Passionate Cooks! Feed Your Passion Here!

Passionate Cooks from All Romance Ebooks

I’m proud to participate in this FREE cookbook from ARE, All Romance Ebooks.

My recipe for Ridiculously Easy Bouillabaise is featured. I picked that recipe because the hero in one of my latest books, SPY GAME, prepares it for the heroine. Many if my books feature a man fixing food for a women–I think it shows that my heroes aren’t afraid to show their softer side. I also feel that food preparation can be a very loving act.

Here’s a little about the book:

Fledgling agent Ani Sharif has finally been assigned to her first undercover mission—to seduce software tycoon Richard Rexford, known as the fearsome T-Rex of Silicon Valley. He’s suspected of selling software secrets to the Chinese. Ani must succeed at her first assignment, but will handsome, clever Richard uncover her secrets and seize her heart?

And here’s an excerpt that sorta features the bouillabaise:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-spygame-863375-152.html

Ani swallowed, her mouth parched. She was definitely in over her head. Thinking that she could play games with Richard Rexford was crazy. She needed to get to his laptop computer and get out. She wasn’t sure how to do it, but hoped to figure that out before the end of the night. She had to minimize contact with Rexford. Another date would be insane.

She cleared her throat, which felt thick and dry. “I don’t want to like you too much.”

“You’re right.” He put the empty soup bowls onto a counter and crossed the galley to stand in front of her, mere inches away. “So why don’t we stop this right now?”

His heat radiated, igniting every cell in her body. The raw sexual tension between them, thicker than the stew she’d eaten, unnerved her. That dangerous flutter started again, but this time it made her tingle from head to toes.

She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t look away from his unfathomable blue eyes.

Taking her chin in his hand, he brushed her lips with his. He didn’t break eye contact, and neither did she. The intimacy created was unbearable, as though he’d reached inside her and caressed her soul with the gentlest of touches.

The brief kiss wasn’t nearly enough, but sharpened her appetite for him. She wanted more and took it, grabbing his shirt front and dragging bring him closer so she could flick her tongue over his lips, deliberately enticing him.

He pulled her into his arms, drawing her to his male heat. He dipped his head again to kiss her and this time, he didn’t hold back. He slid his tongue between her lips, making love to her mouth with an insistent rhythm. Desire pounded at her in waves, intense and powerful as a high tide. Her body throbbed with passionate hunger.

“It’s going to be very good between us, you know that?” he whispered into her ear.

“Mmmm, yeah.” Too good, maybe. She’d never experienced anything like Richard’s kiss. Hot and deep and all-encompassing, like a desert whirlwind, he threatened to sweep her away.

But she couldn’t let herself be swept away. She couldn’t take what he offered, no matter how much she wanted it. Linda might be able to have sex with a target without hesitation or regrets, but Ani didn’t think she was built the same way as was her sister.

Allowing caution to assert itself, Ani sighed and pulled away from him.

As if reading her mind, Richard said, “Look, I’m in no rush. I just had to know how you’d feel and, umm, taste.” He looked at the floor. A lock of blond hair fell across his forehead.

Ani wanted to stroke it, play with it … and with the rest of him. Every inch. Instead, she somehow managed to lift her brows. “Like really good fish soup, I bet.”

“Yeah, really good.”

“Even if you do say so yourself.”

They both laughed.

“But now that the first kiss is over, we can relax and enjoy the night, okay?” Richard picked up the desserts and carried them outside.

Enjoy the night. Ri-ight.

*****

Who I am:

Best-selling, award-winning novelist Sue Swift, a.k.a. Suz deMello, has written fifteen books plus several

Sue Swift/Suz deMello

short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.

Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.

A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.

Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.

https://www.amazon.com/author/sueswift

https://www.amazon.com/author/suzdemello

 

 

Snog by the Sea from Spy Game

The amazing Victoria Blisse has arranged a Blisse Kiss by the Sea  Summer Snog tour for us, so I’m calling this post the Snog by the Sea, presented especially in honour of the summer solstice.

Snog by the Sea 2012

This kiss is from Spy Game, forthcoming in digital format from Etopia Press. I don’t have the new cover yet, so you’ll have to make do with the cover from the hardcover version which was published by Five Star a few years ago.

In Spy Game, fledgling agent Ani Sharif has finally been assigned to her first undercover mission—to seduce software tycoon Richard Rexford, known as the fearsome T-Rex of Silicon Valley. He’s suspected of selling software secrets to the Chinese. Ani must succeed at her first assignment, but will handsome, clever Richard uncover her secrets and seize her heart?

And here’s your sexy seaside snog:

“Time for act two,” Richard said.

Ani dragged in a breath. “Act two? What’s that?”

He went to the closet and removed a paisley-printed robe. Patterned in red and blue, it looked like silk. After shrugging it on and belting it, he extracted something else.

Something long and silken.

Twisted silk cords, the kind she’d seen tying back heavy brocade curtains. These were a dark, metallic gray.

Like chains.

He turned. The cords dangled from his fingers. He smiled.

Her cheeky mood evaporated. Her heart thudded against her chest wall, a wild bird desperate to escape the cage. But she didn’t move.

“Come with me.”

She reached for her sweater.

“No,” he said. “Just as you are. Naked.”

“Outside? You’re kidding, right?” She searched his face.

He grinned. “Outside. Come along, now.”

Spy Game from Five Star. New version SOON from Etopia Press!

Remembering her agreement, she gulped and followed him topside. Out on deck, Ani discovered that Richard was right. No other boats were in sight. Land was a narrow brownish strip on the eastern horizon. The only sounds were waves slapping against the boat’s hull, the cries of seabirds, and his breaths, puffing warm against her nape.

Despite their isolation, she felt unbearably exposed, her naked vulnerability heightened. The spicy sea breeze stiffened her nipples and slid over the tender skin inside her thighs, caressing her body with cool, flowing fingers. But the sunshine had pooled and warmed the wooden decks, including…

Including a padded lounge chair, draped with quilts, set in the middle of the deck.

Richard sat on the lounge and reached for her.

She resisted. “You want to—”

“Yep.”

“Out…out here?” She gestured at the open ocean.

“You got it.” He pulled her onto his lap. His erection poked out of the slit in the robe, jabbing her in the thigh. He adjusted so it slipped between her legs. She sighed and shifted, wanting him against the sweetest spot.

“This is weird,” she said. “I feel as though someone could come along at any time.”

“True enough. That’s part of the fun of it. Anyone could come along at any time, but right now, it’s just you, me, and the sea gulls.”

Reaching around her, he looped one end of the cord around her wrist, then pulled it behind her back. He captured the other. He tugged the silken rope tight and tied her wrists together in some elaborate manner; a sailor’s knot, she supposed. He’d left plenty of rope, using it to loosely wrap her forearms together.

The position arched her back, causing her breasts to thrust out, exposed and available. He took their unspoken invitation, cupping them with skilled fingers. The heat from the sun melded with the warmth of his hands.

“I don’t want anyone seeing me like this.”

“I’m seeing you. Is that all right?”

“Ye-es.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“I’m not.”

“Too bad. You’re mine now. Ever since I saw you with that chain around your ankle I wanted you this way.” His whisper was husky, rough, sexy.

He nuzzled her neck, and she thought she’d come apart from want. She leaned against his silk-clad chest, trying to breathe.

Richard’s big palms covered her aching breasts and she moaned, wanting him with a desperation she didn’t understand. He left her breasts and grabbed fistfuls of her hair, drawing her head back so he could cover her mouth with nibbling kisses that heightened her craving for completion.

“Richard, oh, Richard, please, please…”

He laid a row of tiny bites along her jaw and down her neck. “What? Please, what?”

“You know what. Please.”

“Tell me what you want,” he growled into her throat.

“I can’t say it! You know I can’t.” Ani’s mind blanked.

“Say it.”

She gabbled something in Arabic.

“In English, sweetheart.” He feathered his lips along her neck, soothing where he’d savaged.

Sue Swift/Suz deMello

“Inside me. Please.” She squirmed on his lap, seeking his entry.

With a tug, he loosened the cords binding her; they fell away, dropping onto the deck. “Turn around, honey, and face me.”

Oh, no. She’d have to look into those laser-bright eyes, the ones that saw her secret desires. But she couldn’t refuse, could she?

He’d untied her bonds, so she wasn’t bound with anything but her word, and her love. 

Learn more about my books at my sites and at my Amazon pages,

https://www.amazon.com/author/sueswift

 https://www.amazon.com/author/suzdemello

Happy reading!

Happy Release Day!

Not one but TWO books are released today.

Available June 1 from Ellora’s Cave

Here’s the 4-1-1:

Re: Temptation in Tartan:

She had to marry a monster…

Rumors had followed the chieftains of Clan Kilborn for centuries. Said to be descended from the Viking Berserkers, they were ferocious in battle, known for tearing off the heads of their enemies and drinking their blood.

But English noblewoman Lydia Swann Williston would marry Kieran, Laird Kilborn, to bring peace to the Kilborn lands after the horror of Culloden and the brutal pacification. A widow, she also brought needed wealth to Clan Kilborn. For her part, eighteen-year-old Lydia wanted children. With her husband killed at Culloden, she would make a new life in the Highlands.

The old chieftain of Clan Kilborn also died in battle, and she hoped that the new young Laird would lack his ancestors’ ferocity.

She was wrong.

Buy the book at http://www.jasminejade.com/p-10121-temptation-in-tartan.aspx

Walk Like A Man

And there’s also Walk Like A Man:

Macho quarterback Jim Wellman meets his match in bright and sassy physical therapist Marti Solis, who goads him out of his wheelchair, pushing him to walk again. Unlike every other woman Jim has wanted, she refuses to jump into the sack with the celebrity athlete. Though attracted to his bedroom smile and rugged good looks, she’s intimidated by his fame and turned off by his arrogance.

Can Jim become the lover Marti needs? Can he learn to walk like a man?

Set in California’s beautiful Napa Valley, this multicultural romance delivers humor and pathos, sparkling dialogue, layered characters, a heroine to root for and a hero who’s pure fantasy.

 Buy the book at http://tinyurl.com/6mn6hr9

I hope you love my books!

Another taste of Sherry, Baby, romantic suspense from Sue Swift

Try it, you’ll like it

Of this romantic suspense story one top reviewer said, “fans will enjoy this fine, at-sea mystery.”

Here’s where you can get it:

http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Baby-ebook/dp/B007ZS6VIA/ref=sr_1_21?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336144949&sr=1-21

Here’s what it’s about:

The cruise from hell…

Gen X meets Agatha Christie on the high seas of the Bermuda Triangle when Sherry Case, gofer for the battling bigwigs in the family-owned firm Genesplice, arranges for a team-building cruise aboard the yacht Swashbuckler. The mismatched group of passengers feuds even before the yacht has left the harbor.

A rogue wave, faltering navigational instruments and a trio of sharks continue to challenge Sherry and her new lover, the yacht’s Captain Freeman. But Free and Sherry aren’t fazed until a passenger turns up dead in her locked cabin. The vicious murder throws the ship, its crew and passengers into panic. Who could the killer be? Suspects and motives abound.

Ordinary twenty-somethings thrown into an extraordinary situation, Sherry and Free must solve the mystery, defeat the myriad dangers of the triangle, and reach land before the villain can kill them.

And here’s a snippet:

Prologue

He turned the tap counterclockwise. After waiting a couple of minutes for the water to heat, he stepped into the oversized shower. He admired its custom glass-block construction and four shower heads, which rinsed the blood from his body quickly and efficiently.

He preferred to kill naked. Blood-soaked garments were a disposal problem and, if found, easily traceable evidence. Though he avoided ruining good clothes, getting blood out from under his fingernails was a bitch.

 

***I’m taking the Lucky 7 Challenge!***

This is the Lucky 7 challenge according to author Julia Kavan:

Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
Go to line 7
Post on your blog the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are – no cheating
Tag 7 other authors to do the same

Now, I don’t know why this is supposed to be lucky–the instructions didn’t come with those internet promises/threats like, “If you edo this in the next 7 minutes, a leprechaun will show up at your door with the proverbial pot of gold, but if you don’t, your hair will fall out, your face will sprout pustules and you’ll never get laid again.” But here goes:

***

When she’d seen the cave first, it had been strewn with garbage, old clothing, sea-wrack and the like. Now it was strewn with bodies.

Scattered bits—heads, arms and so forth—were tossed willy-nilly. Blood oozed, its stench mingling with the miasma of rotting seaweed. Bile rose in her throat and her body convulsed.

Dugald sprinted for the cave’s mouth. She heard the splash of water beneath his boots, heard the crash of waves. Turning her head away from him, she gulped in a deep breath of fresher air. Her muscles loosened as her body relaxed.

***

So what you think? Would you read this book? That’s the real question, hmm?

 

 

 

***The Saturday non-snog: Sherry, Baby

This is to celebrate the impending re-release of Sherry, Baby, previously published by Five Star as Triangle, where it sank without a trace as though it had been lost in the Bermuda Triangle, where the book is set. With a few revisions, it’s now ready for prime time.

In it, twenty-nothings Free and Sherry discover they can foil a killer, save a ship and fall in love.

BTW this isn’t yet edited so the final version may be different. And the cover you see here is the draft.

***

Sherry went to her quarters to brush her hair and her teeth, then donned a sweater against the cool October evening. By the time she went topside, full night had fallen. The only light illuminating the main deck of the Swashbuckler came from the salon; a smaller lamp in the wheelhouse enabled the pilot to guide the craft. Above her, a match flared, briefly illuminating someone seated on the deck that topped the wheelhouse.

“Come on up,” Free said.

She eyed the metal rungs soldered to the outside of the wheelhouse, deciding that they looked simple and sturdy enough for her to negotiate. She climbed up and found Free slouched on a built-in bench, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette. A beer was balanced on the railing next to him. He offered her the cigarette.

“What is it?” she asked.

“A spliff. Try it.”

She sucked on the end, pulling smoke into her mouth. She coughed. “What’s in it?” 

“Jamaican and tobacco.”

“Oh.” Taking a chance that the mixture wouldn’t sear her throat, she drew a hit deep into her lungs. She let the smoke out slowly, waiting for the marijuana to calm her. She hoped she wouldn’t get the munchies. She’d had a good diet day, though it had been tough. Chaz was a crazy culinary genius who could destroy her body singlehandedly.

Free knocked on the floor—which was, she realized, the ceiling of the bridge—and a hand holding another bottle of beer thrust out of one of the wheelhouse’s open windows. Simmons, she guessed, engaging in a routine familiar to both men. Free handed the beer to her and, in a surprisingly amicable silence, she and Free finished the smoke and sipped their beers.

Finally he spoke. “Quite a scene, down at dinner.” He tossed the roach over the side of the boat.

She watched the tiny red ash disappear into the roiling water flowing past the yacht. “Yes, they have their spats.”

“What does Blair Armstrong have on Dr. Rankin?”

“What do you mean?”

He hesitated. “When I went outside, she seemed to be threatening him with something. He almost went for her throat.”

“Nathan? Hmmm. That’s strange.”

“What do you think of Nona and Orlando?”

She laughed. “They’re perfect. I can’t believe we haven’t seen them satirized on Comedy Central.”

“So your Board of Directors thinks that Hippy and Dippy can teach Philip, Blair, and Nathan to make nice?”

They both laughed.

“And Blair seems to have brought her private agenda,” Sherry said. Nathan usually spent most of his time in his lab, using assistants to keep Blair at bay. Here, Blair could pressure him constantly about her fertility, which everyone at Genesplice knew was her fixation.

“Hell, everyone on this trip has a private agenda.”

Sherry rubbed her cheeks, hoping to hide her guilty flush from Free.

He asked, “So what’s your game? I noticed that you and the good Dr. Rankin seemed pretty chummy.”

She hated the way her face gave away everything she thought or felt. “He should be.”

“Have you slept with him yet?” Free’s tone was casual.

She glared at him. “You have no right to ask that question.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bundle. If anyone’s playing musical beds, the captain and crew need to know in case of emergencies.”

“Oh. Well, we have.”

He cocked a brow at her. “You don’t sound all head-over-heels to me. Is he good in the sack?”

She nearly fell off the bench. “That’s none of your business!”

“Okay, he’s lousy. So why do you bother?”

Whoa. After maybe fifteen seconds of analyzing her relationship with Nathan, Captain Freeman had nailed her to the wall, defining the issue in a nutshell. Nathan was as single-minded in pursuit of orgasms as he was in pursuit of his scientific goals, and after he got what he wanted in bed, he was done.

Regardless of whether or not Sherry had gotten what she wanted or needed.

Crap. She didn’t want to discuss this with Free, did she? Why would he care?

This was one of the strangest conversations Sherry had ever experienced, even while under the influence of multiple substances. But the pot had made her a little loose and chatty, so she said, “I care about Nathan, but—”

“He doesn’t ring your chimes.” Free’s voice was rough.

She blew out a breath. Tipping her head back, she regarded the stars. “He’s my best chance.”

“Your best chance at what?”

“To get out of the hole I’m in. My job stinks. I can’t do anything else. I need to get married, and fast.”

“You pregnant?”

“No.”

“So what’s your hurry? Pretty girl like you ought to be playing the field.”

Sherry wondered if Free meant playing with him. She said, “I’m nearly thirty. Washed up. Getting old. If I can’t find a secure situation soon, I’m toast.”

“Why don’t you get a better job? These jerk brains treat you like garbage. You know, there isn’t enough money in the world to make me put up with these people for any longer than this cruise. I don’t know how you do it.”

“I can’t get a better job.” Fury, shame, and sorrow made her spit out the words. “I barely crawled through high school.”

“I don’t believe that. You’re not stupid.”

“Yes, I am. I was diagnosed with a learning disability when I was nine. My mother told me that my face was my fortune, and I’d better marry well. Nathan’s my best chance.”

Free started to laugh, then guffaw. “I’ve never heard such a crock of shit in my entire life.”

“It’s true.” She heard the bitterness in her voice, but she didn’t care what Free thought.

“You want to be Nathan Rankin’s trophy wife? Come on. You can do more than type and screw.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve watched you. You handle a group of very difficult people with tact and aplomb.”

“Aplomb?” She turned that over in her mind.

“Yeah. Aplomb. What about the poofters?”

“Poofters?” Free’s change of subject momentarily startled Sherry. “Oh, Philip and his latest fling. Philip can be as mouthy as Blair, but he’s really a fangless snake. Slimy but harmless. Greg is just his meal du jour. Philip chews ‘em up and spits ‘em out on a regular basis. He’s quite a piece of work. He loves shallowly, hates deeply, and holds a grudge forever.”

Free leaned back and eyed her. “We’d best keep an eye on Philip, the crew and I.”

“Yeah, but don’t let him get the wrong idea.” Sherry shrugged. “Heck, for all I know, for you it could be the right idea.”

“What?”

Even in the starlight, she could see astonishment all over his face. She was seized by a fit of the giggles. The pot had definitely kicked in.

“I’ll have you know…” Free started. “Aw, what the hell,” he said, and jammed a hand into her hair, bringing her close. Their lips were no more than a hairsbreadth apart.

Sherry gasped.

He drew back. “No,” he said.

“N-no?” She searched her feelings, trying to figure out if she was disappointed or not.

“No.” He sounded firm. “You think men value you for your looks, and that you have nothing else to offer. I’m going to prove you wrong.”

Picking up his Red Stripe, he left the upper deck.

Guest Blogger Lois Winston on Storytelling

How Well Developed Are Your Storytelling Skills?
by Lois Winston

Without a good plot and well-developed characters, you don’t stand a chance of selling your manuscript, no matter how well you’ve honed your technical skills. You can have the most beautifully crafted sentences the publishing world has ever seen, but if your plot is mundane or your characters are cardboard, your chances of publication are nil.

 Plot is story, and story is about what happens in a book, specifically what happens to the characters who populate that book. Characterization is what drives the people who populate the story.

 Every scene in a book must do one of two things — either advance the story (plot) or tell the reader something essential that he or she needs to know about the characters (characterization) at that particular moment. If a scene does neither of these things, it’s filler and doesn’t belong in your book.

Plot and characterization go hand-in-hand. Even though some books are more plot driven and others more character driven, a good book needs both.

Both the plot and the main characters in a novel must feature growth of some sort. The story must have a beginning, middle, and resolution. That’s the plot arc.

When it comes to characters, a story that begins and ends with the main characters having the same attitudes and in the same place emotionally and psychologically (and sometimes even physically) is not a successful story. The main characters need to learn and grow from their experiences and the impact the other characters have had on them throughout the course of the story.

Another way to look at plot and characterization is to break them down in terms of the characters’ internal and external goals, motivations, and conflicts. Plot deals with the external GMC; characterization deals with the internal GMC. All characters in a novel, no matter the genre, must have both internal and external goals, motivation, and conflict. Without GMC you have melodrama, not drama.

 So ask yourself the following questions:

Who are the characters in your story?

What do they want?

Why do they want what they want?

What’s keeping them from getting what they want?

 

You must be able to answer these questions for all the major characters in your story, both the hero and heroine or protagonists, as well as any villains or antagonists. Once you break your story down in this way, you should be able to see if you’ve crafted a solid plot and characters that a reader will identify with on some level.

This doesn’t mean that all characters have to be likeable. If a character pushes a reader’s buttons, that’s a well-written character. You’ve successfully drawn the reader into the world you’ve created and made her have feelings about the character, even if it’s negative feelings.

If you can’t answer some of the above questions for some of the characters in your story, those are the areas of your manuscript that are weak and need work.

***

Here’s a little about Lois and and her books:

Death By Killer Mop Doll: 
Overdue bills and constant mother vs. mother-in-law battles at home are bad enough. But crafts editor Anastasia Pollack’s stress level is maxed out when she and her fellow American Woman editors get roped into unpaid gigs for a revamped morning TV show. Before the glue is dry on Anastasia’s mop dolls, morning TV turns crime drama when the studio is trashed and a member of the production team is murdered. Former co-hosts Vince and Monica—sleazy D-list celebrities—stand out among a lengthy lineup of suspects, all furious over the show’s new format. And Anastasia has no clue her snooping has landed her directly in the killer’s unforgiving spotlight.

 

Bio: Lois Winston is the author of the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries published by Midnight Ink. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist and has been nominated for a Readers Choice Award by the Salt Lake City Library System. The new year brings with it the release of Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series. Read an excerpt at http://www.loiswinston.com/excerptap2.html. Visit Lois at her website: http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. You can also follow Lois and Anastasia on Twitter @anasleuth.