27 May 2015

Welcome Jennifer Macaire and her sexy zombie, Jack!

Hello!  Thank you so much for visiting Written Butterfly with me today! 

Q) How did you dream up the dynamics of your characters?

I was at a book conference in Germany and a bunch of us were talking about zombies. One of the people was a male model who was regaling us with tales of his stripping debuts, and we were howling with laughter. Somehow strippers and zombies got mixed up in the conversation, and Kris Alice, a friend of mine, told me I absolutely had to write the story. After that, it was all downhill – or uphill? At any rate, it took off from there!

Q) Is this part of a series?  If so, tell us about it!

The series is called M.U.C.I., or Mutant and Undead Criminal Investigation. It's ultra secret, so everyone knows about it, especially the people living in the huge trailer park right next to it. In this parallel universe, in a city reminiscent of New Orleans, mutants and undead live alongside humans. Rare and discreet, they are nonetheless required to register with the Mutant and Undead Branch of Interpol to get passports and social security, (pink cards for vamps, yellow cards for shifters, and purple cards for zombies...).  At MUCI (or moosie as it's fondly called), a dedicated bunch of humans, undead and mutants work hard to keep everything running smoothly and keeping everyone more or less within the law.

Q) If you could choose, which published author would you like to brainstorm with and why?

I'm lucky, I don't have to dream about that - right now I'm in the middle of brainstorming with a good writer friend, Brandon Rucker. We've been in contact for many years now, starting with the old Zoetrope online writing workshop! We've decided to do a project together, and so, for now, we are tossing ideas back and forth like tennis balls all the while trying to juggle our jobs, our families and our writing – honestly, there are not enough hours in a day!


Q) What are your upcoming projects?


Well, my immediate goal is to finish the third book in the M.U.C.I. series, and also to finish a YA book I started called the Road to Eternity, hopefully it won't be an eternity before it's finished. Brandon and I are also keen on doing a book together (or several books) but for now, the story is still in the outline stage, and we're still arguing about who gets to start it, - lol. I usually have three or four ideas simmering, and I always have a book in hand or in my purse (I carry my e-book reader with me everywhere) because I am a voracious reader. Reading good books is one of my best inspirations for writing!

JACK THE STRIPPER by Jennifer Macaire

Thank you having me here! I’m so excited to be sharing my book JACK THE STRIPPER with you! 
Jack's back from the dead. His mission? Catch the Heart Taker, a mutant terrifying human and undead alike. Jack teams up with his ex-girlfriend Brianna and a hot zombie named May to catch the killer – but he has to hurry, the Heart Taker has chosen Brianna as his next victim.

Blurb

Welcome to The Purple Dee. Pull up a chair and get settled in, the show will start soon!

Our featured performer tonight is Jack the Stripper. He's Jack Severn, newly back from the dead. He's magical, he's hot, but evil he's not!

Jim Ling-Li, Necromancer extraordinaire, brought him back to life, gave him some extra features, and, as you'll see, made him irresistible --

Especially to Jack's ex-girlfriend Brianna. Jack's sexier than ever, and they're better together. But she doesn't want to risk her heart, not again, and definitely not with a zombie.

Jack also has a mission. He's back to catch the Heart Taker, the mutant that's been terrifying human and undead alike. His current obsession's none other than Jack's Brianna.

So give a big hand for Jack...he's going to need all the support he can get to catch his own murderer.

*Jack the Stripper was origianally published by Loose Id as "Zombie Jack". It has been re-edited and re-issued by Evernight Publishing.

Excerpt:
His arm fell off again. The first time it happened, he’d been holding a heavy suitcase. A woman noticed and let out a horrified scream. He looked down. The suitcase lay on the ground, his hand still gripping it.
“Ahhhh!” he screamed too. Suddenly everyone in the bus station was either screaming or running. Panicked, he grabbed his arm, first having to pry his fingers off the suitcase, and fled.
With the bus station far behind him, he slowed down and tried to take stock of his situation. He was lost. His arm had fallen off. Well, it could be worse. At least he hadn’t lost it. He took his shirt halfway off and popped his arm back into its socket—getting it backwards the first time.
It was so bizarre. His arm was like part of a toy that popped in and out of its socket. A strange, magnetic, magical effect held it together. At least he didn’t feel any pain and it wasn’t too gross once you got used to seeing bare bone and muscle. No blood. No pain. No suitcase—he’d left it in the bus station. No clean clothes. A raindrop landed on his nose. Then the sky opened up and let down a deluge. Great.
Hunching his shoulders against the rain, he hurried down the street. A sort of whispered tingle ran through his body, urging him this way and that. It was the same sort of tingling pull that made him go to the bus station. It had led him this far—he might as well follow it to see where he’d end up. The mysterious force coursing through his body tugged him along, and then spun him around and pushed him into a dark, narrow alleyway.
He looked around. At one end of the alley was a dumpster. At the other end was the quiet street where he’d arrived. He knew where he was. Things were starting to fall into place.
He waited a few minutes, but no one had followed him. He sighed, and went to the green door. He tried the handle, but it was locked, and when he pulled it, his arm fell off again.
Depression and dismay rolled over him. He bent down, picked up his arm, and put it back in place. Nothing was going right. He kept hoping he’d wake up from the nightmare he found himself in, but it wasn’t happening. He was dead, and he had no place to go except here. Timidly, he rapped on the green door. No one answered, so he knocked harder, and then, when the door remained shut, he made a fist and pounded with all his might.
After a few moments it opened and a man with long blond hair down to his waist peered out at him. The man rubbed bloodshot blue eyes, yawned, and then said, “You’re too early for the audition. It won’t be for another couple hours.” With that, he shut the door in Jack’s face.
Audition? Jack blinked, backed up, and looked more carefully at the green door. Taped to the door was a sign. “Auditions. All day Sunday.”
He rapped on the door again, and the blond man opened it. He looked cross. “Look man, it says starting at 2 p.m.”
“It says all day Sunday,” said Jack. “Is today Sunday?”
“Of course.” The blond man looked perplexed. “All day Sunday? Let me see that.” He stepped out and examined the sign. “Right.” He looked at Jack. “Wait a minute.” He went inside. A minute later he was back with a felt-tipped pen. Carefully, he blacked out the “All day” and wrote, “Starting at 2 p.m.”. Putting the top back on the pen he nodded. “Better.”
“Could I wait inside?” Jack asked. “It’s raining.”
The blond man had been about to shut the door. He scratched his head then shrugged. “All right. You can wait in the lounge. Follow me.”
Gratefully, Jack entered the building where he was pretty sure he’d been killed.

Review: 
"...The story is really enjoyable as Ms Macaire deliciously brings on the zany dark humor in a manner that really appeals to the fan of the macabre in me. The humor is not too overpowering or too farcical 

- just enough to keep me laughing. There is already a beautiful kind of poetry in the premise, what with a hero who lacks a heart, but is in love, and who is supposed to be dead but ends up a hero instead. The story doesn't disappoint in delivering a fun Tim Burton kind of romantic adventure where I am concerned."

~ Mrs Giggles eBook review of Zombie Jack (Loose Id edition)

Buy links:

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Macaire lives in France with her husband, three children, & various dogs & horses. She loves cooking, eating French chocolate, growing herbs and flowering plants on her balcony, and playing golf. She grew up in upstate New York, Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. She graduated from St. Peter and Paul high school in St. Thomas and moved to NYC where she modeled for five years for Elite. She went to France and met her husband at the polo club. All that is true. But she mostly likes to make up stories. 

Find Jennifer on the Web:

21 May 2015

The Red Wolves Motorcycle Club...Book 3

NOW AVAILABLE!

When Dove Cries (Book 3 Red Wolves MC)


John Draven is vice president of the Red Wolves Motorcycle Club.  While on a special run, he meets FBI Agent Cadence Vanaker again.  Cade is the man who killed his cousin five years ago and the one man he hates more than anything, but now he’s forced to work with him to take down a human trafficking ring operating in his hometown.

Cade wants more than anything to tell Draven that he wasn’t the one who killed his cousin, but he can’t reveal the truth so he has to live with Draven’s hate.  When the two men find a woman half dead and bound with zip ties, they both feel a need to protect her.


Dove Aldrin is a sensitive young woman who had been abducted and held prisoner for a long time.  When she escapes, she falls into the path of two men determined to help her and find the man responsible.  What she didn’t count on was falling for both of them.  How can she pick one over the other, especially when they can’t stand each other?  

**Each book in the series is interracial menage.



Slowly, awareness fluttered back to Dove. First, there were noises. The gentle swish of the air conditioning. The hum of a machine. Then came the antiseptic cleanliness of the air. Finally, she felt the stiff bleached sheets tucked in around her. She cracked her eyelids. A white room and light green curtain. A hospital. It meant she was rescued. She was safe.
She shifted her gaze and saw her angel reclined in a chair next to the bed. His arms lay crossed over his massive chest and his booted feet were crossed at the ankles. His chin rested on his chest as he dozed, and she was afraid he was going to wake up with a painful crick.
Draven. Was that his first or last name?
She took a moment to study him, admiring his sandy blond hair that hung a little long over his collar. She vaguely remembered he had pretty blue eyes. He wore a black leather vest over a white T-shirt that looked as if it had seen better days. On the upper left-hand side, she read the name of his motorcycle club, The Red Wolves, and under that was a patch that said V. President. She didn’t know anything about motorcycle clubs or motorcycles in general. In fact, her father had warned her not to get too close to the rough men who lived the biker life. They were trouble, he’d said. Clearly, her father had been wrong, because this man sitting next to her bed was her angel, her savior, and she was going to stick by his side the rest of her life. If that meant living among bikers, so be it.
At that moment, the door opened and another biker walked in wearing black leather with a satchel that hung diagonally across his body. His leather vest had a patch that said Nomad. He was just as tall as her angel, although his body seemed a little suppler in its strength. Silver shot through his dark, cropped hair, and the puppy dog brown eyes that met her gaze made her belly quiver with attraction, even in her weakened state. He carried two cups of coffee and halted when he saw that she was awake. A small smile graced his lips, and a dimple popped up in his left cheek that softened his harsh countenance. She returned the smile and watched as he made his way to the other side of her bed where an empty chair waited. He set the coffees down upon the C-arm table that hugged the bed over her legs.
“Hello,” he whispered.
“Hello,” she whispered back.
“I’m Cadence, but call me Cade—Cade Vanaker. You probably don’t remember me, but I was there yesterday with John.”
“John?”
Cade nodded toward the sleeping man on the other side of her bed. “John Draven. What’s your name?”
“Dove Aldrin.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Dove, although it’s crappy circumstances.”
She flinched at the memories of the circumstances. “He won’t find me, will he? He won’t hurt me again?”
Cade slowly reached out and took her hand in his. He caressed the soft skin right above where the white gauze ended with his thumb. The soft attraction fluttering in her belly blossomed through the rest of her body.
“I promise you, he won’t hurt you again. He’s dead, Dove. That’s why you were forgotten in that shit hole.”

WHERE TO BUY...




AND DON'T MISS BOOKS 1 & 2, THE START OF IT ALL...



17 May 2015

Welcome Tamsin Baker!



Hello Tamsin!  Thank you so much for visiting Written Butterfly with me today! 

Hi Beth! Thanks so much for having me.

Q) How did you dream up the dynamics of your characters?

This story was originally written for an anthology call of Evernights for MF stories that were ‘strength vs innocence’ themed. I submitted it at 6500 words to have a reply saying to please redo and resubmit because the story deserved to be longer. It’s now over 24K so I’m pretty sure the editors were right J

Q) How much real life do you put into or influences your books?

A little bit I suppose. I try not to write about my own life or things I’ve experienced, but love, sex and human emotions are the common thread that draws us all together, so its impossible for me not to have put some of me in my books.

Q) If you could choose, which published author would you like to brainstorm with and why?

Personally I love Shannon West. She writes mostly m/m and I LOVE her werewolf series. Her characters are loveable, her world building believable and the sex… amazing!

Q) What are your upcoming projects?


I’m working on the third MFM Perfect Pairs book which is a Canadian mountain lion shifter series.

Her one and only Dom
By Tamsin Baker

Blurb:
Simone graduated from university with three important things: her degree, her virginity still intact, and a case of unrequited love to make life complete. Her professor, Patrick Smythe is everything she wants in a man. 

After building up the courage to ask him out at the graduation ball, she is mortified when he rejects her. Six months later, her best friend drags her along to a BDSM club and Simone realizes why the sexy professor gave her the brush off. He’s a Dom at the club.
 

Patrick has never found a woman who can fulfil all of his needs in and out of the bedroom. Simone wants to be this woman, but can she succeed when they come from such different worlds?

Excerpt:
“Tell me more about why you haven’t dated before, Simone.”
She smiled and kept his gaze, no fear showing in her eyes. “I dated Patrick, a few people throughout high school and uni.”
Anger and a small amount of fear spread through his belly. She had lied to him? “You told me you didn’t.”
She chuckled softly and picked up a piece of garlic bread.
“I told you I was a virgin, and I was. I have barely let anyone do more than kiss me. So stop looking at me like that.”
Throwing in the towel so to speak, amazed at his lack of control with this woman, he poured more wine into his glass.
“I think I’m jealous that anyone has touched you.”
She laughed at that and he felt heat fill his cheeks. That would teach him for being honest.
She reached across the table, taking some of the sting out of her laugh with the squeeze of her hand on his.
“I didn’t mean to laugh honey, but seriously? You’ve probably slept with more people than you can count and you’re jealous just because I kissed a few guys?”
Patrick smiled, guilty as charged. “Are you telling me I’m being a hypocrite?”
She laughed again and ran her nails over the back of his hand.
“I love that you’re jealous. It means you care.”
Patrick turned his hand over and gripped her fingers. He instinctively knew that this was one of those defining moments in a relationship He’d never been jealous before, hadn’t cared about anyone enough to be upset when they moved on. This was very different. “I do care Simone. You are amazing.”
She drew back and he instantly wanted her hand back in his.
“So you’ll teach me more about the subby stuff?”
Patrick laughed, he couldn’t help it. She made it sound so basic.
“Yes, I’ll teach you everything. What I need, how to please me.”
Her eyes sparked and her mouth flattened into a straight line. Oh how he was going to love teaching her.
“And in return I will give you more pleasure and make you feel treasured beyond your wildest dreams.”
Something changed inside her eyes when he said that and the frown disappeared to be replaced by a shy smile. “But you’ll go easy on me to start with?”
Patrick nodded, serious now. “It’s my job to push your limits, but you always need to feel safe. If you say stop, we stop, that never changes.”
Their dinner arrived and Patrick ate his steak while Simone enjoyed her risotto.
They finished the wine and Patrick called the waiter over. “Dessert?”
Simone shook her head and held her belly. “No thank you, I’m so full.”
He placed some cash in the leather binder containing the bill and smiled as wickedly as possible. He would be fine to drive, though handling a flogger may be a problem. “Home then?”
She nodded and stood, swaying gently on her small heels.
He tucked her into his arm and led her to the car. When he opened the door she fell into it, giggling away. He shook his head, but couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
Once he had the car started and they were driving back to his home, he asked her, “You didn’t have that much to drink. Why are you giggling so much?”
She slid her hand over his thigh, a little too close to his aching cock.
“I’m just happy, Patrick, and it feels so good to laugh.”
Almost home, almost home. “Well, I’m sure I can make you feel better.”
Her hand stilled and he looked over at her quickly, she was worried about something.
“What’s wrong, babe?”
Simone slid her hand up to his crotch and stroked the flesh that was rapidly hardening. “Actually, I’m sore. Like really sore. Could you teach me some things I could do to pleasure you?”
Visions of Simone on her knees swam into Patrick’s vision and he groaned as blood flooded his groin. “Oh, I can think of a thing or two I can teach you that will give your sore bits a rest.”
“How about you drive me home and you teach me in the car?”
Though Patrick’s heart rate sped up at the idea, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown. “I like to be comfortable, Simone, and you should be too.”
She giggled and began to unbuckle his leather belt. “Oh, please, Patrick. I’ve always been such a good girl and never fooled around with anyone. Please?”
Well, how was he going to say no to that? He nodded and released a groan as she released his belt and unzipped him, his eager cock pulsing with pleasure as it sprang from its confines.

Author Links:

Buy Links:

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-heroneandonlydom-1805103-147.html

**Congrats to Vanessa for winning my Merry May Blog Hop!!!

10 May 2015

Merry May Blog Hop!



I grew up in the Eighties.  A fun time for a teenage girl with the emergence of Madonna and Cyndi Lauper (to name only two of the plethora or female singers).  We piled our hair high and used a can of hairspray a day.  The fashion of dangling earrings as big as dangling bracelets, fishnets under shorts, floppy bows, and large necklaces that said “Boy Toy”.  

As a young girl I had such romantic ideas spurred on by the fantastical romance of Harlequin Present and LoveSpell novels.  Books that told of breathless passion between men and women.  I couldn’t wait to grow up and find that kind of love.  I was about twelve when I started writing my own romance novel, longhand of course.  My first typewriter was manual and my best friend was a new invention called White Out. 

Romance females back then were girls I could relate to.  Most were secretaries, receptionists, nurses or schoolteachers.  The men were usually wealthy and hard-bitten, softened by love.  They whisk the girl away from her downtrodden job or life and sweep her into future of love, wealth and privilege.  

As movies like “Working Girl” swept in a new generation of women’s lib, tastes started to change.  I started to read more stories with stronger females, love that had to be fought for, flawed heroes with emotions.  My perspective on romance changed.  In my twenties I thought I had found my hero, only to be disappointed.  And as my taste in what I read changed, so too did my writing.

Now I prefer flawed characters redeemed through love.  Heroes or heroines who may start out weak and use love to transform themselves.  In my current book, Once Upon a Love Story, my heroine has had a horrible life.  She’s a stripper who has a dream of obtaining her GED and thinks that once she does, life will be a bowl of roses.  It’s not, of course, but she does find a man who loves her for who she is. 

The role of females in romance and erotic romance has changed significantly since the Seventies and Eighties, and the introduction of e-readers has allowed many fantasies to be explored.  Women are allowed to explore sexual situations once thought taboo, a sort of “burning of the bras” computer style.  And though sometimes I have the hero saving the girl, more than likely I make sure the girl can save herself.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To win any one of my titles in PDF format, all you have to do is leave a comment & a way to contact you! (I promise not to spam you, I just don't have the time to track you down! LOL!)  One winner will be chosen at random at the end of the blog hop. 




To keep up to date with my new releases, blog hops, or give-a-ways, make sure you friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter! 




& Be sure to visit the others in the Blog Hop!



07 May 2015

Lynn Burke's Risso Family Returns in....Longing For Her

Hello!  Thank you so much for visiting Written Butterfly with me today! 


Q) How much real life do you put into or influences your books?

I always try to put SOME real life influences in my stories. It could be as simple as a person I see on the street who inspires me to write, or an event from my own past. I think utilizing what has influence OUR lives, makes for more believable writing.

Q) If you could choose, which published author would you like to brainstorm with and why?

Oh boy. I brainstormed hours with Anne Tyler over my Means of Mercy series. Lucky duck, I know!!! I’d love to have coffee with Roni Loren or Lisa Kleypas seeing as how both have influenced me beyond words.

Q) What are your upcoming projects?


I’ve got an antho shifter short in submission, the third Risso Family novella in edits, and another series first story subbed, the 2nd in edits as well. Yup. Busy, busy bee.

Longing for Her
A Risso Family Novella
Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 7, 2015

Blurb:
Straight-laced Cole Risso has longed for his sister’s bohemian best friend Gwen since he first laid eyes on her as a kid. Now, as future patriarch of the Risso Family, he’s expected to marry well. A free spirit and unconventional daughter of a pot-toking hippie hardly qualifies. 
When one night of giving into temptation ruins them both for any other, Cole and Gwen are faced with a decision - love the other enough to let them go, or defy family expectations and fight for their hearts’ desires.  No matter the decision, their choices have the power to destroy all they hold dear.

Purchase Links:
Excerpt:
I rounded the couch, but halted as a body came into view.

Cole lounged against the far side, one hand behind his head, half-empty beer bottle in the other. “Hey.”

Our gazes collided, sending a shock wave of energy through my blood. My heel itched to spin, but his focus wandered down my body and back up again, lingering on my bare thighs.

Oh, the temptation to taste him one more time. Three years of simmering desire had my kettle ready to scream hallelujah. “Hey,” I whispered back. “I thought you’d left.”

His smile melted my bones. “Decided to stay a while and reminisce.”

My lips tugged up. “I was eyeing the back of the couch while stealing some whiskey and doing the same thing.” Kind of.

“Care to join me?”

I considered the cushion closest to me and bit on the inside of my lip as temptation and love for the sexy man a few paces away warred in my brain. Knowing I owed Cole an apology, I decided to sit, curling my legs under me. “Sorry for being so harsh earlier. I…I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Cole twisted sideways to place the bottle on the coffee table. “I shouldn’t have cornered you like that.” He started to sit up, but hesitated, a question in his eyes.

“It’s all right. I won’t run.”

The leather squeaked as he swung his feet to the floor and leaned back, hands on his thighs. His blue tie hung loose, the top two buttons of his dress shirt unbuttoned. A hint of dark hair called out to my fingers. Averting my eyes, I focused on the tumbler clasped in both my hands.

“I know I’ve said it hundreds of times, Gwen, but I’m sorry. Please say you forgive me.”

Another gulp of whiskey gave me courage to speak. “Forgiving in my mind means making things right—getting back to normal and moving on.” I lifted my head enough to focus on the knot of his tie. “I can’t do that with you, Cole.”

“Why not?”

“Because even though it’s expected you’ll marry an uptight, snobbish princess,” I sucked in air and allowed the words to spew, “I want you every second of the day.”

His chest stopped its rise and fall, and I glanced up at his face.

Mistake.

Longing like I’d never known reached out from his eyes and froze me in place. My breath caught. 
Nipples pebbled beneath my thin shirt.

Every muscle in my body quivered as he stood and walked toward me, unwavering gaze on my face.

“What—” I licked my lips, hating how my voice wavered. “What are you doing?”

“Give me the whiskey.”

My pulse thrummed with life, and I put the glass in his outstretched hand.

He set it on the coffee table without breaking eye contact and leaned down, placing his hands against the back of the couch on either side of me, making an effective cage. His face hovered mere inches from mine.

I breathed in as he exhaled, the subtle scent of peppermint flooding my mouth with saliva. His lower lip called out to my teeth; the shadow lining his jaw begged for my tongue.

“Did you mean what you said about once being enough, Gwen? Because it’s not for me. I want to taste every inch of your skin. Bury myself inside you.”

My breath caught, and moisture flooded my panties making me squirm on the cushion.

I opened my mouth, having no idea what words would tumble out, but he swooped down, capturing my parted lips before I could speak.

Blessed Mary, mother of God.

AND IN CASE YOU MISSED THE FIRST BOOK...

Risso Family, 1
Lia Risso walked in on her fiancé and three other women on Valentine’s Day. Two celibate years later, her roommate creates a profile for Lia on a dating website—without her knowledge—and sets up a date. On Valentine’s Day. 
Ryan Walsh, a self-made millionaire and libertine, refuses to commit to any one woman. Tossed from foster home to foster home as a child, Ryan is on guard against becoming vulnerable ever again. 
One dinner…one night of dancing and flirting puts both Lia and Ryan in danger of heart break. 
They have a choice—open themselves to the possibility of hurt or walk away, never knowing what might have been.

About Lynn Burke:
Lynn Burke is a full time mother, voracious gardener, and scribbler of spicy romance stories. A country bumpkin turned Bay Stater, she enjoys her chowdah and Dunkin Donuts when not trying to escape the reality of city life.
Her current work, the Risso Family Novellas, revolves around four siblings from Boston’s North End.


Giveaway:

An ecopy of Longing for Her, Heart Pendant, and a $10 Amazon Gift Card
a Rafflecopter giveaway