In CRUEL ENCHANTMENT, my upcoming September 7th release, the hero, Aeric, has an intense passion for the heroine, Emmaline. At first his passion is distinctively negative and with good reason. Over three hundred years ago, back when the fae were free in the world, Emmaline killed the woman he wanted to marry. When Emmaline re-enters Aeric’s life, he captures her, convinced he wants to take revenge on her for this.
Yet something stops him. Emmaline isn’t the cold-hearted woman he has presumed she would be and even though she admits to the killing, he senses there’s more to the story than she’s telling him. Could it be that all these years he’s never known the full truth about his fiancée’s death? To top it off, he’s attracted to Emmaline. There’s something about her that fascinates and draws him to her.
Aeric’s already passionate nature is soon inflamed by Emmaline’s presence and his negative feelings toward her become fiery and near uncontrollable. Emmaline also has trouble resisting Aeric. After all, he’s the man she’s loved for centuries. Try as she might to hold herself away from him, she just can’t do it.
I love it when my characters have this emotional, dramatic energy in their relationship. It doesn’t always work this way with the characters I create. Oddly, bringing fictional characters together is a lot like observing a true life couple. Sometimes they have chemistry, sometimes not. Aeric and Emmaline have chemistry in spades, explosive chemistry. I really enjoyed spinning their tale and I hope you enjoy reading it.
Here’s a small taste of that chemistry I was talking about between Emmaline and Aeric.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the excerpt!
Excerpt from CRUEL ENCHANTMENT
He moved closer and her whole body stiffened. “So we’ve established that you killed Aileen and you’re lying about the circumstances to save your pretty ass. We’ve also established that I’m unable to kill you. The only question that remains is how I should make you pay.”
His gaze raked her up and down and his body reacted. His too big clothing hid her curves, but he’d had enough of a tantalizing glimpse of them during her shower to let his imagination run wild.
The very last thing he should be doing right now was remember the way her body looked behind that frosted glass. It was almost worse than having her naked. The image behind the shower door hinted at lush breasts—an overflowing handful—a narrow waist that flared into a generous, curvy bottom, and shapely legs.
He wanted to find out for sure, using his hands and maybe his tongue, too.
He’d brutally suppressed the urge before, tamping down the attraction he felt for her because it wasn’t right. Now, in the violent wake of what Emmaline had told him and his subsequent confusion over whether or not it was true—all that want came rushing back at him. It didn’t matter that it was horribly misplaced.
And damned if he could remember why he shouldn’t give in to it.
* * * * *
He was looking at her without anger in his eyes for once.
Okay, maybe there was a little anger in his eyes, but she had the feeling that the anger—for whatever mystical and unbelievable reason—wasn’t directed at her, but at himself. And anger wasn’t the only thing in his expression right now; there was hunger, too.
And that was all for her.
Her heart thudded so fast and so hard she thought it might break her ribs. What the hell? His behavior had changed so quickly she practically had whiplash.
“Aeric?” she whispered. She wasn’t even aware his name had slipped past her lips until it was out there. She didn’t know what to do with this sudden turn of events . . . although her body sure seemed to know. Her mind was awhirl with confusion, but the rest of her was quite aware that the man she’d wanted and fantasized about for so long was inches away from her . . . and seemed to actually want her back.
“Fuck,” he growled, bracing his hand on the wall right near her ear and moving closer to her. “This is not a good thing.”
“No.” She licked her lips—a nervous habit she’d had since she was a kid, no matter what guise she used. “This is not a good thing for either of us.”
His mouth almost brushed hers when he spoke. Her body flared to
life, singing to almost painful arousal. Her nipples leapt to hard little points and she ached between her thighs. This man seemed to either terrify her, piss her off, or plunge her straight into animalistic heat.
His voice was a low growl, laced with anger. “I should chain you to my bed in charmed iron and take my revenge that way.”
She closed her eyes, her breath shuddering out of her. “I wouldn’t
object.”
His eyes narrowed like a hunter’s sighting prey—and, boy, was she ever. Wounded, limping prey at that. She had no chance. “Don’t you have any shame?” he asked in a low, harsh voice.
“Not where you’re concerned. I never have.”
He eased her against him and dropped his mouth to her throat. Goose bumps erupted all over her skin. He nipped her flesh and then licked the small hurt. As though he wanted to punish her, but couldn’t make himself do it…..
My latest romance, SEDUCED ON THE RED CARPET
I am so happy to welcome readers to the fourth adventure in the Lady Julia Grey series! Readers have come to know and love Lady Julia and her world-- in particular her partner in detection, the engimatic Nicholas Brisbane!—and DARK ROAD TO DARJEELING gave me the opportunity to combine three of my favorite things: tea, travel, and mystery.
water will result in dull tea. Just when the boil is reached, empty the pot of hot water, add the tea leaves, and pour over the freshly-boiled water. Once it has steeped—a few minutes will do, but it will depend upon the variety of tea you have chosen—pour the tea through a strainer to catch the leaves. Sweeten to taste, and add milk or lemon if you prefer. Keep the pot warm for the next cup, and put up your feet while you sip. Tea must be savored, sipped slowly, preferably with a good book and some scones within arm’s reach. And that is the real beauty of tea, I think. Unlike coffee, which insists upon haste, or wine, which demands companions, tea is the perfect accompaniment to solitude.
This month, I have a book out called IF THE RED SLIPPER FITS. A good portion of the book has to deal not just with shoes (which I love!) but also family relationships. Sisters and their father, a son and his mother. With my oldest child’s birthday approaching, the book and the season got me thinking about our relationship.
In the past authors were just supposed to write and occasionally givan interview or go on a book tour. Well, those times have changed.
All I needed now was to approach Sheri about Facebook. I’d interviewed her months ago for the Novelists Inc blog and had been impressed by what services she had to offer. So with her help I decided to take the plunge. The result?
PRIMAL INSTINCTS is my new book, the ninth novel in the Vampire Primes universe. It is the story of psychic bonding where two alpha opposites, Flare Reynard and Tobias Strahan, can't fight the attraction. Both the hero and heroine are sexy, hot vampires - and their romance is just that - sexy and hot. 
Everybody has a few enduring fantasy fixations (at least I hope they do, otherwise, I might be abnormal). For me, the idea of a virile knight protecting and loving his lady is one of them. Maybe that's why I like Robinhood in all its incarnations, and stories about Camelot. But fantasies for me aren't enough. I want to see how they would play out in the real world, in my life. What would it be LIKE to know a real, live Knight of the Round Table? Maybe that's why I have been drawn lately to write time travel. It's a chance to work out how fantasy would meet reality.
past forward. That's the plot part of the story. But its heart is about what an honorable knight would be doing if he lived today, and what it would be like to know him and to love him. Actually, I decided it would be... difficult. Protective? Oh, yeah. He'd be protective. But that might be a little hard for a modern woman to accept. Honorable? Without doubt. But that might stand in the way of pursuing a sexual relationship with the woman he is sworn to protect. And how would our modern day society respond to a man who acted like a "Knight in shining armor" whether he had armor or not? Well, let's just say that a stint in prison is involved. And it's no fun unless he is devastatingly handsome and really sexy.
QUESTION: Foodies and romance readers alike have embraced your Recipe for Love novels, but your new book, Just One Taste, is an ending of sorts, yes?
the entire reading world’s attention to my 200th book, CAVANAUGH REUNION. From my limited research, very few writers have had 200 books published (the number’s higher if you count books outside of Harlequin) and I am rather proud of that. That the milestone book is another episode in the Cavanaugh saga is an added bonus (at least to me). I have fallen in love with this extended, rambling family of law enforcement agents and so, I’m told, have a lot of the readers which makes this doubly exciting for me. In short, what I’m trying to say is: Go buy it. You’ll like it. But wait, there’s more---(as in more Cavanaughs on the way).
