Decadent Publishing: #endlessdevotion

by Libby Waterford

When I first got the idea to write a series of stories set at a reunion and commencement weekend at a college, I worried that it would be difficult to keep timelines and details straight. I was right. Even though none of the scenes are repeated from book to book—I’d be terrified to tackle a project where I had to rewrite a scene from more than one perspective—there are still universal plot points to consider. Mundane stuff such as the weather, which plays an important role in all three stories, geography, and descriptions have to stay consistent. In addition, though the characters in the three stories almost bump into one another at various times and places, I had to make sure they didn’t actually end up at the same place at the same time, which is harder than it sounds.

The end result is three stories that take place simultaneously, in the same universe, but each has a unique feel as the characters carve their own path through the setting. Weston University’s reunion weekend is a place that will become familiar if you read all three books, but you won’t get tired of the same set pieces. You’ll also see the larger picture of how everything fits together by the end of the series. One realization that was brought home for me in the writing of these novellas is how everyone truly is the hero of her own story. The classmate you haven’t seen for years can’t sum up her life in a few sentences. She could be coping with death, birth, love, loss, family, and probably is dealing with all of that and more. For as many people on this planet there is a grand, epic story in which the rest of us can only play tangential roles.

So go forth, and read about love lost and found, finally consummated, re-consummated, unexpectedly consummated.

Happy summer and happy reading!

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Enjoy an excerpt from Endless Devotion:

She pulled him farther into her hiding place, little more than a depression in the outer wall of stone. He warmed up as soon as he pressed against her, even though he was probably transferring some of the dampness onto her. She didn’t seem to mind as she wriggled closer to him, making him crave her soft, lithe body. He was enveloped by the fantastic scent of Katya that suddenly filled his nose, overpowering the fragrance of rain and the night.

She nuzzled his neck and then nipped it, a little love bite that had him groaning and reaching for her waist to hold her more snugly against him as his mouth sought out her long, graceful neck in return. She gasped as he drew on the skin lightly with his teeth, a little red mark no doubt forming on the side of her neck. It would show in the morning, but he didn’t care. She was his.

As if she could read his thoughts, she pulled slightly away from him. “We have talking to do.”

“Then talk.” He sucked on her earlobe for a second. “I’m very good at multitasking.”

“Multitasking is a myth.” She shuddered a sigh as he moved his tongue to the pulse of her neck and licked.

“Fine.” He pulled his mouth away and put a couple of inches of air between them, even though his entire body was screaming at him to press on, to touch every inch of her and then do it again.

She stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment. “What are you doing?”

“Stopping, so we can talk.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because you just said—” Her laughter cut him off.

“I didn’t think you’d pick talking over....”

“Well, what we have to talk about is pretty important.” He didn’t want to be in this state of limbo anymore. He wanted to know that Katya was his and always would be. The suddenly serious look on her face had his nerves twisting a hole in his gut, replacing his arousal with fear.

“Yes.” She seemed to be composing herself. “And we will talk. But let’s do this first.” She took his mouth with hers, the kiss wet and hot and strong enough to slam them both back against the wall. The irregular pattern of stone dug into his back, but the sensation was not unpleasant. Coupled with her body molded to the length of his, her deep kisses were a drug that soothed away the cold sting of the rain.

Dev could wait for the words. He’d show her now with his body that he was hers and she was his forever.

About the author

Libby Waterford writes steamy contemporary romances. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons, where she works off her weekly pilgrimage to In-N-Out by swimming and climbing the city's secret staircases.

Website: http://libbywaterford.com

Email: libby@libbywaterford.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbywaterford

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LibbyWaterford

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/libbywaterford

Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/libbywaterford

by Libby Waterford

It’s been a long, winding road to the end of the Weston University novella trio and I’m so excited that Endless Devotion is out in the world, completing the saga of three very different couples and their paths to love over the course of the reunion and commencement weekend at fictional Weston University. The hero of Endless Devotion, Devak Batra, is the university’s commencement speaker. We get to hear him give the final address to graduates. Rereading his heartfelt words made me think about other great commencement speeches through the ages. They are an opportunity for someone older and wiser to share a final bit of advice with a bunch of hung-over twenty-two-year-olds who probably aren’t even listening. That’s what life is ultimately about, no matter how well intentioned the speaker; some things you just have to learn for yourself.

Nevertheless, the best commencement speakers offer wisdom that we all can learn from. Here are a few recent memorable speeches that come to mind. Do you have a favorite? Do you even remember who gave the address at your graduation? (I don’t, either.)

Neil Gaiman, University of the Arts, 2012

In what is known as the Make Good Art speech, Gaiman gives a blueprint for creative people trying to do the work they are passionate about. It’s a wonderful, witty speech with Gaiman’s typical imaginative dark optimism. A sample line: “If you have an idea of what you want to make, what you were put here to do, then just go and do that.”

J. K. Rowling, Harvard, 2008

Rowling’s speech is funny and self-deprecating, but she doesn’t shy away from talking about failure as an inevitable—and helpful—part of life. “So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.”

Barbara Kingsolver, Duke, 2008

Another author! Kingsolver covers many weighty topics, but ends on an uplifting note: “You can be as earnest and ridiculous as you need to be, if you don’t attempt it in isolation. The ridiculously earnest are known to travel in groups. And they are known to change the world. Look at you. That could be you.”

About Endless Devotion

What better way to keep her ex at a distance than by becoming engaged? Of course, Katya Noskov’s betrothal to a fellow Weston University professor is just a sham, but she’ll do anything to avoid becoming ensnared in the seductive trap set by Devak Batra, her charismatic ex, who just happens to be the US Secretary of Education.

Dev arrives on Weston’s campus to give the commencement address at the graduation ceremony and to propose to Katya while he’s at it. The last thing he expects is for her to announce her engagement to someone else. Undaunted, he’s determined to talk her out of her betrothal and back into his bed.

When Katya and Dev come together, sparks fly, clothes come off, and nothing, not even an engagement ring, can stop them from acting on their physical desires. From passionate stolen kisses to trysts in the rain, these two can’t keep their hands off each other, but steamy sex can’t resolve Katya’s reasons for leaving Dev in the first place. He must show he can make room for her in his life, not just his bed, if she can consider a future with the sexiest member of the Cabinet.

Will Katya’s fake engagement lead to a real proposal? Can Dev’s devotion survive distance, lies, and acts of congress?

The third of three erotic novellas set at the reunion and commencement weekend at Weston University, where lust leads to true love.

Excerpt from Endless Devotion

Katya wrapped her bathrobe around her body, intending to make use of the sumptuous bubble bath her mother had given her for her last birthday, and to lose herself in the latest Elizabeth George novel. The antiquated doorbell shrilled at the front of the house.

It wasn’t terribly late, but she couldn’t imagine who would be stopping by. She peered through the window beside the door. Dev stood there, something bunched in his left hand. He seemed calm, assured. He wasn’t easily rattled, and his equanimity suddenly made Katya want to wipe the impassive look off his face.

She yanked open the door. “Yes?”

“You left your trench coat in my car.”

She grabbed it out of his hands. “Thanks.”

“So, back to the idea of breakfast. Perhaps you and Edward could both join me—”

Katya lunged forward and plastered her lips to his, stopping his flow of words, commanding the entirety of his attention for at least this one moment. She didn’t want to listen to any more of Dev’s plans or hear her fake fiancé’s name come out of his mouth one more time. She didn’t want to think about the lie she’d told or Dev’s reasons for being here. She wanted some peace from the war raging between her brain and her body’s primal need to feel this man’s skin against her own.

She’d make this moment last as long as she could in the hopes of gaining some relief from her interior battle.

He kissed her back, adjusting his posture so, despite his greater height, she didn’t have to stand on tiptoe to meet his lips.

“Yes,” she murmured into his mouth, owning her need for the first time that night and loving the rush of power her sudden freedom from indecision brought her. She filled her fist with his thick black hair, tossed aside the trench coat, and grabbed his tight, delectable ass with her other hand. She ground herself into his body, making her intentions unmistakably clear. She detected his arousal as he groaned and wrapped long arms around her waist, locking her to him.

They had always been like an erupting volcano when they’d come together, hot, heedless of anything in their path. Now they grappled and moaned and tried to out-kiss each other, stealing each other’s breath away. Katya barely registered the fact they were still on her doorstep and their coupling was visible to the world until Dev’s voice, scratchy with need, broke into her consciousness.

“We’re going to”—he kissed her—“get arrested for disturbing the peace.”

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