Sunday, January 26, 2014

Stories behind the stories #RomFantasy

Stories about the stories… I thought some of you might like to know the stories behind the stories. I get asked a lot about inspiration, etc., so I thought it might be kind of interesting to talk a little about how the last releases came into being.


 BUY IT HERE
First, let’s start with the Ellora’s Cave title, RECKLESS ASSIGNATION. This began a number of years back, when I was writing fan fiction, actually. I was intrigued with the idea of writing a very over the top but FUN story in which the trappings of Halloween played a key role. Describing the atmosphere at the old hotel, and all the elaborate décor the hero installed to add some mystique to the sensual trap he was setting was a total blast. I think for the most part, reviewers got that was the whole point, though a few were quick to point out it was cheesy and overdone. Whatever, if you can’t extend your imagination to understand that it was integral to the whole play, who am I to explain it all out to you? As I said, most people loved the spooky touches. Back-tracking though, this story had begun as a fan fiction based on a popular espionage show, and it never really quite worked. But, as an original, it popped and came to life, and I was delighted when EC wanted to publish it! If you’d like to take a peek at an excerpt, check it out HERE!

BUY IT HERE
Next up is TRIAD OF POWER: FIRST QUEST, a fantasy with a slightly erotic tone. Most people who know me also know that fantasy is one of my big loves. I enjoy the world building, the magic, and the mythos that you can create within this format. All things are possible. Triad was once a story called Quest of Honour, but it never really felt finished. It was published for a time under the name Royal Consort, and while it had been reworked a little, it was still lacking something special. (At this point it had been contracted with a publishing house that actually shut down before it was ever released! I still have Fiona Jayde’s beautiful, original cover.) The publisher didn’t seem to have much interest in it, so it languished, and when one of my contracts with them expired, I requested termination of all five titles I had with them. None of them were selling, and it was not a relationship that was benefitting me or them. After reworking it more, I submitted it to Crimson Frost Books, and they accepted it with the request that we make it part one of three. So, it became the Triad of Power, and Second Quest – then Final Quest will be out in the coming year.

BUY IT HERE
TEXAS HEAT is next, and that’s one that came into being as a challenge I imposed on myself. Awesome author Delilah Devlin had put out a call for stories to be included in a collection called Cowboy Heat. I decided to give it a shot, but I’ve never written a contemporary cowboy before. My cowboys have always been in Historical settings, inspired by a lifetime love affair with the Old West, and in fact, old Western television shows. Delilah passed on the story, which features a modern day wrangler who is also a vet suffering with PTSD. It’s hotter than many of stories, and has the potential to be a much longer story someday if I ever find the time to revisit and expand on the relationship that begins here. I might even write another contemporary cowboy someday… it was more fun than I thought it would be. New Dawning Book Fair’s awesome editor helped me give it real kick, and so far everyone who’s spoken to me about it, loves it!

BUY IT HERE
Finally, A WHISPER OF HUMANITY has been rereleased by new publishing house, Evolutionary Publishing. This is one of those poor little books that’s been kicked around like a red-headed step-kid, as a friend of mine used to like to say. It was first written as a fan fiction, had its roots in a little vampire show called Forever Knight, and some of you might even remember that one. I revised, rewrote, expanded, and polished it up to make it shiny and new… then came the search for a home for it. Forbidden Publications had it first, they shut their doors shortly after it was published. So, a few months after it was released back to me, I brought it to XoXo Publishing at the suggestion of a friend. Since XoXo has closed its doors, it was once again free and clear… it’s been well received and reviewed, even if sales were rather dire. So, now it’s with Evolutionary, and I hope this is the last stop for it–and that it reaches an audience at last.


Visit my Website


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

HUNTED by Ruby Fielding @PollyJAdams #RomFantasy

Guest Interview:

  1. Has writing been something you always did, or was it a discovered talent that came to you at a later point?


I’ve always written, and I think I’ve always wanted to be a writer of some kind. At school I wrote stories that featured my friends and made fun of the teachers – it was how I tried to be cool. Someone really should have told me there were easier ways to be cool. At university I worked on my college newspaper, and I went into journalism and advertising copywriting. I still do bits and pieces of all kinds of writing, but on my own terms: I have the luxury of variety and being able to pick and choose and somehow being able to get by.


  1. Do you remember how it felt when you were offered that first contract? What emotions stand out in your memory?

Getting a contract from a trad publisher can be an incredibly long and drawn-out process! The first hint was when a fellow author heard from a contact at the publishing company that they were interested and that I should expect to hear from them. Several weeks later I received a letter asking me to call them (this was before everything was done online). They made an offer, invited me to London for lunch and got me hopelessly drunk (publishers have way more alcohol resistance than most young up-and-coming authors) and it started to sink in that it was really happening for me. And several weeks later, after I’d taken on a literary agent to negotiate the details for me, I actually got my hands on my first book contract. So my memory is of a very slow process, punctuated by ohmygod moments when I realized it really was happening.


  1. Is this a first book, part of a series, or the latest in a long line of many?

Hunted: a Shifters' World novella started off as a short story (published as Lone Wolf). The setting and the characters took a powerful hold on my imagination and by late last year I’d written three more stories in the series. Rather than just collect the four stories together, I decided to rewrite them into a single narrative, which became Hunted. It was important for me to do this extra work, as it gave me the opportunity to tighten the writing and expand on some parts, and to remove the inevitable repetition you need as each separate story reintroduces the world and characters. While Hunted is a complete story in its own right, there will definitely be more: I want to continue the story of my three main characters, but also I’ll be setting other stories in Shifters’ World - it’s a setting rich with so many possible stories.


  1. What is the oddest thing that’s happened to you since you chose to become a professional writer? Will it ever make it into a book, or is that a secret?

Much of my work involves ghostwriting: writing books (usually ‘autobiographies’) that will appear as ‘by’ some kind of celebrity or other notable figure. These are all covered by non-disclosure agreements, so I can’t reveal the strange encounters, requests, demands and anecdotes I encounter, but this kind of work-for-hire is full of them! I’m scrupulous about these NDAs, too, which can lead to complications. I need to make sure I don’t take inspiration from my ghostwriting and let it seep into my other work. Also, most of my friends and family know I write, but because of the confidentiality they don’t know what I write. I’m sure they all think I write that Fifty Shades stuff ;)


  1. Do you have your next book underway, or other titles in the planning stages?

I do. There’s an ‘autobiography’ on the go, and in my fiction-writing I’m part way through a New Adult romance thriller under a different name; I haven’t started on the next Shifters’ World story, but I’m busy scribbling down notes at every opportunity and can’t wait to get under way!


  1. Do you have a favourite genre and why? Is it one you write in, read in, or both?

One of the real joys of the current stage of my writing career is that I can write in multiple genres, reflecting my magpie-like reading tastes. I’ve always been drawn to stories with a bit of other to them: paranormal, fantasy, suspense stories where there’s more than just a will-she won’t-she at stake.


  1. What, to you, is the most exciting part of the writing process? Does it change from book to book or remain the same?

I actually enjoy all stages. There’s a real buzz when I’m just jotting down ideas, as I am now for the next Shifters’ World novella. I love the way ideas and insights can come at any time, and then the process of writing them down sparks more. I love being in the thick of a first draft when the characters are really coming alive and the plot is thickening and I’m wondering how I’m ever going to pull it all together. And then there’s the complete change of discipline in rewriting, when you’re really crafting and refining the raw words. Did I mention that I love writing?


  1. If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would you choose and why? What kind of book do you think would come from the collaboration?

Ooh... tough one! Can I choose Chris O’Dowd? I’ve no idea if he can write or not, but Hell, I’ll take care of the writing: he can concentrate on that quirky, cute Irish thing that he does so well and we can take long lunch-breaks, and... A girl can dream.


  1. Where can readers find you on the web?

All the latest news on my writing and publishing can be found on my website and on my Amazon author page; also, why not join my mailing list, or hook up with me on Facebook?


Ruby Fielding is a British author, currently living in the heart of a New England forest. She travels widely, and has lived in England, Scotland, the US, France, India and Australia. Wherever she happens to be living, you're likely to find her at the nearest wifi hot spot with her laptop and a large mug of coffee.

She writes mainly paranormal erotica and romance, sometimes in collaboration with her old friend Polly J Adams; their joint stories are published separately and collected together into the single volume, Seduced by Moonlight.


Ruby’s new shifter novella, Hunted, was published by James Grieve Press on 16th January:

Should she struggle to survive alone or give in to desire and risk the - perhaps deadly - company of others?

In a world where plague has swept civilization away like leaves in a storm, where viruses that cause people to shift and change have altered what it is, for most, to be human, a few survivors hold out in a desperate attempt to save the human race. Selene lives alone in the forest, protecting herself from human and shifter alike until one day a stranger turns up: a young man called Skinner, out on a quest to hunt down and destroy any shifter he can find. Torn between desire and fear, Selene must confront her true nature and make some impossible choices if she is to survive this harsh, post-apocalyptic future.

Hunted: a Shifters' World novella - a shapeshifter erotic romance of survival and desire in a deadly future from the co-author of Seduced by Moonlight and The Touch.

"He put a hand to her face then, his knuckles brushing along her jaw and then he buried his fingers in her hair, tipping her head back. His mouth came down on her neck: hard lips and then the wet heat of his tongue and the delicious pain of raking teeth, dragging across her skin to that point where too hard is exactly hard enough."

Hunted: a Shifters' World novella is currently available from:

Friday, January 17, 2014

A Whisper of Humanity returns... @DenyseBridger #RomFantasy

Recently, several of my books have come back to me, and I've decided to place them all with a new publishing house called Evolutionary Publishing. I think this new company shows lots of promise and they have just re-issued my vampire mystery/romance A Whisper of Humanity at the SALE price of $0.99 - so drop over to Smashwords or Amazon and get it in whatever format your reader likes!


A Whisper Of Humanity

The atmosphere of The Tomb was close and thick when Faith Fitzpatrick finally made her way into the heart of the nightclub. She couldn’t suppress the whisper of ice that persisted near the base of her spine, a wordless warning that she’d been unable to find a reason for throughout the long evening. Maybe she was just tired, nothing more mysterious than that. It had been an exceedingly long day, one that had quickly led into an evening that had been longer still. When she’d asked Adrian’s partner to suggest a place where she could enjoy a drink before heading back to her hotel, Donald Schiller had told her about this club.

It wasn’t exactly The Loft, she thought, and smiled as she envisioned her favorite nightclub near Los Angeles. She shook off the opposing imagery and directed her attention to her immediate surroundings. The smile lingered as her look wandered openly over the chandeliers, the waterfalls of chains, and the gleaming columns that decorated the club. There was something darkly exotic about this place. And the people in it, she added mentally as her gaze strayed without conscious direction.

She glanced at the myriad of bizarrely dressed people mingling within the spacious room, and felt another shudder when one of the young men at the bar smiled at her. If the expression was meant as an invitation of any kind, Faith wasn’t eager to accept the company. She pulled her lightweight cotton jacket closer, cursing her own stupidity for wearing the sleeveless wool top that was completely inadequate to combat Montreal’s late autumn chill. The jacket was black, the full, flowing skirt was a deep shade of teal, and the billowing material draped her legs to only a few inches above floor length. Her high-heeled boots matched the creamy color of her sweater and the small shoulder bag she carried.

At thirty, Faith quite often looked barely twenty without her makeup, and that vanity was more a necessity to keep her age from being obscured than a ritual she enjoyed. She had dark brown hair that fell in soft waves around her shoulders, and equally dark eyes. She was tall and athletically built, not beautiful, but attractive in an aloof fashion. She tended toward solitude, and it seemed to communicate itself to other people since she was reputed to be cold and unapproachable. Her co-workers usually gave her plenty of space once they’d been politely kept at arm’s length a few times.

“Can I help you?”

Faith turned at the softly accented enquiry, her smile automatic when she found herself eye to eye with a stunning, slender brunette. French, her mind noted as soon as the woman spoke again.

“We have a very strict age policy,” she informed the newcomer. “You don’t appear old enough for a place such as this.”

Faith was stunned into momentary silence. It had been a very long time since anyone had mistaken her age this totally. Firmly convinced the brunette couldn’t possibly be serious, Faith started to pass her. A firm hand on her cotton-covered arm halted her before she was able to take a single step.

“You haven’t answered me.”

“I thought you were joking.” When there was no visible change in the lovely woman’s expression, Faith sighed. She dug into her purse and produced the police shield that would not only prove her age, but her ability to take care of whatever she might encounter in a nightclub. Faith opened the leather case and held it out for inspection. The brunette took the case and read the information imprinted on the card.

“You wouldn’t require a birth certificate, as well, would you?” Faith wondered, a hint of ironic smile curving her full lips into a soft, faintly amused expression.

This time it was the French woman who smiled. She nodded a small apology, handed back the police shield, and linked her arm loosely through Faith’s.

“My name is Julia, I own The Tomb.”

“Faith Fitzpatrick,” she supplied. “But you know that already, don’t you, mademoiselle?” Faith added with a laugh.

“What brings you to my club, Faith?” Julia enquired, her dark head tilted to one side as she measured the other woman. Faith Fitzpatrick bore no resemblance to Julia’s mental image of police officers, and something about the woman intrigued the beautiful club owner. Perhaps it was the unmistakable aura of detachment that enveloped the woman.

Faith slid onto a stool as two were vacated the moment Julia approached the bar. The beautiful Frenchwoman ordered drinks, and Faith let her look roam. “You have a most interesting nightclub, Julia.”

Julia laughed quietly. “That is one way of putting it,” she agreed and slid a glittering crystal glass across the gleaming bar-top. Faith accepted the wine and lifted her glass in a cheerful toast.

* * *

Across the room, another figure watched the interaction with growing interest.


Would you like to know what happens next? Find the book here, for only 99 cents... and enjoy the passion that is waiting...





Thursday, January 09, 2014

Special Guest: ALEX CORD @CordOfficial @DenyseBridger

Many of you will remember with great fondness wonderful movies that starred a very talented actor by the name of ALEX CORD. Television audiences will remember him best as the enigmatic and tenacious Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, Codename: Archangel, from AIRWOLF. I asked Alex recently if he would consider doing an interview with me to introduce some new readers to yet another of his talents - Alex is an award winning author, and has three books out. Having read them all, I can tell you with complete honesty they are fascinating, compelling fiction that you will get lost in. Links to the books, and Mr. Cord's sites, are at the end of the post. Enjoy... I am beyond thrilled to share this with you!!


Interview – January 2014


If you were asked to define/describe your work to a potential new reader, what would you tell them about your book(s)?

Each of my books is as different one from the others as day is from night. Though the milieu, theme and premise in each is totally diverse, there is in all of them a passionate, pervasive, erotic love story. I am most interested in deeply felt and expressed human emotions and beliefs. One book is science fiction (as of the present time) about a man who wants to change the way the entire world thinks, another is about a modern day Texas cowboy in grief, whose entire life is changed by a wild horse and a young beautiful woman, another earlier book is about a love that never dies.

Do you have a genre that you are particularly comfortable writing? Do you stray from it, or stick mostly to the one genre?

I pay no attention to genre until the story is told and the genre emerges. I usually find that once the characters are fully alive, they dictate much of the story.

If you could write a book with any author, who would it be and why?

There are many but I think my first choice would be Shakespeare. Because  he is a genius. Then there is Steinbeck, Cormac McCarthy, Annie Proulx. I am inspired by all of them.

Creatively speaking, is there a “dream” goal that you hope to achieve through your writing?

I am humbled by the enormous talents of those I mentioned. I aspire to learn more, grow as a writer and engage people I don’t know with my thoughts and feelings.

Do you have a personal philosophy that you would like to share with readers?

Find the courage to dream dreams that most people would not even dare to consider. Do not listen to anyone who says, “You can’t.” If you can think it, you can feel it. If you can feel it, it can happen. Let go of anger. Nothing positive can come of anger. It’s like picking up a hot coal to throw at someone. Who gets burned? Above all LOVE! Find something or someone to love every hour of every day. All good things come from love.

Are you like most writers, working on the next book while we discuss the current one(s)? If so, what – if anything – would you like to tell us about the next book?

I am entertaining two ideas. I am a slow writer. I think I’m slow at everything. A lot of good people have been after me to write an autobiography or memoir. I’ve often told stories of things that have happened in my life that even I find hard to believe. I’m sure it would be fun and difficult to go there. I am also intrigued by the multitude of ways that men relate to women. Been thinking about a book on that. I’ve got some notes on that one and a title which I will not reveal yet.

I’ve read both your latest books, and an early one called Sandsong, Alex. You have a wonderful and engaging voice that draws your readers in and makes them care about the world you are creating. Have you drawn on the varied experiences in your life and careers, or do you prefer to world build almost entirely from your imagination?

Everything is from my life experiences. My life experiences are the result of my imagination.

Where can readers find you on the web?

Google. alexcord.net, alexcord.com, Amazon. I spend a lot of time on my Facebook page “Alex Cord- Author” and really love interacting with fans and friends from all over the world. Social media has really opened up a whole new world for me—I have a mailing list, Twitter, a blog and all kinds of things.


On a personal note, I would like to thank you for taking time from what I know is a busy schedule, it’s a pleasure to have you here as my guest today. I’ve been a fan for a long time, and many people may not be aware of it, but you played a large role in my decision to pursue writing as a career. Thank you for that, and for being here today.

The BOOKS:

Publication Date: January 18, 2011


"I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Feather in the Rain. I felt a real affinity with the characters and hope to one day see this book as a motion picture." ~ Harrison Ford, actor

"Alex Cord novel is ablaze with passion" 

Alex Cord has starred in more than 30 movies and 300 television shows, often portraying men of grit and toughness. As a boy, he was stricken with polio and confined to a hospital. As a young man, he made a living as a professional bull rider on the rodeo circuit, once landing in a pile of broken bones that led to another lengthy stay in a hospital. Nothing, however, could prepare him to deal with the tragic loss of his son Damien Zachary. 

"I went into a major depression," explains Cord. "Nothing in my life seemed to have any value, any purpose." He says he pulled the covers over his head, both literally and figuratively, unable to deal with the heartache. "I came to understand the weight of the phrase, ...died of a broken heart." He dragged himself out of bed one day, determined to write down his memories of Zach. But what began as a cathartic writing exercise soon blossomed into full-blown novel, A Feather in the Rain. 

The story begins by telling of Jesse Burrell, a Texas rancher and horseman who had buried his son. Disconsolate, Jesse's love and lust for life went fallow. Determined to never again experience the heartache of loss, this trail-hardened cowboy chose a self-imposed lonely and celibate existence. With great effort, he managed to struggle through the motions of his life, running a ranch and occasionally winning awards in cutting horse competitions (although the ultimate dream of a Futurity championship eluded him.) That was how his life was, and that was how it seemed destined to remain. 

Then through a chance encounter, he meets a beautiful young woman, her own heart shattered by the death of her brother. They immediately see in each other a kindred spirit. Their explosive love affair will set readers' hearts ablaze with empathy and passion. 

"Of course, I know where the initial idea for the story came from," confesses Cord, "but a lot of it? Well, the story just took on a life of its own." Cord is a private man, not given to explaining where the line is that divides fiction from fact in his latest book. 

A Feather in the Rain is Cord's second novel. The first-Sandsong-was published by Warner Books and has been optioned for a feature film production. He has also written and sold three screenplays. 

Ernest Borgnine, Academy Award-winning actor, says of A Feather in the Rain, "Alex has written one of the finest love stories I’ve ever read."

Publication Date: December 12, 2013


Can one man change the way the entire world thinks? 

Johnny Grant is a world famous movie star with a passionate social conscience and a gift of clairvoyance. Intensely discontent with man's inhumanity to man, contemptuously critical of corruption in government, greed, selfishness, he's convinced the human race is headed for self-destruction. Depressed by an insistent awareness of his impotence to affect the changes he feels would improve life for all of us, he hungers for power. Ultimate power. 

Filming in Australia, he inexplicably vanishes without a trace. Instant news Worldwide. A turbulent, national manhunt ensues. Three days later he returns with an unbelievable explanation. Realizing the fantastic nature of his story, and lacking evidence, he refuses to be put in the position of convincing anyone. Is what he says true or not? Midst a media frenzy, his fame and influence explode in controversy. 

Will it bring him the power he craves?

Excerpt from Days of the Harbinger:

Saddleback Lodge was a woodsy upscale steakhouse nestled in a notch at the top of a mountain overlooking the Pacific. It was always crowded, often with celebrities. Johnny and Monk in a booth along the wall had beers and shots of tequila in front of them. A waiter placed a platter of sautéed mushrooms on the table. Johnny’s eyes blinked open and shut several times as if to clear an image. Johnny Grant was a movie star, Monk Hawksworth, his valued friend. With shoulder-length hair and beard untrimmed, steel rimmed spectacles perched on a hawk-like nose in front of piercing blue eyes. A quiet, mild mannered man of enormous intelligence tipped the tequila to his lips and said, “You seem distracted.”

“I guess I am.” Johnny divided the mushrooms. “These are so damn good.”

“So…?”

“I don’t know. Just stuff. Financial crap. Things I’m no good at.” He took a hefty swig from the shot glass. “I’m discontent, Monk. It looks like I’ve got it all…but I don’t, and the truth is I don’t know what’s missing.”

“Money?”

“Yeah…” He chuckled. “That too. But that’s not what I mean. I’m frustrated. I’m having fits of depression.”

“About what?”

He took a deep breath. “I know it sounds nuts and I damn sure wouldn’t tell it to anyone else…but…man’s inhumanity to man…it troubles me. I take things too personally. But I can’t help it. I feel so powerless. I see so many things that are unjust and I want to fix them. But…I don’t know how.”

“Maybe all we can do is be as good as we can every minute of every day in our own lives. That’s difficult enough.” The waiter arrived with steaks.

Among the BMWs and Mercedes glowing dimly in the unlit parking lot, a red Ferrari Berlinetta GT coupe gleamed in the starlight. Johnny and Monk made their way to the car. Fitted themselves into the snug cockpit. Twelve cylinders roared to life. Johnny smiled and said, “That sound made me buy this car. It still gives me a twinge.”

It had little meaning for Monk as long as it got him from point A to B. But he smiled in polite acknowledgment. Johnny eased out of the lot onto the darkened road. With the skill of a pro he wound his way down through the canyon to the residential area below. Near midnight, there was no traffic. Monk was aware of tense alertness as Johnny scanned his mirrors repeatedly. From nowhere, close behind them, bright headlights appeared. “Here it comes,” Johnny said. “We’ve got trouble, Monk. Sit tight. Do not get out of the car.” The headlights swerved sharply left and shot forward. The car passed fast, cut right in front and forced the Ferrari to the curb. The driver door of the sedan flew open. A big dark figure came rapidly toward them as a smaller man emerged from the passenger side and moved toward Monk. The big man pulled open the Ferrari door and jammed a semi-automatic .45 against Johnny’s left temple. “Get the fuck out,” he snarled, sweating.

“Okay, okay, my friend can’t get out without help. His crutches are behind the seat. I’ll give you my money, my wallet, my watch, but this whole deal might be more trouble than it’s worth.” Johnny was struggling with the seat belt.

“Get the fuck out. I’ll blow your head off.” The guy, not prepared for this complication, rushed blindly ahead.

“Okay, okay…” said Johnny working to extricate himself from the cramped confines of the close-to-the-ground cockpit. The .45 pressed hard against his head as he got his feet under him and began to stand. He turned his head fast into the gun causing it to aim past his ear as his right hand came up in a blurred arc bearing a sixteen inch steel baton with a weighted tip that found its target landing with a thwack against the big man’s temple. He crumpled, dropped to the street as if boneless. The gun clattered on pavement. The mound of flesh did not move. His accomplice shocked stood motionless. Johnny said, “Get in that car and drive away. NOW! GO! GO NOW!

He did.

Johnny got back behind the wheel of the Ferrari, steered around the heap in the street and drove away…at normal speed. No one had seen what had occurred.

Monk had ceased breathing. He was incapable of speech. All color had vanished. He stared blankly ahead. Johnny turned onto Malibu Canyon Road. Monk gasped and found his voice, an octave higher and only a whisper. “Did that really just happen?”

“I’m afraid it did.”

“Good God…it’s impossible…”

“It was real, Monk.”

“How did you? I’ve never seen anyone move so fast. None of it seemed real.”

“It was real, Monk.”

“What did you hit him with?”

Johnny was pushing the sections of steel back into itself, ending at six and a half inches. “It’s a telescoping baton.” He tucked it next to his seat on the right.

Monk glanced down at the place. “Where did it come from…so fast?”


“I had it up my sleeve when I got out.”


Where to find Alex:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Amazon Author Page  |  Twitter  |  Blog  | Website



Preditors and Editors 2013 Poll - I need your vote, please! @DenyseBridger #RomFantasy


Hey folks, this closes in just under 6 days now. Could you guys maybe vote here and keep me in first place, it would be very cool to win for a second year!? You will be asked to confirm your email address to finalize your vote, and you can only vote once from any email address. Thanks so much!!

Procedure is simple - vote, scroll down, fill in the spam filter author name you'll see, hit submit! You will receive an email to validate your votes, click on that link, and you're done. The site is sometimes slow with all the voting being done, so be patient, please.

Author - ME!! (*lol*)

While you're over there, if you'd like to vote for my awesome editor, Penny Barber, that would be wonderful, too!! These are the folks I'm plugging for winners...

Penny Barber

Cursed Awakening by Nikki Noffsinger

Naughty Nights Press

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, and for your support again this year! You are ALL wonderful, and much appreciated!!

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Sunday, January 05, 2014

Another Man's Wife @DenyseBridger #RomFantasy

ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE
Historical/Western (erotic)

Available from:


When the stagecoach carrying Federal Marshal Chris McQuade is the target of an attempted robbery, the handsome Marshal is left alone with a woman he's been attracted to from the start of the long journey from St. Louis to Wind River, WY. It isn't until they're forced to go on alone together that he realizes he's falling in love with the wife of the man he's been sent to bring to justice. Much to McQuade's surprise, Elizabeth Davis has fallen in love, too, and her husband is out for revenge after witnessing a much-too-intimate encounter between his enemy and his wife...

Read an exclusive excerpt:

The sun was sinking rapidly on the western peaks of the mountains and the color streaked the sky with a splendor unlike any she’d seen before. She stared, enchanted and enthralled by the fiery display that crested the snow-capped mountaintops. The orange-gold orb of heavenly fire gradually dipped behind the ridge of darkening mountains, its last searching fingers splaying over the tops, turning everything to purple tinted pink. Chris nudged his horse forward and she followed, caught between the glory atop the mountains and the magnificence of the man and horse moving ahead of her.

Less than an hour later they sat in front of a fire, coffee brewing and filling the night air with its enticing aroma. They shared some of the hard tack and jerked beef from Tom Caden’s saddlebags, and Elizabeth felt a rare moment of tranquility as she gazed upward at the glittering sky. The moon was making a slow climb into the center of the tapestry of black velvet that draped over them, its silvery crescent growing brighter and brighter.

“What exactly do you do, Chris?” She finally dared ask the question she’d been thinking about from the first time she’d glimpsed him back in St. Louis.

“I’m a Federal Marshal, ma’am,” he said after considering the query for several heartbeats of time. He eyed her closely for a few seconds, then posed his own question. “What’s your business in Wind River?”

She hesitated, and for perhaps the first time in her life, she was tempted to lie outright to someone she barely knew. Honesty won out, and she sighed heavily. “I’m supposed to be meeting my husband,” she admitted, and watched the warmth vanish from his eyes. What remained was a dark wall of polite civility.

“I didn’t realize you were married,” Chris commented, once the unexpectedness of her admission passed through his mind and left him feeling vaguely betrayed.

“I find it difficult to recall myself sometimes,” she said with hurt in her tone. “Mark and I married almost a year ago, but he headed west about two months later. I’ve only seen him twice in the past nine months.” Her eyes focused on the shadowy trees that surrounded them like sentinels. “I don’t even know why I thought I wanted to be married to him.”

“Mark Elias Davis is your husband?” Chris asked, a distinct twist of raw anger roiling in his gut as things coalesced in his mind. Davis was a common enough name, but until this moment, he’d never associated Elizabeth Davis with the man who was his present quarry.

She turned to look him squarely in the eye again, and wariness telegraphed from every fiber of her body.

“Yes.”

It was little more than an expulsion of air, the single word carried to him more as a breath than audible speech.

“How much do you love him, ma’am?”

She winced at the bone-chilling ice in his voice and the reaction woke a twinge of guilt inside him.

“Why?”

The word trembled between them and Chris stared at her, drinking in every aspect of her presence as a thirsting man revels in water.

“He’s the reason I’m here, Elizabeth.” He forced his tone to indifference that had no connection at all to what churned inside him. “He’s wanted back in Arizona.”

“Wanted,” Elizabeth repeated, irritated by the stupidity that she couldn’t seem to shake off. “For what?”

She was afraid of the answer. She was more afraid of not knowing. The lack of anguish she felt told her what her heart had known for many months, that whatever she’d felt for Mark Davis in the past had died there. Time and distance had cleared her head of the romantic notions he’d filled her with when they were engaged and full of dreams to chase.

Chris turned away from her and she reached out to touch his face, her palm gentle on his cheek as she made him meet her gaze again. “Please tell me, Chris.”

“He killed a deputy during a bank robbery in Phoenix about six weeks ago,” he told her, voice cautious, eyes watchful. He didn’t know enough about whatever bonds existed between the couple, despite her insinuation that she wasn’t in love with her husband. The bleak acceptance in her sigh when she closed her eyes assured him it wasn’t anger she felt at his words but utter sadness. Her hand fell away and he was startled by how acutely he felt the loss of her touch.

“And they sent you to track him.”

“I was bringing a man to St. Louis for trial and was getting ready to go home when the wire arrived.”

“I see.”

Chris watched her for several moments, saw the emotions racing across her features as vividly as if she spoke every thought she was having. Not one of the shifts of expression resembled shock or surprise, and that made him wonder how much she either knew, or suspected, of her husband’s activities since coming west.

“This don’t seem to surprise you much, ma’am.”

She twitched just the slightest bit at the sound of his voice, and he knew she’d completely forgotten his presence. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, shutting him out, probably without even realizing she was doing it.

“It doesn’t,” she eventually conceded. “Mark’s changed a great deal since we met a few years back. Especially since he came out here. The rare times we’ve seen each other, he’s been restless and irritable, like he’d rather be anywhere other than with me. I used to think he was just trying to find a way to tell me he’d met someone else.” She laughed, irony the only discernible emotion in the sound. “A year ago I wouldn’t have believed him capable of killing. Now…” She shrugged. “I don’t have the right to question you or judge him, because it simply doesn’t matter anymore.”

The last words caught him well and truly off-guard. “A woman has every right to question a man who tells her that the man she’s married to is a killer.”

“Only if she cares, Mr. McQuade. The last of my dreams were killed the day Mark gunned down that deputy, he just forgot to tell me about it.” She looked into the flickering fire flames reflecting from Chris’s dark eyes, one of the only traces of light in her world at that moment. “I’m sorry we didn’t have this conversation a lot sooner,” she remarked bitterly. “I would have known not to continue west, but to go back home.”

He didn’t reply, and she smiled weakly at him, then rose. “Goodnight, Chris.”

For a long time after she’d fallen asleep, Chris watched the fire and brooded. It was a pattern that would repeat itself over the next two nights, until they reached the foothills of the mountains.

A few past reviews:

"4 Stars!...An enjoyable and short western story. Even though it is predictable in its plot line, I completely enjoyed this book. Chris is extreme in his alpha attitude and so is Elizabeth as a strong independent woman. Together these two characters are well developed for a quick story and flow together well. The sex in this story is hot and passionate, with the love quickly developed and announced. The action is gut clenching and exciting! I definitely recommend this story to everyone, especially those who really enjoy historical westerns."—Vikky Bertling, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

"4 Stars!...An entertaining and sensual historical short story with a few surprises that is sure to delight many readers. Elizabeth is a truly appealing character. She's wary of Chris but also compelled by his presence. Although she's beautiful, she has refreshing qualities for a woman of her times in that she's strong, opinionated and doesn't mind letting people know. I enjoyed reading about a heroine who is voluptuous and curvaceous and feels confident. Chris is a Marshal to die for; he's handsome, tough, and prepared to do all in his power to save the woman he loves. His passionate and romantic nature is well hidden beneath the ruthless facade he projects until he meets Elizabeth. From the first both fight a strong attraction that's simmering between them only to realize they have never felt this way before. This burning desire between Elizabeth and Chris culminates in a very fiery explosion and these two lovers come together in a highly sensual moment, in one of the longest love scenes I've read. Elizabeth and Chris were meant for each other. It was great seeing their story unfold and develop."—Aggie, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

"This quick western will charm readers with the typical Wild West components: outlaws, marshals, and a feisty damsel in distress. But Denyse M. Bridger has written an anything but typical romance. Her vivid writing makes Another Man's Wife a delight to read and the love scenes make you wish you were the damsel in distress. I look forward to reading more from the engaging Denyse M. Bridger."—Tina Burns, The Road to Romance

"5 Angels!...A wonderful, very sensual romance. Although short, the story is fully developed and substantial. Chris and Elizabeth are both likable characters that the reader wants to see happy. The sexual chemistry between them is palpable. Ms. Bridger's has a talent for writing eloquent, extremely passionate love scenes. She gets the point across without being too explicit. She conveys the emotions beautifully, without graphic language. It?s hard to believe this is Ms. Bridger's first erotic romance. It's definitely an impressive start. I hope to see many more just like this one!"—Shelley, Fallen Angel Reviews

"5 Flames!...Ms. Bridger gives the reader a wonderfully vivid setting and fills it with well-rounded, believable characters. Elizabeth is brave and always ready to help out. Chris, strong and capable, accepts her help, which is pleasantly surprising. The love scenes are beautiful and very sensual, but not as graphic as those seen in other erotic romances. This excellent short story is a quick, satisfying read, and I highly recommend it."—Renee, Sizzling Romances

"4 Ribbons!...A great story you'll be sure to enjoy in one sitting. Denyse M. Bridger knows how to write an erotic and entertaining short story. If you like historical romance, then Another Man's Wife is for you. The characters are a big part of any story, and you will love the hero and heroine in this one. Chris is the kind of hot sexy hero that will leave you breathless, and Elizabeth is a wonderful heroine."—BJ Deese, Blue Ribbon Reviews


Available from: