Blog Archives

His Absolute Assignment & His Absolute Betrayal (An Illicit Billionaire Love Story)


The re-release of His Absolute Assignment and His Absolute Betrayal is here! There were complications before, but everything has smoothed out now, and things appear to be going well.

The re-release includes updated covers, bonus scenes, and slightly different book descriptions! (I just added one line, but I like it and I think it makes the concept of the books pop a little more, you know?)

As a quick note, the bonus scenes are also available in the Freebies section of my website (you can get the password by signing up for my newsletter ❤ )

Anyways… without further adieu…

Elise Both

As a special limited time offer, both of these books are available for free on Amazon from February 4th to February 8th (2/4/15 – 2/8/15). (Also, February 7th is my birthday, yay)

They’re both also available to borrow for free by Kindle Unlimited subscribers!

You can get them at:

Amazon US | Amazon UK

If you’ve already read them, plus the bonus scenes, I’d really love if you would consider leaving a review, too. It helps a lot, and I appreciate it so much.

And now… (dun dun duh! Haha)

Fantastic photo of stylish young couple

I am his absolute obsession…

Six months ago I was trapped in a library with a man who wanted to possess me. For three days, a record-breaking blizzard kept me confined with Lucent Storme, the dominating and enigmatic Director of Public Relations for Landseer Enterprises. Rumors existed of his forbidden desires and darker passions, but I didn’t believe them. I should have. For one weekend, I became Lucent’s sole obsession.

When the snow began to melt, he tried to leave me. He thought he could save me from himself, from his control. I didn’t let him. I was already his.

From USA Today Bestselling Author Cerys du Lys ~

Six months ago my entire life changed. I never meant to fall in love–especially not with Lucent–but his allure transcended common sense and tapped into a dark, primal need inside me that I didn’t know existed. The snow melted, our lives quieted, and everything seemed to be going perfectly.

Until today.

I thought I knew Lucent, but I realize now I never really did. A mysterious calm exists even within the eye of the darkest storms. I love Lucent. I am his and he is mine. I want to believe he is a good man. After seeing another side of him, after being the object of his absolute obsession, I fear I might have fallen in love with a monster.

(This scintillating steamy romantic suspense novel contains themes of domination and submission)


Elegant and c attractive ouple in the middle of the night

I may have fallen in love with a monster…

I thought I knew Lucent, but now I realize I never really did. He’s kept so many secrets from me. I fear I might have fallen in love with a monster. Worse yet, I’m afraid I’m becoming one, too…

From USA Today Bestselling Author Cerys du Lys ~

I thought I knew Lucent’s secrets. I thought I knew about his dark past and forbidden obsessions.

He likes control; a lot of it. He enjoys seeing me kneeling on the rug in front of him while he paces back and forth, planning exactly what he’ll do with me. He likes caressing my cheek with soft fingers before squeezing my jaw tight and forcing me look him in the eyes. His seductive smirk when he calls me Miss Tanner while tying me to the bed, reciting everything he’s going to do to me in intricate detail, and telling me why he’s going to do it, sends shivers through my body.

I thought that was it. I thought that was the worst of it, and in time I came to enjoy our sensual games. Lucent likes control, but he loves me. He would never hurt me.

Or so I thought.

Lucent’s dark past contains secrets darker than I ever could have imagined. Unwittingly, I’ve been lured into his world of sordid conspiracy and corporate scandal. We’re running from the law for a crime we didn’t commit, but saving ourselves isn’t as simple as just telling the truth. I don’t know what the truth is anymore.

Beneath Lucent’s fractured facade, I still feel his absolute attraction towards me. I still want to love him, and I want him to love me, too. I hope I’m making the right choice.

(This captivating contemporary romantic suspense novel contains themes of domination and submission)


I hope everyone enjoys them! Have you read the bonus scenes yet? What did you think?

(Also, Book 3, His Absolute Proposal, will be coming soon! Keep an eye out for that ❤ )

Merry Christmas! (Free Elise & Lucent Christmas Story)


I didn’t know if I’d have time for this originally, but then I got hit with some inspiration after someone showed me a neat picture that was perfect for an Elise and Lucent Christmas story, so…

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

GIF All I Want Regular

This is just a fun Christmas story I wanted to write with Elise and Lucent. It’s a little sweet, a little sexy, and a little something more, too. You can download a copy for your Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kobo Reader, or you can also just read it online. It’s about ~40 paperback pages long or so.

In addition to that, I kind of went overboard with the cover and made an animated version, haha. I thought it’d be fun. It’s nothing too crazy, but I think it ended up looking pretty neat. Also, please feel free to share this post with anyone you think might like it! It’s my Christmas gift to you, but you’re welcome to gift it to others, as well.

This story goes along with The Billionaire’s Paradigm, so it makes a bit more sense if you’ve read that. It’s kind of a throwback to what happened in the library that fateful weekend. I hope you enjoy it! ❤


All I Want for Christmas is Lucent (Download or Read Online) ~
Kindle Version
Nook, Kobo, and iPad Version
Online Version (Read Online)


All I Want 0

~*~ Sneak Peek Preview ~*~

Snow fell in fluffy white flakes outside, covering the empty streets in a heavy winter frosting…

I stood inside, near the door, looking out and remembering the time I’d been in almost this exact same position nearly a year ago. I was in the library then, standing behind the counter, warm and watching the gentle flakes of snow drifting down into the street. It was Friday afternoon then, and the library had been almost entirely empty. No one had wanted to go out in the storm, and for good reason.

We were in a record-breaking blizzard at the time. Over seventy-eight inches of snow. I didn’t find out until after, but most of the city had been snowed in, trapped because of the weather. The power had gone out almost everywhere, though the library had fared much better because of the emergency electric grid it was on. It was lucky, I thought. I was lucky. Not just because of that, but because of what happened.

Lucent came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. Instinctively, I leaned back against him and nuzzled my head into his chest. He leaned forward somewhat, his cheek close to mine, his lips near my ear, soft, almost kissing me.

“Hello,” he said. “Am I interrupting anything?”

I laughed, and Lucent grinned. I felt the tug of his cheek near to my ear. He squeezed me even tighter, holding me close.

“That’s not what you said,” I told him.

“No,” he agreed. “You weren’t napping, though.”

“Should I?” I asked. “Can we do that?”

I twisted in his arms until we were face to face and I was looking up at him. He smiled down at me and nodded slightly. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it, Miss Tanner?”

“I know, but… you don’t think it’s silly, do you? You don’t think I’m being too weird?”

He shook his head, no. “Those are fond memories for me, too,” he said. “Also, it’s almost Christmas. This is the time of year when we’re supposed to honor and cherish our true feelings.”

“My true feelings are that I love you,” I said with a small smile. “But I think it would be fun to do a sort of recreation of when we were in the library, that’s all. I think it might be nice.”

“We’re going to start at the beginning then?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Um, sort of? This isn’t exactly a library, you know.”

He shook his head, letting out a low chuckle. “No, not quite. It’s snowing, too, but not nearly as bad as it did back then.”

“Alright, well, um… wait! Wait, before we begin, did you order food yet or were we going to cook something here?”

“I ordered something,” Lucent said.

My ears perked up and I stared at him, rapt. “What did you get?”

“Curious little one, are you?” Lucent said with a grin.

“Lucent, you can’t start yet!” I said, laughing and pushing him lightly.

He’d said almost exactly that to me those many months ago in the library. Wrapped his arms around me again, he pulled me close to him.

“Is it good, though?” I asked. “Did you order something nice?”

“Of course I did,” he said, as if the idea of ordering something not nice had never occurred to him. I supposed that made sense, too, but I still kind of wanted to know what he got.

“We have about an hour,” he added. “The snow isn’t too bad, but it’s going to take them a little longer than usual to get here.”

“An hour,” I said. “Alright, that’s good. That will work. I’ll um… I’m going. Into that room. The one with the bookshelves.” I glanced towards the couch in the main room of the log cabin, a sudden idea coming to me. “I’m taking these!” I added, slipping out of his arms and towards the couch, excited. I grabbed the blanket and two overstuffed couch pillows, piling them in my arms.

Lucent smiled. “I’ll give you a few moments, Miss Tanner.”

“I only need about a minute,” I said. “Then come in, alright?”

“Hurry, then,” Lucent said, staring after me as I rushed away.

Before I ran into the adjacent room, I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye. He smiled after me, his eyes twinkling, interested and intent. This was going to be fun, I thought. It was what I wanted to do, and I thought it’d be a lot of fun.

***

I awoke, or I thought I did, and I saw a man…

Lucent stood in front of me. He wasn’t wearing the same dark, crisp suit with the black shoes and his grey tie that he’d been wearing that evening when he found me in the library nearly a year ago. No, he wore simpler clothes now. A plain, dark grey sweater, with a nice pair of dress pants. His shoes would have looked similar if he had them on, but neither of us wore any at the moment. He had on black socks, though.

Before he came in, I plopped the couch pillows next to each other, and then lay on top of them. I cuddled under the blankets, keeping one eye shut while I kept the other carefully trained on the doorway, waiting. When I saw Lucent come in, I snapped both my eyes closed and waited for him to step closer. As soon as he did, as soon as I no longer heard his quiet footsteps coming towards me, I yawned and blinked open my eyes, pretending to have just awoken from a nice nap.

Lucent cleared his throat. “Hello,” he said. “Am I interrupting your nap?”

I yawned and stretched my arms up over my head. I didn’t have a book this time, just a blanket. I pushed the blanket aside and stretched my arms even higher, arching my back and pushing out my breasts to give Lucent a show.

“Quiet little one, are you?” he asked, staring at my breasts. “What if I were looking for a book?”

“I…” I paused, trying to remember what I’d said back then when he’d asked me these very same questions. “Um… I hardly think it necessary…” Oh, and I’d yawned! I yawned quick, hoping to hide my hesitation and uncertainty.

“To deal,” Lucent said, finishing my sentence for me, “with figments of your imagination.”

I pouted at him, crossing my hands over my chest. “Lucent, you stole my line.”

“What if I am a figment of your imagination right now?” he asked me, grinning, coy. I didn’t like that look; or, I liked it a lot. He had a plan, and I thought it meant he was up to something.

“What if you are?” I asked. “What would you do?”

“Do you want to know what I was thinking that day, Miss Tanner?”

The way he said it, the way he kept looking at me so intently… I gulped hard, then swallowed even harder.

Lucent pulled the blanket away, sweeping it off to the side. He knelt down, joining me on the pillows. One of his knees pushed between my thighs, claiming space between my body. The rest of his body… well…

He leaned forward, closer to me. I started to lean back and away from him, curious and wanting to watch this sudden turn of events. I didn’t have far to go, though. There was nothing behind me to keep me from falling, and I inadvertently found myself doing exactly that. I fell backwards, my back and my head bouncing atop the overstuffed couch pillow beneath me.

Lucent loomed over me, staring at me, watching me.

“I refrained, because I didn’t want to frighten you at the time, Miss Tanner. Obviously it would have been more than untoward and inappropriate, as well, but the sight of your breasts propped up by that book nearly sent me into a frenzy,” Lucent said.

“It did?” I asked him. “I remember I was nervous, because I hadn’t realized it at first, but then… then you were real.”

“You were wearing a skirt, too. Do you remember what happened?” he asked.

I did. I wasn’t wearing this exact skirt, but I had a skirt on right now that was close enough to the one from before. I wore a dressy blouse, too. No shoes, and no pantyhose this time, though. I had stockings that went halfway up my thigh instead, and then panties further up.

I reached down and pulled my skirt up a little, reliving that time in the library. I’d fallen asleep on a bean bag chair and hadn’t fully realized my surroundings at the time, but Lucent must have.

My skirt hiked up, a book held close to my stomach, pushing up my breasts, and him standing over me, watching me, gazing at me with…

With what? I didn’t know before. I knew now. I wondered what I would have thought about it back then. Would we have… what? Nothing good, I thought. Things like that didn’t happen, not really. Or, they took a little more time. Lucent couldn’t very well have forced himself onto me right then and there, you know? And, I knew him now; he wouldn’t have done that, regardless. No matter what he said, and no matter how he acted, Lucent was always careful with me. He cared about me. He didn’t want to hurt me.

Or, he didn’t want to hurt me a lot. He’d gladly spank me, tie me up, make me beg, and do other wonderfully unspeakable things to me, but… well, I liked those things.

“You were watching me,” I told him as he stared at me with that intense and steady gaze of his. “You were always watching me, and so I know you must have been watching me then. You made me upset later, though. You said you didn’t want to look at me, and that was when I wanted you to look at me.”

“I was always looking at you, Miss Tanner,” Lucent said. “Always.”

“Where?” I asked. “Where were you looking then? What were you thinking when you found me in the library?”

“When I first found you, I immediately noticed your skirt,” he said. “It was up to about here, as you may have already realized.”

His fingers caressed up my stockings, towards the barest inkling of my upper thigh hidden beneath my skirt. He wrapped his fingers around my thigh, gripping me tight.

“I wanted to see more,” he said. “You really have no idea, Miss Tanner. You were wearing pantyhose, but I wanted to see the rest of you beneath that skirt of yours. It took all of my willpower to keep myself from staring between your legs.”

“If I remember correctly, you stared at my breasts instead,” I said, laughing. “I don’t think that’s much better, Lucent.”

“They were beautiful, too,” he said. “Propped up, plump, and luscious. I licked my lips when I saw you like that. It was over all too soon, though. Once you realized what position you were in, you jumped up and returned the state of your dress back to normal.”

“Yes,” I said, grinning at him, coy. “I think that’s what people usually do.”

“I know,” Lucent said. “In my mind, it went more like this, though.”

“Like–” I didn’t have a chance to ask him how it went; Lucent was already upon me…


(Read the rest by downloading your free copy or reading the online version)

All I Want for Christmas is Lucent ~
Kindle Version
Nook, Kobo, and iPad Version
Online Version (Read Online)

Master Over You Blog Tour Mega-Post!


Hi! This is the Master Over You Blog Tour Mega-Post. I think that sounds kind of fancy, so I thought I’d go with it, haha.

Anyways! This post will be updated daily with links to all of the blog tour spots for the Master Over You: A Dark Romance Novel blog tour through Xpresso Books. It should be interesting and exciting. (It’ll go in reverse order, so the newest posts will be at the top, super easy to find)

Also, if you haven’t entered yet, here is a neat giveaway for you to join, too:

*Giveaway*

Master Over You Release Celebration Giveaway

(Day Nine)

Home is Where the Wine is Book Blog (Top 10 List + Review)
In My Secret -Book- World (Excerpt)

(Day Eight)

Naughty Moms’ Story Time (Excerpt)

(Day Seven)

LeAnn’s Book Reviews (Excerpt)
Turner’s Antics (Excerpt)

(Day Six)

MI Bookshelf (Excerpt)
My Book Filled Life (Review)

(Day Five)

Escape into a Book (Review + Top 10 List)
A British Bookworm’s Blog (Review)
Cornerfolds (Excerpt)
New Adult Addiction (Excerpt)

(Day Four)

We Love Kink (Review + Interview!)
Tattooed Book Review

(Day Three)

She Hearts Books (Review)
Girls With Books (Excerpt)
Broadway Girl Book Reviews (Review)

(Day Two)

Living in Your Own Story (Review + Excerpt)
Creating Serenity (Guest Post by Cerys!)
A is for Alpha, B is for Books (Blitz)

(Day One)

Sinfully Sexy Books (Review)
Craves the Angst (Excerpt)
Mommy’s a Book Whore (Excerpt)
Romance Novel Giveaways (Review + a bunch of stuff)

His Absolute Obsession: The Billionaire’s Paradigm (Audio Books Like Fifty Shades of Grey)


Want to get this audiobook for free?
Sign up for a 30-day free trial offer on Audible
(includes one free audiobook)
then go here to get your free copy of His Absolute Obsession

The Fifty Shades of Grey official first movie trailer comes out today! Because of that, I thought it’d be fun to do something a little different and special. I can’t quite create my own movie trailer (not yet at least…), but some of what I write is like Fifty Shades of Grey in a way, and I do have audiobooks, so…

I thought it’d be fun to create a YouTube sample of His Absolute Obsession: The Billionaire’s Paradigm!

(This is the scene when Elise first meets Lucent, before that fateful weekend they spend together trapped in the library during a record-breaking blizzard)

Trapped in a library during a blizzard, Elise finds herself stuck with the untoward magnate, Lucent Storme, who’s rumored to have more than a few forbidden desires…

What do you think? I love the narration and I think Irma Kent did a wonderful job at it. Just a little sneak peek there, but I really enjoy that scene, and it’s the start of so much more, too. Elise and Lucent are some of my favorite characters.

The rest of the audiobook is fairly long, but it’s only the beginning, too. His Absolute Obsession is over 2 hours of steamy romance, commanding intrigue, and dominant mystery. There are more audiobooks in the series, too. Can’t wait for the Fifty Shades movie to come out and want something to tide you over in the mean time? For less than the price of a movie ticket (and for more than 2 hours of romantic enjoyment) you can get His Absolute Obsession right now.

You can find His Absolute Obsession on:
Audible – His Absolute Obsession
Amazon – His Absolute Obsession
iTunes – His Absolute Obsession

The e-book version is available on Amazon, as well.

Review: Only Pretend


Only Pretend
Only Pretend by Nora Flite
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Seductive Confliction

I’ve read all of the Hard Body Rock books by Nora Flite and really enjoyed them. I’ve also read Tears of Tess, though I haven’t delved too deep into dark romance besides that. I do like it sometimes, but I think other times it’s done a bit oddly and too far for me.

Saying that, I really enjoyed Only Pretend. It had some of the same elements that I’ve come to enjoy from Nora Flite’s books, but with a sense of something more like in what Pepper Winters’ writes.

Only Pretend is a wonderful story, but there’s a definite sense of darkness and depravity going on. After Celeste is not only fired from her job, but also broken up with by her boyfriend, for being “boring” as he says, she decides to find a new life for herself. I really liked the idea of that, too. I think sometimes everyone imagines what it’d be like to pretend you’re someone else for a day, right? So this is like that, except…

She gets what she wants in a way, and then way more than she could have ever imagined. Leonide is sensually provocative, but with some absolutely dark desires. He’s that man you love to hate, who can pull your strings and bring out the best in you, providing you with immeasurable pleasure, but… what does he want in return?

That’s really the driving question that I kept wondering about throughout the novel, and I think that’s one of the things I liked most about it. We start off knowing a little about Celeste, but not everything. And Leonide is a complete mystery initially. Where did he come from, what is he doing, and why?

Celeste started off trying to pretend, but maybe there’s even more pretense to all of this than we know?

If you like Nora Flite’s other books, or Tears of Tess, I think you’ll really enjoy this one. It’s got a seductive style that really keeps you reading. I liked the thrill and suspense aspects, too. There’s some darkness, obvious, so you really need to be able to handle some adult themes, but… I think everything in this book is the sort of thing you really want to read about, but maybe not talk about in “polite” company? Haha. Curiosity is a dangerous and compelling thing! But oh so wonderful, too.

Highly recommended! I loved this book.

View all my reviews

Newsletter Delayed (Sorry!)


Sorry about the late notice on this one, for those who were looking forward to receiving my weekly newsletter today.

The website that I use to manage my newsletter stuff and have it sent out to everyone is going to be doing updates and maintenance on their servers shortly. This means that any scheduled newsletters may potentially have issues and be sent out late, or not sent out, or what have you. I’m not really sure, actually, as this is the first time they’ve done maintenance/updates while I’ve used them.

This isn’t cause for alarm or anything, just general everyday stuff. I have no idea what kind of everyday general stuff is involved, but I’m sure they have a handle on it. It’s just the mailing servers, I think (so like email related things, nothing crazy).

Anyways! The newsletter for this week is going to be a little delayed because of that. I’m hoping/planning to send it out on Thursday once all of this is finished.

Want a sneak peek ahead of time? These are a few of the things I’ll be including in this week’s newsletter!

-New cover art for Spark of Hope: The Monster Within (with Bolt of Trust, Breath of Bliss, Drop of Doubt, Ember of Ecstasy, and Rise of Spirit to follow!) Rise of Spirit will actually be done with the new cover art style for the series right from the get go.

-Rise of Spirit will be released soon after the unfortunate delays from me being sick, and I’ll be doing a promo price of $0.99 for the first few days of it being on sale.

-A bunch of stuff about Hunted, and me becoming an Amazon Top 100 Best Selling Fantasy and Fantasy Romance author. This is really exciting, since it’s not just Hunted that’s a best selling book (it is currently, which is also exciting), but me as an author getting on a special author list. This is neat because really, I owe it to everyone who has purchased one of my books and enjoyed it. I really try to write things that I think you’ll all like, so when something like this happens, it makes me excited to know that I’m heading in the right direction.

-Random reference, but, to date, I’ve been an Amazon Top 100 Best Selling Author in Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, and Romantic Suspense. Hunted and The Billionaire’s Ultimatum have been the two novels that you’ve all enjoyed the most and that helped me get on those lists, so if you haven’t checked them out yet, then why not give them a shot?

-The paperback version of The Billionaire’s Ultimatum will be going up in price soon in preparation for wider distribution to places like B&N, etc. If you want to get it at a decent discount, grab it before then. Once the price increases, you’ll be able to order it on BN.com and in your local B&N bookstore, though (they should be able to ship it right to the store for you, so you can go pick it up locally if you’d like). The price won’t be too much more, but I’ll put the specifics in the newsletter when it goes out.

-And some exciting pre-info about an event I’m going to be doing in November! (Hint: It has to do with NaNoWriMo, and it should be fun)

That’s it! Sorry again for the delay, but keep an eye out for the newsletter as it should be available within the new few days!

A New Freebie!


Hello!

I mentioned in my newsletter this week that I was going to put up a new free story in the freebie section soon, and… well, hey! It’s there now. This is a sweeter one, and some of you may have read it already, but for those who haven’t, I hope you’ll check it out and see if you like it. I won’t spoil what it is, because it’s kind of like a present, I guess? You know, like… it’s fun to find out what it is after you open it (after you go to the freebie page), and then you can either get really excited or bemoan receiving a fruit cake for Christmas (or whatever holiday, I guess. I kind of like fruit cake, though, so maybe that’s not a great example).

Anyways! It’s there, so go check it out.

For those who can’t figure out how to get on the freebie page (because I haven’t figured out how to put good directions for it yet. Sorry!), you’ll need to sign up for my newsletter, which you can do on the side over there somewhere (—->). I send out newsletters on a weekly basis, and include the password to access my freebies from there. You also get fun information about stuff! What kind of stuff? Well, it varies a bit. I’ll mention my new releases and how I’m doing on specific stories, or what’s coming soon, all of that. I like to talk about other random things, too, like what I’m reading, or what I think of book things. And, I include fun little tips and tricks about sexy things (or things I think are sexy, at least. They aren’t always strictly tips, I suppose).

So… yes! Newsletters go out on Tuesdays, generally, and I’ve got two freebies available as of now, so… if you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for?

Kings and Outcasts


Since I’m working on The Monster Within at the moment, I figured I’d take some time today to talk about Solace and Bastion (and maybe Faith or others. We’ll see how it goes). I’ll be trying to keep things as spoiler free as possible, but if you’d like to make absolute certain that you don’t have anything spoiled, then you might want to consider skipping this one. I’d mostly like to discuss concepts and my ideas, so it should be relatively safe, though.

Anyways!

Solace is an outcast in the town of Glenwood, for (currently) reasons unknown. There are some reasons, and they’re pretty good ones once the story gets to it, but for now they’re secretive. I’ve dropped a couple of hints in Ember of Ecstasy, and there’s more to come soon, too.

The thing I find interesting about the whole thing is that Solace doesn’t know why everyone hates her, though. I really enjoy this concept and theme, because I think it’s easy to relate to that in a lot of ways. Why does anyone hate anything? I have some reasons for why I dislike things, and then I have reasons for why I hate things. I try to reserve really good reasons for the things I hate, but I don’t know if everyone does the same. As to the things I dislike? Sometimes I honestly couldn’t tell you why I do or don’t like something. It’s just personal preference and opinion based on bias and preconceived notions a lot of time.

Solace deals with it, though. She deals with it even though literally almost everyone in Glenwood hates her. She never questions it, nor gets upset, she just tries to become better. I like that about her. I can see where some people might think she’s a weak character or a bad one, because of all these bad things that happen to her, but she doesn’t let it get her down. I think there’s a huge difference there, you know? A character who has bad things happen and then just drops into depression is maybe “real” but not very fun? One who has bad things happen and then strives to overcome them, become better (even if there might not be a better), and just continues to live and try despite the odds being against them… well, I like characters like that.

Solace might seem weak or bad or a bunch of things at times, but honestly I think she might be one of the strongest characters in the story. She continues to try when she has no reason to, and I envy that somewhat and would like to replicate it in my own life.

As to Bastion, he’s in somewhat the same position, except backwards. As the Demon King, no one really hates him. I don’t think they can afford to, as there’s bound to be consequences. At least openly, you know? I mean, the occasional disagreement or dislike is probably fine, but open revolt? There’s got to be a huge reason to resort to something like that, and then the consequences could be huge, too.

The thing is, Bastion isn’t a mean person or a tyrannical Demon King or anything like that. He’s relatively nice, all things considered. He and Solace got off to an odd and rough start, but I think that’s understandable. I mean, she’s a human who was sent as basically a sacrificial bride for the ruler of the monstrous host in Runehaven. In her mind, he’s a monster. In his mind, he’s being sent some woman in order to maintain the peace, and he’s expected to marry her, but where is the love?

(Random side note field trip)
Arranged marriages are interesting in those regards. It’s one of those things that isn’t really applicable to a lot of countries nowadays. On a random side note to that, while I have no reference at hand, I’ve heard that arranged marriages that occur in India (I don’t know if they still do, but these were older statistics I was reading) actually have a high percentage chance of working well, and the two people who become married eventually come to enjoy it. I’ve always curiously wondered if it has something to do with the whole Kama Sutra love-making lesson and teaching thing, at least in part. The Kama Sutra isn’t that entirely, but I really like how it teaches and advocates pleasure in intimate unions, you know? I think other places should teach people these things, because to be completely honest a lot of people are oblivious about sex and how to make their partner happy, which is sad.
(Field trip is done!)

And… they’re trying, you know? Bastion and Solace are, perhaps, not compatible at all. They don’t know much about each other, nor do they know if they can even love each other. They aren’t sure if they have a future, or what their future is, or anything like that. They’d like to try, though. Together. Bastion finds that he enjoys Solace and the fact that she’s curious and unsure. I think he might see some of himself in her in those regards. As the Demon King, he’s not really allowed to be unsure, and the fact that Solace is, and is open about it, kind of complements him in a way. Bastion is strong and caring and treats her fairly when no one’s ever treated her that way in her entire life, which is interesting to her, but also leaves her feeling wary and cautious. Is it a lie? A ruse? Demons have a reputation for being less than respectable, at least according to the human books she’s read, and so you can’t really blame her for her initial wariness.

They work together, though. I think they go good together, too. They aren’t the same, not by a longshot, but the similarities that they have are a great base for a potential relationship, and the differences they have complement each other well, in my opinion. There’s a high chance for love there, blossoming and burgeoning.

Except there’s that whole issue of a human inevitably dying when she gives birth to a demon’s child…

What Romance means to me (Insatiable Reads Blog Hop)


Hello! This might be your first time to my website, and if so, I just wanted to say thanks for stopping by. I know you’re probably here for a chance to win some prizes, so I’ll put that info right at the top after this introduction. I hope you’ll consider checking out the rest of the post and some of my books, too, though.

Anyways!

Blog Hop Grand Prizes (2):
A Kindle Fire
A $50 Amazon.com Gift Certificate

My Blog’s Prize (1):
A $10 Gift Certificate to either Amazon, B&N, iTunes, or All Romance eBooks (Your choice).

To enter to win a prize, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. The more participating blogs that you leave comments at, the more chances you have to win (and each blog has their own special prizes, too, so that’s ~150+ chances to win something!). The giveaway will end on 7/21 at 11:59pm EST. For more info, check out http://www.insatiablereads.com/

Not sure what other blogs are participating? Go here:

Isn’t that blue monster guy face cute? I think he’s cute. He looks so happy.

Now that that’s all set and I think you have a good idea of what to do to enter, let’s get on to the post!

I’m going to go at this kind of like one of those school assignments. You know the ones, right? What does mean to you? Well, seeing as a write erotic romance and erotica with some romantic themes, I thought it’d be fun to do that.

Romance is a really interesting genre, because it can include so many different ideas and concepts. Even erotica is similar, where it’s a general theme, with so many various sub-genres that it’s a little scary sometimes. How do you know what you’re getting or what to look for? It’s hard! (Sometimes literally. Those heroic men, oh my. *fans self*)

One thing you should find in most romances is a happy ending. I know some people might disagree and think that you don’t necessarily need one, but I think you definitely do. It doesn’t have to be the happiest ending, but it’s got to be pretty happy. This one’s kind of a given, though.

And what else? Um… well, that’s about it, actually.

Some people say that you can’t have the main lovers partake in sexual relationships with anyone else, but I’m not entirely sure if I agree there. Why? Because sometimes it adds something necessary to the plot and it makes the story a lot more real. If the heroine(h) and the hero(H) are having some rocky times, adding a little sexual tension with some other characters can enhance that a lot.

It also hurts. What do I mean by that? It makes the fantasy a little more and less at the same time. We want to see the h and the H get together, but… now the h is sleeping with another man. Is this a permanent thing? Is the story over? We’re supposed to have a happy ending, right? We need that, and I just told you we’re going to get it, but…

Sometimes a story is happier when there’s some trouble involved. Sometimes it takes making mistakes to realize what your true feelings are. It’s difficult, and sometimes it hurts to see people make mistakes like that, especially in romance books where we desperately want the h and the H to get together and be happy. If they don’t make mistakes, then the happiness isn’t as great, though. That’s what I think.

That’s not to say that the h or the H need to make the same mistakes all the time, because that’d get boring, too, but the whole point of mistakes like this is to make the reward at the end so much better. Kind of like some mental BDSM sort of thing, maybe? A little bit of pain can increase sensitivity and sensation and make the pleasure so much better.

And, honestly? I think that’s what romance means to me in a lot of ways. It’s about experimenting, maybe stumbling, and then finding that one person who accepts you and your mistakes and loves you anyways. They’re there for you, and while it might have involved some hurt in order to get to where you are in the end, it’s worth it because it made the happiness a lot better.

Romance is about perfection, but it’s not about being perfect. It’s about the characters realizing their flaws and then realizing that they like each other, flaws and all, and they’ll help each other move past that to become a better person. Together. Separate, life can be really difficult, but when you’re together with someone, sometimes you can grasp at a little bit of perfection.

What do you think? Do you agree, or do you think there’s something else to it? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

If you’d like to check out some of my romance-themed books, here are some of my suggestions. I adore plot, but as a warning my sex scenes are explicit, some more so than others.

Princess Miri: An Erotic Coming of Age Monster Romance Novel (Medieval Fantasy Erotic Romance, involves taboo themes)

The Billionaire’s Ultimatum: His Absolute Need (Contemporary Erotic Romance, with BDSM and forbidden love themes)

His Absolute Obsession: The Billionaire’s Paradigm (Contemporary Erotic Romance, the first in a completed series of novellas/novels, with BDSM and obsession themes, the standalone sequel to The Billionaire’s Ultimatum)

One Year Personal Review


I’ve been deliberating over actually writing this or not. I decided to go for it, because I don’t think it can hurt, and I think some of you would be interested in reading it.

Before embarking on my journey of self-publishing, I used to work in some not so fun places. Lots of customer service and all of that. Just plain, basic things, and nothing very entertaining, but I didn’t mind it. I didn’t really like it, though, and I’ve always wanted to write, so on July 10th, 2012, I published my first e-book. I think I did it on Smashwords first, then I put it up on the other places after, so those places didn’t have it until July 11th, but I like to think of my “official” indie author anniversary as July 10th. It’s a pretty nice day, generally speaking.

So, anyways! I’m sure everyone’s done them, but a lot of places I’ve worked at like to do those yearly reviews, you know? I never liked those, and I’m sort of argumentative about them. I once marked down that I thought I went above and beyond in regards to dress code, because I try to look nice, right? Except, no, I was told that it’s impossible to go above and beyond on dress code. If you come to work appropriately dressed, then that’s it. Why did they have little check marks for anything besides “acceptable” then? I have no idea, and I asked that, but no one gave me a good answer. Just because. That’s just kind of silly, but I digress…

Now, as an indie author, I’m going to evaluate myself. If you’ve been following me for awhile, feel free to chime in, too. Let me know if you agree or disagree. I’d be happy to hear it!

First off, I initially planned to just write erotica shorts. My very first stories were Princess Miri, Moonlight Secret, Burning Need, Princess Miri’s Wet Sticky Mess, all written within the span of a couple weeks. I kind of cheated there, because I’d written the Princess Miri and Moonlight Secret stories a long long time ago, but I fixed them up and changed some things, and *POOF*, published!

Out of all those, I honestly didn’t know what exactly I was doing besides with the Princess Miri stories. I love all my stories, don’t get me wrong, but Moonlight Secret and Burning Need were kind of difficult for me. I think they’re good stories, and lots of people have enjoyed them, but I probably won’t be writing much more in the same vein as those.

Mostly, what I noticed within a few weeks was that I liked to write longer things. Hunted by the Beast and Dominant Dreams came up soon after those first ones, and both of those are noticeably longer. They aren’t long by any means, but I got to delve into more of what I liked.

And, basically, what I really like is plot. I think plot is kind of sexy, you know? I don’t know if that makes a lot of sense. Some people like to just read stories with an idea, but I can’t do that very well. A decent, popular example is something like… let’s say, the barely legal babysitter and the single father (or maybe not single? Scandalous!). It’s just the idea that arouses people, which is perfectly fine, but I can’t really get into reading or writing that too much. Something like that is more writing towards kinks or fetishes.

I won’t lie, I do it sometimes. Generally I add some plot in there, too, though. To a lot of people, that’s weird, but it’s just how I like to write. I think I provide something different and entertaining for anyone who wants a little more with their story.

That’s basically when it began. After feeling things out and getting more accustomed to what I preferred and how I preferred to write it, I went on to continue the Princess Miri series, Hunted by the Beast, and I started The Billionaire’s Ultimatum. These were all great choices for me. I did write some standalones in there, and to be honest you can read most all of my stories as a standalone if you like, but the plot was what drove me onwards, and I think people like that, too. The characters can build upon themselves and their world and explore it more, you know?

Miri started out as a bratty princess who was targeted by the daughter of one of her father’s vassels, but she became something else entirely. I mean, sure, she’s still kind of bratty, but I like Miri. I think Miri’s a really fun character. Thump grew, too. Then Allysin came into the picture, and we got to learn a little more about the castle from her perspective. Fleur evolved into… well, we won’t talk about Fleur (she’s kind of a bitch). The King, the citizens, Roy, all of it.

I do that with all of my stories now, and I’m trending towards longer, which I think a lot of people prefer. I want you to know the characters and feel more intimately about them. When Miri clears out the dungeons and takes them over for her and Thump to use, and then she treats it like a very private place where they can hide together, be alone, talk and learn and explore their sexuality safely, I want you to kind of realize how Miri feels, you know? She’s a princess, and sort of a brat or a bitch, but she’s a human, too, and she’s not immune to weakness. She just doesn’t have anyone and she’s not sure how to relate to anyone, and so Thump being hers and exploring with her and letting her have her moments of being a spoiled princess while also being the dominant monster troll that he is, well…

I find that a lot sexier. Miri’s emotions and need and desires, and her shortcomings and fears and worries; it makes the entire scene more intense to me. It’s sexy and erotic, but it’s also something more, too. That’s how I feel about that, at least. You can’t get that in a quick barely legal babysitter story, you know? You can get the sexy and erotic part, but you can’t get the “more” that I personally want to go along with it.

I could give examples of this sort of thing throughout all of my stories, but if you’ve read them it’s probably easy to see, too.

In addition to all of that, I’ve started working more towards adding paperbacks, novelizing my serials, and working on audiobooks. The paperbacks and serials-to-novels are somewhat obvious, but one thing I’ve noticed is that I need to have a good schedule of this. I have a “Publishing Schedule” tab on my website, but I need to fix it up a bit. My general plan when I started, and what I want to do now, is to have a new novel for you all every ~2 months or so. The paperback first, then the e-book after. I have a lot of reasons for why I do it in that order, but they’re kind of boring marketing stuff, so I won’t go into that. What this generally will mean is that ~6 months after the start of a series, the novel version should come out soon after. That won’t always be exactly the case, but I should be able to stick pretty closely to that schedule for the foreseeable future.

Audiobooks are interesting and difficult, but in a good way. The thing with those is that I really want to find narrators that bring the characters to life, you know? Sometimes I go searching for the perfect narrator, and other times I’ll put a story up and let people send in their auditions. The audiobooks I have so far are good, but some of the auditions really miss the point. They aren’t bad by any means, and these are professional narrators, but I can tell when someone’s not really into the story and only wants to make money.

I want to provide you with an amazing experience, and so I will only produce audiobooks with narrators who can put the necessary emotion into the scenes. You’ll find a lot of audiobooks that lack this, and some of those audiobooks are alright. If you just want to “hear” the story, they’re perfectly great and I’ve got nothing against that. For what I do, because I want to provide you “more” in the e-book and paperback versions, I want to find narrators that will help you experience the story, too. Overall, I just want to give you more, because that’s what I would want.

And so! That’s about it. That’s where we’re at so far. I appreciate everyone coming on this journey with me, too. As an indie author, I think that the reader/writer relationship is a bit closer than with a big publishing house’s authors. I try to be a little closer, and like my stories I want to give a little “more” than what you’d get otherwise. I just want to let you know about what’s up and I like to provide you with as much as I can. I’m writing more, working on more, and will continue to try and discover ways where I can improve this in the future.

Also, my business attire is impeccable lately. Far above and beyond! (I like to write at night a lot while wearing pajamas. Shh, don’t tell anyone!)

What do you think? I’d love to hear your opinions. Whether as a new reader or someone who’s just started checking out my stuff, I think all opinions, feedback, questions, or comments are useful and valid, and I like to hear them!

%d bloggers like this: