It's holiday Monday here, a long weekend and looks like a gorgeous day. And it's the last week of my four week vacation from the day job. It hasn't been as productive as I'd hoped, but I have crossed a lot of things off the "to do" list, many of which were polishing and editing older manuscripts. Late last week I finally got back into writing mode only to encounter a technological tragedy. Thursday I sat down and whipped out 3800 words on my "chef" story. Friday morning when I opened the document every one of those 3800 words was GONE. Imagine my horror. Thanks to some tech support from Nara Malone, I was able to retrieve the temp file, the last saved version of the document, but unfortunately everything I'd written had turned to gibberish (including, weirdly, a few recognizable paragraphs from another manuscript, Power Struggle, which I have not even opened in weeks. I cannot explain what happened but after wasting almost an entire day trying to get it back, I finally admitted defeat and rewrote everything.

Except 3800 words the first time around ended up only about 2900 words the second time and I know they weren't as good. I cannot describe to you how much I LOATHE trying to recreate something I already wrote. It takes all the fun out of the creative process. Anyway, it's done and I've moved on and written another 4000 words on it since then and hopefully will do at least that today!

Well I just finished Raising Kane by Lorelei James. You know what you're going to get with one of her "rough rider" books and I loved it. Lots of hot sex and tough but tender cowboy love. She writes great cowboy heroes. Next up on my reader (though I've already had a sneak peek at this story!) Edge of Heaven by PG Forte.

Well another week has gone by without much writing, but I have continued editing and polishing, which was on my list of things to do during my vacation from the day job. I'm getting two manuscripts ready to submit.

And I did do some writing, but it's on a sooper sekret project I'm working on with the Nine Naughty Novelists - keep your eyes out for more news on this, it's coming this fall!

Actually since I've been on vacation the last two weeks, I almost forgot it was Friday! So I can't really say TGIF!

For today's little sneak peek here's a snippet from the manuscript I'm currently polishing up and getting ready to submit. It's called Power Exchange:

She awoke to sensation — dark, erotic, electric — her body stretched out on the bed, hands above her head. She sank into the touch of hands, hard but gentle, and Cole’s mouth, warm but greedy, as he kissed and nibbled and sucked.


When she tried to reach for him, hardness bit into her wrists. What the...she jerked her wrists. But to no avail. Her eyes flew open. Her hands were bound by leather cuffs to the headboard behind her. The lamp beside the bed cast a golden glow over the bed, where Cole lay beside her stroking her, kissing her, setting every nerve ending aflame. His dark hair gleamed in the lamplight, his olive skin satiny smooth over big muscles.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, through a tight, dry throat. “Untie me!”

He lifted his head from where he pressed a kiss to her belly and slanted her wicked smile. “No.”

“Cole!”

Fear sizzled over her body, and she yanked at the restraints again, craning her neck on the pillow to look at them. She could not let him do this to her. The idea that he could do anything he wanted to her sent adrenaline surging through her, and oh dear lord, a rush of liquid heat in her pussy.

This could not turn her on. It could not. She was not going to submit like this.

“Carina. Remember...look inside yourself. Be honest with yourself about what you really want.”

“Oh for...I am honest with myself.” Her eyes burned and she blinked back tears of frustration. This was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to go to Le Château — the fear that he was going do something like this, something to force her to see things she didn’t want to see.

I finished Lush Velvet Nights by Tina Donahue - it was very touching and very hot! Her writing reminds me a little of Beth Kery's.

And I read Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. Or should I say I devoured this book. I LOVED it. I sobbed my way through the ending. It really is amazing. The way she wrote from the hero's point of view and conveyed his difficulties was so well done - a hero who's damaged but still strong and dominant. It was a little difficult to relate to Maddie's inner conflict, which was her religious views, but I'm sure that was also very accurate for that time. She frustrated me in her lack of understanding about why the Duke was doing what he was, when he was trying to save himself. Very moving and poignant.

Over at Nine Naughty Novelists, I'm blogging about my frustration with the publishing industry from a reader's perspective - come on by!

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After my first week of holidays, what I have a written? Nothing.

Well, that's not entirely true. I spent most of the week going back through my completed works (which even though complete, are still "in progress" because I could tweak and edit forever), trying to get things lined up to submit. I sent one off to my critique partner, which will probably be my next submission. And I had an email conversation with my agent about posible next works to pitch. Didn't come to any real conclusions there, yet. It's hard when you don't write for the market. I've always known I don't. I write what I want to write, which is basically the same as what I love to read, and I already knew that what I love to read - there isn't a lot out there right now. More about that in Wednesday's post.

I also spent some time making a trailer, since I got the cover for my next Ellora's Cave release Power Struggle (out August 6!). You can check it out here.

I thought for something different I'd go waaaaay back and give you a snippet from my book Dream Girl

It was his turn now. And it wasn’t even hard. Well, the shot wasn’t hard, but he was. “Eight ball in the corner pocket,” he said smugly. With an effortless flick of his wrist, he sunk the ball and grinned.
“Good game,” Zach said with genuine approval. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun playing pool. She smiled back at him, not too disturbed by losing.
“I think you’re better than you let on.” He stood right in front of her, so close they were almost touching, so close he could see the glints of gold in her eyes. They reminded him of the effervescent bubbles in a good, clear amber ale. “That wasn’t your ‘A’ game, was it?”
She blinked and her lips curved enticingly; she hitched one shoulder. “Maybe not.”
He laughed with delight. “Come on, I’ll buy you a beer,” he offered, taking her cue and replacing it on the wall.
She hesitated and glanced around, as if looking for her friend. Placing his hand lightly on the small of her back, Zach directed her back to their barstools. He put a hand out and held hers while she climbed up. Her hand felt small and delicate in his larger one, and as she rose onto the stool, her scent surrounded him— a fresh, fruity scent that smelled...delicious. Like strawberries and watermelon.
He was painfully aware of her now, sitting beside him. She was his dream girl come to life—gorgeous, blonde, and she liked beer and played pool. Wow. Zach silently thanked Connor for standing him up.
“So Blondie, another of the same?”
She lifted a brow. “Blondie?”
“I don’t know your name,” he admitted apologetically. “I’m Zach.”
“Ashlyn.” She slid her little hand into his, and he held it again as he looked at her appealing face.
She met his gaze and awareness sizzled between them.

Last week I mentioned that I'd started The Summer of You by Kate Noble. I have put it aside for a while. I was having some difficulties with it.

Now I'm reading Lush Velvet Nights by Tina Donohue, fellow Ellora's Cave author. Very nice!

I did it!  I finished my WIP! Feels so good, because even though I know it's crazy, I'm still afraid I'll never be able to do it again. I wonder if that will ever go away. I spent the last week going through it and tweaking things here and there and now I have set it aside to rest for a while. I always need some time away from it and then I go back to it with much clearer eyes and can see things I didn't see before. I have tentatively titled this story One Wicked Night. It started off to be a hot little M/M/F novella and turned into 60,000 words about a complicated dysfunctional family. Go figure.

What was interesting (to me anyway, which means you all get to hear about it!) is that I did very little planning for this story. Usually I know what word count I'm aiming for and at what word count I should be hitting a turning point, and my turning points are all planned out ahead. I didn't do that this time. And I loved it. Which goes to show - once a pantser always a pantser, I suppose. Although I do love planning, for some reason it takes the fun and the joy out of the actual writing process for me. I love to just get into the characters heads and see what happens. I think I must keep this lesson in mind for future. Another interesting thing is that I still manage to get the stuff in there that needs to be in there. When I'm done I look at what the turning points should be and what the crisis for the main characters will be and I write down some points that need to be covered - and when I did that and went back through the MS - they were already there! I love it when that happens!

Okay enough rejoicing. Now I must decide what to work on next. I have several projects started that I can go back to and one fresh idea percolating in my head...

This week I finished Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Okay, no more SEP for a while, I promise. Then I read Sugar Creek by Toni Blake. A favorite author of mine. I really enjoyed it but I have to say it wasn't as heart-wrenching as some of her stories. In the end there really wasn't much keeping them apart. It was a nice story.

I've just started The Summer of You by Kate Noble. I read good things about this book and it's a new-to-me-author. So far, only a few pages in , I'm a little distracted by all the dialogue tags (..she said. ...he replied. ..she replied...he disgreed...she argued...he replied...etc. etc.). Will let you know more next week!

Edited to add: Once again Blogger has failed me and failed to post my scheduled post when it was supposed to. I really must learn to check these things. Here it is anyway.

Well I've been busily and happily writing away this week on my WIP, back into delicious and exciting creativity!  I've been so happily tracking my progress, because sometimes writing seems so slow. When you start those first few pages and know you have three or four hundred more to go, it's kind of intimidating.

Which got me thinking about word counts and writing goals.

I know some writers have a word count goal for every day - they make themselves write that many words. I've never been one that does that. I guess it was mostly because when I started writing I was fitting it in around everything else in  my life - my day job and my family. But it was also because I never had to force msyelf to write - I had to force myself to stop writing. (What do you mean you want dinnner?Why do you have to eat?)

Although I've had to balance the writing with other things, I have to be honest and say that family comes first. Even though my kids are older now, which is in part why I finally got to do this - I never could have done it when they were younger, because they took up MY WHOLE LIFE - they still are important. When my daughter comes down to tell me about the party she went to last night or the argument she had with her best friend, that takes priority over writing. When my husband needs help with something or my son needs a ride over to a friend's place, that takes priority over writing.

And so, I've never set a word count goal because I know there are days I'm not going to be able to do it - when there's homework to be done, a band concert to go to or my kids want to go to a movie (when they're teenagers and they want to go to a  movie with their parents, we don't say no!).

My goal has always been to write as much as I can. Whenever I can. And so far, that's working out pretty well.

Okay this is really rough and raw and totally unedited, but it's my WIP and more than half way through, I'm still liking it! Here's a little peek..

At the hotel, Tyler and Nick walked into their room, flicking on lights.


“Fuck,” Tyler said. “What a night.” He let out a heartfelt sigh and fell onto the bed. He stared up at the ceiling

“Want one of these?” Nick opened the small bar fridge and held up a beer.

“Nah. Had enough booze.” He heard the fridge door close and then the bed dipped under Nick’s weight as he sat beside him.

Silence settled around them. Tyler lifted his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Neck sore?” Nick asked.

“Hell, yeah.”

“Roll over.”

Tyler rolled away from Nick, face down onto the bed. Then Nick’s hands found his shoulders and started massaging the tight muscles. His strong fingers dug into rock-like muscles and Tyler groaned.

“You always store all your tension here.”

Tyler grunted a wordless response, his eyes closing. Then the bed shifted again and he felt Nick moving over him, straddling his ass, still kneading tight muscles, using his thumbs to work his way down his spine.

Tension seeped out of him. Some tension. But then a different kind of tension filled him at the feel of Nick’s hands on his body and his muscled thighs against his hips. Tyler’s dick swelled against the bed and he imagined Nick’s doing the same, thickening and lengthening in his pants where he now pressed against his ass. He let the moan pass through his lips.

“Feel good?” Nick’s hands kept moving on him —mesmerizing, sensual, arousing.

“Yeah.”

Nick moved away. “Take your clothes off.”

They both tossed off their clothes, and Tyler resumed his prone position, face down, arms bent, and Nick straddled him again, this time bare skin to hot bare skin. Nick’s cock rubbed up and down the crease of Tyler’s ass as his hands moved up and down his back, over his tight shoulders. Every nerve ending in Tyler’s ass jumped at the feel of Nick’s cock sliding there, and his own dick hardened even more against the mattress.

Tyler jerked when Nick’s tongue licked up his back, when his teeth nipped a shoulder muscle. He lifted his head as fire streaked through him, and Nick’s hand slid over his forehead, pulling his head back even further, and rubbed over his hair. Tyler groaned.

Nick bent low again, slid his hands beneath Tyler’s arms and gripped his fists, cock sliding up and down, sending a barrage of sparks over those sensitive nerves, his body rubbing over Tyler’s back, his face rubbing Tyler’s face. If Nick’s goal was to ease the tension in him, he’d succeeded, but fuck, he’d created a whole other kind of tension. Tyler’s balls tightened and pressure built.

Still stretched over Tyler’s back, Nick released Tyler’s hands and slid his hands into Tyler’s hair. He rubbed his nose against Tyler’s cheek, paused, then licked around his ear. Sensation poured through Tyler, thick and hot. Nick pressed his face to Tyler’s and they lay like that for a moment, the heat of Nick’s cheek seeping into his face, the roughness of Nick’s stubble scraping against his, the weight of Nick’s body pressing him into the mattress, the sound of Nick’s harsh breathing loud in his ear.

Tyler turned his head a fraction more and found Nick’s mouth with his own.

The kiss started slow and warm, soon passed hot and exploded into scorching. Their tongues met and tangled, mouths opening wider. Never one to be on the bottom, Tyler rolled Nick off him and arranged himself on top, taking Nick’s mouth again and again, holding his head with both hands. He wedged his thigh between Nick’s, nudged Nick’s cock, and Nick let out a long groan.

“You were horny before we even started this,” Nick whispered when Tyler moved his mouth away to rub his jaw against Nick’s, to kiss his neck.

“Yeah.” Nick knew him better than anyone. Although that comment Kaelin had made earlier had startled him with her scary insight.

“You want her,” Nick said, then gasped when Tyler nipped his jaw. “You wanted her then. And you want her now.”

“I want you,” Tyler growled.

Nick laughed. “I know.” He grabbed Tyler’s head and kissed him hard. “You’re so fucked up.”

“So are you.” Tyler reached for Nick’s crotch, cupped his junk and squeezed another sharp breath out of him. “Wanna get fucked?”

It's Canada Day and I loved this quiz! Hope you  LOL! (Though only true Canucks may get the jokes!)


Take this quiz to determine your Canuckish-ness, eh
By: Doug Speirs

It's the day before Canada Day, a time of tradition, a time of celebration, a time of patriotism, a time when we Canadians, as a nation strong and free, look deep in our hearts and realize an essential truth -- unless we get to the liquor store right away we are going to be trapped in a lineup longer than the Great Wall of China.

But do not become discouraged, Canada, because while you are creeping along at the speed of airport luggage in that traditional pre-holiday lineup, you will have plenty of time to think about what it means to be Canadian.

First, we are a young country. In fact, tomorrow Canada will turn ... um ... OK, perhaps while the rest of us are trapped in this line, a non-drinking Canadian could look on the Internet and let the rest of us know how old our country will be on July 1.

Not that age is important. What's important is that you know in your heart you are as Canadian as ... um ... as the Robertson screwdriver or the Automatic Postal Sorter or fivepin bowling. You know that, right?

OK, short of looking at your driver's licence, how can you be sure you're, in fact, a true Canadian?

Well, one surefire way is to take our Day Before Canada Day multiple-choice quiz to determine your degree of Canuckish-ness.

Let's get started, eh:
Question No. 1 -- Complete the following lyrics: "O Canada ..."


a) "We stand on cars and freeze."

b) "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!"

c) "My roaming naked band."

d) "Ohhhhhhh, I will alwaaaaaays love youuuuuuuuuu!"



Question No. 2 -- The Canadian Football League may add another team. What should they be called?

a) Roughriders.

b) The Roughriders.

c) Maple Leafs.

d) Rough Riders.



Question No. 3 -- What is your primary source of culture?

a) The CBC.

b) Yogurt.

c) Shopping online.

d) Canadian Tire.



Question No. 4 -- You know the end of the world is here if ...

a) Dogs and cats start living together.

b) It doesn't rain during the Red River Exhibition.

c) You go to Tim Hortons for coffee and there ISN'T a lineup.

d) The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.



Question No. 5 -- You can tell someone is Canadian if they correctly use which phrase ...

a) Make mine a double-double, eh?

b) Hand me that two-four?

c) Would you like a serviette with your poutine?

d) I hit a deer with my snowmobile.



Question No. 6 -- When you refer to "block-heaters" you are talking about ...

a) Winter hats in Newfoundland.

b) The furnace in your apartment block.

c) Canada's No. 1 punk rock band.

d) Something you will never remember to unplug, not even if your wife staples a reminder note to your forehead.



Question No. 7 -- During the World Cup tournament, you are cheering for ...

a) Not the U.S.

b) Someone other than the U.S.

c) Is Mexico technically part of the U.S.?

d) The Toronto Maple Leafs.



Question No. 8 -- Canada is the leading exporter of ...

a) Softwood lumber.

b) Celine Dion albums.

c) Senior citizens to Florida.

d) NHL teams.



Question No. 9 -- If the U.S. declared war on Canada, you would ...

a) Demand the immediate release of William Shatner.

b) Put the submarines at West Edmonton Mall on high alert, and briefly consider locking your front door.

c) Feel really proud because that cute news anchor on CNN mentioned your province.

d) "Que'est-ce que vous avez dit, monsieur?"


To find out how Canadian you are, assign yourself 10 points for each correct answer.

We trust you to do this on your own. Because you don't need someone looking over your shoulder. Because you are honest to a fault. Because, in this country, we operate on the honour system.

Because if you believe any of that, you're a Canadian for sure.

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 30, 2010

My festival of Susan Elizabeth Phillips got interrupted because I happened to snag a 7-day loan copy of Emily Giffin's new book, Heart of the Matter, at the library the other day. Has to be read in 7 days, no renewals, so I read it all weekend. It made me think and it made my stomach knot up with anxiety for Tess because I knew what her husband was doing, and it made me cry at the end. Of course, being a romance lover, I would wish for a happier ending, but without any spoilers at least it was a hopeful ending.

Now I"m back to Glitter Baby. This book is quite different from the other two SEP books I read - Errol Flynn's secret baby??!! But it's keeping me reading!

And add to the big non-fiction pile:  Material Dreams by Kevin Starr and Everyday Life Through the Ages (Reader's Digest).

Although my WIP was going great, I got distracted this week. It happened when I decided to make a list of what I want to accomplish during my upcoming 4 week vacation from the day job. I love making lists. Packing lists, shopping lists, To Do lists. Sometimes I even make a To Do list after I’m done the tasks, just so I can have the satisfaction of crossing them off the list. Okay, enough about my OCD tendencies.

So I made my list. One of the things on the list was to polish my manuscript for Crazy Ever After and submit it somewhere. As I only have one more book scheduled to be released, I decided I’d better submit something and this is going to be it. And then my usual impatience overcame me and I could not wait until I start my holidays to work on that, I had to do it now.

So I spent most of this week doing that. I wrote Crazy Ever After a long time ago. Strangely enough, it took forever to write, because I kept getting other, better ideas and kept dropping it to work on something else. Whenever I got stuck, I’d go back to this one and sure enough, in no time I had more ideas and dropped it again. It was my magic story, my way to unblock writer’s block. Eventually I did finish it but haven’t submitted it anywhere. I’d could edit and polish forever, so I finally called a halt yesterday and sent it out to be beta-read. And now...back to the WIP.

This is from a story I'm polishing up now getting ready to submit. It's called Crazy Ever After.



“Okay, don’t think about it.” He clenched his jaw, his entire body tight with restraint. “Don’t ever think that someone else might know something you don’t. Don’t think about anyone’s feelings but your own. I know you were spoiled rotten. Hell, teenagers are supposed to be self-centered. But by your age you’d think you’d have a bit more empathy, that you’d know that life isn’t all black and white.”


“Spoiled rotten?” She stood up too, stalked over to him and jabbed him in the chest. “I have never been spoiled rotten! And I am sick of you lecturing me!” He was horrified to see her lower lip quivering. “I’m not self-centered. I do have empathy!” She hit him again, this time a punch to his shoulder that instinctively made him grab her hand and hold it away from him. He grabbed her other one for good measure, in case she decided to swing at him with her left. Her words pierced his heart with a sharp stab.

She tried to wrestle away from him and he tugged her closer. Ah sweet Jesus. She felt so unbelievably good in his arms, soft breasts flattened against him, the scent of warm vanilla and woman filling his nostrils. Her long hair trailed over his arms, tickling him. He felt his body harden and resisted the urge to push his hips against her.

She struggled more, then she kicked him – kicked him! – in the shin. Luckily her small foot in the flimsy flip flop didn’t even hurt; in fact it probably hurt her more.

“I know self defense,” she muttered, wriggling against him and making him go even harder. “I’ll knee you in the nuts, so help me God. Let me go!”

He wanted to laugh. Some threat. He probably had seventy pounds on her. He thrust a knee between her thighs to prevent her from damaging his junk, and then she went still, making a funny little noise somewhere between a sob and a moan. He was suddenly aware of the moist heat he felt against his thigh, only the thin cotton of her dress and his jeans separating his flesh from the hot softness between her legs.

She moved against him, a small tilt of her pelvis that told him she was aroused, too. Oh Christ. He’d resisted her the last time he’d held her like this; where the strength had come from that time, he had no goddamn clue, because now he was hot and hard and the reasons they shouldn’t be doing this had disappeared like the sun below the horizon.

“Samara,” he groaned. “Oh Christ, Samara.”

“No,” she cried brokenly, and she let herself go, falling against him, pressing her face into his neck. He felt the wet tears, released her hands to encircle her shuddering body with his arms. She was small boned, and he held her protectively, gently as she sobbed against him. “I don’t want this. I don’t want this!”

Edited to add:  I don't know why this didn't post on Wednesday! But I guess Thursday night is better than never!
Wait 'till you see this list! An interesting week!

For pleasure (mostly) reading, I finished What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and since I quite liked it and I was at the library and they had her book Natural Born Charmer, I checked it out. And I read it too. More of that bantering dialogue which I guess is her style. Aaand since I enjoyed that book, I downloaded Glitter Baby and started it last night!

I'm also reading:

The Rockefeller Women by Clarice Stasz
Disorderly Conduct by Carroll Smith-Rosenberg
Alfred Dupont: The Man and His Family by Joseph Frazier Wall
Flapper by Joshua Zeitz
California by Kevin Starr
Victorian Women by Erna Olafson Hellerstein et al
America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines by Gail Collins

Ha! Quite the list, huh? Truthfully I'm not reading the entire books, just select parts and you can probably guess that I'm researching. I love research!  But I'm not telling what it's all about just yet!

The WIP is now 21,000 words! Yay! I've been continuing with it and I still like it. I did get interrupted last week when I received my first round of edits from my Ellora's Cave editor, which I worked on most of the week, but on the weekend I got back to the story, which has no name. Must come up with a title. Sometimes good titles pop into my head, other times I really struggle for a good one. I'm thinking along the lines of Sinful, Shameles...hmmm.
While writing this story I got an idea for another one, but this one's going to take a lot of research. I started the research and it's worked out well, that when I write until I feel I need a little break or to replenish the well, I can then do some research. Then I got back to the story. It feels good to be writing and enjoying it!

Since I just got a great review for Irish Sex Fairy from Night Owl Reviews, I thought I'd post a little snippet from that story. It's been out for a while now, from Ellora's Cave, but it's always nice to get a good review!

Night Owl Reviews gave Irish Sex Fairy 5 STARS and  NOR TOP PICK!

Reviewer Heather said: "a fantastic, fast-paced story that will make readers crave more. Her characters are believable, intelligent and intriguing. The plotline is fascinating, interesting, and enchanting. This book is one that I am definitely adding to my keeper collection and I am delighted to recommend this book to others."



EXCERPT:
He was acting like a caveman. A horny, crazed animal. Shit. He sucked in oxygen. “I’m sorry.”

She blinked at him. He tugged her closer and put his hands on her waist. “Believe it or not, I do believe in foreplay,” he said softly, smiling.

She gave a choked little laugh. “That’s good. I know we don’t have much time, but…”

He pulled her closer, against his body, inhaled that sweet jasmine honeysuckle scent of her. He had a hard-on like a club. “We have all the time in the world,” he murmured.

“Um…your job? Shane…”

He nuzzled the side of her neck, beneath her ear, where the skin was soft and sweetly fragrant. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Oookay.” The word was a breath and he pressed a kiss to her throat, to the pulse fluttering there. His own heart was about to pound out of his chest and his cock throbbed insistently behind the zipper of his uniform trousers. He slid his hands down to her hips and then around behind her to the curves of her ass.

Her breath hissed out, her head fell back and he lifted his own head to gaze at her. Her lips parted and his mouth opened with the need to taste her. He lowered his head and kissed her, at first soft, exploring, coaxing. Then with a groan, he gathered her in his arms and brought her up tight against him, loving the feel of her in his arms, and deepened the kiss, mouth opening over hers, his tongue licking over her bottom lip and into her mouth. She tasted like sweet, delicious female and he realized he recognized the taste of her and the feel of her as if the last time he’d kissed her had been yesterday.

The shock of that jolted him like a live current, made his pulse leap, made his cock twitch. He pressed it into Keara’s softness, felt her arms slide around his neck, her fingers slipping into his hair. If they could have wrapped themselves around each other, they would have, by the feel of her straining against him. Her breasts—not big but damn cute from what he remembered—pressed against his torso.

Christ! He hauled her up by her ass, and her legs wrapped around his waist, their mouths devouring each other. He tried to carry her to the stairs leading to the bedrooms upstairs, stumbling a bit with her across the shiny white tile floor of his foyer.

“No,” he gasped as his raging lust threatened his self-control. The carpeted stairs looked good to him, and he considered stopping there and taking her.

“What d’you mean, no?” She arched against him to rub those pretty tits over his chest.

“I mean, I want to do you right here, but I promised you foreplay.”

“Screw the foreplay,” she said. “I want it now. Right here. Oh God, Shane.”

She rocked against him, her soft center rubbing seekingly against him.

Okay, the stairs it was.

I finished The Devil She Knows by Diane Whiteside. It had a nice satisfying ending.

Now I'm reading (on the advice of critique partner) What I Did For Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I'm enjoying the story, but I have to say when I started reading I thought she might as well have named her heroine Jennifer and her ex and his new wife Brangelina. It's pretty obvious who that's based on! Well, I use real life things to base stories on too, but this did distract me a little. But I like the bantering dialogue and tension between hero and heroine. I am making notes, Nara...