Friday, March 05, 2010

Free Book Friday: To Sin with a Scoundrel By Cara Elliott

As promised Free Book Friday is back. This week I have a copy of To Sin with a Scoundrel by Cara Elliott.


This is the first book in the Circle of Sin Trilogy.


THE CIRCLE OF SIN

A seductively sexy new trilogy

Drawn together by their sharp intellect and shared cynicism concerning the opposite sex, the Circle of Scientific Sibyls—informally known as the Circle of Sin—is a group of brilliant, beautiful female scholars who meet each week to share their knowledge—and their friendship.

Each lady has her own field of expertise—and her own reason for being wary of men.
Past deceptions, dark secrets and hidden passions. Ciara, Alessandra and Kate must each draw on her own cleverness and courage—as well as help from a sinfully sexy rogue—when a past sin stirs up a swirling mix of deadly intrigue and dangerous desires..

Three alluring Sinners...
Three seductive stories. . .


About the To Sin with a Scoundrel:

A reclusive widow known for her scientific scholarship, Lady Ciara Sheffield is shadowed by rumors that she poisoned her husband . . . A rake hell rogue notorious for his devil-may-care antics, Lucas Bingham--the Earl of Hadley--is not accused of murdering anything--save for the rules of Polite Society. The only thing they have in common is seeing their names featured in the lurid gossip columns of London's newspapers.

Until an ancient manuscript draws them together.

Ciara needs a titled fiancé to quell the slanderous speculations which may send her to the gallows. Lucas needs brilliant scholar to help his elderly uncle decipher the secrets of the mysterious manuscript. So when her friends urge her to accept the earl's proposal of a temporary alliance, Ciara decides that she has no choice but to make a deal with the Devil.

And so begins a seductive dance of sinful pleasures and hidden desires as the two of them waltz through the mansions of Mayfair. Lies, intrigue, treachery, sex. They find themselves facing slanderous whispers, unscrupulous relatives-not to speak of their own simmering passions, which quickly ignite into dangerous flames. It's a potent mix and the result may be explosive-and perhaps deadly-if they don't watch their step.


Author Website: CaraElliott.com

Read an excerpt here

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Thursday, March 04, 2010

Leigh Wood and On the Way to New Isosceles Giveaway


I can't help myself! I need to indulge readers and interviewers with all my quirks-from what my housewife-self baked today to the joke that I vacuum with my pearls on and nothing else!


I also collect weird pens and adore animal prints-especially cat motifs. What does that have to do with writing a book? Absolutely nothing, but I suppose goofy things like this assure readers that I’m a real human being-an author at the other end of the virtual spectrum delighting in the readership! ‘If you prick us…’


I'm pretty proud of my November 2009 Eternal Press release On the Way to New Isosceles. Although I’ve had other articles and reviews out and about online and in print over the years, this is my first big release. Sure, it’s small to some of the big NY publishing house bigwigs, but ecstatic to me nonetheless! I'm pleased with the near perfect blend of science fiction and sex. I started out thinking I would have a small novella of one sex scene after another on a long space flight.


My previous works are not entirely erotic, and fragments of sex scenes had been waiting in my idea notebook for some time. Halfway through writing Isosceles, I had twice as many pages than I expected, serious character conflicts, space battle action, and even some death and angst. After all that, I finally got to the sweet sex scenes! I wasn't sure if there was an audience for material that would please the hard sf fan but also the erotica lover. Such audiences of mind versus body seem at polar odds. Sometimes you find some science fiction that's really lofty and full of space and technology over people and just a little too high brow.


On the Way to New Isosceles has a tongue in cheek look about it. Be honest, what else must they do on long space journeys but get hot and bothered?


I’m a stickler for self-editing, perhaps over editing! Between compositing, editing, submitting, and publication, On the Way to New Isosceles took about three years total I think. I handwrite still, and in one moment of writerly self-doubt; I wasn’t going to finish Isosceles. My husband took my notebook and was quickly pleased with the story-until the first sex scene shocked him. Though he’s not totally of a literary mind, his encouragement to finish gave me the push I needed. I kept writing-in bigger notebooks, smaller sketchpads, and even the back of receipt rolls-during my lunch breaks while I was working at a video store. I remember sitting in one of those vignettes in the mall at Christmas time crying because I just killed a character off. Carols were playing, décor all a glow, ruddy shoppers bagged to the brim! And here I was, crying at what was supposed to be a sex story! Should anyone have asked me what was wrong, I doubt I could have explained!


It's a long, tough journey on the way to New Isosceles, and the animosity between Rub and JJ gets hotter by the day…


JJ was as hard nosed as they come-and then some. But, hey, the destruction of earth did that to everyone. Humanity fractioned into three groups. Affectionately known as 'the Shitters', the Shipper Brigade manufactures the best space faring vehicles for themselves. Skilled fighters and martial artists Combatants like JJ fight the Shippers for what they can-even though Combatant numbers were severely depleted by the third faction. The Nukes rescued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons from earth's doom and aren't afraid to use them.


You can imagine JJ's surprise when she meets the Nuke Lieutenant Rub. Their initial meeting didn't rub either the right way. Despite her Nuke anxiety-JJ has to put it all aside. Her Captain and the Nuke Colonel have struck a deal to defeat the Shippers once and for all. The Nukes leave their tiny outpost on a far flung, degrading planet and join the Combatants in taking the lush planet protected by the Shippers.


You can visit Leigh at:








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Just leave a comment on this post

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

My Weird Life

My husband is normally the one who has tales of the weird and strange occurring in everyday life, he's out there everyday interacting with hundreds of different people on a daily basis.

So the stories he comes home with sometimes are out there. Really out there. I'll have to share one day.

But today it's my turn. I had a huge scary shock when I stepped out of the shower today. I glanced in the mirror as I was drying off and discovered my entire upper body was covered in red bloody scratches.

At least that's what it looked like.

I totally freaked wondering how the hell I got mangled while taking a shower.

When I wiped all the fog off the mirror and took a closer look I discovered the "scratches" were really lines of red lint all over my body.

But they had looked like scratches- the kind you get when you wrestle with a rose bush... and lose. Or a angry mob of kittens that haven't been declawed.

Skinny, jagged, bloody scratches. I looked like an escapee from a horror movie set.

I will never wash my towels with my red fuzzy blankets again.

Next time I might not survive the shock.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Aromatherapy for Lovers

18 Essential Oils That Will Improve Your Sex Life

Aromatherapy has been used for over 5000 years from Ancient Egypt to Modern Europe in the 1920's and 1930's where French chemist, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse coined the term aromatherapy. Aromatherapy has often been used in sexual practices and rituals throughout many cultures and time periods.

Aromatherapy has been used to attract lovers, heal a relationship; it has been used in the art of seduction and mentioned in the Kama Sutra.

Cleopatra was known to have used a special blend of rose, cardamom, and cinnamon to seduce Marc Anthony. Basil was used by young Italian women to charm and bewitch potential lovers, ancient Arabic manuals giving advice on sexual matters refer to Black Pepper for its erotic qualities, Ginger was used by the Romans for its sexual enhancement characteristics, an Italian princess used Neroli to fragrance her gloves and bathing water, and Tantric disciples smeared Sandalwood on their bodies while celebrating sexual ecstasy.

Our sense of smell is tied directly to the part of the brain that is linked to memory and emotion. Research studies have proven that different scents can actually produce different emotions and reactions; they can make us feel a certain way.

The aromatherapy scents I am going to describe have been chosen for their known aphrodisiacal properties. These essential oils can be used in diffusers, burners, candles, incense, scent rings, scented potpourri, added to bath water or added to massage oils to create a sexually enticing atmosphere in your bedroom and throughout your entire home. These aromatherapy scents can be used alone or in special blends to create the type of sexual atmosphere and sexual response you want.

keep reading here

In My Dreams: Ghosts of Lover's Past

Sometime early this morning I had this dream that just went on forever but it kept changing...from one old love to another.

Yes, the ghosts of lovers past have come back to haunt me and haunt me they are because so far the dream has not left me.

It's very strange because the men in my dream were all guys that played a major role in my history, not the no ones not even just the jerks I knew but no, these guys were the ones I really cared for.

It all started with the dream being about the one that got away AKA the one I let go because I knew it would never really work in the real world (long story). Later the dream morphed to a couple other guys that I had real feelings for but we never had a "real" relationship, then it ended with the one guy that majorly screwed up my life and was such a jerk- the sperm donor for my oldest child.

While the dreams of everyone else were all soft and fuzzy, the dream of him was as it always is- him tearing me apart emotionally and lots of fighting and him being a cheating bastard. Same old same old.

I woke up with that anger but all those soft and fuzzies are still there too.

Weird.

I am a major believer in dreams meaning something. I know many dreams are just random gobbledygook meshed in the brain and spit out as strange images in our dreams- but sometimes a dream is more than a dream- I just don't know what this one means.

My hubby might say, "Oh you're dreaming about other guys, must mean you don't want me anymore" or some weird shit like that (he's not usually insecure but lately...a mid-life crisis may be coming on)

When in fact because he wasn't in my dream I think perhaps it means I need to let go or say goodbye and learn to focus on the now. Or maybe learn from my past and mistakes. Maybe appreciate what I have and not worry about anything else.

Hmmm....

I will probably spend the day dissecting it and trying to remember the ghostly images of my dreams- maybe I'll put the images to good use and create beautiful stories form them.

Maybe I'll find something else to occupy my mind and forget about it.

Maybe I shouldn't obsess about weird and meaningless stuff. :-)