Monday, July 27, 2009

There's more than one way to save a life....


My second Amber Heat book was released yesterday, How To Save A Life.


This story was a departure for me as I’ve never written a “suspense” type of romance before. The ideas for this story came from a number of places. I’d read a magazine article about two young women who’d gone to a bar together and one girl left with a man she met – who then murdered her. Her friend tried to turn something horrific into a positive by starting a campaign to educate women about the dangers of doing such a thing. Of course, we must torture our characters and I had to make Marli feel even worse, so I included an argument she had with her friend just before the friend left with Sheldon Barnes - who ended up killing her.

I also heard a news story about a man who killed his brother because he’d had an affair with his wife. Well, Trey doesn’t kill his brother but he definitely feels like it! And I tortured him and made his situation worse by…well, you’ll have to read the story to find out all the details! Then I had to tie the two stories together, which happened when Trey screwed up and…well, again, read the story!

Trey's big and bossy and overprotective, and he's got some baggage all right - and he doesn't realize Marli's not the one who needs saving.

If you think Trey’s a hot hero, you can vote for him at The Romance Studio. (Trey Nicholson)!


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Saturday, July 25, 2009

New Release - Until the End of Time

The sequel to Amber Allure’s Best Seller At Long Last...

Seven months into their relationship, Preston has yet to tell his parents he is gay and living with Scott. When they are invited to the wedding of Preston’s ex-wife, a wedding Preston’s parents will also attend, Scott hopes Preston will finally admit to their relationship. But Preston fears having the same strained relationship Scott has with his father, or worse, being disowned.
While Scott is beginning to believe Preston will always be ashamed of their love and will never come around to admitting the truth, Preston wonders if Scott will bolt if he doesn’t stick to Scott’s timetable.

Preston has a tough choice. Trust his parents with the truth or risk losing Scott forever...

Excerpt :


...“Hello, may I speak to Mom, please?”

Preston winced at the edge in Scott’s voice. Obviously Scott’s father had answered the phone. Scott still hadn’t forgiven the man for the way he acted just as he and Preston were getting together. He’d said he would eventually, but Preston wasn’t sure his lover would ever have anything but a tense, awkward relationship with his father.

“I’d prefer to speak with her,” Scott said from the other room. “When will she be back?” A heavy sigh. “Fine. Can you please tell her I’m going out of town for a few days and I’ll call her when I get back on Sunday?”

And therein was the biggest reason Preston didn’t want to tell his own parents about being gay and living with Scott. He feared their reaction. Sure, maybe he was a damn coward. But he’d grown up with loving parents. He had a great relationship with his dad and it would just about kill him if it became like Scott’s relationship with his dad.

In his head, Preston knew Scott and Kenneth Trask had never had the closeness he’d had with his dad, so he shouldn’t judge his own situation by their strained relationship. But his heart didn’t want to listen.

In his family no one had ever been gay or different in anyway. They hadn’t been happy when he and Marilyn divorced. No one in his family ended their marriage. He couldn’t even begin to fathom how they would react to him being gay and in love with another man. One thing he did know was that if he had to choose between his parents and Scott, he’d choose Scott. That didn’t mean the choice would be easy.

He came out of the bathroom and tossed the lube in his suitcase. It wouldn’t hurt to be prepared. Scott had hung up the phone. “Everything okay, honey?”

Scott blew out a breath and smiled. “Sure. No problem.”

He noticed Scott had already filled his own suitcase with shorts, shirts, and underwear. He didn’t see any pajamas so he figured maybe it was the right thing to bring lube after all.

He packed quickly, his gaze constantly going to Scott as he worked. He couldn’t keep his eyes off his lover. Never could, really. Scott’s gym shorts were baggy, but Preston knew the perfection of Scott’s round little ass. And damn it, it was distracting.

“What?” Scott asked, catching him looking.

Preston smiled. “Well, you’re really hot.”

Scott laughed. “Finish packing and you can do something about it.”

“Almost done now.” He tossed in a couple extra pairs of socks and underwear.

His lover zipped up his own suitcase and set it on the floor. “I’m going to take this out and put it by the front door. You got your suit in the garment bag?”

“Yeah.”

Scott also scooped that up and wheeled his bag out of the room.

Preston re-checked that he had everything and closed his suitcase. He set it on the side of the room, then pulled down the blanket and sheet on the bed.

Scott came back, already pulling his muscle T-shirt over his head. He dropped it at the foot of the bed.

Preston’s mouth twisted. “Babe, the hamper is right there.”

Scott’s grin was decidedly unrepentant and wicked. He shrugged and turned his back on Preston. He slowly lowered his shorts, like a striptease, exposing only the very top of his crease.
Preston swallowed. He tore off his own shirt, his gaze never leaving that tight ass as Scott scooted the shorts down over the curve of his cheeks. “Shit, babe, you’re making me crazy.”

Scott grinned over his shoulder. “That’s the plan, Pres.”

Preston’s shirt fell from his hands to the floor. Now Scott had his shorts pushed all the way off his ass and he inched them toward his knees.

Preston decided his lover was going much too slowly and, with a growl, reached for Scott, who let out a squeal of surprise. He pulled the man against him, rubbing his still-short-covered straining erection along Scott’s ass.

Scott leaned back his head, resting it against Preston’s shoulder. He moaned low and it sounded so fucking sexy, Preston’s cock jumped.

“Fuck.” He groaned and pushed Scott toward the bed. “Get on the mattress—now...”

Monday, July 20, 2009

Basking in the Glow

I’m ecstatic to share a new review Coffee Time Romance & More posted for CZECH MATE . Below is a snippet, but you can read the complete review HERE.

CZECH MATE
Sloane Taylor
ISBN# 978-1-60272-522-5
Amber Heat
E-Book
$5.00
111 pages
Contemporary / Romantic Comedy
Rating: 4 Cups





Sensual heat does more than sizzle in Czech Mate. Once Lacey and Dragan get together, it is almost like an inferno. I could practically feel the sensation going through Lacey when she learns how compassionate and caring Dragan is. Realizing no one has ever been that considerate; her emotions leap, and made this reader share in her experience. Lacey and Petrovic are bold and sassy. Sloane Taylor creates an interesting story, with heat, that burns with every flip of the page. She instills sharp dialogue that keeps the story flowing at a great pace that is delightful.

Cherokee
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

To read more on CZECH MATE check out my website for the first chapter, delicious recipes and writing tips.

I'll be back next month. Until then...

Happy Writing!

Sloane Taylor
Sweet as Honey...Hotter than Hell
www.sloanetaylor.com

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Friday, July 17, 2009

FORBIDDEN LOVE - EXCERPT - EXPLICIT GAY

Available now at Amber Quill/Amber Allure

Sometimes a strong contrast in characters makes for a powerful story, and in this novella the kick ass macho man makes the contrast to the physician, a skilled and caring person, softer in his approach to life. Here the conflicts threatening love are internal, not physical.

THE STORY

Stan Gordon, M.D., is well aware of the unwritten code forbidding sexual liaisons between a physician and those in his charge, but when he provides intimate care for Brian Storm, a seriously injured police detective, he comes dangerously close to crossing the line. When he does, he’s shocked to find desire is forbidden, not by the code but by the emotional demons with which Brian wrestles.

Tortured while working undercover before they met, Brian knows police policy prevents him from sharing the full story with Stan, yet not revealing the trauma in order to heal his emotional scars threatens to destroy their new and deepening love. If Brian can’t overcome what’s been done to him, will Stan leave him to look for a more responsive man? And will Brian be able to resolve his secret fears that he’ll be unable to function as a cop again?

EXCERPT – WARNING – EXPLICIT GAY

It had been a bad day at work. A multi-car collision on the nearest freeway had filled every available paramedic ambulance and brought them to Stan's hospital. He and every surgeon on staff they could muster had been in surgery all day repairing damaged bodies. Now fatigue had soaked into his bones. Too tired even to remove his clothes and shower, all he'd managed to fix was a sandwich for supper, and he was holding half of it in one hand when the doorbell chimed.

"Hi," Brian said, his face solemn as he removed his hat.


"What a wonderful surprise, Officer Storm." He addressed him formally, tongue-in-cheek."I didn't expect you tonight. I just got home, and I haven't listened to my messages."

"Didn't leave one. Took a chance you'd be here." Brian stepped across the threshold and shut the door behind him. He removed his jacket and let it and his uniform hat fall to the floor. Taking Stan's sandwich out of his hand, he laid it on a nearby table before drawing him into his arms. He pressed Stan's face into his shoulder and rocked with him as if he never wanted to let him go.

Tired enough to drop, Stan rested in the strong arms that held him, in the feel of their bodies tight together from head to toe and the rhythmic movement of the two of them set by Brian. Suddenly, the fatigue of the day slipped away and all was right with the world because Brian--a Brian who must've conquered the images that had ruined sex and desire for him--was here, holding him. Stan kissed his neck and pulled back. "Hmm. You're skin's chilled despite that heavy jacket."

Brian's face showed determination as his mouth closed on Stan's. At first soft and searching as he kissed Stan's mouth at the corners, his tongue traced the line of his lips and upon reaching center, sought entrance. Stan opened so their tongues could intertwine to taste and seek out the warm moisture inside and draw them closer as lovers. The pressure of Brian's mouth increased, growing hotter and subtly demanding in an almost frantic way, as his fingers threaded through Stan's hair and loosened it out of the conservative way it was combed and into a mass of soft curls. Then his hands made a slow journey across his shoulders and down his back, following the long curve of Stan's spine until they slipped beneath slacks and briefs to cup his butt cheeks. One finger slid in to caress and play with the pucker between them.

Desire, hot and forbidden, flared in Stan's chest, then shot down through navel and belly to unleash in his groin, instantly causing him to fill until he was hard and ready, every nerve in his being primed for love. Breathless from the delicious sensations roaring through him, he held back and let his lover make love to him.

When the hands slid around from the back to the front to cup and stroke what waited there for Brian's touch, pleasure caused a soft moan to escape the doctor’s throat. When Brian unhooked Stan's trousers and slid his briefs and slacks down, he fought to stay upright and not give in to knees weakened by longing. When Brian knelt and took the length of him into his hot, tonguing mouth, Stan fought not to explode that instant, but to let the feelings crescendo to a mind-blowing eruption. Brian’ turn to be loved would come next.

He looked down on the kneeling figure and the dark head so dear to him, so intent on coaxing him to climax. . .and saw a flat trouser front with no tenting created by an aroused dick.

Through a throat so filled with desire and need he almost couldn't voice the most difficult words he’d ever had to utter, he begged, "Stop, Brian. . .

Available now in digital format at http://amberquill.com/AmberAllure/ForbiddenDesire.html

Carolina Valdez

Where I Live
My Space Is Here
Tweeting Here

Read Carolina’s Deadly Liaisons column at http://www.novelspot.net
To subscribe to her newsletter send a blank email to sweet_ecstasies-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Passion – Heat - Ecstasy

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

No One But You by KC Kendricks


No One But You
Contemporary m/m romance available at
Amber Allure


Lovers Stacy James and Levi Wright keep their relationship hot and spicy by enjoying the little things in life. Levi welcomes Stacy home from a business trip by delighting his partner with a quick trick in the men’s room of a local pool hall. An offhand comment by a stranger cools Stacy’s ardor, and sets in motion a chain reaction that rocks the very foundation of Levi’s world. He’s never cheated on Stacy, but Stacy has sudden doubts.

On his own, Levi is tested in his discoveries – about Stacy, their relationship, and about the kind of man he wants to be. One thing he knows for certain. He’s not losing Stacy over a careless whisper that isn’t true, but will the only man he’ll ever love forgive his angry words?

Stacy made the worst mistake of his life telling his lover to find another place to sleep. Levi might be younger, but he’s a man, with a man’s pride. Stacy draws on all his experience to walk a road full of detours and pitfalls to meet Levi halfway, and bring him home. Because for Stacy, there’s no one but Levi.


EXCERPT

“Can you just let go of your notion that I’m missing out on life? I don’t feel like I am.”

“Okay. But here’s the thing, Levi. I want…”

“Just stop. I love you.”

To my utter shock, Stacy grabbed both my wrists, his powerful grip tight enough to bruise. His gaze bored into mine, freezing me cold.

“You stop, Levi. You listen, just this once. You’re so afraid I’ll be pissed if I see you get a hard-on for some other guy, you run from me when I want to talk about it. Do you think that in five years I’ve never seen another man that gave me a little tingle? It happens to everyone, lover. It’s not something to be ashamed of.”

My voice didn’t want to work. “I’m not you.”

“No, you’re not. I’ve never cheated on you, Levi.” He looked at me for the longest moments of my life, his eyes gone black with some emotion I had no name for.

I knew. I knew.

"I heard what the bartender said the other night. You need to know that if it ever happens, and you trick some guy, you don’t need to keep it from me. I
expect you to first, be safe, and second, to tell me so we can be more careful.”

Ice water tossed in my face would not have chilled me more than his words.
"What the fuck is going on here, Stacy? I've never cheated on you. Never. And
I'm not starting now."

“Levi, we've been together a long time, and as a couple, we've enjoyed unprotected sex for quite a while now. Do I need to be concerned?"

A fine trembling seized my body. This conversation was out of control, the potential for disaster increasing by the second. My stomach clenched in on itself until I fought back the dry heaves. The world spiraled around me, going black at the edges. I broke free of his hands.

"I love you. I never cheat on you. And yet you sit there and ask me if it's possible I could have given you the clap - or something worse? Maybe I should be the one worrying! And you have to do it here? You motherfucker! I have to go in there and work!" I choked, unable to breathe. "I never…"

Stacy's arms came around me. I shoved him away, holding him at bay. The words came as I managed a deep breath. Horrible words that I couldn’t stop from pouring out of me in my anger and pain that he didn’t know me well enough to believe how much I loved him.

“Why don’t you go get a fucking blood test since you can’t trust me! Now you listen to me. You decide whether or not you love me enough to have me hang around, because if I’ve gotten a little old for you, you should tell me. I’ll step aside so you can go find yourself another sixteen year old!”

He drew back like I’d struck him, which I had. I’d lashed out, hitting him with the most damaging words I owned. He’d been falsely accused of having sex with a sixteen-year-old boy when he was twenty. The boy had lied – Stacy hadn’t touched him – but the accusation had almost ruined Stacy’s life. The pain lingered, and I, who loved him so much, knew the wound lingered in him, unhealed at its deepest point.

And I used it against him.


I reached for him and this time he batted my hands away.

“I’m sorry, Stace. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“You said it, so you did mean it. Now get out of the car. I can’t be with you right now.”

My stomach roiled. “Stacy, please. We need to go back home and talk this out.”
He refused to look at me. The cold rage in his voice didn’t completely disguise the hurt.

“No, we don’t. Going home won’t fix this, Levi. I need some time alone. Do us both a favor and find someplace else to sleep.”

NO ONE BUT YOU
ISBN 978-1-60272-545-4
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/NoOneButYou.html


Also avaiable:
Seducing Light
Give Me One Night
Shining Victory
Passion's Victory
Surrendered Victory
A Taste of Victory

Coming soon:
Netting Neptune
Tango in the Night

KC Kendricks
website


Join KC's mailing/announcement list

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Monday, July 06, 2009

V: The V in Valor ... a new series by JM Snyder

Cover for V: The V in ValorV: The V in Valor
by J.M. Snyder

Buy your copy from Amber Allure Press!

BLURB:

The V in Valor is the first in a series of five stories exploring different aspects of Vic's personality that are brought out by his superpowers.

When one of the landlady's cats gets loose, Matt broaches the subject of getting a pet. Vic doesn't want the added responsibility, but the discussion raises questions of long-term commitment that neither man is ready to address just yet.

EXCERPT:

Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

After breakfast, Matt cleared away the plates while Vic fought a silent battle of wills with the cat, who stretched out across the open newspaper, making it impossible to turn the page. Vic tried anyway, covering the cat with the sheet of newsprint, but he hadn't begun to read the story on the other side when the cat began chewing at the paper. "Get off my table," Vic admonished, slapping the table near the cat's tail.

The cat stared at him, unperturbed, then resumed washing itself.

Matt laughed as he sidled up to Vic's chair. "Is the big, bad kitty cat bothering you?" he teased, easing an arm around Vic's shoulders in a half-hug.

"The big, bad kitty cat's going to find his furry ass dumped on the floor in a minute," Vic growled.

The cat ignored his threat and sat up a little to begin licking its belly. One graceful hind leg rose in the air, and the faint slurping sounds the cat made as it cleaned itself sounded gross. But when Vic made a move to pick up the cat, its muffled purr turned to a low growl that ended in a hiss seconds before Vic pulled his hands back.

With a look of resignation at his lover, Vic asked Matt, "See what you started?"

"Leave it alone," Matt said, tugging on Vic's robe. "We were heading back to bed, weren't we? Unless you have something else in mind. The shower, perhaps? Or hey, how about here?"

His hand rubbed down the front of Vic's chest to fist around the knotted tie that held his robe together. Deft fingers worked the fabric free, then delved beneath the flannel panels to tickle over Vic's muscled belly. Vic sat back in the chair as Matt's hand danced across his stomach and chest, tweaking one nipple when his finger caught on the hoop pierced through it. Leaning against his lover, Vic wrapped an arm around Matt's denim-clad thigh and his hand angled between Matt's legs pressed up against the seat of his ass. As Matt bent down to claim a kiss, Vic murmured, "You know it's watching us."

Matt snickered. "It's a cat. What, do you think it's going to tell Mrs. K everything it sees once she gets back?"

Vic didn't answer and Matt leaned into their kiss, pinning Vic back to the chair. His hand dipped down over the slight paunch at Vic's abdomen and below his smooth pubic mound to grasp at the semi-erect length between his legs. Vic's meaty cock jumped into Matt's hand, and his lover moaned into their kiss as Matt massaged his firm length. ::Here's fine,:: Vic admitted, sinking down in his seat and spreading his legs to allow Matt access to his most intimate spot.

But when Matt cupped his balls, Vic froze. Matt's mouth brushed against the side of his lover's face as Vic turned away. "What?"

A furrow creased Vic's brow. "Mrs. K."

With a bark of laughter, Matt stood and leaned back against the kitchen table, his hand still lost in the folds of Vic's robe. "Way to spoil the mood, Romeo. She's not exactly on my mind when we're getting it on. Is this about the cat? Because we can still go to the bedroom if you want."

Vic shook his head. Extracting Matt's hand from between his legs, he raised it to his lips and kissed his lover's knuckles. "No, I mean she's headed back. I just picked up on her thoughts as she turned onto the street."

Matt sighed. "Which means now I have to wait."

Buy your copy of the first book in this new series today!

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Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Today is My Birthday, But YOU Get the Present!

Just because I'm feeling generous, I am giving away one free copy of one of my Amber Quill Press (which includes the Amber Allure and Amber Heat) books to one lucky winner.

All you have to do is tell me, in the comment form below, which one you want and I will pick one winner at random tomorrrow, July 2.

Below are the covers of all of my titles that are now available. For more information on any of them, simply go to Amber Quill's excellent website.

Of course, if you want to give me a present, there's nothing stopping you. It is, after all, my birthday...and who knows if I'll be around for another one? And nothing makes an author happier than a purchase of one of his books by a reader.

So here's what I've got so far (with more in the works, to be sure!). Which one would you like? (Note: please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you in your comment.)