You'd think I'd realize by now that readers like to get a taste of the book and the writing before they buy. I'm an avid reader and I never buy a book without reading a little bit of it.
In order to better understand this excerpt, you should know that Max is an entomologist working late at the Natural History Museum. Sadie brought him some fried rice for dinner and is hoping for a little post Chinese food nookie…
As Max cleaned up his dinner mess, he noticed Sadie watching him, staring at him. Her eyes wandered all over his body, but they kept returning to his groin. His cock pulsed in his pants and he tried to ignore it, but she wouldn’t quit. In a few more moments, he’d have a full on erection.
“Don’t do that,” he finally said in desperation.
Sadie looked up. “Do what?”
“Stare at my crotch.”
“Why? As crotches go, it’s a nice one.” She gave him a slight smile. “And from what I can see, it’s getting even nicer.”
That did it.
“You know what? I’ve had enough,” he said, putting his pencil away and organizing his work. His tolerance had reached critical mass. She’d given off enough signals for him. He still had several bugs to label, and although it bothered him to leave that unfinished, his need for Sadie was more immediate.
Besides, the bugs were dead.
Sadie gathered her purse and keys. “Yeah,” she said. “It’s late and you can finish this on Monday.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
He stood up slowly and moved close, into her personal space. She didn’t back away, but looked up when he put a hand on her waist. “I’m tired of the flirting games.” Catching her gaze, he said, “If you have any objections to my kissing you, you’d better get them out now.”
Sadie’s arms crept up around his neck and she murmured, “No objections whatsoever.”
“Good.”
Her breath came out in a sigh as their mouths met. Her lips were soft and full and he couldn’t get enough. She tangled her hands in his hair and pressed herself against him as he deepened the kiss. Sexual energy vibrated from her body. He soaked it up like the desert does rain.
Pulling his mouth away, he tugged her elastic top down. “God, Max, yes,” she gasped, holding onto his shoulders. The sound of his name on her lips sent a wave of lust through him.
Her breasts came free and he wasted no time in capturing one with his mouth. The nipple was cool and sweet between his lips. As he sucked it, splaying his hand across her back to hold her still, she arched up and the peak hardened. He switched to the other breast which seemed to swell in his hand and teased it with his tongue.
The clatter of his pencil cup overturning brought him to his senses. He was at work, for shit’s sake. Yes, it was after hours, but Al could wander in at any minute. Surely Max had enough self-control to hold back until they got back to his house.
Reluctantly, he eased away from her. “We can’t do this here,” he said, pulling her top back up.
Sadie lifted her gaze to his and smiled, catlike. Her eyes were luminous, even in the unflattering fluorescent light. Without breaking eye contact, she started unbuckling his belt.
“Ah…Sadie, didn’t you hear me? We could get caught in flagrante delicto,” he said. “Again.”
Seemingly unperturbed, she shrugged, slipped her hand between them and rubbed his erection. Max gritted his teeth at how incredibly good that felt.
“But I think it’s kind of exciting, don’t you?”
“No.” He took a very difficult step back.
She sauntered over to his recently vacated chair and sat down. One corner of her mouth tilted as she said, “But we’re destined to do this.”
“We are?”
“Of course we are.” She rolled the chair over to him and then worked the hydraulic lever until her face was level with his groin. “That’s why we hooked up again. It’s Fate, and Fate is City Hall on a cosmic scale. It just doesn’t pay to fight it.”
He gave a strangled gasp as she opened his pants.
Because the hero (a veteran, oddly enough) of Once Upon A Kiss spends part of his life in a wheelchair, I thought it fitting to pay it forward a teensy bit. So when my novella, Once Upon A Kiss, came out, I pledged to put aside a portion of my royalties to go toward the Wheelchair Foundation. 
According to their website, the Wheelchair Foundation is a nonprofit organization leading an international effort to create awareness of the needs and abilities of people with physical disabilities, to promote the joy of giving, create global friendship, and to deliver a wheelchair to every child, teen and adult in the world who needs one, but cannot afford one. For these people, the Wheelchair Foundation delivers Hope, Mobility and Independence.
I'm happy to announce that Happily Ever After Reviews awarded three teacups to Fit To Be Tied. The reviewer, Dodie, had this to say...
The Romance Reviews gave Fit To Be Tied five stars and deemed it a Top Pick! Woot! Here's a snippet from the review: 
Here's a little snippet of what they said.
In the book I mention one particular species of tarantula, Haplopelma lividum--the Cobalt Blue. Although beautiful, they're particularly quick and vicious. Here's a great quality video showing a Cobalt Blue snatching up a cricket. The action is over fairly quick, but you can really see incredible detail on the spider. 
Kate Willoughby delivers an absolute delightful read!
The Season For Romance reviewed Once Upon a Kiss and I'm extremely happy with what they said. The reviewer, Karyn, called Joe, "one randy Rambo." That cracked me up.
There is something so damn sexy about a younger man.
Today, I want to know if you have a favorite on-screen kiss. One of my favorites is actually Lady and the Tramp--the spaghetti kiss.
Welcome to the countdown until Once Upon A Kiss comes out! I'm very excited about this because it's the third book in my Be-Wished series. The premise for the series is that three friends made wishes on "magical" woven bracelets while on vacation in Mexico. Little did they know that the Universal Wish Federation exists and that soon a fairy would make their wishes come true. It started with All In (Mariah's story), continued with A Wolf at Her Door (Paige's story), and now we have Livvy, the last of the three friends to get her wish granted. To start off the week, I thought I'd offer an excerpt from Chapter One of Once Upon A Kiss. I hope you enjoy it. 
Hopefully, you're well and truly hooked and will want to buy Once Upon A Kiss when it comes out next Wednesday, August 25. Until then, every comment made during this celebration week will be an entry in the contest to win your choice of any of my electronic books, either from Ellora's Cave or Liquid Silver Books. 
It was a fun little lark and I was pleased with how they turned out. :)
Livvy thought she lost her chance for a Happily Ever After when she dismissed the wish fairy who knocked on her door, so when a prime specimen of masculinity appears on her front lawn one stormy night, she can’t quite believe it. Like a prince in distress, he needs her kiss to bring him out of his enchanted sleep.
Since I finished my first round of edits on Once Upon A Kiss, I wrote a thousand words for a new "True" story. I'm finding that part of the fun of writing these shorts is that, because you must write in first person, I'm getting to try on all these different voices. "A Gigolo of My Own" was told by an older woman. "My Secret Sweetheart" was about a young , principled schoolteacher. This new story features a cynical young woman who falls in love with a stuntman. I have no idea how it's going to end other than it being happy. But then, I never do. That's half the fun, discovering the plot as I go.
I also sold a 5,500 word story to True Experience magazine. That's coming out in the fall. This is about an older woman who built a cupcake empire and the man who woos her.
Leap of Faith came out a while ago, but Heathermh of Night Owl Reviews recently reviewed it, saying it was, "A wonderful quick rainy day read."
Happy day. The new title of Joe and Livvy's book, the third in the Be-Wished series, is officially ONCE UPON A KISS.
I submitted a story to Liquid Silver Books' call for geek stories and they decided they want to publish it! WOOT again! I'm very excited and I can't wait to talk to the editor about it.
My editor liked the revisions. We're still hammering out the ending, but it looks like the third Be-Wished book is a go! WOOT!
I just found out that many of my books are available on the Kindle! How cool is that? It really makes me want one, a Kindle, that is. I have my Sony e-Reader, but Amazon makes it so darned easy to download books.
