Consent is Sexy by Cecilia Tan

Consent is Sexy: So is Pushing the Boundaries

by Cecilia Tan

I think consent is sexy. One of the things that turns me on the most, both in a lover in my real life and in the books I like to read and write, is communication between partners. Consent is about negotiating likes, wants, needs, and boundaries between lovers. Finding out how the key fits into the lock, the magic fit between the two main characters, is the key to any romance novel and I love to see how people get there. 

In BDSM, consent--and achieving clarity between partners about consent--is so important because the power dynamic that takes place in BDSM can appear one-sided. It's really important to express clearly what you want if you're the type of person--like me--who is turned on by being overwhelmed by my lover. The fantasy of a romance heroine being swept away, ravished, held down and pleasured (or held down and tormented) is a common one. BDSM makes it possible to experience that in real life with a willing play partner. So as the one getting ravished I have to be very clear to my partners what I want  them do to me for fun.

I think it's very important to be clear that our fantasies of being overwhelmed, of being "taken," of being ravished, even of being raped, are valid fantasies to have. They're valid fantasies to use as erotic fodder for the imagination and they're valid to enjoy in fiction, whether in erotica or romance.

That said, many people struggle with the idea that fantasies of being taken by an unstoppable male erotic force is okay. I grapple with this issue in THE INCUBUS AND THE ANGEL, the third book in my Magic University series. In the book, one of the subplots is that many of the female characters are being visited in their dreams by an "incubus," a demon lover who may be "only a dream" and yet leaves many of the women feeling deeply affected. Some feel violated, others yearn for an incubus-like lover to find them in real life, and every other reaction in between. I knew it would be a bit tricky to present male desire this way in a romance novel, but I felt it was important to recognize that not all women dream of being in a historical romance novel or even a 50-shades-style power relationship.

The whole incubus subplot for me was a way to contrast the unstoppable dream lover with the way our characters conduct themselves in real life. Sexual magic is our hero Kyle's strength, and when he agrees to have magical sex with a female friend to help her with her homework, he's scrupulous at negotiating what the boundaries and rules of their interaction will be. Of course, the boundaries begin to shift as he and Lindy's feelings for each other grow... But Kyle is also strongly attracted to a male student he has performed sex magic with, a student whose boundaries are zealously guarded. I can't tell you what happens without spoiling the book, but it's all part of exploring the theme of boundaries, and what can happen when those boundaries are crossed.

Because although consent is sexy, pushing the boundaries in fiction is, too. I like to play with that ravishment trope as much as many romance writers, I just come at it from a slightly different perspective.

The Incubus and the Angel: Magic University Book Three

by Cecilia Tan

Print ISBN 978-1-62601-121-2, Digital ISBN 978-1-62601-122-9

Paperback $16.99, ebook $6.99

Buy links:

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00UH11YBG

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/525958

iBooks: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781626011229

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-incubus-and-the-angel-cecilia-tan/1121413627?ean=2940046628289

All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-theincubusandtheangelmagicuniversitybookthree-1777748-341.html

Description:

The third volume in Cecilia Tan's LGBT new adult paranormal romance series.

Since his arrival as a freshman at Veritas, the hidden magical university inside Harvard, Kyle Wadsworth has been on a quest for true love. He's had his heart broken a few times along the way, though, and now halfway through his junior year he thinks he isn't ready to love again. He has grown obsessed with studying an ancient prophecy and is still haunted by past events, even in his dreams.

But Kyle isn't the only one suffering from haunted dreams. One of his good friends, an enchantment student named Lindy Carmichael, is having uncontrollably erotic dreams and difficulty with magic. Lindy, a sexually naive young woman who, like Kyle, did not grow up in the magical world, fears she is losing her power. Kyle can't do anything about the incubus haunting her nights, but power is one thing he can provide—through erotic magic. Lindy and Kyle start "dating," first for the sake of schoolwork, but they quickly become more serious about each other.

As their romance blossoms, Kyle discovers perhaps he can do something about the incubus after all. Is Kyle the hero prophesied in the ancient texts? Whether he is or not, there is one person whose help he must enlist. The one person who wants the least to do with him. The person Kyle sees in his dreams: his old Gladius House rival, Frost.

"Cecilia Tan brought me into her world of magic with a plot that intrigued me from the start. Power comes in many forms and I found myself enthralled with the erotic nights spent between Lindy and Kyle." --Siren Book Reviews

"The Incubus and the Angel is an entertaining read that has a similar magical world structure as the Harry Potter books, though these tales of magic definitely aren't for children. Kyle is a strong hero but with a touch of femininity which helps him relate to Lindy in ways an alpha male type couldn't. He's been hurt emotionally, but willing to keep searching for his soul mate. I like that resiliency about him."--You Gotta Read Reviews

"If you want a book about students practicing magic and sex, this is definitely the one for you."

--Erotica Readers Association

About the author:

Cecilia Tan is “simply one of the most important writers, editors, and innovators in contemporary American erotic literature,” according to Susie Bright. Her BDSM romance novel Slow Surrender (Hachette/Forever, 2013) won the RT Reviewers Choice Award in Erotic Romance and the Maggie Award for Excellence from the Georgia Romance Writers chapter of the Romance Writers of America.

Tan is the author of many books, including the ground-breaking erotic short story collections Black Feathers (HarperCollins), White Flames (Running Press), and Edge Plays (Circlet Press), and the erotic romances Slow Surrender, Slow Seduction, and Slow Satisfaction (Hachette/Forever), The Prince’s Boy (Circlet Press), The Hot Streak (Riverdale Avenue Books), and the Magic University series (Riverdale Avenue Books). Her short stories have appeared in Ms. Magazine, Nerve, Best American Erotica, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and tons of other places. She was inducted into the Saints & Sinners Hall of Fame for GLBT writers in 2010, was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Leather Association in 2004, and won the inaugural Rose & Bay Awards for Best Fiction in 2010 for her crowdfunded web fiction serial Daron’s Guitar Chronicles.

She lives in the Boston area with her lifelong partner corwin and three cats. Find out more at www.ceciliatan.com or follow her on Twitter at @ceciliatan. 

Help me get "Over the Hump" and win prizes!

I am stuck! I'm following 1,999 people on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/JanaRichards_) and I can't follow anymore until I get over 2,000 people to follow me. As well, I would love to get over 500 followers on my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/JanaRichardsAuthor).

Can I get some love?

To sweeten the pot, I'm giving away ecopies of five of my books/novellas, a $5 Amazon Gift Certificate and a $10 Amazon gift certificate. Here are the books I'm giving away. Click on the name to read a blurb and an excerpt:

First and Again

Flawless

The Girl Most Likely

Home Fires

Burning Love

If you already follow me on Twitter and Facebook, thank you! You can still enter the contest by tweeting a message or sharing my post on Facebook. The contest will close on April 11 at midnight and I will pick the winners from Rafflecopter and post the winners by April 13. Good luck!

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#MySexySaturday THERE GOES THE GROOM

This week's theme is A Long Time Sexy about characters who have loved each other for a long time. Such is the case with Olivia Taylor and Tony Dipietro in THERE GOES THE GROOM, Book Two in my Left at the Altar series. Eight years ago Tony left Olivia at the altar, but he never stopped loving her. Olivia has tried to move on with her life but her first love still haunts her. Here's 7 sexy sentences when Tony realizes he can't walk away from her again:

A powerful emotion welled in Tony’s chest, making his voice choke in his throat and his heart pound in his chest. He laid his hand on Olivia’s dark, silky hair and gently stroked.

“You’re wrong, Liv,” he said softly. “You’re the most lovable person I know.”

With those words a door opened in his heart, and for the first time in eight years he dared to look inside.

He knew with complete certainty that he loved her, that he’d never stopped loving her all these years.

His elation at finally acknowledging the truth was quickly tempered by the knowledge that Olivia was engaged to marry another man.

I hope you enjoyed my snippet! Hop on over to the blogs of other authors contributing to My Sexy Saturday this week!

Kim Iverson Headlee and DAWNFLIGHT

Kim Iverson Headlee is my guest today with her her book DAWNFLIGHT. Here's a blurb:

Gyan is a Caledonian chieftainess by birth, a warrior and leader of warriors by training, and she is betrothed to Urien, a son of her clan’s deadliest enemy, by right of Arthur the Pendragon’s conquest of her people. For the sake of peace, Gyan is willing to sacrifice everything...perhaps even her very life, if her foreboding about Urien proves true. 

Roman by his father, Brytoni by his mother, and denied hereditary rulership of his mother's clan because of his mixed blood, Arthur has followed his father's path to become Dux Britanniarum, the Pendragon: supreme commander of the northern Brytoni army. The Caledonians, Scots, Saxons, and Angles keep him too busy to dwell upon his loneliness...most of the time. 

When Gyan and Arthur meet, each recognize within the other their soul’s mate. The treaty has preserved Gyan’s ancient right to marry any man, providing he is a Brytoni nobleman—but Arthur does not qualify. And the ambitious Urien, Arthur’s greatest political rival, shall not be so easily denied. If Gyan and Arthur cannot prevent Urien from plunging the Caledonians and Brytons back into war, their love will be doomed to remain unfulfilled forever. 

But there is an even greater threat looming. The Laird of the Scots wants their land and will kill all who stand in his way. Gyan, Arthur, and Urien must unite to defeat this merciless enemy who threatens everyone they hold dear.





Kim is currently on a blog tour with DAWNFLIGHT. For a full list of stops, check out Kim's blog, The Maze of Twisty Passages.

Excerpt:

They circled for what felt like half an eon. He appeared to be inviting her to attack first. She noticed him favoring his left leg a wee bit, as though troubled by an old wound. Bearing full weight seemed to be a problem reflected not only in his gait but occasionally in his eyes too. A clever warrior might feign such a weakness to trick his opponent into doing something foolish.

There was only one way to find out.

She lunged toward that side. He parried the blow with ease and answered with a counterattack so forceful, it was all she could do to block the bone-jarring blows. Injury or no, the Pendragon knew his craft. And she was half dismayed yet half pleased to recognize that, unlike in her matches with Urien, Arthur was holding nothing back. As the ache in her arms and shoulders mounted, she knew she had to devise some other tactic, or this would become the shortest bout on record.

After parrying one of his lighter blows, she spun away to disengage, catch her breath, and collect her thoughts. Sword cocked, she resumed circling him, relieved that he didn’t seem anxious to reengage. Briefly, she noticed a crowd forming along the rail; soldiers, mostly, gesturing and shouting words she couldn’t understand, nor did she wish to. She blotted them out to open all her senses to her opponent, even down to the huskiness of his breathing and the tangy odor of his sweat, trying to think of anything that might work to tip the balance in her favor.

An image flashed to mind of a bout with her father, fought on the eve of Urien’s arrival at Arbroch. Inspired by the outcome of that fight, she swiftly formed a plan. It carried high risk and no guarantee of success. She never would have attempted such a move in combat. Here, the only danger if she lost would be to her pride. But if she won…she bit her lower lip to keep her face from betraying her intent.

She let Arthur initiate the attack. While advancing to meet the blow, she stumbled, fell, and rolled to her stomach. As expected, he quickly moved in to claim the victory. The crowd cheered. But before she could feel the prickle of his sword on her neck, she twisted aside and hooked his legs with hers. Luck favored her; with a startled yelp, and equally startled noises from their audience, he went down. She scrambled to her feet and pinned him under the point of her sword. Amid the overall roar of disappointment, she could pick out phrases like “Trickery!” and “Not fair!” But the taunts didn’t bother her; victory had never tasted sweeter! Her only regret was that Ogryvan and Per and the rest of her clan couldn’t savor it with her.

Studying Arthur for a reaction, her grin soured. For several seconds, he stared at the sky as though stunned; whether physically or mentally, she couldn’t tell. Her concern rose as she wondered if she had injured him. Finally, he shook his head and attempted to sit up, but her sword barred his way.

“I concede the match, Chieftainess.” He released his sword and waved his open hand. “I won’t try anything unique. You have my word. Thank God my enemies aren’t half as devious as you are.” His grin could have stopped the sun in its course…and it was having an arresting effect on Gyan’s heart as well. “But I wouldn’t advise using that move in battle. Much too risky.”

“Oh. Yes, I—I know.” Chiding herself for how silly she must sound, she sheathed her sword and thrust out her hand. He tugged off his gloves and accepted her unspoken offer, gripped her forearm, and hauled himself up.

Pain stabbing her arm forced a strangled gasp from her throat. He shifted his grip to her hand and gently turned her arm to expose the underside. A long cut lay perilously close to one of the veins, seeping blood. He traced the vein lightly with a fingertip.

“When did I do this?” His voice was a hoarse whisper.

Staring at the cut, she wondered the same thing. Probably during their initial clash, though she really had no idea. She shrugged. Even that motion made her wince.

“Chieftainess, I didn’t mean to—” A stricken look shattered his bearing. He squeezed her hand. “God in heaven, Gyanhumara, I am so sorry.”

She wanted to reassure him that she’d be all right; the wound looked clean and wasn’t much deeper than a scratch. In fact, it was the least of her concerns. Enchanted by the sound of her name on his lips and mesmerized by his gaze, she felt the world seem to collapse to just the two of them. His face hovered over hers, his lips a handspan away. The warmth of his nearness had an intoxicating effect. She was acutely conscious of the tugging of her heart, as though it was trying to pull her closer to him. It wasn’t an unwelcome idea.

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Enter this great giveaway for e-books, note cards, and an autographed print copy of Dawnflight!

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Easter Traditions #LASRblogfest

My post at the Long and Short Reviews Blogfest goes live today at 11 am EST. I'm giving away an ebook for commenting on my post, so please pop over to Long and Short Reviews and tell me about the Easter traditions in your house. Happy Easter!

Excerpt from FIRST AND AGAIN #MFRWauthor

I'm offering an excerpt from my contemporary small-town romance FIRST AND AGAIN today. Here's the blurb:

Bridget Grant is back in Paradise. Paradise, North Dakota, that is.

She’s swallowed her pride and moved back to her hometown with her daughter after her divorce and the loss of her catering company. Now she’s trying to navigate the strained relationships she’d left behind – including her first love, Jack Davison.

Jack never forgot Bridget, or the day she left town – and him. When Bridget caters a lunch at Jack’s tourist ranch, old flames reignite. They have more in common than ever – Jack’s also a single parent. Though they both try to keep things casual, Bridget, Jack and their girls are starting to look a lot like a family.

But Bridget’s only planning to stay in Paradise until she’s saved enough to relaunch her business. Jack’s invested too much in his ranch to leave. And with their daughters involved both have a lot more at stake than heartbreak. How can they risk falling in love?

Here's an excerpt:

Memories flooded back. Clapping madly as Jack Davison scored the winning touchdown for their high school football team. Her heart racing when he singled her out to dance at the Fall Ball. The sweetness of their first kiss. The thrill of her first love and the anguish when it ended. When I ended it.

His gaze locked with hers and she wondered how he remembered it, if he remembered it at all.

Jack looked lean and fit and very attractive. His sandy-colored hair was free of gray, and though a few lines etched his face, they only made him more handsome. His eyes, fringed by thick, dark lashes, were still the same shade of cornflower blue she’d always loved. Back in the day, one look from those beautiful eyes could turn her knees to water.

Damn it, why did he still have to look so good?

“Hello, Jack.” She extended her hand.

“Hello.” He clasped her hand in a firm shake.

Nerves skittered down her spine. “So what are you doing in Paradise?” Celia had told her years ago that he had married a girl in Houston. Her telephone conversations with her sister had been brief over the years, mostly centering on their husbands and children. She hadn’t wanted to hear news of her old life. “Are you here visiting Celia and Gavin?”

“No, I moved back to Paradise a few years ago. Gavin tells me you’re going to be living here for awhile.”

“Yes.” She started gathering empty glasses from the table, aware of the interested glances from Celia and Gavin’s friends. For the most part, they weren’t being malicious, just curious, but her private life was just that; private.

Tina smiled and leaned forward. “And you’ve been living in San Francisco all these years, Bridget. It must be exciting to live in a big city. What did you do there?”

“Lots of things, but mostly I helped run my ex-husband’s business.”

“Bridget’s being modest,” Celia said. “She’s a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. She was head chef of the catering company she and her husband owned.”

“Really?” Bridget detected a slightly mocking tone in Tina’s voice. “I imagine you catered a lot of fancy affairs.”

“A few.” Was the emphasis on affairs some kind of dig, a double entendre? She rejected the idea. How could Tina know about Ben’s affair? She glanced toward her mother, mentally willing her to call so she’d have an excuse to leave. Unfortunately, her mother was engrossed in conversation with some older patrons, leaving her no means of escape.

“So why did you leave your catering company?”

“Tina, maybe Bridget doesn’t want to talk about it,” Celia said, a note of warning in her voice.
Tina had always had a knack for finding her weak spots and going straight for the jugular. Bridget’s only hope was to show no fear.

“That’s okay, Celia,” she said. She turned to Tina with what she hoped was a composed expression on her face. “The business went under.”

“Really? What a shame. What went wrong?”

The massive lawsuit might have had something to do with it. “It was probably the downturn in the economy.”

“That’s too bad. And I understand your husband left you after that.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach. She lifted her eyes to Tina’s and in that moment she hated the woman. Though Tina’s face was the picture of innocent inquiry, the predatory gleam in her eyes revealed the enjoyment she took in asking these humiliating questions.

“It was an amicable split.”

“But to leave you without any money and then to take up with a younger woman. Well, that’s just too much.”

She heard her sister’s sharp intake of breath before an embarrassed hush fell over the group.

“Knock it off, Tina,” Jack said.

Tina gave him an indignant glare. “I was just trying to express my sympathy for Bridget’s situation.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Sympathy, my ass.”

Bridget glanced at the horrified expression on her sister’s face. In a moment of weakness, she’d phoned and confided the circumstances of her divorce to Celia. How could Tina have known Ben had left her for a woman fifteen years younger unless Celia had told her? Was this how sisters treated each other? Did one betray confidences and then sit back and watch while the other was publicly humiliated and ridiculed?

She could never trust her again.

Gavin coughed self-consciously. He and the others at the table appeared uncomfortable, but she was past caring about anyone else’s discomfort. Anger welled up inside her, anger at Tina, at Celia, at Ben, at the world in general.

“It’s okay, Jack. Tina’s right. My husband did dump me for a younger woman. But hey, my life’s an open book. Maybe there are other details of my personal life you’d like to discuss.  Perhaps you want to know my bra size or maybe my bank account balance, though I’ve got to warn you, neither is very big. Go ahead, ask me anything.”

They stared at each other for what seemed like ages until Tina shook her head, looking chastised.

“You’re right, it’s none of my business,” she said, sounding remorseful. “I just wondered what brought you back to Paradise after all these years.”

There were many reasons for coming home—poverty, hopelessness, a broken heart. But she had no intention of baring her soul to Tina Wilson.

“I came back to Paradise because I need some space. And plenty of privacy.”

She turned away, her hands shaking as she clutched the empty glasses, but not before she caught what looked like amusement in Jack Davison’s eyes. His expression made her even angrier. How dare he laugh at her?

The glasses clinked together as she haphazardly loaded them into the dishwasher behind the bar. One night in Paradise and she’d already been humiliated. Welcome home, Bridget. If she had enough money for gas and if she thought her old Chevy could withstand the return trip, she’d pack up her daughter and their few meager possessions and head back to San Francisco. Why on earth had she ever come back here?

The answer was simple. She had no place else to go.

Buy Links:
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Guest Author Marlowe Kelly and the Scandalous Jane Digby

Historical romance author Marlow Kelly is my guest today. She has a fascinating story about a truly intriguing Victorian woman. Take it away, Marlow!

One of the most scandalous women of the Victorian Era is Jane Elizabeth Digby. She was a woman known for her numerous marriages and affairs. But was she really so bad or was she just a victim of an era when women were seen as the property of their husbands rather than people in their own right?

Jane was born in Dorset, England, in 1807 to an aristocratic family. Her father was a decorated admiral in the British navy who was known for capturing enemy ships and taking their bounty.

Jane was an intelligent, independently wealthy woman who spoke nine languages, and was considered a talented artist and a magnificent horsewoman. She would have been coveted for these qualities alone, but Jane was also beautiful. Her peers described her as tall, with a perfect figure, blond and blue-eyed.

At the age of seventeen she married Edward Law, Lord Ellenborough, a man nearly twenty years her senior. Lord Ellenborough had a rising political career and it seems he spent many days and weeks away from the young, adventurous Jane. She responded to her loneliness by having affairs first with her cousin, Colonel George Anson, who it is rumored was the father of her son, Arthur. She must have also been sleeping with her husband at this time because Edward had no questions about paternity. Unfortunately, Arthur died in infancy.

Next she had an affair with Prince Felix Schwarzenberg. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter, Mathilde, in 1829. This time Lord Ellenborough knew beyond a doubt that the child was not his.

Edward divorced Jane by act of Parliament in 1830. In this time period only two divorces a year were granted. The salacious details of this case caused a scandal that rocked England.

After her divorce, and against the wishes of her family Jane followed Felix to Munich, but the relationship ended when their son died soon after birth. Felix broke contact with Jane and it seems that she had no qualms about leaving her daughter to be raised by Felix’s sister.

Jane wasn’t alone for long, she soon caught the eye of Ludwig I of Bavaria and the pair became lovers. It was at this time that she met and married her second husband, Baron Karl von Venningen. They married in November 1833. This, it seems, was a marriage of convenience, and although Jane may have cared for Karl she wasn’t in love with him. Together they had a son, Heribert and a daughter, Bertha.

But Jane couldn’t or wouldn’t settle. Within five years she took another lover, Count Spyridon Theotokis of Greece. When Venningen found out he was furious and challenged Theotokis to a duel. Karl won the dual, injuring Spyridon, but lost the girl. Jane left her husband to care for her injured lover. Seeing that her affections had changed, Venningen released her from their marriage. He kept the children and took care of them, although, he and Jane remained friends and kept in touch for the rest of their lives.

Jane, now in Greece, converted to the Greek Orthodox faith and married Theotokis in 1841. The pair had a son, Leonidas. Tragically, he died at the age of six, after a fall from a balcony. Out of her five children, Leonidas was the only one she seemed to have truly loved and was devastated by his death. Her relationship with Theotokis ended and the coupled divorced.

Once again, Jane wasn’t alone for long; her next lover was King Otto of Greece. This just seems to have been a quick affair. And Jane moved on to Greek General, Christodoulos Hatzipetros. She threw herself into her life with him, living in caves, riding horses and hunting in the mountains. Christodoulos was a man famous for his womanizing and Jane walked out on him when she discovered he was cheating on her. (Okay, I’m surprised by this considering all the cheating she’d done in her life.)

In her mid-forties Jane travelled to Arabia where she met and fell in love with Sheik Abdul Medjuel El Mezrab, whom was fifteen years her junior. Their marriage seems to have been a happy one, built on compromise. She wanted to be married in the European sense whereas he wanted to keep his harem. It is rumored that they agreed to be monogamous for three years after that time he would reinstate his harem and could take other wives. By all accounts, Jane loved the Bedouin life, living for six months a year travelling, and sleeping in a tent. The other six months were spent in her palatial home in Damascus. Her marriage lasted nearly thirty years until her death in 1871.

Jane was definitely a woman out of time. She seemed to yearn for adventure, and men were a part of that. She doesn’t seem to have had much in the way of maternal instinct. I think her children were just a byproduct of sleeping with men in an era where there was no such thing as reliable contraceptives.

I like to believe she found the life she was looking for with the Bedouin. The fact that everyday was different would have been fun for her. And when she got tired of sleeping in a tent she could return to her comfortable home in Damascus.

My character, Annabel, in A Woman of Love, wasn’t as fortunate as Jane. Annabel is completely controlled by her disreputable husband, Lord Elliott Peters. So when he demands that she pay his gambling debts by bedding his friend, James Drake, she is forced to comply.

What happens when Annabel meets James? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

A WOMAN OF LOVE is part of the Honour, Love and Courage series from Marlow Kelly:

When her dissolute husband insists that Lady Annabel Peters bed one of his villainous cohorts to repay a gambling debt, she is scandalized. But she is forced to agree because he controls every aspect of her life.

A physically and emotionally crippled war hero, James Drake has retreated from society. At the request of his brother, he manipulates events so he can interrogate Annabel, a woman he thinks may be part of a ring of thieves.

Neither of them count on an instant and overwhelming attraction. James may now believe Annabel but she suspects her husband plans to kill her. As one of her husband’s friends, James is not to be trusted.


Yet how can she escape a man who has the ability to control her with a gentle kiss?

Excerpt:

She swung around, and came face to face with a demon. He was tall, and broad with long, black hair, a bushy beard, and a scar that traversed his right cheek, narrowly missing his eye. Shadows darkened his face with stark lines making him look like a man who had come straight from hell. She straightened her spine. He was a man, plain and simple. Not a demon, and certainly not from hell. She needed to keep her whimsical thoughts at bay, so she could form a plan.

“Have you changed your mind regarding our rendezvous?” His soft-spoken, polite manner seemed strangely at odds with his appearance.

“I-I never agreed to...” She licked her lips. Why was her mouth so dry? Had his intense gaze turned her into a blathering nitwit?

He clasped her hands, enfolding them in his warm touch. “You have a graze here. Did you fall?” He kissed each palm in turn, his warm breath making her quiver deep in her belly. She wrenched her hands away. Good God. Was she so starved for affection a simple touch could kindle her passion? 

Yes, she was. It had been years since a man had caressed her with anything close to tenderness. 

Buy Links for A WOMAN OF LOVE:

Amazon ~ TWRP ~ B&N ~ iBooks

Author Marlow Kelly

After being thrown out of England for refusing to drink tea, Marlow Kelly made her way to Canada where she found love, a home and a pug named Max. She also discovered her love of storytelling. Encouraged by her husband, children and let’s not forget Max, she started putting her ideas to paper. Her need to write about strong women in crisis drives her stories and her curiosity regarding the lives and loves of historical figures are the inspiration for her characters. You can visit Marlow at www.marlowkelly.com.

Marlow's Social media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marlowkelly?ref=hl 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/want2write 

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Marlowkelly14/

Marlow be awarding a $10 Amazon egift-card to a lucky winner via Rafflecopter.

Readers can go to www.marlowkelly.com to get the tour dates and follow the tour. The more you comment, tweet and follow the more chances you have to win. Giveaway runs from 4th March until 31st March.

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