Thanks for allowing me a chance to be a guest blogger, Delilah! It gives me an opportunity to gush a bit about how much I love summer!

It’s almost a hundred degrees where I live, which means things are hot and not in a good way. What is it about the hot weather that makes me want to move as little as possible, pick up a book and sink into something sexy and stimulating?

As a kid, summer meant no school which also meant more time to read. My mother and I used to swap books all summer long, passing mysteries, horror stories, literature and fantasies back and forth, recommending what to read and what to avoid. I knew any book she enjoyed, I would probably enjoy too.

She’d often close a book having just finished it, then drop it in my lap. “A good one,” she’d say.

“What’s it about?”

“Just read it.”

And I would.

We’d traded all of Jane Austin’s novels and loads of British gothic romance. We even read Peyton Place by Grace Metalious. I think we started to stray apart, as far as romance was concerned, after we read Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. I became completely hooked on Susann’s books, gobbling them up as soon as they hit the shelves, but my mom grew tired of them, or at least she never admitted to me that she waited breathlessly for the next one to hit the library.

It amuses me now to remember all of the bodice rippers I read. The first might have been a Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel, like The Flame and the Flower or Ashes in the Wind. I don’t remember which, but after I read one, I was off to the races.

I added romance to my list of genres I loved without really sharing my new love with my Mom. I still read mystery and horror and fantasy. Hell, a good book is a good book, but romance became my guilty pleasure—one I, unfortunately, didn’t share with her, or at least, not that she would admit to anyway.

Now, each time I publish a new book, I can’t help but wish my mother were around to read it. She passed a couple of years before my first co-authored memoir was published. I know she would have enjoyed my mysteries and even the urban fantasy I’ve published since she always loved a strong female lead. But I have to wonder how she would feel about the romance.

My Limited Partnerships series is a long way from the tame Jane Austin stories or even the Kathleen E. Woodiwiss bodice rippers, but maybe my mother’s tastes would have … matured the way mine have. I will never know for sure. I can only hope she would have read it, then closed it and said, “It’s a good one.”

*~*~*~*

Limited Partnerships – Omnibus, by M. L. Doyle

When a woman calls on Limited Partnerships, she expects to be in control. Some end up getting far more than they bargained for.

“The modern woman makes more money and is more powerful than ever before. They don’t always have the time to date, to do what it takes to maintain a relationship, but they still want and need company. And let’s face it. They need sex. Sex with someone who can make them feel desired above all others.” – Beth, owner and proprietor of Limited Partnerships.

The Limited Partnerships Omnibus—four novellas featuring Beth’s most desirable employees.

Limited Partnerships – Charlie,

Limited Partnerships – Wolf,

Limited Partnerships – Luke and

Limited Partnerships – Derek. Or get all four in the Omnibus edition.

About the Author

M. L. Doyle aimed to prove her brother wrong when she joined the Army on his dare. Almost two decades later, she not only confirmed that she could, contrary to his warning, make it through basic training, her combat boots took her to the butt-end of nowhere and back countless times and she lived to tell about it … or write about it as it turned out.

Unafraid of genre jumping, Mary has co-authored two memoirs, a three-book mystery series, a four-novella erotic romance series, and has just published the first book in a planned urban fantasy series.

A native Minnesotan, Mary lives in Baltimore where her evil cats force her to feed and care for them including cleaning up their poo. To escape from her torture, Mary loves to hear from readers. Checkout her website where you can read excerpts of all of her work.

www.mldoyleauthor.com
www.facebook.com/mldoyleauthor
www.twitter.com/mldoyleauthor
www.goodreads.com/mldoyle
https://www.amazon.com/author/mldoyle

Hello Delilah followers! Lizzie Ashworth here. I’ve got a quiz with prizes for you today.

What is mid-July good for?  A few summer luxuries close to my heart include homemade ice cream, ice cold watermelon, tall drippy glasses of iced tea, and quiet hours in a shaded place with a book!

But don’t forget sweaty sex. Until air conditioning became standard in American homes after the mid-20^th century, summer meant fans, shade trees, and doing as little as possible. But who could skip sex with those cotton t-shirts sticking to your skin and hunky men running around without any shirt at all? Even late at night, summer brought slippery sliding sex to those rumpled sheets.

The quiz? What do you think mid-July is good for? Reply in the comment section with your idea of what this hot humid time of year is good for and your name will go into the hat for a drawing. Two winners will be announced on July 20. And the prize is…your paperback copy of my latest novel, Caerwin & Marcellus, Book II of Caerwin’s story. (This offer is good only in the continental United States.)

I’m running a limited time offer during the pre-release period for Caerwin & Marcellus (Book II). Until July 20, Book I Caerwin and the Roman Dog is reduced to 99¢. If you haven’t read it, grab it now. Book II is also discounted to $2.99. These two great novels complete Caerwin’s story at prices you won’t see again.

Travel back in time to experience firsthand the conquest and glory of ancient Rome! Pick up these books and read your way through this breathtaking saga of brutal warfare, BDSM rough sex, and tender romance that grows in the wake of devastation.

An ambitious Roman commander captures a fiery maid of Britannia and forces her to his will. A story of conquest and love set in the glory days of empire, their struggle to meet each other’s needs and expectations exposes the underbelly of Rome’s legal system, its dependence on slavery, and sexual secrets from Marcellus’ past. Can young Caerwin survive daunting challenges to her womanhood?

Book I
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/611102
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016LA6ZVA

Book II
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/644340
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H9EBZCQ

I’m delighted to share my excitement with you today about my newest release, Abandoned Treasures. It is one of nine stories in an anthology where each novelette is set in an exotic European location, and each story begins with a letter.

Sardinia is a beautiful Italian island in the Mediterranean with an ancient culture of its own. In recent years, an area known as the Costa Smeralda, or Emerald Coast, has become a playground for the European and international jet set. This is where the hero, Rico di Carlo, makes his home.

Sophie Hayes lives in Las Vegas and is a celebrity in her own right. She’s so good at buying and reselling the contents of storage units abandoned by others, she now stars in her own cable TV show.

But Sophie has a secret. When she touches or holds an object, she tunes in by way of psychometry, a form of extrasensory perception, and information is revealed to her about the item or the person it belonged to.

This special gift can be a curse as well as a blessing, as she discovers when she gets a full blown vision of her fiancé entwined in the arms of another woman.

When a French antique escritoire is found in a storage unit with little else of value, the secret it conceals becomes a catalyst that gives Sophie a life-changing opportunity, if she can overcome her self-doubts.

Rico di Carlo is a reclusive world-famous businessman who lives on the enchanted island of Sardinia. He’s been watching Sophie Hayes on her cable TV show for months because she’s the first woman he has been drawn to since his wife died.

As fate conspires to bring them together in the strangest of ways, Sophie accepts his invitation to spend what would have been her honeymoon week as Rico’s guest.

Will one week be enough time for Rico to convince her to stay with him in Sardinia forever?

~~~***~~~

LETTERBOX LOVE STORIES VOLUME I is available for a limited time only at $0.99 and can be found on all major e-book platforms. Check out our fabulous Book Trailer here: https://youtu.be/5528lknHw2s

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Letterbox-Love-Stories-International-Romance-ebook/dp/B01HJ41MKQ/

Universal Amazon Link: https://myBook.to/LLS

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/letterbox-love-stories-volume-i-nine-international-romance-stories-by-the-world-romance-writers-rose-anderson/1124017733?ean=2940158348877

ARe Romance Books: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-letterboxlovestoriesvolumei-2065262-166.html

KoboBooks: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/letterbox-love-stories-volume-i

ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/letterbox-love-stories-volume/id1130795539?MT=11

GoogleBooks: https://play.Google.com/store/books/details/Rose_Anderson_Letterbox_Love_Stories_Volume_I?id=HW-QDAAAQBAJ

~~~***~~~

Website: https://WordRomanceWriters.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldRomanceWriters/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WRWWorldRomance

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/denysebridger/world-romance-writers/
Yahoo Group for AUTHORS and READERS: https://ca.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/WRW-Authors-Readers/info
~~~***~~~

GEMMA JULIANA

Gemma derives great joy from creating playing matchmaker in the love stories she writes, where two hearts end up beating as one. She enjoys adding the extra spice of international settings to her stories. Gemma has traveled the world and now lives with her true love in a cozy Texas cottage along with their teen son and a crafty dog who rules them all. Her muse is nourished with the finest creativity fuel – chocolate and coffee.

Author Links:

www.gemmajuliana.com
www.facebook.com/gemma.juliana
https://www.amazon.com/author/gemmajuliana
https://twitter.com/gemma_juliana

I remember the summers from when I was a kid. I’d spend the days outside running wild around the neighborhood with my friends. We’d run through the sprinkler on the lawn, play jump rope and hopscotch. We’d play tag at night when the sun went down and stay out as late as we could, only going home when our mothers stood on the front steps and called our names.

There were homemade popsicles, barbecues, and laughter. There were days spent visiting family in other towns. I’d often sneak off to the beach to wander. There were bubbles and marbles and made-up games.

On rainy days we’d play with our dolls under the veranda on the front porch of my house. I remember my father coming home from work and stepping over us on his way to the front door.

There were also comic books. There was no bookstore where I grew up, but my father would take us to the drugstore every Sunday and buy my sister and I a comic—Archie, Richie Rich, Little Lulu, and Casper when we were younger. We also had Classic Illustrated and Classic Illustrated Junior comics. I wish I still had those. As I grew older I started reading the Boris Karloff and other “horror” comics. I also read the romance comics as well. Never got into the superhero ones, but my sister was a big fan of Wonder Woman.

I credit my father with my love of reading. We always had magazine subscriptions coming to our home—Humpty Dumpty, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Newsweek, Time, and more. I read many of his Louis L’Amour westerns. I loved The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and Trixie Beldon. I stopped reading for a few years and picked it up again in my early twenties. Then I discovered romance novels and my life would never be the same.

If you’re looking for a good book to read in the hammock in the backyard, check out Wolf in his Heart, the latest book in my Salvation Pack series.

Wolf in his Heart

He’s a wolf where it counts—in his heart and in her bed.
Salvation Pack, Book 7

Exiled from her wolf pack for rejecting her parents’ choice for a mate, Rina Matheson has been on her own for over a year. Now she’s running for her life from a man who knows what she is and is obsessed with hunting her down.

Sage Gallagher—organic farmer, half-breed werewolf, and member of the Salvation Pack—finds more than a lost hiker while camping in the Great Smoky Mountains. So much more. Instant attraction slams through him with knee-buckling power the minute he sees Rina. His first instinct is to get her home where he and his pack can protect her.

Rina doesn’t trust easily. Especially not half-breeds, who she was raised to consider abominations. But Sage’s quiet strength calls to her lonely soul, and amazingly enough, her wolf responds. As he slowly works his way past her guard, she is soon in danger of losing her heart—even as danger draws closer to taking her life.

Get your copy here:
Samhain Publishing: https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5823/wolf-in-his-heart
Amazon: https://amzn.com/B01AVGJRVU
Barnes & Noble: https://goo.gl/Aa39M2
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-wolfinhisheart-2015499-140.html
Kobo: https://goo.gl/dnPIDm

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit me at:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Website: https://www.njwalters.com
Blog: https://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

Four things I love: croissants, France, the sea, and sexy athletes in spandex. So… why not have all those in a book? Why not indeed, and here it is. From the south of France, complete with pain au chocolate, a seaside view and pages full of ultra-fit professional cyclists in spandex, RACING TO YOU is a sexy summer read that will transport you on a European vacation without the cost of a plane ticket.

Bon voyage and happy reading!

Love—the one roadblock they never expected.

Aurelia is living her dream, teaching for a year in the south of France. Except it’s all going wrong. The carefree culture is challenging her academic goals, and her students are so difficult that she wants the unthinkable: to give up and go home.

Meeting Terrence doesn’t help. When he’s not training for the Tour de France, the cocky pro cyclist is flirting with Aurelia, but she didn’t cross an ocean to hook up with an American jock, even if he does have killer dimples and looks hot in spandex.

Until the jock sets out to prove he’s more than mere muscle. He wants to teach her what having fun really means, which could be as dangerous to her structured life as it is to her heart.

As life hits unexpected roadblocks, they turn to one another for support, and flirtation becomes game-changing love. But Terrence is chasing his dream of being the fastest man on two wheels, and she isn’t sure how far he’ll go to win…or how far she’s willing to follow.

Warnings: Includes a hopelessly romantic hero, a guilt-free sex proposition, a lot of orgasms and, of course, croissants.

Excerpt:

The American guy shifts his feet, and his thigh contracts, bulges, like the muscle beneath the spandex is a singular living thing. It puckers around his knee cap. A physical manifestation of explosive power.

My cappuccino cup suspends in mid-air, all pretense of drinking it gone. I’m not someone who goes starry-eyed over guys. They’re just muscles. He’s just a man, but I can’t seem to help my gaze shifting upward, crossing over his crotch, where if I look too closely, I’ll notice things I don’t want to. Or I do want to. My throat works, and I might be turning scarlet, but the dizzying pizzazz of his uniform draws my eyes up and up.

I reach his face, and I jolt.

His light-brown eyes glow like amber, and one winks at me. “Do you speak English, sweetheart?” He has this dimple that divots in one cheek. If he were in a museum, I’d stare at him all day.

Maybe if I don’t respond, he’ll think I really am French and don’t understand his English. Unlikely. I’m totally missing the French je ne sais quoi. I’m not stylish, I’m not skinny, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t affect their suave manner. And since my parents are Filipino, add in my skin and features… Not many people mistake me for French.

Wait, he called me “sweetheart”. I am not sweet. I cement my eyes back to my book and mutter, “Go away, sweetheart.”

“Is that a yes?”

Damn it. I need my “social leper” sign. It doesn’t matter if I want to talk to him; my propensity to say the wrong thing has gotten me laughed at more than once.

The barista tattles on me. “Elle est américaine.” His thin lips stretch in a wry smile.

“Really?” The jock walks toward me. His shoes clap on the floor, but his swagger is louder, with more cockiness and attitude than a star footballer.

My heart lurches into panic mode.

He stops in front of me and rests his helmet against his hip. “What’re you reading?” He gestures with his espresso cup at my book.

I need relief from the nerves fusing in my gut. “Leave me alone.”

Jeers come from his teammates by the door. “Braker burns,” one says.

Braker. That’s a weird name.

He watches me, like he’s waiting for me to say more. The need to speak with someone from the same country as me wings like a caged bird in my chest. I want to say, “I’m Aurelia. Where are you from? What’s with the bike riding?”

His finger doodles on the page of my book, soft and swirling. It’s such a man’s hand, even his knuckles are muscular. “All right, Frenchie,” he says with mock forlorn.

“Frenchie?” My eyes flip up.

His lips curve in a smile so contagious that mine lift like he’s tugging them on a string. It’s been a long time since I smiled, as in full-face, cheek-bending, real deal smiled.

It somehow unravels my tongue. “How come you’re not having a croissant?”

“They’re good, huh?” He licks his finger and glides it over the crumbs on my empty plate. The leftover flakes stick to his finger. He sucks them into his mouth.

He has a mouth. And lips. Delectable and soft.

Duh, of course he has a mouth. My brain is pudding.

“Braker, let’s ride,” his friend says up front.

His eyes travel my face, like he’s searching for something. “See you tomorrow.” Then, with a wide walk and clapping shoes, he follows the other cyclists out the door.

About the Author

Robin Lovett writes sexy contemporary romances, and Racing To You is her debut through Samhain Publishing. Her next series, Bad Boys of Blackmail is scheduled for release the summer of 2017 through SMP Swerve.

She enjoys writing romance to avoid the more unsavory things in life, like day jobs and housework. To feed her coffee and chocolate addictions, she loves overdosing on mochas. When not writing with her cat, she’s busy embracing untamable curly hair, cycling with her husband or adventuring in the outdoors with a laptop in her bag and a book in her hand.

You can add Racing To You to your TBR Goodreads list or add it directly to your Kindle. Other purchase links and more sexy excerpts from her book are available on her website www.RobinLovett.com. She loves to chat on Twitter @LovettRomance, and you can find her every Sunday evening with other romance writers at #RWChat. She’s also on Facebook www.facebook.com/LovettRomance.

 Happy Fourth of July! I hope tonight you’re sitting on a blanket with the man of your dreams overlooking a lake and watching the fireworks fill the sky with your sweetheart holding you tight. In Canada, we celebrate on the First. No matter what country you’re from, this holiday weekend celebrates independence. It didn’t arrive without its struggles. And maybe we still have to fight sometimes to keep dark things at bay, but it’s worth it when we spend the day at the beach, the delicious smell of hamburgers wafting from the hibachi while our children are laughing and playing on the sand.

You might be spending this weekend with family at a cabin, or friends are coming over tonight for cocktails and a quaint dinner on the deck. Maybe you’re taking your folks out for a sunset cruise! (Be careful, I work for the Coast Guard and I don’t mind sitting around doing nothing. It means you’re safe.)

When I look at the peaceful relationship that Canada and the US have being neighbors, I hope that one day countries in the Middle East will mirror our union. Our two countries are the same but different. Independent but joined when disaster or war raises its hand to threaten either of us. While we bask in the sun this weekend and enjoy all our comforts and freedoms, we have to nod our head at the struggles it took to get where we are. Over the years, there were voices that rose above all others to say, “Peace is far better than war.” And we listened. To gain independence in the past, men and women gave their lives, and although we mourn for lost loved ones, we’ve grown from each experience. The Fourth of July may have its roots in the signing of Declaration of Independence, but the words were only a guideline to strive for and live by. Our actions since 1776 are what brought us to 2016 as an abundant nation with opportunity to do better each day.

Each year when July 1^st and 4^th roll around, I hear these words: Apart we are strong, but together we’re stronger.

Happy Independence Day America.

Love, Hope and faith

Natasza Waters
Award winning and bestselling author
Writing stories with a cup of romance and a twist of steam.

If you love an alpha hero, you’ll enjoy my award-winning SEAL series.

You’ll find all my books on Amazon. Click “follow” https://www.amazon.com/Natasza-Waters/e/B006HYRTGQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1467247104&sr=8-2-ent

Check out my newest release Twila’s Tempest

Book Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JChk2MFsL4A

Sign up for my quarterly newsletter for giveaways and be the first to know when I’m releasing a new book.

https://nataszawaters.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter

Hi Delilah, thanks for hosting me. My post today is a little different. Instead of plugging my work, I’m asking your readers to help me spread the word about a charity anthology. There is also a charity-based contest at the bottom of the post.

When my oldest daughter, Turtle (nickname, obviously) was only a week old, she went through the kind of medical hell no child should ever go through. First, she nearly died from a bacterial infection. Two days later we learned she’d also had a stroke. Our lives shrunk to our daughter’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit room as we measured her life in hours. Celebrations like her first Christmas and first birthday seemed like impossible goals.

Not long after Turtle turned a corner and came off the ventilator, our nurse came into the room with a hat and a blanket. She told us that they’d been donated to the hospital’s Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units by Project Linus for babies and children in crisis. It was a small gift, but in the midst of hell, it was a ray of light.

Since then I’ve made a point of donating to Project Linus annually in Turtle’s name.

We are one of the lucky families. There was a small bit of white matter damage from the stroke, and Turtle needed a foot brace for under a year. One of her kidneys permanently failed, but the other is healthy. As you can see from the photo, she’s like many other seven year old girls—obsessed with ballet. She’d like to be an artist when she grows up.

There is a series of charity anthologies run by a company called Coming Together. I find the idea of giving back by writing erotica inspiring, and I’ve participated in four anthologies as a writer. When there was a call for more editors, I was inspired to volunteer. Coming Together: Under the Mistletoe was born, with all proceeds going to Project Linus.

Submission Call

Deadline is September 1, 2016

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow because we’ll be heating up this sexy December anthology.

I am looking for your best winter stories. Are your characters cuddled up inside while a blizzard rages, or are they snowbirds spending Christmas Day on the beach in the tropics? Who belongs on Santa’s Naughty List? Is your billionaire a Scrooge? Is this the year they come out to their family? Do they have a special someone to kiss when the ball drops?

While the theme is winter, you may also add in your favorite December holiday, but this is not mandatory. I’m looking for compelling stories with compelling characters and a rich plot as well as beautiful poetry.

Guidelines

• Your story should be set between December 1 and December 31 whether explicitly or implicitly.
• All orientations, ethnicities, pairings, and interpretations of “winter” are encouraged.
• All sub-genres and time periods welcome (contemporary, historical, paranormal, sci-fi, steampunk, you name it).
• All heat levels from sweet and romantic to down and dirty—as long as it is plot driven.
• HEA/HFN preferred, but not required.
• Stories up to 7,500 words
• Poetry is welcomed and encouraged
• No underage, no scat, no non-consent, no incest

Coming Together is a charity organization. You retain all rights to your stories, and previously published stories and poetry are welcomed (as long as you hold the rights).

Please use Times New Roman font, size 12, and double spaced with one inch margins. No extra lines between paragraphs. Set indentations to .5 – do not use tabs or spaces to indent. Use .docx, .doc .rtf formats only.

Only submit your final, best version of the story to delilahnight@gmail.com with the subject line “Under the Mistletoe insert your title insert your name”

Do not send multiple versions of the same story. Up to two stories/three poems will be considered from each author. Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable and be clear which one is which), mailing address, and up to 250 word bio. Do not paste your story into the body of your message.

You will be notified as to the status of your story by no later than October 1, 2016.

Coming Together is a non-profit organization, and all Coming Together authors and editors have generously donated their talents to various causes. Compensation for inclusion in this work is a PDF contributor copy of the finished product and your name on Santa’s Nice List (or Naughty, if that’s your preference). You retain all rights to your story. All proceeds go to Project Linus, which provides home-made blankets and hats to children in crisis.

Questions? Email me at delilahnight@gmail.com

Contest

The first five (5) readers who share the submission call on their websites will get a ten dollar usd ($10 usd) donation to the charity of their choice. I’ll also send you a pdf copy of your choice of the four Coming Together anthologies to which I’ve contributed—Coming Together: For the Holidays, Coming Together: Among the Stars, Coming Together: Strange Shifters, or Coming Together: Keeping Warm.

My link is posted here at the Erotica Readers and Writers Association, and I have a dedicated page on my website. You can cut and paste the call, or write a short blog entry about why you would encourage people to submit to the anthology (feel free to cut and paste/use any information and photos I’ve used in this post and then add a link to the call).

Email me at delilahnight@gmail.com with a link to your post and the name of your charity (no political or religious organizations). I’ll provide you with a screenshot to prove that I’ve made the donation.