Remember, remember the fifth of November - its time for this old ditty!

It's Guy Fawkes Day and the cutie is wearing his Englishness proudly!  Here's the ditty for this holiday ... the whole dirty lot!  Now grab some parkin, a pint of fine English ale, stack some branches for a wee bonfire [ours all blew away thanks to 'Sandy'] and sing along:

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,'twas his intent
to blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow:
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip hoorah!

A penny loaf to feed the Pope.
A farthing o' cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah!

November 5th is Bonfire night, a British celebration remembering the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. A group of English Roman Catholics organized and came up with a plan to destroy tyrannical rule by King James I of England and the Protestant Aristocracy. Guy Fawkes was the man chosen to blow up the Palace of Westminster [or the Houses of Parliament] but he was caught before this happened. After being tortured, he and other conspirators were found guilty of treason, they were hung, drawn and quartered. Apparently Fawkes escaped the hanging by getting free and jumping from the scaffolding and broke his neck. After that, he was still drawn and quartered.
 

Have a fabulous Bonfire Night!

It's Thirsty Thursday and J Paulette Forshey has a stew on offer!

J. Paulette Forshey when not combining alcohol and chocolate in the kitchen is busy writing about romance and sex in the bedroom, and a few other places. Her latest release A Tango Trinity is a multicultural ménage wrapped around the professional world of tango. Her characters when not doing the tango are fond of items like Paulette’s Decadent Raspberry Devil’s Food Cupcakes, and comfort food like Irena’s Baba Traraso’s Chicken Stew. Baba Traraso and Paulette like to pair their chicken stew with a Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon by Robert Mondavi. The wine has a nice woodsy taste that brings out and compliments the tomato, basil, thyme, chicken and other flavors of the stew. In addition it goes nice with the Hickory Smoked cheddar they sprinkle on the stew right before serving.

Paulette combines her love of food, sexy alpha heroes, a lucky heroine, and an ornery grandmother with four of her favorite recipes in A Tango Trinity.

Irena Traraso, a petite, dark-haired Russian, was a rising competitive American Tango dancer. She and her partner, Vladimir Markrava, were tearing up the opposition at the World Tango dance contest. Until Vladimir’s jealous girlfriend, Anna, had Irena attacked moments before stepping onto the stage. Irena's dreams, confidence, and body were shattered.

Josh Sarchet, a Quarter horse rancher, had two left feet, but he could appreciate the ballroom dancing class from the wings. Watching a dancer practicing in the banquet room of his favorite eatery became one of his favorite past times. And the attraction began to burn. When Irena is injured, he takes her home to his ranch in Ohio to heal more than just her body but her soul as well.

Neyen Delgado loved dance but became disillusioned by the backstabbing and petty politics ramped in the professional Argentine dance world. He relocated to a small Ohio town to teach eager students and perhaps reclaim his passion for the art.

Irena wants to hide from life; Josh wants Irena to live life again, and he knows Neyen is the connection for all three of them to become whole again.

BaBa Traraso’s (okay, really Paulette’s) Chicken Stew

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 or 2 stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces
2 carrots, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (see note about salt below)
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
2 (14-ounce) cans low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces (or ¼ cup or less of dried)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
4 chicken breast with ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained (rinsed if not organic)
2 (15-ounce) cans of diced potatoes
1 (15-ounce) can of corn

Serving suggestion: Honey Wheat Crusty Bread or Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread (recipes in A Tango Trinity

Heat the oil in a heavy 5 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, potatoes, and onion. Sauté the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.

Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Add the kidney beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew consistency, about 10 minutes.

Discard the skin and bones from the chicken breasts. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. (We don’t add any salt, for us the ingredients provide that.)

Ladle the stew into serving bowls and serve with the bread. Grated cheese can be added as a garnish before placing on table (Hickory Smoked is our favorite).

Makes six or more servings, depending on the bowl size. Great frozen and reheated later, too!

Pick up your FREE copy of Passionate Cooks for J. Paulette’s Decadent Raspberry Devil’s Food Cupcakes recipe, but first grab the button below and claim to the world:

J. Paulette Forshey/Genevieve Delacroix
"Spreading Sexy Happily Ever Afters"
www.jpauletteforshey.com

Have a Naughty Coffee with #AReCooks @Sabrina_York on this Thirsty Thursday!

Naughty Coffee with Sabrina York

The cooling weather has me remembering the delicious cinnamon rolls that my mom would make on a chilly fall morning. This was my contribution to the Passionate Cooks cookbook, available for free from All Romance eBooks. I adore the smell of bread baking, and the cinnamon and spices make my mouth water.

But you can’t just eat these steamy cinnamon rolls naked. Well, you can eat them naked. But you can’t eat them naked and alone.

Here’s my suggestion for a super delicious companion beverage.

Naughty Coffee
1 ½ cup steaming coffee
1 ounce marshmallow flavored vodka
3 ounces of Irish cream
Generous mound of whipped cream
A tiny sprinkle of pumpkin spice

Yum.

If you are hankering for an early Halloween, check you’re my latest erotic release, Trickery, a tale of witches and warlocks and sexy magical domination.

Though seducing a mortal is expressly forbidden, novice witch Willow Ostreth wants Austin. Bad. Unbeknownst to Willow, Austin—the glorious, delicious specimen who makes her heart pound and her body weep—is no mere mortal. He’s really Damien DeWinter, a powerful warlock, a man determined to lure Willow—and bind her—to his bed.

When the luscious Willow breaks the rules and uses her magic to ensnare him, Damien—rebel, renegade, outcast from the Witching World—figures he has carte blanche to pursue her and seduce her using any means possible. And his arsenal is vast.

What neither of them realizes as they tempt and torment each other with pleasure is that there’s a greater magic at work here. One that could bind them together, forever.

Check it out, or read an excerpt: http://www.amazon.com/Trickery-ebook/dp/B008BOVQX2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1349141046&sr=8-2&keywords=trickery

Visit Sabrina York at sabrinayork.com.

Thirsty Thursday is showcasing #AReCooks @SharonKleve and her Mouth Watering Blackberry Margarita - yum!

Sharon Kleve, when not getting busy in the kitchen is writing The Corny Myer's Series and releasing the third book Klutzy Love.

Corny is a hot chick with a great job that she loves. All that changed in the blink of an eye when her boss had an accident involving an oversized rubber band. She’s still a hot chick, but her boss is dead.

Steve Spears is a seasoned narcotics cop who ends up wanting to strangle Corny on a regular basis. After finding out Corny’s dream of opening a pet detective business, he decides he doesn’t want a girlfriend who routinely puts herself in danger. That’s his job!

Corny misses Steve, but she’s getting on with her life. She decides to get a month’s worth of dating out of the way in a single night, by combining her three favorite things—men, food, and alcohol.

Steve’s big gun and cop’s intuition saves Corny’s life, but not from another trip to the emergency room. He makes Corny promise never to get hurt again—she agreed, but has her fingers crossed behind her back.

Mouth Watering Blackberry Margarita from Sharon Kleve

12 oz. Agave Tequila
6 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
3 oz Agave nectar
3 oz water
¼ cup blackberries, frozen will work if they're not in season.
A pinch of rock salt

Shake vigorously and pour over crushed ice.

Makes about 6 servings, depending on the glass size

Pick up your FREE copy of Passionate Cooks for Sharon Kleve's Lip Smacking Pork Roulade recipe, but first grab the button below and claim to the world:

Books I have coming out very soon are a big mix of HOT PASSION!

Taste for Blood is short, hot and bloody - and I say that not just because it takes place in England!

People visit Whitby to enjoy an old English seaside town, eat fish and chips and possibly see a vampire or two. Ella lives there and is hunting a fake vamp that uses a famous book series to ruin many young girls’ lives. One night a man she’s been watching shows his true colors and she puts her plan for revenge into action. Everything was in place for an anonymous act except an unpredicted twist that flips things on their head. With only seconds to decide, she’s forced to make changes and ends up getting something she hadn’t bargained for—a sexy man who wants nothing except her body.

Revenge is sweet, but is a night of wild sex too high a cost for vengeance?


Leather Bride is a scorching novella that traces a path filled with a fashion forward woman and her love of leather, bondage and Mr Right for her!

There are two things on Mimi St. John’s mind. Her lover and how he’s finally given her exactly what wanted: to be bound and taken. Everything was wonderful until she wakes up to find he’s left days before they were to share the spotlight at Fashion Week.

 

Mimi tries to back out of walking the runway at the Safe, Sane and Consensually Wild show except there’s a problem.  She’s the muse behind the collection and the designer, her friend, won’t hear of her not modeling.  The final ensemble is a real showstopper designed for her to wear and no one else.

 

A misunderstanding threatens to tear them apart, but will a fashion show bring them closer together?

 

WARNING! Leather Bride has lots of sex and some of it involves leather and toys. Here’s more of a WARNING: as the heroine has a thing for leather, some of the toys are made of leather!

Come to Me is the second book in the Come trilogy with more of those sexy white haired shape shifters bringing their love's to their side and disposing of all challenges they face.

Instead of running for her life, Ali stays and finds what she forgot she’d had—love.

As a huge mirror in her bedroom starts reflecting animals in a most intimate manner she begins to wonder about whether she wants to keep it or not.  When the male tiger starts appearing in her dreams with a gorgeous man who demands she come to him, she worries.

Taking a trip to New York City for the holiday season seems to be the best option, but when she is at an award show and the gorgeous man from her dreams appears, now she knows she should be running for her life.

But she doesn't.  She stays and gets the ride of her life.

Banned Books Week: Lord of the Rings burned, no really, BURNED!

Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien

Burned in Alamagordo, N.Mex. [2001] outside Christ Community Church along with other Tolkien novels as satanic.

And there you have it, a classic burned in the twenty-first century and because of shuttered stupidity no less.  How embarassing is that?!?

Stepping off my platform for another year doesn't mean the subject is forgotten ... I don't ever forget there are people out there trying to tell others what they and their children can and can't read.

To end on a lighter note, I've seen the trailer for The Hobbit film and it looks wonderful ... go see it December 14.

Banned Books Week: What do John Milton, Lyndon Baines Johnson and Mae West have in common?

I'm not a huge quote person, but I found a couple that spoke well of what challenging/banning books leads to and they are:

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.
John Milton, Aeropagitica

Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, commenting as he signed into law a bill providing increased Federal aid for library service, February 11, 1964

And finally, because she makes me laugh,

There were a lot of things the censors wouldn't let me do in the movies that I did on stage.  They wouldn't even let me sit on a guy's lap and I'd been on more laps than a napkin.
Mae West, Index on Censorship

Thirsty Thursday is showcasing #AReCooks @Cat_Johnson Buckin' Bourbon to go with her Orgasmic Cheesecake!

Hello, all and thank you for stopping by Thirsty Thursday, which Tilly was kind enough to invite me to join in today!

We’re celebrating the new cookbook being put out by All Romance eBooks called Passionate Cooks. It’s a collection of the favorite recipes from romance authors. My contribution is the Orgasmic Cheesecake and what is more perfect with dessert after a nice meal than an after dinner drink, or perhaps coffee with a bit of a “kick”.

I developed, through arduous trial and error and tastings, some bourbon recipes to celebrate my cowboy series. In my newest release, Flanked (Studs in Spurs, Book 5) I have my professional bull rider Garret James drinking bourbon and cola. But being a former bartender, I couldn’t resist coming up with something a bit more creative to do with that bourbon. Below is one of the recipes I came up with. It’s tasty, strong and oh so good to warm you and your cowboy up on a cold autumn night along with a slice of that cheesecake and a nice roaring fire perhaps…

Enjoy!

Cat Johnson

www.CatJohnson.net

 

CAT’S BUCKIN’ BOURBON
1 part Bourbon
1 part Kahlua® Coffee Liqueur
Serve over ice
Variation: Add hot coffee and cream for coffee with a kick

Pick up your FREE copy of Passionate Cooks for Cat Johnson's Orgasmic Cheesecake recipe, but first grab the button below and claim to the world:

Banned Books Week: Witchcraft and Sorcery is a problem, seriously ... NOT!

Yes, in the 21st century there are actually people who are concerned about witchcraft and sorcery, not just in practice but also in Fiction, young adult fiction to be precise.

After all I've said this week, I know none of you are surprised to find out that the entire Harry Potter series by JK Rowling was banned/challenged.  Where I get my laughs is from the reasons stated for why they should be pulled off shelves.

Here are a few from the Banned Books 2007 Resource Guide:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Retained at Orange Grove Elementary School in Whittier, Calif [2000]. It was challenged for dealing with magic and bad experiences.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Challenged, but retained in Frankfort, Ill. School District [2000].  Parents were concerned that the book contains lying and smart-aleck retorts to adults.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Challeneged, but retained in Arab, Ala. school libraries and accelerated reader programs [2000] over objections that the author "is a member of the occult and the book encourages children to practice witchcraft."

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Challenged, but retained in the Newfound Area School District in Bristol, N.H. [2000] despite an objection the book "is scary".

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Removed by the Wilsona School District trustees from a list recommended by a parent-teacher committee for the Vista San Gabriel, Calif. Elementary School library [2006] along with twenty-three other books. ... The Wilson School District board approved new library book-selection guidelines in wake of trustees' controversial decision.  Books now cannot depict drinking alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex, including "negative sexuality, implied or explicit nudity, cursing, violent crime or weapons, gambling, foul humor, and dark content."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Nope, I didn't change a word ... bad experiences, smart alecks, scary, dark content ... were all reasons given.  Ridiculous!  It looks like all the books can be borrowed for free from Pottermore through Amazon if you're a Prime member, go read them all over again!

Introducing #AReCooks Passionate Cooks Cookbook + Beverages = Thirsty Thursday and starts here - tomorrow!

Every good meal has a wonderful beverage served at some point.  Whether its an aperitif, wine, cocktail or beer, this is the place you'll find out what drink the Passionate Cooks authors pair up with their dish.

I shall kick it off by suggesting you pick up a bottle of red wine to go with my Vegetarian Lasagne Roll-ups for Gods and Goddesses.  Your favorite will do but I actually paired my recipe with Cabernet Sauvignon called Santa Julia from Mendoza, Argentina.  It's an organic wine the producers describe on the bottle as:

The Cabernet Sauignon is full of black cherry, currant and plum flavors with a touch of spiciness.  This wine would pair well with red meats, firm cheeses and pastas with red sauce.

PERFECT!

Pick up your FREE copy of Passionate Cooks and grab the button below, claiming to the world:

Banned Books Week: The Queen of Fabulous Books, period!

An author who seems to have a permanent place in the hearts of challengers is Judy Blume.  I have no idea why.  As a child I loved reading her books and I am not damaged from the experience.

This year's Banned Books Week has me thinking of Blume, not just because her books are often on the top 10 challenged [oddly enough not this year] but more because she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June.  I knew then I'd dedicate a day to showcasing Judy Blume's banned/challenged books and here you go:

Are You There God?  It's Me, Margaret

Blubber

Deenie

Forever

Here's to You, Rachel Robinson

Iggie's House

It's Not the End of the World

The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo*

Otherwise Known as Shelia the Great

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself

Superfudge

Then Again, Maybe I Won't

Tiger Eyes

All but one (*) of the above books is available for Kindles.  Also, if you're interested, Blume has a great page on her webiste dedicated to censorship, check it out!

Banned Books Week: Do people know what FICTION means?

Fiction is defined as:

Prose literature, esp. short stories and novels, about imaginary events and people.

Invention or fabrication as opposed to fact.

When it comes to Banned Books Week, I often think the challengers forget this one little word and its meaning.  Yes, we learn from books, particularly non-fiction, and others are sheer entertainment.

 

What I want to spend my time reading may not appeal to the next person, but that's the beauty of the 1st amendment ... we get to choose where to spend our time and not have it forced on us.

 

Have you chosen a Banned/Challenged book to read? 

 

Usually I read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, but I'm changing it up this year and going for Dracula by Bram Stoker.

 

Whitby, Stoker and Dracula are on my mind and you'll soon discover why *cough, Taste for Blood, cough*, but in the meantime, I want to know why this happened in 1994:

 

Elminated from required reading lists for juniors and sendiors in advanced English classes at the Colony High School in Lewisville, Tex. because "the book contains unacceptable descriptions in the introduction, such as 'Dracular is a the sympton of a wish, largely sexual, that we wish we did not have.'" [Banned Books 2007 Resource Book by Robert P Doyle]

I don't remember reading that and dang if it doesn't suit why its on my mind, so I shall read it.

  

Passionate Cooks cookbook is OUT! Get a FREE copy and be inspired by #AReCooks!

Vegetarian Lasagne Roll-ups for Gods and Goddesses is an entree in the Passioante Cooks cookbook and it's FREE!

In a bid to eat healthier, I found a lasagne roll up recipe, tried it out and loved it. I made a few changes to make it an even healthier option and loved that one as well and am now sharing it with everyone else - enjoy!

Pick up your FREE copy here and be inspired to play in the kitchen!

Banned Books Week: The 10 most challenged titles of 2011

 

From the Banned Books Week website, here are the 10 most challenged titles of 2011 and their reasons for holding that place of honor are:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
   Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
   Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
4. My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
   Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
   Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
   Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
8. What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
   Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit
9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
   Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    Reasons: offensive language; racism

It's THAT time again ... when my mind turns to censorship ...

Every fall Banned Books Week arrives and I get that little bit more disturbed by the intolerance some people have when it comes to books.  Reading is one of the ways we learn and that door shouldn't ever close or be difficult to get through.

Because I'm not a numbers person, but I found these to be very striking, I copied them from the Banned Books Week About page:  "More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982. ... According to the American Library Association, there were 326 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2011, and many more go unreported."

It's so easy to say to people who don't like a tv show, change the channel, it's even easier to tell them not to buy or check out a book that doesn't fit their life and don't do either of those for your kids - be involved and informed in you and your family's choices, but let other people make their own choices as well.

My suggestion for this week has never changed.  Buy or check out of your local library a banned/challeneged book and read it, discuss it over the dinner table, the watercooler at work or coffee/beer with friends.

In my mind ignoring is a little to close to ignorance.

Let's Talk About Love, Sex and Books chat tonight @CoffeeTimeRomance Erotic Loop!

Tonight, from 6pm-Midnight est, Coffee Time Romance and More Erotic loop is hosting a Let's Talk About Love, Sex and Books chat with JJ Massa, myself and many other authors ... come and join the fun, maybe you'll leave with a book, two or more!

"Food and love have had a long association..." and now it's available for everyone!

"Food and love have had a long association, for Passionate Cooks: Free Recipes From Today’s Hottest Romance Authors, over 150 authors of the genre have put their pens and computers aside to don aprons, get down and dirty in the kitchen, and share their love of food." All Romance eBooks

My Vegetarian Lasagne Roll-ups for Gods and Goddesses is in the entree section and I made a batch the other night for some meat loving friends and it went over well.

While the Passionate Cooks Cookbook is FREE, it isn't released until October 1st ... but BUT, you can preorder your copy so your inbox is bursting with fabulous recipes when you wake up on the 1st!

Yummy!

Grab the button below and claim to the world:

A Book Talk with recommendations from a stranger!

The other night I was in Panera, wolfing down a sandwich so the cutie would be satisfied that I'd eaten before we went out.  All was fine but I noticed an older woman sitting to the side and she was thoroughly engrossed in her book.  Well, sad person that I am since Borders closed and I have no one to talk books with, I asked her what she was reading.

Oh boy, did we have a wonderful conversation!

She was once in development and acquisitions for medical books at McGraw Hill, but once she left it was all about the entertainment read.  Kindle was her meat and potatos type of books - a bit of everything - and traditional was saved for those she loved and wanted to take her time reading.

So, based on that conversation, here are two romance recommendations from the reader at Panera:

Traditional
The Becoming by Jeanne C Stein
Thirty year old Anna Strong is a bounty hunter-- tough, confident, at the top of her game. But when she is attacked one night in a parking lot, her life is inexorably changed. She awakens in the hospital to find she has become Vampire and her destiny is no longer with the living, but among the undead. With her mentor, the vampire doctor who treated her in the hospital, she strives to make sense of it all. But then her home is burned to the ground, and her business partner and best friend is kidnapped. Anna suddenly finds herself alone on a quest to save more than her missing friend, but herself as well.
[side note: the woman was actually reading the latest book in the series, Haunted] and recommended starting w/book 1]

eBook
Old Soul: Trinity and Rachael by Kellee Farr
As nightmares turn into reality, Trinity – a reincarnated, sleep deprived, caffeine junkie finds herself transported back to relive a past life. A life that took place over one hundred and fifty years ago, when breeding slaves for money was accepted, and love was a lot more complicated. Can Trinity stop the death of the girl that her soul used to occupy, or will her soul continue to leap, finding her in the body of a mulattoe slave girl bound for the deadly sugar plantations of Jamaica?

Happy reading everyone!

A short survey for the #eBook reading crowd is up @AllRomance!

I am mostly an eBook reader, the only traditional ones I want to buy are those I keep and that means there has to be space made on our shelves.  It's an important decision to make, but so is where I shop for eBooks.

My go-to etailer is All Romance [ARe] and its because of their selection is fabulous but browsing is simple, a wishlist for later purchases is an assest, eBucks and gifting eBooks are my favorites as a reader and an author, and I love love love how my purchases are there for easy download - no matter what device I'm holding.

That glowing report was offered because ARe have a survey up on their home page and they want to help in making the eBook shopping experience even better for readers!

Go over and take it - last maybe 5 minutes, at most!

The Bitten by Paranormal Romance and Gabrielle Bisset 18+ blog hop has started and I have a #erotica HOT #giveaway!

The Bitten by Paranormal Romance and Gabrielle Bisset 18+ blog hop and giveway [can't get much better than that!] is HERE!

Leave a  comment or ask a question, include your email addy and you're entered to win The Keeper ebook ... its very VERY spicy hot so you'd better be 18 and over!

The Keeper by Tilly Greene

Fantasy Erotica + Pleasure/Pain 

Buy ebook from All Romance, Amazon, BN and Smashwords

Not liking where her mind travelled, Thora pushed the pity party out her head and focused on finding a constructive way to get out of this mess. The only one that came to mind was that she should enlist the help from whoever stood silently behind her, but couldn’t find the words. Despite her predicament, it had said nothing so far, although it moved closer to where she stood pressed against the tree. One thing she knew for sure, it wasn’t small because she could hear it moving.

 

Fear of the unknown terrified her and tension spread through her body, but instead she worked hard to relax and keep as still as possible. She wasn’t sure why, but she started to believe when she was worked up the plant’s wicked boughs tightened and grew further up her legs. Consciously, she let her leg muscles relax and the branches remained where they were.

Now what? Ask whoever was behind her for help? She was naked, but that was the least of her worries. The danger of what could happen to her at unknown hands didn’t disturb her half as much as the thorny vines that held her captive. The plant, a thing with no brain or emotions, somehow seemed intent on harm and that was a big concern, but not the biggest.

What scared her more than everything else was the feeling that she could not live another second without being fucked. Her nipples hardened to sharp points and it wasn’t because she was cold. Trapped, she pressed up against the trunk of the old tree, her breasts quivering with some form of passionate attention. Thora fought not to rub them against the rough bark, for it would only cause the plant wrapped around her legs to grow even further.

A desperate yet lusty need took over her mind and body, leaving her pussy throbbing with every breath she drew.

Moaning was the only release she could manage, except it didn’t ease her passionate needs. Was she dreaming? Thora had never experienced, much less dreamed, such intense desire and wondered where it came from. She was scared and held captive by a plant, for goodness sakes, not playing games with a lover! It was all so wrong, so incredibly unreal. She stopped to commune with the environment, allow her inner naturist’s soul space to search for peace, only now she was anything but calm.

She was too damn horny and terrified to be calm.

The side of her face pressed firmly against the tree. She could see nothing except trees in the direction she faced, and was afraid to move her head to look the other way. While the thorns offered only unbearable pain, a rapidly growing need to come, to have the void between her legs filled, quickly overtook that feeling. Desire engulfed her mind and left no room for common sense. She finally broke down and begged for help.

“Is somebody there?” She didn’t shout but spoke loud enough to be heard. There was a small quaver to her voice and she wasn’t entirely sure whether it came from fear or passion.

Maybe it had been her imagination that something stood behind her, because there was no response to her plea. Thora wasn’t ready to give up, not when her sanity was on the line.

“Hello?”

Her voice was more timid, and she thought she heard movement behind her. Whoever it was stepped closer and had yet to answer her call for help. She wanted to turn around and face it, show she wasn’t cowered, but couldn’t.

Then a crunching sound from someone walking over the thorny ropes filled the air. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or afraid, only hoped that they would find a way to get the plant to release her.

“Please, answer me.”

“Don’t worry so much, little one, everything’s going to be all right.”

©Tilly Greene, 2012

Buy ebook from All Romance, Amazon, BN and Smashwords

***This giveaway is open to international readers!***

 

I'll draw a winner on the morning of the 17th ... now, get hopping to all these other fabulous offerings of heat!

Registration for the Authors After Dark readers con known as #AADSAV is OPEN!

As a writer my job keeps me in a fairly solitary place and conferences get me out, and the ones where READERS are the focus are really exciting.

Why?

Because everyone who attends - whether they write, want to write or not - they're all readers and love to talk books!  And when I say talking, I mean exactly that ... I usually come home from the Authors After Dark Readers Conference without a voice.

So, if you've been to AAD before or not, here's your chance to take a few days and surround yourself with all things books.  This year there's a new track on/for Young Adult books.

The Authors After Dark 2013 con will be held in Savannah, GA and registration is now open.

Looking forward to seeing you there and talking BOOKS!

A petition for RWA to create an Erotic Romance category

As a member of RWA I sit down every year to judge RITA entries, but as someone who writes erotic romances, I could never enter one of my books.  So, yes, I signed this petition to get a category that's for the erotic romances.

Sign if you'd like or not, your choice :-)

Change.org|Online Petition Template

The LASR Scavenger Hunt starts TODAY and an icon is on my website!

A hint of where you can find the LASR icon for their 5th anniversary celebratory scavenger hunt is:

think NEW!

Best to start here ... now get hunting and good luck!

I'm taking over the Coffee Time Romance and More Erotic Loop for the day!

Today, from 10-4:00pm est, Coffee Time Romance and More Erotic loop have opened their doors to let me play!

I have sweet to scorching excerpts, hints of where stories were started, sneak peeks behind the writers desk, and contests!  Keep your eyes peeled for the REALLY BIG CONTEST subject line ... that one has for a prize of all the loot I can fit in a USPS large box that came from the recent Authors After Dark Readers Convention in New Orleans, yup, lots of books and more!

So get ready and chime in at any time with questions or comments - I'm here, or I will be in about 1 1/2 hours!

My Scorching Book Reviews BDSM Blog Hop Post

HIGHLAND HEAT by Tilly Greene

Shape Shifter Erotic Romance + Bondage

How do you know when to trust someone with a secret held for a lifetime?

On the surface, Hamish Buchanan has it all and because of the horror surrounding his birth, he possesses the love and respect of the entire Scottish nation. But underneath, where few are allowed, lurks a secret. Although well hidden, the furtiveness needed to keep others from discovering it, also keeps him from committing fully to another.

One night, he discovers there's a part of him that thinks he's hunting something, or someone. Unable to shake the odd feeling, Hamish doesn't put it all together until he sees Grace Strachan, only then does he begin to understand what’s going on. He's in season and she is his mate.

Establishing trust with another has never been easy, but Hamish must find a way with Grace or risk losing her forever, and that simply isn’t an option.

Shall be giving Highland Heat in eBook so this offering is open to everyone, but more on that at the end of this post!

Now, there are many reason I picked Highland Heat, but foremost is that I absolutely adore Hamish Buchanan.  When asked who a favorite hero of mine might be, he is up there, and I think its because of how he handled the horrible start he had in life.  He's a strong guy who accepts he's different and yet doesn't deny himself anything.  Hamish is a Scotsman who enjoys a healthy sex life, but because of what makes him unique, he uses bondage to keep his secret safe.

The funny thing is, he's a smart man, but not so much when it comes to settling down with one woman.  Hamish makes a big mistage and it was a joy to write him scrambling around to things right with Grace.

I found Highland Heat a joy to write and hope you enjoy reading about Hamish and Grace, they are quite a couple.

On the 21st I will draw the name of one commenter here and gift them with a Highland Heat ebook from All Romance [ARe] and that makes it open to all international readers.  So, enter below for the big blog hop Scorching Book Reviews prizes below, comment here to enter my giveaway, and then get hopping, there are so many great authors to discover and prizes to potentially win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Other BDSM books by Tilly Greene
The Keeper
Good, Bad and Kinky [2 in 1]
Konnichiwa Cowboy
Missing in Paradise
Tied Up For Love
Hephaestus Lays Down the Law
Zandia
Ride 'em
An Invitation to the World: Russia and New Zealand
Come Sweet Creature

Special Delivery, a naughty bit of erotica, is now out!

Special Delivery by Tilly Greene

Contemporary Erotica + toy and piercings

During the week she goes to college and works as a waitress and every Saturday Susan Anders waits for the knock on her door.  The excitement gets her heart beating faster as she opens it up and flirts outrageously with her handsome delivery guy.  He arrives wearing brown shorts, shirt and socks with sensible shoes, and she is seduced.  Even though they’re just words, their time together is the closest thing she has to an actual sex life, but all that changes with one box.

Deliveries are exciting, but how long does the pleasure last?


Excerpt

Sitting down to eat dinner, she looked at the plain brown box with a simple white label on it and nothing else.  With the paper and latest jewelry project completed, she was curious about what was inside.  Once she was finished, she grabbed her phone and looked up the company.  For the Ladies sold sex toys.  After clicking on the She-gasm link and seeing the first line of items, she hung up with a blush.  It was definitely going back to the company.

Friday night was her late night at the restaurant.  It meant good tips which made it worthwhile, but her feet were aching when she got home.  Sitting at the table as she took off her shoes, the box caught her eye again.  After she poured herself a glass of wine, she went over to turn on the TV.  She put her feet up on the coffee table and watched a recap of the local news.  Unfortunately, it was full of arrests of fraudsters and politicians.  As if the box called her name, she turned around to look at the dining room table again.  The curiosity of what was inside was killing her, and she was at her wits end.

After she took a knife from the kitchen, she slit the box and pulled out another brown one.  Either the company was very cautious about their product or it was a nesting box type trick.  The only hint she had for what was inside was two words: Endowed Pink.  What?  Confused curiosity resulted in her opening the second box and she frowned.

A tidily folded mound of pink plastic looked interesting, but she couldn’t see why all the secrecy had been needed.  Her curiosity was satisfied and, even though Susie knew she shouldn’t take it out of the box, she did anyway.

It took a bit of time, the plastic was heavy weight and stuck together, but once it was opened she was still disappointed.  From what she could tell, it was a pink ball too big for a child to bounce around.

Wait a second, she thought.  Maybe it was one she could sit on while she worked, and it would work on her core.  All the exercise regimes she’s heard being discussed brought up how important building a core was to good health and this could be one way to do it. 
  
Picking it up, she blew and blew into the plug for what felt like hours, and when it felt full she quickly pushed the tab in place to keep her precious air in place.  Out of breath, she dropped the pink blob on the floor, and was shocked.

Buy eBook from Amazon and for the moment, it's FREE for Prime Members!

Naughty Thought for Monday is about privacy...or not...

Curtains are, besides being decorative, they have a job to offer privacy.

Apparently Mr. Curtain lost that little tidbit when it came to advertising their product.

So, would this ad showcasing a threesome get you to buy his curtains?

Thank you, Lunatica Desnuda - glad you're back and feeding me stuff like this that feeds my imagination.

A Fashion Plea for a Horny Friend, no, REALLY!

This year's Fashion Week in New York City a special belt/purse was seen at a show - not entirely sure but I believe it's Miguel Adrover, man showcasing the unique hat and shoes as well.

Happy Hump Day 4th of July with a NOLA firefighter!

I discovered Matt, Mr July, from the 2010 New Orleans Fire Fighters Look Hot Calendar on the Fire Science Colleges blog.  Thought it was a cool link between this holiday and heading down to NOLA in a months time along a few hundred readers to Authors After Dark.

Remember, keep it safe this 4th and let the firefighters complain it was a slow holiday.

BTW, the 2013 Authors After Dark con will be in Savannah, GA with registration opening soon - keep your eyes peeled for more inforamtion.

Book Talk shares where two different books have recently taken me, same place in different genres

I've recently read two different genre books and enjoyed them both for the same but different reasons.  During my break I read The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall and when I was trying to get back into the swing of things, picked up Captive But Forbidden by Lynn Raye Harris.

Hall's book is part of an open ended series with Vish Puri, India's Most Private Investigator, solving mysteries with a taste of the real India and all it's heat, spicy food and extended families.  There are only two books out so far and I've enjoyed both, the third - The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken - will be out next Tuesday and yes, I have a kindle version ordered and look forward to it surfacing on my reader.

The other book, Captive But Forbidden, is a Harlequin Presents book of which is my go to line of books that I purchase when I have little time to read, but really want to be entertained for a couple of hours.  I have never read any of Harris's books and so was eager to see how it went.  Well, I couldn't put it down and I know why - it was the hero!  He was fabulous!  Called himself a mutt with no home because he was and Indian/American born in England and raised in America.  The fresh path this book helped keep my previous trip between the pages to India alive, although in a very different way.

Isn't reading and all the places it takes us wonderful?!?

And for those who are wondering, yes, I'm still reading Catherine the Great by Robert K Massie - loving it!  What an incredible woman.

Naughty Thought for Monday is a fashion find for someone, not sure who though

I'm always checking out the latest and greatest in fashion, but these pants from Fauxtale with the feather accents, well, they fall firmly in the "no thank you" column.