When a Book Character Comes to Life

Her Real-life Hero

Beyond Fairytales version of The Frog Prince and Iron Henry

By Vicki Ballante

When I write a book, I delve into a new world. It’s addictive and pleasurable in so many ways, despite the hard work. While I’m in the middle of a story, my mind lives with the characters; I can almost feel them close to my heart. In a way, I become my heroine. I suppose all writers go through this. But what if one of those characters came alive and entered your life?

The heroine in Her Real-life Hero is an aspiring romance writer. She yearns to get her romance novels published but so far hasn’t had much success. When a rejection letter informs her that she needs deeper point of view, she tries to discover what that means. Little does she realise that buying an antique bureau from the antique shop down the road will bring magic into her life. Magic that enables her to speak to her hero, Theo, and ask his advice. When she promises he can share her life with her in exchange for writing advice, she doesn’t expect him to hold her to the promise. Imagine one of the characters in your book coming to life? Wouldn’t it be awesome, especially a yummy romance hero?

Anyhoo, Joanie’s not too pleased because the magic forces them together and she is revelling in time to herself. When she kisses this froggie called Theo, will he become her prince?

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Thank you,

Vicki

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Hot Cowboys!

by Jon Keys

Today’s the release of a fun novella I wrote in response to Decadent Publishing’s Beyond Fairy Tales and I was lucky enough to get to write my version of Cinderella. I followed the feel of the original Grimm’s tale and had a great time.

Hopefully you will enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Blurb:

Kegan’s new stepfather and stepbrothers are out to make his life miserable. Between the bullying and being overworked, he’s nearly at his wit’s end. When his mother leaves on an annual cattle buying trip for the ranch, he’s determined to suffer through. He must, if he expects to protect her like he promised his dying father.

When the family of a young man he’s been infatuated with holds a rodeo, Kegan can’t see a way he can compete. Not until a mystical medicine hat stallion walks into his life. It’s not long before they are the talk, and mystery, of the rodeo.

The only thing more daunting than keeping his identity secret is how Kegan is going to balance all this with his draw to the man of his dreams. Will Cole end up being his magical prince, or is Kegan going to find himself left in the dust?

Purchase Links:

Amazon || All Romance eBook

Excerpt:

An hour or so later, Kegan stood in the driveway watching Alec drive away in the final rays of sunshine. Alec had offered to give him a ride to the rodeo, but he’d turned him down. Once the pickup disappeared from sight, he walked into the house and worked his way to the dark back room he called his bedroom. He flipped on the light and clenched his jaw at what he found.

His clothes were strewn across the room. Some were ripped, but all of them looked and smelled like they’d been stomped on by someone who’d just walked through the holding pens after they’d worked cattle. They were smeared with mud and cow shit.

“Dammit to fucking hell! The assholes!”

He stomped through the room, kicking piles of clothes out of his way in a blaze of fury. Everything he touched needed to be patched, washed or, more often, both. This settled it. Brent and Seth were out to make his life miserable. The question had become, what was he going to do about it? They seem to have done a good job of taking away his choices.

He began to straighten the tiny basement bedroom. A few minutes later, the job became so discouraging he dropped to the bed and sighed. Kegan lost track of time as he thought through the last months. The sound of a horse nearby shook him from his desolation.

He forced himself from the bedroom, tired of being the one who was crapped on around there. He stomped through the empty house, his anger as fierce as ever. Another nicker drifted to him, and his focus shifted to the present. He opened the door to find a horse standing beside the porch. A beautiful Paint stallion with classic medicine hat markings.

Kegan eased down the steps and held one hand toward the horse, watching him closely. The animal leaned forward, sniffed him, and then snorted.

“Hey, big guy. Where did you come from? If a medicine hat had appeared in any of the BLM herds around here, we’d have known.”

The horse tossed its head, the black and white markings shimmering in the sun. He didn’t shy as Kegan moved closer. The horse’s only reaction was the rippling of thick muscles as it shifted its weight.

“Easy, boy. You’re awfully tame.”

The horse froze in place, studying Kegan as he moved closer. He reached out, resting his hand against the stud’s silky skin. It nickered at the touch but didn’t move. As he ran his hands over the animal, he marveled at how calm the stallion was. This was one of the steadiest horses he’d ever come across.

“Fella, you must belong to someone. Where’d you come from? I know if I was missing a horse like you I’d be having a fit.”

He turned to go into the house and put out the word he had a mystery horse. When he did, the horse stepped in front of him.

“Hey, guy. I gotta let people know you’re okay.”

Kegan tried to step around him again, but the horse’s hooves shot out and stopped him. After a third attempt earned him the same results, he threw his hands up in surrender. “Okay, so you don’t want me to go into the house. What are we going to do?”

The stallion stuck his muzzle in Kegan’s face and snorted. He turned and started down the driveway toward the river. The river had become Kegan’s favorite place to escape his problems, especially after his dad died, and they scattered his ashes there. He had spent a lot of time watching the snowmelt flow past. In the past couple of months, he’d stopped going to the river. But the mysterious horse headed directly toward a large boulder marking his favorite spot.

The stallion threaded its way through aspen thickets that looked tight for a goat, but he slipped into them without disturbing a leaf. The sound of the river grew as they passed through the mix of evergreen, aspen, and willow. He cleared the final clump of trees to find the horse standing among boulders larger than he remembered.

Kegan took a step and froze in mid-stride. A neatly folded set of clothes was perched on the nearest flat rock. He stepped closer and touched them. The deep-blue jeans and the heavily pressed white shirt were obviously new, not some freak occurrence. He glanced around, wondering what was happening.

“Horse, did your rider fall in or something? You don’t seem concerned about finding anyone though.”

He searched up and down the riverbank to see if someone was trying to swim, or in trouble. He checked for a good distance in each direction and found nothing to indicate the source of either the horse or the clothing. He made his way to the boulder holding the pile of clothes and ran his hand over them.

The Paint stepped close and pushed them toward Kegan. He flared his nostrils and snorted again. With the horse fixed squarely in his sight, he pulled the jeans from the boulder and held them in front of him.

“They’re my size. How the hell....”

The horse struck his hoof across the rock and the wind gusted, sounding like the low note of a Cheyenne flute. The tone drifted away, but not before leaving Kegan with a lingering sense of peace. He looked again to find a cowboy hat, hand-tooled belt, and a pair of boots in the mix with everything else. Each of them appeared custom made. He studied the stallion again.

“You know, I never put much store by the whole medicine-hat-horse-having-magic thing, but I’m starting to change my mind.” He paused for a minute to consider. “Does that mean you’re going to let me ride you, too? I need a horse to do the rodeo thing.”

The stallion slipped beside him, pressed his nose under Kegan’s backside, and shoved him forward. His nudge was enough to send Kegan stumbling across the rocks.

“Okay, got it. I’ll change already.”

He stripped quickly, splashing the crystal-clear water over himself to wash off the day’s dust and sweat. As he slipped into the clothes, he found he’d been right. Each piece was a custom fit. The boots came to just below his knees and stitched across the uppers were patterns of horses and aspen leaves. The jeans hugged his butt, emphasizing his ass until even he had to admit it was toned and muscular. By the time he fastened the silver buckle and situated the hat, he was transformed. The ugly duckling feeling he always had, evaporated. With a final brush of his hands, he fixed his gaze on the horse.

“All right. It’s time to see if this is going to work out. We need to get to the stable and find a saddle to fit you. The big question is, are you going to let me ride you? I guess now’s as good a time to find out as any.”

Author bio:

Jon Keys’s earliest memories revolve around books. Either read to him or making up stories based on the illustrations, these were places his active mind occupied. As he got older the selection expanded beyond Mother Goose and Dr. Suess to the world of westerns, science fiction and fantasy. His world filled with dragon riders, mind speaking horses and comic book heroes in hot uniforms.

A voracious reader for half a century, Jon recently began creating his own creations of fiction. The first writing was his attempt at showing rural characters in a more sympathetic light. Now he has moved into some of the writing he lost himself in for so many years…fantasy. Jon has worked as a ranch hand, teacher, computer tech, roughneck, designer, retail clerk, welder, artist, and, yes, pool boy; with interests ranging from kayaking and hunting to drawing and cooking, he uses this range of life experiences to create written works that draw the reader in and wrap them in a good story.

Where to find Jon Keys:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jon.keys.773

Twitter:  @Jon4Keys

Other: http://jonkeys.com/ 

Travel to Copenhagen

 By Katherine McIntyre

     One of the things I love most about writing and reading is how it sates my wanderlust. Don’t get me wrong—I still adore traveling, and each year I try to chip away at my ever expanding bucket list—however, writing new stories in different locations helps me get through those pockets in between. So, when I signed up for the Beyond Fairytales challenge and was assigned the fairytale String of Pearls, I knew I had to seize upon that location: Copenhagen, Denmark.

     String of Pearls is an older woman’s recollection of the Copenhagen line and how she met her sweetheart along the way. Immediately a yearning seized me to explore the jewels of Denmark and what it might hold. The main character, Erik, is a soul collector who travels along the Copenhagen line, stopping at a different club each night. Not only did that allow me to explore the club scene in Denmark, but also different structures, like St. Mikkel’s Church, and the Great Belt Bridge.

Only problem is, I’ve never been to Denmark in my life.

So how to get details and properly envision what it would be like? One of the ways I do that is through Google Maps. That has been a lifesaver for me when I research my settings for any contemporary romance or urban fantasy stories that I work on. I zoom in on the areas and check street views of the spots to get a scope of things, and searching images works as well. However, I also had some help on the more detailed cultural questions since one of my friends happened to live in Denmark for awhile.

Once I wrote about it though, the travel bug bit me, and although Denmark was never on my list of places to go before, it’s marked down there now. Join me in falling in love with another city, and read Soul Solution, part of Decadent Publishing’s wonderful Beyond Fairytales series. Hopefully the city will cast the same magic on you as it did for Mina and Erik.

Soul Solution blurb:

For Erik Anderson, the Copenhagen line is his curse. He takes the train every night en route to collect souls. Like any lovelorn fool, he bargained his own long ago, and now pays the price—a lifetime of loneliness as a grim reaper.  Stay distant—that’s been his mantra and what keeps him sane.

Until Mina Castner drops into his life like a whirlwind, one spilled drink leading to staying up until dawn with the woman. He believed one night couldn’t hurt, but he sorely underestimated her determination. Every encounter between them is a reprieve from the guilt of reaping souls every night, but it can’t last. Even if she sparks long buried feelings, and even if her sheer presence intoxicates him, he can’t let this continue. For humans, his touch is poison, and if he slips up, it could cost her life.

Available here:  Amazon || Kobo || Bookstrand || ARe || B&N || iTunes || CTR || Smashwords

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Once Upon a Time...and Another Time...and Another Time

By Taryn Kincaid

Once upon a time…

Decadent Publishing put out a submission call for the retelling of fairy tales. One of the neat things was that you didn’t get to pick and choose which one you’d do…you emailed the editor (hi, Dawn!) that you were interested and she delved into her grab bag and produced a title from The Brothers’ Grimm for you to base your story on.  Many of these were obscure. I originally received one of those. I had a million ideas for it —okay, so VAMPIRES — and I’m still planning on getting back to it one day…but in the meantime…other stuff pulled at me.   

The more familiar stories, okay, the ones that have Disney movies with chirping animals that do your laundry and clean your toilets, witches that look like Angelina Jolie, and sopranos who insist that One Day Your Prince Will Come, were held back.

And then…once upon another time, around October of 2014, another call went out (only to Decadent authors, if I remember correctly), for the so-called “coveted tales,” the bippity-boppity-boos of fairy tales: Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty.

So…yeah.  

Sleeping Beauty, she of the flaxen hair, Prince Philip, Maleficent, and the fairy godmothers Flora, Fauna and Merryweather.  Um, wait. That would be Disney’s version, which opened in 1959, when many of you reading this (okay, most of you, in all likelihood), were not yet born, nor even twinkles in your dad’s eyes.

The Grimms’ version, though,  was Little Briar-Rose, based on a French tale by Charles Perrault, La Belle au bois dormant, published in 1697, and itself based on Giambattista Basile’s  Sun, Moon and Talia, which in turn was based on…well, really, who knows what. That’s the thing about fairy tales, they were handed down in oral tradition over the centuries in all different forms, morphing and changing until, finally, their Disneyfication solidifies them in little girls’ hearts and minds.

But back to me. Negotiations with Iran were in the news, I think. And I’d grown up with the Paris peace talks over Vietnam, the Israeli-Palestinian mess and…King Arthur and his Round Table.  And the idea that stuck in my mind was about all the bickering and one upmanship, and the way diplomats sometimes cannot even agree on the size or shape of the conference table.  Not unlike a fairy being miffed because a passel over other fairies got invited to the princess’ birthday party while her invitation was…lost in the mail.

My original proposal submission, a world at war due to diplomat dissing, a young war-weary woman stepping on a landmine and lapsing into a coma…morphed in the writing because…well, that’s just how writing is. One day you’re bumbling along, whistling while you work, and the next day something flies out of the mouth of your character that’s akin to: “So which one of you bitches is my mother?” (If any of you remember the ‘80’s mini-series, Lace. But I digress. As usual.)

Originally, my Aurora’s (or Brier-Rose’s) name was Serena. But on page one she announces that her name is “Rosina,” but the soldiers she’s with call her “Sandrina”…and we were off and running. Into a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland of a world, where the lethal rain can wound the heroine. And the hero, Clay Worthington, is way more studly than Philip.

Blurb:

       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.

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The Challenges of Rewriting a Classic Tale

By Nancy Fraser

The criteria for a great fairy tale is not all that different from the formula used for an engaging romance. Both require the following:

A sensitive, brave, intelligent hero—preferably good looking, or at least confident in his appearance.

A strong, beautiful, empathetic heroine who’s not afraid to kick a little butt should the situation call for it.

A plot fraught with angst, danger and attraction. Whether the attraction leads to a chaste kiss or a steamy love scene depends on your audience.

A resolution that is both enlightening and satisfying, not only for the reader but also for the characters.

And, of course, the Happily Ever After required of all great tales.

My Beyond Fairy Tales story, Do You Want Me, is based on the Grimm Brothers tale, The Devil’s Sooty Brother. More macabre than romantic, it’s the tale of a soldier who returns from war to find he’s lost everything he’d left behind.

In order to make a new life for himself, he agrees to work for the devil and earn the money he needs to begin again. The idea of creating a ‘devil’ gave me the perfect protagonist for my story. The original tale also contains a king who has two daughters. While not a huge part of the original story, the idea of sisters fueled my naughty imagination.

So, how does an author of modern-day romances take a fairy tale written hundreds of years ago and make it current?

I started by outlining my hero...it had to be the soldier from the fairy tale...complete with memories and scars. In most cases, the next character I’d work on would be the heroine. However, since in the original, there are no female characters present until the very end, I decided to flesh out other aspects of the story first before getting a handle on who would steal my hero’s heart.

As with any series, there were also certain requirements set forth by the publisher. The biggest challenge among those was the inclusion of a narrator. Nicodemus, the storyteller, is a must for every book. I admit, I fretted over how to include this ‘outsider’. Then, two glasses of Baileys-over-ice later, I had it! (I do some of my best plotting under the influence of Bailey’s and crushed ice.)

I don’t want to give too much away other than to say, I have a sexy, battle-weary hero, a feisty tease of a heroine, a devil of a protagonist, and a father who holds an important position of influence (a king of sorts).

I’ve also done something I’d never attempted before. I wrote the entire story in the hero’s point of view...even the steamy love scenes.

I ended up enjoying the process so much, I’ve started on my second fairy tale and look forward to sharing that one as well in the near future.

Decadent Publishing || Amazon || iTunes || ARe

Blurb:

Decorated war hero Reece Michaels agrees to go undercover in order to bring down the Irish Mob. In return, the civilian life he’s coveted for the past six years will be returned to him. Hired by mob boss Sean O’Malley to protect his youngest son, Reece soon discovers the young man needs more protection from his own family than its enemies. What Reece doesn’t count on is his instant attraction to the police chief’s beautiful and willing daughter. Abby Mackenzie is the younger sister of a woman with whom Reece once had a torrid affair. He’s determined to not give in to Abby’s come-hither ways. After all, one Mackenzie woman was more than enough.

Author Bio: Website || Blog || Twitter: @nfraserauthor ||Facebook ||Goodreads

Like most authors, Nancy began writing at an early age, usually on the walls and with crayons or, heaven forbid, permanent markers. Her love of writing often made her the English teacher’s pet, which, of course, resulted in a whole lot of teasing. Still, it was worth it. Published in multiple genres, Nancy currently writes for four publishers. She has published twenty-two books in both full-length and novella format. Nancy is currently working on a Valentine’s story for 2016, her next Rock and Roll novella, the third McCade Legacy book and a second fairy tale for Decadent Publishing. When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five beautiful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

Discovering Pinterest

By Katherine McIntyre

I resisted—for awhile. Years went by and I’d hear friends talking about the recipe they found on Pinterest, or that new craft they had to try. When I checked it out for myself though, I wasn’t too thrilled. For me, I’m fairly comfortable with Facebook, and if I keep up with a form of social media, I like having a practical application to it. When I want recipes though, I’ve got my resources, and chances are, I don’t embark on crafts unless I fully commit, like when I learned soapmaking.

However, this year changed all that. I discovered my practical application for Pinterest: inspiration boards for my books. Now, I’m sure this is no novel concept (har, har) for most writers, but I really have enjoyed this gamechanger. Despite being a writer, I’m actually not great with visualization. I need picture or art prompts to flesh out details of surroundings, and if I’ve never been to a place before, I spent a lot of time on street view in GoogleMaps. Since Pinterest involves organizing pictures to different boards, it was an easy step to pin pictures that fit the settings, style of dress, or technology from the different worlds I’ve created.

So of course, my Decadent releases were given designated boards. By the Sea is filled with beautiful pictures of coastal Massachusetts, selkies, and the rippling ocean at night, which are all themes and settings from the paranormal romance novelette. Same with my contemporary novella,

Poisoned Apple—I added in some Philly area diners, gritty street lamps, goth girls, and unique Snow Clear art since that story was the inspiration for this darker take. And as for my next Decadent Publishing release on the horizon, Soul Solution also has a board. It’s based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, String of Pearls, and part of the Beyond Fairytales line. I am beyond excited for this story, and in anticipation, I’ve been filling up the Soul Solution board with pictures of Copenhagen train line, Denmark, and dark, gritty clubs.

I’ve fallen prey to Pinterest, folks, but one thing it reveals is the sheer amount of different locations and places the stories take you. So if you’re craving summer escapes—books offer the cheapest vacation of them all!

By the Sea Buy Links

Amazon || Kobo || Barnes and Noble || itunes Audiobook || Smashwords

Poisoned Apple Buy Links

Amazon || Kobo || Barnes and Noble || Smashwords

Social Media:

Author website || Facebook || Twitter || Tumblr || Pinterest

Hard Lovin'

by Desiree Holt

This is a book I have wanted to write forever. It’s based on an old Irish ballad called The Whistling Gypsy Rover. I finally created the story that I thin k best brings it into the present century. What do you think?

Give away: Everyone whoa purchases Hard Lovin’ and sends me proof of purchase to desireeholt@desireeholt.com will also get a free copy of my modern fairy tale, Knockin’ Boots.

Blurb: 

Erin Braddock, daughter of wealthy and powerful rancher Rance Braddock, has been to hell and back. So has wandering cowboy minstrel Grady Sinclair. But the moment they meet chemistry ignites between them, erasing everything else. The sex is scorching, explosive, addictive. They can’t get enough each other. The same talented fingers that coax seductive music from his guitar coax powerful orgasms from her body. Seduced by his music as well as the sinfully sexy man himself, Erin runs away with him. Nights she sits in the bar listening to his come-to-me voice promising her the erotic delights he delivers on when they’re back in their room. But will the past follow them or can they build a future together, in and out of bed?

Excerpt:

Gypsy rover come over the hill, down through the valley so shady

He whistled and he sang til the greenwoods rang and he won the heart of a lady

Erin Braddock slipped into the dark bar through the back door, squinty against the darkness and found her way to a tiny booth in the corner. The area was so small a second person would be hard pressed to find room in the space but that suited her just fine. She hadn’t come here looking for company. Unless it was the cowboy up on the postage stamp sized stage, alone in the spotlight with his guitar and his smoky voice. Ebony black hair curled down to the nape of his neck and a work shirt and worn jeans clung to his lean body like a second skin. The muscles in his arm flexed as he picked at the strings of the guitar, coaxing a tune from it.

The lights were dim in the smoky club, a sea of black with only himself in the searing white glow of the spotlight. The air was heavy with expectation as he strummed the melody of a love song that whipped its sound over the crowd only to slow like the stroke of a lover’s caress.

You are so out of your mind for doing this.

So what else was new?

She’d just had to get out of the house. Away from the ranch. Away from …everyone. Her father, Rance, who was suffocating her with his protective kindness. T.J. Elliott, the fiancé she couldn’t seem to break away from. The houseful of people all gathered to celebrate a wedding tomorrow.

Hers.

A wedding she didn’t want.

The memories of the nightmare with Cal hadn’t yet faded and her father was suffocating her with his protective kindness. The far too wealthy Rance Braddock was, if nothing else, like a tidal wave that swallowed people up. And then there was T.J. Elliott, her father’s choice for a ‘safe’ and well-connected husband. A way to guarantee her future. No danger there.

Not like Cal, the worst mistake she’d ever made. And she’d wanted safe. Needed it. Her father and T.J. treated her like some child too fragile to be let out on her own.  Well, maybe she was. Look what she’d gotten herself into. And didn’t want to get out of, until she’d had no other choice. Now, at thirty, she suddenly didn’t seem to be able to put one foot in front of the other any more.

Until now.

The bad part about being rescued from a situation like the one she’d been in was people were afraid to take their eyes off of you. She didn’t even seem to have the strength to tell them they could look away. She went along to get among, letting herself be swept up in a courtship she didn’t want and a wedding suddenly bearing down on her like a tornado.

She’d come to the bar a few nights ago with her girl friends who had practically dragged her out of the house.

“Have fun,” her father said.

“You’ll be fine with the girls,” T.J. told her. He’d kissed her on the cheek and teased, “Last night out before becoming Mrs. Elliott.”

She was safe with her friends. Girl’s night out was okay. Both her father and T.J. had relaxed.

But her friend Lili had whispered in her ear, ”Wait until you see Grady Sinclair. He’s hot, hot, hot. And his music!” Lili rolled her eyes. “Just listening to him makes your pussy get wet and your nipples poke like diamonds.”

Erin had shivered, skeptical but hopeful. She didn’t think she’d ever have that reaction again. Or want it. The best thing about T.J. was he was nonthreatening. She could always fake orgasms. She’d become a very good actress living with Cal.

So she’d let them coax her out and come to Smoky’s with them and damn but Lili was right. Wrapped in the almost mystical cloak of the music that drifted to her from the stage she’d felt stirrings that she thought long dead. Responses she didn’t think she was capable of anymore. And then she’d come back with them. Again and again, to hear the troubadour with eyes as black as his hair and a rugged face, drawn by the clear, mesmerizing notes of his songs and the sadness in his voice. 

***

Known the world over as The Oldest Living Erotic Romance Author, Desiree Holt

Has won an EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and many other awards. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The London Daily Mail and numerous other national and international publications

“Get out the ice water and fan…Desiree Holt delivers smoking hot alpha heroes and red hot romances.” Lea Franczak, USA Today Happy Ever After blog

Learn more about her and read her novels here:

www.desireeholt.com

www.desiremeonly.com

www.facebook.com/desireeholtauthor

www.facebook.com/desireeholt

Twitter @desireeholt

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Getting in the Mood

By Landra Graf

I’ve talked about music before in blog posts on my personal site and on the Decadent 1Night Stand blog. As I continue guest posting each week leading up to the release, today I want to talk about the songs behind the story.

For one, the book is set in 1936. I was a purist at heart, so I specifically looked at songs written in 1936. The top songs of the year, but I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for so I expanded the search to songs from the 30s. I struck gold. The 30s is a wonderful era of new sounds form the soulful Delta Blues to the swinging tracks reminiscent of the 20s. Then there’s Gershwin and Irving Berlin. So much talent… and the music they weaved.

I played to the blues and Cab Calloway to get the inspiration for the skin-trader den. The classical and Gershwin for Sorella and Ian’s invasion of an embassy ballroom. Fred Astaire for the romantic moments. Glenn Miller to carry me through the motions and some Fats Waller just because. In some cases I loved a song from the period, but preferred it in sweet Ella’s voice, Queen of Jazz, over all others.

There’s a couple tracks from movie soundtracks as well, not from the 30’s, but they made me think of the characters — who they were and who they are. One of the tracks got me in the mind frame for action sequences.

As the time passes I still find myself going back to that playlist. Listening to the music and relishing in how the same characters, scenes, and images play back in my mind. One of the best parts of writing the book is the journey the author takes to compose the story. Here’s the playlist for you. Enjoy the journey. If not for the book, for the musical adventure the list takes you on.

Raven Pirate Assassin Spy Playlist

Dawn – Pride and Prejudice Soundtrack

Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Fats Waller

I Got Rhythm – Ella Fitzgerald

Charleston – Sam Levine

The Dipsy Doodle – Ella Fitzgerald

Cross Road Blues – Robert Johnson

Minnie the Mooch – Cab Calloway

The Jumpin’ Jive – Cab Calloway

In the Mood – Glenn Miller

Moonlight Serenade – Glenn Miller

Cheek to Cheek – Fred Astaire

By Strauss – Ella Fitzgerald

The Blue Danube Waltz – Johann Strauss

Black Tears – Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack

About the Author: 

Landra Graf consumes at least one book a day, and has always been a sucker for stories where true love conquers all. She believes in the power of the written word, and the joy such words can bring. In between spending time with her family and having book adventures, she writes romance with the goal of giving everyone, fictional or not, their own happily ever after. You can find Landra at: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or on her Website.