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.
I recently kicked off Twenty Days of Enchantment on my blog, a celebration of the release of CRUEL ENCHANTMENT. Stop by to participate in daily book giveaways and enter for a chance to win a $75 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble plus other prizes. http://www.anyabast.com/blog/
Here’s a small taste of that chemistry I was talking about between Emmaline and Aeric.
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…
Storyboard with Stock photography/stock video – I generally do this step at the same time. I plan out the text for every “scene” and find an image that works best to tell the story. When I’m texting out the book video I distill the novel down to its very basic parts, pretty much just down to the main conflict(s). That’s not an easy thing to do (as any author who has ever written a synopsis or a book blurb will tell you).
