I recently published two linked erotic romances with spanking themes. My original plan had been to go through a publisher I’ve worked with before, but staff felt the setting would be a hard sell and asked me to do a major rewrite. Instead, I self-published His Purchase and another I’ll talk about later.

The heroine of His Purchase is a professional softball player with a load of emotional baggage. I’d given her that career because as the mother of two sports-loving sons, I logged a lot of time at baseball fields. No research necessary. Besides, I love baseball.

After exchanging emails with the above mentioned publisher, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’m in the minority when it comes to loving both erotic romance and baseball or softball. I’m guessing the reaction would be different if my hero was a football player or rodeo rider, part of the macho mystique, but I made my heroine the jock in a male dominated sport.

Is that a no-no? Are romance readers turned off by female jocks especially one involved with a sport traditionally considered male? Although I understand why that publisher needs to keep a close eye on the bottom line and might have made the same decision if I was in her shoes, I’m hoping readers are open to more than traditional roles for the sexes.

As I mentioned, His Purchase is a spanking story. In other words, it falls under the power exchange umbrella. Because of the fictional world I created, my dominant male hero fully believes he has the right and responsibility to physically discipline the submissive heroine. Despite her physical skills, she accepts that she will be disciplined if the man in charge decides she needs correction—which he does more than once.

I was fascinated by how my characters handled her untraditional career while living in a society that condones and encourages spanking females. I think they pulled it off but it’s up to readers to agree or disagree.

Vonna

His Purchase

Alia is an Other, just another woman with few rights living in a world controlled by Society rules. At least her considerable athletic skill will save her from a life of drudgery. She knows her rare physical talent will be exploited but considers it an acceptable tradeoff for being able to do what she most loves in life. In addition, she’ll have a roof over her head, food in her belly, and hopefully an end to feeling like a failure.

Kade is an Elite, a wealthy and powerful man who has never questioned his privileged place within the Society. As the new owner of a professional women’s softball team, he’s determined to get the ultimate performance from his players. Never one to turn down a challenge, he knows how to bring his sexy but strong-headed latest acquisition into line.

Despite the team owner’s domineering presence, Alia has no intention of bowing to the commanding man’s insistence she keep nothing from him. She’ll perform to the best of her ability. What she doesn’t dare do is let him inside her head and heart where vulnerability lies.

Kade refuses to accept her resistance. He purchased, not just her talent but everything about her. She doesn’t yet know how far his control reaches, but he will teach her. Her correction begins the first day with a firm hand repeatedly applied to her backside. He spanks her bare bottom until it turns red then insists she display what he’s done. When she continues to defy him, he takes her in hand again, this time adding a butt plug. Despite her shame, she’s turned on. Changed. Desperate for more than just his finger or toys in her.

Everything changes for Alia. She spends her nights in a locked barn stall with the other players, must wait to use the bathroom, eats what’s put before her. She wants to hate the man who has done this to her, but there’s magic in his firm hand. He knows how to arouse her. Maybe he even cares about her.

It doesn’t matter because she’ll never trust him with her deepest secret. If keeping something so private from him displeases him, she believes she has no choice but to live with the consequences.

His Purchase includes spankings and intense sexual scenes. If you’re uncomfortable with such material, please don’t buy this book.

Get your copy here!

Hi. Imagine you’re doing some research for a new book and your friend has arranged for you to see the inside of a fabulous, luxury penthouse to help you envision your setting.

When you get inside, you find the sexiest man you’ve ever seen sitting in a chair. Blindfolded. Tied up with rope. And totally naked!

Hmm. Yeah. Could happen! 😉

The idea was inspired by a photograph my friend Evangeline Anderson posted on FaceBook quite a while ago. (Check out her FB page. She has some really fun and sexy stuff there!)

When I saw the picture, I immediately sat down and wrote a scene! I was so excited about it, I shared the idea with Jayne Rylon and Avery Aster and that’s how we came up with Mentor, the fourth book in our Penthouse Pleasures series.

And you really should go look because he is sooo sexy! 😉

Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of Mentor!

Elle slid the key card into the slot and pulled it out, but the door didn’t unlock. She tried again but was still greeted with a red light.

Red. Stop. Walk away. That’s what the universe was telling her.

This wasn’t meant to be.

Or… was it telling her to try harder?

She wouldn’t give up on writing this book. That’s why she’d come up here in the first place. She’d decided it was long past time to finish the story she’d started and this was the first step. Everley had arranged for her to see the inside of one of the infamous penthouses in Beekman Place—the setting for her erotic romance story.

She pulled her shoulders back, deciding she would find a way to get into this place and look around. Everley had told her the new owners would be moving in this coming weekend, so this might be her last chance. She tried the key card a third time, and when it still didn’t work, she dug through her purse and pulled out her cell, then started to dial Everley, determined to show her friend she was committed to succeeding.

Before she could dial, she heard the door unlock. She stared at it, the green light blinking at her.

“Come in,” a deep voice said, and she realized it was coming from a speaker in the wall.

She grasped the handle and pressed it down, then pushed the door open tentatively and peered inside. Dazzling sunshine filled the large room beyond the foyer. Large windows spanned the wall facing the door, and continued around the corner to the left. A fabulous view of the water glittering in the sunlight took her breath away.

She saw that the place was furnished with high-end contemporary furniture—glossy walnut cabinets and tables, and leather couches and armchairs—which was odd because Everley had told her the place was empty until the new tenants moved in next week.

She stepped inside and let the door close behind her. She slipped off her shoes and walked past the marble-floored foyer, her stocking feet sinking into the plush carpet of the large room beyond. Now she could see the whole first floor of the two story open concept penthouse.

Her eyes widened as her gaze caught on a plain wooden chair facing the windows. In the chair was a man, his arms bound behind him.

Her heart stuttered as she darted forward to help him. But then she stopped cold as she realized he was stark naked.

And blindfolded.

His muscular arms were pulled tight behind him, the rope around his wrists threaded through the back of the very simple chair. A chair that didn’t fit the sumptuous luxury of the penthouse she’d barely had a chance to appreciate.

But now her focus was totally on him.

He was leaning back in the chair and seemed totally comfortable being naked and tied up, even with a stranger in the room. His head was turned toward her.

His face, what she could see of it, was exceptionally handsome. His chin rough with dark whiskers, neatly trimmed. His thick hair combed back from his face. His lips full, his nose perfect.

And his body was… breathtaking.

At this angle, his thick, muscular thigh blocked her view of his more intimate parts, but she got an eyeful of his tight, hard ass.

His body could have been sculpted by a master artist. It was perfect.

Utterly and intensely sexy.

And, God help her, she wanted to touch it.

“I’ve been waiting for you, baby. Come over here.”

His deep sexy voice took her breath away.

“You wanted to try something different. So here I am.”

His words startled her. Had Everley set this up?

Everley had been worried about Elle ever since she’d broken up with the jerk. Everley didn’t know the whole story, but she’d noticed how withdrawn Elle had become and had made it her mission to get Elle back in the saddle again. She’d even offered to set Elle up with one of the two sexy guys from the seventh floor that Elle couldn’t help drooling over every time she saw them. But Elle wasn’t ready to put herself in a vulnerable position again.

When that hadn’t worked, Everley, who knew Elle was the adventurous sort, had urged her to try something totally different. Something spontaneous and wicked.

Like fuck a complete stranger.

Oh, God, had this been a ruse to get her up here? Not to see the penthouse, but to do something wild and crazy?

Here she was being handed a chance to have sex with a stranger—a perfect sex God from the look of him—in a way where she felt safe. The guy was tied up. That meant she would be in total control.

How much safer could she be?

“I’m waiting, baby.”

Buy Link:
books2read.com/u/4AYvvN

Again, here’s the buy link:
books2read.com/u/4AYvvN

About Opal

As a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of erotic contemporary and sci-fi romance, Opal Carew writes about passion, love, and taking risks. Her heroines follow their hearts and push past the fear that stops them from realizing their dreams… to the excitement and love of happily-ever-after. Her books have won several awards, including The National Readers’ Choice Award (twice), The Golden Leaf Award (twice), The Golden Quill (4 times), CRA Award of Excellence, JABBIC (multiple time) and Silken Sands.

Science fiction is popular for both writers and readers of erotic romances. The reason is simple, at least it is for me. Give me a fictional world and I’ll design it to meet any number of needs. The rules, regulations, and social standards modern people live in won’t get in the way of characters’ desires because they don’t exist. Domineering men and submissive women or the other way around (which doesn’t happen much in erotic romance) don’t require justification when that’s standard operating procedure. I don’t have to justify why a man places a woman over his knee and repeatedly applies his hand to her ass. Everyone, readers included when they suspend belief, simply accepts that this is how things are. A woman doesn’t yell “insanity” if the man in her life treats her like a small child. Instead, she gets the norms of the world she finds herself.

Okay, that’s all well and good. A woman wears a collar and crawls on hands and knees behind the hunk who commands her to.
But what’s their physical world like?

Setting is vital to me, the most important thing in many ways. I can’t start a story until I know what the characters’ world looks like. And here’s a secret. I suck at creating fictional worlds. If you’ve read some Vonna Harper erotic fiction, you may have noticed I don’t put my characters on distant, exotic planets with complex social and political structure. Instead, I tend to rely on the corner of the world I know.
Case in point, one of my recent releases is Midnight Touch. Much of this story about a couple each with a heavy load of emotional baggage takes place in eastern Oregon. No urban center or exotic city for me because those things do nothing for me. Give me wide open spaces every time—spaces where the limited number of residents live their isolated lives in private. Sara’s dead ex-husband was a domineering SOB who got away with treating her as he wanted because there was no one for her to turn to or confide in. She seldom saw anyone and didn’t know whether she could trust those she did. I didn’t need to invent a planet because I had remote ranching country with more cattle than humans. I know what eastern Oregon’s high desert land looks like because I’ve been there. No need to try to figure out where water and other necessities come from. I’ve seen the wells.

I also know the hero doesn’t belong there, but he has no choice because Sara needs him in ways only he can understand.

As for the reasons—looks like you’ll have to read Midnight Touch to understand, hint, hint. You might also wind up with a darn good idea what eastern Oregon is like.

Vonna

I haven’t taken a psychology course for mumble-mumble years but assume Freud’s teachings/theories/observations are still part of psych programs. Back when I was a student, his beliefs were presented pretty much as gospel, but I’m here to announce he didn’t know what he was talking about, at least when it came to one thing.

Back in 1908 Freud declared that a happy person doesn’t fantasize, only a dissatisfied one. Well, he was dead wrong.

As an erotic romance writer, I’ve written a lot of stories with submission/bondage themes. Not BDSM so much as capture and helplessness because, being honest here, the theme pushes my personal buttons. I’m also the product of a very conservative upbringing which means I used to ask myself if there was something wrong with me. There probably is, just not when it comes to the directions my fantasies take me. I came to that conclusion after doing some research and want to share some of what I learned since I know a lot of erotic romance readers are drawn to the same themes I am.

According to psychiatrist Ethel Person of Columbia University, 51% of women imagine being forced to have sex and another third are turned on by pretending to be a slave who must obey a man’s every wish.

What’s behind those mental journeys? Psychologists Harold Leitenberg and Kris Henning state that women who find submission fantasies arousing have no wish to be raped. Thanks to fantasy they are able to control every aspect of what happens. Via thoughts of ropes and bondage, they’re the ones in charge. University of California Santa Cruz professor Eileen Zurbriggen’s research led her to conclude that women who fanaticize about submission have a more positive attitude about sex and are less sexually guilty.

My latest erotic romance, Midnight Touch, is probably the darkest story I’ve ever written. The true darkness took place during Sara’s past when she was married to an evil man. She’s now free and determined to forge a new life, but the past won’t leave her alone. It first appears in the form of Mace Seeger who knows more about Sara and her husband than he wishes he did. He’s as trapped by a man who might not be truly dead as Sara is.

Vonna Harper
www.VonnaHarper.com
https://www.facebook.com/vonna.harper.35

Who loves smoking hot menage romance? I do! Poly relationships are complicated, and there are as many opinions on them as there are possible combinations, but the Marks-Davidson clan, of the Triple Passion Play series, has their own rulebook. Number one on the list is the intimate relationship is between just those three, Trisha, Tommy and Ken, but a close second is the disallowance of jealousy between the trio. Realistic? I say yes, but the rule requires constant self-awareness and reflection.

The latest installment, Baby Makes Four, is now available on Amazon and should drop on other major retailers within the week! The series asks the question: Is it truly possible for three people to love each other equally? Throughout books one and two, the answer was yes, yes, and yes!

Jealousy and insecurity can be the death knell of a poly relationship, and changing dynamics can stoke those unwanted fires. Ken fought through his insecurity when Tommy and Trisha were legally married for tax purposes in book two, but will Tommy be as strong now that Trisha is pregnant with Ken’s baby? While both men are adamant about their love and commitment, for Trisha, the baby and each other, the two of them still haven’t sealed the deal sexually. What will it take for them to put their egos aside and give in to their desires?

If you love sizzling MMF menage, you can’t miss Baby Makes Four! It’s slam packed with erotic lovemaking and romantic tension. Even if you haven’t read books one and two, Baby Makes Four can be enjoyed as a stand-alone romance.

Buy your copy of Baby Makes Four at Amazon now.

Or get the entire three book series.

About the Author

Sierra Brave is a multi-published author of smoking hot romance. She writes across genres, dabbling in a little bit of everything, including ménage and BDSM.  Her love of erotic fiction started in her last year of high school when she first read the sensual classic, Fanny Hill. She felt so naughty yet liberated with her copy tucked away in her book bag and hopes her work will have the same delicious effect on her readers. Please visit Sierra’s website: https://sierrabrave.rocks/

Sign up for Sierra’s Newsletter here, and she’ll send you a free ebook.

Three Day Special! Coupon expires Friday, May 25

Hi Delilah Fans! Here’s an offer you can’t refuse. Book I, Hers to Choose, is already FREE at all retail outlets. Now, exclusive to Delilah’s blog, you can get Book II, Tangled in Two, FREE with coupon code YH27V.

Bryn McClure has put the Cannon men behind her. Or so she thought. Then Alex reappears with a plan that will save her farm and set her up for life. Overwhelmed, she would love to express her affection. But instead of reciprocating, he keeps her at arm’s length.

Then Dan shows up and there’s really no question about what happens next. She can’t get enough of the dirty discipline he dishes out. When he holds her in his arms, her world is complete.

But nothing is ever so simple as choosing one man or the other. Nightmares unfold as she and her beloved Ozarks farm come under attack by unknown enemies. Bryn quickly realizes—she needs them both.

Excerpt:

Before Bryn had a chance to protest, Dan pulled her up, turned her toward him, and lowered his mouth to hers, brushing over her lips.

What was this? Should she resist? Was he going through the motions in order to prove something? Torment her? His hands made their way down her sides and over her buttocks before pulling her tight against his lower body. An erection pressed through his slacks and against her belly. Did he think he could do whatever he wanted?

Her nipples squeezed to pebble hardness and her clit stiffened. An internal war broke out. Push him away?

His big hands began massaging her buttocks, and she wanted him immediately. His lips continued brushing over her mouth, her cheeks, down her neck. Her nostrils flared and her legs shivered.

“Has anyone serviced your needs recently?” he whispered against her neck. “Are you distracted from your business, Miss McClure?”

“No, I….I’m, yes, I’m distracted.”

Should she do this? Could she refuse? Whatever she did with Dan wouldn’t fill the hole left by Alex. Her desire for Dan fit an entirely separate part of her. But maybe it was all she could ever get. And it would help her forget her disappointment with Alex.

Rationalization? Justification? So what? She didn’t owe Alex anything.

Whatever Dan wanted her to say, she would say it. If he wanted her submission, she would happily give it. Any time she came under his control would feel like relief from the loneliness and regret she carried around every day. His arms held her in an iron grip. Heat blazed up her chest.

“Distracted is not acceptable, Miss McClure.” He stepped back. “Lucky for us, I anticipated this might be the case.”

Dan walked to his things at the couch and returned with a small bag. “You’ll find your garments in here. Get dressed and let me see you.”

Bryn’s mind went blank. It was an absurdly familiar and thrilling moment, his demands, the full realization of what might come next. One singular truth became clear—Dan was her dom.

Maybe Dan didn’t twist her heart the same as Alex, but it was better this way. Sex without commitment, without demoralizing emotional baggage. She glanced up at him. A sly smile curled his mouth but didn’t extend up to those calculating pale eyes, watching her, demanding.

Beyond that was the absolute certainty that he would take care of her.

In the bedroom, she shook out the bag and surveyed the contents. After discarding her clothes, she slid into an abbreviated white blouse with little cap sleeves and a shirttail tie that fastened under her breasts. A red plaid skirt with wide pleats, also quite small, fit low on her hips if she pulled it down far enough to barely cover her buttocks. White hosiery included elastic bands that held them at mid-thigh. She added a pair of her white thong panties then stared at herself in the mirror.

Gooseflesh rippled down her body as she studied her image. She hardly recognized herself, some trollop in a super trashy outfit. This had nothing to do with Wade. The outfit reeked of Dan.

In a sudden inspiration, she pulled down her ponytail, quickly dividing her hair and weaving it into two loose braids on either side of her head. If schoolgirl was what he had in mind, she could give it. With a deep breath, she walked out of the bedroom.

He waited near the wood stove. He had closed the window curtains against the arrival of evening. Another martini had been mixed and poured into their glasses. He lifted his glass toward her as she appeared at the bedroom door.

“Well, now,” he said in a husky voice. “You look ready for school.”

She clasped her hands behind her back. “Yes, master.”

His intense gaze lingered over her body. He remained fully clothed with his white shirt sleeves rolled against his tanned forearms and his thighs tugging against the dark slacks. He drained his glass and set it on the table before walking to her.

“You’re quite a handful, so easily distracted from your studies.” His hands grazed her tingling breasts, thumbing the rigid nipples before trailing down past the skirt and finding the panties.
He snapped the thong’s elastic band. “Can you not follow even the simplest instruction?” He yanked the panties to her knees and let them fall to the floor around her ankles.

She licked her lips. “I…need correction,” she murmured as his hands slid back up her thighs.

His fingers traced through her slick crease, lightly stroking her erect clit.

“Severe correction. Sir,” she added.

“Yes, I can see that.” He led her to the table then tied one of her wrists to a chair back. In moments he had fastened the ankle and wrist of her left side to one chair and the other ankle and wrist to another chair. With the chairs on either side of her, she remained upright as he again fondled her.

“The problem about your discipline,” he said, plying her breasts with his free hand, “is that there’s no secret you enjoy it. Now if I could manage to truly punish you,” he said with a hard pinch on her nipple, “so that you learned to stop making the same mistakes.” He pinched the other nipple. “Then perhaps you wouldn’t need so much correction.” He slapped her buttocks. Hard.

He walked away and took another drink of his martini before bringing her glass and holding it so that she had to gulp half the liquid. Then he opened his briefcase and took out a familiar wooden paddle.

“I gave this a lot of thought, Miss McClure,” he continued, striking the paddle against his hand in a loud slapping noise.

Her thighs clenched. She was soaked, sliding into complete submission. It felt glorious.

*~*~*

Don’t miss the rest of the Cannon Cousins series!

Book III – Payback Blues
Dan’s abrupt meeting with Riley Montgomery blossoms into intense feelings, not what he wants or needs. Does it hurt to sidetrack into a little spanking of her best friend?
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/791854
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1985580977

Book IV – His to Lose
Riley’s courage falters after she pursues her fantasy domination of Dan. Unexpected attacks on Cannon Company complicate the situation. Did she go too far?
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/377220
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1492797162

Thanks for reading!

Lizzie Ashworth

Character Interview – Lady Elizabeth Blayneton

1. If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

I’d visit all the sights in London that I’ve heard about but never seen. I’m not allowed out the house, you see. My Uncle August keeps me isolated in the hope that I’ll marry his son Frederick. The man stinks of hounds and gapes like a fish. I’d rather die a spinster than marry him.

2. What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they’ve known you for a while?

I don’t make an impression. I’m invisible, little more than a servant in a household that exists because of my fortune. I only have threadbare gray gowns. When visitors call on my cousins I’m banished to either my room or my stillroom. What with my silver blonde hair and my hideous gowns, I sometimes think my whole life is gray

3. What’s your idea of a good marriage? Do you think that’ll happen in your life?

I can’t marry without my uncle’s permission or until I turn thirty. Since I won’t marry Cousin Frederick, I’ll be an old maid before I can wed. If I ever find the opportunity, I’ll gladly give up virginity while I’m young enough to enjoy it.

4. What are you most proud of about your life?

My herbal skills. Before my parents were killed in a carriage accident, mama and I studied plants and their uses. Even my cousins want my potions. The good thing about that is I’m allowed out at dawn to collect herbs.

5. What about on a personal level?
Some people think my stubborn streak’s a bad thing – Uncle Augustus and my cousins among them. I don’t. I keep refusing to wed Frederick. Nothing could make me take him into my bed.

6. Do you think you’ve turned out the way your parents expected?

No. Papa made his will when my aunt was alive. She’d never have let Uncle Augustus treat me the way he does. Mamma and I were planning my come out when their carriage overturned and killed them. They wanted me to enjoy a couple of London Seasons, but obviously that never happened.

7. What would you like it to say on your tombstone?

She lived well, had fun, and helped those in need. It hurts that I can’t do any of that until I turn thirty and inherit my fortune. The only men who will want me then are fortune hunters. I want to live now, not in seven years’ time.

8. Describe your ideal mate.

I’d like a husband who sees me as I am and loves me for it. I don’t want my fortune to matter. I’d like him to be tall and dark-haired. Someone unafraid to stand up to Uncle Augustus. A dashing soldier maybe.

9. What are you most afraid of?

Dying a virgin – unloved and unwanted by anyone.

10. Are you lying to yourself about something? What is it?

I keep telling myself everything will work out find. Only deep down, I know it won’t. My solace is my herbs. If I concentrate on them and ways to heal people, then I can get through each day as it comes.

Wickedly Used

While he is no stranger to pleasurable company from ladies of the night, Major Richard Rothbury of the royal dragoons is not the kind of man who will stand idly by as a woman is taken against her will, and when he witnesses a disreputable cad attempting to force himself on a girl in a back alley, he does not hesitate to intervene.

But after the grateful young woman offers herself to Rothbury, he is shocked to discover that not only was she no harlot, she was a maiden and he has deflowered her. Furious at the girl’s scandalous behavior and her carelessness with her own safety, Rothbury chastises her soundly.

Though she is due to inherit one of the largest fortunes in England, the fact that she cannot touch the money until she marries or turns thirty has kept Elizabeth completely at the mercy of her cruel uncle, and for years she has been treated as if she were a servant. Her encounter with Lord Rothbury is by far the most exciting thing that has ever happened to her, but while he shows great concern for her safety, he refuses to believe that she is anything more than a serving girl.

Despite having made it clear that he doesn’t consider a match between them to be possible, when Elizabeth disobeys him Rothbury proves more than ready to strip her bare, punish her harshly, and then enjoy her beautiful body in the most shameful of ways. But can she dare to hope that he will one day make her his wife, or is she destined to spend her life being wickedly used?

Get your copy here!