Release Blitz: THE BURLINGTON MANOR AFFAIR by Saskia Walker

A legendary family estate.
A mutual longing.
A bargain struck.

Carmen Shelby wants what's been left to her—the valuable estate that she once called home. Rex Carruthers is the heir to Burlington Manor, a ruthless playboy who enjoys playing games, and all he wants is for Carmen to surrender. There can be only one winner...

"Walker deftly spins a captivating tale that will have readers holding their collective breath until the last page is turned.”—Publishers Weekly on The Libertine

"Saskia Walker is one on the top erotic writers of the millennium." - Alison Tyler

Buy links:

Amazon UK

Amazon com

Direct from Harlequin US (only $3.99 direct price)

All Romance Ebooks

Direct Mills and Boon UK (out now)

"As the kiss deepened, her body trembled—which only made his grip on her tighten. He wanted to keep his little bird…make her sing out with pleasure." –The Burlington Manor Affair, Saskia Walker

Excerpt:

“The trouble with this arrangement,” Rex commented as he walked across the room, “is that I’m enjoying it rather too much.” He watched her reaction.

Carmen stopped dead, standing on the patterned rug in the middle of the room. “What are you saying?”
Rex sat down in a winged armchair.  “For a month you do everything I want, every weekend, absolutely anything and everything.” He paused, allowing his message to sink in. “And in return for that you get my half of the property.”

“I told you I’d pay.”

Those eyes of hers, such defiance. How delicious it was to see her fire.

“That won’t be necessary. You will have earned every tiny part of the property by the time I hand it over. Don’t worry about the money.”

She knotted her fingers together. “You’re trying to embarrass me. That wasn’t part of the bargain.”
“I don’t agree. Mostly because I don’t seem to have to try very hard before you get embarrassed. I think you’re embarrassment trigger and your arousal trigger are very close together.” He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “I can’t help that, and neither can you.”

She pressed her lips together. She was clearly annoyed, and yet he could also see that she was acutely aroused. The hands-on treatment he’d given her out in the grounds had her poised for action. She was taut and watchful, barely waiting to be instructed.

Rex took a deep breath and savored the heady atmosphere of sexual anticipation.

When she noticed, she hissed as if in objection.

Rex lifted an eyebrow. She lowered her eyelids, but watched him from beneath her lashes. Rex laughed. Had Carmen Shelby always had these withheld submissive desires? It hadn’t been obvious before, of that he was certain. And the constant battle she was having with her needs—was that part of the package? Or was this dilemma of hers because she’d revealed her trigger to him, perhaps inadvertently? Whatever the reason, neither of them could put it back in the box now. No way. Now that he knew her little kinks and foibles he intended to play them out to their full extent.

“So what is the problem?” she demanded after he left her standing there in silence while he admired her.

“A month might not be enough.”

She glared at him.

“It’s day two and I’m loving every moment,” he continued. “Seems such a shame to put an end date on it.”

“You’re winding me up.”

“I’m being honest.” He was. This was too good.

“In which case you lied to me. If you don’t intend to stand up to your end of the deal, I’m walking out of here right now, and if I have to do that I promise you I will only deal with you through a solicitor!”
Angry Carmen was hellishly hot.

“Is this the ballsy businesswoman speaking now, or are you saying you can’t handle more than a month of this?”

Her eyes blazed.

“Seriously, aren’t you enjoying our time together?”

“You know I am, in some weird fucked-up way.” She folded her arms across her chest. “But I want a limit on it, for the sake of my sanity.”

Sanity? What did that really mean? He’d find out, all in good time. He knew he’d pushed her on the terms. “Fair enough. I suppose I’ll have to stick to my word.”

“It’s only sex,” she blurted, as if it was an afterthought.

“It is…and I must say I’m liking these kinky sex games of yours.”

“Mine?”

“Yes. Yours. Okay, let’s begin.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’d like you to prove to me how much you want the house and how hard you’d work to get it.”

“Now you really are trying to humiliate me.”

“Not at all. You said it made it easier for you when I took charge. Although I do think there’s a part of you that likes that…the humiliation.”

Oh, how her cheeks flamed.

Rex smiled. “Strip for me.”

Long bio:

Award-winning British author Saskia Walker first dreamed of writing her own stories when she discovered a handful of romance novels stashed away in her school library. An avid reader, she lapped up the adventures and the life-affirming emotion of these stories, but always felt dismay when the bedroom door closed the reader out. She vowed that in her stories all the passion would be right there on the page!

Saskia began writing in the late 1990s. By that time she'd traveled the world, gained a B.A. in art history, an M.A. in literature and the visual arts and she'd worked in several diverse careers—but the stories in her head simply had to be written.

It is the combination of potent eroticism and strong storytelling that has become the leading characteristic of Saskia's work. Fascinated with seduction, she loves to explore how and why we get from saying "hello" to sharing our most intimate selves in moments of extreme passion. She writes across genres, often incorporating elements of history, the paranormal and the fantastic in her work. As well as many novel- and novella-length publications, Saskia's work has now appeared in more than seventy international anthologies. Her debut novel received the Passionate Plume award for the Best Contemporary Erotic Romance of 2006, and two of her novels have been nominated for a RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice Award.

Nowadays Saskia is happily settled in Yorkshire, in the north of England, with her real-life hero, Mark, and a houseful of stray felines. You can visit her website for more info.

http://www.saskiawalker.co.uk

https://twitter.com/saskiawalker

http://www.saskiawalker.blogspot.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/saskia.walker.965

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/saskiawalker_news/info

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/104558.Saskia_Walker

Erin O'Riordan's Note: Saskia Walker and I have stories in an anthology together. That anthology is Strange Love, edited by Selena Kitt. My m/m paranormal romance between a priest and an angel is called "Angels Would Fall." Saskia's story is called "Where the Heart Is."

Find it here: Strange Love

Sunday Snippets from the Writer's Desk

1. Shopping at Barnes and Noble yesterday, I spotted a copy of The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 9 on the shelf. The book's been out since 2010, but I still get excited whenever I see a book with one of my short stories in it on the shelves of a brick-and-mortar book shop.

2. Gayle Pace at the Books, Reviews, Etc. blog wrote a nice review of the revised version of Beltane by me and Tit Elingtin.

Read Gayle's review here. Get your new-and-improved Beltane here.

3. Beltane is Book 1 in the Pagan Spirits Trilogy. Want a chance to win Book 2, Midsummer Night? The Goodreads giveaway is going on through March 26th.

4. It's been officially confirmed that my zombie survivor tale "Wild Ones" will definitely be included in Cleis Press's 2015 anthology of zombie-related erotica Love, Lust and Zombies!

I haven't seen any cover art for it yet.

5. Finally, speaking of anthologies with an Erin O'Riordan short story inside them, it's recently come to my attention that the anthology Happy Endings, edited by Selena Kitt, has a newer and better cover.

This was the old cover. I never loved it. I mean, it's kinda cute, but basically, it's a butt.

I'm a lot happier with the new cover, as found on Amazon:

Much prettier. This anthology contains my m/m short romance "Bat Mitzvah."

Stay tuned tomorrow for a St. Patrick's Day-themed entry into the Manday Hotties Hop.

This is an affiliate link:

Till Zombies Do Us Part by Celeste Ayers. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
Noah and Amy are two teens in love. There is however one problem; the world as they know it was turned into nothing but a pile of chaos and zombies. As they battle for survival they’ll embark on a journey into the unknown while facing new trials that will put both their love for each other and their humanity to the ultimate test. Just how far will they be willing to go?

Bloody Valentine Blog Hop, 'Heartache' #Giveaway

Hopping by from Evernight's Valentines Snippets Blog Hop? Please visit this post and leave a comment for your chance to win your choice of book from the Evernight Publishing catalog.

Once again, the Lupercalia begins! Pagan Spirits is linking up with A.F. Stewart for the Bloody Valentine Blog Hop, a celebration of the exact opposite of cheesy lace-trimmed cards and candy hearts spewing trite store-bought sentiments.

Ludo succinctly sums up the drama of two people shot by Cupid who never should have laid eyes on one another, two people whose love is more of a horror novel than a paperback romance:

Love doesn't always go according to Hallmark card blueprint, and it isn't always pretty. It could end messily - Romeo and Juliet messily, in extreme cases. It could be thwarted at every turn before it has a chance to begin.

Don't get me wrong - I love love. I love romance, and I generally expect my romantic fiction to have a happy ending. In fact, I might get upset if it doesn't  (The Fault In Our Stars, right?). But at times, fiction has to give a nod to realism. It's pretty darn hard to find a human who hasn't had his or her heart broken at some point, and even the best of romances can be bittersweet.

So here's a salute to all the romances that went down the drain. In honor of the Valentine's Days that didn't turn out so well, I'm giving away one copy of Heartache, an anthology edited by Selena Kitt.

Book Description: Erotic, romantic, poignant and wistful, this anthology collection from Excessica authors will thrill you, touch you, and stay with you. These stories dare to explore the pleasure and pain of a lover gone, the one that got away, the forbidden affair, a true love existing on borrowed time. These are tales of passionate affairs that cannot last, but they are exquisite gems while they do, and like the star that burns brightest, these stories burn fast, dazzle and smolder in the memory. 

Authors include Giselle Renarde, Willson Rowe, Bekki Lynn, Elliott Mabeuse and yours truly. My contribution, "The Witch's Tale," is a paranormal romance between a wolf shapeshifter and the healer who tried, but failed, to save his stricken loved ones. Read an excerpt here.

Warning: readers may get sad.

Giveaway rules: The contest is open internationally; however, U.S. winners are eligible to win a paperback copy of the book, while international winners are eligible to win an e-book copy. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post by midnight, February 15, 2013 (U.S. Eastern time). Please make sure I can find your e-mail address either in your comment or by clicking on your name so that I can notify you if you win. Note: you can enter both this and the Evernight Valentine's Snippet contest on my blog, but if you win one, you'll be disqualified from the other.

Don't forget to visit the other websites participating in the blog hop of broken hearts!

For the Autumnal Equinox, Books about Persephone

Welcome to the Equinox! "Equinox" is Latin for "equal night," and on these two days of the year, day and night are exactly equal lengths. In the Southern Hemisphere, it's the Vernal Equinox, but here in the North it's the first day of autumn.

The declining temperatures and falling leaves at this time of year always put me in mind of Greek myth. In one version of the Classical myth of Hades and Persephone, the first day of fall represents the time of year when Persephone is compelled to leave her mother Demeter and return to the Underworld, where she reigns as queen for half the year. (In other versions, Persephone goes to the Underworld only in winter.)

Here are some of my favorite books starring Persephone:

Songs on Bronze: The Greek Myths Made Real by Nigel Spivey: This is the version of the myth that completely changed my view of Hades forever. I always thought of him as a villain, but in this telling (one of many myths retold in this volume), Persephone is less a prisoner and more the bride in an arranged marriage who falls in love. Hades has a certain charm in Spivey's masterful retelling.

Find it on Amazon.

The Shadow Thieves (Cronus Chronicles, Book One) by Anne Ursu: In this young adult fantasy, modern-day Charlotte Mielswetzki discovers Greek myths are real and finds the entrance to the Underworld in a local mall. She uncovers a plot to overthrow Hades. Persephone in this version has never gotten used to the idea of her arranged marriage, all these centuries later.

Find it on Amazon.

Pomegranate Blues by Hillary Hujanen. I haven't read this one yet, but this is the blurb:

"While juggling her junior year and a whirlwind romance, high school student Persey Green learns a disturbing truth. She’s a goddess reborn, but she is doomed to spend the rest of eternity as the bride of the god of the Underworld, whom she has grown to love in his human form. She must make the ultimate decision."

Find it for only $.99 on Smashwords.

The Surrender of Persephone by Selena Kitt: Up from the depths of the earth comes Hades, also known as Aidon. He lifts Persephone into his chariot and takes her to the eerily lovely splendor of his Underworld kingdom, the land of the dead. In his mind, this is a perfectly acceptable arranged marriage, a deal between Aidon and Persephone's father Zeus. Persephone feels a mixture of fear and attraction to the handsome, amber-eyed god. Slowly, he introduces her to a world of sensual delights balanced with controlled pain. From Kitt's skillful writing, it is also abundantly clear he loves her. The couple comes to love one another and seem to be meant to be together. The sweetness balances the S&M themes.

Read the full review here or purchase on Amazon.

Goddesses in Everywoman by Jean Shinoda Bolen. Shinoda Bolen is a psychologist, and this nonfiction volume applies goddess archetypes to patterns in women's lives. Many women will see themselves in one of these goddesses. Personally, I identify with Persephone. Shinoda Bolen discusses how to channel these archetypes of feminine power and strength to live a happy and successful life.

Find it on Amazon.

Image Attribution:
Orpheus and Eurydice by Jean Raoux, c. 1718-1720. Public domain in the U.S.
Pomegranate Photo by Tomomarusan, Creative Commons license

Find Me on Smashwords

Eminent Domain, the second crime thriller I co-penned with my hubby Tit Elingtin, is now available in paperback and e-book. You can find the e-book for Kindle and Nook, or get it from Smashwords and download it in any format you like. Through October 10, 2011, you can get it FREE on Smashwords with coupon code FG99J.

Visit my Smashwords profile and you'll see I've put out three books. One is Midsummer Night (Pagan Spirits Book 2).

The other full-length book I have on Smashwords is The Erotica Anthology. It's a bit of a teaser for Beltane (Pagan Spirits Book 1), but it also contains some of my previously published short stories, and the exclusive short story "Herbert." I was giving the anthology away free for a while, and I may do so again in the future, but for now you can download it for $0.99.

My other $0.99 e-book on Smashwords is the short "Josephine Baker in Berlin." An aging, lonely Josephine Baker has one last chance to dance across the stage, but only if she accepts an invitation to visit Berlin. The destination unlocks long-buried memories of the decadent pre-World War II Berlin, and of a beautiful young woman who reached out the star and eased her loneliness.

My short stories also appear on Smashwords in several anthologies listed under the incomparable erotica author and publisher Selena Kitt:

Happy Endings - Contains "Bat Mitzvah," a m/m romance in which the bat mitzvah's Uncle Mark rarely goes to temple, but has a revelation when he lays eyes on the gorgeous new cantor, Ilan Kauffman.

Wonder - Contains "Butterfly Boy," a f/m paranormal featuring good fairies and a very bad fairy.

Divine Matches - Contains the f/m paranormal "Black Bear Skin," a Norse myth-inspired tale featuring Freya, the naughty queen of the Valkyries.

'Divine Matches' is New From eXcessica Publishing!

Perhaps How I Met Your Mother's Barney Stinson said it best: "No one is hotter than God." It's the ultimate fantasy: a close encounter with a divine being, whose body is perfection, without any human flaws and with incredible power.

Greek, Roman and Norse gods and goddesses make an appearance in this anthology edited by Selena Kitt. Kitt, JM Snyder, JE Taylor, Dakota Trace, Ava Jones, Cherry Lee and others contribute to this e-book; a print version is coming soon, and will be available on Amazon.

Official book blurb: "From Greek to Roman to Norse and everything in between, you will be transported to faraway lands and immersed in the stories of mythical beings and sexy gods and goddesses in this fourteen story eXcessica anthology."

My contribution is "Black Bear Skin." An excerpt:

The last thing he remembered was the sweet hospitality of the woman on the little evergreen island. The way she bathed him. Her touch. Her kiss. The dewy, perfumed smell of her skin. Her final, loving gesture, draping the warm bear skin over his shoulders.

He awoke to something more wonderful than he’d ever prayed for. He lay across a warm bed. The mattress was stuffed with sweet-smelling fresh straw. His injured hand lay under his head. When Bergren pulled it out, he looked at the hand. He smiled, amazed to see that the hand was restored. He wiggled his five fingers.

This must be a dream, Bergren thought. I am dreaming of being in the woman’s cabin, as I lie in the snow.

As if in answer, a female voice giggled. No, it was a chorus of female voices, as pleasant as music. Bergren sat up.

He saw them now. They were tall, taller than men. Their chalk-white skin was flawless. Their golden hair fell down their backs in meticulous braids, not a hair out of its place. Their eyes were blue as jewels. The three women, who must surely have been sisters, were beautiful beyond words.

He saw that one of them carried a sword. Another held a bridle in her hand. At the other end of it stood a horse, larger than any horse Bergren had ever seen. A horse with shining wings of white and silver feathers.

Ah, so this was a dream. He lay in the snow dreaming of the Valkyries, the maidens who carry the souls of dead warriors from the battlefield.

Unless, Bergren thought, the evergreen island was all a dream. Perhaps I lost more than my fingers on the battlefield. Perhaps I am dead after all.

If this was death, he didn’t mind it at all. He was whole and warm, and the warrior-maidens were so lovely.

***

Look for Divine Matches from eXcessica Publishing.

News From Selena Kitt: New Book, Newsletter and Contest!

In honor of the release of Baumgartner Generations: Henry, eXcessica publisher and author Selena Kitt is having an awesome giveaway!

She's also starting a newsletter to notify readers of new releases or contests (and there will be contests for newsletter-subscribers-only as well!) So don't worry, it won't be more weekly email in your box. Just a way to keep up on Selena and what she's up to!

So in order to enter this contest, ALL you have to do is sign up for the newsletter! Easy-peasy!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER AND ENTER THE CONTEST

You can also earn EXTRA entries simply by Tweeting, Facebooking, or otherwise Social Networking about this contest! Just link to this blog post and you will earn an EXTRA entry for EVERY TIME you promote it on EVERY platform you can!

Fill out THIS FORM for extra entries every time you promote the contest!

This contest runs from November 15 until December 1, 2010. So you have two full weeks to enter!

Winners will be announced on December 1, 2010 on Selena's blog. YOU CAN WIN ONE OF TWO BIG PRIZES!

1. An autographed copy of every print book in the Baumgartner series so far (including Babysitting the Baumgartners, A Baumgartner Reunion, Baumgartner Generations: Janie and the latest Baumgartner Generations: Henry

OR

2. The Sex Toy Package – a customized pink lady, black case, vortex ribbed Fleshlight (just like the one Henry used in the book!) along with plenty of lube and an autographed copy of Baumgartner Generations: Henry

Add this to your October reading list: Wonder

The latest anthology to feature an original Erin O'Riordan short story has been published this October by eXcessica. It's called Wonder, and it's a collection of short romantic stories. Mine is called "Butterfly Boy," and it's about a woman who falls in love with a man she meets at the park. I won't give away the supernatural twist. Each story has one as well as the steamy erotica content you've come to expect from eXcessica.

Official book blurb: "Whether it’s werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, angels, ghosts or aliens—these are stories with all of those strange and wonderfully sexy creatures that fascinate the human psyche! Come on a spicy, paranormal journey that ventures into titillating realms bound only the imaginations of your favorite eXcessica authors! A dozen stories included in this volume by Wynter O’Reilly, Selena Kitt, D.B. Story, Sommer Marsden, J.M. Snyder, Dakota Trace, Piers Anthony, Roxanne Rhoads, Elise Hepner, Darcy Sweet, Christabel Rouseau and Erin O’Riordan."

An excerpt from "Butterfly Boy:"

As much as I tried to calm myself and focus on the peaceful environs of the garden, every time I closed my eyes I was flooded with violent images of cold-blooded beasts with bared fangs dripping blood. I kept remembering the nightmare I’d had, but my memories were more terrifying than the dream had been. Even as I sat in the lightly shaded garden on a hot summer day, chills wracked my body.

My unpleasant meditations were disrupted when something landed on my toes. I looked down at my sandals and saw my toes were covered over with a bright red flying disc. I looked around, but the thrower was nowhere to be seen.

I heard him before I saw him; he came in through the back gate and up behind me. I turned to see his approach. He wore long, red basketball shorts, a white t-shirt soaked in sweat, and a red headband holding back his heavily gelled, spiky black hair. Though he was dressed like a teen, he was at least my age, twenty-four.

“Hey, have you seen my flying disc?” he asked me. I picked it up and held it up for him to see. “Thanks,” he said as I handed it back to him.

“I didn’t think anyone else was in the garden today,” I said. “I wouldn’t want my meditation to get in the way of your game of catch.”

He snorted slightly, catching the note of sarcasm. “Actually, my friends and I are playing in the park across the street. This one was a wild throw.”

“Wow,” I said. The disc must have flown at least sixty yards. “Nice arm.” He did have nice arms, with thick, toned biceps. The sleeves of his shirt showed them off nicely; I couldn’t help but notice.

He shook his head. “Nah, I didn’t throw it. It was my friend Rick. I’m Jake, by the way.” He tucked the disc under his arm before offering me his hand.

“Lacey Burke,” I said as we shook.

“I’ve seen you around here before,” he said. “You like the Japanese garden, don’t you?”

“It’s my favorite place to meditate.”

“I know what you mean. The park’s my favorite place to kick back and catch some fresh air and sunshine, you know?”

“I’ve never noticed you before,” I said honestly.

He chuckled. “Well, since your focus is kinda scattered at the moment, and your meditation’s kinda ruined, want to play with my friends and me? We’re going to go get burgers in a while.”

I cocked my head. “Are you asking me out, Jake?”

He smiled. He had a nice smile. “I guess so, Lacey. Come on, I’ll introduce you to my friends.”

***

Please enjoy this fan video I made to Shonen Knife's "Butterfly Boy (F.I. Mix)."

The Surrender of Persephone: A Review

The Surrender of Persephone by Selena Kitt (2009; Phaze Books) retells the Classical Greek myth of the virgin goddess of spring, Persephone, and her abduction by the god of the Underworld, Hades. In myth, Persephone grows into her role as queen of the Underworld to become a powerful and mysterious goddess. In Kitt's uncensored version, Persephone chafes at her mother Demeter's restrictiveness and dim view of males, both human and divine.

On her way to gather wild flowers for her mother's harvest festival, Persephone pauses to watch a mortal laborer bathe in a stream, entranced by his beauty. She gets sidetracked by the goddesses Artemis and Athena, "virgin" goddesses who are off-limits to males but more than happy to dally with other immortal women. Despite such pleasurable divine intervention, Persephone still wonders, "Will the ache between my thighs only be satisfied by a man?"

Up from the depths of the earth comes Hades, also known as Aidon. He lifts Persephone into his chariot and takes her to the eerily lovely splendor of his Underworld kingdom, the land of the dead. In his mind, this is a perfectly acceptable arranged marriage, a deal between Aidon and Persephone's father Zeus. Persephone feels a mixture of fear and attraction to the handsome, amber-eyed god. Slowly, he introduces her to a world of sensual delights balanced with controlled pain.

I'm not usually a fan of books about bondage, dominance and submission. If I were, I would probably prefer the women on top. Aidon dominates Persephone, and from Kitt's skillful writing, it is also abundantly clear he loves her. The couple comes to love one another and seem to be meant to be together. The sweetness balances the S+M themes.

Only two things slightly mar this darkly romantic tale. One is the implied heterosexism. Why shouldn't Persephone's encounters with Athena and Artemis be as satisfying as her encounters with Aidon? The other is Debi Lewis's cover art. The models are beautiful, but don't quite match the book's descriptions of its divine beings.

Otherwise, The Surrender of Persephone is a highly enjoyable erotic romance. Pour yourself a nice glass of pomegranate juice and settle in for a good read.