Tag Archives: more than just a good book

Erotic Romance Scavenger Hunt & ARe eBook Bucks Giveaway

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Today I’m pleased to share a special event, The Erotic Romance Scavenger Hunt, a blog hop featuring nineteen authors, a ton of exclusive material and fantastic giveaways, and an amazing grand prize for one lucky scavenger hunter.

For the event, each author is hosting exclusive content for another author in the hunt. I’ve provided an exclusive preview excerpt from part 5 of my serial novel More Than Just a Good Book so be sure to keep any eye out for that.

I’m also giving away $15 in All Romance eBooks bucks to one lucky person here on my blog. See the end of this post for more details on that.

Just joined the hunt? Click here to start from the beginning.

SCAVENGER HUNT RULES: Hidden within each post on the hunt will be a single letter that is red. Jot those letters down because they’re part of the following mystery phrase you’ll need to unscramble:

_ _ _ _ I _ _     _ _ _ _ _ _ _     _ _ R     _ _ _ _

At the bottom of each post will be a link to your next stop on the hunt. Once you’ve completed the hunt, read all the fantastic exclusive material and entered all the individual giveaways, unscramble the letters you collected to reveal the mystery phrase. When you’ve uncovered the phrase, fill out the entry form in order to qualify for the grand prize. Grand prize is open internationally. You must be 18 or older to enter.

The hunt will only be open for 72 hours so play fast! Entries sent without the correct phrase or without contact information will not be considered. All entries must be received by May 28 at noon Central Time.

On with the hunt!

Today I have the pleasure of hosting the exclusive content for author Amelia June. Amelia has her first m/m title coming out in July with Torquere Press. Congrats, Amelia! I’m so glad to have you on the blog.

Amelia June writes steamy erotic stories and novels. She favors stories that leave little to the imagination and never uses words like “flower” or “manhood”. She has been writing since the age of five when she self-published her first novel “The Scary Gost.”

Amelia lives in the desert southwest with seven–yes seven–male creatures including two children, one husband, and an array of critters. She is a student of humanity, loves eavesdropping, and prefers chocolate to just about anything.

Find out more about Amelia on her WEBSITE.

NOW FOR AMELIA’S EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL!

Hi there! I’m Amelia. Thanks to my lovely host, Sloan, for hosting me on her website. I’m excited to be a part of the scavenger hunt.

Today I want to talk about my tarot card story, Pleasure’s Power. Based on my concept of the High Priestess card, Pleasure’s Power is a naughty fairy tale. All great stories start with once upon a time, right? In this time there is a prince, Peter, who loves his kingdom but cannot obey his mother the queen. There is a priestess, Jocasta, whose faith is strong though she has private doubts about the high priestess’s ability to lead. In between them lies the Goddess, who only concerns herself with pleasure and abundance. When the unlikely lovers meet on a bright spring day, the fate of the kingdom comes to rest in their hands. Can they unite crown and temple and please the Goddess? Or will they be separated by those who seek power over pleasure?

I had a lot of fun writing this story. Peter is less of a big bad alpha male and more of a sweetheart. He’s kind, thoughtful and shy around the pretty Jocasta. When push comes to shove, though, Peter shows his mettle. I wanted to talk about a man who could be gentle and tough all at once. Jocasta is his perfect match, too. She’s a priestess of the goddess, not a fainting maiden. She needs Peter’s genial warmth just as he needs her wisdom and strength.

Here they meet for the first time:

(excerpt copyright me, please don’t steal it)

Jocasta walked into the field an hour later, arms laden with baskets for the various herbs she was gathering in the forest. She had just about given up on finding any blooming night jasmine when she spotted some on the edge of the same clearing where a man napped. “Nice,” she murmured. Her slipper-clad feet barely made a rustle in the fallen leaves. Intent on the fragrant blooms, she shouted in surprise when an animal snuffed her hair.

“Oye horse, keep your snout off me. I have no clover on my head,” she said, pushing his nose away from her with more force than she intended. The horse whickered and blew a puff of air over her face. “Good thing you’ve been eating sweet clover,” Jocasta muttered, waving her hand in front of her nose. “Now where did you—oh!”

The man apparently hadn’t heard her scream. He still slept in the same spot, soft plants flattened under his weight. Jocasta spied his royal crest and took him to be a guardsman snuck off for a mid-day nap in the midst of duty. She grinned and walked over to the lad, who was handsome and sandy-haired, his body long and lithe. The bow and broken arrow lay forgotten next to him. She took a sprig of lavender from her basket and tickled the tip of his nose. At first nothing happened until the man inhaled. He snorted, sneezed, then blinked awake. She quickly hid the flower behind her back.

“Good day, sir.” She nodded her head toward him. “I noticed you sleeping and came to have a proper look.”

The man’s brows furrowed in irritation, as if annoyed at her. She thought to speak again when the man suddenly scrambled to his feet, his gaze wide and focused on a charm at her breast. “My lady,”his voice, a breathy whisper, competed with a breeze.

As she regarded him with amusement, he dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

“Oh there’s no need for that when I stumble upon you in a field having a perfectly lovely nap. I only thought to send you back to your duties before you were noticed miss…” Her voice trailed off when her mind registered the necklace he wore and the particulars of the insignia on his chest. “Your highness,” her voice broke on a high note she disliked. “My apologies, I took you for a—well, never mind, but please rise. No need for you to bow to a lowly attendant.”

The prince raised his head and smiled at her, but didn’t rise from his knee. “My lady, I am the prince of the land, true, but your kind rule here and we all know it. Well, perhaps all but my mother. You keep the crops abundant and the game spry but plentiful.” At this he rolled his eyes, but didn’t explain about the getaway boar. “I know the full moon clasp at your breast to be a sign of elderhood within the temple, despite your young age. You must be quite powerful.”

Pride welled within her and a rush of heat filled Jocasta’s cheeks. “Still rise, you’re making me nervous down there.”
—–

You can see what happens to Peter and Jocasta in Pleasure’s Power from eXtasy Books.

I also want to brag that my first m/m title, The Ruby, will be published by Torquere Press in July! For news on my treasure hunting boys and everything else me, you can visit my blog at http://www.ameliajune.net or follow me on Twitter @ameliajune.

Thank you again for visiting, and good luck on the scavenger hunt!

Amelia

WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
SLOAN’S GIVEAWAY:

One lucky commenter will win $15 in All Romance eBooks bucks. To enter, leave a comment on this post stating you’d like to enter. My drawing closes when the scavenger hunt ends (May 28 at noon Central Time). After that, I’ll draw one random winner and will notify them via email.

Good luck!
Sloan

Ready to move on? The next stop on the Erotic Romance Scavenger Hunt is… Ava March!

 

Part 4 of More Than Just a Good Book now available

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I’m pleased to announce the release of part 4 of Mark and Scott’s story, More Than Just a Good Book, which you can read free on my website.

Writing this story has been such an interesting process for me. This is the first time I’ve ever written and polished anything one section at a time before finishing the rest of the story. I have the entire book outlined, so I know the major plot points, but I often explore new ideas as I write and then go back and rework the beginning later. Overall though, I’ve been really surprised at how well this new process is working out for me. I hope you guys are enjoying it as well.

No Multiple Formats until Complete: I’m no longer posting each installation in multiple formats as that takes quite a bit of time to put together, and I figured I’ll save that work for when the full version is complete. This should help me prep new parts more quickly. I hope this isn’t an inconvenience for anyone. You can read the individual installments on my site or parts 1-4 in PDF format.

Just a note for those of you waiting to read the entire story all at once: I will be making it available as a full download in various formats when the story is complete. My best guess is that’ll be sometime next year. I have 10 parts planned, but again, that’s just a guess as things might change the more I write. I might end up cutting some chapters or adding more.

When I’m finished I may decide to publish the full story and make it available for purchase, but there’ll be some time where you can download it first, so be sure to keep an eye out here on the blog or via my newsletter for more on when the full story will be ready.

Thanks for checking out Mark and Scott’s journey together.

Here’s an excerpt from part 4:

Scott shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong.” Since that first kiss in the elevator, he’d been able to let go, to be in the moment with Mark. He wanted that feeling again. He breathed deep and let himself fall into it. “Absolutely nothing.”

“Good. Because I’ve been dreaming of doing something to you.” He ran his hands down the front of Scott’s bare chest and abs straight to the small dragon tattoo on his hip. He gripped both hips and dropped to his knees. Then his tongue was exploring the dragon. “God, I love this tat.” He stroked the hard length of Scott’s cock with one hand. “Been dying to suck you.”

“Oh God.” This was not happening. Scott’s entire body shook as Mark’s warm breath hit the top of his dick. “What are you doing?”

“Want to feel your cock on my tongue, in my mouth.” He held the base of Scott’s dick and angled the head toward his mouth. “You are free to move as you’d like. Touch me, touch yourself, fuck my mouth, whatever you need.” He leaned forward and licked the tip of Scott’s dick.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Nothing had ever felt like that. Scott hissed as Mark did it again, tonguing all over the head and the sensitive skin below. The wet heat of Mark’s saliva covered the end of his cock. Then Mark opened wide and took him deep, sucking his way to the tip again.

“Oh. My. God.” How could this feel so differently than a handjob? He jerked his hips forward and immediately pulled back. Too much. “Wait.”

Mark sat back on his heels. “You don’t want me to?”

“I… I do. No one’s ever…”

“Never?”

Scott couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Mark released him and stood. “What the hell kind of men have you been with?”

“Not many.” He shrugged. “I usually blow them, or they fuck me then leave.”

“Not this time. This time, I’m sucking you until you come. Unless you don’t want—”

“I do!”

And before Scott could dwell on how the squeal of those words must have sounded, Mark dropped to his knees again and had his cock surrounded by that wet heat. Scott’s ass hit the wall. He reached out and gripped the top of the desk in one hand and the dresser in the other. He watched Mark’s head bob faster and faster, and the intensity built with each plunge of his mouth. So different. Real. Powerful. And that was the problem.

Staring down at Mark felt…wrong. He gripped Mark’s shoulders. “Please.” Mark sucked harder, faster. “Please. Can I…”

Read More of More Than Just a Good Book

Quote I Love: Requires Trust

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(c) istockphoto.com, DanBrandenburg 2006

This one’s for Scott and Mark.

“In a sense, you will find that it does not matter what stance you take in bondage and discipline games. Either role done well transcends into the other, and to be done well both require trust.” – Lady Ravinia

For those of you who are waiting to read more of their story, I added a new section to part four this weekend. I promise I’ll get it up on the site just as soon as I can. I do try to give as much attention to detail to this story as I do my published novels, so it takes a bit of time to revise, edit, and get feedback from others for each part.

More Than Just a Good Book Part 3 is now available

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Sorry I didn’t get anything posted yesterday. It was a crazy Monday, but a good kind of crazy. Today I’m going through the line edits for Take Me Home. Should be getting cover art in the next few weeks. I’ll share the art and a new excerpt as soon as I can. It’s getting closer!

I’m thrilled to share that part 3 of More Than Just a Good Book is now available. You can read the opening of it below. I’ve also updated the cover art based on tips I learned in a publishing class. A special thank-you to Connie and Rosie for critiquing the story.

If you check it out, I hope you enjoy this next installment of Mark and Scott’s story.

More Than Just a Good Book: Part Three

Mark had no words. He just stared down at Scott. He couldn’t help himself. Never had he met anyone this smart and sexy, so utterly inspiring. “You’re pretty cool, you know that?”

Scott met his stare. “Me?”

“Hell yeah, you.”

“Oh.” Scott searched Mark’s eyes. “Have you…” He looked away and shifted his ass between Mark’s thighs.

“What?”

Scott stilled and met his gaze again. “Have you done this a lot?”

“Done what?” Mark moved to lie on his side beside Scott again, and Scott followed until they were face-to-face. The intimacy of being in bed with a guy long after the sex washed over him. This was crazy. He was usually the one coming on strong. Now it was Scott, with his curiosity and quiet, nervous charm, who was the one slamming into Mark’s resolve to take this slow. To keep his emotions in check. Or else he’d push Scott too far too fast. He didn’t want to scare Scott off. He could come on strong, could be too intense for most guys.

Scott said, “Bring men home you barely know.”

“Sometimes.” None of them had been this interesting, this meaningful, not on a first date. He kept that to himself.

Scott’s brow furrowed, and then, in a swift move, he turned onto his back.

Shit. That look. Hurt? Confused? Mark didn’t want Scott to misunderstand. What they’d done at the library and again at his apartment was special—damn special. But yet again, he held back from saying too much. Not now. Not yet. He sat up and leaned against the headboard. “I’m not all about getting laid. It’s just sometimes I meet someone, and I bring him home.”

“Of course.” Scott sat up and turned away, his legs swinging off the side of the bed. “I get it. I mean, I know I’m weird. Not going out that much…not sleeping around…”

“That’s not weird.” He couldn’t hold back on all of it. “It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted anyone to stay in bed with me. Since I’ve wanted to talk with a guy.”

Scott turned and met Mark’s gaze. “But you’re talking to me.”

“Yeah. That’s the difference with you.”

Scott cocked his head to the side, not as animated as before, but he was still staring with an openness that called to Mark. “Difference?”

“I want to get to know you. I’d like to see you again.”

Scott pulled one leg onto the bed and turned toward him. “Yeah?”

Mark hesitated. This could be more than he’d let himself hope for with any man. More than he was ready to put himself on the line for. So far Scott was proving he was worth the chance. Even with only the possibility of four months. “Yeah.”

“That…that would be—” Scott stood. “I don’t know how to—I should go.” He glanced around the room, his head jerking side to side so quickly he’d give himself whiplash if he didn’t let up. “Where are my pants?”

Mark sat up. “Living room. Scott, what’s wrong?”

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Writing Update & FAQ: Are you still going to write more with Luke, Richard, and Matthew?

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It’s been a bit since I’ve posted an update on my writing progress, so I thought I’d share where I’m at with my stories.

If I didn’t mention it before I’m back to revising Walter & Kevin’s book, an erotic romantic suspense set in the same world as More. My goal is to have this book finished and submitted before the end of 2011. That may be pushing it since I usually spend more time revising than I do writing the first draft (and I have some research left to do), but I think it’s good to have a goal that pushes you to work hard. That said, I won’t submit it until I can feel really good about the story. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

So far I’ve worked through some issues that were in the beginning of the first draft and came up with changes that I’m really happy with. I sliced and diced a few scenes, and it really made the story stronger so far. I also added one scene that knocked my socks off, even as I was writing it. I’m still amazed when that happens.

I’ve also drafted a new scene for my serial story More Than Just a Good Book. I’m hoping to add one or two more scenes and then publish part 3 in late October. I’ll share a link for part 3 when it’s available on my website or you can sign up for my newsletter to get the announcement.

Since my writing plans changed a bit during 2011, I thought I’d post the answer to a question I often get asked.

FAQ: Are you still going to write more with Luke, Richard, and Matthew?

Definitely. I still plan to complete 2 more books with Luke, Richard, and Matthew. I had originally planned to write one stand-alone release in between each MORE book. After Breathe, I took the time to outline all 3 of the remaining More books (which included Walter’s) and sent the story synopses to my publisher. They were interested in seeing Walter’s book next (at that time More was still a new release and we weren’t sure how well it would do with readers). Before I had a chance to finish Walter’s story, there was a submission call from my publisher for Christmas stories. I had already started notes for Take Me Home, so I worked up a proposal. That proposal was approved, and I took a break from Walter’s book to finish writing Take Me Home, which is now scheduled for a December 13, 2011 release. And I have to say, I’m so glad I did that because I love how Take Me Home turned out.

Now I’m back working on Walter & Kevin’s story, which has a working title but I’ll wait to share when I’m closer to finishing the book since it may change.

I’m not sure if I will be writing another stand-alone contemporary or Richard’s book next. I’m leaning toward Richard’s book, but in either case I will be finishing both Richard and Matthew’s stories. The boys have more to learn, about each other and themselves.

The above answer also explains the year gap between books. Since finishing Breathe, I have outlined 4 novels, written one manuscript, and completed a first draft for another, both novel-length. This means I should move more quickly through the next couple of projects in 2012.