Sex & Knitting: A Guest Post by Romance Author Ruthie Knox (and an excerpt!)

Hah! Bet you hadn't thought of those two topics together before, but Ruthie Knox, that clever woman, wove them together without a hitch. I was delighted to be asked to participate in her blog tour and she wrote this fun post for the blog. But first, a little about Ruthie, and at the end of the post, some shameless book promotion.

Ruthie Knox figured out how to walk and read at the same time in the second grade, and she hasn’t looked up since. She spent her formative years hiding romance novels in her bedroom closet to avoid the merciless teasing of her brothers and imagining scenarios in which someone who looked remarkably like Daniel Day Lewis recognized her well-hidden sex appeal and rescued her from middle-class Midwestern obscurity. After graduating from Grinnell College with an English and history double major, she earned a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use.

These days, she writes contemporary romance in which witty, down-to- earth characters find each other irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely admits this has yet to happen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas. Her debut novel, Ride with Me, came out with Loveswept (Random House) in February.

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On Sex and Knitting

So I wrote this very sexy romance novel, called About Last Night, and it’s just been released with Loveswept. And one of many things about the novel that the (truly wonderful) back cover copy does not mention is that there’s a heck of a lot of knitting in it.

Yes. I did that.

It wasn’t even on purpose, much. It just sort of happened. My heroine, Cath, is an assistant curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is putting on a fictional exhibit on the history of hand-knitting. I am a knitter, and I made Cath a knitter, and the next thing I knew, knitting had up and become a thing in the book. It might not even be a stretch to say it’s a theme.

Here’s Cath with her boss, Judith, talking shop:

With the silent coordination of long practice, she and Judith began refolding the sweaters for storage. “Speaking of withholding approval,” Judith said, “you’re going to have to rewrite that interwar section [of the exhibit catalog] again. Christopher wants it sexier.”

“There’s nothing sexy about knitting in 1930s Britain. It was the Depression. All the books are full of advice about how to darn socks and rip out old sweaters to reuse the same yarn over and over again.”

“You’ll find something. Think knitted underclothes. Fair Isle stockings.”

“Cervical-cap cozies?”

“Now you’re talking.”

Is this strange? Sometimes I have a hard time telling. It feels unusual, at least, for this sort of book. Because while there are any number of hearth-and-home, knit-your-heart-strings-together books that combine romance and knitting, this really isn’t a very hearth-and-homey novel. Cath is a tattooed recovering bad girl who meets the hero after he extricates her from a drunken mishap at the train station. She would never knit him a sweater. She’d be far more likely to knit him a G-string, or some bondage cuffs or something.

But I do think that Cath is representative of what knitting has become in recent years as any other heroine would be. This is an era of yarn-bombing, after all. Knitting has come into itself as a medium for both textile art and performance art. So why shouldn’t my artsy bad-girl heroine be a knitter? And why shouldn’t the relationship between knitting, love, and sex be a theme in the novel?

Well, maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t, but it was fun to write! I’ll leave you with a favorite knitting-related passage from late in the book. (Don’t worry — it’s not too spoilery.)

She put one foot in front of the other and shambled gracelessly into the office, where she found Judith sorting through dozens of pairs of knitted socks and stockings on the table.

“I thought you weren’t coming in today.”

“I wasn’t.” Cath dumped her purse on the floor and surveyed the limp, lifeless hosiery. Judith planned to include a feature on socks in the exhibit, but she’d struggled to come up with a way to make them interesting. The subject of hand-knit socks made the eyes of all but the most devoted knitters glaze right over.

“I thought you were in the countryside with Banker Ken.”

“I was.”

In order to avoid thinking about Nev, Cath put on a pair of gloves and picked up one of a pair of kilt hose. Knit in the traditional cream wool, the stocking was absurdly long and nearly as big around as her waist at the top. It must have been made for a very tall, very brawny Highlander. She wondered if the dolt had known that whoever knit him these socks loved his hairy kilted ass. No woman would make dressy kilt hose for a man she didn’t love. There were tens of thousands of stitches in the damn things.

But even love had its variations. Had the artist spent the eternity of rounds counting all the ways she adored him, or had she resented the waste, knowing he’d only sweat in her masterpiece and wear through the heels in no time flat?

God, even kilt hose depressed her.

Judith gave her an inscrutable look. “I got a strange phone call this morning from Christopher.”

“Oh?” She tried to sound as though she cared, but her voice had all the verve of a funeral director’s. She was going to have to get better at faking things if she planned to survive this breakup.

“Richard Chamberlain called him at home last night and said he’d be making a hundred-thousand-pound donation to our exhibit. Any chance you had something to do with that?”

She crushed the stocking in her hand, suddenly nauseated. Richard had called last night? But that was long after she’d left, long after he’d learned who she really was. Why would he do that?

Maybe he’d done it out of duty. He’d felt honor-bound to make the donation despite his disappointment in her, so he’d gotten it over with as quickly as possible. The thought upset her so much, a helpless, mewling cry escaped her throat, and she covered her mouth with her hand, breathing in the smell of musty wool.

“You can’t take the money,” she said through the stocking. “I’m sorry, but it’s all a big mistake.”

Judith gave her a long look, then resumed peering at a red patch of darning on the toe of an undistinguished man’s work sock. Someone had embroidered a tiny, perfect owl onto it. Another I love you rendered in stitches and string.

“The money is a done deal,” Judith said. “I would be congratulating you, only you look like you’re about ten seconds from offing yourself.” She frowned deeper and mumbled, “Maybe you should tell me what happened.”

“No.”

“Fine.”

They played with socks, pretending absorption.

For another excerpt, click here.
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Book Blurb:

Sure, opposites attract, but in this sexy, smart eBook original romance from Ruthie Knox, they positively combust! When a buttoned-up banker falls for a bad girl, “about last night” is just the beginning.

Cath Talarico knows a mistake when she makes it, and God knows she’s made her share. So many, in fact, that this Chicago girl knows London is her last, best shot at starting over. But bad habits are hard to break, and soon Cath finds herself back where she has vowed never to go . . . in the bed of a man who is all kinds of wrong: too rich, too classy, too uptight for a free-spirited troublemaker like her.

Nev Chamberlain feels trapped and miserable in his family’s banking empire. But beneath his pinstripes is an artist and bohemian struggling to break free and lose control. Mary Catherine — even her name turns him on — with her tattoos, her secrets, and her gamine, sex-starved body, unleashes all kinds of fantasies.

When blue blood mixes with bad blood, can a couple that is definitely wrong for each other ever be perfectly right? And with a little luck and a lot of love, can they make last night last a lifetime?

ABOUT LAST NIGHT
By: Ruthie Knox
Publisher: Loveswept (Random House)
ISBN: 9780345535160
Genre: FICTION, ROMANCE, CONTEMPORARY
Format: EBOOK
Length:  1942 KB, 216 pages
Release Date: JUNE 11, 2012
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Buying Links:  Amazon   Barnes & Noble   Random House

Now, let me leave you with a question - do you think knitting has any place in a romance novel? Does it give you warm, fuzzy feelings, sexy feelings, or does it just make you think of mothballs?

Review of Say You'll Be Mine by Julia Amante

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: October 25, 2011
Buying Links:  Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Isabel Gallegos is only a handshake away from living her dream life. After years of putting everyone else's needs before her own, she's selling her family's vineyard and moving to a quiet cottage on the California coast. But just as she's about to seal the deal, a letter arrives from Argentina with shocking news: Her beloved cousin has died and Isabel is now the sole guardian of three young children. 

 Still holding on to her dream, Isabel travels to Argentina. There she meets little Julieta, the cherubic baby of the family; eight-year-old Adelmo, as hot-tempered as his sister is sweet; and ten-year-old Sandra, whose heart-shaped face and quiet confidence remind Isabel so much of her late cousin. She tells herself to let the children go, to leave them in the care of their grandmother or perhaps their long-lost uncle who abruptly reappears. Or should she listen to her ex-husband, who is suddenly at her side, urging her to give the children--and him--a chance?

 If she's willing to take a risk, three tiny strangers just might change Isabel's life in ways she's never imagined.

Teaser:

"He needs to be understood and loved. He needs us to be on his side, Isabel. Everything is new and scary for him, even if he tries to be tough."

"I know that." She resented that Nick felt he had to instruct her on how to deal with kids. What made him any more qualified than she was? The way he'd taken over when he had no right to do so made her angry. But then, a huge part of her was glad that he'd handled it, and that, made her even angrier. "But the children are my responsibility. My obligation to raise them the way I see fit. I don't want you to interfere again like you did today."

"They're not my responsibility or my obligation, Isabel. Sometimes people do things because they want to, not because they're supposed to."

 Was that a slap in the face? She tried hard to control her temper.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

I requested "Say You'll Be Mine" in part because of it's vineyard setting and in part because of it's storyline. The vineyard setting lived up to expectation, the rest was a mixed bag. The blurb is pretty accurate and in some respects sounds like one we've seen before: single character finds him/herself suddenly responsible for a relative or friend's child; can they cope, will they find love with the person who appears or reappears in their life and is all kinds of helpful. It's a plot line we've seen in womens fiction and in romance. This book was marketed as a general fiction title so I expected that it would be lighter on the romance, heavier on the family stuff and maybe a bit heavier on the literary side. As a result, I was discombobulated for about the first third of the book until I realized and accepted that I was wrong and adjusted my expectations. It read a lot like a Harlequin romance, which is not intended as a put-down. It simply wasn't what I thought I was getting.


Perhaps as a result of my mixed up expectations, I had a hard time getting into the book. I would put it down to eat, or feed the cat, or what have you, and I'd be reluctant to pick it back up again. Several times, I almost talked myself into giving up on it. In the end, I finished it. It was okay, but not one I expect I'll read again.


I had a hard time connecting with Isabel; while I understood her shock at becoming guardian to her cousin's children, and her struggle to come to terms with it, she was so adamant about not even trying, refusing to give up her plans and dreams, and jumped at the chance to dump them on someone else. She had to choose between her dreams and her obligations. I understood it intellectually, but emotionally, it just rubbed me the wrong way. They do end up living with her, for a while at least, and that was when I started to connect and to like her more. She makes mistakes, but she is genuinely trying, and she comes to care about them over time. Helping her is her ex-husband, who still works with her at her family's vineyard and even lives on the grounds. He forcibly inserts himself into her family crisis, against her wishes, and  of course, the kids love him and everything he does. Isabel, meanwhile, is the meanie who took them from their homeland; it doesn't help that she hadn't seen them in many years and they had no recollection of her at all. It's all very soap opera-ish.


The teaser above is a good illustration of Isabel and Nick's relationship (Nick being her ex-husband): she's insecure and defensive, he simply takes over, and they snipe at each other. That scene happens after one of the children, Adelmo, is physically attacked by an older boy at school who has been bullying him. He gets in trouble for fighting in self-defense and Isabel and Nick are called. The boy and his friends had been bullying Adelmo for a while, he had casually mentioned it to Isabel (he's casual because he doesn't want to seem scared or incompetent.), she dismisses it as unimportant, but when he tells Nick, Nick is there for him immediately. It was one of many instances where AmanteAmante's dismissal of that subplot. It seems to serve solely to help move along the Nick and Isabel, will they or won't they get back together plot line, and the Isabel is a horrible parent and doesn't want to be a parent plot line.

Now, the children have another relative who could take them in: their uncle Ramiro, their father's brother. But Ramiro and his brother Andres had a falling out before the children were born, and he's never been a part of their lives. He believes it's his familial duty to take them, and he also wants them to remain in Argentina, he does not want them moving to the US as they would if Isabel took them. At first Ramiro is presented to us as bad boy, wild and crazy and perhaps a criminal. Gradually Amante shows us that while that was his brother's perception of him, it's not an accurate representation. He can be very arrogant and condescending, as well as macho, but he has settled down and grown from the teenager that Andres knew. He has a law degree, a reasonably prosperous farm and lives a mostly quiet life. Because of things he did as a teen, and because Ramiro briefly dated Brenda, who later married Andres, his brother cut off all ties with him. Unlike Isabel, he wants the kids; like Isabel, it's a hard adjustment. I liked that Amante took Ramiro beyond stereotypes and showed us a multi-dimensional character. I felt that he was more developed than Isabel, who was stuck on 1) living her life, her way, on her terms, after spending so many years making her parents and other people happy, and 2) resisting Nick's intrusions into her life and his determination to win her back. Now Nick could be downright obnoxious, in my opinion, about shoving his way into her life and making decisions for her but her protests usually felt more token and not real. I should say that I am NOT a fan of the exes getting back together. In real life it so rarely works out, I can't help but feel it gives an unrealistic message and expectation.

So, not a bad book, especially once you know what you're getting, but not one that held my attention and not one I'll re-read. Although it sounded like a book I'd enjoy, it ended up not being the right one for me. 

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

Dusty Reads #11

Dusty Reads is a weekly meme hosted by Giselle at Xpresso Reads where we spotlight a book sitting in our TBR pile. My TBR breeds when I'm not looking, and it's been especially busy recently. I add to it, sure, but even so, I come across books and I don't recall buying them. My goodreads TBR shelf is now at 517. O_o And yet, I keep buying and borrowing books. And occasionally, winning them. :) Happily, the quantity of incoming books has slowed down some and I've actually gotten some of those dusty books read and I'm even making progress on my review TBR pile. :) If I could just stop adding books, my TBR pile might get below 500 again.

It’s not that Micayla Lange is afraid of the clinking she hears coming from the first floor of the empty McMansion she’s housesitting for her uncle Nicco. She’s a cop, after all. It’s just that finding out her boyfriend was cheating on her was enough drama for one night. Now she’s alone on New Year’s Eve, wearing flannel pajamas and wielding a Glock 22 as she zeroes in on the unmistakable source of the sound: Uncle Nicco’s private office.

 Jason Davis steals things for a living, so unexpected developments are a natural part of the job. Getting caught red-handed by a hot, pigtail-sporting police officer in what is supposed to be a gangster’s deserted house is just one more twist in the game. Kind of like finding incriminating photos in Nicco Marino’s safe, only to discover the cop—and the security cameras—have gotten a real good look at his face.

Unfortunately for Mick, she also got a good look at the damned pictures. Her “uncle” might love her like family, but if he knows she’s seen evidence that implicates him in the murder of a city councilman, she doesn’t like her chances. Which is why she’s having a hard time reconciling her professional instincts with what she is rapidly concluding is an inescapable fact: She’s about to help a criminal get away with a suitcase full of stolen money. And she’s going with him.

Mick and Jason’s race for their lives hurtles them through the dangerous Michigan wilderness on speedboat and snowmobile. As their adventure heats up and their enemies close in, Mick is torn between her duty to the force and the combustible passion engulfing her and her unlikely partner in crime. She’ll have to turn Jason in sooner or later…if they survive. But will they ever get a second chance at love?

I received this book back in the fall, as an unsolicited review. I like Karen Robards so I was pleased to receive it but it took lower priority than promised reviews. Then I got sick, and then it was the holidays and it just kept getting pushed back to the bottom of the pile. I've been reading more mysteries recently so I may pick this one up and give it a try. Robards is formulaic but sometimes that's just what I'm in the mood for. :)

The Sunday Post #5

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. 
~this meme was inspired in part by - In My Mailbox~

It's a chance to share News. 

A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. 

Well, it's been two weeks since my last Sunday Post. Rather than recap everything, I'm going to cherry pick what I think were the highlights. I didn't do a post last week due to the family death and being out of state. That also delayed some reviews, including "Sirenz Back in Fashion" and the authors, Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman, were just wonderful about the delay in posting my review, which was supposed to kick off their blog tour. Thank you ladies, that made my week less stressful.

So, in the past 2 weeks, I've had:

1 Spotlight: The Secret Library series, a series of erotic romance anthologies

2 Guest Posts: Tamara Morgan (contemporary romance)  MaryJanice Davidson (UF)

2 Interviews: Lisa Shearin (fantasy) and Andrea Kane (romantic suspense)

2 Giveaways: Lisa Shearin and Rachel Caine (both now ended)

4 Reviews: Black Dawn by Rachel Caine (YA UF)  Sirenz Back In Fashion by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman (YA contemporary fantasy)  Love Is Murder, ed. by Sandra Brown (romantic suspense anthology)  The Caves of Etretat by Matt Chatelain (conspiracy mystery)

Multiple excerpts: Home For The Summer by Mariah Stewart, A Gentleman Undone by Cecilia Grant and When Passion Lies by J.K. Beck (romances)    Lockdown by Andrea Kane (it's a short story in the anthology Love Is Murder so it's a brief excerpt; it's at the end of the post)    The Game by Jeff Cott (erotic romance)    Undead and Unstable by MaryJanice Davidson (UF)

Now, Books! I was going to go to my library's used book sale yesterday and decided to wait until today, when everything is half price. So, you'll see those next week. I do have a ton of Kindle Freebies, but I'm only listing some because they could be a post all by themselves. :D I also received a pile of books for review; I won one book but it hasn't arrived yet so I'll hold off on posting it.

Kindle Freebies:

     Some fairy tale retellings: The Eye of the Beholder by Elizabeth Darcy    Snow White Blood Red by Cameron Jace    Ashes to Ashes and Cinder to Cinder by Cameron Jace

     Romances: Chocolate Aftertaste by Liz Grace Davis    Red is an Attitude by Kathy Lynn Hall (romantic mystery)    Simmer All Night by Geralyn Dawson

     Mysteries:  A Hint of Murder: The Series by Lia Fairchild    The Ninth District by Douglas Dorow

Received for Review:

Darkness Devours by Keri Arthur (Dark Angels #3)
Blackhearted Betrayal by Kasey Mackenzie(Shades of Fury #3)
Grave Memory by Kalayna Price (Alex Craft #3)
Bared Blade by Kelly McCullough (Fallen Blade #2)
Harmless as Doves by P.L. Gaus (Ohio Amish Mystery #7)
Tin Swift by Devon Monk (Age of Steam #2)
Iron Gray Sea by Taylor Anderson (Destroyermen #7)

I'm really excited for Darkness Devours, Blackhearted Betrayal, and Harmless as Doves. The others look good too though I'm not a Devon Monk fan so I have qualms about that one. Of course, these are all series books and the only series I've actually read to date is Price's. Ah well, I've a history of starting a series mid-stream, why stop now?

How was your week? Leave a link along with your comment and I'll come take a look.

MaryJanice Davidson - Guest Post & An Excerpt from "Undead and Unstable"

Today I'm delighted to welcome urban fantasy humor author MaryJanice Davidson. She's best known for her  Betsy Taylor, Undead series. If you haven't read one yet, they are light, fluffy funny vampire stories about a woman turned vampire who accidentally becomes Queen of the Undead. It's a series that you definitely want to read in order, it will make more sense and you'll enjoy it more.

MaryJanice Davidson invented a) her children, and b) the vampire chick lit genre. Also the Internet. She is kind to (some) children and (occasional) small animals, and enjoys referring to herself in the third person. Appearing several times a year on the best-seller list, as well as occasional Federal "person of interest" sheets, she takes time from the living hell that is being paid to do what she loves best to seek out the nearest Cinnabon franchise. Her goals include working for world peace, figuring out how to make pot stickers, and speaking at writer and reader conferences around the world. (Australia is still recovering.)

Visit her blog to check out the antics of some of MJ's heroines (Vampire Queen Betsy, FBI Agent Cadence/Shiro/Adrienne, and Jennifer Scales), eyeball book excerpts, see where she'll be any given week, play the "who do you want to play Betsy/Cadence/Jennifer in the coming movie?" game with other fans, and mock her weekly. She occasionally tolerates getting mail from readers at contactmjd@comcast.net , has a Facebook page, and absolutely zero interest in Twitter.

 First up, I have a short "Dear Reader" post from Betsey, Queen of the Dead, provided by her royal scribe, MaryJanice Davidson, then there's a nice long excerpt from her new book, "Undead and Unstable" (Betsey's always been a wee bit unstable IMO, :D). Enjoy!

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People ask “how’s it going?” or “whatcha been up to?” when they don’t especially care, when they just need a way to fill up a few seconds of dead air when their iPods aren’t handy. The reason I’ve noticed this is because I actually have news, but it’s nothing I can really blurt out right now. Things were going from annoying to bad to terrible to horrifying...but it’s gonna be better. Much, much better. That’s about all I can say.

All right, I’ll say a little more. To answer “whatcha been up to?”, I’ll tell you: murder (self-defense, but still: I knew one way or the other I’d eventually kill them). That’s what I’ve been up to. Is it wrong if you kill someone to save someone else? I’ll bet that’s an old, old question. I have the answer, at the ripe old age of thirty (thirty forever, which is okay because I was a stone fox in life and thus am doomed to be one in death): it depends on who you’re trying to save. And who’s gotta go if you’re gonna save them.

So. That’s what I’ve been up to.

Like I said, I can’t really get into it now. I’m not being coy, but when you live with a cop you tend to be careful about saying things that’ll get you pinched for felony assault, trespassing, murder, and disturbing the peace. But it was all worth it, even if I do get pinch. It’s going to be okay now. I’m almost positive. And guess what? If it’s not? If I’m wrong? If things aren’t going to work out just the way I need them to, if the dice are gonna keep tumbling and then come up snake eyes, I know how to fix it. That’s the other thing I’ve been up to: learning from my mistakes. Hey: everybody needs a hobby.

Best,
Betsy Taylor
St. Paul, MN
Shoe size 9.5

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UNDEAD AND UNSTABLE
By: MaryJanice Davidson
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
ISBN: 9780425247570
Genre: FICTION, ROMANCE, URBAN FANTASY, HUMOR
Format: EBOOK, HARDCOVER
Length: 325 KB, 336 pages
Release Date: JUNE 5, 2012

 EXCERPT 

Minor spoilers if you haven’t finished Undead and Undermined

Spoilers the reader discovers in the first thirty pages of Unstable

“I should pop by more often,” the devil decided. “That was fun.”

“Why are you here?” I asked, going from relieved to pissed. “Lose a bet?”

“Oh, just keeping an eye on things.”

“You can’t watch us on your plasma screen in hell?”

Satan shrugged. She was wearing a black suit this time—she didn’t wear red anymore. She told Laura it was beyond clichéd. “Next you’ll want to see the pitchfork,” was how she had put it. Hey, nothing wrong with the classics.

“It’s not as much fun not being there when it hits the fan,” Ancient Me pointed out.
Satan quit smirking and looked like someone had jammed a lemon through her teeth. “Touchier than usual, darling? Careful. Someone might think your faith has been shaken.”

“My faith has never been an issue.”

“What are we talking about?” Marc wondered aloud. “I’m having a little trouble keeping up with the cast of characters. Is there a reason why both Betsys and the devil and the Antichrist and Jessica and her belly—”

“Faith isn’t anybody’s issue,” I said, exasperated. “We all know there’s a God, we just can’t be sure He’s not on permanent vacation.”

“Hold up,” Nick said. “It’s not that simple.”

This time we all heard the footsteps. Someone in a hurry, not bothering to be quiet. I was almost afraid to see who was about to join the madness.

The door swung in. Antonia peeked in. “What the hell’s going on in here?”

“We’re having a debate,” Satan said helpfully. “About—”

“Don’t care.” The door swung shut. The footsteps went the other way.

“I never thanked you for taking her off my hands,” Satan commented.

“I knew you agreed too quickly.”

“Yeah, great, listen—getting back to what we were talking about, I don’t remember seeing a white light,”

Marc protested. “So we don’t know there’s a—”

“Oh, of course we do,” I snapped.

This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. I knew better. We all knew better. We’d all been in chat rooms. Debates over religion were a baaaad plan. Next we could start chatting about abortion. And then politics . . . that’d go great. “We know there’s a devil, right?”

“Here!” Satan said brightly, raising her hand.

“Ergo . . . right?”

“Huh. Well. I guess . . . but it seems like a cop-out.” Marc was looking from Laura to Satan and back to Laura. “Knowing. You know?”

“It’s worse than that.”

“How can it be worse?” Nick had started making himself useful by putting away the rest of the groceries. Jessica had produced the sadly depleted bag of chocolate chips and started munching by the handful. “This thing people have had wars over. Slaughtered entire civilizations over . . . you just know. You guys know. Kind of cool, maybe.”

I shook my head. “You think it’s easier, not just having faith in God but proof of God?” This time I did hear footsteps, and knew my husband was just outside the door. Tina must have given him a heads-up. “Not only do I know there’s a God and a devil, I know He knows little kids starve to death and get raped. He knows there are suicide bombers and leukemia and plague. Shit, if you believe the Bible, He’s sent plague.”

“Okay . . .” Dick still looked doubtful, but I noticed Marc was paying close attention. Made sense . . . he’d died, and then he got better, and by his own admission, there had been no white light. So what did that mean for him? For any of us?

Sinclair silently stepped into the room and nodded at me. I wasn’t sure what that meant . . . he was still keeping his thoughts to himself. Smart man.

“God exists, and He’s got a little explaining to do.” Rattled by my husband’s appearance, I tried to gather my thoughts. “I—I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but I think in a lot of ways, it’s worse to know. ‘God works in mysterious ways’? More like, God’s a dangerous lunatic and needs to be stopped.”

“I didn’t think of it like that.” And Marc sounded like he hadn’t wanted to think of it like that.

“Sorry,” was all I could think of to add.

Satan was smiling at me. Brrrr. “So you’re a dystheist.”

“Yep. That’s me all over.” I wasn’t gonna ask. I wasn’t gonna ask. I wasn’t—

“You think God exists, but isn’t all good.”

“Yes! Holy cow, I am a dys . . . dis . . . what you said I was. That’s me all over: God’s an omnipotent entity that is so powerful yet disliked, like the DMV.”

“I’m not saying this isn’t interesting,” Jessica began, sitting down and sighing with audible relief once she was off her feet, “but maybe we could make some sandwiches or something while we crush each other’s deeply held beliefs?”

“Interesting that you should feel that way about God, when you’re the one running around mucking up the timeline.” The devil made this observation in a perfectly pleasant tone of voice.

“Well . . . I . . . um . . .” Damn. She had me there. Stupid impressive-looking black Donna Karan suit.

“He has an entire universe to look after. You only need tend to the needs of the Undead.”

“And it’s ridiculous that I should have to do that,” I added. At their stares and raised eyebrows I added, “What? I’ve always maintained it’s ridiculous that a thirty-year-old unemployed office worker has to be the boss of a bunch of ancient vampires, all old enough to be their own mommies.”

“You’re wrong,” Ancient Me said. She’d poured herself another glass of milk . . . hope she was a little more careful with that one. “They need a leader . . . a good one, not another Nostro. Otherwise . . .” She shrugged and took a sip.

“Seriously? You guys?” Jessica wriggled in the wooden kitchen chair. “We’re really gonna keep debating about God and the universe and vampire bosses and stuff? What are we, freshmen in college?”

“Otherwise what?” Sinclair asked Ancient Me.

“Otherwise the future,” she replied, and took another sip. I had the distinct impression she was rattled to be talking to him.

She is, my own.

Ah-ha! There he was.

“The bottom line is, you had no business screwing with the timeline.” Unfortunately, she wasn’t at all rattled to be talking to me. “Either of you.” She nodded at Laura.

“Hey, I’m with you! I’m with you, for once, a hundred percent.” I turned to address the group—and what a group!—as a whole. “You guys. Haven’t I been saying it all along? Isn’t it just the most fundamental thing you’ve ever heard? I, Elizabeth Taylor—”

“Oooh, she’s calling herself by her full name and also referring to herself in the third person.” Jessica looked at once interested and terrified. “Brace yourself. This will not be cool.”

“—should not be the boss of you! Any of you! I have never, ever refuted that.”

“You’ve also never accepted it. Instead of hiding from your—”

“If you say destiny like we’re stuck in some lame made-for-TV sci-fi geektacular miniseries, I won’t be responsible for what I do to your face.”

“—responsibilities, you should embrace them. You don’t want to rule? Boo fucking hoo. You’re the queen. You don’t want the timeline to be changed? Tough nuts; it is, so you’ll have to deal with it. Not talk about it. Not bitch about it. Not wish it hadn’t happened. Deal with it now. You want other people to police themselves? If we could do that, every cop on the planet would be out of work . . . would have been out of work for centuries. We needed cops a thousand years ago and we need them now and we’ll need them five hundred years from now and a thousand years from now. And do any of you know why?”

Satan raised her hand. Luckily, Ancient Lecturing Me ignored her. “Because as a species, we are not toilet trained! Betsy: either you are, or you aren’t.”

“Toilet trained?”

“In charge. So: yes or no? Are you or aren’t you? That’s it.” She finished her milk and set down the glass. She stood. “That’s all there is.”

And walked out.

“Maybe a ham sandwich?” Jessica asked. “Or an omelet? Who wants eggs?”

No one wanted eggs.

Twitter Chat with Author Lynn Flewelling

Fantasy author Lynn Flewelling has a new book out, "Casket of Souls", book six in her Nightrunner series. To celebrate, she and her publisher, The Knight Agency, are having a chat on Twitter next Thursday, June 14th, at 4PM Eastern Standard Time. She'll answer questions about her books and writing journey, offer pub tips, and give away prizes to some luck Tweeters!

To participate in the chat, use the hashtag #knightauthor. I had a chance several years to briefly chat with Lynn at a con and she was friendly and fun. Don't miss this chance to chat with her yourself!

Spotlight On: The Secret Library Series by Xcite Books

 

The Secret Library is a new range from Xcite Books which will appeal to the female romance reader market. Each book contains three specially commissioned novellas guaranteeing a satisfying and varied selection.

The story content is relationship led with a strong alpha male hero, a level of conflict and a climactic, explicit ending.

The covers are deliberately designed without visual imagery to be discreet. These books could be comfortably read in public, given as gifts and left on a bedside table.

The Secret Library contains six books with three erotic romance novellas in each:

Traded Innocence – Toni Sands, Elizabeth Coldwell and K D Grace
Silk Stockings – Constance Munday, Jenna Bright and Lucy Felthouse
One Long Hot Summer – Elizabeth Coldwell, Penelope Friday and Shanna Germain
The Thousand and One Nights – Kitti Bernetti, Primula Bond and Sommer Marsden
The Game – Jeff Cott, Antonia Adams and Sommer Marsden
Hungarian Rhapsody – Justine Elyot, Charlotte Stein and Kay Jaybee


The books were released from April until June, and will be available in print and eBook format from Xcite Books, as well as other book retailers.

Today I have an excerpt from "The Game", by Jeff Cott, a novella from the book of the same name.

Book Blurb (from Amazon):

Three passionate novellas from The Secret Library range that offer essential, sensual reading.

The Game – Jeff Cott

The Game is the story of Ellie’s bid to change from sexy, biddable housewife to sexy dominant goddess.

Ellie and Jake are a happily married couple who play a bedroom game. Having lost the last Game Ellie must start the new one where she left off – bound and gagged on the bed. As she figures out how to tie herself up before Jake’s return from work, Ellie remembers the last Game and has ideas for the new one. Jake is immensely strong and loving and has seemingly endless sexual stamina so the chances of Ellie truly gaining control look slim. Although she has won the Game on occasions, she suspects he lets her win just so he can overwhelm her in the next. She has to find a way to break this pattern.

But does she succeed?

One of Us – Antonia Adams

Successful artist Natalie Crane is midway through a summer exhibition with friend and agent Anton when Will Falcon strolls tantalisingly into her life. After a messy divorce, a relationship is not Natalie’s priority. Anton takes an immediate dislike to the shaven-headed composer, but Natalie is captivated. He is everything she is not: free, impulsive and seemingly with no thought for the future. He introduces her toDorset’s beautiful coves and stunning countryside and their time together is magical.

Things get complicated when her most famous painting, a nude self-portrait, is stolen and there are no signs of a break-in. When it’s time for her return toLondon, Will doesn’t turn up to say goodbye, and she cannot trace him. Anton tells her to forget him, but she cannot. Then she discovers the stakes are much higher than they first appeared.

Taste It – Sommer Marsden

Jill and Cole are competing for the title of Best Chef. The spicy, sizzling and heated televised contest fuels a lust in Jill she’d rather keep buried. She can’t be staring at the man’s muscles ... he’s her competition! During a quick cooking throwdown things start to simmer and it becomes harder and harder for Jill to ignore that she’s smitten in the kitchen. Cole’s suggestive glances and sly smiles aren’t helping her any. When fate puts her in his shower and then his chivalrous nature puts her in his borrowed clothes, there’s no way to deny the natural heat between them.

THE GAME
By: Jeff Cott, Antonia Adams, Sommer Marsden
Publisher: Xcite Books
ASIN: B00822060C
Genre: FICTION,ROMANCE, EROTICA
Format: EBOOK
Length: 434 KB
Release Date: MAY 1, 2012

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 EXCERPT 

The Game

by Jeff Cott

Part One

Chapter One

ELLIE WAS FIRST HOME from work. Jake wouldn’t be in until late so she had the early evening roughly planned, shower, snack, a movie she’d saved. It was Monday. Jake had been in sexual overdrive all weekend so she had no expectations. When he got home, a glass of wine together perhaps and then drift off into Tuesday.

But in the lounge, the picture on the wall told her immediately that the evening was going to take an entirely different course. Jake had changed their wedding photo to one of just him.
This was the signal for the start of the Game.

He smiled at her from the photo, wet blond hair curled by the ocean, the ocean itself roaring behind him and the smile on his face a subtle blend of triumph and achievement.

She sat on the edge of the sofa. It had begun. A sticky note on the TV said, Home at eight. She had a couple of hours. There were few rules. Whoever controlled the Game got to choose when to call Game Over. The next Game they’d agreed would always begin where the last one had ended.

Ellie’s heart was pounding. She’d ended up bound and gagged on the bed.

She had been yearning for the picture to change ever since – not that there was anything wrong with “wedding photo” Jake but the salt of the man who could tame the ocean was a missing guest and though she loved both the man she’d married and the man who dominated her – she also wanted to dominate him. But she had to win the Game first.

Ellie went to the bedroom. On the bed, the same black bra and pants she’d “worn” at the end of the last Game, a pair of handcuffs, the scarf he’d gagged her with, a blindfold and a snake’s nest of luggage straps and old ties. He must have set all this up after she left for work.

It dawned that she not only had to tie herself up before he got home she had to work out how to do it.

His timing irritated her. This was Monday and there would be only limited time to play. It was work for them both tomorrow.

She gathered her thoughts. Declining was an option simply by changing the photo back. This would be accepted without discussion but it would still remain his turn to swap it and call the next Game some other time. She dismissed the idea.

Toast and orange juice would do for a meal. A bath would be better than a shower giving time to relax and remember exactly how she’d been tied at the end.

In the bath she encouraged flashbacks from the previous Game.

All the sex over the weekend had been because he wanted her to start sexually exhausted, a condition seemingly unknown to him. She rarely got a glimpse of his penis unless it was erect. If he thought she was sexually exhausted he’d got it wrong. This time, if she could get the upper hand, he’d discover what the word sated meant.

Relaxed, ready and naked, confronted by the array on the bed, she quickly went to work. It all had to be done in the right order so that she could finally handcuff her hands behind her.


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Did you like the excerpt? Grab the book, it's available now. Enjoy!

Blog Tour Review of The Caves of Etretat by Matt Chatelain

Publisher: Matt Chatelain

Series: The Sirenne Saga #1

Release Date: December 11, 2012

Buying Links: Amazon Kindle     Amazon Paperback    Smashwords

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Canadian bookstore owner Paul Sirenne is thrust into a quest for answers when his parents are found murdered, their bodies cut up into the letters H.N. A note sent before his father's murder drives Sirenne to seek out the roots of a long-forgotten family secret.

He heads to the town of Etretat, France, on the trail of a hundred year old mystery hidden in the pages of 'The Hollow Needle', by Maurice Leblanc. Together with Leblanc's great-granddaughter, Sirenne unearths puzzles, codes and historical mysteries, exposing a secret war against Adolf Hitler, for control of a cave fortress in Etretat's chalk cliffs.

'THE CAVES OF ETRETAT' is the first in a four-book epic adventure following Paul Sirenne, an average man unknowingly manipulated into becoming the key in the final phase of a complex conspiracy spanning millennia. Inextricably woven into history, the series re-writes everything we know in a non-stop rollercoaster of a ride where nothing is ever as it seems.

Teaser:

I returned to the desk chair, in the perfect place to think. I had always said that I was an armchair detective. I thought of my father training me to organize my thoughts, preparing me for a moment like this one... I realized with inescapable clarity, that the responsibility of this incredible secret was being placed directly into my hands. Why me? Why did they prepare all this, Leblanc, Lindon, Lupin? What were they doing and why was it so important that I return?...It was time to step up to the plate. I still didn't know why it was intended for me but I would no longer shy away from what I had to do. I would follow the Great Hunt through to the end, If this was to be my challenge in life, then so be it!

Reviewed by: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

Paul Sirenne is a Canadian book shop owner; he's smart, enjoys puzzles, and though he's engaged in a few treasure hunts over the years, he's mostly a homebody. He's an ordinary guy, the guy next door,  who finds himself, over the course of the story, doing unusual, even extraordinary things; he even shocks himself a time or two. The story starts when his father and stepmother are murdered. He has no faith in the police and is self-sufficient, preferring to handle matters himself. He starts his own murder investigation, but it quickly turns into a literary hunt and a treasure hunt. He finds that the mystery has roots in France and goes back to World War I, and even further back. There are secrets upon secrets, wrapped inside of secrets. I was most of the way through the book before I really felt the urgency and importance of the secrets, and why so many people in the town of Etretat were willing to die to protect it. Chatelain makes intriguing use of Hitler and other historical figures, and weaves in historical facts, giving believability to the secrets and conspiracies that are the backbone of this book.

The dialogue occasionally was unrealistic; I would find myself thinking "people don't talk like that." The pacing is a mix of Paul reading, researching, or discussing the secret of the caves interspersed occasionally with some action, such as a car chase or breaking and entering. At times it was a bit slow, with a lot of dialogue. The story is a blend of procedural mystery and thriller, but it is light on the action. It also has a heavy dose of conspiracy theory, which was one of its attractions for me. At times, it reminded me a bit of Dan Brown's works, but with more character development, more plot, and, regrettably at times, less action. It's a somewhat cerebral mystery, which is a positive or a negative, depending on what you like in a story.

Though my attention faltered at times, I was drawn into the secrets and conspiracies and enjoyed watching Paul puzzle out answers and look for clues. If you enjoy conspiracies, treasure hunts and historical fact woven into stories, you should give this one a try. The story wraps up in this book, while also setting the stage for book two. You can easily read this without continuing and still have a satisfactory ending.

Matt will be awarding a $20 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. You can see his tour schedule here.

I received a PDF of this book from the blog tour company, Goddess Fish.