Virtual Blog Tour - Kate Patrick's Love Beyond the Curve

Today, author Kate Patrick will share an excerpt from her new contemporary romance, Love Beyond the Curve, which features a plus size heroine!

Kate will be awarding a $5.00 Starbucks Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter at the end of each week of the tour; and a $25 Visa Gift Card to one randomly drawn commenter at the end of the tour as well as a $20 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn host.

Remember to follow the tour and comment because the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

The tour dates and locations can be found at the Goddess Fish blog.

BLURB:

Charlotte is shocked to find her new landlord, Reed Jackson, is tall, dark, and gorgeous.   The two become fast friends, enjoying times spent together, more than times apart. Charlotte can’t believe that Reed finds her curvaceous figure incredibly sexy.  Can Reed convince her he wants to be more than just “friends with benefits”? 

Will Charlotte and Reed find… Love Beyond the Curve?

EXCERPT:

Charlotte sat in the dark, watching Reed sleep, thinking about the things he had said to her when she was caring for him earlier.  “I’ve thought about this more than once” he had said when she was leaning over him.  “I wouldn’t have minded,” he made reference to her taking advantage of him when giving him a sponge bath.

            “Yeah, right.  What man wouldn’t enjoy having his junk massaged?  Two-Ton Tessie would be welcome to bathe his privates as long as she didn’t try anything else, and he could keep his eyes closed!  She wasn’t going to entertain any thoughts that he might remotely have found her attractive.  It’s always the same thing.  Big, hot love in private- skinny, cool love in public!  She was never going to allow that to happen again.  They may as well leave money on the dresser, because that was the way it made her feel.  Fuck buddies, essentially.  She wanted and needed more.  She’d wait.  Hell, maybe she should have paid more attention to Octopus Man.  He certainly didn’t mind public groping!  He also made it clear he would have liked to take her home.  Shit!  He was even good-looking, but he omitted the seduction step altogether.  She wanted to be

romanced and courted.  Yes, I’ll definitely wait.  That was her last thought before she dozed off to sleep.

 * * * * *

Kate Patrick - Bio

Kate Patrick grew up in the South. She can’t recall a time in her life when she didn’t love to read. She remembers going to the library as a child where she devoured biographies and Nancy Drew mysteries. Her love of reading has continued into adulthood, but it is hot romance that she loves to write! While in high school and college, she and her sister began to write romantic stories about girls that met their dream guys who fell instantly in love with them. Even these early manuscripts were spicy enough that the need to “hide” these notebooks was a high priority when leaving the house!

Writing took a backseat to a teaching career, marriage, and motherhood, though books were constant companions. Love stories became a favorite, and began to take the place of mysteries more and more. About three years ago, the idea of writing was rekindled. Now, you can find her late at night typing away by the blue glow of her laptop screen.

She and her husband live on the Gulf Coast with their son and three quirky Pomeranians. When not writing or reading, Kate loves to sing, dance, and watch romantic movies, side-splitting comedies, and crime dramas. Spending time connecting with family and friends is an important priority for her as well.

Website/Blog: http://katepatrick.wordpress.com/

Facebook: @Kate Patrick

Twitter: @katepatrick1

Available at Publisher’s Site: http://www.bookstrand.com/kate-patrick

Available in January at: www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com

Spring Break Tour with contest!

Greetings everyone!  Today I want to welcome Kathy Kulig to my blog. Kathy Kulig is the award-winning author of sizzling paranormal, contemporary and erotic romances. Critics have described her writing as “very raw and hot”, “wonderfully unique” and “entertaining and captivating”. She’s won or placed in a number of writing contests including the PRISM Award, the EPIC Award, the Maggie, the Fire and Ice Contest, and others. Her interest in mythology, quantum physics and the supernatural, and also her extensive background in science provide inexhaustible material for new projects in the paranormal realms. Expect a hot, passionate read with lots of adventure.

Ménages:  Is More HOTTER?

Ménage à trois or threesomes are very popular in erotic romance. The idea of three people getting it on is hard to resist (ha) and a challenge to write. In erotic romance, probably the most common ménage is two men and one woman. Of course there are two female/one male ménages, all male and all female. And there are all kinds of emotional dynamics, different sexual orientation, etc. to explore in each, so to keep it brief, I’ll only be talking about two men/one woman in this post.

When it comes to sexual interaction, there are two basic types here too. M-F-M, means the two men have intercourse with the woman but the men don’t have sex with each other. A M-M-F ménage would mean the men do have sex with each other as well as with the woman. But that doesn’t mean in the heat of the moment the men in a M-F-M ménage don’t end up touching or brushing up against the other’s naughty bits. When everything is that close in a sexual encounter, accidental intimate touching will occur.

In some relationships, a couple has been dating a while, or are married and decide to bring in a third person in a sexual encounter either to live out a sexual fantasy, to spice up their love life or because one or the other is attracted to the third person. The third reason is especially common for couples involved in a swinging lifestyle. Or it might be a one-time curiosity fling. In a swinging lifestyle, a couple feels multiple sexual partners enhance their sexual journey as a couple and puts a little spice into their social life and marriage.

Another scenario I’ve seen in ménage stories is a more polyamorous relationship where there’s a sexual and emotional connection (real relationship) between all three. Not just sex.

If the three partners are married, it would be called polygamy.

So you might be thinking, what’s the difference between a polyamorous relationship and the swinging lifestyle? Both are “open relationships” looking for sex with multiple partners. The swinger couple has more recreational sex with friends, think, “friends with benefits”. A polyamorous relationship is a deeper emotional connection like boyfriends and girlfriends.


Besides erotic romance books, you’ll find ménages in classic or mainstream fiction and film too. Here are a few:

Books: 

Ernest Hemingway, The Garden of Eden (1986). An American expatriate couple who bring another woman into their marriage.

Jean Rhys, Quartet (1928). Rhys’ fictionalized affair with Ford Madox Ford.

Robert Heilein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. A 3-some family unit with a wife, a senior husband and a junior husband living on the moon.

Dylan Thomas, Under Milkwood. A man with two wives.

Laurell K. Hamilton and her Anita Blake series. Asher, Anita Blake and Jean-Claude.

Movies:  

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969) Butch, Sundance and Etta Place.

Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) a homosexual man, heterosexual woman and bisexual man.

Summer Lovers (1982) Vacationers in Greece. F-M-F

The Duchess (2008) w/Keira Knightly and Ralph Fienness. Ménage among the British royalty.

Ménages makes for entertaining a hot reads. Check out the Ellora’s Cave website http://www.jasminejade.com and scroll down on the left side for ménages. They have tons of great stories. In my current release, Spring Break, http://www.jasminejade.com/p-10007-spring-break.aspx my characters have a ménage in a sex (swing) club.

SPRING BREAK by Kathy Kulig

Release April 13

Exotika, contemporary

ISBN: 9781419939822

BLURB:

Spring break beyond your wildest fantasies? If Justin Watkins can stop keeping watch over his college students like Big Brother, he might convince the prim-and-proper Mariko Maguire to be his sex partner at the invitation-only adult club called TropiX.
 

Mariko is in Fort Lauderdale on business, trying to secure new clients for her PR firm. Abandoning prior commitments for one wickedly lustful evening—a one-night stand of kinky sex—was not on her agenda.

Carter Bosworth is looking for an evening of sex games during his layover in the tropical playground. He’s a regular at TropiX and always open for a new thrill. His plans are sidetracked, but it may be to his benefit after all when he meets the beautiful Mariko.

The potent heat developing between Justin and Mariko tempts her into shedding her inhibitions, and an exploration in eroticism develops beyond her imagination at the fetish club.

EXCERPT: http://www.jasminejade.com/productspecs/9781419939822.htm

What types of ménages do you like to read in books? Paranormal or contemporary? I also have a paranormal ménage in my book Dragon Witch. (a biologist/witch, a space pilot, a shapeshifting dragon) and they’re on another planet. J What are your thoughts about ménages?

CONTEST:  I’m giving away a FREE ebook from my backlist. To enter, leave a comment on this post with your email and a name will be selected tomorrow. Thanks so much for visiting and thank you Francesca for having me. Can’t wait to see you at Romanticon in October!!

Find Kathy at:

http://www.kathykulig.com

http://www.kathykulig.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/kathykulig

http://www.facebook.com/kathykulig

http://www.facebook.com/kathykuligauthor

It’s Amazing Where Writing Has Taken Me - Tina Donahue

I'm really pleased today to have a guest on my blog today, author Tina Donahue. Tina writes fantastic erotic romances and I'm really honored to have her visit. She's running a contest in concert with her blog tour so check out her post!

* * * * *

When I first began writing romances, I went with what I knew and liked – romantic comedies. Mercy, they came easily to me. I have an irreverent sense of humor – think Seinfeld – and I used it quite liberally in my early releases, all contemporary.

Next, I tried historicals just because I liked them, especially those by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Shanna is one of my all time favorites.

My editor then suggested I try erotic romances. I’ll admit, I have very vivid fantasies about sex, but putting them on paper was another thing entirely. I sweated through those first couple of stories wondering if it was too much, too little, too kinky. It was enough to drive any writer batty. However, from my fans and reviewers’ perspectives, I’d scored a home run.

And now, I’ve stretched myself a bit more. This month I’m delighted to have two releases from two different publishing houses. SiNN, a contemporary ménage (my first ménage) and Unending Desire, an erotic paranormal, Book One of my Outlawed Realm series (my first series BTW).

Here’s the cover art and blurbs to give you a taste of where my writing has now taken me. Enjoy!

 

SiNN – contemporary erotic romance (ménage) from Ellora’s cave – releasing October 14

She’s every man’s carnal fantasy…and the target of one’s revenge

At a Phoenix gentleman’s club, Lea dances as SiNN, her body bared and vulnerable to her male partner, her features hidden behind a feathered mask. To the men watching, she’s a sensual enigma, submissive and seductive with no face, name or history. Not even Lea knows her real origins.

A man from the past does and wants her dead.

Not on the watch of U.S. Marshals Jake Gabriel and Toby Quinn. Commanding and decisive, Jake not only wants Lea’s safety but to have her naked and yielding beneath him. To Toby, she’s all he should resist but cannot.

Protected by them at a secluded estate, Lea’s drawn to their potent masculinity and the raw male lust in their eyes. Inviting desire and an emotional connection, she submits to both at once, surrendering to their most shameless hunger along with her own wanton needs.

All while a killer edges closer…

Buy link (with excerpt): http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9642-sinn.aspx

 
UNENDING DESIRE – erotic paranormal romance from Samhain – coming October 18

His hunger for one woman will make him a traitor to his world…

Outlawed Realm, Book 1

From a portal in his lab on E2, one of the five dimensions of Earth, quantum physicist Nikoli Zorr gazes on everything forbidden to him. Passion. Desire. The exquisite pleasure of running his hands over the lush curves of a young woman he should have stopped watching weeks ago.

His duty is to close the portals that keep the monsters out of E2—and never interfere with the inevitable fate of those on the other side. Yet he can’t bring himself to abandon the woman who has captured his soul.

Psychologist Regina Page is trying to keep her mind on her client, and off the mysterious, unbearable sexual cravings that consume her when she’s alone in her bedroom. The next moment she’s attacked by vampires, then swept into another realm by a stranger whose touch awakens that same raw desire. Whose eyes are already filled with farewell.

Yet beneath their undeniable carnal lust, something else stirs. The beginnings of illicit love. The unexpected need to protect him. Even if it means risking body, blood and soul to defeat the merciless horde…for a future that was never meant to be. 

_______________________________________

Product Warnings

Contains a repressed scientist who likes to look, and the woman who delights in unleashing his inner caveman. And sex hot enough to burn a hole in all three dimensions…and maybe create a whole new one. 

Buy Link (with excerpt): http://store.samhainpublishing.com/unending-desire-p-6491.html

Tina Donahue is an award-winning, bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance for Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing and Kensington. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work; she has reached finals and/or placed in numerous RWA–sponsored contests. Three of her erotic novels were named finalists in the 2011 EPIC competition. Sensual Stranger, her erotic romance, was chosen Book of the Year 2010 (erotic category) at the French review site, Blue Moon reviews. The Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books was created specifically for her erotic romance Lush Velvet Nights; and Deep, Dark, Delicious (erotic romance) recently received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition (2011). She was the editor of an award–winning Midwestern newspaper and worked in Story Direction for a Hollywood production company.

Email: tina@tinadonahue.com

Website/blog: www.tinadonahue.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinadonahue

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000458023097

  

*** CONTEST ***

To celebrate the release of SiNN and Unending Desire, I’m offering a contest. One lucky commenter on this blog will have her choice of one of my following ebooks**:

1.            Adored – RWA award-winning; EPIC 2011 Finalist; 4 Stars RT

2.            Deep, Dark, Delicious – EPIC 2011 Finalist; Holt Medallion Award of Merit

3.            Lush Velvet Nights – EPIC 2011 Finalist; Golden Nib Award

4.            In His Arms – SIX 5 Star Reviews; 4 Stars RT

5.            Sensual Stranger – 2010 Book of the Year (erotic); 4 Stars RT

6.            The Yearning – Top Ten Bestseller

7.            Take Me Away - #1 Pick, Miz Love Loves Books

** Winner chosen at random. Winner chosen October 27.

Cherish D'Angelo - Death by Chocolate...Covered Strawberries

Welcome everyone,
Today I'm really thrilled to have a guest blogger joining me. Her name is Cherish D'Angelo and she's celebrating a new release!

***

Thank you for hosting me during my Cherish the Romance Virtual Book Tour, which launches my award-winning romantic suspense, Lancelot's Lady. Today, we're chatting about chocolate, romance and death. What a yummy combination, huh?

There are certain foods that we associate with romance. Chocolate is probably the #1 choice. It dates back over 2000 years to the Aztec and Mayan cultures of Mexico, and it's been called "the food of the Gods". There's just something about chocolate. It's smooth silky texture. It's bittersweet flavour. The guilty pleasure of knowing it's not exactly on Weight Watchers' daily menu.

Chocolate contains alkaloids that have physiological effects on the body. It's been found to raise levels of serotonin (a neurotransmitter that acts as an anti-depressant) in the brain. It raises endorphins in the brain, which lessens pain and decreases stress levels. Chocolate also causes change in blood pressure and blood sugar levels, resulting in feelings of alertness and excitement. There's also a feeling of euphoria connected with consuming chocolate, kind of a chocolate induced "high". No wonder people consider chocolate an aphrodisiac.

A romantic dessert would most likely consist of chocolate. Chocolate mousse, chocolate cheesecake, chocolate lava cake, chocolate sauce or chocolate covered strawberries. When you think of the latter, don't you envision a hunk of a man feeding his woman a hand-dipped chocolate covered strawberry. How erotic is that? Feeding one another can be a very sensual act, with the right food.

Another food associated with romance is whipped cream. You smiled just now, didn't you? Light, fluffy, rich and slightly sweet, whipped cream is the stuff that good romance scenes in movies are made of. Whipped cream and chocolate add to the fantasy of romance, and we can all use a bit of fantasy now and then.

Perhaps in my next romance novel, I'll incorporate chocolate and whipped cream. For now, you'll have to settle for romance and danger. Death and romance. But you can still buy some chocolate covered strawberries for your loved one. I dare you! Whipped cream too.

Lancelot's Lady ~ A Bahamas holiday from dying billionaire JT Lance, a man with a dark secret, leads palliative nurse Rhianna McLeod to Jonathan, a man with his own troubled past, and Rhianna finds herself drawn to the handsome recluse, while unbeknownst to her, someone with a horrific plan is hunting her down.

Lancelot's Lady is available in ebook edition at KoboBooks, Amazon's Kindle Store, Smashwords and other ebook retailers. Help me celebrate by picking up a copy today and "Cherish the romance..."

You can learn more about Lancelot's Lady and Cherish D'Angelo (aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif) at http://www.cherishdangelo.com and http://www.cherylktardif.blogspot.com. Follow Cherish from September 27 to October 10 on her Cherish the Romance Virtual Book Tour and win prizes.

What other foods do you associate with romance?

Leave a comment here, with email address, to be entered into the prize draws. You're guaranteed to receive at least 1 free ebook just for doing so. Plus you'll be entered to win a Kobo ereader. Winners will be announced after October 10th.