Author Spotlight ~ Grace Augustine Author of Acorn Hill Series

GRACE AUGUSTINE

Author of Acorn Hill Series

BIO:

Internationally known author, Grace Augustine, was born in Shelby, Montana and grew up in Cut Bank, Montana (dubbed as The Coldest Spot in the Nation). Her work career has taken her from title and abstracting to administrative assistant church work to co-owning a small town weekly newspaper to her current profession as a floral designer.

Author Stalker Links:

Acorn Hill Series page:  goo.gl/fK1Q7M

Amazon Author page:  goo.gl/Ak9ZnL

Twitter: goo.gl/4hsZg2

Newsletter Sign-up:  goo.gl/rQ1Faj

Acorn Hill Series

Bittersweet (Book 1)  

Blurb:  

Bittersweet is the story of the owner of a Fortune 500 consulting company and the ups and downs of every day life in the fictitious Pacific Northwest town of Acorn Hills. Jake Evans, CEO and savvy businessman, had it all...a great job, money to burn and the perfect girlfriend, but his wandering eye seemed to always get him in trouble.

From Jake and Jillian to Denise and David, Ginger and Jordan and Richard Dempsey, this introduction into the Acorn Hills series gives you a glimpse into the lives of this very close knit circle of friends. They have known each other since grade school and are a very integral part of each other, proving that real friendships truly CAN last a lifetime.

Amazon Buy Link:  goo.gl/KAcxD0    (Perma-Free)

Mystic Capers (Book 2)

Blurb:

Ginger Farnsworth grew up in the 70's, a very interesting, unique time in history. She was the captain of the cheer squad, led the dance and flag team, and aspired to be the best chef in the world.

We journey with Ginger through the next forty years as she lives life on the edge. Her penchant for cooking takes her to France and turns her into an award winning pastry chef. We travel through the adversities and joys of her life, from beginning a successful business to finally finding Mr. Right.

Amazon Buy Link:  goo.gl/NG9nxo

Sultry Sensations  (Book 3)

Blurb:

Denise Berrie was the overweight teen no one befriended. The countless adversities in her growing up years took their toll, that's for sure, but also made her the strong business woman she is today. Will she ever realize the refining of the fire made her a diamond, or will she struggle with the demons and run from succcess?

Amazon Buy Link:  goo.gl/Auo45n

Holiday Hide and Seek  (Book 4)

Blurb:

In Acorn Hills there is cause for celebrations...many things that have been hidden will be revealed during this special season. Residents come together to establish new traditions, share food and conversation with friends and family, seek hidden treasures, and, most importantly, find what has been in front of them all along.

Amazon Buy Link:  goo.gl/bqw0Om

Richard’s Relics  (Book 5)

Blurb:

War and its remnants are cruel. Just ask Richard Dempsey, a Vietnam Vet. 

Richard served his turn in Vietnam, but came home a changed man. Plagued with nightmares of the past, Richard and his friends go on a life changing trip back to modern day Saigon. Their hope...to slay the dragons that stole so much of their lives.

Each deals with his own demons. Each has life changing experiences. Each finds out the importance of friendship and family.

Amazon Buy Link: goo.gl/8yyvgZ

Holiday Promises  (Book 6)

Blurb:

I Promise! Those are probably the two words everyone wants to hear, especially during the holidays. In Holiday Promises everyone hears them at least one time. 

Alex Halloran, putting it simply, was a big jerk in high school. He was the super jock all the girls wanted.   He began dating Felicia Worthington, the daughter of one of the most financially elite families in Acorn Hills and that turned out to be a huge feather in Alex's cap.

Felicia going off to college and Alex's selfish choices drove a wedge between them.

Years later their paths cross and they decide to see each other again. 

Will Fate allow them a second chance? What can possibly stand in their way of a happy ever after?

Amazon Buy Link:  goo.gl/xM1psG

Special Occasions  (Book 7)

Blurb:

Acorn Hills was home. It had always been home for Jillian Dempsey, except for the few years she spent in Montana.

There was something to be said about life-long friendships and roots that grew deep friendships. Jillian was no novice. Her friendships spanned decades...most were the same group of friends she'd run around with in high school. Here it was forty plus years later and she was still hanging out with them.

For Jillian, life was about lessons--lessons you taught someone or lessons you learned from life issues or people who crossed your path.

Her progressive, open upbringing in the late 1960's through the mid 1970's gave her a good foundation...a foundation of morals, high standards, respect, and love.

In this final book of The Acorn Hills Series, we find Jillian contemplating the past, leaving words of wisdom for her sons, and forging ahead living her happily ever after.

Amazon Buy Link:  goo.gl/ScaaFQ

Author Spotlight ~ Barb Jones Author Of The Blood Prophecy Series

Barb Jones

Author of the Blood Prophecy Series

BIO:

Barb Jones is a paranormal thriller author, IT professional, and the mother of two fantastic children. She is known for her ability to create relatable characters and detailed settings without compromising her unique plots. When people have asked her who she is, she’s been quoted saying, “It can be hard to write at times, but never give up on what you’re passionate about.” She’s a mother, first and foremost, and an author and supernatural enthusiast after. She currently resides in Sarasota, FL, but is a Seattle native at heart. When she’s not writing, she’s traveling and looking for new inspiration for her books.

AUTHOR STALKER LINKS:

Blood Prophecy FB Page:  goo.gl/rwlsy4

Amazon Author Page:  goo.gl/Q3ZPZJ

Blood Prophecy Twitter Page:  goo.gl/NEdOiH

Blood Prophecy Newsletter:  goo.gl/VrLFqx

BOOKS:  

Queen’s Destiny : Blood Prophecy (Book 1)

Blurb:

Amber Stone, once a child prodigy, has just become curator of a special collection of Macedonian artifacts for the Seattle Museum of Natural History. Chloe, a prodigy of a different sort, holds a position at the museum focusing on tribal art. The two become fast friends, united by Amber's unsettling dreams and Chloe's unorthodox ways of dealing with them. Two strangers arrive in town, bringing with them a prophecy recorded more than three-thousand years ago, a prophecy that places Amber directly in the midst of a battle that has spanned a millennia.

Amazon Buy Link:  goo.gl/tqFU5i

Queen’s Enemy: Blood Prophecy (Book 2)

Blurb:

When you are in love with the one you fear and hate the most, it leaves you no options. How can you fight her, protect her, love her, when all it would do is leave you in pieces?

Amber and Chloe are pulled deeper into the Prophecy that reveals itself as the Blood Moon rises. Michael is pulled and torn into different directions. His choice is fated but is not known until Amber embraces her true destiny and is crowned Queen.

Together, all four embark on a journey, joined by new allies, enemies and the past. A child is born to be the instrument of the Queen. 

This is the preparation for the upcoming Epic battle that has spanned a millennia. 

Amazon Buy LinK:  goo.gl/1jFxxQ

Marcus: Origins  (Book 3)

Blurb:

Marcus is a young man, full of life and innocence, yet his homelessness cast a spell of yearning for adventure and a better life. He wants that adventure and to return to a normal life someday…but that day isn’t today. Eliza, a beautiful vampire, seduces him into a world like no other. Their young love and hunger drive them together and also pull them apart too. Marcus ventures out on his own as a newborn vampire and experiences all the emotions of rage, anger, love, lust in order to become the man he is today. This is the birth of Marcus.

Amazon Buy Link: goo.gl/kEAOFK

Chloe: A Blood Prophecy Novella (Book 4)

Blurb:

Chloe, a teenage witch, realizes her future potential through an unfortunate kidnapping. She is destined to be the most powerful witch in the world. Together with family and friends, Chloe begins to embrace her journey through her visions. These visions will ultimately be her guide on her journey. 

Amazon Buy Link:  goo.gl/uOlKfz

CAmazonopy short URL

Author Spotlight ~ R.L. Merrill ~ Rock "n" Romance Author

R.L. Merrill

Rock ‘n’ Romance Author

BIO:

Once upon a time... A teacher, tattoo collector, mom, and rock 'n' roll kinda gal opened up a doc and starting purging her demons. Ten self-published novels and novellas later, with more tucked away in her evil lair, R.L. Merrill is still striving to find that perfect balance between real-life and happily ever after. You can find her lurking on social media where she loves connecting with readers, being a mom taxi to two busy kids, in the tattoo chair trying desperately to get that back piece finished, or head banging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area!

Author Stalker Links:

FB Author Page: goo.gl/Es3GCF

Amazon Author page: goo.gl/KYdqk2

Twitter: goo.gl/1jnvMr

Newsletter Sign-up: goo.gl/BXg8Fe

BOOKS:

Road Trip: A Rock Season Novel

Blurb:

High school counselor and heavy metal fan Abra Mora spends her summer vacation traveling in her gutsy Mustang GT to escape a dark family history of depression. Late one night while making an emergency pit-stop, she comes to the rescue of an off-duty police officer in peril and saves him from a fiery end. The straight-laced, model-handsome cop happens to be running away from some major baggage of his own. These two opposites decide to run away together, but soon realize they've embarked on more than just a fling. Can their newfound love survive once their road trip is over and their realities end up on a collision course?

Amazon Buy Link: goo.gl/SgrPPk

EXCERPT:

“It does hurt. They gave me some Motrin but I didn’t want to take it without some food.”

“Oh! I have brownies in the backseat. Just grab that container…”

He reached around and damn did he make a fine sight. The shirt the other cop gave him was almost completely sheer and way too tight. His chest was so fucking amazing. I never really went for muscley guys, but Jesus did this man have a sculpted physique.

He brought the container around to the front and I noticed him stalling. He lifted the lid and sniffed.

“Kelly?” I asked, trying to control my laughter. “What are you doing?”

“Um, are these—”

“Would I offer pot brownies to an officer of the law? Do I look that dumb?” I was a little disappointed that he would think that about me, but we all make choices about how we present ourselves. My appearance often screamed ‘fuck you.’

“

I’m sorry, Abra. I meant no disrespect. Occupational hazard.” He took one out and took a big bite, moaning with happiness. Oh, to be the cause of that joy.

“These are unbelievable,” he said after he’d chewed and swallowed. No talking with his mouth full. So friggin’ polite.

“Did you make these?” he asked.

“Yep. They are loaded with my secret recipe, which includes brown sugar, crushed cocoa beans and hashish. Just give it a few minutes and you’ll feel great.”

He paused with his mouth full like he needed a place to spit it out.

“Oh, come on. You walked into that one, Kelly. There are no drugs anywhere in this car, or on my person. You can subject me to a strip search when we get—Oh.”

What started out as just a way to mess with his pretty little head had taken a turn to the dangerous. Did I want to share my body with this beautiful man? I was undecided. He was gorgeous, yes, and if I was the kind of person who could just give myself to any hot guy, then yeah. I would. Problem was that I wasn’t turned on by people easily, men or women, and I’d been with both. Something about the person had to speak to me. A person who could take care of themselves was probably my biggest turn-on. Self-sufficiency was sexy in my book. So far the jury was out on my cop.

“Abra…”

“Kelly. It’s fine. I was messing with you. Besides, you’re off duty.” He was rubbing at his jaw again and I snuck a peek at his profile. Unbelievable from every angle. What rock had this lovely creature crawled out from under? And just how badly was I going to drive him away? I couldn’t help but think this nut hadn’t fallen far from the tree. I must have still been a little high on adrenaline to take some strange guy, despite the fact he was a cop, to a fucking hotel in the middle of nowhere? Too late now. 

I’d have to see how this played out and hope my dark side didn’t come out to play.

“I just didn’t want you to think I expected anything. I’m sorry. You’ve already given me a second shot at life tonight. I think you’ve met all sainthood criteria.” He laughed but it was forced.

It was an incredibly sweet thing to say. Okay, that was a turn-on. All of a sudden he seemed to grow larger, like he was taking up all of the space inside my car. I felt his presence pushing against my own, like a current trying to find its grounding. Whatever was causing that feeling had me aroused and wondering just why I was placed in this man’s path tonight.

“Thank you, Kelly, but I’ve still got my bat. If you pushed the envelope against my will, I think I could take you, sore tushy and all.”

He burst out laughing and I achieved my goal of lessening the tension that had been building since we left the hospital.

“Here’s some water so you can take your pills,” I offered as he polished off his first brownie.

“Thank you,” he said, his fingers lingering on mine as he took the bottle from me. Chills ran up my arm. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to watch him pop the pills in his mouth and guzzle down half the bottle of water. His lips were so full, and not from his injury. The inappropriate thoughts going through my head were running rampant.

Author Spotlight of Pauline West

Author Spotlight 

Pauline West

Author of Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance Series

About Pauline

Pauline West is a bookworm, trail runner and bourbon lover. Her hobbies include mild hypochondria and ill-advised matchmaking. For more romantic stories about Charleston, follow West on Pauline-West.com and Amazon for news on the Candlemoth: Holy City Romance novels, as well as her upcoming series, Evening’s Land: a Gothic Fantasy.

Website: http://www.pauline-west.com/

Candlemoth Book 1: A Holy City Romance

getBook.at/Candlemoth

TBR: http://bit.ly/CandlemothTBR

A bold and independent free spirit from the foster system of small town South Carolina, Lily is a survivor with skeletons in her closet. She knows what she wants and how to get it. And a spoiled rich playboy is not part of her plan- but Ry is irresistible.

Steamy, exciting and beautifully written, this dramatic romance will appeal to fans of Sylvia Day.

Candlemoth Book 2: How to Spend It: A Holy City Romance 

getBook.at/Candlemoth2

TBR: http://bit.ly/Candlemoth2TBR

Lily is a bold, passionate free thinker from small town South Carolina. Fiercely self-reliant, the same strength that helped Lily survive a traumatic upbringing makes it difficult for her to trust anyone, especially Ry Calhoun. When Ry’s political obligations and Lily’s rising notoriety in Charleston threaten their relationship, Lily arrives into her most reckless act yet- and at incredible cost. 

The scorching second installment in the Holy City Romance series of steamy romance novels about a wild, fun-loving group of twenty-somethings in Charleston, South Carolina.

Candlemoth Book 3: A Twist of Fate: A Holy City Romance

getBook.at/Candlemoth3

TBR: http://bit.ly/Candlemoth3TBR

As Lily and Ry are reunited, the lovers are caught in a tragedy that changes their lives forever. Boldly sensual and deeply inspiring, this installment in the Candlemoth series will have you on the edge of your seat all the way to its soaring finish.

Q&A

What is your typical writing schedule?

I’m a cubicle bunny from 9 to 5, so I write from 5 to 8:45 am every morning and until 2pm on weekends.  Its easier to roll out of bed & start if you do it every day.  It becomes a habit, like closing your eyes to savor that first sip of hot coffee.  

“Habits at first are cobwebs, then cables”~ Spanish proverb.

Sometimes I’ll write during lunch too, but more often I just read instead.  Recently I picked up Exit to Eden by Anne Rice… I read that thing in a white heat.  She’s amazing.

What inspired you to write the Candlemoth series?  How long did the first book, from first thoughts to final polished copy, take you?

I’d been working on a Southern Gothic, Evening’s Land, and kept finding myself writing these really intense, steamy scenes.  So I ended up wandering off to do a little ‘research’ into what’s new in the romance genre (it turns out you actually can read Story of O and Anais Nin only so many times) and happened on Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series.  

Day’s erotic scenes are AMAZING.  I mean, you can’t read them on an airplane because you turn bright red and steam up all the air.  After reading Crossfire, I couldn’t resist trying to write a no-holds barred romance series of my own.  

To be honest, Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance wrote itself.  You meet extraordinary people in Charleston every day, and the city is as romantic and sultry as it gets.  Book One took me about two months from start to finish.  It took longer to get the nerve up to publish it!  

Without giving too much away, what’s your favorite part of Book One?

Oh, man.  The first time Lily really lets herself go with Ry, on his father’s kitchen counter...  

Readers have told me it reminded them of what it was like when they fell in love with their forever sweetheart, how powerful that first experience together was.  Also, its scorching hot.  It was crazy fun to write!

Ry Calhoun is so swoony!! Is he based upon anyone you know?  What traits do you like best and least about him?

Ry’s personality is based partly on my fiance, especially the goofy/sweet aspects of his personality.  My guy didn’t have the wacky childhood bed that I describe for Ry- I have no idea where that came from, I was as surprised as anybody when I wrote that- but he does share the same sense of humor.

For Ry’s looks, I used Ian Somerhalder from the Vampire Diaries.  Somerhalder has that whole cut, smug-sexy thing going on that I imagined for Ry.  You resist him at first, because he’s so damn cocky... but he’s also just meltingly sexy.  

“Then I met Ry Calhoun, and all my clothes flew off…” ~ Lily Inoue, Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance, Book 2

When Lily meets Ry, she’s torn because Ry stands for everything she’s never been able to have, and she assumes he must be the spoiled playboy everyone says he is.  Lily hates herself for being so drawn to him.  She figures she’ll just be another plaything; that even being drawn to Ry in the first place must indicate some kind of weakness in her.

But Ry has depths he doesn’t show most people.  He’s actually humble, and does so much behind the scenes to help other people however he can.  I love what a strong, brave human being he is, and I’m so proud of both his and Lily’s actions later in the series.  They grow so much together, and become these amazing people.  And of course, they have smoking hot chemistry.  They can’t keep their hands off each other.

One of the things I don’t like in Ry is that he’s such a good guy that Lily can seem like a bitch in comparison to him.  Even though she’s this gorgeous, fragile-looking beauty, Lily is fiercely independent, and a little selfish.  She kind of has this Scarlett O’Hara thing going on :)

What’s your research process like?

I’m a total magpie, I’m always gathering up bits for stories.  I take notes on my phone- phrases I like, cool street names, random thoughts, sensory experiences- and then email them to myself.  

Sometimes I can put them into a story right away, but I’ll also hoard them in separate docs for Names, Dialogue, Sensory Experiences, etc, and pull from them later.  I’m constantly drawing from my life for my work, and I think both are richer for it.

I also read voraciously, always with a pen in hand.  (Usually a green one from the art supply store down the street or a Pilot V-5.)  I read everything: genre lit, poetry, natural history, cereal boxes, The New Yorker, The New York Book Review, beer labels, the Sunday papers.  

Have you ever done something wacky for the sake of ‘research’?

I’m pretty open to experiences, so people might categorize a lot of my life as wacky!

I homeschooled myself through high school to see if I could; I lived in my Jeep out in the woods one summer, just to sort of drop out and experience being alive really deeply, out there in the quiet; I’ve sucked out pigeon brains in Vietnam and eaten the whole head of a pig, including the eyes and upper palate (hey, you asked); I worked as a phone sex operator girl to better understand what makes desire tick; I sold cable door to door to meet the people you wouldn’t ordinarily meet.  Going door to door you meet everybody under the sun.  You also realize pretty quickly that we’re all just one big kooky family.  It was absolutely awesome.  We actually made great money doing that, and then took a vacation couch surfing through Moldova and Ukraine.   One couple we met ended up taking us exploring into the limestone tunnels under Odessa: I mean we were stepping over broken oil lamps and reading hundred year old poetry on the walls.  We made dinners for so many new friends in their kitchens after shopping together in the outdoor markets…  

Experience itself is the best research.  I’ll try anything twice, and the good stuff way more often than that.  Basically, writing is just an excuse to have more fun.

Do you read much?  Who are your favorite authors, and what genres do you enjoy the most?

I love to read, and make time to read every day.  If I’m really busy, it’ll be some poetry, like anything by Ocean Vuong or Jack Gilbert; I also love short stories.  Hugh Howey’s Beacon 23 and These Heroic, Happy Dead by Luke Mogelson are fantastic.  Anne Rice, Sylvia Day, Denis Johnson, Thomas Pynchon and James Lee Burke are major favorites as far as full length fiction goes.  Generally I like stuff that’s stylized, a bit flashy and dark.  

How do you relax?

We throw a fair bit of boozey dinner parties!  I’m always taking long, ambling walks downtown, and exploring the nature preserves outside Charleston.  There’s so much history, so much lushness and decay here, I can’t ever get enough of it.  Its just a dreamy place to live.  I also love running and hitting the gym with friends: I turn into a neurotic mess if I don’t exercise.  My natural state is just a wee bit tightly wound, as you might guess from my main characters!

But my very favorite way to relax is on the porch with my feet up and a book in hand. I love recommendations, so find me on GoodReads and let me know who you think I should check out!    

What do the next six months hold for you?

I’ll be finishing Books 3 and 4 for the Candlemoth series and getting those rolled out as quickly as I can for readers, because I’ve got everyone perched on the edge of a helluva cliff right now.  

We’re also planning to do some traveling this winter, maybe to Japan.  I’ll write about that extensively and share the experience on my blog.  You can follow me at pauline-west.com.  I also post stories there for free too sometimes, so make sure to stay tuned.

Thanks again for having me, and very much for reading.  I hope you’re enjoying Ry & Lily’s love story as much as I am~ I’ll have more for you soon!

What’s the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to you?

I’ve had something like twenty foster parents.  I’ve partied with pop stars, fought off blackmailers and survived more than one attacker.  I have the kookiest, funniest, most amazing friends a girl could ask for, and I live in the most romantic city in the whole world.

But the day I met Ry Calhoun I felt something I’ve never felt in my life.

It happened fast.  I was serving cocktails at a wedding, and my tray got tipped, throwing me off balance.

The whole tray, filled with sparkling cocktails, went up in the air.  Suddenly this small, horrified knot of Charleston royalty is dripping vodka.  And I was still falling.  

“Oh…!”  

Shards of glass sparkled up from the perfectly manicured lawn: I was about to get a faceful of glass.  

I felt a large, warm hand at the small of my back, steadying me.  He caught my left arm, bringing me against him as the rest of the tray smashed down into the grass.  And I didn’t fall.  

I smashed into his chest instead.  

When I looked up, I saw a man so gorgeous my heart stopped like a dropped clock.  

He was tanned and chiseled, with full, sensuous lips that came as a surprise against his masculine jaw.  His eyebrows were thick and deliciously scruffy above big blue eyes.   

And he was laughing at me.

I jerked back, humiliated, still with the trace memory of the warmth of his chest on my hand.  My fingers had fitted so perfectly against his sculpted chest muscles; he was gorgeously cut under that dress shirt.  

Not that it was hard to see that now.  He was soaked in vodka, and his shirt was drenched tightly against his chest, outlining every erotic detail of his torso.  He was long, lean and ripped solid.  The mischievous look on his chiseled, sexy face was in delicious contrast to the ultra clean-cut image his Brooks Brothers outfit and short ash-blonde hair projected.

Oh my god… I was definitely fired.  You couldn’t just smash a bunch of glass over people’s heads and get away with it.  I dug my heels down into the grass.  

“Wait, wait, stop.  I can’t just disappear like this.”

The guy paused so suddenly I almost ran into him again.  He turned his heart-stopping gaze on me.  

“But you’re hurt,” he said.

For a moment both his warm hands fitted around my wrist.  His thumbs traced over my skin for the space of a heartbeat.  Could he feel how fast my heart was racing?  

Then one of his hands moved slowly up my arm, and I glanced down.

Sure enough, there was blood all over my arm.  Not only was I soaked with the spilled drinks, I had cuts on my arms too.  I hadn’t noticed until now, but they burned with the vodka.

I looked up, my eyes drifting to his.  I saw that sneaky grin of his again, tugging at the corner of his handsome mouth.  Why was he smiling at me like that?  I had the strangest impulse to kiss that smirk right off his face.   

But blood was spreading on his chest.  

“You’re hurt, too,” I said, stopping just short of touching him again.

He ran his hand carelessly through his hair, grinning at me.  “We make quite a team,” he said.

Then Beren, my best friend, appeared suddenly beside us, just as cool as a cucumber.  As if we weren’t walking through a black-tie wedding party drenched in blood and vodka!  Beren looked from one of us to the other, his smile reaching his eyes.  

“How can I help?” he said, making his voice richer and deeper than usual.

My would-be rescuer put a hand on Beren’s shoulder and nodded in the direction of the shattered grass on the lawn.  “Set up a drinks station on top of all that,” he said.  

The easy command in his voice made me tighten, and I couldn’t help turning my head to look at him.  The guy had an arrogant grace that was as arousing as it was maddening.  It drew something in me to him.  As if we were magnets.

“Yes, sir.”  Beren said, nodding.  He glanced at me.  “Babygirl, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m-”

“Yeah, I got her,” the handsome stranger said.  I glanced at him again, surprised.  The men looked at each other for a beat, evaluating one another.  

It was Beren who broke the stare.  “See you in a minute?” he said to me, a little protectively, glancing back over his shoulder as he hurried off.

I nodded.  

And there I was.  All alone with tall, dark and dangerously handsome.  “You should get back to the party,” I said.  “I’m fine, really.”

“I will,” the stranger said, easily, taking my hand again.  “But I can hardly leave you to fend for yourself like this, can I?  My grandmother would roll over in her grave if she thought I’d abandoned a lady in distress.”

I reddened.  “I’ve been fending for myself for quite a while now,” I said, trying to be nonchalant as we swung into the private entrance of the house.  A curtain of heavy, air-conditioned silence instantly drew over us.  I lowered my voice in spite of myself, taking in all the fancy antiques, the deep plush of the rugs.

Then I realized his hand still rested lightly at the small of my back.  Possessively.  Awareness of his touch burned through me like a torch.    

“Well, I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you looked like you could use a little help, pretty,” he said.  He got that playful look in his eyes again.  “You think vodka absorbs through the skin?  I feel a little buzzed.”

“That’s the adrenaline,” I said.

“My heart is beating pretty fast,” he said, grinning at me as he held open the door to the bathroom.  I slipped in and he stood in the doorway, still holding the door.  

Still watching me.

I was about to ask him his name when I caught sight of myself in the mirror.  

Even in the forgivingly rich dim of the elegant bathroom, I looked disheveled and flushed.  My long, shiny black hair had escaped from my once tidy bun into a frazzled mess, and my pale eyes looked bright and starstruck.  

Suddenly I realized what I looked like to him.  Like an anonymous peasant girl.  An easy roll in the hay.  

Well, if that’s what he thought, he was dead wrong.

“Well, thanks.  You should get back to the party now,” I said, snapping back to my senses.  I ducked my head and turned on the tap, rinsing my cuts clean.  Threads of blood ran over the sides of my arm and disappeared down the drain.  

Focus, Lily.

“You don’t like it when people help you, do you?” he said.

“Not particularly,” I said.

Then he was behind me, so close I could feel the heat of his body through my clothes.  He smelled like lemons and cedar, and something else I couldn’t name.  Something old, something powerful.  Sex.

I felt nerves all over my body sharpen and dance to the surface.  I went blurry with desire.

I wanted him away from me, now.  This was crazy!  

He was a complete stranger- and anybody could see we were impossibly different.  I mean, here I was, this loner foster kid who’d basically never been kissed, and there he is: rich, gorgeous, impossibly cut.

But I wanted him.  Specifically, I wanted him to fuck me.  Some secret, traitorous part of me wanted it, desperately needed it, and I couldn’t get the bad thoughts out of my head.  

What would it feel like to have him press against me?  His full length, the sensuous hardness of him.  And his gorgeously full, sullen mouth in the mirror- I could see it just above my shoulder- how would that taste?  

I ached for his body, his weight.  

The wanting went deep.  I wanted him inside me.  Every inch…

I flushed.  

I’d never had these kinds of thoughts before.  The masterpiece of my life was having learned how to glass myself inward, burying my heart so deep I didn’t even know where it was buried.

This guy was tripping off all my alarms and yet I couldn’t even begin to run away!  What the hell was wrong with me?

“Easy,” the maddening stranger said.  As if I were some wild horse.  

Gently, he took my hand in his again.  He was darkly tanned, every line of his body perfectly sculpted.  My familiar tea-colored skin, usually so dark next to the pale Southern Belles I’d grown up with, looked delicate beside his own.  

Somehow, that turned me on even more.  How different he was.  How sun-dark and rock-hard...

He turned down the faucet to a trickle, and ran his thumbnail up the edge of my cut.

“Ouch!” I cried, as he carefully lifted out a splinter of glass.  It hurt more coming out than it had coming in, and I felt a ribbon of fire sail briefly under my skin.  “I didn’t know that was still in there.”  

Behind us, the bathroom door fell closed with a heavy, expensive click like a limousine’s door.  He held the splinter of glass up between us so I could see it, his hips so close that if I swayed even slightly we would have touched.  I couldn’t help smiling up at him.  

“See, you need me after all,” he said.

I flipped my hair out of my face irritably.  “I don’t need anybody,” I said, rolling my eyes, moving away.  

“Wait,” he said, his hand near my waist.  He reached down to the cabinet beneath the sink.  “I think they’ve got bandages down here.”

“You must know these people pretty well,” I said, but he didn’t respond, busying himself with opening a silver-plated first aid kit.  It was neatly stocked with band-aids, hydrogen peroxide, bandaging tape, nail scissors, everything you could want.  

“Come here,” he said, without looking at me.  When I didn’t obey, he gave me that mischievous, smirky look again and tugged me close.  He bandaged my arm expertly, smoothing the fabric tape flat.  

“There.  Now you won’t bleed through your shirt.”  He grinned.  “Now, admit it.  You need me just a little bit.”

It didn’t help that he was impossibly cute.  And now we were standing toe to toe.  

“Maybe just a little,” I said.

“What, no kiss?” he said, still grinning down at me.   

The most interesting thing in my life turned out to be the simplest: falling in love with Ry Calhoun.

~Lily Inoue, from the Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance series,

Pauline West.

Excerpt from Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance, Book Two, by Pauline West:

“I’ll call the police,” I said, faintly.  

“I’ll fall,” Ry said.  The raft of confederate jasmine floating along the power line behind him shook in the wind, and my rooms filled with their sweetness.  

With a cry I surged forward, trying to prise the window up only to realize how short the ledge was.  Ry clung there by the pads of his fingers; his sneakers must have been wedged against the brick wall by determination alone.  Jamming the window up to let him inside might be enough to cost Ry his balance, but there was no way he could scramble back down, either.

He knew this.

“Please.” My voice was wet paper.  “Please don’t fall.”

“Lily,” Ry said.  

It was all he said.  Waiting.  

Trusting me.

Excerpt from Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance, Book Two, by Pauline West:

He kissed my forehead, stroking his fingers under my chin.  Tilting my face up so that I looked into his eyes.  “There’s not many things a hot bath won’t help.  And I do want to help, Lily.”

Wrapped tight in his arms, naked except for a pair of silky pajama shorts, I’d never have believed how much I’d come to love this man who’d been a stranger to me days ago.

“But you have to talk to me.”

Fate is a clock.  I knew this.  Just as I knew Ry and I had been rushing towards one another all our lives.  But what if now we were already rushing apart?

What if I was rushing us apart?

“Lily.”  He buried his face in my neck, letting his breath out in a rush.    

The small, white-tiled room filled with steam and Ry’s eyes darkened to indigo beneath those wonderfully scruffy eyebrows.  I don’t know how to fix this.  I knotted my fingers in his silky hair, bringing his face close.  If I lose you…

I’ll find you again, I wanted to say.  I will always find you again.

“I missed you,” I said.  

He fitted me against him.  I felt denim swell against silk.  Pressing my hand down his front, memorizing the carved swoop of his pectorals, the spike of nipple under my thumb.  Scraping the tender pink flesh with the edge of my nail, I watched Ry’s beloved face quicken...

Excerpt from Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance, Book Two, by Pauline West:

Ry grabbed my shoulders and then my hair, stroking it back from my face as he moved his hips, his cock purring in and out, slow as honey, my lips and tongue tracing his seams.  

My breasts swung over the cool tiled floor.  Steam trickled down my sides like sweat, mazing my nipples.  Water like his touch.

Ry’s bare feet curled with bliss.  I felt a surge of  tenderness for every part of him.  For his feet, his naked heart, his lovely mind.  For having had to hurt him and for sheer want of wanting to stay like this forever...

Excerpt from Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance, Book Two, by Pauline West:

Ry’s eyes licked over my body.  “Well, you look incredible.”

Oh right.  I was still wearing Wen’s dress.  It was skin tight and knee length, as white as the crescent moon in the sky.  I felt how the tight hem had inched up my thighs and resisted my sudden unglamourous impulse to tug it back down into place.  

I stood there looking at him.  My hips ached towards him instinctively, but the heartbreak on Ry’s face made me stay back.  

I couldn’t bring myself to hurt him any further.  Running into his arms just to pull away again.  It would only twist the wound.

So we both hung there like twin paper cut outs, locked in place.

“What are we doing, Ry?” I said, softly.    

“I think we’re scared.”  Ry tried to laugh, but his eyes were still.  His eyebrows drew together.  His voice so soft it seemed to drift down between us.  “I’m afraid if I touch you, you’ll shatter my heart.  Again.”  

Paper trash shivered in the grass.  

“I already used all the Krazy glue I had just to pull myself together enough to get here.  So I’m sorry, Lily, but I’m just a catshit right now.  You, I don’t know what you’re afraid of.”

“Chickenshit,” I tried to smile.  “You mean chickenshit.”

“Hey, listen, you asked me, so it’s me telling this story.”  Ry smiled meltingly.  

I took the tiniest half step closer to him, and it was like a tiny taking flight.  I hung in the air, fighting back the impulse to run into his arms.

“My mama raised me to fight for what I want.”  Ry’s voice was rough with emotion.  “So I’m here.  You’re what I want, Lily.  You’re all I want.  Whatever it is that’s so wrong about that, we can face it together...”