Romance Blog Hop

I'm very excited to participate in Romancing the Hop . The hop includes a wide range of writers and bloggers and lasts from August 31 to Sept 3, so you'll have plenty of time to visit all the different blogs.

Each blog will have a post about romance.
And...there will be prizes. Lots of prizes. Every time you leave a comment on one of the participating blogs (and include your email address in the body of the comment too) you'll be entered to win one of these three great prizes.  You can enter as many times as there are blogs to visit.
 

First Grand Prize: Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
Second Grand Prize: $130 Amazon or B&N gift card

Third Grand Prize: This Swag Pack

In addition, many of the blogs, including this one, will be giving away prizes too. I'll be selecting one commenter to receive a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card. Please include your email address in the comment. So, if you've been paying attention, that means that each comment you leave on this blog post will enter you in the grand prize drawing and also in my own drawing.

It's going to be an exciting, and romantic, weekend!

Whew. Now that we've gotten all of that out of the way, let's talk about romance.

When I was a child, my mother had a friend named Mabel who was a widow. When I was about ten, Mabel met a man and fell in love. The two of them, both in their early seventies, came to visit. They cuddled up on the couch like a couple of  lovebirds and looked so happy. When it was nearly time to leave, Mabel's fiance went out in the snow to start the car so his true love would be warm and cozy. 

I had never seen anything so romantic or chivalrous and I vowed that I when I met a man who did that, I'd marry him.

Fast forward several decades. I had met someone new and on our first date he took me to a New Year's Party. When it got late, we agreed to leave in about fifteen minutes. A couple minutes later I saw him digging through his coat pockets. I thought "I didn't say we needed to leave right away. What's he doing?"

He pulled the car keys from his coat pocket and head for the door. A jolt went throught me and I remembered the senior citizen lovebirds sitting on my parents' couch...and I remembered my promise to myself...Of course I kept that promise and we were married a few months later. And someday we'll be senior citizen lovebirds sitting on the couch too.

Why is this gesture so romantic? I think it's because women like to feel cared for and cherished...even if the way their man shows it is to warm their backside instead of their carseat.

Here's an excerpt from my new release, Underwear Probation, which I think shows the care a man should take of the woman he loves:

In the shiny finish of the desktop Daisy saw Reece’s reflection as he reared back for another swing---a wooden ruler in his hand. She’d be sure to throw that thing away the first chance she got.

She could not believe that he was making such a game out of this when just a few feet away, anyone, including her boss, could come to her door and see this little domestic scene playing out across her desk. She’d never work in this city again.

She stiffened her resolve knowing that the quickest way to end a spanking was to keep quiet and hold still.

Daisy’s fingers clung to the edge of the desk for support and Reece continued to redden her bottom. The flat wood of the ruler made concentrated stripes of heat across her butt. He moved rhythmically up and down one cheek and then the other. Daisy wriggled her toes in her shoes and bit her lip, but she didn’t cry out.

A couple more smacks to the tops of her thighs and he was finished. He covered her stinging backside with her skirt.

Silence filled the office but Daisy kept her face pressed to the desk.

“You can get up now.”

Daisy quickly stood and through sheer force of will, looked at Reece instead of the door.

“Come stand here.” Reece beckoned her with his outstretched hand. Knowing the penalty for disobedience, she complied.

 

     Reece positioned her in front of himself and pointed to the framed photograph on the wall perpendicular to the office door. Realization caused her jaw to drop. From this position, Reece could monitor traffic outside her office door as it was reflected in the glass of the photo. “You deserved to be punished for not trusting me and you should know that I would never want to cause you public embarrassment, especially not at work. I respect you too much.”

His words rasped in her ear and Daisy was sure she could hear disappointment in his voice.

He turned Daisy to face him but her eyes were downcast. “I’m sorry. I should have known you wouldn’t do anything like that.”

“How could you not trust me, Daisy? Haven’t I always done my best to protect you?”

Even though it had been a short spanking, Daisy’s butt burned. However, the pain disappeared and was replaced with shame over hurting her husband. Reece valued trust above all else in their relationship and she had fallen short.

Unsure of what to say, Daisy raised her eyes and looked to Reece for guidance. Disappointment washed over her and a tear trickled down her cheek.

Reece gathered her in his arms. “I know you’re sorry.” His hands stroked her hair. “But we’re in this together. You need to remember that we’re a team.” Daisy nodded her head and snuffled into her husband’s neck.

Underwear Probation, as well as my other books, is avaiable on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to leave a comment with your email address in it to be entered in the drawings.

Check out the other participating blogs.

Talking Romance

As you know from Monday's post, I'm participating in a romance blog hop this weekend (with prizes!) If you haven't read Monday's post, be sure you do to get all the details.

So, to get warmed up for all that romance this weekend, let's talk about romantic movies.

Here's the topic: what's your favorite romantic scene from a movie (or book)? And, what made it so romantic?

I'm going with The Sound of Music (stop groaning!) and my favorite scene is when Maria is dancing with the children on the patio during the big party and the Captain comes out and dances with her.

Why is this so romantic? First, Christopher Plummer. Very sexy as the Captain. He was so austere, but with a twinkle in his eye. Second, I love the formality of his putting on his gloves. And finally, dancing is just plain romantic. Slow dancing (even though I always try to lead) is the most romantic thing, I think. If you don't believe me, put on some music, grab your sweetie, and take a couple slow spins around the room.

What about the rest of you? Is there something more current that can out-do The Sounds of Music for romance?

Make your case!

Ready, Set...Hop!

What is your favorite thing about Romance? Well, we authors are ready to share our romantic tips and favorite romance reads! Starting on Friday and ending on September 3, over 100 Authors and Bloggers will share their favorite things about romance, reading romance, and dating.

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 100 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that's not all....

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 100 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!

Yep. ALL of that! Whoot! Be sure to come back here on Friday and over the weekend to enjoy some stories and facts about our favorite Romance events and reads and enter to win!

Book Review--The Devil Made Me Do It by Amelia James

I loved Amelia James' book The Devil Made Me Do It.

I think my husband, who didn't read the book, is probably an even bigger fan (though he doesn't know it) because after reading these very romantic and erotic stories I was feeling romantic and playful myself. I guess we'd say he was an indirect beneficiary.

And...isn't that the goal of writing romance? To elicit feelings in the reader? I've read a couple of stories recently (which I won't be reviewing) where it was just a sex scene, as though I was peeking in someone's windows. I know some people like that, but I want to connect with the characters so that I feel something other than just titillated.

The Devil Made Me Do It is twelve short stories. According to Amazon, it's 104 pages currently selling for $1.99 so that makes it quite a bargain too. The stories range in length and can be read over time or you can do what I did and just go for it and read them all at once.

What I particularly liked about the stories overall is that they were about married couples who had loving and playful relationships and despite being married for several years or having children, they were hot for each other. Really hot.

Each story also had a fun twist at the end, which was clever and unexpected.

Ok...I'll admit it...there were several times when I thought "Damn, I wish I'd written that!"

Ms. James has several other books available and I'm looking forward to reading more of her work. I encourage you to do the same.

You can check out her blog, which is in my blog list, and other books here.

Chubby Girl Hot---Book Review

I follow author Michelle Fawkes on Twitter and was intrigued by the title of her book, Chubby Girl Hot. Since I've struggled with my weight my whole life, I was curious about a sexy heroine who is chubby.

This story was really fun and sexy. Katie, the heroine, is likeable and real. Because of her weight, Katie thinks she's not allowed to play in the A leagues of dating so she settles for a friends with benefits relationship with scrawny Freddie.

When Brad, a new and hot, guy turns up at work, Katie is smitten, but she assumes that she's not his type because of her size. The rest of the story follows Brad's efforts to get to know Katie and her struggle to believe that she might actually be able to attract a hot guy.

I enjoyed this book. For once, I could identify with a herione who had to struggle to get into (and out of...heehee) her jeans.

In addition to being a fun read, I think this book makes a good point about how society/movies/television/etc tell us that only thin and beautiful women are worthy of love and the chubby girls are relegated to secondary roles as the loyal and funny sidekick. The sad part is that many of us who are not model thin believe this about ourselves too and sell ourselves short.

I say, it's time for all of us chubby girls to go out and get ourselves some good lovin' just like Katie.

A second book, Chubby Girl's Vacation, about Katie and Brad is also out...I can't wait to see what happens next.