Category Archives: Blog Tour

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*BOOK REVIEW TOUR* – A New Dark Age: A Reckoning, by Ross Patrick

#Dystopian #Speculative

 “A dark vision of our coming future where the flickering glimmer of hope is the human capacity to form relationships and help each other. This is rebel fiction.”

 For readers who appreciate Cormac McCarthy,

Nicholas Matthieu & Margaret Atwood

Publisher: Brown Dog Books

Publication date: eBook – 14th December 2021

Paperback – 27th January 2022

Blurb

When the collapsing began, in a system where scarcity was a commodity, there was always a need for the unemployed, the homeless and the hungry. When most people could no longer afford consumer goods, there were riots. The rulers called it an attack on democracy.

The riots were met with militarised, armoured police. With falling tax revenues, companies took over financing the police, so the police increasingly functioned as capitalism’s own Praetorian Guard; sometimes supporting rival business leaders, sometimes bringing about their demise, and all the while living standards fell and the state started to crumble. 
For Esme Sedgebrook, growing up in the provinces, there is no future other than an arranged marriage, motherhood, and domesticity, fleeing to join the uprising is as much about personal transformation as it is political. 

My Review

Prescient and dramatic tale of a dystopian future – 5 stars

Set in the year 2061, this novel is a bleak and dramatic tale of a dystopian future, which explores the best and worst of humanity. I found it to be eerily prescient – I could easily imagine a future world where at least some of the events come to pass, given the trajectory the planet is on at this point.

It is also a story of the journey and enlightenment of seventeen year old Esme Sedgebrook, a downtrodden young woman from the provinces, who joins the rebels in their bid to shake the foundations of a society that has become sick, twisted and corrupt. Women have been reduced to chattels and the exploitation of the populace by those in power is cruel and stark. The read is a dark one but there are shafts of light in the bonds of friendship and the bravery and commradeship of many of the characters, often at great personal cost.

The world building was excellent – I could easily visualise the people and places Esme and others encounter as the plot progresses.  This future England is still recognisable, but it is scarred, broken and decayed and technology and medicine have all but disappeared. Society is divided between the obscenely rich, isolated from the common people who eek out a living and many have reverted back to the old ways of building local community ties and religion has once again taken hold. And then there are the lawmakers and the military, who do the dirty work for those in power and finally the revolutionaries, who baulk at the many wrongs in society and devote their lives to bring the system down. 

I found it to be a deeply thoughtful read which draws on our collective memories of the Peasants’ Revolt, enclosures, the Industrial Revolution and the development of capitalism. It contains rich characterisations and descriptions and a complex plot with dark undercurrents of violence and desperation throughout, interspersed with friendship, hope and the determination to bring about change. 

I enjoyed how the lives of the various characters encountered within the story became interwoven as the book progressed and reached its conclusion. Esme is not the same person at the end of the book as she was at the beginning and she is at various points a bystander, an active participant and a victim of some of the events in between. Indeed, there are a number of violent and disrurbing scenes which are integral to the story and the development of its characters.

I know that this read will stay with me for a long time, not least because of Esme’s personal journey but also as it cautions us about what could very well come to pass if circumstances allow.

Reviewed by Tina Williams

Please note, a copy of the book was given to me by the author and I am voluntarily leaving a fair and honest review.

Goodreads

About the Author

Ross Patrick was born in the Scottish enclave of Corby in the English East Midlands. When the Steel Works started shedding jobs he moved with his family to rural Leicestershire. Introverted, Ross drifted through a grey school of tired buildings and lingering temporary classrooms to provincial universities at Leicester and then Norwich, the University of East Anglia, where he studied Literature, having previously studied History. He then “lost a decade” working in wine retail and education before a breakdown and suicide attempt in 2014. Ross learnt that people’s sympathy for mental illness is often more generous in theory than in deed. During a housebound recovery from depression and PTSD, initially as catharsis, he began writing more seriously. 

Ross lives quietly in a house by a stream back in the English East Midlands with his cat, Graham. He admits to disliking numbers, though this could be a reaction to his dad’s work in accounting: Life isn’t to be measured but to be experienced, though he says he’s mostly experienced his vicariously. He finds distraction in long walks, studying the philosophy of consciousness and the hope that we are all one dream experiencing itself subjectively from infinite disassociated perspectives. Otherwise, Ross says he suffers persistent disappointments of following Nottingham Forest, and the joyous feelgood escapism of following Ben Fogle’s New Lives in the Wild. He enjoys both cooking and eating Italian food, an inheritance from his mother’s family. He is also vegetarian; Graham the cat is not. Ross believes in the collective whilst Graham is frustratingly individualistic – these differences continue to bring some small amount of tension to their otherwise companionable existence.

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Author Links

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*BOOK TOUR/REVIEW* – Curry Compendium, by Richard Sayce

ABOUT CURRY COMPENDIUM

Richard Sayce, the man behind Misty Ricardo’s Curry Kitchen, does it again. Following his award winning two previous curry volumes, Curry Compendium is a hardback masterpiece for all those wanting to reproduce that British Indian restaurant style of cooking.

Beautifully compiled with mouth-watering photography and additional images credited to many of the author’s social media devotees, this compendium is a book that will be revisited time and time again, not least for its top tips on scaling up recipes and innovative use of QR codes.  Available for most recipes chefs in the making can simply scan the QR code with their smartphone and instantly watch the associated YouTube video.

For all those hesitant to cook a curry from scratch let Richard Sayce show you the way.  You won’t be disappointed.

Curry Compendium is based on the two top selling paperback prequels Indian Restaurant Curry at Home Volumes 1 and 2 which have collectively sold over 50,000 copies in three years. Both books won Gourmand World Cookbook awards for the best UK self-published cookbooks.

Richard Sayce has combined all the content from both these books into a quality hardback format, added a splattering of new recipes, and updated many of the photographs and illustrations.

Inside the new book you’ll find an abundance of mouth-watering, delightfully easy to follow Indian restaurant recipes. These are all backed up with detailed and comprehensive informational chapters: everything you need to learn the art of curry cooking.

Curry Compendium contains all you need to create your own restaurant quality food at home in your kitchen. Start saving a fortune on takeaways!

ISBN: 978-1-9996608-3-3
Publication Date: 1st September 2021
Format: Hardback, 320 pages, colour throughout

My Review – 5 stars

Inspirational, no-nonsense and practical. A treasure trove of traditional and lesser known recipes

I adore Indian food, whether I am eating out or cooking it at home. However, when it comes to my own culinary efforts, I can count on the fingers of one hand the occasions when I have cooked an Indian dish from scratch. Instead, I rely on using the jars, with their limited supply of recipes, which adorn the supermarket shelves. The unfamiliarity of some of the ingredients and my lack of knowledge and expertise when it comes to preparing such dishes has been a barrier. I was therefore delighted when I was given the opportunity to review this book by Richard Sayce and was keen to learn, put aside my crises of confidence and finally get hands on with the Indian cuisine.

The book is both informative and inspirational. I enjoyed the author’s own recollections of his first encounters with Indian food (similar to my own and many others I am sure) and how he overcome his own reticence to cook such delicious dishes that comprise the British Indian Restaurant style which the book focuses on.

The book is beautifully illustrated and the style of writing is engaging, taking the reader from the basics to more involved recipes in a no-nonsense practical style. I particularly enjoyed the hints and tips which the author shares with the reader throughout, gained from his many years mastering the cuisine. It contains chapters on starters, classic curries, special dishes, extra hot curries, vegeatable curries, side dishes, rice and breads and sundries, not to mention  a selection of mouthwatering street food and specialities.

This book has not only demystified the cusine’s most iconic recipes, but it has also introduced me to many more. It is indeed a treasure trove to all who desire to gain confidence in cooking and delve further into the myriad of dishes  available. I have now stocked up on just a number of key Indian spices and am armed with the know-how to produce a host of dishes I would never dream of having a go at cooking in the past.

Reviewed by Tina Williams

I received a copy of this book from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Sayce, the man behind Misty Ricardo’s Curry Kitchen, Curry Compendium and the cookbooks Indian Restaurant Curry at Home Volumes 1 & 2, has many years’ experience in the world of Indian food. A love of curry from an early age motivated him to master the art of BIR (British Indian Restaurant) cooking and to share his passion with others.

“I’ve been interested in cooking since an early age and have always loved Indian food. My passion led me to learn all about how curry is cooked in restaurants and takeaways here in the UK, which was my first experience of Indian food.

I endeavoured to finally master the art of creating excellent BIR style curry, and with time and a lot of experimentation, finally gained enough skill and knowledge to be happy with sharing my experiences.”

Richard lives in the North West of England and dedicates his ‘foodie’ time to cooking, recipes, social media, catering, and of course eating. A firm love of Indian food in both home and restaurant styles gives plenty of motivation to experiment and try out new recipes and ideas.

His two previous books, Indian Restaurant Curry at Home Volume 1 and 2, have each won the Gourmand World Cookbook award for best UK Self-Published Cookbook, 2019 and 2020 respectively, and have sold many thousands of copies in the UK and abroad. His long-standing YouTube channel has over 40,000 subscribers and over six million views.

Website: www.mistyricardo.com

Facebook: www.mistyricardo.com/mistyricardoscurrykitchen

YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/mistyricardo

Instagram: www.instagram.com/mistyricardo

Twitter: www.twitter.com/mistyricardo

Email: sales@mistyricardo.com

LEMON RICE from Curry Compendium by Richard Sayce

You may have noticed lemon rice in the ‘rice & sundries’ section of Indian restaurant and takeaway menus. It’s yet another hidden gem which is sadly disregarded.

My version uses both lemon juice and the essential lemon rind, along with some unconventional spices which I think complement the zesty flavour of this fried rice accompaniment.

This recipe will make enough for one or two people when served alongside a main dish. If you wish to make extra it’s best to repeat the recipe each time instead of scaling up. It’s quick to cook and the results are well worth it!

This recipe is based on that from my new book, Curry Compendium, published on 10th Sept 2021.

All spoon measurements are level. Dig in!

INGREDIENTS

  • 200g Cooked Basmati Rice (left to dry/cool so not moist)
  • 2 TBSP (30ml) Vegetable Oil or Butter Ghee
  • ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
  • ½ tsp Black or Yellow Mustard Seeds
  • 60g Onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, finely sliced
  • 1-2 tsp finely chopped fresh Green Chilli (optional)
  • ¼-½ tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Spice Mix – see separate recipe
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • ½ tsp Tandoori Masala powder (optional)
  • ½ tsp Kalonji Seeds (also known as Nigella or Onion seeds)
  • 1-2 tsp Lemon Rind (finely grated or chopped)
  • 2 TBSP fresh Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 TBSP fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1-2 tsp Butter Ghee to finish (optional)

METHOD

  1. Cook the basmati rice according to the instructions on the packet or your preferred method. Make sure any excess water is drained, then run a fork through it gently a few times and leave to dry off a bit and cool. Don’t leave rice at room temperature for more than an hour or so. If in doubt place the rice container in ice cold water or refrigerate after cooking.
  2. Heat the oil or ghee in a wok or frying pan on high heat.
  3. Add the cumin and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop add the chopped onion and 2 garlic cloves.
  4. Stir fry for 30-45 seconds or until the onion browns at the edges. The sweetness of the partly caramelised onion will complement the sharpness of the lemon.
  5. Now add the salt, mix powder, turmeric, tandoori masala, kalonji seeds, and the optional green chilli.
  6. Continue frying for 20-30 seconds stirring diligently to prevent the spices from sticking and burning.
  7. Then add the lemon rind, the cooked basmati rice, and the finely chopped coriander leaves.
  8. Mix well and continue stir frying for a minimum of 90 seconds until the rice is piping hot.
  9. Add the fresh lemon juice shortly before the end of cooking, and if you wish, top with some butter ghee for extra richness.
  10. Serve, sprinkling a little bit more fresh coriander on top.

RECIPE FOR SPICE MIX USED IN ABOVE LEMON RICE

Also known commonly as ‘Mix Powder’, this is a mixture of basic spices, and is used in most British Indian restaurants to form the basis of the spicing. This is the recipe I most commonly use, which I find gives a good foundation of flavour to all curries.

This recipe will make enough for at least 12 curries but you can scale the ingredients down if you wish. For the best result, ground the cumin and coriander seeds.

Once prepared, store airtight and away from light – it will then last for months.

Simply mix the following together:

  • 1 TBSP Cumin Powder
  • 1 TBSP Coriander Powder
  • 1½ TBSP Turmeric Powder
  • ½ TBSP Paprika (NOT smoked)
  • 1½ TBSP Mild Madras Curry Powder
  • ¼ tsp Garam Masala

Recipes credited to Curry Compendium by Richard Sayce, available online and in all good bookshops, £24.99.

 

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*BOOK TOUR & REVIEW* – Am I Loved? The Most Asked Question Of All Time by John D. Bieber.

#nonfiction #philosophical #psychological

Am I Loved TWITTER GRAPHIC

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Book Blurb

We did not enter this world with a manual. This book is the next best thing. As the world’s only emotional beings is it not truly astonishing that we function through emotions that we do not remotely understand or control? How then can we possibly understand or control ourselves? Bound together by a total ignorance of the human condition, we conduct our lives unaware of how we are meant to live.

Am I Loved? is nothing if not about being human. It is a book of secrets. A book about life, how life has been lived by a parade of humanity 65 billion names long all of whom have got it wrong, failing to understand how things are meant to be. This book defines the human condition as it is and, unknown until now, how it has always been. Our emotions exist not to benefit us but to safeguard our genes, protecting the life within us. Thus is the language of our emotions translated for us to understand, their crucial interaction with the greatest human need of all, our need to be loved, duly explained. All else flows from this.

We spend our lives intent on surviving when fulfilment comes from loving and being loved. Nature’s Protections serve to liberate us yet we allow them to inhibit our lives without realising that the majority of our many emotional problems are solvable simply by a proper understanding of the human condition. Understanding what we do not understand will be a hugely fulfilling experience significantly enhancing the quality of our lives. Am I Loved? explains how this may be done enabling us to get everything right.

Publisher: Umbria Press

My Review

Insightful and thought-provoking – 5 stars

Am I Loved? Is an insightful contribution into the human condition and how we manage the myriad of emotions which we experience and which impact on our existence. It proposes a way forward in which we can understand and channel our emotions so that we gain greater happiness and fulfilment. It left me, the reader, with the tools to begin re-examining my own emotional outlook and how I relate to others so that I do not solely survive but love and be loved in a way I had not previously contemplated in quite the same way.

The author delves into the realms of history, faith, genes and psychology and it is clear he has spent many years of research before producing his own thoughts. His book encourages us to comprehend the forces at play within ourselves and our emotions, why they exist and how they relate to our innate need to be loved. Whilst the read contained a number of concepts unfamiliar to me, the book did well in introducing them step by step so that by the end the way forward made practical sense.

I feel that this is a book I will want to return to again and again as I contemplate my relationships with others and also my own psyche.

Reviewed by Tina Williams

Please note, a copy of this book was given to me by the author in return for a fair and honest review.

Goodreads

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Syndicated Interview with John Bieber

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In short, what is the primary message behind Am I Loved??

The very things that make us human are those that cause us to feel ill at ease in our humanity because right back to the first human being everyone has got everything wrong. For how can we function as sophisticated emotional beings when we can neither understand nor control our emotions? This book examines the human condition establishing where and why we have gone wrong and how we can now get everything right leading to a more fulfilling and meaningful existence and the chance to feel truly comfortable in ourselves and at ease in our nature for the very first time.

What initially inspired you the write the book?

My experience as a Divorce lawyer witnessing people in huge distress who were rendered incapable of taking constructive decisions due to the onslaught of their emotions. This led me to write a book on the emotional side of divorce which in turn led to a detailed study of our emotions. which were clearly not understood at all.

What is your goal for the book following publication?

None particularly although I would love my book to be accepted as the definitive analysis of the human condition.

What was the writing process like for such an epic tome? Did the book involve a lot of research and if so, where did your research take you?

I read widely around the subject. See my bibliography. Every book seemed to miss the point but by considering them all I was able to build my theories from where theirs’ had left off.

Is Am I Loved? your first book? If not, how does it differ to your previous book(s)?

No. If Divorce is the Only Way? (Penguin) was my first published book although I have written two unpublished novels and have a play I would love to write but probably never will.

In your opinion, what one thing most defines us as humans?

Our overwhelming need to be loved.

Is it truly possible to fully control and manage our emotions?

No. Emotions come to us fully formed responding to the needs of our genes for the preservation of life, rather than to our personal needs. And so, preserving the Life within us they are beyond our control. The best we can do is to try to control our reactions to them by the suppression of anger or the masking of sadness or surprise.

Why is it so necessary to understand our emotions?

Because all personal feelings and human intercourse flows through them.

Could you tell us more about the concept of ‘The Speechless Real’?

The Speechless Real is not my term it originated with Jacques Barzun. It is the reason for our ignorance of how we function. It envelops us all blotting out a full understanding of the human condition to the extent that no one can even explain what it feels like to be alive although all of us experience that feeling all the time every day. In this way people will believe that despite its limitations the way we live is the only way there is despite the misery and sadness this may engender. It is a block on understanding inimical to a full knowledge of the human condition that my book seeks to dispel.

Why do we have such a strong need to be and feel loved?

These needs are our greatest needs, again designed for the better protection of life.

What is the link between our emotions and our need to be loved?

Very strong. Our Supreme Sense analyses our every emotion by reference to the effect that such emotions have on our need to be loved. Hence the question “Am I Loved? “A negative emotion will have a negative effect whilst a positive emotion will have a positive effect enabling us, though our Supreme Sense, to gauge how we are surviving at any one time.

Could you tell us more about the fundamental role our genes play in our existence?

Inhabiting a parallel universe to our own, feeling nothing, caring for nothing and intending nothing save for their own preservation, genes exist beyond our senses. We do not feel them, we are not aware of physically carrying them, but as the architects and builders of Creation they are the sine qua non of all existence. Life may be Nature’s most treasured and precious creation and the host bodies of Creation her greatest triumph, but ultimately both Life and Creation are wholly dependent upon genes for survival.

How can we learn to feel truly comfortable in ourselves?

Read my book! Understand the human condition as I have explained it which incidentally holds out the beguiling prospect of our being able to resolve the majority of our emotional problems with far greater facility. There is really too much to explain in a single answer. It has taken a book to set out.

Why do humans so often misunderstand, and/or misinterpret, emotions?

Because they arise unsummoned responding to the need of our genes for the preservation of Life, rather than to our personal needs as we would construe them.

How, as humans, does our nature and emotions differ to that of other species?

We have far larger brains, and the special gifts of a substantial range of emotions, the capacity to love and the great need to be loved. In addition, of course, we have the dexterity of our thumbs not given to the majority of species which makes a huge difference.

How can we live a truly fulfilled existence?

By understanding the human condition as I have explained it.

What are some of the most frequently misunderstood or misinterpreted human emotions?

The desire that everyone should conform leading to grief beginning in the playground, and, if unchecked, eventually causing some of the world’s worst atrocities.

Does Am I Loved? explore religion? Could you tell us more about the relationship between religion and human emotions?

Yes, in two chapters. We love God because we want him to love and bless us in return. We do so as we believe in him as a matter of faith. Paradoxically, the worse things become the more we turn to him to protect us. However, God cannot love us in return as he cannot requite our love. It follows that in giving him our love we may have given him something we should have given each other. Spinoza said if you really love God you should not expect him to love you in return. How many people would pass that test?  Two huge questions are also raised. What would happen if we could prove either that God did or did not exist? Why should God have emotions?

The book explores some fundamental questions; in addition to those about love, what other big questions do you look into in the book?

Emotions, genes, survival, folly of pursuing survival rather than love, heredity, religion, why so many people seek love from an invisible God, the Supreme Sense, Nature’s Morality, consciousness, Creation, ancestry, fear, happiness, ignorance, Life, Nature, Nature’s Protections, reproduction.

And finally, what would you like readers to take away from the book after reading it?

A feeling of relief in discovering that Nature never intended us to function as imperfect beings after all. That the human condition as explained offers a whole new take on life offering the opportunity of greater happiness and fulfilment and the chance to feel comfortable in ourselves and at ease in our nature for the very first time. That our emotions can be managed after all that life begins to make sense.

-Ends-

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*BLOG TOUR* ~ The Boss Upstairs by Roya Carmen

#steamy #contemporary #romance

Release Date: October 27, 2020

Cover Design: Calico Images

Goodreads

Blurb:

For fans of The Ground Rules trilogy, Weston is back, and naughtier than ever, in this sweet and steamy boss secretary romance.

Gretchen Morris is barely thirty, yet she’s already a widow. Ethan, her two-year old boy, is the light of her life. This is it for her. She will never love anyone like she loved her late husband, Donovan. Every hour, he’s in her thoughts, in her heart, not letting go. She’s completely shattered because he’s gone, and every single day, she must live with the knowledge that she’s the one to blame.

She’s nothing but a hollow shell, going through her life on auto pilot, trying to be strong for Ethan, but failing miserably. She’s looking to become self-sufficient again, to head back into the job market and start a new chapter.

Surprisingly, all it takes is one jolt to bring her back to life; an opportunity to work with the reclusive wealthy man in the penthouse upstairs.

Weston Hanson is odd, beautiful, sweet, playful, and unlike anyone she’s ever met before. And he’s as broken as she is. He’s lived a man’s worst nightmare, gone through a divorce, and let go of a woman he loved dearly. He’s still obsessed with this woman and cannot move past the regrets in his life.

Can two people fall in love if their souls are full of broken memories, and their hearts are still held captive by others?

Buy Links (Kindle Unlimited):

Amazon US

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

Praise:

Goodreads Review – “Absolute perfection here folks! So good! Definitely a must read!”

Brittany’s Book Blog – “This story was certainly romantic and very unique and I loved how the relationship between Gretchen and Weston developed.”

Goodreads Review – “This book is fantastic!

Loved this so much and was lucky enough to read it very early on.

Weston is super swoony.”

Excerpt:

“Thanks for the flowers. You shouldn’t have.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

“But this is getting kind of silly, Weston,” I say. “I know it was in the agreement that you could get me gifts but—”

“They’re just flowers, Grasshopper.” He stands and walks toward me. My whole body turns on every time he’s within five feet of me. I love it, but I also kind of hate it. No man has ever had this effect on me. Not even Donovan.

He takes my hand. “They were offered in apology. I’m not quite sure what I’m apologizing for, but last time we played, I upset you.”

I shake my head. “No, you didn’t.”

His brows furrow. “Don’t lie to me. I study people, Gretchen, and I’m very good at reading them. I knew you wanted me the first time I looked into your eyes, and I also know I upset you. You need to tell me what the matter is because I don’t want any secrets between us.”

I blow out a breath. I’m clearly not getting out of this.

“You’ve disappointed me.”

“How so?” he asks with wide eyes.

“I didn’t realize you were the kind of man who could be unfaithful.”

He shakes his head. “How do you mean?”

“The woman you mentioned…” I clarify. “The one you’re trying not to think about. Is she the reason you divorced your wife?”

He hesitates a long beat before speaking, and I wonder if I’ve just hit the nail on the head.

“Kind of… she had a lot to do with our separation,” he confesses. “Quite a lot in fact.”

“Were you having an affair with her?” I ask, desperate to know.

“No,” he says. “Not really. Not in the traditional sense.”

What the hell does that mean?

He blows out a huge breath. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

I don’t hesitate to answer. “Positive.”

Also Available:

The Girl He Loves

The Man Next Door

Amazon US

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

Author Bio: 

Roya Carmen is a busy mom, romance writer, designer, bookworm, chocoholic, and hopeless romantic. There’s nothing she enjoys more than making up stories about love, and sharing them with her readers.

Social Media Links:

Website

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads Author Page

Author Facebook Page

Twitter

Instagram

 

 

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*BLOG TOUR* ~ The Golden Shana Series, by A P von K’Ory: includes Author Post and Excerpts

On Choosing the Best Book Title

by Akinyi Prinzessin von K’Orinda-Yimbo
(A P von K’Ory)

I learnt much about choosing book titles through reading my favourite adviser, Chuck Sambuchino, in Writer’s Digest. He mentioned 5 crucial points to take into consideration, which I list below, but in my own words and assessment.

(1) You Can Base Your Titles on Theme: Theme-based popular novels Sambuchino mentions are Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. These novels are based on the subject the novels deal with. In my Golden Shana series, the love story of Roman and ‘Golden’ Shana, I’ve split the titles into The Chase (Roman determined to find that lady he had a glimpse of at the opera) and is determined to find; The Capture (Roman finally able to have a first date with Shana, the woman he’d chased after and found); The Untouchable (Roman faced with an unknown rival he’s determined to fight off his Golden, but blundering miserably in the task). I’m now on the fourth book: The Conquest, where this dangerous rival from Shana’s past has to be dealt with. The question is, who will deal with him most effectively, Shana or Roman?). But you always need a bit of intrigue to separate the title from the pedestrian and make it unique and memorable. The titles each give a hint of what takes place in each book.

(2) Your Protagonist’s Name: You can give your protagonist a catchy, memorable name. My Bound to Tradition books were translated into German by Droemer Knaur (a member of the Big Five publishers) and named Khiras Traum – Khira’s Dream. They chose to use the name of my protagonist for the title, adding the very ordinary word “dream”. But there are tons of dreams in all of us and the reader would wonder what kind of dream this young girl has, whether it is realistic, or in fact a symbolic dream.

(3) Your Protagonist’s Occupation or Other Qualities: You can also use your protagonist’s occupation as a title. Think of the works of Barbara Cartland such as The Poor Overness, The Wicked Marquis, and The Duke and the Preacher’s Daughter. In contemporary works, think of author Nora Roberts’ book The Witness, John Grisham’s simple but succinct titles – The Firm, The Associate, The Client, The Chamber or Danielle Steele’s novel titled A Perfect Stranger.

(4) Your Titles Can Also Be Inspired by Songs and Poems: The operative word here is inspired. Of course there are no copyrights on titles worldwide, but you want your baby to be unique, right? So you can get inspired by others’ song titles or writings. Take, for example, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, taken out of the poem “Comin’ Thro the Rye” by Robert Burns. When it comes to mystery and suspense genres, Mary Higgins Clark goes for songs to inspire her, such as I’ve Got You under My Skin (Frank Sinatra) and Let Me Call You Sweetheart (Bing Crosby).

(5) You Can Lift the Titles from the Manuscript Itself: This is similar to choosing the name of your protagonist or their profession to use as titles. Only in this case, you pick something else out of your book. Sambuchino gives the title of E.M. Forster’s classic romantic story, A Room with a View, which came from the novel’s first page when Charlotte Bartlett and Lucy Honeychurch complained about not having a room with a view of the Arno river, a river in the Apennines of northern Italy which flows westwards through Florence and Pisa to the Ligurian Sea.

Just keep in mind (I know, we’re writers not marketers, right?) that the title should match your genre, the crux of the story, (like I couldn’t title Secret Shades as Murder Most Foul, although that, in effect, is the crux of Helena’s secret and story – trying to murder her own biological heritage for good, and that is indeed murder most foul!).

The right title will bring you closer to capturing your target readers.

Over to you, and happy choosing.

Blurb: Golden Shana: The Chase (Book 1)

An evening at the opera house La Scala in Milan twirled the lives of five people into a web of intrigues, heartaches, human hunts, loss and revenge.
Roman: I never chased after a woman. It was always the other way around. Then I caught a glimpse of the woman I would kneel for, at the opera, and I didn’t even know her name. But I determined to find her if it took me the rest of my life.
Shana: He stood in the room with her. The frisson in the currents freaking between them was as solid as a steel portal. The mutual force of predator and prey blasted its way into her core … her soul … Danger. Keep far away from him.
Marie: Some men were born to rule the world; others were born to ruin it. Roman Alastair Northcott Broughton Castell was born to do both. But she loved him and awaited his baby.
Alyssa: He was the lover she wouldn’t tire of. Roman had something so damned perilous about him he was addictive. Who gets addicted to safe and riskless? Not her.
Grieg/Phoenix: Had His Girl interpreted that Friday night as abuse? He’d only done what she wanted – protection of her cherished innocence.

Excerpt from Golden Shana: The Chase (Book 1)

What a difference a day makes… And it hadn’t been a day. It had been an evening in Milan. Brief moments of an evening. I didn’t care about the consequences to whomever. Through my obsession with Svadishana I became aware of the fact that I was a person. A human being, not an almighty god, with all the baggage that comes with being that. I too – eureka! – had a heart pumping white and red corpuscles through my veins. Blood, not icicles.

Was it love I felt for Svadishana? A woman I’d spoken three whiny words – Please call me! – to? Was it more than simple lust and desire? Did I want to possess more than just her body?

Pondering these questions alone was so unlike me. That woman had turned me into an alien even unto my own self. What I felt, my inner voice said, was more than the thrill of the hunt. More than lust, desire, need, passion, the excitement of possession, and subjugation.

Of course all that was part of it. But the basis or the source, the seedbed on which all that sprouted and was growing to full blossom in me, could well be something else.

When I thought of her, saw her image from Milan in my mind, watched how she moved in long smooth strides in YouTube, my brow beaded with sweat. I couldn’t pull my gaze away from the few photos I’d fished out of the Internet. Group photos at a family birthday or the authorized biography of her father. Her movements in a YouTube conference clip were springy and powerful even in their smoothness. She exuded strength all over the place, laughing, talking, gesticulating.

A breath-taking beauty. Such beauty that I dared not believe it at times.

And brains to go with it.

In love or not, I knew what I wanted and Svadishana was the answer. I wanted her and would do anything short of suicide to get her. Who knows – perhaps when it came to that as the only means available, I’d really murder too. I didn’t in the least care about the consequences, as long as they got me to where I wanted to get to.

Svadishana’s arms and knickers and… heart?

What obsession, Roman. Get back to real.

No chance. Real was Svadishana.

Blurb: Golden Shana: The Capture (Book 2)

Roman finally gets together with Shana. But he finds himself wedged between three women and the man intent on killing him because of Shana. And there’s the secret of Marie’s unborn baby.
Roman: I wanted to eat all of her. Even within that fortress I longed to erect around her to hold her captive in, to keep her away from men not worthy of the sight of her, I’d devour her.
Shana: Roman was deadly sex. She had no antigenic for immunity against him. Instead she lay there on his bed, in an impossible state of sluttish disarray, holding her breath.
Marie: “So you didn’t bring your rich old cow with you.” The bitch was ten years older than her, years older than Roman himself. Weren’t men supposed to prefer younger women?
Alyssa: She was not going to let Roman treat her like a hole in the air. He started this triangle and she was going to make it equilateral.
Grieg/Phoenix: His philosophy stated that peace was bondage, and war was freedom. His Girl was his territory, and no other man’s.

Excerpt from Golden Shana: The Capture (Book 2)
I picked her up and carried her like a bride. Or a sleeping child. She nuzzled between my neck and shoulder. I kicked the door shut behind us.

We were both ablaze, and I needed to check that, wind it down a notch.

“Like to lie down on the sofa and cuddle till we both slow down a bit?”

“Bed.” Her voice vibrated against my neck.

We left the entrance hall behind us. The flames kept on leaping.

“Overriding my sensible decision?”

“Yes. Bed.” Tremulous once, tremulous twice.

“Just got me, and you want to run away with it.” I bore her past the living room.

“Bed.”

“I’m getting a restraining order on you.” I took the first stair, chest tight again.

She lifted her head off my shoulder and her Huskies sent megawatts to my blues. Unveiled desire. My balls clenched. At this degree I risked coming where I stood with her in my arms. I was tempted to close my eyes and summon my control. For the first time I felt life surge through my veins for a woman, the whole woman, not just sex with her. Again, I experienced that powerful instinct in me to guard and protect her, the fragile and most precious thing in my life. She had a pull on every cell in me. Her masses of loose curls gave warm slaps through my chinos to my hip, sending the sergeant into planning guerrilla warfare for its freedom.

The witch. I was hypnotized. I had to stop climbing the stairs and get my head cleared. She was as necessary to me as the air I breathed, yet she knocked that air straight out of my lungs. Her naked desire was intoxicating. Insanity mingled with reality. I really had her back in my arms. She came to me, came to my home for the first time. And ordered Bed, not a mutual shower. She was the first and only woman to take me to this Newland. She was my perfect balance. I’d fallen hard and didn’t even want to get back up. It happens to the worst of us ingrained rogue playboys.

The Huskies still pinned me in Newland. “Skirting around the deed, are we?”

“Protecting my golden goddess.”

For sheer survival, I broke the lock of our eyes and started up the stairs again.

Blurb: Golden Shana: The Untouchable (Book 3)
Roman doesn’t even want a harem. But the harem relentlessly seeks him. No sooner has Shana left Roman than Grieg/Phoenix is marking time on Roman’s door, out for a war, not a fight, over Shana. And so is Marie, whose pregnancy Roman still keeps a secret.
Roman: I loved owning women. Then I found my woman. But she would never be owned, not even by the gods. She left me. Still, her dangerous admirer and I began wars over her, not merely street fisticuffs.
Shana: Roman scares me in every way and the fear excites me. I’m brainless in his arms, brainless just from thinking about him. He makes me navigate so many labyrinthine passages and secret doors that I’d never even been aware of before. My body knelt and wept for him. My common sense made me flee from him while I could.
Marie: I sold Roman my heart and soul. Only to realise my body had not been consulted, and was therefore out for war.
Alyssa: I really got all that about Roman. The super-ink indelibility of him, the substance of him that stamped his four-figure-euro Ferragamo Oxfords, the supernatural charisma that rocketed him all the way up there with Lucifer. His square would never fit my round. But hope springs eternal, right?
Grieg: “If I have whoever your girl is, why don’t you simply come over and take me off her or her off me?” Roman had not reacted like a man who had received that damning message. Over the phone, he’d sounded as if he didn’t have a single feather ruffled. Time to start the war.

Excerpt from Golden Shana: The Untouchable (Book 3)

I heard him change the phone to the other ear. “Castell, you’re a kid running a billion-euro crib, you pervert.”

My system actually waged wars for me to jump out of my skin. Control, Castell.

“Oh, yes. I’m about as straight as the U-bend under a sink, fuckwit. So is this the problem? A pissing contest based on having some beef about your wallet being a little anorexic in comparison? Have I got that bracketed?” I heard him swallow again. I decided on a blind knock on that, although for all I knew he was drinking water. “By the way, I’d ease up on the drink. Otherwise you won’t manage to solve the square root of bugger all, let alone remember if you have any other name but Sggirb.”

“I know you right up to your fucking perve room, Castell. I delivered the CD—had the CD delivered – right into your fucking office, practically into your hands. You know nothing about me. So you better watch your smart mouth.”

“Ah, you thought you’d simply storm the Bastille that’s my home and be discreet about it, then slink into my office building and show me the dot over the i that amounts to your balls? You’re right, I know nothing about you. You’re not even in my periphery, private or public.”

“I’m not a ball of yarn to your kitten, so watch your fucking mouth, Castell!”

Just to keep him put off his stroke, “Who would you say has all the tools for annihilation, fuckwit, the kitten or the yarn?”

“You’re lucky I’m—”

“Luck is basically mythical. Reality is called chance. How about we meet?”

He said nothing.

Not good, because now that I was screwing him hard, I needed to keep up the pace. So I said, “You could make it your mud hole or you could haul your arse back here to my city. Then we roll up our sleeves, or whisk off our T-shirts. Then we start doing a little tribute to Muhammad Ali out in the Congo with Joe Frazier.”

He said nothing. I heard him swallow at intervals during the silence. “I’m rapt with attention, fuckwit Sggirb, so let’s have a date and then – to quote your countryman –you are an American – float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

“You think you’re so fucking cool…” He rumbled the word out long: Coooooollll…

“Oh, I don’t just think it.”

“Just keep your hands off her, Castell. Keep your hands off My Girl!”

“If I have whoever your girl is, why don’t you simply come over and take me off her or her off me?” I paused for a reply, none came. “Or is this the sheep being docile until they get utterly famished?” Another pause. Silence, so I continued, “You sound like you wouldn’t find a clitoris if you were armed with a compass, street map and a fucking NASA telescope.”
“You can’t intimidate me, Castell.”

Which only exposed to me the wound I’d ripped open in him. Time to add chilli.

BUY LINKS IN KINDLE – Please note that the books are also available in paperbacks:

UK Kindle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Shana-Chase-von-KOry-ebook/dp/B00WA7M3OC/

UK Kindle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Shana-Capture-von-KOry-ebook/dp/B06X1DGGMZ/

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Shana-Untouchable-von-KOry-ebook/dp/B07H1YY28C#reader_1725967073

US Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Shana-Capture-von-KOry-ebook/dp/B06X1DGGMZ/

US Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Shana-Untouchable-von-KOry-ebook/dp/B07H1YY28C/

UK Untouchable PB: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Shana-Untouchable-von-KOry/dp/1725967073

Website http://www.Akinyi-princess.de

Twitter https://www.twitter.com/Apky11162

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/A-P-Von-KOry/e/B00MDHD7ZS

GIVEAWAY!

Make sure to follow the whole tour—the more posts you visit throughout, the more chances you’ll get to enter the giveaway. The tour dates are here: http://writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/a-p-von-kory/

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*BLOG TOUR w/EXCERPT* ~ ANTHEM OF SURVIVAL, THE ANTHEM TRILOGY BOOK 3, By Thom Collins

#m/m novel


Out Now—THE ANTHEM TRILOGY BOOK 3: ANTHEM OF SURVIVAL By Thom Collins

The Anthem Trilogy:
1. Anthem of the Sea
2. Anthem of the Dark
3. Anthem of Survival

Anthem of Survival

Will they ever escape the past?
Revenge casts a long shadow.

Following two prior attempts on their lives, Daniel and Elijah are together and stronger than ever. Their relationship has weathered the toughest elements and survived. Physically and emotionally scarred, the bond between them can’t be broken. One year on from the devastating events in Anthem of the Dark they have reassessed their priorities and want to spend time out of the spotlight.

Elijah has quit his stand-up career to focus on his new passion: training to be a chef. But for Daniel, there are too many questions he desperately needs answers to. Like who orchestrated the violence in Blackpool a year ago? Whose hatred of him runs so deep they’re ruthlessly prepared to hurt innocent by-standers? He teams up with journalist Keeley Rank to uncover the facts.

Though the truth is well hidden, it is closer than anyone thinks. Someone wants revenge. Someone intent on destroying Daniel anyway she can. When Daniel and Elijah attend a fundraising gala for a victim support charity they are unaware they are about to face their most perilous situation yet. Vengeance is a deadly game and not everyone will survive.
Available in ebook and Paperback

BUY LINKS:

Pride Publishing: http://ow.ly/2EIj30myQPQ
Amazon USA: http://ow.ly/J2nk30mTNMC
Amazon UK: http://ow.ly/iXQc30mTNIb

Excerpt:

Daniel Blake, sitting on a shaded terrace in a pair of sun-bleached shorts, strummed a melody on his guitar. The afternoon sun blazed in a cloudless sky and, despite the protective canopy above him, the heat was intense. Beads of sweat ran down his neck, tracking over bronzed skin to the dark mass of chest hair. It glistened on his top lip as he gently chewed the bottom. With his eyes closed, he progressed through the strings. A moment later, he smiled, finally satisfied, and put down the guitar. He reached for the weathered notebook that had been his constant companion all summer and wrote in an eager, untidy hand.

Daniel had been working on the song for two days, both music and lyrics, and, at last, it was done. He had nothing left to add.

He lifted his gaze to the sky and inhaled full into his lungs. Across the terrace, the blue water of the Ionian Sea reflected the white light of the sun, its expanse an ever-changing collage of sapphire and diamond colors. Down the coast, the outline of Corfu Island was a hazy mirage in the heat. This perfect view had been his for six amazing weeks. The idyll would soon be over, but not yet.

Daniel lay back on the lounger and lengthened his arms above his head, stretching the stiffness in his neck. He’d been so absorbed in the song, ensuring every chord and every word were right, he’d ignored his own comfort and now his body ached. A few weeks earlier, he’d made the mistake of writing beside the pool, in the direct glare of the sun, and paid the price. Two painful days in bed with sunburn. Since then, he’d stuck to the shade while working on his music. He lost himself so much in the process it was easy to burn.

Daniel studied his body as he lay there. He’d never looked so good or been this tan before. There’d been no time to sunbathe in the past, he’d always thought it a waste of time. He had had too much to do, too much to achieve, to spend his days lying around a pool. But he’d realized this summer that a tan didn’t just suit him, it helped him feel better.

It wasn’t just the sun. Daily sessions in the pool and long walks on the beach kept him in shape. Coming off Lady Lynda, he’d had every intention of letting his fitness routine go a little, if only for the summer, but it hadn’t worked out that way. He was in better condition now than when he arrived, in mind as well as body.
His legs were strong, muscular and tan. He hardly recognized his own body. He inched down the top of his shorts to admire the contrast in color between the creamy skin below his waist and the coppery tones above. The villa was private and he could have bathed naked if he’d wanted to, except he wasn’t that kind of guy. Besides, tan lines were sexy. He’d always thought so. Who needed to risk a burnt butt and balls?

The one thing that marred the bronze color of his torso was the scars between his hip bones and ribcage, sustained the night Oliver Gill had stabbed him, and from the lifesaving surgery he’d gone through afterward. Before coming to Corfu, the pale scars had been almost unnoticeable on his white skin. His dark body hair just about concealed them. But as his tan deepened, the scars stayed white, becoming more pronounced, forcing him to look at them, to acknowledge them.

Daniel traced his fingers along the lines and indentations. Had he made peace with the disfigurement? No. But as the summer came to an end, he’d learned to accept them.

Daniel sighed and basked in the heat. Life was not so bad, considering what the last two years had thrown at him. Better than that, things were good. Not perfect, too many questions remained unanswered for that, but his optimism grew every day.

The glass doors of the terrace opened behind him and Elijah Mann stepped out, offering him a cold bottle of water.
“It’s hotter than hell out here,” Elijah remarked, shielding his eyes against the sun to gaze across the sea.
Daniel swung his legs over the side of the sunbed and sat up. He drank the chilled, sparkling water and looked with admiration at Elijah’s chunky thighs. While the sun had turned Daniel’s white-boy skin an appealing shade of bronze, Elijah, with his Greek heritage, had gone nut-brown. The beige shorts and blue open-neck shirt he wore today complemented his tan. God, he’s gorgeous. Daniel never had to remind himself what a lucky guy he was.

Elijah dropped onto the other sunbed, knees spread wide, and looked straight at him with soulful brown eyes. His thick blue-black hair fell in an untidy wave across his brow and a three-day beard darkened his jaw. With his natural Greek coloring, Daniel wondered if Elijah had ever looked more handsome. Even more important, he looked happier and healthier than he had in a long time. Less than a year ago he’d been in hospital, fighting for his life. Daniel wouldn’t ever forget how close he’d come to losing him. Those long, terrible hours beside his bed, praying he would recover. Hoping for the best, afraid of the worst.

“How’s it going?” Elijah asked, nodding at his guitar.
“I’m finished,” he answered, smiling.
Elijah’s eyebrows raised. “Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense. Let me hear it.”
“What’s for lunch?” Daniel asked, feigning indifference.
Elijah leapt forward, grabbing Daniel’s bare waist, tickling the sensitive flesh around his middle. Daniel yelped and fell backward, giggling. Elijah followed through, lying on top of him, fingers still working his waist. Daniel laughed, squirming against his hard body.
“No lunch today,” Elijah said, his face on top of Daniel’s. “Not until you play me your song.”

Thom Collins Bio

 

Thom Collins is the author of Closer by Morning, Gods of Vengeance and Silent Voices with Pride Publishing. The Anthem Trilogy is out now from Pride Publishing. His love of page turning thrillers began at an early age when his mother caught him reading the latest Jackie Collins book and promptly confiscated it, sparking a life-long love of raunchy novels.

He is currently working on a new novel.

Thom has lived in the North East of England his whole life. He grew up in Northumberland and now lives in County Durham with his husband and two cats. He loves all kinds of genre fiction, especially bonk-busters, thrillers, romance and horror. He is also a cookery book addict with far too many titles cluttering his shelves. When not writing he can be found in the kitchen trying out new recipes. He’s a keen traveler but with a fear of flying that gets worse with age, but since taking his first cruise in 2013 he realized that sailing is the way to go.

Links:

Blog: http://www.thomcollins.co.uk
Twitter: @thomwolf and @realthomcollins
Instagram: thomcollinsauthor
Pinterest: Thom Collins
Email: thomcollinsauthor@aol.com

Release blitz organised by Writer Marketing Services.

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*BLOG TOUR* ~ Sergio: A Dark Mafia Romance, by Natasha Knight

Buy the Book

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Book Synopsis

I’m the first-born son of the mafia king. The favorite. Destined to rule, I’m a dangerous man, a ruthless one. But in my world, you have to be.

Then Natalie stumbles into my life. Wrong place. Wrong time.

Twice, fate put her in my path.
Twice, fate placed the innocent lamb at the mercy of the monster.

I gave her a chance to walk away. Told her it would be better for her if she did.
But she didn’t listen.
And now it’s too late.
Because I’m not good. I never wanted to be. And I won’t let her go anymore. See, I’m not the hero. When I touch her, it’s with dirty hands.

I know my reckoning is coming though. I know I’ll burn for the things I’ve done, the sins I’ve committed. And I don’t deny hell is where I belong, but I want my time first. I want my time with her.

She’s mine.
Forever.
No matter what.

Author’s Note: Sergio: a Dark Mafia Romance is an intensely emotional, steamy and dark standalone romance set in the Benedetti Brothers Mafia world. Be prepared: this is not a traditional romance.

Excerpt: Natalie’s POV

I unlock the door and step inside. The first thing I do is slip off my shoes, leaving them on the mat as I walk to the kitchen table to set down the portfolio. I realize it’s strange Pepper didn’t greet me tonight. I’m later than usual and she’s probably hungry.

“Pepper, I’m home. Sorry I’m late. You wouldn’t believe my day.” I walk around the table to open the cabinet under the sink and get her food. “Come on, honey. Dinner.”

Nothing. Not even when she must hear the sound of food filling her bowl.

I stop. “Pepper?” My heart races. Shit. She’s so old. What if…

I straighten, thinking the worst, and turn to head into the living room. I switch on the light and let out a scream because I’m not alone.
Sergio’s here. Sitting in the middle of the couch, arms spread wide, eyes hard.

And right now, he looks like a fucking Godfather.

Pepper’s on the floor, her head on his shoe, sleeping.

“I fed her.” He’s pissed, I can hear it in his voice, feel it coming off him. There’s a half empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table.
“What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

“She was hungry.”

“How did you get inside?” I repeat. I can match his anger.

“I told you I had a key.”

Fuck. That’s what he’d meant last night. “You can’t have a key. I never gave you one.”

“You switched off your phone.”

I walk over to Pepper, squat down to pet her. I don’t look at him when I answer. “Because I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“When I call you, you answer.”

“Doesn’t work that way.” I say, standing, spinning on my heel. I’m about to walk away when he captures my wrist, his grip firm, more firm than he’s ever been with me. I make a sound, try to pull free, but he tugs on my arm, kicks my feet out from under me so I fall face down onto his lap. “What are you—”

He slaps my ass hard ten times in succession.

I’m gasping, instinctively reaching back to cover the spot. He captures my wrist, so he has both now, and holds them in one of his hands. I crane my neck to look up at him. He keeps his eyes locked on mine and rubs one hand over my ass, then spanks it again, ten more times on the other cheek.

“Stop!” It fucking hurts.

“When I call you, you answer, Natalie.”

I tug at my arms, but his grip is vice-like.

“Do you understand?” he asks.

“Let me go.”

“Do you fucking understand?”

“Yes!”

He gives me one more hard smack before releasing me, and I stumble to my feet. I feel hot, embarrassed, and I’m clutching my ass.

“I just want you safe.” He gets to his feet.

I step backward.

He’s wearing a suit, the jacket of which is hanging over the back of a chair. He gently moves Pepper’s head off his foot before he walks toward me.

I’m mute as he approaches. There’s a darkness to Sergio Benedetti. It clings to him, like a shadow. It’s the one thing that scares me about him because I trust that he won’t hurt me. And I believe that he wants me safe. I may not understand it, but I believe it.
But this shadow, it’s not one he casts. The opposite. It seems to cast itself over him. To have a claim on him. Some strange, powerful hold over him.

About the Author

USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance, Natasha Knight specializes in dark, tortured heroes. Happily-Ever-Afters are guaranteed, but she likes to put her characters through hell to get them there. She’s evil like that.

 

 

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*BLOG TOUR* ~ Mistress of the Air, by S. Nano (includes author post, extract and giveaway)

On Airships

Mistress Of The Air is a comic, Steampunk, erotic adventure. It features Edwardian dominatrix Lady Sally Rudston-Chichester and her airship, ‘The Corseted Domme’. Lady Sally travels across the Empires of Europe having adventures and dropping in on her aristocratic relatives for afternoon tea.

Lady Sally’s airship is a crucial part of the story. I love airships. I think it’s the absurdity of them that appeals to me. Really, you send something up into the sky powered by hundreds of cubic feet of explosive gas – it’s a disaster waiting to happen! But, having said that, airships are so cool and fun that you can see why the Steampunk genre has embraced them. They are also sexy. They are like giant phalluses in the sky, a feature I make use of in my book. They are a god-send to a writer of erotica wanting to have a bit of fun.

Lady Sally’s dirigible (I love that word!) is actually based on a real airship, the R100. Where I used to work (in the local archive) there was a collection of documents and photographs about the R100 which was built in the 1920s at an airship station in Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire close to where I live. I used these as my inspiration for ‘The Corseted Domme’.

In fact, the descriptions of Lady Sally’s airship are pretty realistic. Duralumin was an aluminium alloy used in airship construction. The geodetic frame of ‘The Corseted Domme’ was a type of construction for airships and aircraft that using a form of spirally crossing basket weave to improve load bearings. Airships were vast, their living quarters designed for long distance travel.

The R100 and R101 were part of a programme to develop civil airships for long service routes. The R100 did a test flight taking it to Canada. The programme came to an ignominious end when the R101 crashed in France in 1930 on its maiden test flight.

What a shame! How exciting it would be to have a sky filled with airships like a Steampunk novel.

Of course, ‘The Corseted Domme’ is the largest and fastest dirigible ever to be built, reaching speeds of 120mph. And she needs that, because Lady Sally has a habit of upsetting people and getting into trouble so she has to make a few hurried escapes.

Be warned. Mistress Of The Air contains wild escapades, kinky BDSM, dastardly devices, explosions, nice cups of teas and the sleekest, sexiest airship on earth. I hope you’ll join Lady Sally for the ride!

Book Blurb

Mistress of the Air is a Comic, Steampunk, Erotic Adventure.

Lady Sally Rudston-Chichester owns a brass mine in Zanzibar, a Lapsang Souchong tea plantation in China, a rubber tree farm in Malaysia, trunk loads of corsetry, and the country’s largest collection of antique whips and floggers.

Larger than life, and itching to find new and inventive ways to punish her submissive gentlemen, the Edwardian dominatrix has a vision. Embracing the spirit of the new age of aviation, she embarks on a series of adventures on her own airship, The Corseted Domme, with her transvestite maid, Victoria, her airship pilot, Captain Wyndham, and her automaton sex toy, Borghild.

A select group of submissive gentlemen, consisting of a duke, bishop, lawyer and banker, is invited to join Lady Sally so she can try out her new dastardly devices and sex toys on them. She whips, spanks and punishes her way across the Empires of Europe, dropping off to visit her aristocratic relatives and friends for afternoon tea.

But Lady Sally’s journey is not uneventful. War is threatening to break out and the Ministry of Aviation want to commandeer her airship for the war effort. And when The Corseted Domme has a crash landing, Lady Sally realises there is a stowaway on board intent on sabotaging her airship.

There will be wild escapades, kinky BDSM, dastardly devices, explosions and nice cups of tea.

Buy links

Ebook

Amazon US (Kindle):    Amazon UK (Kindle):    Barnes and Noble:    Kobo:

Print

Amazon US (print):

Amazon UK (print):

Create space/eXcessica (print):

Book extract

“I am thrilled. It’s wonderful to see my project come to its fruition. I take it everything is ready for the maiden flight of my airship.”

“Yes, Lady Sally,” replied Wyndham, “she’s ready. She’s a magnificent machine; I’m convinced your ladyship will be impressed by her.”

“I don’t doubt that, captain, after all the interior fittings have been made to my exacting specification and design.”

“I see you’ve brought your luggage, madam,” said Wyndham, gesturing towards the charabanc laden with trunks.

“Oh, but that is merely one or two trifles, my corsetry and some of my antique whips and canes. I have engaged the services of several horse and carts for the remainder of my wardrobe, and the heavier bondage and domination equipment is already installed. My maid has spent several weeks packing for my escapade, haven’t you Victoria?”

“Oh, yes madam, I certainly have!”

“Come Victoria, don’t pretend it hasn’t been anything but a labour of love for your mistress.”

Victoria’s wistful look conveyed that it had indeed been just that.

“Follow me Lady Sally,” said Wyndham, leading the way. “Barnes-Wallis is going to give you a tour of the airship and explain the technique of its construction. It uses many unique materials and design features, but he’s the expert on that.”

As they entered the shed Lady Sally gasped. She had a vision of how her dirigible might look, of course, but her breath was taken away by the sheer scale and magnificence of her creation. The airship was the size of an ocean liner and dwarfed the diminutive figures as they stood on the ground gazing up in awe at the vast expanse of linen fabric enclosing the gas bags and duralumin frame. Barnes-Wallis led them onto the walkways from which they could view the intricate internal structure.

Now in his element, the normally diffident Barnes-Wallis began his enthusiastic explication of the construction of the airship.

“Each transverse frame consists of a hard girder in the form of a stiff, sixteen-sided polygon with the flats at top and bottom; this massive hard girder is twenty-seven inches deep and up to a hundred and thirty feet in diameter. Sixteen steel cables penetrate the centre of the polygon to the corner points, bracing the polygonal girder against deflections and making it erect….”

“… And, of course, erect girders are essential to the structure, are they not?”

“… One half of the transverse frame is divided by a vertical plane passing though the axis of the ship, consisting of a stiff arched rib with oiled ends that are free to slip towards each other, and this arched rib is braced by eight radial wires, which go flaccid through the deflection of the arched rib under the applied loads. Normally four or five wires remain in tension….

“And how have you calculated the torsional load bearing capacity of my airship?”

“The forces and bending movements in the members are calculated by the solution of a lengthy simultaneous equation containing up to seven unknown quantities.  In the solution, we had to find the correct compression force for the radial wires to achieve the required load bearing. This geodetic type of construction for the airframe makes use of a space frame formed from a spirally crossing basket-weave of load bearing erect members. The principle is that two geodesic arcs can be drawn to intersect on a curving surface in a manner that the torsional load on each, cancels out the other….

“… Well that is simply amazing,” commented Lady Sally, “but perhaps I ought to take a look at the living quarters now…”

“… but I’d love to show you my calculations, your ladyship…” called Barnes-Wallis waving a wad of foolscap sheets with closely pencilled figures at the three receding figures.

“Oh, fascinating I’m sure,” she called back, “but I’ve such a busy day ahead of me and I ought to be moving on.”

Captain Wyndham smiled as Victoria bustled Lady Sally away.

“He’s a genius you know. From my knowledge of aeronautical design, I know the construction of this airship is truly remarkable.”

“Indeed, I chose him for his brilliance in structural engineering, captain, though I must confess the ‘how’ is not always my strong point. I merely tell people what I want and they do it for me… isn’t that so Victoria?”

“Oh yes, madam, indubitably, yes.”

About the author

Nano is an author of erotic stories with dark and exotic content in fantasy, paranormal or historical settings, often drawing on the themes of female supremacy, BDSM and fetish but with a seam of quirky humour running through them as well. His first full-length erotic novel, ‘Adventures in Fetishland’, a BDSM/fetish re-invention of Alice in Wonderland, was published by Xcite Books. His short stories and novellas have been published by Xcite Books, House of Erotica, Forbidden Fiction, Coming Together and Greenwoman Publishing.

His second novel, ‘Mistress Of The Air’ was published by eXcessica on 21st April 2017.

Web site: www.slavenano.co.uk/writing

Blog: www.slavenano.co.uk/blog

Facebook (Nano Vaslen): http://www.facebook.com/nano.vaslen

Mistress Of The Air facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Mistress-Of-The-Air-1671491076492099/

Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/nanovaslen/

Amazon UK author profile:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B005EBU1QI

Amazon US author profile:

https://www.amazon.com/Slave-Nano/e/B005EBU1QI/

Goodreads author profile: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6828376-slave-nano

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