UPDATE: The winner is…Pat!
*~*~*

“You don’t yell at a sleepwalker. He may fall and break his neck” is probably one of my favorite lines from Billy Wilder’s classic film, Sunset Boulevard. The main character Joe Gillis makes this observation of Norma Desmond, a faded silent screen star who has built a false reality about her circumstances. She believes she’s still famous and desired when the truth is she has been forgotten. I like this line because it poses me with a challenge: what do you do when you come up against a worldview that ignores reality? Joe lets Norma keep sleepwalking/living her lie. He doesn’t yell to wake her up until the end of the movie, but by then it’s too late.

I’m reviewing a historical fiction that depicts life in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1880s. The author brings in characters and storylines you don’t normally see in mainstream historical fiction: Jews as major characters, the mixed-race heritage reality of Southern society (look how long it took historians to own up to Thomas Jefferson fathering children by Sally Hemmings), and a historic African-American event. I applauded the story until I got to the last scene. The ending, while deservedly triumphal, rang hollow to me. Why? Because historically for every step forward in the African American struggle for equality there are always two steps back. Ending as it does the story gives the sleepwalker/feel-good impression that right always triumphs. To the author’s credit, she shares the actual facts of the strike at the back of the book. My review will encourage readers to read that timeline first. Another fictional account dealing with the same historical event shared how the larger society made sure that win was never a gain, but still ended hopefully by embracing the truth expressed by the late John Lewis: “Our struggle is not the struggle of a day or a week, a month or a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime.”

Are there times when you have to risk the sleepwalker breaking their neck? Yes. When sleepwalking reinforces stereotypes. In 1943’s Casablanca Ilsa Lund asks, “Who is the boy playing the piano?” She’s asking about Sam, a Black adult. How does someone supposedly from Eastern Europe know to call a Black man a boy? I’ve yet to find one review or commentary of Casablanca that notes this sleepwalker slight, i.e., it’s right and normal to call Black men boys. The Big Band hit, “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” written in 1941, displays the same attitude. Black men working as railroad porters were called boy. Many of these men were highly educated. None of them were boys.

As a historical romance writer, I’m grateful for folk who have yelled me awake when I’ve written something, albeit historically accurate, that reinforces disparaging or belittling sleepwalker attitudes. As a member of the human race, I’m thankful for groups like the NAACP and the ACLU that have been yelling people awake for years.

For a chance at a $10 Amazon gift card, answer this question: at the risk of a broken neck, if you’re sleepwalking would you want someone to yell and wake you up?

“Who Can Find A Virtuous Woman” featured in Falling Hard: A Passionate Ink erotic romance anthology

Losing her virginity is free-born Eve Richardson’s only hope of escape from marriage to an insufferable fundamentalist preacher. In need of a knight in shining armor, she finds a potential candidate in straightlaced Madison Dugger, the first of his family born outside of slavery. Madison does find Eve desirable and has wanted her for as long as he’s known her. But classism and internalized racism are barriers to love he finds unscalable so he balks at Eve’s request. Can she overcome his objections in time to enlist his aid in her deflowering, saving her from a life as a virtuous woman?

Excerpt from “Who Can Find A Virtuous Woman”

Reflecting on Mr. Richardson’s prejudices had put Madison in mind of a prejudice of his own. He never thought light-skinned girls were informed or intelligent enough to be attractive. Eve forced a reevaluation of his low opinion. She impressed him as she rattled off names, dates, and facts at the Bible study. She neither bragged about what she knew nor backed away if challenged. Her tone was self-possessed and forward-looking, as if her own name would make some fact and date famous. Or infamous.

He had liked that. Her directness challenged his society-approval-seeking ways. In her, he recognized an adventurous spirit akin to the one he kept hidden. He imagined himself as a couple with her. With her as his mate, he would be a bolder advocate for people of color. But given what had happened to Eve’s brother, Mr. Richardson might not want a firebrand for his daughter.

The early evening air had contained the warmth of the season. The nature of ice cream being what it was—well, accidents were bound to happen. Eve had seemed particularly accident-prone last night. A bit of caramel pumpkin ice cream had dribbled at the corner of her mouth. To capture it, her pretty pink tongue had lavished long, slow licks across her ripe curvy lips. Those long, slow licks had telegraphed a message to the pulsing bulge between his legs.

She’d unbuttoned the top three buttons of her blouse and fanned herself languidly. “My but it’s hot for Indian summer.” As her chest swelled upward, unrestrained thanks to the open buttons, Madison had swallowed hard at the glimpse of tempting golden-brown skin.

More ice cream had dripped onto an exposed spot of breast. She’d scraped up the spill with her middle finger then sucked on her fingertip like a baby nursing at its mother’s tit—all for his benefit. Of that, he was sure.

Madison had sighed. When he’d looked up, she was staring directly at him. He’d hoped his enjoyment of her cleavage hadn’t been detected. The smirk twisting her lips had dashed his hopes. He’d shuddered and glanced away. Being caught like Peeping Tom by this alluring, knowing vixen had stiffened his cock.

Buylink: https://books2read.com/u/mdDP7O

Have you tried my Stepbrothers shorties? No? Well, here’s one. Download it for FREE!

When a stripper confronts a professor about her stepbrother’s grade, she’s determined to find a way to change his mind. Making the grade has never been sexier…
Get your copy here!

Anyone familiar with my work knows I write a lot of stories exploring the world of BDSM. But I try not to write just about BDSM. I want my stories to be about something more than just the power exchange and how that plays out between any two random people or a couple meeting at a club. Because it’s a somewhat extraordinary and delicate kind of relationship that makes different demands of each of the participants than a normal vanilla sexual encounter.

I like to explore how different characters create and interact within a BDSM relationship, to see how two ordinary people can work out a version that suits them (as in most of the books in the Suburban Dominants series). How do they even come together and recognize each other’s needs? Using the club scene makes a convenient way to get around that problem, but I’d rather tackle it head-on.

In fact, I’ve tried a number of different ways for one person to realize the other’s needs are similar or complementary. My favorite was in Judith’s Challenge, where the heroine works for the hero and is intrigued by the catalogs he gets in the mail. Later he catches her spying on one of the private parties he hosts.

Judith’s Challenge also tackles some fairly sensitive issues and explores how BDSM can be healing in some contexts. I put a trigger warning in the book because the heroine’s history includes a rape (off-screen and not by the hero!) and now she has a problem with being touched by anyone, particularly men. The hero has his own issues. He’s scarred and somewhat maimed as a result of injuries suffered while he was in the military.

I’ve tried to be careful of the problems these people have suffered and respectful of their trauma while showing how their growing trust in each other helps each of them heal.

Judith’s Challenge

Contemporary Romance with BDSM elements
ebook: $3.99

Money can’t buy back the parts of himself Drew Robertson left on a middle-east battlefield, but his new assistant, Judith Delaney, can show him he’s still a whole man without them—if he can help her heal from her own traumatic history.

Wounded Middle East war vet Drew Robertson made some fortunate investments and ended up wealthier than he ever expected to be. It’s some compensation for the injuries, visible and hidden, he believes would repel any woman were it not for his money.

Enter Judith Delaney. Drew’s new assistant brings compassion, intelligence, competence, and her own traumatic past to the job. She also secretly shares his interest in kinky sex.

They might be able to help each other heal, if they can let go the fear and doubts that imprison them. But threats from someone with a grudge against Drew complicate the situation, threats that escalate into something far more dangerous.

Order ebook from: Amazon   B&N   Kobo   Apple Books   Other formats

About Katherine Kingston

Katherine Kingston has written somewhere around two dozen erotic novels, novellas, and short stories.  Most of her novels and novellas are currently published by Ellora’s Cave, but she has one novella with Whispers Publishing and has had stories in a number of print publications. Her stories cover a range of genres from historical to paranormal to science fiction and contemporary. Most of them include hot, kinky sex, particularly BDSM.  Learn more about Katherine and her books at her website: http://www.katherinekingston.com .

Help me name a female character for my next book for a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card.

Hi, y’all. I hope the summer had been to you all. I can’t believe that we’re heading fast for fall and kids will be going back to school. My youngest daughter is turning the BIG 16 this month. She’s getting her license. And my oldest daughter is heading back to college for her last year before graduation, and then it’s off to graduate school. I feel like I’m caught up in a whirlwind and soon I’ll be an empty nester. What will I do with myself? Write more books. Bake all those recipes I’ve wanted to try. Work out more. Have date nights. I’m not excited. My world has evolved around my kids and it’s difficult to imagine jumping out of the fast lane and going solo.

Who could use a $5 GC? Enter the contest by doing this…

1. Follow me on BookBub. Here’s the link: Rhonda Lee Carver Books – BookBub. Already follow me? Awesome.
2. Name the beautiful redhead in the picture below. Put the name in an email subject headline and send it to author@gmail.com. One winner will be chosen on 08/29. Good luck!

Here’s an excerpt to my new book, Broken Halo. It’s sexy, steamy, and full of graphic language and dirty-good sex. What’s not to love?

“How did you get in? The door was locked.” She was aware that her voice fluttered. “Did you do this? Did you lock me in here?”

“You’re blaming me? Didn’t I tell you to stay put? Is it impossible for you to listen?” Lines of fury appeared around his mouth. His hands were fisted at his sides.

“Wait…how did you know I was in this room? You would have had to see me come in.” Tears moistened her eyes.

“Because I was looking through the security monitors and just happened to see you breaking the rules,” he growled. “I didn’t lock you in but that’s about the only way to get you to behave.”

She looked from him to the door then back to him. “If you didn’t do it then who did?”

He rubbed his jaw. “The doors must be powered by automatic locks because no one locked you inside.”

Swallowing, she slumped her shoulders, still reeling from watching the sex scene.

He took the short distance between them, backing her against the cool glass. She was almost grateful for the respite from the heat of her skin. He stared down at her, looking savage and warrior-like, his chest rising and falling.

“Ireland, if you can’t behave then I’m going to have to…”

“What?”

“Turn you over my knee and swat that tight ass. Do you think this is a joke?”

“I don’t care about your threats,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have married you.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I feel the same. I should have let King do whatever he wanted.”

She raised her hand with the intention to smack him across the face, but he caught her wrist and held it prisoner between his wide, callused fingers. Their gazes connected in a fiery duel of emotion and something else…something akin to desire. She tried to jerk free, but he held her tight. He then captured her other wrist and lifted both her arms high above her head and pinned them against the window.

“Let me go, you bastard!”

“Or what?” he seethed.

She brought her knee up but he was quick and dodged her strike to his groin. This angered him and his face reddened.

“You brat!” he pushed through thin lips, forcing her against the wall. “You’re pressing all my buttons.”

“Welcome to the club!”

Then something happened.

An invisible chain broke.

Pre-order here: Broken Halo (Undercover Silvers Series MC Book 1) – Kindle edition by Carver, Rhonda Lee. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

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This story has a long history for me. I began publishing through various online and traditional houses in 2003. I wrote Her Sanctuary in 2006. The first publisher disappeared. I re-pubbed it through a second publisher a few years later that disappeared as well. I dragged my feet on again publishing this story on my own because, over all those years, I’ve gotten many requests from readers for sequels. I wasn’t ready to continue the series then. I am now.

So, without further ado, here’s the first story in my Texas Vampires series. It’s FREE in Kindle Unlimited. I hope you’ll read it and want more. Because “more” (specifically Diego’s story) is in the works!

Enjoy the story! If you have time, tell someone about it. And thank you for supporting me over the years. I love my job. 🙂

Her Sanctuary

A woman surviving on the edge of a dark frontier strikes a sensual bargain with a handsome stranger hiding a dangerous secret…

In a post-apocalyptic future, creatures who’ve hidden in the shadows for millennia are freed to roam in a world shrouded in darkness. Rancher Kate McKinnon runs Sanctuary Ranch—a last refuge on the western frontier. While running herd over her cowhands and integrating refugees into their self-sufficient refuge, she escapes her responsibilities the only way she has left—via radio to pockets of other survivors. One man, Ty Bennett, is her confidante, and she thinks she might be falling in love with his deep, rasping voice. Although they’ve never met, he seems to know her heart.

On a patrol to scavenge supplies, Kate and her cowboys are surrounded by a gang of renegades intent on claiming her. Rescue comes unexpectedly by a militaristic band led by the man she’s spent so many hours talking to through the dark nights. She brings him home only to discover she’s brought vampires inside the refuge.

Already half in love with the human woman, Ty offers added muscle to her defenses and promises to move her people to safety. Fighting his own nature and appetites, he seeks redemption for his many sins but can’t control his hunger to possess Kate. Getting past her prejudice and choking responsibilities tests his seductive powers.

Get your copy now!

Enjoy a peek at Diego’s cover!

For Diego, the career his father had insisted was his destiny turned out to be the perfect preparation for the end of times. The Army made him a warrior—and then it turned him into a monster.

Pre-order your copy now!

Today’s post is just a reminder that I have a story coming out next Tuesday. If you love cowboys and vampires and ex-military men and post-apocalyptic worlds, served with a heavy dose of eroticism, this one might be for you! It’s the first in a trilogy of Texas Vampires books!

Her Sanctuary

A woman surviving on the edge of a dark frontier strikes a sensual bargain with a handsome stranger hiding a dangerous secret…

In a post-apocalyptic future, creatures who’ve hidden in the shadows for millennia are freed to roam in a world shrouded in darkness. Rancher Kate McKinnon runs Sanctuary Ranch—a last refuge on the western frontier. While running herd over her cowhands and integrating refugees into their self-sufficient refuge, she escapes her responsibilities the only way she has left—via radio to pockets of other survivors. One man, Ty Bennett, is her confidante, and she thinks she might be falling in love with his deep, rasping voice. Although they’ve never met, he seems to know her heart.

On a patrol to scavenge supplies, Kate and her cowboys are surrounded by a gang of renegades intent on claiming her. Rescue comes unexpectedly by a militaristic band led by the man she’s spent so many hours talking to through the dark nights. She brings him home only to discover she’s brought vampires inside the refuge.

Already half in love with the human woman, Ty offers added muscle to her defenses and promises to move her people to safety. Fighting his own nature and appetites, he seeks redemption for his many sins but can’t control his hunger to possess Kate. Getting past her prejudice and choking responsibilities tests his seductive powers.

Pre-order your copy here!

Open Contests

1. Help me build my “Workout Playlist” (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Michal Scott: One Good Wreath Deserves Another (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. I’m still building my workout playlist! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. A Very Wicked Witch… (Puzzle-Contest) — Win a FREE book!
5. Diana Cosby: Nature ‒ Muse Inspiration! (Contest) — Win a SIGNED book!
6. Monday, Monday… (Contest) — Win a hand-painted postcard!

Finally! I won’t go into what’s going on with Amazon and me, but Sleeping With The Enemy is finally out! If you previously had it on pre-order, that pre-order was cancelled (again, not going into what happened—Grrr!).

It is a SHORT STORY, and just an introductory taste of the Dark Realm world. It is FREE, and will remain so, in Kindle Unlimited and only $0.99 if you’re not a subscriber! Be warned: It’s a PARANORMAL EROTIC ROMANCE! Hope you enjoy it!

Get your copy now!

A lone rogue vampire mingles among his hunters in a blood bar, undetected…until a beautiful woman snares his attention. Suddenly, he’s running, leading her on a chase until she corners him, stake dangling from her slender fingertips. Now he has a couple of choices: play it sexy or safe?