Showing posts with label Book Spotlight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Spotlight. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Author/Book Spotlight Sophie's Secret by Chloe Thurlow


Title: Sophie's Secret
Author: Chloe Thurlow 
Genre: Contemporary Erotic 
Pages: 50
ASIN: B0099HZSNY
Source: Amazon
Published: January 2013
Author's Website: www.chloethurlow.com





Goodreads Blurb: 
When Sophie Price catches her boyfriend Jake in bed with the infamous Aisha Cummings, she realizes that 1: she's fed up with Jake anyway, and 2: when it comes to the game of sex, she's still at the starting gate. 

After a night at the kinky nightclub 'Pink', Sophie sets out on an erotic mission that takes her from the coolly decadent to a full-blown orgy and way out into the wilds of BDSM. On her journey, Sophie discovers how to 'let go' and just 'be', and learns an incredible secret that will change her life forever. 






I write erotic novels. Some of my friends call the work pornographic, which is both inaccurate and a bit of a put down. I will define the difference by describing two pictures:
#1: a naked, blue-eyed blonde holding her breasts and staring wantonly into the void.
#2: a girl in a laced corset and towering heels leaving an elegant room.
The pornographic shot is calculated to stimulate a sexual response. The erotic image provokes intrigue and mystery.
Perhaps the porn shot will motivate a desire to masturbate, never fully satisfactory; while the erotic photograph creates a feeling of mystery: what is the girl walking away from – and where is she going? Why the chic corset and lack of panties? The porn shot is a complete picture. The erotic shot is a single frame from an unfinished story.
Good erotic writing, like all good literature, must make readers want to know what is going to happen next, and provide an outcome that is what they expect, but not in the way they expect it. Erotica requires surprise, fantasy, subtext. When a man asks a woman in a bar if she would like a drink, if she responds: 'How much did you pay for your house?' – we have a new set up, a tangent; this woman is interesting. Is she a hooker, a gold digger, a real estate agent, or she just having fun? We don't know and want to find out.
Porn tends to be 'on the nose,' characters "tell" the reader what's happening. Better confuse than be obvious. Describing a woman as 'beautiful with long legs and big breasts,' devalues the reader's own imagination. Say: 'Every woman in the bar turned her head as she entered' shows the reader that this is a real beauty. Note that I say 'every woman.' Men always look; women are more discerning.
Romance is about love, where the natural consequence of sex is reproduction. Erotica is about sex as an unexplored facet of our humanity, a dark glass in which we dimly see our reflection, a quest for sexual identity. Masks and costume are useful tools in erotic sex because, while hidden, you are more open to be yourself.
These are the themes explored in Sophie's Secret, which has been seen by some as a lesbian story, although it was not conceived that way. It opens with Sophie Price catching her boyfriend Jake in bed with her rival, Aisha Cummings. Sophie instantly realizes that 1: she's fed up with Jake anyway, and 2: when it comes to the game of sex, she's still at the starting line.
It just so happens that Sophie has been turned away from a lesbian club named 'Pink' because, unlike her two friends who took her there, she doesn't appear to belong. Determined to find out what goes on in that mysterious basement in the backstreets of Soho, Sophie sets out on an erotic odyssey that takes her from the coolly decadent to a full-blown orgy and way out into the wild winds of BDSM.
Good erotica needs subplots, a mingling of themes, a touch of philosophy. Sophie is broke and will have to work her way through college, missing out on the chance to reach her full potential – sexually, perhaps, but intellectually for certain. As soon as she lets go of her fears, the other worries disappear and she become fully herself. That's Sophie's secret.

In association with DreamZ of Dragons, Sophie's Secret is FREE at Amazon from May 22, 2013 through May 26, 2013.





Saturday, May 18, 2013

Book Spotlight Bluffing the Devil by C.L. Foster





Blurb ~ 
After losing her fiancĂ© to a freak accident, Alexia Riley decides to swear off relationships and focus her energy on conquering the male-dominated sport of professional poker.
When Alexia finds herself being visited in her dreams by a mysterious new man, she begins to wonder if her world is slowly starting to unravel around her.
Tested by a double-dealing nemesis on the tables and tempted by a mysterious "dream man", Alexia soon contemplates making a deal with the Devil to rid herself of these torments. What bargain will she strike with the Dark Prince to get what she wants? As temptation for a mysterious dream man weakens her resolve, a desire to defeat her greatest rival beckons her. Will she sacrifice her soul for victory? Love? Or does she want something else entirely? 
The stakes have never been higher for Alexia than they are when she is bluffing the Devil!


Buy Links:




Excerpt Snippet:

"Come on! Let's sit on the beach for a few minutes while we devour the goodies!" Rhea's eyes shimmered as she knew that would be my very favorite idea.
"You people and your beach food," Carly complained lightly. "Can we ever have food in a restaurant with forks and linen napkins, sexy waiters, champagne, sparkles, and food that makes us forget sex long enough to just wanna roll our bodies in it?"
Everyone stopped almost in the middle of the busy intersection. "Really, Carly? Food is super exciting to you. I never noticed your food-slut mannerisms before now," Rhea chuckled.
"I've heard her talk about food like that forever, but I never knew she wanted to roll around in it and name her babies after ingredients," I joked back.
As we finished crossing the street, Victoria added, "Maybe we should get her a chef boyfriend? Then she might be able to keep some meat on her bones."
            "Yeah right, like she ever holds on to an ounce of anything ever. I think Carly has the perfect body," I said admiring her. I had to work-out like a maniac to keep my figure. Everyone in my family had health problems of some sort, and I was always a stickler for eating the best way I could so I would avoid adding to the genetics problems. I figured if I did the best for my body, maybe it would work in my favor at some point. A girl can dream, right?
            "Well, it wouldn't hurt her to fill out a little more. She looks like if we ever sparred with her, she might break in half," Rhea said as we came to an uninhabited spot on the beach. She crossed her legs and sat down Indian style on the sand. "Come on guys, let's dig in!" She popped the top to the box and I immediately drooled. The perfect pizza was hard to come by, but this one looked pretty amazing. She opened the bag and handed us all a napkin and bottle of water or soda. Then grabbed herself a slice of pizza as I was choosing one also.
            We all sat around and munched our pizza silently. It was the only time we were quiet as a group, when food was involved. Usually food didn't even stop us. We would talk with our mouths full, laugh, choke, laugh some more, but apparently tonight was our night to be quiet and ladylike while in public. Someone should take note. That didn't happen often.
Once, we had a baking sleepover, which was just an excuse for us to make an unrealistic amount of sweets all night and pig out on them. We claimed it to be an experiment and said that we were trying out recipes so we could all agree on what we would make for the next few bake sales and things we participated in for various organizations. We all knew it was just because we are carbaholics and needed a fix. What better way to carb out than with your girlfriends? Movies, gossip, and carbs was the perfect evening for us.
Jamison had come home during the sleepover and just stared at all of us laying across all of the furniture with cookie, pie, and cake crumbs all over our faces, mouths full of sweets, laughing uncontrollably. He kissed my forehead and said that he would vacuum in the morning and for us to have an awesome time. Then he went to our room, shut the door, and didn't come back out for the rest of the night. Smart guy!
            I polished off my third slice of pizza and leaned back, digging my elbows into the sand. "Oh my goodness, Rhea! That pizza was incredible. Thank you so much!" I said right before downing the rest of my water.
            "It's really helpful that we all like the same kind of pizza, isn't it? I don’t know any other chicks that like the carnivore special," Rhea joked.
            "What? We need our meat, too! Bacon is not just for men, you know?" Carly announced happily.






BIO ~ 
CL Foster is a brand new writer with big dreams and lots of avenues she wants to travel. She decided in September 2012 that she wanted to become a writer. She immediately entered a contest with a partner and won with their Halloween horror entry, Billy Carver. (Title available in All Hallow's Eve anthology). She also has a true story entry about hope rising from despair in the Reality Bites anthology.
She has also co-written two other novels with a partner using the pen-name Sierra Sofia, writing in the erotica and paranormal romance genres.
Bluffing the Devil is her debut novel, which came to her in a dream. For an insomniac, that was a shocker to everyone.
Originally from Florida, she has lived all over the world, but has settled down in Pennsylvania.... for now! She has a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, minoring in Psychology and Forensics. Which means you don't want to cross her because she knows how and where to hide a body so it's never found!
She proudly admits to hearing voices in her head, but at times, her characters' impromptu visits can be rude and annoying. Thankfully, she has adequate patience for their shenanigans and can out ninja them any day of the week.




Here's how you can stalk CL Foster (easily!) ~






Thursday, April 18, 2013

Author/Book Spotlight The Secret Life of Girls by Chloe Thurlow



Title: The Secret Life of girls

Author: Chloe Thurlow 
Genre: Contemporary Erotic 
Pages: 220, published by Xcite, and ebook
ISBN-13: 978-1907761904
Source: Amazon, bookshops and motorway service stations!
Published: September 2012
Author's Website: www.chloethurlow.com





The Secret Life of Girls
After my tutor at Cambridge gave me a copy of A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin, I read all her books and wrote my first short story. It was about a girl going for a job at a casting agents where she is seduced into taking off her clothes and then finds herself giving into her pent up passions and desires. The story was published in a literary magazine whose editor had studied under the same tutor at my college – the erotic can be terribly incestuous.
This little success encouraged me to write my first novel, which I called Bella, and was based on aspects of my own life. I loved Nabokov's Lolita. I made my character a few years older and too clever and worldly wise for her own good. The book ended up too literary to be erotic and too erotic to be a mainstream coming of age novel. The publishers all turned it down and I put the book in a drawer and didn't take it out again for five years.
In that time, I published four other novels with Nexus and Xcite and had the thrill of A Girl's Adventure going into the best-seller lists for about 5 minutes. When I took Bella out again, I rewrote it completely, cut about 15,000 words – so painful but so essential, and gave the finished work the title The Secret Life of Girls. It was published by Xcite and is now my favourite book. I have been planning a follow up which I will call Bella in America – I just need to take a year off to write it.
The Secret Life of Girls – to quote the blurb – is a fictionalized memoir of Bella. She is 18 and attends finishing school on the English coast. When her father dies, her mother remarries a man who secretly buys the manor house left in trust to Bella to pay off her father's debts. The betrayal cuts Bella to the core - the house is a part of her. She has nothing left - except  she is beautiful, bold and unafraid to use sex to get revenge - as well as for her own pleasure. Bella also has some success on leaving school as a singing star and plans to move to America – the seeds of the unwritten follow-up.
I had come to see through writing my other novels that, while it is character that drives plot, the erotic must evolve through cause and effect. The erotic is a literary genre and, for me, the first law is good writing. That's what I work hard on and which is why each novel takes so long to complete.
Since its publication, The Secret Life of Girls has had loads of great reviews and I will end with just one, because it cleverly sums up the book with a single line '...a potent blend of classic erotica, bubbling with modernity, Elizabeth Woodham, on Amazon.
Kisses...Chloe.






Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Book Spotlight Lottie Barrett Lives (Again) by Hugh Centerville



Blurb:
Lottie Barrett Lives (Again) is speculative fiction, YA for grownups. It’s no zombie bloodbath or lighthearted zombie romp. It’s a winter ghost tale, what can happen when a zombie girl arrives in 1960s small town America and just in time for the holidays.

It’s Halloween night, 1966. Thirteen year old Lottie has been dead a hundred years and the kids go up to the graveyard with the book of spells Charlene Pendergrass swiped from Miss Robespierre. The kids are going to have some fun scaring themselves, bringing Lottie back, but it turns out Miss Robespierre isn’t the faker everyone says she is and there’s nothing fake about her book either and now there’s a ghost-girl walking the streets of Hope Mountain and what to do with her?
Maybe nothing.
Lottie’s no zombie ax-murderer. She’s just a peculiar kid who wants to be a teenager, something she missed the first time. What else she wants is Bobby Clyde, cutest boy in the freshman class and how can Bobby resist? Lottie is cute and sweet and funny, or are those things illusory, a witch’s spell on Bobby? And what’s Bobby going to do when it’s time for Lottie to go back up onto the hill? Bobby is determined to go with her. Lottie doesn’t think he should go but she doesn’t think she could live (or die) without him. Only Bobby’s mom and big sister can save him and before they can save him, they have to convince themselves it really is true, and there isn’t much time.

Buy link:


Bio:
WJ Smith, aka Hugh Centerville lives in New York State’s Hudson Valley. He is the author of the sword and sorcery Christian fantasy epic, The Denouement, and is the author of two paranormal boomer fiction books, Bobby Slater’s World and Lottie Barrett Lives (Again). Hugh likes, in no particular order, baseball, dogs, tall spreading sycamores and old Indian stuff.


Website:



Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Book SpotlightCover Reveal In Another Life by Jo Cattell




Cover Art & Book Design By Wicked Muse Productions and R. Budney Photograph 


Sixteen year old, Annie Kane was dumped by her last boyfriend. It took a long time for her to agree with her friends and find somebody new. When Jim Osborn, the class clown shows up with his best friend, Annie realizes that there’s is something different about his friend, but she can’t figure out what. Nate Cruz wasn’t like anyone she’d ever known. He’s funny and down to earth, but he also suffers with low self esteem from being in and out of the hospital. After Jim tries to force himself on her at a party, Anne finally sees him as he really is and decides to end it. She and Nate become best friends. Then, a kiss changes it all. With Nate, she sees what love really means. She learns how wonderful life can be. And how at anytime, things can change without warning. If she’d stayed in her safe, little world, Annie would have missed her chance at love. But because of an irresistible attraction for a boy, she just couldn’t forget? She finds out what she’s really made of and what’s it’s like— living in another life.

Look for “In Another Life” coming from Jaden Rose Press, April 2013 on Amazon.com





About the Author Favorite quote: "Characters are not created by writers. They preexist and need to be found" I'm an author, mother, friend. My dreams inspire me, my children drive me. I'm a free spirit, a dreamer, a lover of life, and a loyal friend. I live In New Jersey with my husband Eric, and two daughters Amber and Jade. My first novel, “When Angels Fall” was inspired by a dream and also the loss of my niece, came out in November 2012 and was the first in my  “Fallen Angel Series.” The second book “After Angels Fall” was release New Years Day of 2013. “In Another Life” was inspired by a relationship I was in as a teenager.  We only have one chance to have a first love.  Mine was someone who taught me how important life is and never to take anyone for granted.  To see a person for who they really are on the inside and not just for what shows on the outside.

For more information stop by my blog, http://jcattell.blogspot.com/ and look for my books at Amazon.com


Sunday, March 17, 2013

Book Spotlight/Giveaway Life by Design (Design #2) by Elizabeth James



BLURB


Jane Carter’s life has never been easy.  Leaving her parents behind only to be abandoned pregnant by the one man she thought she could depend on.   She had a sense that things just weren’t going to be easy for her or her precious daughter Jolene.  She’s so skeptical about life that she thinks she’s dreaming when she catches the eye of handsome, successful architect, Jay Anderson.   Will Jay be willing to accept her and her child or will she be forced to return to a past that just won’t go away.  Falling in love is easy.  Life is hard.  Has life finally designed the happy ending she’s always dreamed of? 


twitter: @ejamesauthor
My links to the first book are:



link to 2nd book on goodreads:


Enter to win 1 of 2 ebook copies of Love by Design (Design #1) by Elizabeth James

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

~Book/Author Spotlight and interview with Elizabeth Woodham~




A.R. Von: Hi Elizabeth, welcome to DreamZ of Dragons! Are you ready for a fun probing? I know I’m ready to get to know some more of what is behind that erotic mind of yours ;)
Elizabeth: Will you use slender, flexible surgical instrument to explore? Or shall I just cut the crappy Brit humour and answer the questions? That’s humour with a ‘u’.

A.R. Von: Are you a morning or night person?
Elizabeth: Morning.

A.R. Von: You were just given a yacht. What would you name it?
Elizabeth: Dead Reckoning

A.R. Von: Most hated chore on the household chore list?
Elizabeth: Cleaning the windows…I hate it and I’m crap at it too.

A.R. Von: Weirdest thing you've ever eaten.
Elizabeth: Not really weird but probably snails.

A.R. Von: Tea or coffee?
Elizabeth: Coffee minimum strength five – not instant.

A.R. Von: Pen or pencil?
Elizabeth: Pen, I’m addicted to stationery, but dislike pencils (except for chart plotting when sailing…)

A.R. Von: Do you like to sing in the shower?
Elizabeth: Yes. I like singing and I adore music.

A.R. Von: What is the best thing you have dressed up as for Halloween?
Elizabeth: I went as myself and won first prize.

A.R. Von: What comes first, Chicken or Egg? (he he)
Elizabeth: I think it’s rude for the chicken or the egg to come first, a woman should always come first.

A.R. Von: Listener or talker?
Elizabeth: I like to think both, but it depends on the circumstances.

A.R. Von: What punctuation mark best describes your personality? Why?
Elizabeth: A question mark because I’m a nosy parker.

A.R. Von: What childish things do you still do as adult?
Elizabeth: Far too many to mention, play on swings is a favourite, snowball fights, build snowmen, kick through autumn leaves, say ‘ner nikki ner ner’ (a lot!) and eat Haribo – (a lot).

A.R. Von: Once, just to attract attention, I...
Elizabeth: …got to my feet in the Bobby Moore stand at a West Ham match (London football club) and shouted very loudly at the referee. Not at all ladylike, but not that shocking I’m afraid. The man sitting next to me said, ‘you look like “cor” and you holler like a fishwife’…That’s the East End girl coming out in me; I’ve hidden her away good and proper so I have missus.

A.R. Von: Can you tell us about some of your current releases, maybe a favorite and if you’re currently working on anything new?
Elizabeth: I’ve just released ‘A Stranger In Capricorn’ which is the second installment of a series in my Short, Provocative Erotica – it’s free until the 15th March (the first part being ‘The Little Red Kilt’) I’m working on the third part, it will eventually be novella length at the very least. I’m also working on ‘Falconworth’ which is the follow up to ‘Her Sugar Daddy’, and will also be novel length and published as work in progress on the Secret Narrative website.

A.R. Von: Thank you so much for chatting with me and sharing a little bit of yourself with us all.
Elizabeth: I’m thrilled to have been asked to share with you and your readers Ava and thank you for thinking of me. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best with your own work, which is fabulous. 


A Stranger In Capricorn

FREE until the 15th March





Provocative erotica designed to turn you on by Secret Narrative writing as Elizabeth Woodham. Elizabeth lives and works in London, England. Her titles feature engaging, believable characters, and enjoyable storytelling. Always passionate and erotic, sometimes amusing, occasionally harsh, she wishes you as much pleasure reading her stories as she's had creating them.
From the Author
Thank you for your interest in my work, please keep watch at the website for details of work in progress, new releases, and free offers. I welcome your thoughts and views, am eager to hear your opinion and appreciate reviews. Contact me via…



Other titles by Elizabeth Woodham include:

Her Sugar Daddy
When Eleanor is invited to the tea dance ‘Jive like it’s 1945’, she assumes it’s going to be another wasted evening. How wrong could she be? Eleanor meets Matthew, an older man, in fact, much older. Together they set off on a whirlwind adventure where Matthew explores her in a way she’s never previously experienced, and Eleanor discovers her true sexual self.













Kat-Urban Cougar
Dominant and seductive, bisexual Kat Francis is accustomed to acquiring anything she desires. Wealthy and powerful, there are few things she relishes more than predatory sex, deploying bespoke equipment designed to inflict pleasure and pain. Kat indulges her inner cougar, hunting her prey, capture inevitable, satisfying her needs with scant regard for others, who sometimes discover that wishes are better left unfulfilled.
Kat Francis apparently has it all, predatory, rich, and ruthless, she fills her hedonistic lifestyle with erotic adventures uncomplicated by love, but after the marriage of her daughter Mae, to Barrister Scott Masters, Kat awakens to new possibilities. 













The Little Red Kilt
Plaid skirt wanted for erotic encounter…who features on the cover of The Little Red Kilt? Download your copy today and find out.













Lust: It’s a Sin (It’s a Sin: Volume 1)
The first in a series of seven sins. Owen Shaunessy returns to London, England, having emigrated with his family while he was a teenager, rediscovering his youth introduces some familiar faces - along with the unexpected....