on Jan 19th, 2012 Give a big smutty welcome to our lovely guest authors Stephanie, Leia and Laura! Plus, they’re having an awesome contest here on the blog so make sure you check out the contest details at the end of the post! Take it away ladies!
Which Hero Is Most Likely To Seduce You?
While Harlequin is known primarily for romance, they also offer hotter fare. Today, authors Stephanie Draven, Laura Kaye and Leia Rice are here to share excerpts that show off their heroes. Which one is more likely to seduce you? You decide!
Stephanie Draven: The Fever and The Fury:
Her honesty hit him somewhere deep. It made him want to lay out his own desires like mission objectives. “I want to see you naked, Phaedra. I want to touch you everywhere. I want to nudge your knees apart and bury myself in you. I want to stroke deep, until you’re writhing and your sweat-soaked belly is sucked tight to mine. Until I’m ploughing you into the bed and you’re crying out my name in the dark.”
She responded beautifully to this kind of talk. A sigh escaped her lips and a flush crept up her neck. The tables had turned and he liked it.
“And then I want to come inside you, Phaedra. I want to come inside you, enjoying every wet pulse. I want to come inside you hot and hard, jerking with satisfaction…and you know what else? I think you want to let me.”
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” she whispered. “Athena wouldn’t condone it.”
“But you do want to go to bed with me, don’t you?”
“Yes.” It was just the one tremulous word, but it was all the permission he needed. He drew her palm to his mouth. Her hand was damp, her pulse leaping beneath his lips. She was so eager. So wanting. But still she resisted him. “Luke, I can’t give you pleasure.”
“Then stop me from taking it,” he said, dragging his teeth up the pale underside of her arm, kissing the soft spot inside her elbow. She seemed entirely undone by this tenderness: she succumbed to it with a helplessness he’d never seen in any woman. It was unfair, some part of him thought. He was taking advantage of her innocence and inexperience. Someone should stop him, because he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
“Luke,” she whispered in warning.
“Stop me,” he said, his lips working up her shoulder and fastening at the pulse just behind her ear, the silk of her dark hair tickling his nose.
When her mouth fell open to speak, his thumb traced her lips and he was rewarded with another moan. His muscles tightened, every part of him straining with the thrill of torturing her for a change and in such a delicious way. “Stop me from kissing you, Phaedra…if you can.”
Leia Rice: I’ll share my hero through another excerpt from The Revolutionary Mistress because I think it speaks volumes to how sexy he really is:
“Jean, you have to believe me. He looked like an angel.”
“An angel? In all of this shit?” Jean dragged a damp rag over the top of the bar, wiping away the rings of water from glass mugs that once rested there. “I find it hard to believe.”
Mariette laughed at Jean. She tiptoed and pulled herself up to sit on the ledge, watching the door for patrons. “Yes, Jean. An angel. His hair, his hands…”
“His hands?”
Before Mariette could talk any more about this man of her dreams, the chimes above the door sung as it opened. Without paying much attention to who came in, she slid back down off of the bar, grabbing her tray.
“Like him?” Jean nodded his head towards the door. Standing there, the very same man glanced about, and when his kind eyes found Mariette, he smiled charmingly
Mariette’s breath escaped her. She imagined one of those new hot air balloons she heard about falling to the ground, deflated and limp — this is how she felt. Or did she feel like a balloon rising and rising?
Laura Kaye: I love a hero whose strength is so implicit he can extend some of the power in their relationship to the heroine. Here’s Kael the Fair, Warrior King of the Vampires, from In the Service of the King:
“Shayla, look at me.”
As much as she’d been waiting for his voice, it still startled her. His use of her name. His tender, regretful tone.
She knew she must obey, but was afraid if she did, she’d lose control of her emotions—and she wasn’t sure whether hurt or anger would win out. Neither was appropriate to show, and both were likely to result in tears.
The king stepped toward her until he was easily within arm’s reach. “Shayla,” he whispered, coaxing her. A long moment passed. And then he fell to his knees before her, his face tilted upward so their eyes could finally meet.
She gasped and her mouth dropped open. He was more fascinating, more gorgeous, than she had even fully recalled. Fire danced behind his eyes, and flashes of gold shined out through the emerald. He was smiling, and it highlighted the strong masculine angles of his jaw and cheeks so vividly it stole her breath. A reaction amplified by the appearance of the sharp tips of his fangs. Shayla licked her lips.
Despite being on his knees, he radiated such palpable power she could feel it jangling in the air between them.
Oh, God. He’s on his knees. A throaty sigh escaped her as she dropped to her own. She was always to be below him.
“Now I can’t see you again.” The warm, amused tone was back. “Please look at me.”
Taking a deep breath, Shayla finally obeyed. Her gaze raked over his intricate tartan robes before finally settling on his handsome face. When their eyes met, the smile he let loose dazzled her, and she smiled back. His playfulness, the incredible sense of ease now possessing him, made it harder to hold on to her anger.
“Thank you,” he said. She nodded. “I have some things I’d like to say to you. Are you willing to hear them?”
Soooo, which hero do you most want another taste of?
Answer the above question in the comments — one lucky winner will be drawn and will receive their choice of one of the authors’ books featured! Good luck!
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About the Authors:
Stephanie Draven is a multi-published award-nominated author of myth-inspired paranormal romance. Writing for HQN Nocturne, Stephanie’s Mythica series asks the question: What if the monsters of ancient mythology still walked the earth…and what if you found out that you were one of them? Currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies, Stephanie lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.
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Laura Kaye Voted Breakout Author of the Year in the 2011 GraveTells Readers’ Choice Awards, Laura is the bestselling and award-winning author of a half-dozen books. Hearts in Darkness is a finalist for the EPIC eBook Award for Best Novella, Forever Freed won the NJRW Golden Leaf Award for Best Paranormal of 2011, and North of Need, the first book in the Hearts of the Anemoi series, was named GraveTells’ Best Book of 2011 and won their 5-STAR Gold Heart Award, and won Sizzling Hot Read of the Year at Sizzling Hot Books. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
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Leia Rice is an avid lover of everything Parisian, Ancient Grecian and Ancient Roman. She wishes that women would still wear the pretty dresses and petticoats that they did back in the 18th century, but she’s well aware how much of a pain they must have been. Leia writes historical fiction, romance and erotica in these areas, because she cannot get enough of each respective time period.
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Ladies, that’s a hard question to answer but I’m leaning towards the king. For any man, especially a king, to get down on his knees ?!?!? Yeah, I could go for that.
by Tracey D January 19th, 2012 at 10:29 amOh book #3 give me the KING! lol What a hard choice though. Wow all the excerpts for all 3 books were great!!
Lisa B
by Lisa B January 19th, 2012 at 10:40 amOh this was hard but I am going to choose Luke from The Fever and The Fury! I read about this book on another blog yesterday and I immediately wanted it!
by Brandi S. January 19th, 2012 at 10:59 amThank you for the awesome comments, guys! So glad you’re enjoying the excerpts–I just couldn’t pick!
by Laura Kaye January 19th, 2012 at 11:25 amAll of them! It’s my fantasy and I’ll do what I want!
by Sharon Buchbinder January 19th, 2012 at 11:40 amI rather like Sharon’s solution best.
by Stephanie Draven January 19th, 2012 at 11:41 amAlso, thank you Brandi! Once you go Phoenix you never go back ;)
by Stephanie Draven January 19th, 2012 at 11:42 amAlso, thank you for having us here Smutketeers!!!
by Stephanie Draven January 19th, 2012 at 11:43 amSmokin’ hot excerpts ladies – and thanks so much for joining us!
by Karen Erickson January 19th, 2012 at 11:54 amLuke all of the way
by Audra Holtwick January 19th, 2012 at 12:03 pmKael can seduce me
All of these heroes sound great and I wouldn’t mind getting to know all of them.
by Na S. January 19th, 2012 at 12:09 pmAlthough I would like all three, I think Luke is the most tempting for me. A man that seduces as much with his words as his actions, defies the norm, and dominates. Yum!
by Liz January 19th, 2012 at 12:16 pmIt would be The King for me too :).
by Viki S. January 19th, 2012 at 12:18 pmLuke from The Fever and The Fury has caught my attention. I went to eHarlequin and read the blurb and was even more intrigued.
Congrats on the new releases ladies!
by StacieD January 19th, 2012 at 12:18 pmThanks for coming out to play with the Smutketeers today!
by eden bradley January 19th, 2012 at 12:39 pmEden/Eve :)
Kael all the way!!
by Lolarific January 19th, 2012 at 12:40 pmI have to agree with Sharon, I want them all. I am a greedy wench and I think the four of us will be quite busy…..um happy.
by Sue Sattler January 19th, 2012 at 1:23 pmWe’re here to please, ladies! You want them all? You can have them all! Thanks for all the fun comments!
by Laura Kaye January 19th, 2012 at 1:34 pmKale the Fair can seduce me anytime. I’m with some of the other commenters, a powerful man down on his knees makes my knees go weak.
Dana
by Dana Meve January 19th, 2012 at 2:06 pmKael, the Fair, you can do anything you like to me, because all I can manage to do is gaze at you in all your glory. And when I see stars, it’s because I forget to breathe, but I won’t know that – I’ll just think it’s part of the magic of you!
*swoon*
by Gena Robertson January 19th, 2012 at 4:11 pmWow! Nice excerpts ladies!
by ELF January 19th, 2012 at 4:12 pmIf I HAVE to choose, I vote for the king but I’d say it’s awfully close!
Oh mama! Those books sound great! I really like how the female is holding the male down on the first book cover. Delicious! :)
Thanks for the giveaway!
by Taryn Lisa January 19th, 2012 at 4:47 pmGosh! Having to choose between the 3 is agony! I would have to go with #3 tho, it’s the tenderness combined with humor that is so irresistible.
by Linda January 19th, 2012 at 5:37 pmHard to pick just one.My choice is Luke from The Fever and The Fury.
by elaing8 January 19th, 2012 at 6:01 pmIn The Service of the King is the one that appeals to me!!!
by Diane January 19th, 2012 at 6:15 pmOh, I want the King!! A hot vampire, and he goes down on his knees to the woman? Oh yeah
by Nancy Gilliland January 19th, 2012 at 6:49 pmJust so as to not have any false advertising, you all should know that Phaedra is a kickass heroine–and holding down Luke is just the start of the many things she wants to do to him. But when she crumbles, she’s more at his mercy than he’s at hers ;)
by Stephanie Draven January 19th, 2012 at 8:13 pmI want to read more of ALL of them! They all seem to be well written and all have peaked my interest!
books4me67 at ymail dot com
by books4me January 19th, 2012 at 9:00 pmCan I pick 1,2, & 3? Lol those all sound amazing but if you make me choose I’d have to say… 1. Off to go look each authors website I have been missing out.
by Dawn January 19th, 2012 at 11:07 pmIt is s hard to pick with so little to compare, so I’ll just go with any
by Ilona January 20th, 2012 at 6:10 amThis is how your comments are making me feel, guys:
So, I’m getting the feeling a lot of you wouldn’t mind bringing a powerful man to his knees, eh? Uh huh. I think I’ve got your number…
Thanks for all the great comments! They’ve been a total hoot to read!
by Laura Kaye January 20th, 2012 at 8:48 amIt’s a tough choice, all three are soooo good. The one that made my pulse race the most is the hero in The Fever and the Fury.
Le sigh.
by Katherine January 20th, 2012 at 10:45 amHi! Thank you for sharing! Your books sound awesome! I love the teasers! You all arent making it easy to choose a favorite. The one that appeals to me more is Luke in The Fever and The Fury. Thank you!
by Shadow January 20th, 2012 at 10:56 amshadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com
I really love Luke and Phaedra, too! Le sigh is right, Katherine! :)
Thanks for all the fun comments everyone!
by Laura Kaye January 21st, 2012 at 8:00 amWow it’s hard to pick… I’d have to go with Luke though.. :)
by Amber H. January 21st, 2012 at 11:39 am-Amber
goodblinknpark@yahoo.com
NUMBER #2 HAS FOUND ME WANTING.
by Carla C January 22nd, 2012 at 3:36 pm