Posts Tagged ‘Ellora’s Cave’

Kendall Grace gives us a Southern Exposure view

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Today, please welcome Kendall Grace to the blog! She’s a talented writer whose second contemporary romance, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE, is now available. If you’re looking for an amusing, emotional, passionate read with an ultra-sexy hero, this is definitely the book for you! Oh, and did I forget to mention I made her booktrailer!

~*~*~

It’s a Southern Thing

I hail from the South. Deep in the South—Georgia, to be specific. Although I’ve traveled extensively, I’ve never encountered the unique feel of the Southern states anywhere else. There’s just something about the air down here that makes everything seem more laid back, inspires a slower pace and a sense of welcome. Even living in a large Southern city as I do, I still see these bits of down-home hospitality that this region is known for. When I began writing, there was never a question of where my stories would take place. There’s nothing I love more as a reader than when an author’s setting becomes a character itself. And what better character is there than the South? Especially when you dig deep into the smaller regions of Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas. These towns, and everyone in them, are just tales waiting to be told. Everyone is in everyone else’s business, and that leaves the door wide open for entertaining fiction, as far as I’m concerned. And what’s even more delicious is when you bring an outsider into one of these small towns. My personal favorite is an unsuspecting heroine being thrust into the South at the mercy of a Southern gentleman. She’s not going to stand a chance.

Click to purchase

This was just the premise I used in my latest release from Ellora’s Cave, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE. Here’s the blurb:
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A quick trip to visit her hospitalized mother is lasting longer than Anna had expected. About twelve weeks longer. It’s not that she isn’t used to taking care of her mom—Anna took over that job when her father died—but it’s a little stressful vying for partnership in her New York law firm from Liberty, Alabama. Fortunately the neighbor, a hot Southern charmer, is willing to help her take the edge off.

Since Trey breached her defenses, he and Anna have been burning up the sheets…and the side of the house…and the garden. The woman he’s coming to know is a far cry from the uptight lawyer he first met. And he likes the new Anna. A lot.

As her feelings for Trey deepen, Anna is torn between duty and desire…what she wants versus what she thinks she needs. Returning to New York, reverting to the formidable attorney her father molded, is the responsible thing to do.

Too bad that’s not the woman Trey wants…

~~~~~


What regions draw you as a reader? Do you like exotic destinations? Metropolitan cities? Historical settings? Are you drawn, as I am, to the unique dynamics of miniscule towns? I’d love to hear which books you’ve read that vividly paint the location until it becomes a living, breathing part of the story. Comment and enter to win a $15 Amazon Gift Certificate.


An Excerpt From: SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

Copyright © KENDALL GRACE, 2011

All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

Chapter One

Anna Reed slumped against the wall by the front door of her mother’s cottage in Liberty, Alabama, pushing soaked tendrils of hair from her forehead with a shaking hand. She watched as the taxi’s taillights disappeared down the long drive and into the distance before searching blindly for the decorative pot where the house key was hidden. A flash of lightning crackled in the night sky and Anna jumped, clutching her chest and stumbling over what felt like a giant bag of potting soil. Her stiletto heel slipped between the boards of the front porch, snapping off when she tried to right herself.

She slipped the shoe off and groaned. Like her day hadn’t been sucky enough.

An emergency phone call to her office had launched her into a journey requiring three airports, two flights and a midnight taxi ride into Nowheresville. And now this. Anna glared at the mutilated shoe in her hand, grabbed its mate and tossed both over the porch railing with a disgusted sigh. She continued to feel around for the planter in the pitch-black night until her fingers brushed its smooth surface and she was able to extract the key from beneath. She unlocked the door and fumbled for the wall switch. Sighing in relief, she flipped it.

Nothing.

“Well that’s just great,” she muttered. “No power.”

She pushed the door closed with her hip and leaned against it, tears threatening to slip over her lashes. She shook her head, willing the negative emotions away. She was just tired—the panic that had seized her before learning her mother would make a complete recovery must have finally caught up with her, rendering her an emotionally fragile mess. Everything would seem different in the morning. She just needed some sleep before she went back to the hospital.

Anna locked the door and then took tiny steps to avoid tripping on anything as she made her way to the tiny spare bedroom. She unbuttoned her wet blouse and skirt as she went, letting the soaked garments fall to the floor. A clap of thunder roared in the angry night and Anna cringed as she slid her hand down the wall, searching for the bedroom. Her fingers met air and she eased through the open doorway. Reaching in front of her, she felt for the foot of the bed and groped the edge until she was able to drop on top of the mattress in a heap of exhaustion. Releasing a long sigh, she turned onto her side.

“You must be Annabelle.”

Anna’s hip met the floor with a thwack, her head bumping the wall as she tried to gain her footing. “Damn it!” She scrambled to her feet, her pulse rioting. “Who are—”

The beam of a flashlight illuminated the small room in faint light and she gasped at the stranger who stood on the other side of the bed wearing a smile and very little else.

She lurched forward and yanked her grandmother’s handmade afghan from the bed, curtaining herself. Meeting his gaze, she squared her shoulders. “Obviously you know who I am. So who the hell are you?”

He chuckled and rounded the corner of the bed, approaching her. She took a step back, her effort to escape thwarted by the wall.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice a low, lazy drawl. “I’m Trey Jacobs. I live next door.” He extended his hand.

Anna eyed him for a long pause before tucking the corner of the afghan under her arm and hesitantly accepting his gesture. “Anna Reed.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly, tilting his head to the side. “Your mama calls you Annabelle.”

“Yes, well,” she pulled her hand from his warm, calloused grasp and wrapped her arms around her torso, “I prefer Anna.”

“All right.” He moved toward her again and she took a clumsy step to the side and backed into the window, the blinds clattering against the glass. Anna heard a drawer in the bedside table slide open then the scraping sound of a match. A large pillar candle illuminated their corner of the room in a soft glow.

He turned to face her and she was met with her first full glimpse of Trey Jacobs. He stood before her in black boxer briefs, one hand resting lightly on his hip. His hair was mussed from sleep, falling in long layers around his face and just brushing his shoulders. It appeared to be a rich brown in the limited light and she could just make out dark stubble on his square jaw. Anna’s attention drifted to his chest, to the hard planes of muscle concealed beneath skin that looked as smooth and soft as suede.

He cleared his throat and her gaze darted back to his. He smiled liked the Cheshire cat, his eyes dancing in amusement. Anna snapped her mouth shut, which had apparently fallen open during her unabashed perusal of her mother’s neighbor. “Um, the hospital staff said a neighbor had been with my mom. Was that you?”

He nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, gesturing for her to join him. She glanced at his wide expanse of skin and the brief stretch of black fabric before focusing her attention on the painting over his right shoulder. “Do you want to get dressed or something?” she stammered.

A throaty laugh suffused her cheeks with heat. What in the hell was her problem? She was put under fire on a daily basis back home in New York. If it wasn’t opposing counsel or a squirrely witness, it was her demanding boss hovering over her as she attempted to scrape and claw her way to a partnership. Trey was only a man. She looked down at him, at the corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement, his full lips, the way he ran long fingers into his hair to brush it from his forehead.

Yes, he was just a man. And the Grand Canyon was just a crack.

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Posted in Authors, Ellora's Cave, Giveaways | 40 Comments »

And the winner is…

Monday, December 13th, 2010

The winner of the $15 Amazon Gift Certificate from Kendall Grace in promoting her new release, COME UNDONE is…

Karen H in NC

Congratulations, Karen! To collect your prize, please email Kendall at kendall at authorkendallgrace dot com.

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Posted in Ellora's Cave, Giveaways | 20 Comments »

Kendall Grace is ‘Bringing Sexy Back’

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

But seriously, did sexy ever go anywhere? I think not. So I can also state quite emphatically that Justin Timberlake didn’t either.

Nonetheless, Kendall–a great writer and good friend–is here to give us her own take on uber-sexy men, and I for one, am more than happy to take a peek at the show. Kendall really begins her sexy parade with her dark and brooding, sexy as all get up hero, Chase, in COME UNDONE. Believe me,  you want to take a couple hours out of your day to get to know and appreciate Chase–oh and Jane too, of course. :)

WHAT IS SEXY?

Ian Somerhalder

What isn’t sexy with this lot is more like it. I often wonder what writers did, specifically romance writers, prior to the internet. I don’t know about everyone else, but having access to all of these hot pictures really fuels my creativity when I’m writing my heroes. I simply pull up the photos, imagine the obsession du juor with my heroine (okay…me) and voila…sizzling sexual tension, ahoy! So what did those poor writers do back in the day? Look at their husbands, their neighbors, their work associates… Gasp! Use their imaginations? I happen to be blessed with a hunky husband, if I must say so myself, but he would only be able to take me so far. The time would come when I would need (want) inspiration from elsewhere. Thanks to modern technology, I can get it. So I present to you four men who get my creative engines (and other notable engines) going.

What’s not to lust over with this one? As the sweet Boone on “Lost” or the Sexier Than Any Man Has a Right to Be Damon on “The Vampire Diaries”, you really can’t go wrong here, ladies. For my current release, “Come Undone”, his character of Damon is the perfect inspiration for my hero Chase. Damaged goods, misunderstood… Hot. Need I say more? Okay, moving on…

~~~

Kellan Lutz

Ladies, please. I beg you to find me abs more delicious than these. It’s truly a shame they “pasty” him all up in the “Twilight” series and keep so many clothes on him. I don’t know about you, but I’d suffer through all the white makeup across this delectable torso if he could go about the movie half-dressed. That kid Jacob does, and Emmett is in no danger of freezing his precious patootie off either, so I say strip the man-child. And speaking of man…

~~~

Benecio Del Toro

Now here’s a tricky one. I’ve heard rumors that some women find him unattractive. I gleefully shove them out of my way as I bulldoze my way over to delicious Benecio. There’s something about him that sets my heart all aflutter and has my girl bits rioting in a joyous chorus to the Almighty for creating this jewel. Those eyes, that hair. His rough exterior. Nothing about him appears gentle, or even gentlemanly (although I’ll guess he loves his mother and treats women like queens). And that is just fine with me. I want him to grab me and do all kinds of wicked things I can’t mention on Bev’s blog since she doesn’t write erotic romance. But I’ll just say that if I was a smoker, I’d be lighting up.

~~~

Gabriel Byrne

Now here is a man who is aging well. Very well. My obsession with him started when I saw “The Man in the Iron Mask”. Sure, he was a Muskateer and wore tights and what suspiciously looked like a skirt. He could be a Mousekateer a la The Mickey Mouse Club for all I care. This man is hot. And I bet he knows his way around a woman’s body. He’s just got to. Is it just me, or is it suddenly very hot in here?

Who do you think is the sexiest of the man candy I’ve provided for you today? Vote, leave a comment and I’ll gift a randomly drawn winner with a fifteen dollar Amazon gift card. Do with it what you may, but if it were me, I’d be buying a movie or TV series with one of these hotties in it. And in the meantime, check out my first release from Ellora’s Cave, “Come Undone”. You’ll get an idea of how I do sexy :)

~*~*~

My sister became dependent on painkillers after a skiing accident left her leg broken in three places. I didn’t understand and, yes, I judged her. After all, we were talking about her will. No one was forcing those pills down her throat. It seemed very cut-and-dried to me back then. But I know differently now.

The first time Chase touched her, Jane finally understood addiction…understood the aching need, the keen want for more…more of his hands…his mouth…his tongue. His complete mastery over her body. She knew the suffocation of crushing anxiety as she waited for her next hit, the flash of terrific pain when it didn’t come.

Chase seems unwilling to give Jane what she needs; what she ultimately craves above all else. But addicts can’t think beyond the fix. They’ll resort to desperate measures to feed their need…even if they lose themselves in the process. Even if they come undone…

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To find out more about COME UNDONE and Kendall’s upcoming book SOUTHERN EXPOSURE, you can read excerpts on her gorgeous website: www.authorKendallGrace.com . Comment today and you’ll be entered to win a $15 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Also, vote to let us know which of these sexy men you think is the sexiest!

Which of the 4 men above is the sexiest?

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Posted in Ellora's Cave, Giveaways | 78 Comments »

Excerpt Thursday: Hook Me!

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

Love the name! Kendall is a good name, non? ;) Read this book already and loved it–and I’m not much into first person, but I love a sexy, brooding hero. Take a moment and read and let me know if Kendall has you hooked.

My sister became dependent on painkillers after a skiing accident left her leg broken in three places. I didn’t understand and, yes, I judged her. After all, we were talking about her will. No one was forcing those pills down her throat. It seemed very cut-and-dried to me back then. But I know differently now.

The first time Chase touched her, Jane finally understood addiction…understood the aching need, the keen want for more…more of his hands…his mouth…his tongue. His complete mastery over her body. She knew the suffocation of crushing anxiety as she waited for her next hit, the flash of terrific pain when it didn’t come.

Chase seems unwilling to give Jane what she needs; what she ultimately craves above all else. But addicts can’t think beyond the fix. They’ll resort to desperate measures to feed their need…even if they lose themselves in the process. Even if they come undone…

.

~*~*~

COME UNDONE by Kendall Grace
Word Count: 24,000    Format: eBook
Available December 3, 2010 from Ellora’s Cave

***

I’ll never forget the first time I saw him. Eyes so gray they were almost silver, hair as black as those summer nights had been; the rich sound of his laughter at something witty my friend Sara had said. All of this floated around me, my pulse dancing. But his laugh faded into the moment and he looked at me, the remnants of a smile still on his lips. It was then I felt it. An indescribable sensation at the time, but something I would soon come to know as an energy. A force with the power to take me under, willing or not. His gaze lingered on mine for a moment, a brief, fleeting, substantial moment, and then the connection was gone. His friends enveloped him in their attention and I watched as the group returned to their table at the other end of the bar. This wouldn’t be the only time I’d see him—a fate I’m still not certain was a blessing or a curse.

Three years have passed since that summer I spent at Sara’s family beach house in a town so small South Carolina needn’t have bothered putting it on the map. Three months we were there. Sara on summer break from law school, me on break from my life. You see, artists are never truly satisfied unless they are immersed in their passion, and graduating with an accounting degree because you’re too chickenshit to pursue what you really want doesn’t exactly pave the road to creativity. A free summer financed by Sara’s parents was just too good an opportunity to pass up. I left that office with my pitiful little box of belongings before common sense had a chance to do its job. I promised myself this wouldn’t be a mistake. The time I would spend on hiatus from nothing would clear my head and I would know in which direction to go.

When I made the decision I had no way of knowing what that summer would bring. I wouldn’t have been able to imagine the things I’d be capable of, the lengths to which I’d end up going. The intensity with which I would yearn. I had no way of knowing about him. The problem with addiction is you crave what you need—whether it’s good for you or not.

So, I’ll tell you my story but you must promise not to judge, for what you’ll hear will not always paint me in the best light. I will come off, at times, as a woman who should have known better. I was told, after all. But if you allow yourself to succumb to a dark place, if you become truly lost, you will do anything…anything to end the pain—if only for a moment.

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Posted in Excerpt Thursdays | 29 Comments »

Excerpt Thursday ~ Hook Me!

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Were you hooked? Let me know what you think. You can click the cover to purchase Not Quite a Lady.

~*~*~

Not Quite A Lady ~ Erica Anderson
Release Date: April 14, 2010 ~ Ellora’s Cave

“I’m quite harmless, I assure you,” she said.

“Your assurances are completely unnecessary, madam.” Dare made a slow perusal of the room before continuing. “I see no traveling companions. If, in fact, you have any.” His tone left no doubt of his opinion on that issue. “Under the circumstances it would be improper to share the parlor. Despite your kind offer.” The final phrase was loaded with condescension. Really, had the woman been raised by wolves?

She appeared to be immune to his tone, only widening her eyes slightly as though she’d heard something that surprised her. Her eyes were brown, and he was reminded of the color of the moor when the autumn sun hung low in the sky. She was not pretty. Not exactly. Dare had experience with beauty in all its feminine forms, and this woman defied classification. Her nose was a bit too large, her chin too well defined. There was nothing soft and pliable here. Except…

She was still staring at him, as though she were stripping away the layers of politesse he cultivated in order to reveal whatever lay beneath his scowling features.

“As you wish,” she said simply and turned back to her book.

Dare ground his teeth. He did not care to return to the taproom where drunken wedding guests rubbed arms with unwashed plowmen. Perhaps this woman, whoever she was, at least had enough sense not to chatter. “I must beg your pardon,” he said gruffly.

She pressed a finger to the page to mark her position and looked up. “Oh?”

“I have been unconscionably rude.” He gave her the merest hint of a bow.

“I own that my own manners are quite shocking,” she said. “You are still welcome. If you wish.” Her voice curled around the words, lending them an undertone that he usually associated with sexual satisfaction.

He raised his eyebrows and let his eyes wander, quite deliberately, over her body. “Surely you have a reputation to preserve. A maid or companion, perhaps.” Or not. She was wearing a red dress, for God’s sake. It complemented her coloring, but still—red?

“Ah, yes. My maid.” She gave a little flick of her wrist. “She became ill and I was forced to leave her behind.”

Though her eyes were guileless, Dare knew, without a doubt, that she was dissembling. Rather than put him off, the realization only whetted his curiosity. “I see,” he said. He turned and made a show of removing his gloves, pulling the skintight leather from each finger. He tried again to place her. Perhaps she was a member of the demimonde. It was a sorority with which Dare was familiar, but she had none of the blowsy excess he associated with such women.

This train of thought reminded him of how long it had been since he had enjoyed a woman. It was regrettable that the dashing Mrs. Finley had become demanding of late.

Dare tossed his hat and gloves onto the sideboard and returned his attention to the mannerless creature across the room. She spoke the English of the upper classes, but with an odd, lilting rhythm.

Perhaps she was an expatriate from the continent. The accent, however, represented no language with which he was familiar.

Vexed, he strode across the room to the hearth where he stoked the fire, though the room was pleasantly warm. Her shoes lay, discarded, beneath the table. He straightened and realized that her eyes had followed him. He merely lifted his brows, the expression acknowledging her overt scrutiny and communicating his distaste for it.

“May I offer you a glass of wine?” she asked. “I have tried to drink the tea, but it is too awful.” Without waiting for his reply, she reached for a glass.

Her hands were slender, but her skin had been darkened by the sun, as though she spent most of her time outdoors. Definitely not a whore, then. Not a lady, either.

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Posted in Excerpt Thursdays | 15 Comments »

Ellora’s Cave Pitch Contest ~ And the winner is…

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

The winner of the Ellora’s Cave Pitch Contest is…

Surrender by Lauren Fraser
Lauren’s book has been offered a contract with Ellora’s Cave

Also Requested from Grace:
Educating Aphrodite - Kimberly Killion
Yesterday’s Indiscretion – Harris Channing
Lord and Master – Leigh Court
Santana’s Heat – Kitty DuCane

Congratulations, ladies! This is was fun. :D

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Posted in Contests | 5 Comments »

Start Pitching

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

It’s time to pitch your sexy pitch for The Season’s Ellora’s Cave Pitch Contest.

If this is your first time hearing about ELLORA’S CAVE PITCH CONTEST, please read the rules here first.

Judging editor: Grace Bradley ~ Ellora’s Cave

Top 10 pitches must submit the first 3 pages of manuscript.

Winner receives a 25 page critique.

If your entry is not selected, please feel free to query Ellora’s Cave on your own.

Top 10 pitches will be announced no later than the week of May 10th.

Please remember to include title, word length and genre on your entries.

Contest closes today at 9:00 pm EST.

Good Luck!

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Posted in Contests | 7 Comments »

Pitch Contest ~ Ellora’s Cave

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

On April 23rd I will be holding another Pitch Contest and this time the publishing company is Ellora’s Cave and the judging editor is Grace Bradley. For those of you who have never heard of Ellora’s Cave, Grace Bradley has supplied me with this lovely blurb right off their website:

Ellora’s Cave ~ Romantica® and Exotika™

www.EllorasCave.com

Ellora’s Cave is THE place for erotic romances. Our site receives over 60,000 hits daily and averages sales of over 70,000 e-books per month. Our readership continues to grow by the thousands. Ellora’s Cave is ALWAYS open to new submissions of erotic romances. See the submissions page on our website for more information.

Ellora’s Cave Romantica® (erotic romances) must be both erotic and romantic.

~ The sexual relationship must be integral to and an important element of the storyline and the character development. Sex scenes should contribute to furthering the plot or affecting the development of the romantic relationship or the growth of the characters.

~ The story must include abundant and explicit sex and sexual tension, starting early and continuing throughout. Sex scenes must be described in graphic detail and explicit wording, not delicate euphemisms or purple prose.

~ The story must meet the definition of a romance novel: the primary focus must be on the development of a romantic relationship, and there must be an emotionally satisfying committed ending for the main characters.

We also publish Exotika™, our line of quality erotica for women. These stories focus on a woman’s sexual journey or adventures. Although they may contain a romance, they do not have that as the primary focus, the relationship does not need to be monogamous or end with commitment.

Story length is 10,000 to 125,000 words.

If you’re still uncertain about the definition of ‘Romantica’ and just how explicit the love scenes need to be, Grace will be stopping by March 29th to answer any questions you may have.

Now onto the rules. I’m listing them in order of importance, so please take note. :)

1. Accepting  pitches for novella and novel length manuscripts that are complete. And I mean complete as in polished and ready to go within a week of any possible requests.

2. The winner will receive a critique of the first 25 pages of your manuscript. Hopefully, Grace will want to contract your books (as well as others).

3. The pitches will be posted on this blog in the comment section on April 23rd. Posting will be open at 7:00 EST am.

4. The top 10 pitches will be chosen by Grace. The finalists will be asked to furnish the first 3 pages of their manuscript.

5. The pitch cannot be more than 150 words in length. Please include title and genre.

6. The winner will be asked to furnish the first 25 pages of their manuscipt  or 5000 words, whichever comes first. Please end at the end of a chapter. There is some wiggle room in page and word count in order to achieve this. :)

7. The finalists will be notified the week of May 10th.

Now it’s time to get moving on finishing, revising or polishing that manuscript. You have a month. ;)

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Posted in Blog events, Contests | 5 Comments »