Tuesday, October 27, 2020

A Dystopian Version of Sleeping Beauty


These tales aren’t the ones from your childhood, but adult-only reads with sexy heroes. Decadent Publishing offers a variety of twisted romance stories based on Grimm’s Fairytales. These stories are like none you’ve ever known.  

One of my favorite authors is Taryn Kincaid who has the uncanny ability to twist a fairy tale
and she has her own version of Sleeping Beauty.
A Beyond Fairytales story
By
Taryn Kincaid
A dystopian retelling of Sleeping Beauty




            Sleeping Beauty in a post-apocalyptic land…

            In a world gone mad, where little remains but a vast wasteland of sand, the leader of a troop of roving warriors welcomes a brave young woman into his midst.

            Much as he burns for her, Major Clay Worthington swears to keep his distance from the mysterious woman, so sensitive even the stinging rain can wound her.
Rosina Brierly is besotted with the formidable soldier and will gladly trade her life for one torrid night of blissful passion in his arms.

       But when sleep overcomes them, will true love prevail?

***********************

Excerpt:
            Does the major ever feel lust? Does he covet a woman’s touch? He never gave any sign he did. Too aloof and austere, too remote from the simple emotions of mere mortal men.

            He shook her again. “Wake up, princess. The rain will come soon.”

            The men looked forward to the rain. They hated the relentless sun blasting down upon them, as if they thought it would incinerate what was left of the earth beneath their boots, baking the soft sand into badlands as hard as concrete. They’d strip off their T-shirts and boots, their combat fatigues, and sometimes even their camouflage boxer shorts, and dance and play, naked or nearly so, in the slanting gray soup, laughing, tossing round balls or throwing saucer-shaped plastic discs to each other.

            For her, the showers had the opposite effect. The stinging rain sliced into her sensitive skin like acid, raising blisters and sores, sometimes bloodying her.

            She did not know why the major called her princess. Perhaps he didn’t know either. Whatever royalty once walked the earth had long gone, fled underground or died in battle or simply disappeared. The war engulfed every human on the planet, every inch of land, and had waged so long she doubted anyone remembered anymore. Well, maybe Nicodemus. At least he sometimes hinted he did in the stories he told. And she had seen him whisper into the major’s ear, unknown things that made the major pale beneath his weathered tan.

            Major Worthington did not treat her like a princess, though, except when she slumbered, when he knelt before her in her fantasy world, his head bowed, his fist over his heart, laying his sword at her feet and claiming the role of knight. Her hero. Her champion. When she awoke, he remained one of the elite warrior breed roaming the planet, bristling with weapons like the soldiers he led. He treated her as the translator she was to him, sometimes barking orders to her as if she were one of his men, only occasionally seeking her counsel.

            She came fully awake as he jerked her up from the ground and yanked her toward him. The glare of the setting sun broadsided her, hurting her eyes. Why was he so insistent about the impending rain? No clouds yet darkened the sky, although the hour sped toward evening dusk now. But no hint of shadow yet blotted the horizon.

            “I can smell it,” he muttered.






Halloween Drinks (For Adults)

Will you be dressing up (or not) and walking the kiddies around to Trick or Treat?
OR
Will you be handing out goodies to the little gremlins and like at your door?
 
How a bout a little somethin' something' to warm the cockles of your heart on the darkest night?
 
Try these frighteningly delicious drinks.
 
Baileys Caramel Apple
 
2 oz Baileys Caramel Irish Cream Liqueur
0.5 Smirnoff Green Apple Flavored Vodka
1 dash of Goldschlager Schnapps
 
Pour Baileys & Vodka into an ice-filled shaker. Shake & strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Float Goldschalger on top. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
********************
 
Cabin Cider
 
1.5 oz Cabin Fever Maple Flavored Whisky
4 oz hot apple cider
 
Add whisky to warm or cold cider in a Collins glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
***********
 
Hot Maple Chocolate
1.5 oz Cabin Fever Maple Flavored Whiskey
1.5 oz Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur
4 oz hot chocolate
Add whiskey & Irish Cream Liqueur to hot chocolate in a mug. Top with whipped cream.

***********
Of course I have to share my favorites. 
Try a spiced red wine warmed up. Garnish with a slice of orange and a cinnamon stick. 
 

 


Sunday, October 25, 2020

Give Me Primal Elements

 Nothing beats a relaxing bath, especially when you have a bar of luxurious soap to lather up with. Soft skin is nice, especially if someone else enjoys it too.

During his last trip, Flyboy wandered through the shops in Bethlehem, PA. Over the phone, he told me of the quaint shops and eateries. He picked up a few gifts along the way. One gift was a unique bar of soap for me.


This Primal Element bar of soap is wonderful! It's mostly made of glycerin and no animal products. The colors are delightful and I was tempted to use it only for display. The fragrance was an autumn blend of herbal greens and rich woods. LOVE! It produced a luxurious lather and rinsed easily. OMG...the fragrance was amazing. Sexy! Flyboy noticed how soft my skin was. "Silky, smooth," are the words he used.


Check out Primal Elements for all the products they carry. I think I might order a soap for every holiday and look at other products for gifts. After all, if Flyboy can't keep his hands off me...why wouldn't I?  

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Michigan Fun for Couples in Autumn


Summer has been awesome and we manage to have some vacation time. I have two football players so we have to plan short little trips when we can. Hubby and I always try to make time for just us...you know...for a bit of adventure with a dash of romance.

I love living in Michigan. The changing seasons create many opportunities for adventures. During every weekend, a festival is going on someplace. Couples traveling to Michigan can find scores of activities and destinations perfect for falling in love,
sharing a special moment or rediscovering what you love about each other.

The weather also creates a perfect growing environment for wine making grapes. Michigan wineries are fun to visit. Nothing spells "romance" like visiting a vineyard and opening a bottle straight from the source. Enjoy wine tasting and "wine trails" through Michigan's wine country, which stretches along the coast of Lake Michigan along the lower peninsula's northern and central shores. 

Our favorite place to visit is Traverse City. I LOVE the shops downtown! Stop in Cherry Republic to try some cherry salsa while sipping cherry wine! The girls and I like to hit the resale shops in search of treasures. (Sometimes the guys tag along, if we promise to involve food.) We follow the Resale Trail. (Download your Traverse City Resale Trail Map HERE.) 

Michigan offers a wonderful selection of breweries open all year round for tours and tasting. Hubby has a Bucket List of craft breweries he wants to visit. We always seem to stumble upon local wineries or brew pubs. Several offer wonderful food along with their beverages. 
We're heading up north for Beer Week, Nov. 13-20. 



 As temperatures drop, activities don't stop. Frankenmuth is our favorite spot as it is only a short drive for us. Getting away for a weekend is easy. This quaint town explores German heritage with Oktoberfest, and the Holiday Balloon Fest takes place in December. We enjoy walking along the streets to visit our "regular shops" anytime of the year.

In today's busy world, it is very healthy for couples to spend some quality time together. Hubby and I think Michigan certainly provides many romantic opportunities.

Visit Pure Michigan for more information or to plan your weekend getaway.

Friday, October 23, 2020

Brighton Bad Boys - Ba-Ba-Bad to the Bone

Yesterday we had a bit of fun having coffee with Tilly Delane, author of the Brighton Bad Boys series.





Some of Tilly's favorites:

Favorite drink: coffee, strong, white, no sugar.

Favorite candy: jelly bellies.

Favorite food: my mum’s tomato soup with all the extras.

Favorite article of clothing or jewelry: because of what I do in my day job, I don’t wear jewelry or accessorize, so I’d have to say: anything that has enough pockets. Pockets are the most important aspect of any item of clothing.

Favorite place to read: in bed.

Place you want to visit some day: Outer Mongolia.



 Now, as promised...

Brighton Bad Boys Book Blurbs



SILAS
 A Fighter Romance
Brighton Bad Boys, Book 1


Silas
When I look into my future it’s like looking down the barrel of a gun.
Trying to pay back a debt that was never yours, a hopelessly fractured family, and betrayal by those you trusted the most will do that to a man.
Most days I just survive. Alone.
The guys at TripleX, the club that hosts the biggest illegal fight league in England, where I fight and bounce, all know that I keep myself to myself.
I don’t do hanging around after lock up to pick up drunk girls from the bar upstairs.
I don’t do staff drinks.
I don’t do socials.
I don’t do going to the gym together.
I don’t do friendship.
I work, I get paid.
I fight, I get paid.
End of involvement.
The irony is, there is nothing in Brighton, the seaside city that I call my home, or in my life, actually worth fighting for.
Until Mum brings home a stray American.
A soft, curvy woman with bottle-red hair and green eyes and a mouth made for sucking.
And no matter how hard I try to ignore her, she’s there.
In my bed.

Grace
I’m here on a memorial tour for my mum - never mom, she was born British, and no matter how long she lived in Washington DC, she refused to be called mom.
I lost her a year ago, and it still hurts like crazy.
I saved up every penny I made since her funeral for this trip. Being here, in England, in Brighton, was supposed to help me keep her memory alive, to remember her and the stories she used to tell me.
But in true Grace style, I fall at the first hurdle.
The company I booked the hotel through has gone bust, the hotel never got my reservation and there isn’t a room to be had elsewhere in a ten-mile radius because of a small thing called the Brighton Festival.
I’m ready to sleep in the lobby when the head of housekeeping offers me a room in her house, at a rate I cannot refuse.
A room, it turns out, that smells of man in the best possible way.
And with the scent comes a fighter, brooding and beautiful, and about as lost as I am.
I want him.
Badly.
I just need to convince him that he’s worth the fight, and that maybe together we can find our way out of the woods.

BUY ON AMAZON

GOODREADS

________________________


ROWAN
Brighton Bad Boys Book 2

Rowan
When you’ve been to hell and back ─ and I don’t just mean the outer rings of hell, I mean the ring right at the centre of Hades, where gladiators like me fight for the entertainment of today’s Caesars and Caesarias ─ you come back a monster or a broken man. If you come back at all.
I’m neither.
I don’t know what I am.
I know I’m an addict.
I know I’m killer.
I know I’ve been running from myself since I was twelve years old and that at every turn since I’ve made lousy decisions.
Time to face myself in the mirror.
So I’m taking a trip to the peninsula of Purbeck, a beautiful nature reserve on the south coast of England, to enter rehab.
Can you rehabilitate a killer? Can you rehabilitate a broken beast?
I doubt it, but at least I’m willing to try.
The last thing I expected was to meet a soul as tortured as me, a woman whose eyes tell me she’s seen it, the ugliness of life.
And she can deal.
She won’t look away.
She is competence in a fifties retro package with fishnets and combat boots.
She’s my nurse.
And totally off limits.

Raven
I came out to meet the guy because he took longer than is normal. I thought he might have gotten lost. Though that’s pretty hard when going in a straight line down what was once the only road in a village. But it’s a rehab clinic. Folk are kinda lost by definition when they get here.
So I came to see what was taking him so long and found him going down on the water fountain.
I mean, seriously, the way he hulked over it, half his face under the stream, his tongue lapping at the water, was obscene, feral. So my smart mouth decided to make a comment. A wholly unprofessional comment, and now I’m standing here, mesmerised. Like Mowgli meeting Kaa.
‘Cause he’s staring me down like a pro.
I can’t look away from his eyes. They are huge, a deep, warm brown and they tell me stories too close for comfort. This is a guy who gets it. Life. The ugliness. The bits where other people play three monkeys. He sees them.
He sees me.
And I see him.
But he’s a client and that’s where the story ends.
It’s my last intake of guests.
In a month from now my year in the British Isles is over, I’ll hand over my job to a local, and I’ll be going home to America.
And I’m not getting fired in the meantime because of a ‘connection’ to some sexy giant with muscle for miles.
‘Connections’ are a myth.
And a myth is not worth getting fired over.

But what if there is more than a connection? What if there is actual healing?



BUY NOW ON AMAZON

GOODREADS

_______________________


DIEGO
BRIGHTON BAD BOYS BOOK 3


Kalina
I've been lusting after this guy for months.
George 'Diego' Benson is the forbidden fruit I cannot have.
Not without putting my mission in peril.
Not without putting my heart in peril.
But then we look into each other’s eyes across the distance between us.
And look.
And look.
My heart is racing.
My clit is pulsing.
My insides are clenching.
And suddenly I’m tired of the charade.
I like this guy.

I like him a lot.
Once my job here is done, I will never see him again.
So just this once I want to be with him, completely.
And I lunge.

Diego
Kissing her is like coming home.
Or how I always imagined coming home would feel like.
It’s relief and feeling safe.
It’s hot and sweaty and raw.
It’s warm and sloppy and comfy.
It’s leaving behind all pretence.
And a whole lot of tongue.
So much tongue.
So much hunger.
This girl is on fire.
For me.
Not for the danger, not for the perceived status, not for the money, but for me.
She’s not here to demurely please the boss and then cream off the top.
She’s here, in my lap, because that’s where she wants to be.
Where she belongs.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON 

GOODREADS