Out Now! Crossroads by Gale Stanley @GaleStanley #MMRomance @EvernightPub

by | Jan 5, 2016 | | 3 Comments

CrossroadsHi! Thanks for letting me stop by to talk about my new book – Crossroads.

The story was inspired by a recent trip to New Orleans. We stayed at the historic Omni Royal Orleans in the heart of the French Quarter and we were able to walk to all the fantastic restaurants, shopping, and entertainment. We toured the area hit by Katrina, the cemeteries, and the voodoo museum. In movies and TV, voodoo is usually shown as a dark and scary practice. In reality, it’s a religious practice in which the followers have direct contact with the spirits. And that’s the story I wanted to tell.

The events in Crossroads take place around Christmas, a season of miracles, but really, it could happen any time of the year. All you have to do is believe…

*****

Blurb

Long time lovers, Louis Abellard and Jesse Trudeau work in a Voodoo shop in the French Quarter. Jesse is a believer, but Louis turned his back on the spirits when they allowed his mother to die of cancer.

When Jesse is hospitalized with leukemia, Louis is desperate to save him. He’ll do anything—except ask the spirits for help. Then one night an unlikely ally makes contact, and Louis finds himself at a crossroads. Maybe it’s time to revisit his past and confront his inner demons.

*****

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Teaser

Three years ago, Jesse walked into the voodoo shop and asked for a job. It was love at first sight—for Mawmaw and Jesse. They hit it off immediately. Jesse is a believer, the grandson she should have had.

I was smitten, too, but for other reasons. Jesse looked so damn hot, all long blond hair and golden-brown skin like he should have been riding a surfboard instead of a skateboard. His cutoffs were stretched tight over the bulge at his crotch, and being the slut I was back then, I wanted to fuck him. I gave Mawmaw a thumbs-up, and she hired him on the spot.

Jesse stayed for dinner. My grandmother filled his head with ghost stories and his stomach with her spicy shrimp gumbo. I took him to bed later and filled him in other ways. It didn’t take long for lust to turn into the real thing. Fortunately, I didn’t screw things up, and Jesse moved in two weeks later. Jesse is easy to love. I’m not sure what he sees in me, I’m just grateful the feelings are mutual.

Available at

Evernight | Amazon US | Amazon UK | All Romance

*****

Gale StanleyAUTHOR BIO:

Gale Stanley grew up in Philadelphia PA. She was the kid who always had her nose in a book, her head in the clouds, and her hands on a pad and pencil.

Some things never change.

Website | Blog | Twitter | FaceBook | Instagram | Pinterest

Writing What I Love

by | Jan 4, 2016 | | 0 Comments

A version of this post originally appeared at the Brit Babes blog.

Hi all,

The title of this post is “writing what I love”, as you can see. But I’m not just talking romance, or erotic romance here. Today, I’m being a lot more specific.12109808_10153675843650561_7947745297960373214_o

I have lots of hobbies and interests, and one of them is spending time out walking in the countryside with my other half and my dog, Scamp. I’m lucky to live fairly close to Derbyshire’s Peak District. I say fairly close because although I can be on its southern fringes in less than an hour, the furthest reaches are about two and a half hours away.

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Anyway, we head up there pretty regularly, mainly staying in the bottom half of the area, occasionally straying further in the summer when there are more hours of daylight. Sometimes we revisit places, do walks we’ve already done. Other times we’ll go somewhere new. Either way, it never gets old. The landscape is utterly amazing – in a single walk you can see valley bottoms, dramatic gritstone edges, farmland, rolling hills, stone circles… the list goes on. And time of year and weather conditions can make even the same places you’ve seen before look different. Or you’ll notice something you never noticed last time. Or nature will go and provide something amazing for you to look at. I’m constantly fascinated, and I love it, which is why we head up there so often. It also helps that there are some great pubs, many of which allow Scamp to go in, too. He’s got his favourites – mainly the ones where the owners/staff make a fuss of him 😉

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One of my life’s ambitions is to live somewhere in the Peak District, in an amazing house with beautiful views, somewhere I can watch the sunset. Naturally I’m going to need either a hugely bestselling book (hint, hint) or a lottery win, so in the meantime I content myself with daydreams, and with writing the Peak District into some of my books.

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The latest book of mine to include this stunning place is Love Through a Lens, a M/F erotic romance novella, which is included in the recently-released Sweet Sensations boxed set. I don’t remember how the story idea came into my head, but once it did, it wouldn’t let go. And so I ended up doing some research for the setting and the plot, and let the characters and their love story build up around that. I had great fun with it, and was completely enthused throughout – writing about places I’d been to, places I haven’t yet visited but have seen in photos, myths and legends I’ve read about, heard about… it was a real labour of love for me. The heat level is pretty low for my work, so I was nervous to send it to my beta readers, but fortunately, they really loved the story. I hope others will too, and that my love affair with the Peak District shines through and encourages those who can to go visit it. If you do, you’ll soon get my obsession 😉

Happy Reading!
Lucy x

*****

Blurb:

Billionaires, an Armed Forces officer, an heiress, and more, these eight contemporary stories offer the sugar and the spice of romance in one beautifully edited boxed set. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll fall in love as you read this collection by multi-published authors.

LOVE THROUGH A LENS, by Lucy Felthouse
On location shooting film together, new graduate, Celene, is drawn to Edward, a British actor 30 years her senior… Can the inevitable romance between them blossom into love?

Buy exclusively from Amazon, or read as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription: http://getbook.at/sweetsensations

Happy Reading!

Lucy x

A Contract for Christmas By Lisabet Sarai #bdsm #eroticromance #menage #holiday #christmas #mfm #polyamory

by | Jan 1, 2016 | | 0 Comments

A Contract For ChristmasI really didn’t have time to write a holiday story this year. The deadline for my next novel is December 31st, and I’m at least half a dozen chapters from the end. As usual, the holiday season means lots of social events, not to mention end-of-year work responsibilities. Then there were gifts to buy or create, cards to send, decorations to hang, cookies to bake—all the lovely, but time-consuming, activities associated with with December.

Once I’d conceived the idea for A Contract for Christmas, though, the story wouldn’t let me go. I’ve been writing about Isabella, Greg and James for a couple of years now. Every time I sit down to pen another episode, I learn more about who they are and what they want. In this case, I realized how emotionally dependent Isabella was on her dominant husband Greg. I started to wonder whether this was a good thing. Apparently, given the ending of the story, Greg was thinking along the same lines.

So anyway, I stole the time for writing this. I devoted two solid eight-hour days to the process, deferring everything else that I could. I ended up with a massive headache and a stiff back—but I had my Christmas story!

I hope you like it.

*****

Blurb:

Isabella plans to surprise her husband and master Greg with an intimate Christmas Eve dinner for two. She’s left with only her fantasies of Greg’s dominance to keep her company, though, when a blizzard strands him at an airport a thousand miles away. Then her husband’s best friend James shows up at her door. Over the past year, Greg has invited James to participate in some of their kinky scenes, but Bella has never been alone with the sexy entrepreneur. Should she let him in and risk surrendering to his quiet authority without her master’s permission?

Greg resolves her doubts in an unexpected phone call, ordering her to fulfill James’s every desire. Ever obedient, Bella complies, and James rewards her with a night of soul-searing pleasure. When Greg returns on Christmas morning, he appears unfazed by her powerful new connection to his friend. Instead, he offers Bella an outrageous gift, one she’s not sure she dares accept.

Buy Links
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Smashwords

*****

Excerpt

I thought he’d kiss me—I even closed my eyes—but instead he forced me toward the floor. “Crawl to the bedroom, Bella. Now.”

He landed a swat on my upturned butt. The sting set me moving, though obviously not fast enough for James, since he continued to spank me the whole way.

The wall-to-wall carpet in the hallway rubbed my knees raw, and the parquet in the bedroom bruised, but I didn’t care. My only goal was to satisfy my new master. On my hands and knees by the side of bed, I waited for his next command.

James switched on the recessed ceiling lights, which provided a dim, soothing illumination. He surveyed the room. “As I recall, you keep your toy box in the guest bedroom. But I’d be surprised if you didn’t stash a few restraints and such in here, too…” He rummaged in the drawer of the bed table for a moment, then held up a set of fur-lined leather cuffs. “Just as I expected. Up on the bed, Bella. I want you on your back, with your arms over your head.”

I was in position—one of my favorites, to be honest —almost before he’d finished speaking.

“You seem commendably eager to obey,” he commented as he cuffed my wrists and clipped them to the curlicue brass headboard. “Greg certainly has you well-trained.”

Considering the circumstances, I didn’t think that observation required any response.

He captured my feet in matching restraints, then forced my thighs apart so he could bind each ankle to a corner post with Velcro straps. It took no more than sixty seconds for him to immobilize me. As he stood back to admire his handiwork, I wondered for a moment where he’d acquired those skills. Had he and Greg trained as dominants together, or was their mutual interest in kink only a happy coincidence?

Either way, I was the lucky beneficiary.

“Are you comfortable, Bella? No pain?”

In fact my hip joints protested a bit from being spread so wide, but that was a small price to pay for the luscious sense of exposure enforced by this position. The pose elevated my breasts, brazenly presenting my erect nipples. My pussy gaped, displaying my slick, swollen labia and engorged clit. Juices leaked out to drip down the crevice between my ass cheeks, flowing over my still-stretched rear hole. Helpless and horny, I was ready for anything he might want to dish out.

“None that I can’t handle, James.”

“Oh really? Guess I’ll have to ramp up the volume. Just a minute…”

Stripping off his shirt with typical economy and ease, he folded it on the vanity stool. His jeans followed. Before he set them down, he extracted his belt from the waist. “I’m going to want this,” he said, laying it alongside my outstretched body so I could smell the leather. “And these, of course.” He dropped five or six condoms onto the bed table.

I couldn’t help laughing. “How many times do you plan to fuck me, James?”

He kneeled between my legs, his engorged cock bobbing as he moved. “As many times as you can handle, woman.” He picked up the belt, running it over his palm. “Then I’ll fuck you some more.”

*****

About Lisabet

LISABET SARAI occasionally tackles other genres, but BDSM will always be her first love. Every one of her nine novels includes some element of power exchange, while her D/s short stories range from mildly kinky to intensely perverse.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads and finally, on Twitter.

Mistle Tow by H K Carlton (@AuthorHKCarlton)

by | Dec 31, 2015 | | 0 Comments

Thank you so much for having me today and for the opportunity to share a bit about my new holiday release, Mistle Tow. I’ve always wanted to write a Christmas story. Though, I always thought when I finally wrote one it would be a mushy, heart-warming, sentimental, tearjerker. But when inspiration hit, that’s not what materialized at all. Instead it turned out to be a gift of sorts for the man who inspired the story. My husband.

For more than twenty years my man drove a tow truck while I was the stay-at-home mom and we raised three amazing kids. And now, that same wonderful man, allows me to live my dream of telling stories like this one.

So be forewarned, if you’re looking for a mushy sentimental, carol-filled, tree-trimming, tinsel clinging, twinkling lights and sweet togetherness kind of story, that’s not what this is. It’s really only a holiday story in the sense that it takes place over the Christmas season. It’s about a man trying to move on with his life while avoiding the holidays altogether. But it does contain a hot blonde in a Santa hat, some mistletoe and a sleek and sexy black ’66 Chevelle.

I guess it did turn out kinda mushy in the long run. A love story for the wrecker operator who hooked my heart when I was fifteen-years-old. And he’s never let go.

Hope you enjoy!

Here’s the blurb:

The last thing Brantley Holley wants to do this year is spend the holidays at home with his family.

In an attempt to move on from his failed marriage, Brant places the marital home on the market and also decides to clean house, ridding himself of any and all reminders. Although it wrecks him to do so, that includes selling his beloved ’66 Chevelle which also may have contributed to the demise of his marriage.

Brant puts his baby up on the auction block at one of the premier auction houses — the auction to be held over the holidays. But instead of racking up needless extra miles on her, which might be a detriment to potential buyers, he hires a flatbed tow truck to convey his precious cargo from Philadelphia to Arizona.

But when the rollback shows up, Brant is totally unprepared for the sexy blonde bombshell in the red Santa hat who steps out of the massive red tow truck.

All of a sudden, the holidays are looking a whole lot more festive.

Excerpt:

Brant took one last sip of his coffee in time to hear the unmistakable rumble of a large truck pull up outside, followed by the obnoxious warning back-up beeper that tow trucks were mandated to
employ these days.

Placing his cup on the counter, he took a deep calming breath and hurried over to the door separating the house from the garage.

Hesitating, he stood there with his hand on the doorknob.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked himself for the hundredth time. He’d struggled with this decision for months now. Even after he’d made it and taken the steps to follow through, putting his girl up on the auction block was one of the hardest decisions he’d ever had to make. But it was time to move on. She brought back too many memories he needed to put behind him.

With determination he opened the door and rushed outside before the tow-truck driver rang the bell.

The first thing he saw was the flatbed of the tow truck and he was at once relieved to see how new and clean it appeared to be. The last thing he wanted was his Chelle being transferred on some greasy dirty wrecker. For one, she wasn’t being scrapped, and two, Brant kept all of his stuff in pristine condition. For their last ride together, he intended for her send off to remain the status quo.

Brant stepped out onto the front stoop and immediately pulled his collar up. It was damn cold and by the cloud cover, he didn’t doubt the first snowfall of the year was only hours away. “Come on.” He encouraged the driver. “Let’s get outta here before the bad weather comes.” It would kill him to see snow on his car. What had he been thinking? Why hadn’t he hired an enclosed trailer? Especially at this time of year.

The driver’s door opened and he lost all train of thought. One black-booted foot appeared on the step-down to the massive red cab. Brant followed the line of that knee-high boot up a slim, denim-covered thigh, hip, and waist to the plaid shirt that he half-expected to be topped off with a red and black trimmed jacket. But instead of some burly bearded lumberjack type, he stared into the flawless face of a woman who should be on the cover of one of his car magazines, draped over some sleek and sexy machine instead of driving a fucking rollback.

Things were definitely looking up.

Evernight     Amazon     BookStrand     All Romance

Hope you enjoyed the little teaser.

However you celebrate the season and even if you don’t, I’d like to wish everyone, the peace, love and charity, this time of year evokes.

Blessings and Merry Christmas.

H K

About the Author

H K Carlton is a multi-published Canadian author of romance and its varied sub-genres and couplings; including contemporary, historical, paranormal, naughty fairy tales, family saga, mafia/mob and erotica (m/f, m/m, menage, m/f/f, m/m/m)

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A Christmas Home by April Zyon (@aprilzyon)

by | Dec 30, 2015 | | 0 Comments

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A Christmas Home

www.shifters-match.com book 1

By April Zyon

Genre: Paranormal, Rubenesque, May-December, Shifters

Release Date: December 15, 2015

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

 

Blurb:

Ophelia Lambros thought her life was in order, until she lost her fiance and job all in one day.

She couldn’t return the honeymoon trip she’d been given so she takes the opportunity to find herself on the slopes of Wyoming on the back of a snowmobile.

Jagger Morris was perfectly happy running his repair shop in Shifter Falls, his home for years. As the Kodiak Bear Alpha, he has a lot on his plate. When a new pack asks to join them, Jagger’s hackles rise, but he doesn’t know why.

When he meets his fated mate, Ophelia, she shares a piece of herself that confirms his suspicious nature was spot on. As a seer, she can see death coming their way. Can she make her new mate and his friends understand the risk before time runs out?


Purchase Links:

Evernight Publishing | Amazon US | Amazon CA |

Barnes & Noble | Bookstrand | AllRomance

Stalk me later links:

Website | Facebook | Facebook Reader Group | Tsu

Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads

 

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Excerpt:

Throwing the wrench down onto the tool pad, Jagger scrubbed a hand down his face. There were days he loved being a mechanic. Then there were days like today where he knew he should have listened to his mother and gotten into something else. Not that he’d ever tell the woman, even if he was still speaking to her. She already thought too highly of her own opinions. Gods only knew where the woman was today, at least she wasn’t in Shifter Falls giving him even more trouble so that was good.

He grabbed the bottle of water he’d been working on and took a long haul while staring at the engine in question. He was missing something, and it was really starting to piss him off that he couldn’t figure it out.

For the last ten years, he’d been head mechanic at the only automotive shop in Shifter Falls. They were the only one there because they only hired the best and did the best work. Competitors didn’t stand a hope in hell. There had been a few other places that had tried to start up in the Falls. But they’d all shut down within a year because they hadn’t had what it took to work in such a closely knit town. That and they’d been outsiders, something that didn’t go over well with the very private residents who ran the town.

Founded by a shifter pack more than two hundred years prior, the town was home to six different types of shifters. Only through harsh laws and firm hands at the helm of each pack did it work. Especially considering the mix the Falls had running around.

There were plenty of humans living and working there, too, but the majority of the population was other. Sometimes there were problems. Sometimes there were all-out fights, but in the end they all knew they had to live together so things had better damn well work out. Which they usually did, eventually.

Moving to the open door of the bay he was working in, he stared out at the falling snow. The weatherman had predicted another couple of inches throughout the day, and more overnight. Great for all the tourists currently running around Shifter Falls in search of as many wintertime activities as they could find. It also had its perks for the business. It was amazing how many out-of-state tourists had no idea how to handle driving in snow.

He spotted a friend and lifted a hand in greeting. Conroy Hayden was the owner of On The Plate, one of four restaurants in Shifter Falls. The guy was a damn connoisseur when it came to flavors. Likely why his restaurant had managed to get rave reviews in several travel and food magazines. Since then people had come to Shifter Falls not only for the events held but in the hopes to get a table in his restaurant.

“Con, good to see you. I have to admit I didn’t think you’d actually get out during the lunch rush.”

The large redhead shrugged and shot him a smirk. “Figured I should bring you something to eat or you’d forget. Again.”

Jagger spotted the bag then and felt his belly rumble. He’d only had a piece of toast and several cups of coffee for breakfast that morning. It was already one in the afternoon and he wasn’t exactly a small guy. Waving Conroy into the bay, he followed behind the man, shooting the troublesome engine a glare. He cleared off a spot on his work table before grabbing a couple stools to set in front. He took one while Conroy unloaded the bag, hitting Jagger with the scent of cooked meat and spices. His stomach let out a hungry snarl that earned him a knowing look from his friend. Jagger held his tongue, knowing anything he said would only provide Con with more ammo to use against him at a later date.

He accepted the plate from his friend and unwrapped it. A huge pile of roast beef he knew was slow cooked, mashed potatoes, and seasonal greens from the greenhouse at the end of town. Con handed him a little container which held gravy, utensils, and a napkin.

“Thanks,” he said. Cutting off a piece of the beef, Jagger slowly chewed the perfectly cooked meat. It practically melted on his tongue. “Damn this is good,” he practically moaned. Another bite he chewed slowly. He knew better than to shove Con’s food down his throat as fast as possible. The man would beat him silly. And Con was nearly as large as Jagger. They’d both taken boxing as kids, but Jagger had plain meanness on his side. Con was a good soul who wanted to help others, which was why he’d gotten into feeding folks. He said the food was good for the soul and part of why On The Plate did the soup kitchen for those who needed a helping hand.

After finishing the meal, Jagger wiped his mouth while Con packed up the dishes. The secondary dish caught his attention. “What’s that?”

“Dessert,” Con told him.

Accepting the dish, he pulled the top off and inhaled the scent from the hot dessert. It was a crumble of some sort. Rhubarb, for sure, definitely strawberries, but there was something else. He took a bite and let out a moan of pleasure.

“I’m going to assume you like it.”

“Dude, this is spectacular. What all’s in here?”

“The usual, but I threw in some cranberries this time for a more seasonal flavor. Gives it a different taste.”

He nodded, it did at that. Scraping out the last, he licked off the spoon under Con’s knowing watch and passed it back. Another wipe with his napkin before he tossed it into the garbage closest and leveled a look at his friend. “I guess this wasn’t just your need to feed me, since you usually dump and run. What’s going on?”

“Don’t know yet but figured I’d give you a heads-up. The sheriff and a couple deputies were in for lunch today and we got to talking. Apparently there are rumblings from the city council about another pack wanting to set up shop here. They’re calling an emergency meeting tomorrow night to discuss it with the alphas and their seconds. You’ll be getting the call soon, but I wanted to let you know before you got it. I know how much you hate surprises.”

That was an understatement. The last surprise Jagger had gotten was his parents divorcing, his father leaving the Falls, and his mother hooking up with the first of many younger males to keep her bed warm. Since then he’d managed to avoid being surprised with the help of those he called and considered to be true friends, like Conroy. Without them, he’d have been caught with his pants down more than once. But they looked out for him, and he helped look out for them in turn. They were more his family than his parents ever had been.

“I’ll be ready, thanks.” Standing, he gave his friend the quintessential man hug and walked him out of the bay. He stayed there a moment longer to watch the comings and goings of the locals and tourists before turning to face his current nemesis. One way or another he was damn well going to get this thing running. Then he could take it over to the hotel and return it to the tourist to which it belonged.

“All right, you giant hunk of metal, let’s get down to business.”

Capture

For more information on the shifters-match.com series click the logo above

Holidays in Hell (Demons in Darkness Series #1) by Erzabet Bishop (@erzabetbishop)

by | Dec 28, 2015 | | 0 Comments

Holidays In HellBlurb:

This year Christmas just got a little hotter.

Deck the halls with all things kinky. Jonas is an incubus with an incurable lust for women, gingerbread, and holiday lights. He needs one more soul to meet his quota. Amid the baubles and frivolity of the Winter Carnival, he meets Holly Pendleton—a woman with emerald green eyes and a body built for sin—and marks her as the final soul to end his contract. But now Jonas faces a heart-wrenching decision: take what he needs to feed his hunger, or sacrifice himself for the woman who has lit his own demonic soul on fire. Tied up with red ribbons, Holly just might be Jonas’s deepest Christmas wish and the one woman who could set him free.

Holly Pendleton is still recovering from the death of her husband and Dom. The holidays are especially lonely until a dark stranger walks in the door to Harlowe’s Bookery and Christmas Shoppe. The man’s enigmatic gaze holds her and ignites her body and her mind. When Holly accepts a job to decorate the sexy client’s apartment, she unknowingly steps into an age-old battle between the forces of darkness. Jonas Corsair is a man who makes her blood run hot and her dreams even hotter. But will she survive his hold on her soul?

Buy Links:

Etopia Press: http://goo.gl/QxC433

Amazon US: http://goo.gl/Ks8Ris

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1RN9cDv

All Romance: https://goo.gl/LmnoQL

*****

Excerpt:

Holly Pendleton balanced a pile of books in her arms and made her way out of the stockroom. She glanced over at her boss and best friend, Gracie Harlowe, at the register and smiled. She enjoyed the busy throng of people at the winter carnival and usually looked forward to it. She had worked other retail jobs in the historic downtown shopping district, but working here was a dream come true. When Gracie had called her up three months ago and offered her the assistant manager’s job, she had taken it and hadn’t looked back.

Teetering on the edge of depression for months after watching her husband die of cancer, Holly was having a hard time finding the holiday spirit this year.

Derek had only been thirty-four, she thought bitterly. They’d been married for nine years, but she had known him since she was a geeky freshman in high school. The hole was too big to fill, and it left her feeling empty.

Still, she was grateful to Gracie for kicking her in the pants and getting her out of bed and back into the world again. Just in time for the holidays too. It was a special time that she and Derek had always shared. He would have wanted her to be happy.

She laid the stack of Christmas cookie books on a festive table near the window display and straightened the array of titles. Her gaze wandered to the small kitchen at the back of the store, and she made a mental note to grab some more cookies to refill the party trays on the dessert table.

“Holly!” Gracie waved her arms. “Can you grab me another stack of Fifty Shades of Grey?”

She glanced at the display where the books were and found they were down to one copy. Not good. Sales had started to slow down, but erotica had been steadily increasing over the past few months. It made her laugh to see the smut novels near the holiday displays, but it made the customers happy, so who was she to quibble? Besides, she loved reading them herself.

“I’ll get them!” Holly wound her way back into the stockroom and yanked a box off the overstock shelves. She grabbed a box cutter, deftly opened the box and placed the books on a cart, adding some of the second, third, and the new fourth book in the series, as they were getting a little on the low side too.

Erotic romance books were one of the few things she let herself enjoy these days, and she had several customers who came back to ask her about the latest and greatest. It was a fantasy land that took her beyond the walls of hospitals and now, the silence of the apartment at night. Reading was safe. She never even considered dating again. That part of her life was over.

Holly shook off the melancholy and hoofed it back onto the shop floor. Stacking the books onto the table, she arranged them in orderly piles of gray covers with erotic masks, ties, and handcuffs. She passed the romance section and gathered up some of her favorites to restock her promo shelf at the storefront. Cherise Sinclair, Kallypso Masters, Jasmine Haynes, Red Phoenix, Rachel Kramer Bussel…she loved them all. There were so many great writers that had made bondage erotica take off. Fifty Shades may have gotten the public reading again, but she had been a fan for years. Now the movie had come out for the famous books, and she wondered how it compared.

Smiling wistfully, she caressed the covers and wished her husband were still with her. She missed his firm hand and their power exchanges. He had been more than just her husband. He had been her Dom. Losing him had been the collapse of her entire world. If it hadn’t been for these books and Gracie, she would still be huddled in a miserable ball, crying her eyes out and wondering why he had to die. He was so young, and they hadn’t had much time.

“Can you help ring for a second?” Gracie called out and made a quick jaunt to the restroom in the back of the store.

Holly moved behind the counter and smiled as a woman arrived in front of her to check out. It was a unique store, and she loved being here. Gracie had crafted a special place for book lovers, and every holiday she spruced it up beautifully. Even when she wasn’t working here, Holly loved to come and check out the newest selections and pick up a couple of items for the house. Halloween, Christmas, or whatever was happening, Gracie always seemed to have the perfect balance of home décor and books to dive into, whether it was a cozy mystery or a pulse-pounding thriller. In the early days, it had just been decoration, but now she had expanded the business to selling the trees and offering to spruce up clients’ homes. The shop was every bit as special as Gracie, and it had, over the years, become Holly’s second home, even before she started working there.

Decorating clients’ businesses and homes and working behind the shop counter kept her busy. Putting up a tree gave her joy, and she saw how other lives were touched by a few twinkle lights and some tinsel. She’d done some decorations for the folks in the cancer ward, and this was a natural transition. If she could bring happiness by hanging a wreath or by delivering an order of books to a shut-in woman, then she was pleased to do it. It took her mind off the loneliness and gave her a purpose. This time of year especially.

The front door opened with a blast of snowy air, and an imposing thirty-something man sporting a thigh-length leather coat blew in. His chiseled features and mass of dark hair made her catch her breath and falter in her task of ringing up the woman in front of her. The black sweater he wore under his coat looked striking against the dark blue of his eyes. The gray slacks draped over his frame, his black boots befitting the weather outside. He said nothing to her, his gaze captivated by the display of holiday decorations.

How odd.

He reminded her of one of the Doms in her collection of books. Heat spiked through parts of her she’d thought were as dead as her husband. She wondered how it would feel to unwrap that package.

Blushing, Holly turned back to the customer in front of her. Good grief, she hoped he hadn’t noticed her staring.

Holly finished ringing the books up and slipped them into a bag. She tossed in a candy cane with a card offering their holiday decorating services attached. “Here you go. Have a wonderful day.”

The woman waved good-bye and shuffled out the door into the snow. Looking anywhere but at the enigmatic man in front of her, Holly fought the sensation of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. He was incredible. The way his well-built form filled the space made her eyes automatically seek him out. Warmth stirred in her lower belly, and she nibbled on her lip.

“Hello. Welcome to Harlowe’s.” She fiddled with the hem of her sweater and felt a surge of heat rush up the sides of her face.

Ugh. How lame was she to just blurt that out?

The man raised an eyebrow, a dark and sensual smile sliding over his features. “Thank you.” His voice melted over her like chocolate, and she shivered.

Holly turned away and busied herself with stuffing bags with holiday activity lists. What kind of horrible woman was she to even be reacting to another man just a year after her husband’s passing? Lusting after the man in gray. Her lips thinned. No. She wasn’t ready for those feelings. Especially not from a stranger she had seen for all of thirty seconds.

She sneaked a glance at him while she straightened gift bags. He walked up to the Christmas tree in the front window and stroked its branches. Fingering the ornaments, he explored their small holiday store with a reverence that reminded her of a priest in church. Men usually didn’t bother with Christmas tree ornaments, but he was enraptured. It was mystifying.

A flush crept across Holly’s face. Stirrings of longing zapped through her body as she wondered if this dark-haired stranger knew his way around a flogger. Sighing deeply, she knelt down to pick up a bag that had fallen off the counter while she worked.

“Time for a cold shower tonight,” Holly mumbled. Sensing someone in front of the register, she stood.

“Hi. Did you need help finding anything…?” The very source of her temptation stood right in front of her. Oh God. She wanted to reach right across the counter and run her tongue over those amazing lips.

*****

Holidays in Hell is the beginning to my new series, Demons in Darkness. The next two books will be released in 2016.

*****

Author Bio:

Erzabet Bishop is a bestselling and award winning author who loves to write naughty stories. She is the author of Lipstick, Dinner Date, Crave, The Science of Lust, Wicked for You, Arcane Imaginarium: Spirit Board, Holidays in Hell, Sigil Fire, Written on Skin, Club Beam, Pomegranate, A Red Dress for Christmas, The Black Magic Café, Fantasies in Red, Sweet Seductions: The Erzabet Bishop Collection, Holiday Cruise, Fetish Fair, Temptation Resorts: Jess, Temptation Resorts: Marnie, Taming the Beast, The Erotic Pagans Series: Beltane Fires, Samhain Shadows and Yuletide Temptation along with being a contributor to many anthologies. Erzabet has been a finalist in the GCLS awards for 2014 and 2015, winning the Goldie for her spot in two anthologies. She has been nominated for the 2016 Golden Flogger Award for Crave. She lives in Texas with her husband, furry children and can often be found lurking in local bookstores. She loves to bake, make naughty crochet projects and watch monster movies. When she isn’t writing, she loves to review music and books.

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