Romantic Heroes

Why do cops and soldiers make such popular romantic heroes?
Is it because men look good in uniform? Are we attracted to rugged camouflage, navy whites, assault black?
Does the sense of danger and strength linked to those occupations hold special appeal to us?
Perhaps the attraction is the toned bodies – a career in law enforcement usually requires physical fitness.
Or, is it the sense of being protected, kept safe from harm that draws us to these men?
Whatever the explanation, law enforcement officers are some of our most popular romantic heroes. Below is the blurb for my new release, a sexy romantic novella featuring a rugged sheriff in a small town in Pennsylvania.

Trouble with the Law

Arrested for soliciting during a wedding in rural Pennsylvania, Justine Whitmore spends a steamy night with the local sheriff who clears up the misunderstanding and releases her. She never expects to see him again, but when an interfering busybody makes a complaint, Justine agrees to pretend a whirlwind romance in order to protect her reputation and the sheriff’s job.

Embittered by a divorce from a scheming city woman, Sheriff Mark Taylor has sworn to avoid her kind. No amount of cursing will change the fact that he fell for the blonde hauled into his office dressed in nothing but expensive underwear.

A country hick and a high maintenance PR executive – can they tolerate each other long enough to make it look real? But sometimes people are not what you believe them to be….

Available on Tuesday 17 November from Resplendence Publishing…

Primed Suspect by Ann Cory - available now

Unfortunately I ended up getting the flu, so instead of some witty post that I'd hoped to write, I'm going to leave you with my newest release from RP - Primed Suspect. This is a sexy short BDSM/light paranormal story that is part of the Handcuffs and Lace series.

Blurb

Cassidy Valance is one part woman, one part Kitsune – a rare shape-shifting fox. She finds solace inside an estate, away from the hunters who have invaded her home in the forest. As a woman she finds the nights unsatisfying with her insatiable appetite for sex. Tired of prowling for men to slake her relentless desires, Cassidy yearns for one man who can tame her wild ways, and love her despite what she is.

Officer Ian Valenti is assigned to investigate an abandoned estate after reports of unusual activity are called into the station. Since the death of his wife, he has fully devoted himself to his job. When he goes to inspect the house, he finds the suspect inside, naked and alluring.

Ian’s instincts and years serving on the force tell him to cuff Cassidy and haul her in for breaking and entering. But she would rather he cuff her and treat her like the submissive she longs to be. With her restrained and primed, Ian brings Cassidy’s fantasies of a Master to life. And willingly lets down the guard around his heart.

Excerpt

Cassidy stretched the kinks out her fox form and shivered. Another minute outside and she’d never warm up. The new moon made it dark enough for her to change into her human form by. She nudged her nose against the special rock with its hidden key and with her tongue slid the black piece open. Between her teeth she gripped the key and allowed the transformation into a woman happen.

Naked, she hurried to the doorway and thrust the key into the lock. With a quick turn of the knob she entered. To get the blood circulating in her legs, she ran up the luxurious staircase and straight into the study. She raised the tasseled cushion of the window seat and grasped the lace robe. Though sheer and lightweight it offered a covering while she lit a fire.

She’d never bothered with a fire in the house before, but tonight she had little choice. Nothing short of an embrace from strong, powerful arms would temper her inner chill. While the flames crackled in the stone fireplace, Cassidy admired the familiar items inside the old trunk in the corner she’d discovered from an earlier visit. She considered it a treasure chest with its handheld mirror, jeweled hair combs, elbow-length satin gloves, and her favorite¾a lace choker that she fastened around her throat. It made her think of a collar. Something she never wanted as a fox. But with the right Master, she would dutifully wear and oblige to all his demands.

Many wintry nights she stole inside and sat with a book on her lap, envisioning what she would do if this were her home. She’d work out in the garden. Let her fingers sink into the cool earth and grow everything from fruits to vegetables to herbs and wildflowers. She would laze in the sun on a tree-strung hammock. Read a book by the water fountain. And always have a fresh bouquet of daisies on the dining room table.

Most of her ideas came from pictures found in magazines left inside the old walnut desk drawers. The ones that depicted how domesticated women lived and the homes they kept. Showed how they dressed. Some wore elegant gowns that swept along the floor. Others dressed in outfits that exposed miles of skin. Both styles appealed to her. The pictures were a glimpse into a life she longed to be part of, but feared.

Cassidy closed up the trunk and took a seat in the velvet chair. She loved its lush material against her skin. It fit her body well, as if made for her. She let the robe fall open so the heat from the fire bathed her skin. The soft texture against her bare sex sent tiny thrills along her spine. All the pictures and magazines couldn’t distract her from the gnawing need coiling deep inside her core. The insistent need for sex worsened at the onslaught of spring. Relief would have to come by her own hand tonight.

She had long since given up on being satisfied by strangers who thought only of their needs. Her cravings went further and more risqué than anything they could accomplish. She needed a man who could tame the wild beast inside her. Until then she’d forever be at the mercy of an insatiable libido. Unsatisfied and sex-starved.

She shifted forward and draped a thigh over the armrest. Her fingers moved down the triangular patch of hair along her mound and traced the smooth skin of her labia. She sighed in ecstasy against the first flicker of her fingertips along her clit. The sensitive pearl demanded more. Cassidy pushed her fingers inside her slick channel and her inner muscles clutched tight. What she wouldn’t give for a hard, thick cock to slake her carnal desires. She leaned her head back and let her eyes fall shut while thoughts of a Master filled her mind.

(copyright 2009)

~Ann Cory http://www.anncory.com/
Author of contemporary and paranormal romance – seduction style

Damn I feel old!

A friend tuned me into a place called Pandora.com (It’s AWESOME! Internet radio that you create your own play list on!) I was looking for classic country music and apparently, we (Pandora.com and I) have differing opinions on classic country.

I intended Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Horton, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Conway Twitty, George Jones, and Hank Snow, just to list a few. The suggested list was Alabama, George Straight, Randy Travis, & Clint Black. Now WAIT just a minute. That IS good music but it’s NOT classic. I listened to that during high school--when I wasn't rocking out to Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Ozzy, Guns and Roses, etc. Does that mean I’m a classic? (When I asked my husband he nearly lost his teeth for saying No honey, not a classic…a clunker…:P)

When my son came home engaged I felt my age slightly. At the wedding, I felt a bit older. When his wife had their first baby I felt MUCH older—but until the last week, I’ve never felt THIS old.

I would tease my husband—who is ten years my senior—about being in bed by 9 or 10. Laughing at his being an old fart and needing extra sleep. It’s not so funny any more. Not when at 10:30 I’m unable to keep my eyes open.

This morning I was brushing my hair and a pudgy, wrinkled, old woman stared back at me from the mirror. Scared the hell out of me, I’m telling you! I blinked and blinked again trying to clear the image away only to realize it wasn’t going to disappear. It was me.

I used to think people who spent money on wrinkle creams and diet pills were just throwing it away. I was going to grow old gracefully without hair dyes, home wax kits, creams and various sundries. As I pondered over the quandary to wax, bleach or pluck I decided their thoughts did suddenly have merit. While piling on the Spackle and flesh tone dent filler, I mentally listed what items I was going to have to add to my shopping cart this time around. Time marches on or as in my case right over the top of me.

I guess it could get worse—I could’ve read my name in the obits this morning.

Geriatric hugz and Dentucare kisses
JJ

Jinger Jackson is a forty-something author from St. Louis who loves writing erotic paranormal and erotic horror tales to thrill and chill readers. You can follow her daily blog at http://jingerjackson.blogspot.com

Everyday Humor

I have a hard time taking things seriously. In fact, I often laugh at inappropriate times. This isn't necessarily my fault because some other members of my family don't have a solid grip on how to handle serious situations, either. Funerals are particularly troublesome. For instance, when I was a kid, a cousin of my mom's showed up at a funeral with a box of melting ice cream bars and tried to hand them out to the other mourners. Apparently he and his young son had wanted a snack en route to the funeral. They stopped at a grocery store, bought a whole box of ice cream bars, and tried to devour all of them before reaching the funeral home. They still had a couple left when their sticky, chocolate-smeared, sugared-up selves arrived. At another family funeral, a distant relation of mine showed up wearing – I swear – a prom dress. No, she wasn't going to or coming from prom. To the best of my knowledge she had not been previously diagnosed with a mental disorder.

In addition to funerals, I've found that illnesses and hospitals provide ample opportunities for hilarity. Have you seen those open-backed gowns? One time, my mother and I went to visit her aunt. When we arrived at the woman's apartment, we discovered that she was sick. The poor woman dashed into the bathroom every 5 minutes, and embarrassing noises carried all the way into the living room. Did we leave? Did we make chicken soup? Did we offer to call a soundproofing guy? No. We laughed like idiots every time she was in the bathroom. See what I mean? It's not my fault; I blame my family.

Anyway, I've learned that not everyone appreciates my "overzealous" sense of humor. There are a lot of people out there who take themselves, their jobs, their problems, and life in general very seriously. These people get annoyed when I'm not properly bunched up about their issues. I've had a few jobs where this was a problem. One former boss seemed to think that my customer service job at an insurance agency demanded both a high level of professionalism and uncomfortable shoes. She didn't think the term "personal lines underwriter" sounded dirty. I didn't work there very long.

Fortunately there are lots of people who join me in finding humor everywhere. One of my favorite such people is a guy I met in college many years ago. He works in a departmental office at a prestigious university, but he doesn't let the dignified halls of higher learning extinguish his warped, irreverent sense of humor. In fact, the graduate students in his department were so impressed with the emails he sends them that they established a blog for his rantings…er…departmental communications. If you want a giggle, check it out: http://depart-mental.blogspot.com/ It comes complete with archives dating back many years. Assume that these are not suitable for children or the easily offended.

For me, writing fiction turned into the perfect outlet for my goofy sense of humor and twisted way of looking at the world. It feels great to let my snarky comments flow freely on the page. I have time to come up with perfect comebacks. Plus, my characters can say things that would be too rude in real life.

Yes, it's true that I don't take a lot of things seriously. I laugh at inappropriate times. I find other people's insurance claims hilarious. But at least I've found a socially acceptable outlet for my "problem." On a good day I even feel that sharing my sense of humor helps to make the world a happier place. And if the stuff I write brings me a royalty check every now and then, well that's nothing to laugh at.

Peace and a good giggle,
Kimberly Garland

Falling Back

This is Jennifer Johnson. I have a book with Resplendence due out in April of next year. I'm introducing myself at the beginning so that you don't wonder what insane person has blogged at Resplendence today with the absurd topic of...

The End of Daylight Savings Time.

Does anybody else hate the time change? Well, actually, I don't hate THIS time change - just the one in the Spring. This morning I'm finally getting back the hour wrenched from me back in March when the powers that be put the Daylight Savings into effect. The savings used to begin in April. I know because legend has it that I was born the night of that time change, so there was some discussion about which hour to put on the birth certificate. I don't know if this really happened, but it makes a great story. (Mom, next time we talk, tell me if this story is true or not, will you?) Today Daylight Savings has ended. No more saving of the daylight. We're plowing ahead to longer nights, and soon I'll gaze up at the sky at four in the afternoon and marvel at the freakin' sunset.

It's almost enough to make me move to Arizona, except I've heard they have scorpions out there. Scorpions like to hide in people's shoes. You have to check your shoes before you stick your foot in. I don't like that. I just want to shove my foot in and go without the risk of a painful sting on the toe because I've crowded a little trespassing beast.

Arizona is the only smart state who has refused to participate in the time saving madness. Their kids aren't cranky twice a year because their schedules have been maliciously marauded. Oooo. I like that - even with the ly adverb: maliciously marauded. I'll have to make sure one of my characters says that some time. It will have to be a supporting character - one who provides comic relief even if he or she doesn't know they are doing so.

And, really, if the marauders are going to steal an hour in the Spring only to give it back in the Fall, doesn't it make sense to do this on a Friday night to give us two days to acclimate ourselves before the work week? Surely someone else has thought of this. It's a brilliant idea if we are going to continue to follow this antiquated practice.

I have a terrible memory, so I don't know what I had to give up in March because of Daylight Savings. I'm going to guess it was an hour of writing, though. So, yay! I get to write an extra hour today to make up for it. Maybe the characters in my current WIP can finally get their butts off the floor where they've been sitting for a while waiting for me to engage them in a passionate embrace or else to have my hero exit into the cold Christmas eve night. He's definitely leaving. I know that much, but will he get a kiss first? That I haven't worked out yet, and it's been brewing a while during which my life has been...errrr...being lived. You know, if I could get an extra hour EVERY week for writing, I would embrace the time change with both arms.

Visit me at my website http://booksbyjenniferjohnson.com or at my blog.

Boo, y'all!

One more day to Halloween, and I still have a ghost to hang in the upstairs window. The graveyard in the front lawn is done, with cobwebs hung on the fence enclosure and dogwood tree, and my electric pumpkins (sorry, traditionalists) are ready to plug in at all the windows.

Yeah, I like Halloween, from greeting trick-or-treaters in my witch's hat to fixing blood red punch for friends who drop by.

So it stands to reason, I suppose, that I am a paranormal romance writer. I'm a sucker for a happy ending and I quite like things that go bump (or boo) in the night.

I blame my parents for that. My mother often reminds me of a butterfly, flitting here and there as something catches her interest. In the pre-Internet days in which I grew up, my folks indulged their curiosity in such oddities as spontaneous human combustion, UFOs and psychic phenomenon through magazines like Fate and esoteric books. Being a kid who read a lot, well, I read those things, too.

A few years ago, I had a free airplane flight, so I chose to visit a friend in New Mexico. While she was at work, I drove to Roswell, the mecca for UFO freaks, because I simply couldn't be two hours a way and not do it. And, yes, it was worth the trip, thank you very much.

Every so often, someone asks me the ubiquitous question: "How do you write what you do?"

That translates like this: If they were me, they'd follow the famous rule of "write what you know" and pen pages about the world in which they live.

I do write about what I know, even if my worlds are all in my head or, as in the case of my Ancients vampires, the pages of a book. To me, the society of the Ancients and those who populate it are as ordinary as next door neighbors. (Or, in the case of my own next door neighbors, actually more normal and believable.)

And really, is it hard that to believe there might be vampires living down the street? Or that the lady a block over, the one we catch occasional glimpses of, is actually a ghost who only comes out at certain times of the day?

What about you? Ever watch that old guy lumber down the street and secretly suspect he might be a zombine? Or wonder if the guy with the spiky beard and weird eyes could be a demon in disguise?

Anyway, tomorrow is Halloween, and we all know what that means ... time to load up on those garlic necklaces, silver crosses and wooden stakes and have a wonderful holiday!

Cammie Eicher

Ghost Hunting and Hunks...what's not to like?

Today is my day here on the Resplendence Gems blog. I posted once before back in August, and I missed my September day. So sorry about that.

In case you don't know me, I'm Marianne LaCroix. I've been published by several epubs, and most lately Resplendence. I recently contracted a novella with RP called Bound By Ecstasy, a historical western that also happens to be interracial with a touch of D/s. It is due out in February 2010. My most recent release at RP is The Dark Knight, a vampire tale of a man whose murdered bride returns, awakening an evil to find his final revenge.

I'm going to use my blog day here to talk about a project being put out by friends of mine, the ALPHA (Association for Locating Paranormal and Haunted Activity) Ghost Team. Last night I had the treat of seeing their completed DVD, Dead Air. I really enjoyed watching the ghost guys (my nick name for them), Ron and Scott, go through the investigation from beginning to end. They spent several days at the Windsor Hotel in Americus, Georgia. For those who may not know, the Windsor is one of the most haunted hotels in the United States. It doesn't hurt that Camp Sumter (Andersonville Prison Camp) is ten miles away.

For those interested, below is a short film trailer for Dead Air. It is very, very well done.






I also want to mention that Ron & Scott were semi-finalists in the SyFy Channel's Pair-anormal contest. See their entry by clicking the banner below.

Curious about ALPHA? Or maybe about ghost hunting? Or just want to talk paranormal? Then come to the chat The Writer Chicks will be having on the 28th!

Special Guests:
Ron & Scott of ALPHA Ghost Team


Hosted by The Writer Chicks

Door Prizes:
MEN AFTER MIDNIGHT by Marianne LaCroix
SHIVERS by Annmarie Ortega et al
ALPHA Ghost Team's new DVD DEAD AIR
& more

Register & Enter ChatRoom

If anyone is in the Tallahassee area over the next few weeks, check out their events calendar for appearances. The guys will be doing stuff at FSU, etc. This Saturday they will be presenting their Paranormal 411 workshop covering the basics of ghost hunting, EVPs, ghost photography, and much more. I've sat through the workshops and it is extremely interesting.

Look for a special interview with Ron, Scott and myself at The Bradford Bunch blog (the Bradford Literary Agency authors) on Oct 29th.

And finally, please come and visit me on my blog at www.iwriteromance.com