Smutketeers

The winner of a book off Loribelle’s backlist is Tamsyn T! We’ll be in touch to see what you’d like.

Thanks to all for commenting!

-Tell us about a day in the life of Loribelle Hunt. You’ve got kids (teenagers, omg!), a cop hubby, and a delightfully Southern extended family. How do you balance it all and stay sane?

Well, first you’ll have to tell me what sane is. Because, of course, sane is relative. I have sane relatives so that’s good enough, right? Or we could skip the niceties and just call the balancing act what it is. ADD on crack. Yep. That about sums it up.

-What’s your writing process like? Do you have a daily or weekly word count that you try to meet? Or do you wait until the last minute and write like a mongoose hopped up on speed?

I call my process the manic depressive insane writer way. I do not recommend it. Basically what happens is I have an editor or publisher or a bunch of readers, ask me for a book. An agreement is reached with a published for a deadline. I always give myself lots of time to do this. Unfortunately, I apparently strive on stress. And then, well, I stress. About characters and stories and plots. Because I got it in my head at some point that books are so easy to read they must be easy to write. Ha! I should be flogged. Oh wait…wrong blog.

Anyway, the serious answer is I tend to write in spurts. I’ll write a lot in 2-3 months and then nothing for 2 months. I have tried to change this process but the older I get and the more I write, the more I realize this is just the way I do it.

-If you could give one piece of advice to up-and-coming writers, what would it be? (It’s gonna be “always put on clean underwear,” we just know it!)

If you must wear underwear, please make it clean! Or you could do like me and take up cigarettes, beer, and mainlining Diet Coke, because if you’re starting out sane that probably won’t last!

-Some of our readers (and by that I mean every last one of the Smutketeers) may have a slight weakness for the boy-on-boy-on-girl threesome action. Once Bitten has some of that…is this a new subgenre for you, and will you be writing more of it?

Totally new for me! I started writing The Gift (my December Cobblestone release) thinking I was writing a love triangle. And the triangle went in a direction I didn’t expect lol! The Gift is a m/m/f story. And Once Bitten. And Twice Shy out this summer. And another as yet unnamed Cobblestone story for the summer will be m/m.

-One word comes to mind when you think of Loribelle Hunt. Okay, two. Alphas and shifters. Do these two naturally go together for you? What makes you lean in the alpha-ly direction?

I love werewolves. I love alpha men. And yeah, they do seem to go together. Lucky for me, I married my alpha man. There weren’t any werewolves available. I guess I’m just indulging my married to an alpha werewolf fantasy.

-If you could switch lives with one of your characters, who would it be and why?

Laney Bradford from Invasion Earth. She is totally kick ass. The woman gets to have hot sex and play with assault rifles. What is not to love there?

-Tell us about your purse obsession. You started writing for the money to feed your habit, didn’t you? It’s okay. You can tell us.

I have a slightly unhealthy love for Louis Vuitton. But obsession? That’s just mean.

-And for the question every author hates with the fire of a thousand suns…where do you get the ideas for your stories? (C’mon, you didn’t think we’d resist that one, did you?)

Walmart. Where do you get yours? This is such a hard question to answer. They come from everywhere and sometimes nowhere. I’m a big fan of the what if. With Invasion Earth for example I started with, what if you were sleeping with the enemy? And then, what if you were ordered to sleep with the enemy? What would make a woman agree to do that? How do you make that woman likeable? A lot of my books start out in this manner.

-Which books are on your pry-them-from-my-cold-dead-fingers keeper shelf?

All of them? Between me and my girls there are well over 2000 books in this house. Picking absolute favorites is hard. From my romance shelves I would never let go of Suzanne Brockmann, Christine Feehan, Nalini Singh, and Linda Howard. From the rest of the collection-Pat Conroy, Guy Gavriel Kay, Tony Hillerman, Anne Bishop, Nevada Barr…See? You’re making me pick here and the list is just way too long!

-Tell us about your current release(s) and what you have coming up next.

I’ve got a very busy year coming up. Once Bitten releases from Loose Id on February 23. Twice Shy hopefully will be early summer, same publisher. Claiming Earth will be out sometime in late spring, I think. And there are a host of books not currently titled or scheduled. All told, I should have 8-9 releases in 2010.

-Do you have any appearances coming up?

Are you kidding? Revisit the last question. I’ll be chained to my desk for the next several weeks. I am planning on attending RT and RWA this year, but in the real world, I mean, online, I have no concrete plans.

-Where can we find you on the Internet?

My website is www.loribellehunt.com. If I’m procrastinating, no brainstorming! I meant brainstorming! Anyway, then I’m likely to be found lurking at Romance Divas. I’ve also been known to hang around twitter, twitter.com/loribellehunt

*And now for some quick questions…

~Tattoos or piercings?

Both

~On men: In uniform or out of uniform?

Duh. Both.

~Alien or werewolf?

I’m feeling like a broken record here.

~Phone sex or strip club?

Phone sex

~Knee high boots or come-fuck-me pumps?

Fuck me heels. Of course.

~Top or bottom?

No comment.

~Voyeur or exhibitionist?

Where is my lawyer? That guy is always late.

~Stormy beach or snowy mountainside?

I will take a hurricane over a blizzard any day. Long as I am not cold, it’s all good.

And for one lucky commenter, Loribelle is letting you fondle all her goodies! Um, what we mean is that she’s letting you browse through all the goodies on her backlist and is giving away one book to someone who comments between now and next Monday. Winner’s choice. Good luck!

BELIEVE IN ME by Crystal Jordan

Read an excerpt ♦ Buy it here!

Love might need a little push…or a good, swift kick.

Tori Chambers. Old biddy, gossip, busybody and meddler. Except in reality she’s none of those things—she’s a guardian angel who specializes in helping people find their soul mates. Her latest assignment has had her tearing her hair out for over a year. She’s holding up her end for the fireman who’s her current client, but his soul mate’s guardian angel is dropping the ball big time. And when a replacement steps in, it’s enough to curl what’s left of Tori’s hair.

Jericho. The one man who broke her heart—and made her determined to never fail her clients like her own guardian angel failed her.

A hundred years ago, while fighting for Texas independence, Jericho made a mistake that accidentally cost her life. Now that she’s forced to make nice and work with him, he’s determined not to lose her again. Even if he has to tie her to the bed and make love to her until she’s willing to see reason.

Because unknown to Tori, she is his assignment. And if he can’t find a way to convince her they’re soul mates, they face an eternity of consequences…

Smutketeers: Tell us a little about what it’s like to be Victoria Janssen. You’ve said that through your writing you like to empower women, usually through unconventional means. Do tell!

Victoria: My mother always told me she wanted me to have more opportunities than she did, and so I’ve lived my life trying to make sure I do things that aren’t traditional for women, and give to myself as well as others. I think that’s really important – too often, women are supposed to be self-sacrificing, and eventually that can eat away at your strength and happiness. To me, empowerment means taking the time to find out who you are and what you need to be happy, and then making sure you have it. If you’ve taken care of yourself first, then it’s much easier to give to others.

In stories, I like to dramatize or exaggerate those ideas. For me, spending an afternoon at a spa is taking care of myself. For the Duchess Camille, it’s summoning the hot young stableboy to get her pregnant. For a werewolf, it might be bloody revenge.

Smutketeers: What is your writing process like? Do you have a daily or weekly word count that you try to meet? Or do you wait until the last minute and write like mad?

Victoria: I am a tortoise, and I’ve learned that keeping track of my daily wordcount helps to not only make progress, but feel like I’m making progress. Also, I can then look back and be reassured when I have slow periods, because I can see that I survived times without writing before; it’s just part of my process.

My pattern at the moment is 1000 words a day, skipping the day I have choir rehearsal. Sometimes I do a little better on Saturday, because I have more time to write.

Smutketeers: What made you write erotica? Was it because you could write sexy group lurvin’ (ahem, the duchess, her maid, the groom, and their lover), wasn’t it? Be honest, now. It can be our little secret. Promise!

Victoria: I first started writing erotica to amuse my friends. We used to write stories in a shared universe. I hadn’t written any really romantic scenes before, and they really, really liked the (pretty tame) one I did. So after that, I wrote more. I continue to write erotica because I seem to be good at it. I also like playing with the genre and seeing where it can take me as far as learning the craft of writing.

Smutketeers: Do you read in the same genre(s) you write?

Victoria: Yes and no. I read a lot of romance but very little erotica. I did read a lot of erotica when I started out writing it, but got a bit burned out. I also read fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and nonfiction.

Smutketeers: You’ve written—and published!—in other genres before. What were they and what made you switch? Which genre or time period is your favorite to write in?

Victoria: I sold some non-erotic fantasy, but I don’t think it was nearly as high quality as I would have liked. I still love science fiction and fantasy; I would probably be writing in those genres now if I hadn’t found I was better at writing (and selling) erotica. I do love writing erotica – I think it’s important to explore that part of our imaginations, and it’s important for feminist reasons as well – but I find it to be a lot more fun when I can include speculative or historical elements, so I haven’t really let go of my genre birthplace.

The Moonlight Mistress was particularly fun for me, since I got to use historical knowledge as well as sneaking science fictional werewolves into my erotica. Different genres, to me, are like chocolate and peanut butter, two great tastes that taste great together.

Smutketeers: You have some truly awesome titles under both of your pen names. Do you come up with them yourself or do your editors pick for you?

Victoria: I titled all of my short stories except for “Twisted Beauty.” I’m still not that happy with “Twisted Beauty” because the original title, “Among the Lilies,” is a lot prettier and more allusive – and I didn’t like using the word “Twisted” for a story about a man in a wheelchair. But I went with what the editor chose.

I love titling stories, even though it can be difficult and frustrating. Often a line from a poem or a quote will stick with me, and emerge from my subconscious just when I need it. “Place, Park, Scene, Dark” is the first line of a song, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” the moon making it appropriate for a werewolf story. Single word titles often happen that way, too. “Camera” was named before I consciously had a full sense of the story and its themes. “Wire” was the same. And sometimes I parody other titles. “17 Short Films About Hades and Persephone” came from the film “32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.” “Poppies Are Not the Only Flower” came from Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, a lesbian novel by Jeanette Winterson; my story is about lesbians during World War One, so I used poppies to indicate that.

Neither of my original titles for my Spice books survived, and I came up with huge lists of alternate titles before they were approved. However, it looks like my third Spice book is going to stay The Duke and the Pirate Queen, which makes me pretty happy.

Smutketeers: You’ve written for a number of publishers in different lengths. Do you have a favorite story length (novel, novella, short story)?

Victoria: I love writing novels best; I love reading novels much more than short stories, and I love being involved in the world of the novel for months at a time. But writing short stories can be a lot of fun, too, and it’s easier to experiment with different styles and points of view when you’re only committed for a few thousand words.

Smutketeers: We know you have a love of music. Do you ever perform in public?

Victoria: I sing in a choir, and we do several concerts every year. I usually have to put my writing aside during concert week, because it can be exhausting as well as fun.

Smutketeers: Name three of your favorite movies of all time.

Victoria: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Singing in the Rain. The Kenneth Branagh version of Henry V.

Smutketeers: If one of your books were made into a movie, which one would you want to see on the big screen the most? More importantly, who would play in the starring roles?

Victoria: I think The Moonlight Mistress would make the better movie of the two. When I was writing up character descriptions for the art department, I actually did give some actors to approximate the look of the characters: Lucilla was Minnie Driver, Pascal was French actor Vincent Perez though less pretty, Tanneken a blonde Audrey Tatou, Noel very Damien Lewis, Crispin a little bit like singer Tom Jones, and Gabriel like a blonde Jude Law. Only not really.

Smutketeers: Tell us about your current release(s) and what you have coming up next.

Victoria: The Moonlight Mistress is just out this month. It’s an erotic novel set during the early days of World War One. And there are werewolves. I’m finishing up the draft of my next Spice novel, The Duke and the Pirate Queen, which is a sequel to The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover featuring Maxime and Captain Leung.

Smutketeers: Do you have any appearances coming up?

Victoria: I’m having a book launch on December 5th, but that’s it for a while.

http://www.bigbluemarblebooks.com/events.html

I will likely attend Arisia in January.

http://2010.arisia.org

Smutketeers: Where can we find you on the Internet?

Website: www.victoriajanssen.com

Blog: http://victoriajanssen.blogspot.com

I twitter as victoriajanssen

*And now for some quick questions…

~Beach cottage or mountain cabin?

Mountain cabin, with nice fire in fireplace and fuzzy socks. Unless the beach weather is nice and overcast, with a cool ocean-scented breeze.

~Knee high boots or come-fuck-me pumps?

Boots, definitely. Pumps make my feet hurt.

~On men: boxers, briefs, or commando?

Boxers. But commando is also acceptable.

~Werewolf or vampire?

Werewolf.

~Spanker or spankee?

Spanker.

~Blue jeans or pearls?

Blue jeans.

~Voyeur or exhibitionist?

Voyeur.

~Tattoos or piercings?

Piercings.

~Candlelit dinner or moonlight serenade?

Moonlight serenade. If we had dinner first.

The winner for a free copy of Rowan’s new book is: Andi!

Rowan will email you to see which format you want your book in.

Congrats and thanks to all who came and said howdy!

Smutketeers: This is your first Rowan Larke book and your first Rowan Larke interview. Tell us how you feel having the Smutketeers pop your cherry. (We’ll be gentle. Maybe.)

Rowan: I know all of you wa-a-a-ay better than that. I think that’s a flogger behind Eden’s back. And does RG really think I’ll believe that’s a fan and not a paddle? I think Feisty’s wearing a few too many scarves for this time of year…

And you, Crys, with your innocent look? I know you too well for that. You’re probably just supposed to coax me into a false sense of security, so you can all have your wicked wicked way with me.

Of course, I’m easily coaxed.

Which is what you lurrrve about me.

Smutketeers: What’s your writing process like? Do you have a daily or weekly word count that you try to meet? Or do you wait until the last minute and write like mad?

Rowan: I’m a total binge-and-purge-er. I’ll write like a fiend for a month, and then nothing for another month or two. Eventually I just get tired of the book not being finished and write until it’s done.

Smutketeers: So, filthy angels? What made you go there? Dealing with death and other dark issues is heavy, especially when it’s also sexy. How did you balance those in your upcoming book?

Rowan: I like to push the envelope. I like dark stories and themes, and I like almost-broken characters. I love writing things I’m told I can’t. J So it didn’t start out with filthy angels (though I guess that’s where it ended up!) but it started with one man and one woman who were separated by death.

Of course, right there, I’m starting in with some heavy shit.

Jason is dead. In a perverse personal hell after his death, he watches the love of his life, Clarissa, as she has sex with one abusive man after another. And she seems to think she deserves it.

And there it was. The crux of this story. Why did Jason kill himself? And why hadn’t Clarissa, after three years, dealt with it? And why hadn’t Jason moved on?

Now, I’m a little perverse. I grew up in a pretty religious family, and one of the things our church taught was that no one who committed suicide could get into heaven. I decided that every rule ought to have a loophole. And every loophole needs a watchdog. When I started thinking about the sort of person who would usher the souls of suicides through to heaven, I realized he’d be powerful, sure, but also worn down, tired of his job, and…pretty sarcastic, just to get through the day.

The dirty…I maintain my filthy characters brought that all on their own.

Though I do think that the sex in this book shows how…sex can be different. I show angry, brutal sex. The sort of hot sex that comes from a one-night stand with someone you just think looks good. The sort of sex people have when they’re in love. The sort of sex people have to say goodbye.

And yes, there’s even sex with angel winged goodness.

Smutketeers: How long have you been writing? Have you always written the smut or is this a new genre for you?

Rowan: Forever. I was the kid who would tell stories at the age of 3. I never didn’t want to be a writer.

I’ve written the smut, on and off, for a few years. This is the first one good enough to have a shot at publication, though. And I can’t write it without a paranormal element. Ever.

Smutketeers: Do you read in the same genre(s) you write?

Rowan: Sometimes. I actually prefer Old Skool fantasy for my reading, but it makes it hard sometimes to keep my worldbuilding pure. Ditto para-romance, which is my 2nd fave. So, when I’m on my writing jag, I’ll either not read much, or I’ll read romantic suspense to keep myself ‘clean’. When I’m not-writing, I’ll glom through a book a day of whatever I can get my hands on. Starting with the fantasy and paranormals, of course.

Smutketeers: Do you ever have concept envy and wish you’d totally thought of an idea first? If so, which book or movie inspired the green-eyed monster?

Rowan: ALL the TIME.

Most recently? The movie Pan’s Labyrinth. Oh, it’s not exactly how I would’ve done it, but that movie is…brilliantly dark and a fascinating twist on the faery creatures I usually write about. (when not writing angels, apparently.)

Smutketeers: We know you love slutty shoes…which are your favorites? If price were no object, which brand would you own a dozen pairs of?

Rowan: I LOVE my shoes. However, I’m really not a name-brand girl. I’m going for quantity. My very favorites for regular wear are my knee-high Doc’s…a throwback to my Goth-girl days, I suppose, but I love them.

If I could buy whatever I wanted? Oh, I want a pair of thigh-high boots, and the miniskirt and body to wear them with.

I want a pair of French maid shoes…like Mary-Janes with a little lacy ruffle.

Smutketeers: What’s your writing “uniform” look like? (It’s totally a silk peignoir with bonbon accessories, isn’t it? You can tell us!)

Rowan: Oh yeah, TOTALLY.

Though I look much better in the green one.

Smutketeers: Name three of your favorite books of all time. Tell us why they made the grade.

Rowan: Gah! Just three?

HeartThrob by Suzanne Brockmann. The characters are just amazing, and Jed is just…in turmoil. I like that in a man. That book makes me cry every time I read it, and that’s just…not normal for me.

From a Whisper to a Scream by Charles de lint, writing as Samuel M. Key. This book is closer to horror than de lint’s usual fantasy offerings, but it’s still so very him. Which is exactly why I love it. I love the urban fantasy offerings from de lint but it was amazing to see them with this darker spin. It made me feel more confident that I could mix my two genres, too. (though by no means do I think I’m as brilliant as he is!)

Lions of Al-Rassan, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Brilliant, beautiful prose, amazing characters, and a love triangle that makes my heart ache, despite the fact it’s fantasy with romantic elements than a romance.

Smutketeers: Do you have any appearances coming up?

Rowan: I feel like I’m blogging all over the universe this week, but I don’t have the links yet…instead, I’ll point you to http://rowanlarke.com/press, and you can find them all listed there.

Smutketeers: Where can we find you on the Internet?

Rowan: http://rowanlarke.com is the best place to find all the links, but if you really want to stalk me? I’m on twitter. I’m on twitter a lot. http://twitter.com/rowanlarke

*And now for some quick questions…

~Knee high boots or come-fuck-me pumps?

Fuck-me-boots

~In uniform or out of uniform?

They can start out in it.

~Alien or vampire?

Vampire. Usually.

~Phone sex or strip club?

Phone sex.

~Corset or Wonderbra?

No.

~Voyeur or exhibitionist?

Depends on the day…

~Tattoos or piercings?

Do I have any? Not beyond the ear piercings, no.

Do I want them? Yes. I’m working on a tattoo design, actually.

Do I like them on others? It depends on the person, really. I do love the…oh, I don’t know, the idea of ink beneath the skin. But there are some people a tattoo just wouldn’t suit, ever. Like my mom.

~Stormy beach or snowy mountainside?

I hate storms. They scare me. However. I get more than enough snow. So long as I have someone to hold me? Stormy beach.

And for one lucky commenter, Rowan is giving it up for free! Um, what we mean is that she’s giving away a free copy of her new release to someone who comments between now and next Monday. Good luck!

For our Equipment Oriented contest, we have two winners!

Bella won a copy of Eden’s new ebook, The Seeking Kiss.

RachieG won a copy of Crystal’s new ebook, If You Believe.

Congrats to our winners and thanks to all who commented!

Crystal: Well, first I think we should tell them about how we came up with our post title. “Equipment Oriented” sounds so ominous, when really it’s just delicious. In my new book, UNTAMED, and in Eden’s new book, THE BEAUTY OF SURRENDER, we have a lot of equipment being used to spice up the filth. Eden’s book has one particular piece of equipment that can be verrrry interesting. Not that I know anything about that, personally, because I’m the good girl of the Smutly Crew.

Eden: The good girl? Ha! And that’s all I’m sayin’.

Actually, the only equipment in THE BEAUTY OF SURRENDER is rope. I know-you’re shocked. Such a far cry from my usual paddles, floggers, cuffs, vibrators, slappers, whips, chains, hot wax, blindfolds, um…what was I saying? Oh yes…so, this book is about Shibari, an ancient and sensual ritualized form of rope bondage that originated in Japan. So the really unusual part is that rope is the only implement. Well, unless human anatomy can be called an ‘implement’. What do you think, Crystal?

Crystal: I think human anatomy is the most important implement in every one of my books. It’s definitely my one implement of choice. However, in UNTAMED, I went with the theory that variety is the spice of life, so there’s a ton of stuff: vibrators, dildos, an ancient Mayan statuette used as a dildo…or was it used as an anal plug? Hard to recall…it just got so dirty in there. There was also a rather interesting video game that made an appearance in my heroine’s technobrothel. The game was inspired by Eden herself, naughty girl that she is…but I’ll let her reveal how much or little she wants about that. Let’s just say she made the dedication of the book.

Eden: I LOVE that my torrid true-life tale of techno titillation made it into your book! And I’m happy to share some of it here…

So, when my boyfriend and I were first seeing each other and in that early blush of love-and lust-smart boy that he is introduced me to a video game that even I couldn’t resist. It’s called Rez, made for the PlayStation 2. Now, I am not a big video game fan. In fact, I’d had very little interest in them until this one night…when he started this game and told me I HAD to sit down and watch him play. Big yawn, right? (Except that I do love when my man issues commands). He pulled out this handy dandy little attachment and told me to hold it in my…um…lap. He was happily shooting at enemy spaceships and when he made a hit, the attachment vibrated. Lovely! Soon I was cheering him on…with a few sighs and moans in between.

I had to tell someone, of course, so my fellow Smutketeers got the full story. Crystal was so enchanted by the idea she asked if she could use it and voila!

Crystal: Hey, when something that good falls in your…um…lap…you have to use it. UNTAMED takes place a tiny ways into the future, so Eden knew the spaced out game would be perfect for my setting. She was awesome to let me “borrow” her equipment, but having a kinky little implement designed for that purpose isn’t the only way to have some equipment oriented fun.

I think there’s so much people can use as equipment for sex—not all of it has to be from a store or website that’s specifically sells sex toys. Look at Eden’s ropes for example. Rope isn’t necessarily a sex toy, but can obviously be made totally sexual. I did the same in UNTAMED with the Mayan statuette. There’s just nothing wrong with making your own “pervertibles,” is there? Think about it…a string of pearls as anal beads, a hair brush as a paddle, a silk scarf for bondage. The list could go on forever. I think it almost makes it more sexually titillating because it’s not supposed to be a sex toy.

Eden: Oh, I love pervertibles! Didn’t Feisty have a wine bottle used as a dildo in BOUND TO PLEASE? And I have to say, your Aztec idol is a really great idea! Here are some others:

An old-fashioned curly telephone cord makes an excellent and wicked whip

A small kitchen scrub brush is a wonderful sensation toy-just brush over the skin gently. Or not…*G*

An electric tennis-racket-style fly swatter is fun if you’re into electrical play

But my favorite is a toy rubber sword my boyfriend and I picked up at Disneyland-it’s a sort of smooth, suede-like rubber and it’s the best spanking toy ever!

But I think I made good use of my simple and humble rope in THE BEAUTY OF SURRENDER. Here’s a little taste…

THE BEAUTY OF SURRENDER

Pre-Order: Amazon.com · Barnes & Noble · Borders

Shibari…The ancient art of erotic restraint…Its finely-knotted ropes are a turn-on, a sexual experience… and for some, an absolute necessity…

At a San Francisco sex club called Pinnacle, Ava Gregory seeks something she cannot quite describe. But of one thing she is certain: the moments when feels her most beautiful and complete are when she is tightly restrained in the Shibari ropes. At Pinnacle, she’s paired with a master: Desmond Hale, who thrives on control… But something surprising happens when Desmond binds Ava’s willing body and takes her to the edge of ecstasy. And now, the two are taking their relationship out of the shadows of the club, sharing secrets unleashed and bodies unbound…

An art dealer and Shibari master, Marina has never hesitated to dominate anyone. Until she meets James, a dark, gorgeous, towering journalist who’s survived horrors around the world. James confesses that submission is the only way to clear his troubled mind, but Marina is instantly overwhelmed by his strength and magnetism. To share the pleasures of bondage, something must change between them. When it does, it will come with an explosion of unexpected pleasure—and a relationship that neither could have ever have imagined…

EXCERPT from THE BEAUTY OF SURRENDER:

He opened the door and led her through.

An enormous bed, with carved wooden posts soaring toward the high ceiling. More windows open to the incredible Bay view, letting the night right in: the dark sky, the glittering stars, making her feel all the more vulnerable, even though she was certain no one could see inside. The room was dimly lit by amber glass sconces on the walls. Music played quietly, something soft, meditative. And against one wall was a large wooden frame, like the ones she’d seen at the fetish clubs. But this one was beautiful, carved, with benches and bars padded in brown leather and shining brass hooks placed all over it. Next to it stood a tall rack with coils of colored ropes hanging from it: white, black, red, blue. Her breath stuttered in her chest.

He came to stand behind her, so she couldn’t see him. She could only feel his presence, the faint heat of his body. And his scent, warm and enigmatic, filling her senses.

“Do you know what this is, Ava?”

She nodded her head. “I think so. It looks like the bondage frames I’ve seen at some of the clubs.”

“Yes, that’s right. I can do complex web work here, full harnessing, suspension. Anything.” A short beat. “And I will.”

Oh, she was going to sink to her knees right now, right here!

“Ava, take your clothes off. All of them.”

She paused, opened her mouth, but found she had nothing to say. Everything he was asking of her was well within the boundaries she was used to, but for some reason she felt startled.

She wasn’t going to argue. She didn’t want to. But she was trembling all over, with excitement, and with a little fear still. She wasn’t afraid of him exactly. It was how he made her feel.

But she was doing it, slipping out of her dress, her bra, her high heels, and finally, her damp, white lace panties, which he took from her. He held the small scrap of fabric in his fingers, stroking the lace with his thumb.

“I love this; that you would wear something so sweet-looking. That’s one of the first things I noticed about you,” he told her as he set her clothing down on the dark suede coverlet on the end of the bed. “That air of innocence.”

She could hardly believe he was talking to her so calmly, while she stood naked in front of him!

“And this,” he said, his voice quiet, almost reverent. “This incredible skin.” He drew one finger between her breasts, and her nipples went hard immediately. She shivered all over. Moving in closer, he spread his fingers wide, his entire palm covering the skin between her breasts.

“I can feel your heart beating, Ava. I don’t mind telling you mine is beating just as hard, just as fast.”
He took her hand, placed it on his firm, muscled chest, and she could feel his thudding heartbeat beneath his black cotton shirt.

God.

She was melting all over, into his heat, into her own.

“This is why we’re here together right now,” he said.

He took a step back and she saw him pull in a deep breath. She was unable to speak, her mind beginning that lovely slip and slide, filled with nothing but his rugged beauty, his command, her own sense of submission. And overcome, she clasped her hands behind her back, bowed her head.

“Ah, good girl.”

Hot flash of pleasure at those words, at his tone.

“Stay just as you are while I get set up,” he told her.

She waited. Breathless. Dizzy with need, anticipation.

Then that familiar whisper of rope smoothing over rope, and in a moment he was back in front of her, taking her hands from her back, leading her forward.

“We begin now, Ava.”

UNTAMED

Pre-Order: Amazon.com · Barnes & Noble · Borders

The biological warfare of the twenty-first century changed the planet in astonishing ways, transforming humans into shape-shifters who love to walk on the wild side—reveling in danger and the explosive desire that consumes them…

Half-human, half-lynx, Delilah Chase makes her living as a professional thief. But when half-human, half-hawk Hunter Avery catches her trying to steal his priceless ruby, he makes her a proposition: spend a week in his bed, or take a trip to jail. What follows is seven days of unrelenting, primitive passion neither can live without…

As the owner of Tail, the most notorious techno brothel in New Chicago, mink-shifter Lorelei Chase specializes in fulfilling all of her clients’ kinky fantasies. She just has one rule: Never sample the goods that her customers or workers offer. But every day, jaguar-shifter Nolan Angelo and wolf-shifter Pierce Vaughn tempt her to break that rule—until she ultimately gives in to a burning lust that knows no control…

EXCERPT from UNTAMED…

Delilah Chase perched on the corner of the building, her hand braced on the ledge in front of her as she swept her gaze over the city below. From ninety stories up, it looked clean, beautiful, an ocean of multicolored lights against pure ebony.

But Delilah knew the truth. Up close, it was gritty, dirty, and dangerous. A place where someone like her flourished.

She grinned and let the adrenaline humming through her body take over. Her claws slid forward, scraping against the slick metal ledge. She ran her tongue down a long fang, her smile widening. It was always this way when she was on a job. Half cool, calm professionalism, half unadulterated thrill seeking.

Schooling herself to patience, she tilted her wrist and checked her chrono. A few more minutes and the virus she’d seduced a young computer techie into feeding into the building’s security system would kick in. She’d have a quarter of an hour to get in, steal the priceless ruby her client wanted, and get out again.

Kitten’s play, this job.

Still, every case had its risks, and the moment a thief got too cocky was the moment they slipped up. If all went well, by the end of the night, multi-trillonaire Hunter Avery would be missing a gem and Delilah would have a sizeable commission in her encrypted cred account. So, things had better go well. She gauged the distance between the skyrise she stood on and the one she needed to break into. Tricky, very tricky. Timing was everything. The lynx within her purred at the challenge.

This was going to be fun.

Balconies circled the entire penthouse. Not surprising a family of red-tailed hawks would build the glass and mercurite sanctuary for themselves in the middle of the city. High enough they couldn’t see the grime of the real people below.

The newsvids had reported on every aspect of the Avery family’s lives for as long as she’d been alive. Their fortune was one of the few to survive the Third Great War, which made them newsvid darlings, beautiful people in an ugly world.

Delilah had heard all about it when Hunter’s parents were killed in a tragic industrial accident. A few years after that, Hunter’s uncle died, and Hunter had all but disappeared from public view. The buzz on the street whispered that Hunter had done the killing himself, his mind twisted from seeing his parents’ death. A bitter little smile curled Delilah’s lips. Figures that he’d get away with murder. The rich always did.

Now, Hunter was practically a recluse in his tower penthouse, only allowing a trusted few in for business purposes, and only leaving for a few business meetings or high-society parties a year. Which meant conning her way in wouldn’t work, so breaking in was her best option. Her client said Avery was in Los Angeles at a board meeting and wouldn’t be home until the next day. Her intel had confirmed it, so tonight was the night to get what her client wanted.

If a tiny part of her was curious to see the inside of the Averys’ ivory tower, and got a malicious thrill from stealing from the richest man alive, she’d never admit it to anyone else.

Her chrono vibrated against her wrist, letting her know the window of opportunity had opened. Reaching behind her she pulled her grappler gun out of her knapsack, aimed it at the balcony railing and fired. A gossamer-thin strand of mercurite shot from each end forward to form molecular bonds with the railings on both buildings. She flipped a setting so the grappler would move along the wire. Taking a breath, she said a quick prayer that the virus worked and she wasn’t about to get fried by the security field that electrocuted any unauthorized life forms attempting to enter.

Then she tightened her grip on the grappler, jumped, and let gravity carry her down the wire with a soundless rush of speed and wind. Her heightened vision took in every detail as she went. So, she knew the exact moment something started to go wrong. The mercurite was designed to dissolve after one use. It left no evidence behind. The wind was especially intense this evening and she might just reach the end of that one use before she reached the other building.

Shit, shit, shit.

Heart pounding so loud in her ears it drowned out everything else, she tilted her feet forward and hoped for greater speed. Tensing every muscle as she hit the perfect spot in her downward flight, she kicked her legs hard. She swung up and around the wire, launching herself into the sky. The cable slackened and she knew it was no more than silver powder beneath her. She twisted midair, flipping until she landed lighter than a cat’s paw on the edge of the railing. Triumph rushed through her, making her grin. Perfect.

She loved it when a plan came together. Almost as much as she loved it when the plans went awry and she had to think on her feet. It was why she was the very best at what she did.

UNTAMED and THE BEAUTY OF SURRENDER go on sale on October 27th, but they’re available right now for pre-order!

Meanwhile, let’s have a contest! Everyone who posts here between now and midnight on our release day, October 27th, will be eligible to win a copy of Eden’s latest book from Samhain, THE SEEKING KISS, a hot vampire ménage story OR Crystal’s latest Samhain release IF YOU BELIEVE!

Come back to the Smutketeers blog on October 28th to find out who’s won!

So, I’m sitting here sipping my hot apple cider (what? Not all writers drink coffee. I don’t. Tastes like I imagine battery acid does. Blech. But, I digress…), and I’m thinking about our topic of things that bite. I don’t write a lot of vampires. I have some in Big Girls Don’t Die. And I have a vampire secondary character in my upcoming Kensington Aphrodisia novel, Every Witch Way, but I tend to go with other paranormal beasties that bite.

Shape-shifters, baby.

Awww, yeah.

To me, there’s just something schmexy about a guy who’s half-wild and in touch with his animal instincts. Really in touch. And he’s got the fangs to prove it.

In most of my books, the fangs may flash a bit when he’s excited or pissed off, but no one gets bitten until it’s mating time. So, biting isn’t just a fun sexual fetish, but a serious mark-you-as-mine-for-life kind of endeavor.

And that’s just hot to me, because, really, that just takes alpha male claiming to a whole new level. An extra yummy level. I mean, think about it, you now have this big, sexy beastie as yours and yours alone (unless we’re talking threesome, in which case the sexy awesomeness just become exponential) forever and ever and ever.

In some of my books, the girl is a shifter, too, so she gets to sink her fangs in and mark him as hers. Like…forget the wedding band, you can take those off, let’s go big or go home. Let’s make it permanent.

Sure, it’s primitive, but really…we are talking people who are in touch with their primal side. A little biting and scratching in bed, some fangs and claws, never hurt anyone, right?

In honor of my beasties that bite, I’m giving away an advanced copy of my new shifter book, UNTAMED, to one lucky commenter on this post. I’ll draw a winner next Monday and post here to announce who won!

Thanks so much for entering, everyone!

“Naughty or Nice” in Under the Covers anthology, by Crystal Jordan

Dayna Sharp has the perfect job, the perfect man…the perfect life. So why is the prospect of marrying Mr. Wonderful so perfectly boring? It’s a question Dayna can’t shake when she brings her fiance home to meet her spectacularly un-boring family–and finds herself pursued by a bad-boy bearing gifts that could burn a hole in more than her Christmas stocking…

Read an excerpt here!