Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Tempting Tuesday - a Gem Sivad western romance

Time to do a shameless plug for a friend.

WOLF’S TENDER, is an erotically charged tale while the detail and richness of the setting were superb. I'm not one who was a regular reader of western romance, but Gem has opened a whole new door for me. This book is a must read!



Rough and tough Charlie Wolf McCallister knows he needs to get laid, when the prim and proper school teacher with a sharp tongue, starts looking good to him. When Naomi Parker’s students are snatched from their school by marauding Comancheros, the only way to get the girls home safely, is to hire the half-Kiowa bounty hunter. But Naomi has no cash and Mr. Charlie Wolf McCallister won’t take her I.O.U. His price seems a bit steep when Naomi must choose between her virtue and her students’ lives.

Cad that he is, Charlie Wolf operates on the philosophy that a bird in hand is better than no bird at all, and the longer he’s around Miss Naomi Parker, the more he wants this particular chickadee from the Sparrow Creek Ladies Academy. And so he offers to trade service—for servicing.

When one straight-laced spinster, tenders her body to one cynical sometimes savage, the unexpected bounty is love.

READ AN EXCERPT

AVAILABLE NOW
Liquid Silver Books
ISBN 978-1-59578-633-3

Wolf’s Tender available in print @Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online bookstores.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Thursday Thirteen - 13 Reasons to Attend the Montrose Blueberry Festival


I live in a small community in Mid-Michigan and every year during the third weekend in August we host the Montrose Blueberry Festival. (Yes, we do have many places to pick berries!) But for those who have never attended our festival, here are a few reasons to zip into my town for a visit.

1. Blueberries… everything blueberries! Yummy! Pie eating contest! (Don't forget to have save room for the Pig Roast

2. Blueberry pancake breakfast on Sat & Sun. We serve 4,000 hungry folks. The sausages are the kids favorites. My family has been working the breakfast for years, so come to it and I’ll take a break to chat.

3. Medieval Village & Renaissance Faire. Montrose is Scottish for “mountain of roses”. In this hilly farming community, many wild roses grow around fields and in ditches.
Working with the knowledge of our Scottish heritage and members from the greater Renaissance Festival folk from the Shiabruck Medieval Village, we’ve put together an amazing village and faire. Stop by
and meet my special friends, Gypsy and Hagrid. Gypsy made the original necklace Mike McAlister wears in my book "Lonely Soul".


4. The awesome parade. My boys have been in it every year! The carnival & Midway are a blast!

5. Farmers Market. The best food to put into your body is wholesome home grown!

6. Flea Market and craft show. I lose myself in there every year; the boys have to lure me out with chocolate.

7. Classic Car Show and Vintage Snowmobile Swap Meet.

8. Mud Drag & Mud Bog for those who still enjoy playing in the mud.

9. Demolition Derby. A great way to take out aggression.

10. Live music and a karaoke contest. No way… you won’t hear me sing! We also have an awesome beer tent.

11. Firefighters Demonstrations.



12. MI Championship Wrestling.


13. Softball,5-mile road race,horseshoes, Tug-of-War Challenge and more time in the beer tent. Great opportunities to see some shirtless men!



Throughout the town and township, there are a ton of rummage sales offering wonderful treasures and parties galore! I hope many of you take a break from your busy schedule and visit. If I’m available, I’ll let you know where the best "goodies" are. Hugs!

Visit the Blueberry Website for more info.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Excerpt Monday - Painted Soul



BLURB: Journey into the lives of two artists, through the streets of London, the shadows of the underground clubs and a secret past, and into their souls to believe in love.
American artist, Elizabeth McAlister searched for ten years for the dark art student she gave her heart to in a Soho nightclub. When the famous underground artist, Puzzola, appears out of the shadows in her London studio one night, a summer of intense passion and dark secrets begins. As she falls deeper in love with him, Elizabeth tries to rescue Puzzola from a tortured life he refuses to talk about. Unfortunately, his true identity and erotic past are exposed in a local newspaper. Even though Elizabeth holds his heart and soul in her hands, she’s not sure she can win the battle with the ghosts of his past or if their love is strong enough to survive.



Painted Soul - EXCERPT 1
“Breathe, Elizabeth, breathe,” she willed herself.

“Slide the rail, Elizabeth! Come on!” She saw Michael jumping up and down.

“Oh, hell. Why not!” She swallowed the last of her drink and slid down the rail into a vision of black and white.

“Hey there!”" She felt his breath on her cheek. His hands, with their strong grip on her bare waist, seared her skin. She looked into those piercing eyes. Piercing blue eyes, not black, but the color of the Caribbean Sea. Unlike many guys here, he wasn’t wearing the usual makeup sported around the club scene, just a bit of eyeliner. His lashes so dark, his lips so, so, so....

“Dance with me, my lady.”

Everywhere he touched, she burned. She fought to regain her senses. He seemed familiar. There was an entity projected from this young man that completely mesmerized her.

“What’s your name?” she wondered aloud.

“My friends call me, Puzzola,” his gaze never leaving her face. “You must be Elizabeth. I know your brothers.”

“It seems everyone knows my brothers!”

He smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Puzzola? That’s an unusual name.”

“It means, skunk. My friends in Italy gave me the name. Don’t understand why,” he said running his fingers through the bleached blonde stripe. “The name has stuck with me since.”

“Do you go to school in Italy?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes. I’m studying from the masters.”

While they danced she felt so aroused by him, and somewhat embarrassed by the awakening wanton emotion. Maybe Lynn was right, perhaps they did know each other and were lovers in another life. That would be too cool, she thought to herself. She’d never felt this way about any guy she dated, so hot and ready for anything he would ask of her. And she was only dancing with him, a total stranger! Every part of her body Puzzola touched was set afire, while the rest cried for his touch.

“You’re a good dancer,” Puzzola yelled.

“Thanks,” Elizabeth was knocked toward him by out of control dancers.

“Are you alright?” he frowned in the direction of a green-haired dancer bouncing away. “I’m not sure if we could get off the floor now if we wanted to. It’s getting more crowded. The band is about to play the best set of the night.”

“You must come here often.”

“Enough,” his mouth was next to her ear, “Your brothers drag me out of my den occasionally when I’m in town. If you came here, I wouldn’t need to be dragged. You are beautiful.”

Elizabeth felt herself blush. Several times she thought he would kiss her, but he didn’t. Puzzola grabbed her hand, placed it on his shoulder, turned his head with closed eyes placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand. He then turned to face her and put her through a dance move, never taking his gorgeous eyes off her.

“I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Elizabeth mumbled to herself while looking back at the dark figure.

“What?”

The heat between the dancers intensified as the music grew louder. Their world was spinning out of control. They felt a common bond, a shared destiny, but neither could fathom the depth of what they were experiencing. The music was too loud and the dance floor too crowded to carry on a conversation, but their eyes spoke. They danced into the night only with each other, constantly touching, with the exception of occasional interruptions by Lynn or her brothers’ untamed behavior.

As the club wound down in the early morning hours, Puzzola drew her into his arms and led her off the dance floor.

“I must see you again, Elizabeth,” he looked at her with desperate hunger in his eyes.

Suddenly, she was overcome with a sense of sadness; “I leave for New York in the morning. I start college classes next week.”

“What are you going study?”

“Art,” she replied breathlessly.

His eyes lowered to her lips and he nodded.

“Art. I like art,” he smiled crookedly. “Promise me, you will study hard and become undeniably skillful in your chosen medium. If you are true to your heart,” he tapped her chest with a long finger, her heart fluttering with his touch, “I promise you,” he paused to pull her closer, “we will meet again.”

His lips caressed hers. Elizabeth melted. If he hadn’t been holding her so tightly, she probably would have fallen into a heap on the floor. She slid her arm over his shoulder to tangle her fingers in his long, soft black hair. Puzzola groaned as she ran her other hand over his painted cheek and her fingers through his blond stripe. She inhaled rapidly as he pulled her upward to place feather kisses on her neck and collarbone. It felt so good, so right pressed against him. His lips came down hard on hers, parting her lips for a deep, intense kiss that reached into the depths of her soul.

“There is so much I want,” his voice was raspy. “I want to be with you. I want to take you where I know you want to be.”

“I wish I didn’t have to leave in the morning,” Elizabeth could hardly breathe. She was ready to give herself, and would have bargained with the devil himself for more time tonight in London. If he asked her to spend the night with him, she would.

“There is not enough time to kiss you. Not enough time to touch you. You are in my soul, Elizabeth McAlister. Remember my promise, we will meet again,” he whispered the pledge to her as he rubbed her temple with his thumb.



He ran his long fingers across her cheek to the back of her head and kissed her with greater intensity than before. She felt him claiming her, possessing her. With their bodies flattened against each other, she felt them fusing together. She could feel his heart beating as fast as hers was pounding loud in her ears.

As he pulled away, Elizabeth asked, “What’s your real name?”

“Puzzola,” he responded as he bowed his head and a lock of blonde hair fell across his dark eyebrows and ocean eyes. With two fingers, he gave her a jaunty salute and disappeared into the crowd.

“Ready to go, Elizabeth?” Michael’s voice said bringing her back to reality. “You all right, doll? You look like you did at the funeral. You were supposed to make a good memory to take home, remember?”

Why did she feel like she just lost something dear? “I did, I think,” she gulped. “Michael, do you know a guy named, Puzzola?”

“Yeah, he’s like a rebel, a punk, but a real upright guy though. Comes from an aristocratic family, but he wants to do his own thing," Michael smiled. “He’s studying art in Italy, and his father is totally freaked out about it. He’s not following the ‘master plan.’ Kind of sounds familiar, huh?”

“What’s his real name?”

“Ah, he just goes by Puzzola.”

Michael wasn’t stupid; he made a point to keep an eye on the girls through the night. When he took a break from dancing during the crush, he saw the heat between Elizabeth and Puzzola. Too bad Father wouldn’t let her study in London.
Puzzola, being Erick’s age, was a member of the brothers’ inner circle of friends. A group built on honesty and trust. He could trust Puzzola with his sister; he always thought they’d make a good match. But the fire he saw ignited tonight could build into an inferno. Perhaps when they are a little older and can handle the blaze, they might be given the chance to burn together. In the meantime, he’d be the overprotective big brother.

He put an arm around Elizabeth to lead her outside. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Puzzola with the same lost gaze on his face. Michael smiled at him only to receive a nod from the striped head. They seemed made for each other, both being creative and emotional. Maybe soul mates, but now was not the time in their lives to test such waters. He didn’t want to see his sister hurt, or lose a good friend to bad timing. He would make sure they would meet again some day.

“He got under your skin, little sister,” Michael said. “To be honest with you, that’s the first time I’ve seen him on the dance floor. You two melted The Place down! Come on, let’s get back to the flat. You have a long trip ahead of you.”

Elizabeth looked up to her oldest brother and had a sinking feeling he wasn’t referring to her plane ride back to New York.

Buy Painted Soul now.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Thursday Thirteen - 13 Ways to Feel Sexy



It's a busy week so I've chosen to rerun an old favorite. Enjoy!




Busy schedules and unsuccessful diets are the primary reasons many of us don’t feel sexy. Who can feel sexy when they feel tired and frumpy? Women are beautiful creatures; we just need to remind ourselves of it periodically. Now put the chocolate away (well, maybe not) for this one and take notes.

1. Do your make up and/or hair. Have you ever noticed how good you feel after a visit to the beauty shop or when you get all dressed up? You can capture that same feeling by paying a bit of attention to your self for a simply dinner at home.

2. Visit a spa, take a long bath, or give yourself a facial. Take a break to enjoy your own skin. Touch it, caress it… then let your honey touch it and caress it.

3. Work out. Go to a gym, join Curves, or just get a couple of girlfriends to walk with daily. The effort not only makes you healthy (may or may not lose weight), but you’ll notice little things about yourself that make you feel sexy. Sometimes, just actually working out fires you up.

4. Wear sexy clothing. I don’t me movie star red carpet stuff or even hooker style. A nice tight silk t-shirt that feels good when you wear it. Or an old worn pair of jeans that really flatter your assets. Look in your closet, take a close look at your favorites and think about how you feel when you wear them. If they all make you want to take a nap… go shopping.

5. Find a material that makes you feel good. I don’t mean flannel because it makes you cozy; I’m talking about silk or cotton and how it feels against your skin. When you find yourself feeling sexy in a particular fabric, purchase more items made with it. Instead of your old blend button down shirts, try an inexpensive machine washable silk blouse. It will go with everything from jeans to a pair of dress pants.

6. Wear lingerie that flatters you. Don’t buy something and wear it because it looks good on the mannequin or honey’s eyes bug out. Wear it because it feels good and looks good on you.

7. Don’t worry about your appearance. Everyone has flaws; just no one else cares about them as much as you do. So what that you have a scar from a surgery or a little pouch from having kids.

8. Plan at least one sensual experience a week for you love. Planning a sensual escapade can be very arousing. Add a little teasing in there to build confidence.

9. Take a shower together. Hmmm… water, wet, skin, slippery… oh, ah…

10. Dance seductively with your partner. Turn on the music just for the two of you. Have fun and do some dirty dancing.

11. Try being the dominant one in the next love-making session. Being in control can be a rush and very sexy.

12. Accept compliments regarding you looks and abilities. This can be a simple lesson in building confidence; and confidence is very sexy.

13. Allow yourself to feel sexy. Take time to reconnect with yourself. Try to find things that work for you, that make you feel good about you and sexy… and then do them.


What makes you feel sexy?

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Humpday Help - A poem

In this busy week, take a moment and enjoy the world around you. I love the day, but I prefer the night and the midnight sun. My favorite is when I can see the moon during the day. Sit back and enjoy my rambling.


The Moon

I looked up from the cement world
and saw the moon today.

What a pleasant surprise!
He may have even looked my way.

I stood in my white cloak
Made of angels small.

I wanted to find my voice
But my body headed the call.

Every night I look to him
Wondering if he looks back at me.

Perhaps when I turn around,
He casts a glance to see.

Did I give him a smile?
Did my heart jump on my sleeve?

He graciously walked away,
Oh, the webs that we weave!

My mind tells me that he is dead,
My heart calls out to him.

I pray for him each day,
My hope never grows dim.

Only at night to I stand to gaze
In my cloak of white.

The small angles sleeping
Hidden from sight.

I speak in soft whispers
I’m sure he never hears.

I just wish for him to know
How I hold him so dear.

He loved me once then
Cast me to earth.

But my love remains,
And admiration grows from this dirt.

Memories of tenderness come
Rays of moonlight caress my skin.

Emotions never forgotten
But hidden within.

With my arms, I reach to the moon
Embracing the light cast below.

I’m sure he does not see me,
To him I am only a shadow.

I was surprised to see the moon
In the daylight, alive and well.

Tonight I will send him a smile
And in the shadow’s I will dwell.