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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Liz Crowe Shares "Turkish Delights"



Our special guest today is the bold, beautiful brewery wench Liz Crowe author of the award winning Stewart Realty Series.

Today Liz is talking about her big, gorgeous package deal  of erotic-exotic novels “Turkish Delights” and offering a contest. As if a generous contest wasn’t enough, guess what? For a limited time…
TURKISH DELIGHTS is FREE!  Details at the bottom of this blog so please read on.

Liz Crowe:
One Time, in Istanbul….

I was driving out to my kids’ school (Istanbul International School, one of the oldest International Baccalaureate schools in the world).  It is located waaaay outside of the main part of the city, a solid hour by bus, a little less by car. We were on our way out of the country, headed next to England after a couple of years in Turkey.  It was end of school party day and I had agreed to chaperone said event.

I was driving myself for a change (we had a driver for most of the time we were there but he had found a new gig and since we were out of our flat and in a hotel it was “no big deal.”)

I did not have any ID on me other than my Michigan driver’s license and the paper declaring me OK TO DRIVE IN EUROPE because my spouse’s company had dropped the ball a little and not gotten our exit Visas and what not on time so they had my passport and my little “OK TO LIVE IN TURKEY” mini-passport.  No big deal.

As I passed a gated neighborhood of gigantic homes I saw a roadblock. “No problem,” I thought as I reached for my purse and waited my turn and realized….I had no ID other than my Michigan and International driving licenses….Holy Sh*T Balls.

Another mom was ahead of me, and saw that I got stopped and asked to exit my vehicle by an adorable young man in the uniform of the Turkish Gendarme, a sort of  state police like entity responsible for law enforcement outside the city limits. He was obviously nervous, but carrying a semi automatic weapon as they are wont to do in that country. I was used to that.  But my stress level notched up. It was already high. If you have ever moved between countries with 3 kids and a spouse who is more or less already onto his next gig in that next country, leaving you to deal with everything else, well, you feel my pain.  The other mom had a driver, thank the lord, and he helped, but only a little. Those uniformed dudes were determined that I was Not Where I was Supposed To Be that day.

The short version of this story is that after I got the human resources director on the phone, told him to get somebody out to me, as I sat in the gendarme office in god-knows-where sipping tea and glaring at the jerk who was being a jerk to me. “Right fucking now” I think were my exact words…we were all cleared up. BUT I had a meltdown on the side of the road and will someday find the words describe the look in the cute kid’s eyes when I did that and he shot a look of terror to his superior (the Jerky one) that was something along the lines of  “Let’s let her go. She’s obviously insane. And American. And she scares me.”

I have a scene in The Diplomat’s Daughter that I channeled some of this experience into. The Turkish law enforcement authorities (a.k.a. The Military) are a no-nonsense bunch. When a few of them come to tell Vivian Kinkaid Deniz that the son she thought killed in a terrorist attack 2 years prior was actually held hostage and tortured for that period of time, and he had escaped on his own but was missing and now presumed dead.  Although she is fluent in Turkish, having been married to a Turkish man for decades and lived in Istanbul for that period, she loses it in English all over them.

I loved my time in Turkey, cute and jerk-ish Gendarme aside. And now that incident even sounds funny to me in hindsight.  It’s a crazy, frustrating place but beautiful, full of history, and amazing at the same time.

I hope you get a chance to read my series that I set there, Turkish Delights, available as an ebook bundle and in print under one cover.
Cheers



Want a little more? Here’s a blurb and excerpt from The Turkish Delights Series:

For the print anthology:
A young American woman comes face to face with her destiny in Istanbul in the 1960's and an epic dynasty is born.  

When Vivian Kinkaid turns around in her college classroom and makes eye contact with a man who was once her forbidden childhood friend, her life is changed forever.

A sweeping saga of family, love, loss and recovery—The Turkish Delight series begins with a special sort of magic. Then  Madame Eve works her miracles for the Deniz family, but even she can’t overcome the harsh realities that force this Turkish/American family all to deal with tragedy when one of their own is ripped from their close-knit circle.

 “The Turks” opens with best-selling classic romance for the ages.  Then ends with a thrilling novella that brings all the players back together.  Set in Istanbul, Las Vegas, and Southern California, The Turkish Delights series has it all—heat, heart, intrigue and a deep, family connection that transcends all barriers.

The Diplomat's Daughter
Turkish Delights
Blue Cruise
Tulip Princess
Flower Passage

Individual Blurbs for the books:
The Diplomat’s Daughter:
When Vivian Kincaid's eyes meet those of a hunky local at the Turkish university her father forces her to attend, it only takes her a split second to recognize her childhood friend. Levent Deniz was the servant boy who taught her to run the streets of Istanbul years before, giving outlet to her wild streak even as a child.

Now face-to-face once again as adults, the only thing standing between them and happiness is her father. The newly appointed Consul General for the United States has other plans for his only daughter. Ones that do not include a former servant, now successful entrepreneur and businessman. He will do everything in his power to keep them apart.

The Diplomat's Daughter is set in 1960s Istanbul and tells the story of pre-destiny, passion and the rebellious power of true love.




Turkish Delights (1NightStand)
The fifteen year age difference between Elle Kensington, expatriate American executive and Emre Demir, son of Istanbul's most successful businessmen, has not kept them from becoming fast friends as they toured Istanbul together. But the time has come for him to return to the U.S. to finish his master's degree, and she has just been named CEO of the pharmaceutical company that brought her to Turkey in the first place. Elle adores her adopted country, and is alarmed to find herself falling in love with the young man who's been her impromptu guide for the last few months.

She knows they can never be. She will return home to California within a month, leaving behind all she loves about the ancient city. In a rare fit of spontaneity, Elle has contracted with Madame Eve's 1Night Stand dating service, hoping to find a way to forget the dark, handsome young man who has captured her heart. Little does she know what awaits her in the ancient recesses of the Ottoman palace turned luxury hotel under the hands of her one-night stand masseur.




Blue Cruise (1NightStand, m/m)
Caleb and Tarkan were an odd couple—men from two different cultures—so in love, they were determined to overcome any obstacles. But fate had different plans for Tarkan. Shattered and unable to function a full two years after tragedy strikes, Caleb faces the hollow shell that is his life.

Adem Broussard is happy enough, as owner and chef of his restaurant on the Turkish southern coast. But a tall, American Adonis he saw once, years ago on a Turkish Blue Cruise haunts his most erotic dreams, and he hopes contracting Madame Eve's 1NightStand service for an unconventional date will help him forget.

When Caleb caves in to his friend Elle's insistence that he return to Turkey and exorcise some of the demons that haunt him, he reluctantly climbs on board a private yacht for a special 1Night Stand Blue Cruise. There he comes face to face with the man who remembers him well…and helps him heal.



Tulip Princess (1NightStand, BDSM)
Lale Deniz was always prone to wildness. But when her family is ripped apart at the seams, she becomes more reckless than ever. Desperate to stop her self-destructive slide, her parents step in and send her to America to live with her brother, Emre. Just the chance, she thinks, to escape the tragedy suffusing her Istanbul home.

Andreas Michos, Greek former NFL star, the recently divorced athletic director at UNLV, floats through life seeking fulfillment. He has reason to doubt his own abilities as a natural Dom and has given up finding his perfect mate. Until he agrees to a 1Night Stand.

Set against a backdrop of ancient cultural clashes and Mediterranean family dynamics, Lale and Andreas meet in Las Vegas at the Castillo resort for their date. But it seems Madame Eve and destiny will both fail this time, unless Lale and Andreas are willing to relinquish enough control to discover what happiness can be found inside the soul of the other. Will stubbornness keep them from connecting, or can they let go long enough to heal?






Flower Passage (final novella, m/m/m)
What would you do if the lover, brother, son, and friend you thought you'd lost forever was returned to you?

Brutally battered, emotionally and physically for the past two years, Tarkan Deniz has escaped his captors. When the Deniz family discovers the shocking truth they rally and do everything in their power to bring him back safely. But all have been affected by the tragedy of his loss and must come to terms with the new reality, each in their own way.

When Happily Ever After seems like a nightmare...one man can bring healing to all, but will he ever be the same man again?

Flower Passage is a story of love lost and regained, even if it takes a slightly different form than before.

Here’s a bit about Liz:
Microbrewery owner, best-selling author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three teenagers, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great Midwest, in a major college town.  Years of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse, plus making her way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry), has prepped her for life as erotic romance author. 

When she isn't sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications. 

Her groundbreaking fiction subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” has gained thousands of fans and followers who are interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”)

Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally recognized for its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high-powered real estate offices.  Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.





Want more Turks? I have wonderful news. This beautiful bundle of books is FREE, yes FREE!

Here is the e-bundle that is free for Kindle Prime members now and will be free to ALL starting 2/25 to coincide with this tour.
http://www.amazon.com/BUNDLE-Turkish-Delights-Series-ebook/dp/B00BFYG15S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360946726&sr=8-1&keywords=liz+crowe+bundle

And here is the link for the print antho (all 5 books under one cover):
http://www.amazon.com/Turkish-Delights-Liz-Crowe/dp/1613334478/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360946767&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=liz+crowe+turkish+delights


Want more Liz?
There’s a contest too with great prizes so be sure to check out each of these posts:


















Thank you Liz, best wishes to you!
XXOO Kat

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things



The last 2 ½ months have been, what is the word I’m looking for, um, let’s go with challenging!
I had emergency surgery on December 7th and was basically bedridden until February 5th when I had major surgery.  I’m finally on the slow road to recovery and am extremely excited to be feeling up to blogging. Could this mean that getting back into author mode is on the horizon? I sure hope so!

Discovering Alicia released yesterday! It is my return to writing a novella length story after greatly enjoying creating Erotic Gem short shorts for the last year. Check it out at: www.replendencepublishing.com

Have a wonderful weekend~

Tessie

www.tessiebradford.com

 


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

New Books Coming!



Since New Years I’ve really been enjoying having guests at my blog and feeling a little out of practice with keeping up with my own blogging. This is my first real post in weeks.

 So far 2013 has been busy. Two books have been contracted to Ellora’s Cave and a third was submitted several days ago. Another book will be finished soon. So in the near future I’ll be facing four book edits back to back. I hope I survive it.

I received one of the new book covers yesterday and I have to wait to post it, but I’m dying to share it! Receiving a new book cover is always a thrill. It’s one of the most intense little surprises I’ve enjoyed as an adult. I always love seeing how the cover artist interpreted my brief descriptions. I’m very happy with this new cover and I’ll post it next week with a blurb. I’ll also share a little more about it but I am willing to drop a few hints today.

The new book is a contemporary and a historical because the heroine travels back in time to Avignon France 1903 to meet a mysterious artist she’s always fantasied about. This story is also my private fantasy I wish I could do this!

The story is a paranormal with a beneficent witch who casts life-changing spells and there are lots of other magical things including enchanted absinthe and mischievous green fairies.



It’s very sensual and took me deep in the Bohemian world of modern art and a brave new century that hadn’t yet revealed its harsher edges.



My heroine gets to be muse and lover for her dream man and inspires a famous suite of paintings titled “La Fee Verte” the green fairy. How great is that?


Everything is going great for my heroine but as we all know enchantments fade, stipulations come into play and these two soul-bound lovers who belong together suddenly find themselves separated by a gulf of 110 years… 

Beyond that you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens. I really enjoyed writing this story and totally fell in love with my hero and I hope you will too.



XXOO Kat

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Today is About "Discovering Alicia"



If you visit Seven Sexy Scribes regularly you already know Tessie Bradford is a sweet person anyone would be proud to call a friend, but did you know she has new novella released today from Resplendence Press called “Discovering Alicia”?

I loved this novella! It’s a perfect size book to read in an evening and combines several of my favorite fantasies.

Cherished fantasy #1. Alicia rents a small cabin in the beautiful Huron Mountains for a peaceful summer vacation where she plans to fish, eat those fresh fish and read until her eyeballs dry out.
That actually sounds very nice to me. I wish I could do that.

Cherished fantasy #2. Alicia runs into an old friend from college who’s turned into a gorgeous hunk and is still carrying a blazing bright torch for her. Oh and he’s a good kisser too. This vacation is looking up, isn’t it?

Cherished fantasy #3 Brad is eager to please Alicia, I mean he really, really wants to please her and be her man, which brings me to…

Cherished fantasy #4 Brad wants to make all Alicia’s dreams come true including winning the largest stuffed animal at the fair and offering her a super hot ménage with his best friend Tom. Yeah, it gets nasty hot and Alicia gets to be the treat at the center of a sin sandwich—lucky girl.

The lessons every reader should come away with is it’s always a good idea for a lone woman to rent a cabin in a remote area and fish. Period. It’s just a good idea.  Fresh fish and sunshine are good for you.

I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend “Discovering Alicia”. It’s sweet, sexy and there were moments when Brad really drew me in and I felt how much he wanted Alicia for today and tomorrow.

Here's a little more:
Blurb:
Four glorious weeks in a cabin nestled deep in the wilds of Northern Michigan is exactly what Alicia needs. Fishing, sleeping and reading are the only things on her agenda until she finds herself on the forest floor with a gorgeous man running his strong hands over her body. When she realizes they know each other she’s surprised, but when he revs her into a sexual frenzy in a hot minute, Alicia is stunned. The last thing she needs to do is to repeat past mistakes.
Brad can’t believe his college crush is literally sprawled at his feet. It’s been ten years, but she still heats his blood to boiling in an instant. She’s in his neck of the woods for an entire month, the perfect amount of time for a steamy, no-strings-attached fling.
Alicia and Brad soon discover they are both looking for far more.  

Excerpt:
He stopped mere inches away and reached out to tuck a piece of her wet hair behind her ear. “I’m a big believer in honesty, Alicia.” He trailed his finger down her cheek. “You’re as pretty as a picture, all flustered and staring at me with those big doe eyes. If you don’t want me to kiss you, now would be the time to speak up.” 

She wouldn’t have uttered a word if the hounds of hell were snapping at her butt. Ali was stunned to see his pupils dilate with desire. Brad cupped the back of her head and placed his lips gently on hers. His kiss was tender, coaxing, and magical. She tentatively rested one palm on his side, just above his waistband. His skin was warm and smooth, the muscles underneath taut. He adjusted his stance slightly and wrapped his arm around her, his hand lying scandalously low on her back. Ali sighed and snuggled at bit closer. Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest when he responded immediately. He pulled her tightly against his body, delightfully crushing her breasts against his chest. Tastes and nibbles quickly escalated to feverish parrying of tongues. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he massaged her back. 

When they were finally forced to break the kiss in order to catch their breath, Alicia dropped her head to his shoulder. Brad cradled both cheeks of her ass and moved her seductively against his massive erection. The reality of what she’d just done, what he obviously and naturally wanted to do next hit her like a ton of bricks. She wiggled out of his embrace, desperately needing space to get herself under control. 

What the fuck was she doing? Granted, they weren’t strangers, but spending time in a lab, three days a week, for one semester, almost ten years ago, didn’t warrant this level of friendliness when running into each other in the woods! Hell, she hadn’t even recognized him at first. She closed her eyes and ran shaky fingers through her long, damp hair.

“You wanna tell me what’s wrong, Ali?” he asked quietly.

“Nothing, everything’s great. The kiss was great. You’re great.” She attempted a smile. “Wow, it’s really getting dark fast. I should go back.” She fumbled for the flashlight hanging from her belt, and after a few tries, was able to turn it on. She then pulled the soaking, crumpled up map out of her pocket. “It was great to see you again, Brad. Maybe we’ll run into each other again while I’m here.” Ali turned and headed in what she hoped was the right direction, but in less than two steps, a large hand wrapped around her arm.

“Freeze, woman.” She did as he ordered. “I, too, appreciate all of the greatness that’s happened tonight,” Brad whispered against her ear. “Especially when you melted in my arms.” Ali gasped when he pressed firmly against her backside. “Why are you running away, skittish as a scared rabbit? Nothing’s gonna happen that you don’t want, and you want badly.” 

Alicia spun around to face him, so embarrassed and horny she couldn’t think straight. In a hot second, Brad Compton, geeky science guy, now ultimate sex-on-a-stick guy had her almost forgetting the lessons she’d learned the hard way. “I’m so, so sorry, Brad; please…” She stared up at him, horrified when a single tear trickled down her cheek. 

He brushed it away with a feather-light touch of his thumb. “Come on, Ali; let’s get you home.” 

XXOO Kat



Discovering Alicia is available February 27th!

Resplendence Press: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/154.html

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Happy Almost Valentine's Day!

Editing

I'm currently editing my current wip to get it submitted by the 2/15 deadline...oh and I'm leaving to go out of town on the 14th. So only 2 days of editing.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Is it Saturday all ready?

Oh, yum!  Ready to cough up a furball, baby?

Love cat pictures...love baby pictures...so I combined them today.  Anyway, I guess I have rearranged furniture all I can, so it's back to writing.  Did my Facebook thing...did my e-mail...went to the post office and the store.  Anything left to distract me?  Nope.  Looks like everything's done.  Now it's time to settle in and do some writing.

Will give you an update on my wip next Saturday.

Hugs!

Fran Lee