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One Day to Four Sworn!
Monday, September 6th, 2010

I’m running TWO contests.
1) One offering a $25 gift certificate from Amazon to celebrate the release of PLEASING SIR. This contest ends today! See details here!
2) The second is my usual thing. You post a comment here today and you’re eligible for a free download of any of my backlisted books.

Yesterday’s winner is posted at the end of this entry.

I went to bed last night with sniffles, and today I have a full-blown cold (hacking cough, runny nose, general aches and pains, aching back from cough). It’s looking iffy for my trip to West Viriginia on Thursday. I hope this is a really fast-moving bug, but if I’m not better, I won’t inflict myself on two hundred other people.

So back to tomorrow’s release. You know the story’s going to be hot as hell. And the reason has to do with the Kinzie brothers, who don’t get the girl at the end of Four Sworn.

Keep in mind this book is unedited because I’m still writing it, but I thought you might like a sneak peek.

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Chrissi Page raised her cell phone in the air, staring at the screen. No bars. Not even a hint of one skinny, green nub. “Oh, come on,” she moaned as her radiator hissed behind her. “Damn, damn, damn.”

She’d been tempted to ignore the check engine light when it first appeared, wanting to take the chance she could limp back into Two Mule. However, the steam seeping from under the hood had pretty much killed that hope.

Today was not the day for her car to break down. Not so far from town. Not so close to their ranch. Any minute now one of the Kinzie brothers might happen by.

They’d stop because they’d never leave a woman stranded.

They might not let her go because of their shared past.

And she didn’t know if she had the strength anymore to fight fate or her own inexplicable needs.

Macy Pettigrew, her best friend and boss, had sent her to the Dunstan house to make sure the owners had followed her suggestions to increase the house’s curb appeal. Never mind that there wasn’t a curb. Not really even a road—more of a caliche-covered goat trail that meandered up a steep hillside, rutted from runoff during recent summer storms.

Something must have happened to her car on the run up that hill. She’d heard the rocks pinging against her undercarriage but had been too busy with her mind filled with Ms. Dunstan’s handsome neighbors. She’d been afraid she’d pass them or that they might stop in to see old Lettie Dunstan, the widow selling off her roughhewn home.

Chrissi had forced a smile on her face, looked at the potted plants the old woman had placed in pretty window boxes and admired the paint she’d used to spruce up the weathered door and window frames. The junk the old woman’s husband had accumulated, and that she hadn’t had the heart to part with after his passing, was gone from the front lawn. And lo and behold, grass was beginning to grow to fill in the brown patches where car engines and tires had lain.
Macy would be pleased. They had a potential buyer. One who’d relayed an offer via email, and which had checked out with the mortgage lender.

Chrissi heard a powerful engine rev behind her, and she slowly lowered her arms and glanced nervously over her shoulder. A sage metallic pick-up truck pulled off the road behind her, and her stomach dropped to her toes. She’d known the moment her engine light had shone that this was going to happen.

And good Lord, it had to be Ezra Kinzie. His dark gaze narrowed on her through the windshield, the intensity of it feeling like the hissing heat of a brand against her skin.
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Two Days to Four Sworn!
Sunday, September 5th, 2010

I’m running TWO contests.
1) One offering a $25 gift certificate from Amazon to celebrate the release of PLEASING SIR. This contest ends tomorrow! See details here!
2) The second is my usual thing. You post a comment here today and you’re eligible for a free download of this story (or another if you’ve already read this one).

Yesterday’s winner is posted at the end of this entry.

I’ll admit it. Sometimes, when I sit down to write a book, I’m bored. That’s when I start asking myself what I can do to make a story different from anything I’ve written or read. I look for a flaw—something most people couldn’t overlook—then spend the story finding ways to get my characters to do just that.

That’s what happened with Unforgiven. How many books have you read where the hero or heroine cheated? I mean really cheated—not those mistaken identity things, or she walked in when the rival launched herself into his arms thing.

I wasn’t sure I could do it. And I knew it was a hot button item for a lot of people, but I seriously got a lot less flack about it than I thought I would. Face it. It happens more than we would like. Even to basically good people. Enjoy the excerpt. Tomorrow, I’ll be here with a sneak peek at the story that follows Four Sworn.

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“…Delilah Devlin’s scorching and unforgettable story UNBRIDLED, has been followed up by the equally hot and mesmerizing UNFORGIVEN… As with any Devlin tale, the sex is so hot it should come with a burn notice. But more importantly, you get pages packed with so much emotion it chokes you…”
4.5 Cherries, Whipped Cream Reviews

“…Delilah Devlin gives a sneak peek into the head of a sexy cowboy whose old fashioned values conflict with his unrelenting desire for a woman who he feels has not lived up to his ideals. We also see a woman who is willing to bend her code for a man who does not necessarily have a big enough heart to deserve her love. Watching the two try to find a middle ground is what makes UNFORGIVEN such an entertaining read.”
5 Angels, Fallen Angels Reviews

How does a man get over a cheating woman? Sweet revenge…

For Cutter Standifer, the pretty little redhead who opened a café in Two Mule, Texas was “the one.” Until he caught her in a compromising position with the town’s worst womanizer. To further strain his rigid code, his little sister just married the same damn bastard who shattered his world and is living in sin with him and another man.

A year later, he still can’t forgive his ex-girlfriend. And forget? Forget, hell. He’s ready kick his code into the nearest manure pile and take what he never had from her—full satisfaction.

That fateful morning, all Katie Grissom meant to do was use the bad boy’s reputation to force Cutter to piss or get off the pot where their own relationship was concerned. But she went too far—deliciously too far—giving Cutter an eyeful she lived to regret.

When Cutter offers her a no-strings affair she jumps at the chance, hoping to either break through the rigid wall he’s built around his heart…or get him out of her system for good.

Warning: When a hard-as-nails cowboy finally lets loose on the only woman he’s ever loved expect the loving to get hot enough to melt a cold, cold, heart—toys, front and slammin’ backdoor sex are only the beginning…

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Cutter Standifer stuck his finger inside the collar of his dress shirt and tugged. Damn thing felt tight. And every time he glanced at the bride and grooms, it just got tighter.

His little sister had wanted to be married in the sunshine, so they’d chosen the lawn on the south side of the house in front of his mother’s rose garden. He’d had landscapers working around the clock to clean up the overgrown flower beds. No one would find fault with the yard, the house or with the celebration he’d paid for. However, if they didn’t finish up quick, everyone’s Sunday-best clothing would be drenched in perspiration.

June in West Texas was hot as hell even though they’d scheduled the ceremony for just before noon.

If his mother had been here, she’d have approved his preparations. He’d done his duty. Dani looked prettier than the pink and yellow roses blooming in the background. She wore their mother’s white wedding dress, which had only needed a few tucks around the waist to fit and left too much of her tanned shoulders and chest bare for his liking. She’d twisted her long blonde hair up into some kind of knot that made her neck and shoulders look feminine, fragile and innocent. No one looking at her now, with her green eyes soft and bright with unshed tears and her lips curved into a wide smile, would know she was anything but fragile. And she damned sure wasn’t innocent.

Cutter jerked when the people seated around him erupted in a loud cheer.

The official groom bent Dani over his arm and kissed her like he wasn’t going to stop until her stays popped and he had her naked and under him. The crowd enjoyed his enthusiasm.

Cutter’s stomach clenched and he looked away. Not until the bridal couple had trailed down the aisle toward the house and the reception did he stir.

And then he moved like an old man, taking his time following the wedding guests inside, listening as music poured out the door onto the wrap-around porch.

Reluctantly, he reminded himself his duty wasn’t done quite yet. He had a party to oversee. Just a couple more hours and he could close the doors on the last guest and settle down to getting stinking drunk.

He wondered if anyone else who’d been watching had caught on to the fact the best man had looked every bit as happy as the bastard who’d placed the ring on his kid sister’s finger. Rowe Ayers, the best man, had beamed every time he looked at Dani—and at Justin Cruz.

As Cutter stepped into the ballroom, he caught sight of the threesome again and his stomach churned with disgust. Rowe was with the bridal couple, still smiling. First at Dani, and then at Justin.

What the fuck did that mean? Cutter didn’t really want to know. The thought of his sister, sandwiched between those two bastards was bad enough. The thought that maybe there was something happening between the two men… Well, it just wasn’t something he could let himself think about and not lose his breakfast.
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Three Days to Four Sworn!
Saturday, September 4th, 2010

I’m running TWO contests.
1) The one to celebrate the release of PLEASING SIR (with a $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate as the prize) is ongoing, and you still have time to enter it! See details in Thursday’s post!
2) The second is my usual thing. You post a comment here today and you’re eligible for a free download of this story (or another if you’ve already read this one).

Released in September 2009, Unbridled was the first of my Lone Star Lovers books for Samhain. It starts with a girl who interrupts a tryst between her boyfriend and another man, and quickly goes straight to the gutter after that. 🙂

Four Sworn, which releases next Tuesday, is set in the same town, but can be read as a standalone novel. And for those of you a bit squeamish about m/m contact, Four Sworn is strictly all about the girl. Four guys. One Girl.

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“…In [UNBRIDLED]…we are following the sexy machinations of Justin, and he does sexy so well it isn’t difficult to picture him doling out love to his two subs. It’s also remarkably easy to see why they’d be eager to do his bidding. However, it is totally refreshing to watch Dani and Rowe slip the noose and insist on him obeying them for a change of pace…If you are seeking an intensely erotic short read, UNBRIDLED is the one for you…”
5 Angels, Fallen Angels Reviews on UNBRIDLED

Unbridled, Lone Star Lovers, Book One

Tough…or tender? If she plays her cards right, she won’t have to choose.

Dani Standifer arrives home at her West Texas family ranch a day early, ready to pick up where she left off with Rowe Ayers, her high school sweetheart. However, when she opens the door to their line-shack trysting place, it’s clear she waited a day too long. Rowe’s with someone else—another man. And not just any other man— Justin Cruz, the bad boy with whom she shared one wild encounter, years ago.

Justin’s waited a long time for this moment. He knows his reputation, but since he seduced Rowe, he’s been a one-man cowboy—waiting for Dani to return and become the delicious fulfillment of his and Rowe’s needs. If she’s up to the challenge.

To her own surprise, Dani finds she’s more than ready to have both men in her life—as soon as she and Rowe teach Justin a lesson or two about love.

Their small town may not be ready for their kind of relationship. And Dani’s brother Cutter’s mile-deep grudge against Justin throws in a complication that could break the foundation the three of them have built…

Warning: Hold on for the rodeo of your life with rough ridin’ male on male action; blazing hot m/m/f scenes; and melt-your-panties lovin’ as each of these sexy cowboys gives it the way they know best to turn their woman inside out.

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Note for Readers: You must be of legal age in your country of origin to read this excerpt. Also, there is m/m content in this excerpt. Read on at your own risk!

Justin stared at the silent house, taking in the understated wealth it represented. The Standifers were old money in these parts. Old money—and spoiled and unappreciative of their advantages.

Eyeing the pristine white Victorian, he thought about the crummy apartment in town that he’d kept after his mother had died—the only thing he could afford with the odd jobs he’d worked until he’d landed the job as a wrangler at the Ayers ranch.

He’d have liked to go to school, just like Dani and Rowe. He’d had the grades. Could have ridden a football scholarship, but his sister had needed him to provide a roof over her head until she’d finished school. Now that she was attending a community college in San Angelo, he was free at last to pursue his own path.

Funny how he’d always thought he’d leave Two Mule in the rearview mirror of his pickup truck first chance he got, but things hadn’t worked out that way. When he’d hired on as a wrangler on Rowe’s family ranch after high school, he’d been happy for the employment. He’d discovered an affinity for working with horses and cattle, skills that had quickly gotten him noticed by Rowe’s father, who took him under his wing and groomed him to assume more responsibility. Over the years, he’d thrived on the attention, enjoying the respect he earned that didn’t have a thing to do with how well he tossed a football or how popular he was with women.

When he’d been asked to step in as foreman when the ranch foreman retired and moved to Florida with his daughter, the promotion had been a mixed blessing. He’d liked the authority, the trust invested in him, but he’d felt bound to stay, especially after Rowe’s father died. He’d managed everything, moved into the house, so that Rowe could finish his education. After he’d returned, Rowe asked him to stay, saying his house was too big and lonely without the company.

When Rowe had snagged his lustful attention after taking over the ranch, no one would have been more shocked than he was. Justin had never known he could be aroused by a man, had run through a string of girls in high school and an equally impressive list of women afterward, but other than his very brief fling with Dani, no woman had ever held his attention long.

Catching his boss skinny dipping in a newly dug cattle pond on a particularly hot summer day had opened his eyes to whole new world of sensual pleasure.

Not that Rowe had intended to attract him. He’d grinned when he’d been caught, then motioned for him to join. Just a couple of guys cooling down after a hot day’s work.

When Justin had stripped to his skin, his cock had betrayed him in an embarrassing way. He’d tried to make a joke of it, but Rowe’s expression as he’d tried not to stare at Justin’s cock had inspired that pesky little devil who sat securely on Justin’s shoulder—the whoring side of his nature that was ready to fuck at the slightest invitation. The side that never knew approval unless he saw it in the happiness of a lover’s face at orgasm.
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Ready for another western ménage?
Friday, September 3rd, 2010

I’m running a contest to celebrate the release of PLEASING SIR with a $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate as the prize.
See details in yesterday’s post!

Thanks, everyone, for your support in helping me get the word out about Pleasing Sir! I’ve been getting Google alerts ever since yesterday’s post.

If you’ve been visiting here for a while, you know I always have something happening here. Some new release. So far this year, I’ve had 16 new releases. I’m a very, very busy girl.

And next week, I have another story coming on Tuesday. The third book in the Lone Star Lovers series with Samhain Publishing. Over the next few days I’ll share excerpts from the first two books, from next Tuesday’s release, Four Sworn, and give you a sneak peak at book four that I’m wrapping up next week.

Here’s a little bit about Four Sworn to whet your appetites!

There’s a wild child trapped inside her, and they’re hell-bent on unleashing it…

As the pretty daughter of the town whore, Shanna Davies has always tried hard to toe the line. But she just can’t help it. Her boyfriend, Bo Crenshaw, has lured her untamed spirit out to play once too often. It’s time to get the hell out of Dodge and make a new start where no one knows her past. After she fulfills one last, wicked fantasy.

Shanna is Bo’s first everything. First kiss, first sexual playmate, first love. Yet he’s never managed to convince her that he accepts her—good girl and bad—just as she is. So, she wants a memorable send off? No problem. He’ll give her one that’ll make her think twice about leaving.

On the appointed night, Shanna expects nerves. Yet once she crosses the threshold, the prospect of surrendering to a night of unrestrained passion with Bo and the three Kinzie brothers makes her mouth water—and her courage dry up.

But she asked for it, and now she’s not about to blink first in this game of sexual chicken…

Warning: Four lusty cowboys prove a little domination goes a long way in breaking a stubborn woman to saddle. Lots of spanking, binding, flogging, and double-dipping can keep a girl on her toes, her back, her belly, her knees…

Pleasing Sir: Ménage and more!
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

I’m running a contest to celebrate this release with a $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate as the prize. Details below!

One adventurous little submissive is just what the bosses need…

Raelie might be a submissive in search of just the right Dom, but she’s not the kind to sit back and wait for the right man to happen. When she gets the chance to fill in as Bryce Caldwell’s executive assistant, she decides some subtle seduction is needed to see if he dominates the bedroom the same way he does the office.

Bryce can’t keep his mind off the sexy blonde sitting just outside his office. Especially not after the security cameras in the copier room catch Raelie “misappropriating” office property. A little disciplinary action leads to a whole lot of complication while he tries to find out whether she’s the right assistant to fulfill a special vacancy. Add a second round of interviews, and suddenly, Bryce is finding out he’s not the only one who’s not sure who’s really in charge.

Read an excerpt
Buy your copy at Amazon
Buy your copy at Smashwords

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Lately, I feel like I’m living on the edge of a whirlpool. I’m swimming along and making a little headway, and then the current pulls me right away. I didn’t plan to be this busy, but I don’t know how to say no, and I really do like a challenge to keep me edgy.

So this is a drive-by. A shout-out to those of you who love my dirty little stories to let you know that I have something new out there, ready for you to read, but you won’t be able to find it in the usual places. Pleasing Sir was a story I wrote as an experiment. A straight-to-the-Internet project to test the Kindle waters.

It doesn’t mean I won’t keep writing for the usual suspects, and doesn’t mean I’m not extremely happy about how they treat me, it just means that I like to experiment and see what else is out there. Maybe the book won’t do well in this venue—in which case, I’ll pull it and submit it for consideration to one of my favorite publishers. Or maybe it will do well enough that I’ll want to do it again. What I like about this is that I’m not dependent on a publisher’s scheduling. And, in the future, I can time the releases of my self-pubbed things for when I have a drought of releases from other houses. I don’t want them to back up against each other, although this one has, but ah well.

And just because this is self-published, don’t go thinking it won’t be any good. It’s still a really hot “Delilah Devlin” book. It’s a full 22,000-word story, comparable in length to a Samhain or Ellora’s Cave novella. I paid a professional editor to find all my typos, so no worries there either. If you’re in the mood to try something with a BSDM-bent and a sexy ménage, go get your copy. If you do buy it, be sure to go back and leave a review. Let someone who’s curious and on the fence know what you thought about the story.

Thanks for all your support. You make it easy for me to get out of bed and hit the keyboard every day.

About that contest!
Help me get the word out! Here’s how you can qualify for the prize:
1) Write a review and send me the link so I can verify
2) Post about the book on your blog (send me the link)
3) Talk up the story on a reader’s loop (forward me the email)

Guest Blogger: Nikki Duncan
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Is Boundless Love Real?

by Nikki Duncan

Boundless.

More than broad, built, or buff we want our romance novel heroes to be boundless in their desire and love. We want them to value the women they’re falling for in every way. We look for believable relationships built on respect and admiration for what makes their heroine strong as well as patience and understanding for the things which make her vulnerable.

As women in real life, we want a sexy man at our side and in our bed, but we also want those unseen strengths that drive book heroes. Dedication. Willingness to admit he’s in love with one woman. Commitment. We covet them with such conviction we’ll defend out decisions to read romance novels, and expect those qualities in real life, when others disparage our choice of genre or even us. I sure know as writers we defend it.

I wonder though how many people truly believe in the kind of relationships found in books. I’m talking the depth of belief we had in Santa when we were children. A belief strong enough to have us turn from something good that could maybe make us happy to instead wait for something great. The belief that has us asking, like Steve from The Wedding Planner, “What if what’s good really is good, but there’s something greater?”

What if?

Now, I’m not saying jump ship from a relationship because of not great moments. I’m not saying anyone should expect perfection or fireworks every day, but I do wonder if more people held out for greatness and then worked to keep it if we’d have more happily married couples. More successful marriages and families. I mean, sure, there’s nothing easy about love, marriage, or family. Nothing. We’re all a little dysfunctional, which if you ask me is what gives life color and personality.

But I still wonder.

Do you think people rush in too fast and settle for something that’s just ‘good’? Do you believe in a boundless love? Have you already found it? Or are you still looking?

Heart stopping puppy chases, childhood melodrama and the aborted hangings of innocent toys are all in a day’s work for Nikki Duncan. This athletic equestrian turned reluctant homemaker turned daring author, is drawn to the siren song of a fresh storyline.

Nikki plots murder and mayhem over breakfast, scandalous exposes at lunch and the sensual turn of phrase after dinner. Nevertheless, it is the pleasurable excitement and anticipation of unraveling her character’s motivation that drives her to write long past the witching hour.

The only anxiety and apprehension haunting this author comes from pondering the mysterious outcome of her latest twist.

To learn more about Nikki, visit her at www.NikkiDuncan.com or www.SensoryOps.com.

Nikki’s book SOUNDS TO DIE BY is available now in print and digital formats here: My Bookstore & More

SCENT OF PERSUASION is available in digital format only at this point.

August Wrap-up
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

I don’t know about you, but August flew by! I’m sure it feels that way because two weeks of the month were spent on my jaunt to Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

At the end of the month, I like to take a little time to reflect on what I accomplished. It might not be interesting to you unless you’re a writer and trying to gauge my personal productivity, but for me, it’s the moment I have to reconcile my dreams with reality.

It wasn’t a bad month, really.

First, I had four releases:
* Lesbian Lust with Cleis Press
* Red Stilletos with Ellora’s Cave
* Textile Free, my self-published free read
* Pleasing Sir on Smashwords (It should be up on Kindle in a couple of days!)

I had four stories accepted, and one rejected.

Accepted were:
* Girls Who Bite (the Lesbian vampire anthology I will edit for Cleis)
* A Long Howl Goodnight by Ellora’s Cave
* A short story I can’t name for a collection I can’t name until the final approval is given by the publisher
* A short novella for a major NY publisher, which I can’t name yet either (sorry) 🙂

Rejected was:
* Shattered Souls by Harlequin Nocturne

Here’s what I’ve accomplished writing-wise:
* I completed a western novella for Samhain
* I’ve written the first half of another novella for Samhain
* I’m half-way through the next chapter of Bad Moon Rising
* I completed another round of edits on Ravished by a Viking for Berkley

September will be another frenzied month. The pace won’t actually slow until December! But this next month, I will finish the novella for Samhain, the next chapter of Bad Moon Rising (I promise!), get half-way through the second Viking-in-Space book, and attend Lora Leigh’s RAW!

That’s the plan anyway.