Everyone needs a little submission in their lives...

Meet Sandra Bunino, one of my fellow authors from the Keyboards and Kink anthology, where she first introduced us to The Satin Rose Experience. I gotta say, I'm looking forward to reading more about it... ;)

Mia’s Submission (Book One of The Satin Rose Experience series)

Release: August 7^th from Evernight Publishing

                                           

Blurb:

Hardworking Mia Lavender's been offered a promotion she can’t refuse--VP of Client Experience at New York’s exclusive BDSM club, The Satin Rose Experience, or SRE. Mia's kept her submissive tendencies a secret, until now. She'll have ample opportunity to explore her fantasy because to succeed in her new role at SRE, she will need on-the-job training at the hands of Asher Cane.

During Asher Cane's very first training session with Mia, he fails to follow his own rules and has the hottest vanilla sex of his life. Mia needs training, and Asher is damned if he'll allow another Dom to touch her. Can Asher be the dispassionate trainer Mia needs to learn the exquisite give and take of dominance and submission? Or will her submission come only at the cost of his heart?

Mia’s Submission is Book One of The Satin Rose Experience (SRE) series.

SRE, New York’s elite BDSM club residing on the twentieth floor of Rosebud Resorts, contains ten uniquely themed suites, each with its own story to tell. Find the introduction of SRE in The Satin Rose Experience, a short story in Evernight Publishing’s Keyboards and Kink Anthology.

Excerpt:

“Training starts now, Mia. To do the job of Vice President of Client Services at SRE you must know what your clients will experience. They will come to you for information, advice and counsel. The only way you can truly help them is if you’ve experienced it yourself, to feel what they’ll feel. So, what do you think of Suite Five?” Asher asked, unknotting his tie and pulling it from his collar.

“It’s cold, both physically and visually. It’s not very comfortable.”

Asher grinned and nodded while draping the tie over his jacket. “Then it does its job. That’s exactly how it should feel in here. The submissive is supposed to feel physically insecure in this suite to help grow his or her trust in the Dominant.” He turned, locked eyes with Mia and sauntered toward her. “I hope to gain more of your trust today.”

Mia took a deep breath and her shoulders began to relax.

“Having said that, I’m sticking to the plan. Not like last night. Training is mandatory for this position and if I can’t control myself and train you properly, someone else will have to do it. I won’t have that. No one else touches you. Do you understand?”

“Of course,” Mia whispered. She couldn’t imagine going through this with anyone else.

“You remember our safe word, Mia?”

She nodded and stared into his dark brown eyes.

“Thorn.”

“Yes and please use it when you need to. Don’t think of it as a show of failure or fear. It’s the only way I’m going to understand your limits. Any questions before we begin?”

Mia’s eyes darted around the stark suite. “Cameras?”

Asher grinned. “The camera is in the mirror…” He strode to the large mirror where the note was placed and pointed. “It’s off and security is instructed to leave it off, unless you prefer to have it on,” he said and raised his eyebrows.

“No. No camera. This is going to be hard enough for me.”

“The purpose of the surveillance is not so that our security can watch, believe me; they’ve seen so much that it’s like watching a baseball game to them. It’s for the safety of our clients.”

“I understand but I still don’t like it. Plus I don’t feel unsafe with you,” Mia said with a shy smile.

He stepped toward her while unbuckling his belt. “I’m glad to hear that. Now turn around.”

She smiled at him and turned to face the wall once again. His silky, commanding voice washed over her body and soaked the juncture between her legs. Strong hands immediately kneaded at her shoulders and down her arms. Warmth sank into her flesh and she leaned back to capture more of his body heat. She relaxed momentarily but was snapped back on guard when his powerful hands encircled her ribcage and his fingers slipped between the buttons of her blouse. The sound of tearing fabric filled her ears as buttons popped from their stitching and flew in different directions. She sucked in a breath as he rid her of her shirt in one fluid motion.

“Put your hands together behind your back,” Asher’s honeyed voice buzzed through her.

She did as she was told and laced her fingers together at the top of her ass. The jingle of his belt buckle rang in her ear followed by a whoosh of leather sliding through fabric. Warm straps encircled her wrists, the buckle clanging in uneven tones as he tied it tight between her hands.

Mia swallowed hard and pulled at her hands, trying to loosen the bonds. She was firmly bound with no chance of freedom. Her breath quickened, stoking the fire growing in her belly. The bed springs creaked and she turned her head toward the sound.

“A submissive would be punished for that peek,” he growled.

She whipped her head back to face the wall.

“Come to me.”

Relieved to leave her corner, Mia spun on her heels and stepped toward him. Asher sat on the edge of the bed with his feet apart and patted the top of his thighs, beckoning her to the spot in between his knees. She complied and the heat of his hands enveloped her body as he pulled her in. She arched her back while his fingers teased up to the lacey band across her ribcage. He unsnapped her bra before pulling her hairpins, releasing her long, dark locks. Coiling her hair around his palm, he pulled downward, tipping her face toward the ceiling. He fondled the lace fabric of her bra, which only stayed secured by her arms pressed against her body. He slowly removed the band of lace and a rush of chilly air surrounded her breasts. The cool temperature was replaced with liquid heat when he took her nipple between his teeth. Mia moaned as sparks traveled from her breasts down to her core.

“Keep your legs straight and bend forward.”

Heated palms slid down her back, encircled her waist and guided her forward so that she was bent over his leg, her face and chest resting on the bed.

From the corner of her eye, she caught a partial reflection of the back of her legs and her ass, lifted high in the air. Her pussy ached with exquisite need as she watched his hands gently lift the fabric of her skirt. Mia closed her eyes as his palm rubbed small circles over her ass cheek and thigh. The heat suddenly disappeared and her eyes shot open in time to watch his hand come down with a slap. She whimpered as the sound echoed through the room. His palm continued to rub the sting from her suddenly very pink cheek. He followed the same routine on the other side and she cried out in passion the second time, anticipating the erotic burn. Craning her neck, she admired the matching pink splotches on both ass cheeks.

Book Links:

Evernight Publishing / AllRomance eBooks / BookStrand / Amazon

Contact Sandra:

Website / Email / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon Author Page / Twitter @sandrabunino       

Bio:

Sandra Bunino began a love of romance stories while penning a creative writing assignment in high school. The story ended with the heroine receiving a long stemmed red rose in her locker on Valentine’s Day. Since then, all of her stories feature the hero presenting the heroine with roses. Sandra is constantly searching for different ways to achieve a heart-pumping, stomach-flipping, breath-catching reaction from her readers.

Her books and short stories include Marooned in Miami, Lusted in Las Vegas, Sara’s Smile, The Satin Rose Experience and The Fountain Pen.

These days, Sandra lives on a wooded mountaintop not far from New York City with her family.

Remember, following is sexy!

Author Spotlight on Kastil Eavenshade - With Giveaway

Thank you, Jorja, for having me on your blog. I really appreciate it. Today I'd like to give a little insight into Talbot's Ploy. Based in 18th century France, it's a tale of one man (Talbot) who has pined for one man almost all of his adult life. His best friend since childhood Maxime LaRue. Tired of going from one lover to the next, Talbot decides to test the waters and find out if his friend has similar interests in the bedroom.

I had intended this to be a shorter piece but apparently, my muse had other plans. I don't throttle my muse often as his sexy ass usually leads me in the right direction. Please enjoy a tidbit from my latest work.

BLURB:
Talbot Sauvageot has kept his wicked lifestyle underground for several years, going from one lover to the next. Decedent rake to females by day, passionate lover for his latest male companion at night. When he is forced to flee Paris or face the guillotine, Talbot realizes none of the men he has bedded over the past years burns at his soul like his dear friend Maxime LaRue.

Forced into seclusion in the forest of Bois de Lunor, he receives an invitation from Maxime for their yearly gathering at his estate in Varanguebec. One that Talbot has avoided the past few years. Refusing to submit to a life without love, Talbot schemes to discover if his childhood friend shares the same taste in pleasure as he.

Will Maxime submit to Talbot’s ploy or cast his friend in the shadow of death?

EXCERPT:

The foyer of his estate, dark at such a late hour, had comforted Maxime. In the shadows, none of his servants would witness the heated redness of his cheeks that drunkenness could not explain. He’d sent Talbot to the guest room on the other side of the large castle with a few bottles of wine to soak down his misery. For this night, Maxime decided no amount of drink would wipe the vision of Talbot sucking on his cock.

Halfway into his bedchamber, he had peeled his clothes off one piece at a time. His sights zeroed in on the large bed he planned to sprawl across as soon as he reached it. A note outside the door would belay his chambermaid from waking him before the sun stretched to its highest point. By then, he hoped Talbot would have shuffled off to his own home over the shame of the act. More than likely, his friend would stay the weekend for a bit of tomfoolery when Landis and Delron arrived.

Maxime had crawled under the sheets. Sleep, however, ran somewhere in the night and eluded his grasping hands. He rolled to his side to gaze at the filtering moonlight peeking through his closed curtains. Ever so slowly his eyes closed as he steadied his breathing to lure himself into a dream state. The grinding of stone on stone snapped him awake. The uneven footfalls neared the bed and his coverlet shifted. A warm body pressed against his back. A seeking hand smoothed over his skin and the strong smell of wine hit his nose.

Talbot had snuck into his room through the hidden passageways.

“What are you doing, Talbot?”

His friend did not answer with anything remotely resembling a language. Instead, his strong grip seized Maxime’s member and jerked it to attention. Maxime panicked. Out in the woods—far from his estate—such indulgences went unnoticed. Should he give into Talbot’s depravity in the confines of his castle, let alone his bedchamber, he would lose all his assets and be cast out by his father straight to the razor edge of the guillotine.

“I cannot do this, Talbot. It is wrong,” he whispered. “The laws.”

“Your cock and my hand say differently, my friend. Your servants are busy about their own lust. Why deny our own? Tell me to stop, Maxime, and I will.”

“Again I say you are drunk.”

“Immensely so and you quite enjoy my touch on your cock. Shall I taste you again or shall you submit to more?” Talbot shifted on the bed, towering over Maxime. “Unlike our tryst with Monsieur Beaumont’s daughters, no one is going to ruin our enjoyment.”

Maxime wondered if the taste of wine on his friend’s lips was a ploy for him to gamble in the games of their past. Was Talbot’s love of women but a ruse? Had he lured his best friend into a night of shame to prove he could or was his friend showing that his tastes were ones best left in dark crevices?

Kastil is giving away a copy of Talbot's Ploy. To be in with a chance to win, simply leave a comment on her Blog-o-rama Tour of Decadence™  http://kastil.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/release-day-talbots-ploy/

Stalking Links:

Blog: http://kastil.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/KastilEavenshade
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/PamBitner
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5283903.Kastil_Eavenshade

Buy Links:

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/talbots-ploy-by-kastil-eavenshade/ 

http://www.amazon.com/Talbots-Ploy-ebook/dp/B008R3OFNA/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343731338&sr=1-3" 

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-talbot039sploy-903011-145.html 

http://www.bookstrand.com/talbots-ploy-mm

Author Spotlight on Katherine Wyvern

Blurb:

On the desert planet Cydonia, Lune, a naturalist and explorer, is assigned a new trainee. The young Rider is supposed to follow him everywhere to learn the skills of his trade.

Lune would gladly be spared the trouble, especially when informed that the boy has been formerly apprenticed to a vicious and abusive Rider, and likely to be difficult and traumatized. But when Laz’law, a stunningly beautiful, fiercely touchy creature enters his life, Lune has no choice other than to employ his horse-whisperer’s patience to earn his trust and win his love.

Excerpt:

When Lune entered the small locker room by the stable yard he was a bit disappointed to hear the water running in one of the showers. He was tired, dusty and sweaty, and he really just wanted to scrub himself clean and then go home. The thought of meeting somebody and having to chat and be social made him feel vaguely sick.

He wondered who had stayed at the yard so long. It was a holiday, after all. He unbuttoned his shirt quickly and stuffed it into his locker, hoping to hide in a different shower before whoever it was came out, but it was too late. The water stopped, and the shower door opened. He turned to look and nearly keeled over senseless when Laz’law, of all people, stepped out of it. He had a towel around his middle and was dripping wet. He had a dark, combative look in his eyes, but he relaxed somewhat when he saw Lune.

“Oh,” he said, “it’s you. I had no idea you were even around today.”

Lune sat down on a bench and with some effort said, “Came to trim some horses. For a friend. Thought you were off with your pals.”

“Oh, no,” said Laz’law, “I didn’t go after all. Too busy. I studied, and then I came to play with the mare for a while. Trustworthy, see? And by now I can tell you anything you could possibly want me to know about every bleeding plant, beast, and bug that lives between here and Arnia. You’ll have to take me with you. I’m your living encyclopedia. You’ll need me.”

He flipped the towel off his waist and began rubbing his head with it.

“Mh-h,” said Lune, out of general considerations that this wasn’t a good moment to trust his voice. He watched Laz’law in something like a stupor while the young man rubbed the towel on his head, face, and throat. He was lean and sculpted like a racing thoroughbred, with not an inch of softness about him, and every muscle bow-string-taut under the shiny, wet, dark skin. His chest bulged out exactly enough, strong without heaviness; his stomach was as neatly and squarely lined as a chocolate bar, and his cock …

Laz’law took the towel off his head and looked at him.

“Come on, man, ask me any question! Test time!”

“Uh …” said Lune, looking down. Don’t look into his eye, he thought. Never let a shy horse know you are after him. Never cross his path. Approach sideways, make for the shoulder. Keep your head down. Don’t look into his eye. Don’t look into his eyes. Don’t look into those damned eyes, Lune.

He swallowed. “I don’t know. Tell me about snakes, to begin with.” He bit his lower lip. Snakes? he thought. Can’t you be a bit more obvious, you demented old sucker? He crossed his legs tightly to keep his fast-growing hard-on from showing.

Laz’law launched into a fast-paced description of every living species of snake known on Cydonia, specifying size, coloring, habitat and distinguishing features. He did sound like a living encyclopedia. Lune wondered when he had done all this reading, but then, like so many other rebellious youngsters he had known, he was scarily keen when he put his mind to it.

“And these are the snakes you can eat,” Laz’law said proudly, before rattling out the whole bleeding list of them. Lune bent down to lean his elbows on his knees and his forehead on his palms, aiming for an overall look of weary but concentrated attention and peering at him sideways, from under his thumb. It would keep the bulge in his pants out of view, but he was going to die of it. He made a mental note to wear somewhat softer trousers next time he was around Laz’law.

Oh lord, he thought, shifting painfully, so this is the day I get a sprained cock, yes?

Laz’law stood there talking, exhibiting his nakedness now with the total forgetfulness of the true sportsman. He had toweled his breast dry, and his skin was like matte bronze. But some water still clung in the hollow of his throat, and one drop began a shiny descent along his torso, outlining every perfect bulge and groove of his chest and belly. He had two twin silver-derm tattoos on his chest, paw-prints of sorts, as if a particularly loving and artistic panther had dipped its feet in silver paint and then laid them on his breast, side by side. Lune swallowed again. Another drop of water ran down Laz’law’s body. He toweled the inside of his legs and his narrow, perfect hips. He passed the towel under his balls, and round his cock, which fell back and bounced around, inviting…

Links:

Head Shy @Evernight:

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/head-shy-by-katherine-wyvern/

Head Shy on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Head-Shy-Cydonian-Tales-ebook/dp/B008OKNGC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343198139&sr=8-1&keywords=head+shy+wyvern

Katherine Wyvern on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/katherinewyvern#!/katherinewyvern

Katherine's Blog:

http://katherinewyvern.blogspot.fr/?zx=c36def2d697da0f

Katherine Wyvern @ Evernight:

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/katherine-wyvern/

Katherine Wyvern on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Wyvern/e/B006Z8DAYE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Author Spotlight on Lace Daltyn

Hey, Jorja and everyone! Lace Daltyn here. Many thanks to Jorja for letting me stop in and talk about my newest story, Forever Men. Beyond being an author, I’m an avid reader who loves emotional stories with Happily Ever After endings. So when these three characters started jumping up and down inside my brain, I gave them a story that put them smack in the middle of my heart. I hope you will love them as much as I do.

Blurb

Walls crumble when you build a forever love.

 As a couple, the deep, sensual connection between Desi and Alec is imaginative and limitless, even though Desi’s fear that love is transient keeps her from telling her man how she feels. Fun-loving Alec, who lost his parents in a tragic accident, has found that kind of forever love again. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep it, including giving Desi the one thing he lacks—a partner with a serious side.

 With their fledgling construction company headed for the skids if they don’t finish the job on time, Desi and Alec are frantic to catch up. Enter Alec’s friend, Matt, a man haunted by the “dull and unimaginative” label his ex-fiancé pinned on him.

 Working side by side, a thirst grows that seems unquenchable and each must come to terms with old hurts in order to consider possibilities never before imagined.

Excerpt

Desi glanced down to the empty dirt yard. Where the hell was Alec, anyhow? She’d sent him to pick up materials two hours ago.

Right on cue, a black truck raced up the treed lane and squirreled to a stop in front of the house, sending a dust cloud skyward.

            About time.

            When Alec jumped out and grinned up at her, Desi’s irritation started to fade.

            He bounded up the stairs, brushing his shaggy blond hair back as he joined her and wrapped tanned arms around her waist.

            “Hey, Gorgeous.” 

            When his eyes brimmed with amusement, as they did now, Desi found it hard to stay annoyed with him. She tried, pushing against him. “I’m mad at you.”

            Alec threw his head back and laughed. “You can never stay mad at me.”

            The smile she tried to hide refused to cooperate. Staying mad at Alec was just too damn hard. Everything about him was designed to make the world seem perfect, from his construction-hardened body to the almost constant gleam in his eyes. When Alec was near, it was easy to believe The Dream. Desi sobered as she looked around. Things were a far sight from all right at the moment.

“We’re so far behind, Alec.”

            “Trust me,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”

            “I don’t know...” Desi chewed her lower lip. Alec always saw the bright side of things, sometimes to the exclusion of the issues they needed to solve.

Alec took the hammer out of her hand and let it drop to the plywood sub-floor. “It sounds like you need a distraction.”

            The flash of his dark eyes as they inspected her from toe to head started a familiar fire deep in her belly. “Oh-h-h, no,” she stuttered. Desi backed up until a two-by-four, part of the wall frame, stopped her. “No way, Alec. We’ve got no time for that.”

Together over a year now, she still couldn’t get enough of him. When he turned on the charm, like now, the man was irresistible. But they couldn’t. Not now. Not today.

The look in his eyes crumbled her resolve further. He stepped closer, and heat, both familiar and delicious, spread between her legs.

“We can’t, Alec. We’re so far behind schedule.”

“What’s a few more minutes, then?” He leaned in, his lips grazing her neck, strumming an already taut thread of need.

Arousal swept away the last vestiges of hesitation, and Desi wound her hands into Alec’s hair. “Work can wait.”

Thanks for stopping by xx

Where you can pick up this novella:

Evernight Publishing: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/forever-men-by-lace-daltyn/

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/SxzSrv

Where to find me:

Blog: http://lacedaltyn.wordpress.com/

Website: www.lacedaltyn.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lace.daltyn

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LaceDaltyn

Release Day Naughtiness!!

Excuse me while I do a release day shimmy...
That's right folks, 'Jackie and Her Loose Talk' is now available as part of Evernight Publishing's Naughty Fairy Tale line :)

I grew up with a love of all the classic fairytales. Instead of pocket money, my Mum and my Gran let me choose a Ladybird book every week after the grocery shopping. I remember those days well, even though I was only about five or six at the time and I still have my collection. Many of those books are inscribed with the name and date; priceless to me now that both of those wonderful women in my life have passed away.

I was reading Doris O'Connor's, 'The Last of His Kind', when I started to think about writing my own fairytale. I was obssessed with the notion of becoming an author at a very young age and here was an opportunity to write my very own Fairytale. Of course, I never dreamed it would include threesomes and hot sex scenes but when you hang around with the Nuthouse Scribblers, that sort of thing is inevitable <grin>

So, here it is. My modern, sexy take on the Jack and the Beanstalk tale. I hope you enjoy it!

Blurb – Jackie and Her Loose Talk

Jackie Thompson is the kiss and tell queen, prepared to sleep her way to fame and fortune. Her latest escapade with two footballers is on course to secure her future but she trades it for a handful of magic beans…or in this case, the address of a reclusive billionaire.

Scarred by his past, Viktor Torok hides away from the outside world. When Jackie barges into his life he lets her get away in an effort to protect his privacy. But he hasn’t counted on the unwanted attraction that rages between them on their second meet.

Can she break through his walls and help them heal each other?

Excerpt

A gentle tug on his wrist woke Viktor from a heavy slumber. Through sleepy eyes he could make out Jackie’s blurry form at the top of the bed. “What are you doing?”

            “I thought you’d never wake up.” Another tug on his other wrist and he tried to sit up to see for himself. With both arms above his head, he couldn’t move.

“What the fuck?” He tried again but found both wrists tied to the brass headboard with two of his silk ties.

Jackie straddled his waist, teasing his barely awake cock with her smooth pussy. “We’re going to work on a little trust exercise.”

“This doesn’t tally with the ‘fall back and I’ll catch you’ scenario we were taught on the training courses. I think I’d remember the ‘tie you naked to the bed and give you a boner’ version.” She leaned forward to test the knots, her breasts rubbing him into semi-arousal.

“Much more effective I find.” A little wiggle of her hips coaxed him into a full hard-on and she couldn’t hide the smile in her eyes. “Now, why are you so reluctant for me to go down on you?”

He admired her direct approach; it didn’t leave room for lies. “It’s a delicate piece of my anatomy which I am reluctant to put anywhere it could get bitten off.”

Jackie eyed his swollen manhood. “It doesn’t look very delicate to me. In fact, not too long ago I think it tried to nail me to a tree trunk. So, have you always had this phobia of blowjobs?”

“You should have been a therapist you know. Although I think you need the glasses and hair in a bun to pull it off effectively.”

She slapped his thigh but rather than chastising him, the sharp sting excited him further. “I’m serious.”

“Since Carmen, I don’t trust anyone not to hurt me, physically or otherwise.” The truth finally emerged as Viktor came to terms with his fucked up view of the world and everyone in it.

To his relief, Jackie kept her business-like manner rather than pity him. “A wise man once told me to lie back and enjoy. So—” A wave of her hand shooed him back onto the pillow.

“Is this you acting out some sort of Domme fantasy?” Smart-mouthing her was the only stalling technique in his armory right now as panic set in. Am I ready to give myself over so completely to another woman?

“Now you come to mention it…” She took his cock in hand and rubbed the crown against her slit.

“Shouldn’t we have a safe word or something so you stop when I say?” Cold sweat broke out on his forehead at being totally at her mercy.

She let go so his cock slapped back on his belly. “You’re right. Hmm, what about Beanstalk?”

“Beanstalk?” He wasn’t sure whether to be offended or not. What size of Beanstalk?

“Yeah. Because it leads to such wonderful treasures.” Not giving him time to preen, Jackie bowed her head and took his cock deep into her mouth.

He fought his bindings, and curled his toes; desperate to take charge of his own body but Jackie’s mouth was definitely calling the shots. The swirl of her tongue around his shaft and the soft lips circling his girth threw his idea of careful control into turmoil. While he tried to form a coherent plan to dominate the situation, the blinding white light of impending orgasm obliterated all thoughts except the party going on between his legs.

Just as Viktor started to go with the flow, Jackie drew back from the base of his shaft and slowly slid him free of her tight hold. “Here ends lesson one.”

Buy Links: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/jackie-and-her-loose-talk-by-jorja-lovett/

http://www.amazon.com/Jackie-Loose-Naughty-Fairy-ebook/dp/B008P4L85O/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1343290854&sr=8-5&keywords=jorja+lovett

Celebrating Independence Blog Hop

Independent Women

In honour of Independence Day I want to celebrate those strong heroines we remember from some of our favourite classic novels. Forget snivelling damsels waiting to be rescued...

I want a feisty leading lady who knows her own mind and challenges the hero to love her just the way she is. No matter how quirky she is or how big her bum looks in those skinny jeans.

Of course, a truly independent woman doesn't need a man to complete her but, well, as a reader I wants me some romance. Pride and Prejudice's Elizabeth Bennett is a forthright, opinionated character but that doesn't stop Mr Darcy being smitten.

I like to take my heroines on a journey of independence in their stories. Sometimes the hero is instrumental to helping her stand on her own two feet and other times he's just there for the sex! But by the end of the book I like to think she can live quite happily with or without a significant other.

Take the heroine from 'In Her Element', my story in The Blood Bar Chronicles. Ana starts off as a shy virgin who lives at home with mum but by the end, she's shagging in a public park with no intention of returning to her over-bearing mother.

'In Her Element' - Blurb

In Her Element by Jorja Lovett

When quiet Ana Chapman meets Fire Elemental, Zanaan, at the Blood Bar, a night of hot sex makes her realize just what she's been missing.

For the first time in her life, Ana Chapman is ready for a little excitement. Escaping her mother's tyranny in Belfast for one weekend in Edinburgh to meet her online writers' group seems more than enough to cope with. But her visit to the Blood Bar changes everything. Spontaneous public orgasms, supernatural beings, and teleportation weren't on her agenda for the trip. Neither was losing her virginity.

Zanaan is a Fire Elemental, who most humans can't see. When the shy Irish lass locks eyes with him in the bar, he's drawn to her, and this time it isn't the Salamander legend spurring his chase to bed a mortal. After a night of passion with Ana, he feels the effects immediately—he's losing his powers and becoming human. It's what he always wanted. Isn't it?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Alphas-Blood-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B007W1S8QI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341080440&sr=8-1&keywords=the+blood+bar+chronicles

If you want to be in with a chance of winning a copy of The Blood Bar Chronicles Book One: The Alphas, just leave a comment with your e-mail address and I'll put you into the draw. Join in the hop here and find a whole host of fab authors offering prizes.