she’s an extremely warm, generous lady. She also knows a thing or two (or three) about writing some very sexy love scenes, as you’ll see below. Please give Tracy Wollf a big welcome to the Paradise Rules contest!
First off, I’m excited to be back here with Beth today. She’s a fabulous writer and I so enjoyed my last visit here.
I’ve been reading romance novels since I was in the fifth grade. My mother handed me a couple after an unsuccessful visit to the bookstore, where I couldn’t find a book because I’d already read everything in the Young Adult and classics sections of the store. From the first page of the first book (Jude Deveraux’s Velvet Angel) I was hooked. Hooked by the fabulous story, incredible clothes, terrible dungeon, plucky heroine, and, of course, the sexy as all get out hero, Miles Montgomery. Seriously, there was nothing about this man not to love. He was tall, sexy, handsome, loyal, intelligent, cunning, adored by women from age 1 to 99 and a hell of a good fighter, to boot. Needless to say, he made my 11 year old heart go pitter patter. And then some. (Click on cover for purchase information)
Anyway, I’ve been reading romances for 22 years now—and I’m not a one sub-genre kind of girl. I read just about everything—romantic comedy, category, erotic romance, romantic suspense, contemporary, paranormals, historicals, YA—if it’s a romance, I’ll give it a shot. My TBR pile numbers in the high hundreds. Now, the sub-genres of romance are very different—in tone, temperament, style, heroine, and any number of other things. I enjoy the differences, I really do. But for me, the one constant in romance novels is the hero. And let me tell you, I love me a good hero.
Maybe because Miles Montgomery, a truly fabulous hero, was my first example of the romance novel hero, I always strive to create a hero that is as fabulous and yummy and all around amazing as he was. So when I sat down to write this blog post, I thought I’d give you a thumbnail sketch of my newest hero and let you be the judge. But I’ll warn you, I write seriously alpha heroines, so my heroes need to be pretty kick-ass themselves.
Cole Adams, the hero of my brand new erotic suspense, Tie Me Down, is a tall, dark and gorgeous documentary maker on the trail of his sister’s murderer. Desperate to solve the cold case, he turns to Genevieve Deveraux, one of the few honest New Orleans homicide detectives around, to help him. Sparks fly as the two search for his sister’s murderer—and face down a psychotic serial killer—and Cole, who relishes being in control in and out of the bedroom, finds himself seriously turned on by Genevieve’s strength and determination. Though his relationships are always a little dark, even Cole is shocked by the intensity of his need for Genevieve and the lengths he will go to to get inside her body and her head.
Her independence and need for control bring out a side of him that he’s never known existed—one that is dark and dangerous and determined to bend her to his will. And though he is shocked by his need to dominate her– to be everything to her—he is unable to walk away from the wild, often frightening, pleasure he feels when he’s with her. The sexual gratification he brings Genevieve may be her obsession, but every day he’s with her drives him closer to a primal edge he’s never suspected.
And if Cole sounds like your kind of hero, here’s a little excerpt to whet your appetite for the book.
******
“I’m sorry I jumped down your throat this afternoon.” She said the words quickly, as if they tasted bad.
“I thought that was my line.”
She shrugged. “Maybe both of ours?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“So go ahead and say it.” She watched him expectantly.
“I’m sorry I was an ass this afternoon?”
“You’re not supposed to say it like it’s a question.”
He grinned because he couldn’t help himself. Then reached for her hand and tugged. “Come on in.” He dragged her through the living room and down the hallway to the kitchen. “You want a drink?” He nodded to the bottle of tequila on the counter.
She glanced at the discarded lime peels. “It looks like you’ve been drinking enough of that for both of us.”
“Not even close.” Then, because he couldn’t keep his hands to himself for one second longer, he pulled her into his arms. “I’m glad you came.”
“Me too.”
He rested his chin on the top of her head for a minute and just breathed in the sweet honey scent of her.
She shoved against his chest, pushed him away. And for a brief moment he felt bereft, though for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why.
Striving for control, needing to keep his hands busy with something other than her, he reached into the bar cabinet and pulled out a shot glass. “You ever tried Patrón?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a big tequila drinker.”
“This isn’t any ordinary tequila.” He poured a shot, handed it to her. But stopped her when she started to sip.
“If you’re going to do a shot, you’ve got to do it right.”
Genevieve lifted one cool brow, licked her full lower lip and nearly had him coming in his fucking jeans. “I didn’t realize there was a wrong way to do this.”
“Sweetheart, there’s a wrong way to do everything.” And then he was putting his hands on her waist and lifting her up so that her sweet ass was on the center island, her legs just a little bit open.
Stepping between them before she could change her mind, he slipped yet another god-awful suit jacket off her shoulders—he was seriously going to have to do something about her wardrobe. Maybe if he ripped it all off her . . .
Licking a trail from the hollow of her throat to her breastbone, he savored the taste of her.
“Mmm, salty.”
She blushed, then leaned back on her hands so that her breasts were thrust forward. “It’s a hundred degrees in the shade. Hard not to sweat.”
It took all his self-control to take things slowly when all he really wanted to do was to eat her alive.
“I wasn’t complaining,” he murmured as he trailed his tongue over the curve of first one breast and then the other. Then he slammed back the shot of tequila and finished it off by biting into a lime slice.
Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes wide as she stared at his lips. “That’s the right way to do a tequila shot?”
He loved her voice, the syrupy sweetness was a turn-on even without the hard-ass tone she deliberately injected into it. With the hard-ass tone, it was irresistible. “It’s the best way.”
“I bet.”
He poured another shot. Handed it to her. “Here. You try.”
He shrugged out of his T-shirt and nearly smiled as she did the same. Would have, if his first look at her body hadn’t brought him all the way to the edge. She was still covered in little bruises, the love bites he’d given her the last time they’d been together. It was hard to imagine that he’d done that to her, had marked her as he’d marked no other woman. Had claimed her as he’d never had the desire to do before.
Maybe he was a Neanderthal, because looking at her covered in his marks— seeing her proudly wearing the evidence of his desire for her—turned him so hard and fast his vision blurred.
Shit, how he wanted this woman. Was dangerously close to becoming obsessed with her.
Her sexy pink tongue darted out, swiped across her top lip and then her bottom one, as if she couldn’t quite decide where to lick. And every thought he had or might have had got lost in the wild need pumping through him.
Groaning, he tangled a hand in her hair and urged her closer. “Come on, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Taste me.”
So tell me, what kind of hero do you like to read about? Leave a comment and be entered to win a copy of the erotic anthology, Naughty Bits.
#15–Tracy! Woo Hoo, Tracy! Write me at bethkery@aol.com with your mail address, and I’ll get off your card!
Thanks to all for ‘playing.’ If you haven’t won yet, never fear, there will be many more chances before Paradise Rules releases on October 6. Up next, chat with author Tracy Wolff about her hot new romance in stories now, Tie me Down. Comment to win a copy of the yummy anthology Naughty Bits!!
To most people Hawaii’s crystal blue shores are an inviting opportunity to escape reality. But for Lana Rodriguez who grew up there, the picture-perfect vacation getaway disguises the bitter truths she escaped years ago, and not without some emotional scars. Now a successful blues singer, Lana’s returning to Waikiki with a different outlook on the past, and a bold defiance when it comes to men, romance, and sex. This time, it’s on her terms.
Until she found it in him.
Local celebrity, businessman and island god, Jason Koa, may be every woman’s dream. For Lana, it’s not exactly love at first sight. Though their start is rocky, they can’t deny the passions they arouse in each other. Jason refuses to become Lana’s pawn. It’s time to show her who makes the rules on this island—and in the bedroom. But will Jason’s attempt at breaking Lana’s shell reveal secrets that neither are prepared to face, or will they allow themselves to get swept away by a tidal wave of desire?
New Excerpt
He wore a pair of black pants and a white dress shirt, open at the collar. His beige jacket was perfectly tailored and highlighted his broad shoulders. He wore his dark brown hair longer in the front, but in the back it was neatly trimmed just above the collar of his shirt. The style perfectly set off his starkly masculine face. He held a paper sack. Her gaze lingered on his tanned, large hand gripping the package. He had great hands. Granted, everything about his body was amazing, but Lana had caught herself staring at his masculine, capable-looking hands frequently during her surf lesson.
Now she imagined what those hands would look like on her body—what they’d feel like.
“There’s been a mistake,” she said breathlessly. “I was expecting someone else.”
“You weren’t expecting someone from Hawaiian Nights escort service?”
She went still. Her heartbeat began to drum in her ears in the silence that followed. He slowly came toward her.
“What’s the matter, Lana? I assure you that I’m capable of filling the requirements for the job.”
She shivered at the impact of his low, raspy voice. “You work for Hawaiian Nights?”
He gave her a bland look and shrugged at what he must consider a statement of the obvious. “Why’s that so hard to believe?”
Lana couldn’t think of how to respond. He was certainly handsome enough for the job. He was more than sexy enough. In fact, he was too attractive. The effect he had on her made her uneasy.
“Did you know it was me you were meeting?”
“Sure.”
She shook her head incredulously. “And knowing that, you actually agreed to come?” Her gaze lowered to his slow grin. His smile—that flash of white teeth against sun-bronzed skin—really ought to be outlawed for its mind-altering effects. Best not to think of what it did to her body. When he didn’t speak, just continued to stare at her with a small, insolent grin on his firm lips, she prodded, “We took an instant dislike to each other. Maybe you didn’t notice?”
“Bit hard not to notice a blizzard in Waikiki. The way I recall it, you took an instant dislike to me.”
“Didn’t like the experience much, did you? Well, there’s a first time for everything.”
He didn’t appear overly dismayed by her sarcastic remark. As a matter of fact, he seemed so damn comfortable, Lana suddenly felt as if she were the interloper in his space. Like the whole damn island was his, and she’d just had the temerity to place a toe on his sandy beach.
Which there was a tad of truth to, she had to admit. This island paradise would never be her home, whereas Jason Koa embodied it.
Those singular dark gray eyes flecked with gold lowered over her deliberately, lingering on the swells of her breasts in the V of the neckline—checking out the bounty that had just washed up on his sovereign shore. She wasn’t wearing a bra. She gritted her teeth when she felt her nipples tighten against the smooth, cool fabric of the dress. “We may not like talking to each other much, but you didn’t call Hawaiian Nights for a chat buddy, did you?”
Lana stiffened. “I called for a fuck buddy. Is that what you’re thinking, Mr. Koa?”
He surprised her by chuckling softly, the sound reminding her of something between a purr and a soft growl. His big male body looked entirely relaxed, making her hyperaware of her own anxious tension. “Christ, you’re a piece of work. Do you ever let up?”
She considered him with an icy stare. The humor vanished from his face. Because of the flecks in his gray eyes, his gaze usually reminded her of hot smoke, but Lana learned at that moment they could also go hard and cold. Her tension mounted. Okay, so he was much more than just the big, sinuous panther lazing around in the sun that she’d just compared him to in her mind.
“All right. If that’s the way you want to play it, fine. I might think you’re a mean, cold bitch, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to have you under me, in front of me . . . on your knees.”
He closed the distance between them. Lana stared up at him warily when he leaned down over her, close enough for her to inhale his spicy cologne and natural rich male scent. Warm fluid flooded her panties. Just like that—in an instant—her body had readied itself for him. The strength of her response stunned her.
Comment to qualify to win a 25 dollar Barnes and Noble gift card tomorrow morning!
Congratulations, Blanche. I actually got these for myself, as well, to help put me in the festive Hawaiian mood for the contest. Blanche, write me at bethkery@aol.com with your street address.
Up next…one book, two books…maybe three? Whatever you’d like, because the daily prize is a 25 dollar gift card to Barnes and Noble!
1. The contest runs through 10/5. The grand prize is a $100 Amazon Gift Card.
2. To enter, copy the code (click on ‘share’) of the graphic above and post it to your blog, Facebook, Myspace, Website, whereever you want to share it. Add a link to my blog from your blog, Facebook, Myspace, wherever you put the graphic, and say “Click here to enter the PARADISE RULES contest. You may use a smaller version of the graphic, if you prefer, for one of your sidebars. Just change the height and width in the code to “180″ by “150″.
3. Come back here and reply to this post with a link to your blog entry or wherever you’ve posted the graphic.
4. If you don’t have a blog, or if you are having difficulty posting, you can still enter the contest. Here’s what you can do: Blog about the PARADISE RULES contest on your Facebook, Myspace page or post about it in a yahoo group. Just leave a comment about where you posted it and provide a link. No Facebook, Myspace or group? Then get creative. Share the contest with two friends, and leave a comment here about who you told. Tell your book club about the book and the contest. This will have to be on the honor system. The whole point of the contest is to spread the word about PARADISE RULES, so if you can convince me in some way that you did that, you’re in! Don’t forget, no matter how you spread the word, be sure to leave a comment with links here. If you have not entered correctly, you will not be in the final drawing, so please follow the instructions.
5. Everyone who enters the contest correctly will be in the running for the $100 dollar gift certificate. Authors are eligible to win as well!
DAILY PRIZES AND INTERACTION WITH YOUR FAVORITE ROMANCE AUTHORS IN ADDITION TO THE GRAND PRIZE
The daily prizes will be awesome as well! I’ve got some wonderful authors (and one terrific executive editor) who will be coming by my blog, talking about their latest or upcoming releases and giving away free books to commenters EVERY MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, so be sure to visit daily. Scheduled authors will tell us about their books and give away a copy to one commenter per day. On many days, I’ll also be giving away fun Hawaiian themed gifts.
**You will always find the author feature and contest just below the PARADISE RULES contest.
Author Schedule
9/16/9: Tracy Wolff
9/17/9: Dakota Cassidy
9/18/9: Beth Kery
9/19/9: Opal Carew
9/21/9: Fiona Jayde
9/22/9: Lisa Marie Rice
9/23/9: Shelli Stevens
9/24/9: Julie James
9/25/9: Lucy Monroe
9/26/9: Samhain Executive Editor Laurie Rauch
9/28/9: Lacey Savage
9/29/9: Shayla Black
9/30/9: Melissa Schroeder
10/1/9: Michelle Pillow
10/2/9: Larissa Ione
10/3/9: Christine D’Abo
10/5/9: Beth Kery/contest winner announced
Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that my Paradise Rules contest starts next Wednesday, 9/16. I have a great line up of authors who will be here daily giving away books, and I myself have some fun, Hawaiian themed gifts I’m giving in addition to these fantastic books. I’ll make a list of daily authors when I post the contest rules–but just to entice with a few…Opal Carew, Lucy Monroe, Fiona Jayde and Julie James. :)
I posted the lovely widgit that Frauke made me, by the way, to the right of my blog. I know it’s tiny, but I’ll put it up BIG next week. I couldn’t resist showing it off, just a leeetle bit, in the meantime, though.
So be sure to stop by starting 9/16 to 10/5 Monday through Saturday, leave a comment with new and favorite authors…and maybe win! The one hundred dollar Amazon gift certificate will be given away 10/5!
Thanks for helping celebrate the release my very steamy, romantic contemporary PARADISE RULES on October 6!
Hi all! Happy Labor Day! Hope you guys are relaxing with friends and family. I just came back from a nice walk around the city. I played tourist and took photos. When I was little and came to Chicago for a school function or something, my father would tell me…’Don’t gawk up at the skyscrapers. You’ll look like you’re from corn country.’
Nineteen years of city living, and I still haven’t learned that lesson.
So here’s a little slice of my Labor Day weekend in the city. How was your holiday?
The new Trump Tower flashing in the sunlight
While the gothic Wrigley and Tribune Tower brood in the fog just feet away
Only Oprah--could close down Michigan Avenue for three days to air her special show
Eating out on the terrace, interupted by five engines racing to our condominium building. Just a scare.
Got a last day of summer photo you’d like to share? If so, send it to me at bethkery@aol.com and I’ll try to post it!
He wore a pair of black pants and a white dress shirt, open at the collar. His beige jacket was perfectly tailored and highlighted his broad shoulders. He wore his dark brown hair longer in the front, but in the back it was neatly trimmed just above the collar of his shirt. The style perfectly set off his starkly masculine face. He held a paper sack. Her gaze lingered on his tanned, large hand gripping the package. He had great hands. Granted, everything about his body was amazing, but Lana had caught herself staring at his masculine, capable-looking hands frequently during her surf lesson.
