On July 10th, FOURNICOPIA will release to the world! And I can’t wait for you to read it! I haven’t had so much fun with a series in a while, and you will see why!

Imagine it… FIVE lusty, hard-bodied cops—best friends with very few sexual inhibitions and a taste for kink. I introduced my Fabulous 5 in Five Ways ‘Til Sunday. Not a subtle title at all, is it? In this next installment, the same to-die-for men are challenged by one among them to help him with a fiery Domme.

Yes, we finally make it to theBDSM club, La Forge!

But that’s what’s coming. If you haven’t read the first book, you’ll want to read it so you know what came before. Click on the covers if you’re ready to order Five Ways or place Fournicopia on Pre-order!

Here’s what Five  Ways was all about…

“A really well written, hot, steamy and at times funny book that I have no problems recommending to anyone. A little of everything to suit everyone, no matter what your tastes or fantasies!” 5 Stars, Scorching Book Reviews

“FIVE WAYS ‘TIL SUNDAY was an awesome read…” 4.5 Stars, Night Owl Reviews

“Delightfully quick read, you are so consumed in the story it is difficult to put it down…” Sensual Reads

Sometimes a man’s just gotta call for backup…

Marti Kowalski is all wrong for Officer Jackson Teague—he just won’t listen to reason. She didn’t finish high school, runs a bar. Has a tattoo and a blue streak in her hair. Yet he still wants to marry her? She can’t say she’s not tempted, but she’s got a bucket list to complete before she ties the knot.

Not just any bucket—more like a fifty-five-gallon drum of sexual wishes so explicit, there’s no way one man, even Jackson, can fulfill them all.

When Marti turns him down again, Jackson doesn’t give up, he insists on knowing why. That’s when she shows him her list. He takes it, thinks about it—and calls on the only men he can trust: four buddies from his academy graduating class.

Between the five of them, he’s sure they can come up with a plan to check off every item on her list in one wild, wicked weekend. That is, if she has the nerve to follow through—and if he can bear to share her.

Warning: Five men on a mission to break down the resistance of one determined woman. Author suggests readers keep their significant others on speed dial. Not responsible for accidental 911 calls.

Marti Kowalski waved a hand blindly behind her at her desk, swiping the inventory sheets she’d slaved over for two days, and her telephone, to the floor. She didn’t care about the mess—or by the crunch—the loss of her phone. Right this moment, she had Jackson where she wanted him—too far gone with want to worry what damage he might cause.

His body was hard; his expression carved to a lustful edge, which promised the kind of sexy interlude she preferred—something spontaneous and surprising.

Even after all the months they’d been seeing each other, he managed to surprise her. Like now. He’d pulled her from the door of the ladies’ restroom and goose-stepped her with her arm bent behind her back to the manager’s office, growling menacingly into her ear about the wicked things he’d do to her.

Ma’am, keep quiet and I won’t hurt you.

She’d shivered at the menace in his voice, but he’d rubbed her hip gently to remind her this was just a game. She had to hand it to him. He knew what made her hot.

Jackson bent her over her desk and shoved up her blouse. His head ducked to pluck a nipple with his lips, and then he bit it.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” she gasped, her fingers digging into the rigid Kevlar armor he wore beneath his dark shirt. “You’re on duty. Thought you didn’t cross that line when you’re wearin’ the uniform.”

His head reared back. His dark eyes flashed. “Shut up, ma’am. You draw any attention, and I might have to get rough.” Read the rest of this entry »

Hi everyone,

Thank you for asking me to be a guest on your blog today, Delilah, and speak to your many fans.  I’m Meg Lacey, and I have a new series Million Dollar Men, with the first book, Million Dollar Mistake, coming October 23, 2012 from Samhain Publishing.  I’ve previously written for Harlequin/Silhouette and am really excited to join the Samhain Family.

It’s a rainy day where I live, the perfect day to forget about everything and sit down with a good book and have a “Me” Day. I can hear some of you thinking, “Yeah, right, never going to happen! I have too much to do.”

As women, we come with guilt programmed into our DNA. Work, family, school, etc.—got it! I don’t relax well.I wrote my first novel in the sixth grade, but my writing career didn’t last. Instead I went into theatre before ending up in television as a writer-producer.

Over the years, I’ve been an actress, director, producer, copywriter, creative director, college instructor, creative dramatics teacher, author, mime, mom, and a school bus driver—wow, are there stories in that experience!  I’ve started two creative marketing companies and worked in all media from network cable programming to games and corporate initiatives; but always returned to writing. I have children, a husband and tons of obligations, so I understand busy. But lately I’ve been forcing myself to haul out my inner diva and say, “Screw it. I’m taking time for me!”

Knowing how busy most of us are got me wondering what it would be like to have no obligations, and have the time and money to do anything I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. That thought translated into Million Dollar Mistake.

Warning: Million Dollar Mistake contains a tabloid sweetheart who loves to be bad, a sexy hero with little patience for mind games, and a game of strip pool that will make you rethink your weekend plans.   

In addition to overseeing the financial affairs of the wealthy Kristoff family, Nicholas Demetrious specializes in hauling its rambunctious members out of trouble. Especially his distant cousin, Raven Rutledge.

The tabloids love her bad-girl antics, sexy pout, and body made for sin. Nicholas would love to spank the bejesus out of her, but this time the situation is too serious to entertain such a fantasy. A lucrative business deal with the Exeters is in jeopardy, and Jackson Exeter Sr.’s ultimatum is clear: Remove this man-eater from my country house, or the deal is off.

Raven is in way over her head. She accepted the invitation to the Exeters’ Adirondack house party as a refreshing change from her jet-setting lifestyle—until she learns the guest list includes his entire family. His ex-girlfriend. And the junior Exeter’s intention to propose.

If ever she needed suave, sophisticated Nicholas’s persuasive powers, it’s now. Then he’s there with a plan to get her out of this tangle: sweep her off her feet. But their pretend passion turns all too real. And what started out as a weekend of fun threatens to shatter into betrayal and heartbreak.

I had a great time writing this book. There’s a lot of hot sex, but there is also a lot of humor in my writing, with the result that this book is a fun, sexy read. Million Dollar Mistake is actually a continuation of a minor character introduced in my novel, Million Dollar Stud from Harlequin (available in ebook.) You might want to check it out to get some background on Nicholas. Meanwhile, I can’t wait to bring you more stories about Million Dollar Men and the women who love them.

Oh yeah, one more thing before I go. I also have a paranormal series coming out from Imajinn Books this fall—Tales of the Sparrow.  The first book is The Sparrow and The Hawk. As the book is still in production, I can’t share the cover with you yet, but I can tell you a little bit about the story that will also come out in Autumn, 2012.

Tales of the Sparrow is a humorous, paranormal romantic adventure series set one week into the future—a time when magic, myths, shapeshifters and other mystical creatures were all possible because the veil between this world and the next had been stripped away.

In the first book, The Sparrow and The Hawk, Jillie Harte, the Sparrow, is a documentary filmmaker who also works undercover for the “NAS (Normal, Abnormal & Strange) Agency”, a secret private agency sponsored by an eccentric billionaire and run by her uncle whose mission is to protect the world from evil in any form—from that done by ordinary humans to that done through mystical direction.  Under the guise of creating a TV documentary on “Fashion and Decoration throughout history,” Jillie is sent undercover to recover an ancient necklace with the power to unleash evil on the world if it falls into the wrong hands. A lot of people want the necklace, including her new cameraman, Griff Ryland. Griff, The Hawk, is actually from an alternative dimension and as a shapechanger is able to change to a cougar and a hawk when circumstances demand. Magic, witchcraft, alternative dimensions and dragging around a cameraman who looks like ‘sex-on-a-stick’ makes the team’s chase after the necklace dangerous, exciting, sexy and fun.  From San Francisco, to New Mexico to New Orleans, and finally to San Diego, CA.  Sparrow and Hawk must overcome each obstacle until they finally find the ‘manipulator’, the ultimate evil whom they must defeat to recover the necklace and eliminate the curse that surrounds it. That’s not all happening though—Jillie and Griff must also face their developing relationship and decide what to do about it. And they thought saving the world from evil and chaos was hard!!!!

Thanks again, Delilah, for inviting me to share news with all of your fans about my forthcoming books. If you want to know more, or read excerpts, please visit my new website: www.meglacey.com or send an email to: meg@meglacey.com.

Be sure to register for the contests that will accompany the release dates of Million Dollar Mistake and The Sparrow and the Hawk.

So today, or sometime soon make time for the Me in You. Forget the guilt and just go for it. Grab a glass of wine, a book and take a bubble bath, find a corner and indulge in yoga followed by dark chocolate, watch a sad movie and cry your eyes out, or do what I’m going to do today—go for a long walk in the rain.

Take care and smile.

Meg

What does Time Magazine have to do with me? I’ll tell ya.

This is a picture of the July 2d issue of Time. I know. It’s not July 2d just yet, but they go out ahead of the date to bookstores and grocery stores.

Next week, for the July 9th issue, they will include a special feature—their summer reading list. And I’m told that COWBOY LUST is on it! Yes, my lovely, smutty anthology will be mentioned in the TIME!

Here’s what I’d love. If you are out and about in the next few days and happen to see that July 9th issue, take a pic. Email me that pic, because I’d love to post it on my site here and the Cowboy Lust website!

That’s your mission should you choose to accept it!

On to today’s burning question!

If you could be the spokesperson for any product on the market, what product would you choose to enthusiastically represent?

Oh! And Happy Birthday to me! 🙂

The best laid plans…

Thanks so much for having me here, Delilah!

I’m perked to be here with you all today. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty hyped-up over all. This is a very exciting time in my life. You see, my kids are grown and stepping out into the world, and that means my husband and I are empty-nesters for the time in our marriage… Uh-huh. Life is good.

But all these changes have me thinking about plans in general. At last, my husband and I are making plans for just the two of us. We chuckle because it seems our children’s plans change with the wind, but that’s to be expected at their age. When I think back on who I was and what I thought I wanted when I was in my early twenties, I marvel at how far I strayed from my plan.

Here are a couple examples:

The plan: Marry somewhere around twenty-five, first kid by twenty-eight, done having kids by my early thirties.

The reality: At the age of thirty-two, I married a man with two children from his previous marriage and raised them as my own.

The plan: To become super-business-woman like Tess McGill in Working Girl and live the big city dream with Harrison Ford.

The reality: I stumbled into a career I didn’t even know existed when I was in my twenties and married a small-town guy from the south who bears a striking resemblance to Sheriff Woody from Toy Story.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. At. All. Although my life has taken a different path than the one I envisioned when I was a young adult, I have no regrets. So far, it’s been pretty darn awesome. That realization got me thinking about how lucky I was to have the nerve to jump out of line.

By letting go of “The Plan”, I lived my life instead of programming it.

The conflict between dreams and reality is a central theme in most of my novels. In Contentment, Tracy Sullivan almost flushes her idyllic life down the toilet because she can’t let go of her old dreams. Commitment was the story of Maggie McCann, a woman who discovers unanticipated happiness in a change of plan. Spring Chickens focuses on a couple brave enough to take a chance on a second chance at happiness. Even my paranormal romances, Paramour and its sequel Inamorata, feature characters who must learn to let go of the past in order to move forward.

Was it my plan to weave a common theme through every novel I’ve written thus far? *snort* Not at all. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even realize that I had until I was explaining the premise of one of the books to an acquaintance this past weekend. How cool is that?

Tell me, what plans have you changed when the prospect for something different came along?

I’d be happy to give one commenter their choice of any story from my backlist (including the steamier stuff I write as Maggie Wells,
but you have to promise not to tell my mom).

If you’d like to check them out, here are the links to my webpages:
www.margaretethridge.com
https://maggiewells.weebly.com/

The winner of Kate’s contest is…mylilypad! See note #36 in the comments! ~DD

Release Day—DREAM BOUND is out!

Delilah, I really appreciate your invitation to blog—today is pretty special because I’ve got a new book out: Dream Bound is the first of the two book Dream Catchers series. The final story, Dream Unchained, will release in November, but Dream Bound is another one of those stories that started with an idea that sort of took on a life of its own.

I was thinking about that tonight, and I realized that in all of my stories for Kensington’s Aphrodisia imprint, I’ve started out intending to write a totally sexy yet traditional romance—Aphrodisia is, after all, an erotic romance imprint. What I don’t actually plan, and what always seems to happen, is the various relationships that aren’t in the original synopsis I send to my editor!

When Kensington bought the Wolf Tales series, my editor knew she was getting into a story line with same sex relationships. I hadn’t planned to write the stories that way—they just sort of happened within the context of the Chanku characters and their powerful libidos. When I wrote the novella that introduced the Dream Catchers series, I gave my editor a brief synopsis about a young computer geek in 1992, in the Silicon Valley, who falls for a woman who is literally the product of his sexual fantasies. Zianne is also an alien, and her story is the basis for the entire series.

What I didn’t expect was the hero, MacArthur Dugan, and the relationship that developed between him and Nils “Dink” Dinkemann, his childhood friend who has remained his best buddy into young adulthood. Dink is openly gay, but Mac isn’t, though Mac is aware Dink has loved him for years. It’s something they both sort of ignore as best they can, but bringing Zianne into the relationship changes everything.

When I was writing the story, I realized that the sexual dynamic between the two men was every bit as powerful as what I was writing between Mac and Zianne, which, of course, led to a really sexy scene with Dink and Mac, and then an even hotter one with the three of them together. Thank goodness my editor is open-minded enough to go with whatever I send her, because I don’t think she was expecting the Mac/Zianne/Dink part of the story, which of course carries over into Dream Bound and Dream Unchained.

In my convoluted manner (and no, my books are actually a lot better organized, but when I blog I sort of let my thoughts wander and you get whatever dribbles across the page…) I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t intentionally sit down and say, “Okay, I’m going to write a book with forty gazillion sex scenes and they’re going to include every combination known—or unknown.”

What I do is sit down at my computer and start a conversation with my lead character, and I essentially let them tell the story. I have no idea that Mac really wanted to experience sex with Dink, or that Zianne was interested in sex with two men. I ran into the same thing with the Dream Team, the six young men and women who are brought together by Mac Dugan in 2012, twenty years after Zianne disappeared (after the novella ends) but since she was traveling through time to see Mac, it’s only been twenty-four hours for her.

It’s been two decades for Mac while he struggles to develop the technology and raise enough money to mount a rescue of his beloved alien lover. Well, when Dream Bound starts, he’s got the money and his satellite array is built, and he’s bringing together his team. But Dink comes back into his life, too, and the story once again took off in some directions I wasn’t planning on. I do hope you’ll give Dream Bound a chance. I’m really pleased with the way the story came together—it was one of those that felt as if it was meant to be written, and it was a nice break between my Wolf Tales/Sexy Beast stories, and the new Chanku series, Spirit Wild, which will debut next May. I just turned the first book, To Love a Dark Wolf, in to my editor on Friday.

And yep, that one’s got a same sex relationship I didn’t see coming, either. You’ll get to see Lily Cheval all grown up, and I discovered that Anton is a wonderful father, but he’s also a pain in the butt at times. It was wonderful, going back into that world and reconnecting with characters who are like old friends.

Do you ever have that happen? Get so caught up in a fictional character that they’re like real people to you? Happens to me all the time—I think it’s the very best part about being an author. Well, that and meeting readers. Definitely love that part! And if you’re going to be anywhere near Anaheim, California on July 25, the humongous book signing for the Romance Writers of America National Convention will be going on. From the RWA website:

Romance Writers of America is pleased to announce that the 2012 “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center, which is conveniently located next to the Anaheim Marriott (RWA’s conference hotel). RWA would like to thank Avon Books for generously underwriting the event, which takes place Wednesday, July 25, 2012, from 5–8 p.m. PT in the Ballroom (third floor) at the convention center.

Now that my public service announcement is over, if you leave a comment, you’ll be entered for a chance to win both a copy of DREAM BOUND, and a really cute little stuffed squirrel. And if you’re going to be in Anaheim, please let me know. I love the chance to actually get to meet my readers!

Buy Dream Bound at:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million

Got Bondage?

Bondage. The word conjures such a strong gauntlet of emotions, doesn’t it? Fear. Arrousal. Curiosity. The scope of emotions is almost as limitless as the way bondage can, well, bind us. Debt bondage. Spiritual bondage. Bondage to our day-to-day lifestyles. And, of course, my favorite…sexual bondage. And if you’ve read my last book, Lust, Lace & Lingerie, I’m sure you’re not surprised by that fact!

There’s just something about giving up power to another person (when done sanely, safely and consensually, of course) that creates a heightened sensation of…everything. It gets the blood pumping and the brain spinning into overdrive. Giving your pleasure—or pain—over to someone else to experiment with is intense, something the heroine in my newest Ellora’s Cave novel, His Forbidden Submissive, found out the, um, hard way.

(Oh look, more shameless self promotion, LOL. It’s the last for this blog. Scout’s honor. *crosses fingers behind back*)

But my surprised heroine wasn’t the only person learning about BDSM and sexual bondage between the digital pages of His Forbidden Submissive. I was too. I’ve enjoyed BDSM stories by other authors and I’ve always been curious about the lifestyle, but I really didn’t know much about how it really worked. So I went to work scouring the internet for fun and sexy facts about BDSM and bondage.

I had a basic understanding of BDSM when I started my research, but some of the things I learned shocked me, made me laugh, and on more than one occasion, made some mighty interesting things happen between my thighs. *wink, wink* But in the end, it all came together to help me create a story that’s hot, emotional and brimming with leather, whips, chains and more bondage than my poor, poor heroine thinks she can handle.

I’m so mean, aren’t I?

But as it happens, when you start doing internet searches about anything sexual, you’ll get back a massive amount of results. Some interesting, some down right disturbing, and some you just can’t click out of fast enough—especially with kiddos around. But don’t worry. I won’t share any of that with you, LOL. Instead, I want to share with you 10 strange and fun facts I’ve discovered about the human penis.

Yep, you heard me right. Ten fun facts about the penis. Here we go…

1. The number of calories per tsp of semen is only 7.

Woot! Semen is a low calorie food. Good to know. So eat up, ladies—or guys—because this is one treat that defies the “minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips” rule!

2. Acidic fruits and alcohol have been shown to give semen a sugary flavor. On the other hand, foods like meat and fish produce a buttery flavor (although I’m not putting it on my popcorn).

So there there ya go, ladies. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, make sure and get your man hopped up on ice cream and booze before you go down on him.

3. The amount of time needed for a man to regain erection after orgasm can vary from 2 minutes to 2 weeks.

Two weeks! Could you imagine the romance novel that took a hero 2 weeks to form another erection? OMG, that’s a book I don’t want to read. Well, I guess it could work, depending on how crafty our hero is at, um, filling the void for his partner.

4. The average number of times a man will come in his lifetime is 7,200 times. And of those times, only 2,000 will be by his hand.

Only 2,000? I’d figured it’d be higher, wouldn’t you?

5. The average speed of an ejaculation is 28 mph!

Wait, what? 28? Wow. Just wow. This can’t be right, can it? I now have a completely new respect for the strength and ingenuity that goes into making condoms.

6. The smallest FUNCTIONAL penis was an incredible 5/8 of an inch.

Talk about coming up short! I’d really like to know the specifics on this one, wouldn’t you? Just who is/was this man? How tall was he? And now I’m thinking about the shoe size/penis size correlation. If that really holds true, he’s got to be like 2 feet tall, right? (Please, feel free to check my math, LOL.)

7. This one isn’t exactly about the penis itself, but it involves the penis so I’m throwing it in: 13% of men have said there’s actually been at least a moment in their lives where they were NOT interest in sex.

I have to say this one really, really surprised me. I wonder how many of these times were during an important sporting even. “Not right now, honey. The game’s tied with .3 seconds left on the clock!”

8. The average number of erections men have per day is 11, and 9 of these are while they’re sleeping.

I admit it. This one makes me laugh out loud. I’m not surprised that a guy would have 9 erections while sleeping, but what gets me is that he only has 2 while he’s awake. That just doesn’t seem right, especially when you couple it with #7.

9. The approximate cost for a year’s supply of condoms is $100.

But I don’t think this holds true for heroes of romance novels, do you? At least not the heroes I write. *wink*

10. And finally, the tissue that surrounds the testicles and the penis is more durable even than the tissue that surrounds the human brain.

Wow. If the body naturally protects the most important parts first, this put a whole new light on that old saying about men always thinking with their penises.

And there ya have it. Ten things I learned about the human penis while doing researching for books. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it. I hoped you enjoyed these as much as I did. 😉

Today, I’m giving away a $5 Amazon gift card to one lucky commenter. To enter, all you have to do is tell me the most bizarre thing you know about sex. From positions to fetishes…dirty minds want to know!

Later, lovelies!

~Brandi Evans

p.s. And if you didn’t get enough sex-related fun facts, click here to read my blog post 10 Strange Facts About Sex.

His Forbidden Submissive releases June 27th from Ellora’s Cave!

Click banner to learn more!

First, make sure you go to the She Shifters blog.
Everyone who posts a comment gets a free book!

I’m neck deep in stories at the moment, so not a lot of chat in me today. I asked folks who followed me to send me pictures of their favorite things. I might make this a regular feature because I loved what I got!

From Patricia K: “I’m in love with Thor at the moment.”

[Patricia, I’m not into blond men, but he makes me swoon! I’m right there with you!]

[Pretty picture, but am I the only one worried about it getting windy? :)]

From Bridget: “Here’s my favorite thing. My backyard folly! I dreamed it, and my hubby had it built. A lot of it is composed of reclaimed materials. Perfect for reading!”

[Now are the rest of you with SO’s wondering how you can get your own folly? Since I’m single, I’m gonna have to hire a handy man. Hmmm…]

From Kathleen C

[Her expressions says it all!! I want to be on that beach!]

I’m looking for more pictures! If you have a favorite thing, place or person, send me a pic!