Sunday Snippet: Using Tongue

I'm so happy The Flash and Arrow are back! Also, Gotham and Sleepy Hollow had great returns. As always, Banshee threw me for a sideways spin, bringing something random in from last season to kick the story and plot forward in a totally new way. Gotta say I'm pretty thrilled the topic of who Hood is or is not is being raised. I'm so damned curious about his past, which I rather hope ties into the military heist plot thread. We'll know if I'm right in about seven more episodes. J

Caught up with The Librarians and would not be disappointed if that one gets another season. It's such a fun show! Also loving the news of an X-Files revival. I'm almost through season six of my rewatch so the information comes at a timely moment. J

Tonight's post is from Using Tongue, a sexy short of one-up-manship between the main characters.

Here's the tagline:

Joss Hellenburg hates licorice and Lisa Getz aims to show him why he should learn to love it—by using her tongue during a hot and steamy kiss—which sets up a series of sexy embraces while the two try to outdo each other.

And a snippety peek…

"What do you mean, you don't like licorice?" Lisa slid off the stainless steel counter in the kitchen. "Are you crazy?"

Joss finished slicing the potato. "No, I'm not." He lifted the huge stock pot and placed it on the stove burner, turning the temperature to medium high. "And you're not finished with getting the carrots peeled and sliced." He handed her a peeler and nodded toward the pile of orange vegetables.

Lisa shook her head. "How can you not appreciate black licorice?" She ran the peeler over the carrot, swiftly shedding the skin. "The dark, smoky flavor that lingers on the tongue, it's sooo good." She finished off two more and paused, shifting her gaze to Joss.

He sighed and grabbed his knife then started cutting. "Blech, not to me. It looks like blobs of hard ink." He shot her a sideways glance. "Who eats ink?"

Lisa finished up with the peeling and scooped Joss's cut vegetables into the stock pot. She shrugged. "No one I know, but that's exactly the point. Licorice isn't ink." When he finished cutting, she added the remaining vegetables into the pan. "Have you even tried it before?"

He shuddered. "Nope. Can't get past the whole ink blob thing." He turned and leaned against the counter. "Why does it matter?"

Damned if she knew. "I guess it doesn't, except you don't know what you're missing when you haven't even tried the stuff." Grabbing a washcloth, she wiped down the work surface then picked up a spoon to stir the simple stew on the stove. "Can you get the rolls started? Thirty minutes until serving time."

Joss nodded and pulled the pans out, quickly shuffling the brown and serve bread to the surfaces. Lisa watched for a few moments then went back to stirring the stew. His reticence about trying licorice surprised her. How could he hate something he'd never experienced? The idea boggled her mind.

Ink blobs. Okay, he had a point. A little bit of one. But he'd never even tasted how spicy, hot, and savory black licorice could be.

She planned to change his mind. And she had just the way to do so. After they finished serving the soup kitchen meal, but before they started cleaning up, she'd catch him off guard and lay a hot, licorice infused kiss on him.

Turning the burner heat down, she grinned. "Don't knock it until you try it, buddy."

I'm having fun with this one. Lisa and Joss are a hoot to write.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Up the Ante

I love it when characters creep me out on television shows. The marine colonel on Banshee is a total madman and takes the mantle of crazypants from the Red Bone leader Chayton Littlestone. Gotta say, he lost points this past week, but I won't get into why in this venue. I may have to dust off my Universes Altered blog and go to town on this season. LOL

Other television news… eh, not much until this upcoming week. Looking forward to new episodes of Arrow and The Flash. Hoping for some great stuff from Gotham and Sleepy Hollow, too.

Lastly, come on February. I need Bitten and The Walking Dead back on my screen. :D

Tonight's post is from Up the Ante, a sexy short where a card game hooks up the hero and heroine.

Here's the tagline:

Mutual satisfaction starts at the poker table when Vianca Berry and Fritz Hattenfield begin a flirtatious game that ups the ante of their new relationship.

And a snippety peek…

Fritz ducked his head into the rec room. "Hey, Vi. Are you gonna be at the poker game tonight?" He'd been trying for weeks to get her to come.

Vianca glanced up from her auto magazine. "Mmmm. Not sure I'll be around this weekend. Might ride along the lake." Her lips twisted. "Gonna be cold soon and I want to get one last road trip in before the weather turns." She shrugged. "But if it rains, I'll come around."

Fritz sent out a quick request to the universe for the clouds to roll in. "Sounds great. Game starts at seven. Whiskey and soda provided. Anything else you want, bring along with you." He made an exit before he truly begged her to show up.

Heading out to his ride, he snorted. "Damn, Fritz. It's only been two weeks since you got laid. Calm down." He swung a leg over the bike and got settled.

A low growl of an approaching motorcycle caught his attention. He craned his neck and grinned. Margus rode up and pulled in beside Fritz.

Margus removed his helmet. "Hatter. Any luck on getting Miss Vi interested?" His gaze swung toward the club house. "Pisses me off you called dibs. I'd love a piece of that long, tall woman."

Fritz lifted a shoulder. "No guarantee she'll show or stick around." He started his ride. "But I'll do my damnedest to convince her we'd be great together."

And they would. Fritz had a gut check every time she got within five feet of him. From his reaction alone, they'd burn up the sheets. And Vianca didn't seem unaware of the chemistry. She played to it, keeping Fritz on his toes with sexy banter when they worked on engines.

The woman kicked ass when it came to wrenching. Fritz couldn't wait to see what she'd do in a bed. Or hell, anywhere. He certainly didn't need a soft mattress or crisp, cotton sheets.

He'd pretty much go wherever the hell Vi wanted.

And do anything she wanted, at least the first time they got together. After that, they could discuss how things should shake out.

Margus snapped his fingers in front on Fritz's face. "Bro. You gonna sit there with the motor running all day or what?" A sly smirk crossed his face. "I'd recommend leaving the fantasy behind if you're headed for the outerbelt. It's a total zoo right now."

Fritz grimaced. "Always is. But you're right. I gotta get moving or I'll be late for the meet with Chauncey." He revved the engine. "Catch ya later tonight. Probably after ten."

He shifted and pulled out of his spot, easing into traffic once he cleared the exit. He had a forty minute ride to his meeting. Thoughts of Vi would pass the time, but only if he kept them rated PG.

Right.

Maybe he'd better count mile markers instead.

For a short story, this one has been all over the place. I have a feeling the content is subject to change on a whim. LOL

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Underfoot

So… the new season of Banshee started and blew my mind with the first episode. I have no idea why I'm so drawn to the show, but it never fails to push just a little further than I think it will. The opening scene equaled sheer perfection.

The Librarians is still making me smile and I’m getting ready to start Miss Fisher's Mysteries on Netflix this week. I've heard super awesome things about the series and can't wait to get into a new to me show.

OH! The CW also renewed ALL their fall dramas and I read the showrunners for The Flash and Arrow plan a once a year crossover for the two shows. WOOHOO!! Seriously happy for that news.

Bitten starts next month on Space and my unblocker app and Chromecast is going to be busy each week while I stream the episodes multiple times from the website. (Then watch again when Syfy airs them. :D)

And that's enough about TV, right?

Tonight's post is from Underfoot, a novel showing how my male characters gets his groove back… with a little help.

Here's the tagline:

Nona Rack, a footloose artist and Jane of all trades, breaks down beside reclusive author West Wentworth's house at two am during a blinding snowstorm. The cranky writer lets her stay, even though she's underfoot, and before he knows it, he's discovered a new muse.

And a snippety peek…

Nona Rack turned down the road and slowed down. The snow blew in a crazy back and forth pattern, making it damned hard to see anything ahead. She cut her brights and pumped the brakes, easing to a crawl and hoping like hell she didn't start sliding on the icy crunch under her tires. As soon as the thought hit, she fishtailed and skidded sideways, going off the road and dipping into a low-lying ditch. Her car stalled and she pounded her gloved fists on the steering wheel.

Lowering her chin, she rested her forehead on her hands. "Dammit. Why didn't I tell Moose to wait until next week?" She heaved a sigh.

Right. Because she needed to pay bills and get new spark plugs for her vehicle. Painting a collage of her friend's favorite rock bands gave a quick five hundred bucks. Not finishing until after one in the morning landed squarely at her feet. She could've left when it started snowing, but she'd been in a zone and didn't want to quit until she finished.

Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she thought about calling Moose, but decided against it. He'd been on the road for two weeks and only had three days off before heading back out again. By the time he got out to her location and back home, he'd have burned a couple of hours. He and Madge needed some alone time.

Peering out the window, she scanned the area. A lonely two-story sat off to her left, all darkened and gloomy. No other homes appeared to be in the vicinity on that side of the street. A sprawling ranch sat well off the road to her right. She leaned forward, squinting against the snow coming down. She caught the warm glow of a light in the window. Or not. She couldn't quite tell from inside the car.

Letting out a groan, she reached behind her and jerked her hood up over her head. "Argh. No help for it. Gonna have to see if I can get some help." She shut put the car in park and removed her keys from the ignition.

Crawling out of the car, a frigid blast of wind hit her in the face, an icy spray of snow dusting her skin. But a single lamp burned at one end of the home. Someone had to be up. She shivered and used the flashlight app on her phone to look for a driveway. Finding one, she followed the winding lane, quickly drifting over with snow, to the front door of the house. Taking her glove off, she rapped loudly on the door.

Poor West (my hero) won't know what hit him once he answers the door.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Smokin' Hot—Book Girlfriend Celebrity Lookalike: Down in Mexico

Welcome to the Hot for Friday blog hop!

Readers: Enjoy posts from authors with fun weekly tasks or a cool question.

Authors: Get in on the fun and join here.

We already got to know our book boyfriend celebrity lookalike. For this week's entry, we get to cast our book girlfriend celebrity lookalike.

FUN!!!

As mentioned in my boyfriend casting post, I almost always have an actor or actress serve as inspiration when I'm writing. It's great to have visual imagery as a point of reference when creating characters.

I'd love to share my vision of loveliness for Down in Mexico, available now from Ellipses Press, Ltd.

So… without further ado…

Please meet the truly beautiful inspiration for Kiernan Darby.

Emily Bett Rickards

Emily totally steals scenes as Felicity Smoak in Arrow. I loved her the first moment she appeared on screen. :D She had almost the exact look I wanted when I wrote Kiernan, young but not immature, yet able to convey a worldly 'seen it all' vibe. Definitely not hard to cast Emily as Kiernan.

Book Tagline: Boy meets and falls for girl. Girl 'dies' in a fiery explosion. Five years later, they meet again.

Series Tagline: Mix a little danger with hot romance.

Kiernan scoffed. "Lars, I'm not stupid." She sat up and turned toward him. "I lined up new suppliers… use my new name in case there's any crossover." She leveled her gaze on him. "Believe it or not, I learned a lot from you guys during my stint of doing undercover work."

He still looked skeptical, so she added more.

"Look. I may not be able to kill people ninety-seven different ways, but I can cover my tracks." She gave him a pointed look. "Took you five years to find me."

He winced. "Two, but point taken." She'd been careful. He got it now.

"Hey, want some dinner?" The emotional turmoil combined with the magnificent sex had her stomach growling.

Lars looked at her askance. "Are you cooking?" She didn't blame him. She'd had zero talent in the kitchen five years ago.

She chuckled. "Not tonight." She had Thai takeout in the fridge. "But… I'll have you know I have mad cooking skills now." She'd learned from her neighbor. The woman ran a restaurant and had the patience of a saint.

Lars grinned. "You'll have to show me." He swung his leg over the edge of the bed. "Will you cook for me, Kier?"

She leaned down for a quick kiss. "You betcha. Tomorrow. Dinner. I'll cook." Shrugging into a robe, she nodded toward the closet. "There's a pair of my dad's old dungarees in there."

Lars flashed a grin. His clothes were still outside.

"Thanks. I'll be out in a few."

Kiernan tied the sash around her waist and headed out.

~*~

Available on Amazon

~*~

Series Blurb: Sun, sand, and danger. International intrigue mixes with steamy romance to create hot situations—South of the Border.

Book Blurb: Kiernan Darby spends five long years playing dead. It's a life in limbo, but it lets Lars Rademacher do his job and eliminate the members of a lethal crime syndicate, Kiernan's former employers.

After discovering she's alive and well, Lars tracks Kiernan down in Mexico. Their reunion is sweet… until he reveals a pesky detail he conveniently forgot to mention.

Kiernan isn't completely safe. In fact, Lars is using her as bait to catch the last member of the espionage organization.

~*~

Thank you for stopping by.

Please feel free to stop by my website

And don't forget to enjoy the other Hot for Friday posts!

Sunday Snippet: Under the Influence (A South of the Border Book)

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is getting a great start to the new year. I kind of love this time. It's almost like a period of renewal. I jot down goals or revisit past ones to see my progress. Last year, I got more accomplished than I realized, which makes me excited for 2015.

On the television front, I finally sat down and watched Ascension and I’m sooooo glad I did! If Syfy gives a green light to make it a series, I'll be a happy camper. I also took some time and got started on The Librarians and I'm charmed by the show. It's a little campy and ridiculous, but I don't care. It's fun, lighthearted, and reminds me a lot of Warehouse 13, which I loved.

Looking forward to the return of my regular viewing treats and the start of the new seasons for Banshee and Bitten.

Tonight's post is from Under the Influence, one of the books in the South of the Border series.

Here's the tagline:

When her father dies, Lilith Jans inherits a piece of hotly sought after property in Mexico. She also unknowingly takes on an unpaid debt, which puts her life in danger. Hayden Knoxville makes her an offer she wants to refuse, but can't—sell to him and he'll deal with the men coming to collect payment.

And a snippety peek…

Lilith straightened her shoulders and moved to brush past Hayden. A patron entered the bar area, making her adjust her trajectory and her elbow bumped against his. A shudder tore through her. The contact, minimal and so brief, heated up her spine. Her step faltered and she had to brace a hand on the door jamb to keep moving forward.

Following Lilith to the kitchen, Kiernan shook her head and opened her mouth.

Lilith held up a hand. "Don’t. Just don't even say it."

Kiernan shrugged. "Okay, but you're gonna have to face what you feel sooner or later."

Lilith closed her eyes and exhaled a calming breath. "Later it is. Much, much later." She grabbed a bottle of vodka from an open case, twisted the cap off, and poured a shot's worth into a tumbler. "I don't even like the man. How can he make me so hot I want to strip his clothes off and jump him?" Picking up the glass, she drained the contents.

Kiernan quirked an eyebrow. "Maybe you're fighting too hard, Lilith. Why don't you just get down and dirty with Hayden? You know, have mind-blowing sex, work off the tension, and move on." She splashed a little more alcohol into the glass and handed it back to Lilith.

Why the hell not? She'd never get anything accomplished if she couldn't manage to spend five minutes with the man without wanting to either punch or make out with him.

Lilith set the cup on the counter and picked up the bottle before meeting Kiernan's gaze. "Dammit. You had to plant that idea in my head, didn't you?" She brought the vodka to her lips and took several healthy swigs.

Kiernan chuckled, but took the bottle from Lilith. "No more for you. Trust me, you'll want a clear head so you can remember every detail." She recapped the alcohol and stashed it under the counter.

A vivid image of Hayden, naked, hard, and ready, flashed through Lilith's mind.

She shot Kiernan a sideways glance. "I hate you, Kier. I truly do." Because she did want to have total recall of every sensual, sexy thing Hayden would do to her.

Kiernan's laughter rang out and she headed back toward the bar area. "Then my work here is done." She looked back over her shoulder. "Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She ducked back into the bar, leaving Lilith alone in the kitchen.

She finally smiled. "Well then, at least I've got plenty of options."

Gotta say, it's been great to touch base with Kiernan and Lars from Down in Mexico. I love working in little pieces with them.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin