Julie Shelton, Erotic Author stops by the Boudoir this week!

Julie Shelton

Erotic Romance

     This week, our guest author, Julie Shelton, has invited us to spend the week at a castle with her and her characters! How exciting. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end - Julie is giving away THREE e-copies of Dark Warrior!

     Welcome to Berwick Castle, home of Nicholas and Kathryn Herron, the Duke and Duchess of Berwick. We are in the family solar, where the family sleeps, bathes, and spends much of its time when not busy conducting the business of a thriving castle. The floors are blue glazed Portuguese tiles, covered here and there with silk carpets from Persia. The walls are stone, hung with many colorful tapestries to help help keep down the cold. One corner is a tower. That is the bathing area. Hung with silk sheets to allow for privacy, the floor is raised to form a dais. In the middle is a copper bathing tub large enough for three people. The area is warmed by coal braziers around the tub. An enormous fireplace takes up much of one wall and today a blazing fire is sending its heat out into the large room. In front of the fireplace is a heavy oak table with four chairs, where the Duke and Duchess and their partner, Rolf Torgesson, play chess and other games, and occasionally dine. High above the floor is a delicately-arched vaulted ceiling, as fine as can be found in any of England's cathedrals. The top half of the two outside walls feature tall stained glass windows depicting scenes from daily life in Berwick Castle. Against one wall is a massive, four-poster bed with crimson velvet curtains that can enclose it completely for privacy. 

Another Western Week with Gem Sivad!

Gem Sivad

Erotic Romance

     Readers, it's an honor to have this week's sexy, erotic western author with us! I hope you enjoy the interview and her books! We're going to be taking a walk around Eclipse, Texas, the town in her latest book so keep your eyes open for her cowboys roaming around. Gem, thanks for inviting us to your little town so we can get a taste of life in the books. I think there might be a saloon over there. Let's get started!

Naughty Reader’s: Tell us a bit about yourself that readers may not know.

Gem:  I love going to horse races and am looking forward to the Kentucky Derby this year.

Naughty Reader’s: What made you want to become a writer?

Gem:  I must be genetically predisposed since I’ve always written stories. It was very hard to start sharing them publicly since self-doubt dogged my steps. @_@ But… after the first book published and I received my first reader response, I was hooked. Good, bad or indifferent, it was the moment I became an author, craving an audience for the stories that kept pinging around in my head but were yet to be written.

Naughty Reader’s: Please share a bit about your new release Wolf’s Tender without giving away any spoilers.

Gem:  Before I wrote Wolf’s Tender, I researched the setting and historical elements and then created my characters--Charlie Wolf McCallister and Naomi Parker-- two lonely people who find love (and hot sex) together.

      Naomi, my heroine in Wolf’s Tender, illustrates my belief that women of by-gone days embraced sensual pleasure much as we do. And Charlie Wolf is the quintessential, hard-hearted hero who melts into a puddle of love when he finds the woman of his dreams.

Blurb for Wolf's Tender - A book in the Eclipse Heat Series

     Charlie Wolf is half Kiowa, all bounty hunter and a no-nonsense man—until he meets a schoolteacher with cornflower-blue eyes. After marauding outlaws attack Naomi’s school and kidnap her students, she’s desperate and will do anything to rescue them, even seduce the best tracker in Texas to secure his help.

      Naomi offers one night of sexual favors, underestimating the power of Charlie’s predatory charm and his determination to claim her as his mate. She’s impatient with his decisions, questions his authority and generally ignores his warnings. But she melts in Charlie’s arms when he makes love to her.

Blood is spilled, past murder avenged, desperadoes captured and lust assuaged as the two set out to rescue Naomi’s young ladies.

A Romantica® historical Western erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

 Excerpt:

       “There’s a catch basin of water down below. Bathe.” He handed her linen and a bar of soap.

       Grateful for the chance to soak, she left comment about his dictatorial behavior for another time and hurried to the water.

      “Watch out for snakes,” he advised.

      Naomi didn’t like snakes or other slithering critters but she did like being clean, so she watched her step, shed Charlie’s clothes and plunged in the water, wallowing like a kid in the semi-warm pool. Her hair hung in rough strands that would become snarled balls when dry. She worked ineffectually at one tangle until she felt his gaze on her.

       “I wish my hair was straight like yours,” she muttered.

       He held out his hand, indicating it was time for her to quit the water.

       “Just gawk at something else besides me,” she told him, exasperated at his boldness when he didn’t look away. She covered her breasts with one arm, her triangle of lower curls with the other and grimaced at him as she emerged.

       He snorted at her attempt at modesty and wrapped the blanket around her, rubbing the drying cloth across her hair. Then he handed her a tin.

      “Work that into the snarls, then rinse it out of your hair.”

      “What’s in it?” she asked suspiciously, sniffing the mixture. It smelled like him, or at least the spicy wood scent she associated with him.

      “Bear grease.” He grunted impatiently. “Now rub it on your hair.”

      It was odd how right away her hair felt different. It hung in soft wet strands that felt like silk when she rinsed his concoction from her head.

      “It feels like when I was a child and rinsed my hair in rain water.” She let her hands play down the silken length and looked at him doubtfully. “Bear grease?”

       “No. My mother makes it for me to use on my hair,” he growled.

       She’d noticed how shiny his hair was. “It’s indecent for a man to have hair that hangs down his back and is prettier than a woman’s.” The tart words escaped her before she could stop them. Then she fastened on the important part of his sentence, excusing her own rude comment.

      “You have a mother?” She was surprised. He didn’t look like a man with a mother, let alone one who made him beauty products for his hair.

       “Did you think I was born in a cave with wolves?” He capped the tin and stuck it in his pocket.

      “Does your mother live with the Kiowa tribe?” she asked politely, ignoring his sarcasm because frankly, she could picture him in a cave with wolves.

      “My mother is Rachel McCallister of the MC3 Ranch. She’s a white woman, like you.” While she digested that information, he did one of his silent maneuvers, moving much closer, leaving Naomi very conscious of his nearness.

      “Sun ointment—should make your face quit burning.” She could feel the heat from his body as he rubbed a different salve on her cheeks.

      His nearness and gentle application of the medicine flustered her. No one had taken care of her since her sister had left. Naomi had grown up taking care of others. Now this man leaned over her and squinted as he dabbed another kind of cream on her cheeks.

       “It does soothe the burn.” She couldn’t resist touching his hand as he carefully applied the balm to her burned cheeks. “Why are you being nice to me?”

She suspected that Charlie Wolf never made a move that didn’t benefit him, but at this moment she didn’t care. It was wonderful that he was showing her kindness during the day.

       “Your skin’s too chapped. I want it soft under my lips when I taste you,” he drawled.

       “It’s daylight. We need to travel now that I’ve rested.” Naomi blinked at him, confused.

      “We’re hidden here and it’s a good place to hole up until dusk. My horse will let me know if anyone or anything gets close.”

       “It was dark last night. How did you find me?” Naomi asked.

      “Old Mossy took a fancy to the buckskin mare you pilfered.” Charlie’s eyes crinkled at the corners just the slightest when he answered. “She’s in heat. He followed her scent.” The almost smile changed to a frown and he asked, “Where the hell did you think you were going?”

       “The buckskin mare belonged to one of the criminals you captured and I felt certain she was returning to familiar horses,” Naomi answered smugly.

       “And even if that blockheaded idea was sound, you thought you’d just ride into an outlaw camp and do what?”

      Naomi blushed and squirmed under his gaze. Her plan had been more an impulse.

       “Woman, you have no sense.” He shook his head. Shrugging, he leaned close to her, his nostrils flaring as if testing the air.

      “What are you doing?” she asked nervously.

     “Fixin’ your scent in my mind for if I have to go chasing after you again,” Charlie growled.

      His words brought a flush of arousal flooding her body. She could smell him too and she liked his spicy male scent. She was reminded that only a blanket separated her nakedness from Charlie and her skin pebbled with awareness as her womb clenched. Thankfully he didn’t notice her unseemly response and continued explaining his plan.

     “The stars ‘ll be out tonight and it’ll be clear enough to see.” He turned her toward the camp and her bed under the tree. “Meanwhile, you can tender the next installment of your payment to me.”

     “What?” Her voice sharpened, her disappointment a twist of pain. He didn’t need to remind her that she’d traded him liberties for his care. The hair and face creams seemed less special and her momentary pleasure at being tended disappeared.

     “How many such installments will it take to close this account?” she snapped.

      “Depends on the amount of danger I incur in the course of the rescue,” he murmured, leaning over her to claim her lips. And then his shoulders blotted out the sun and he laid her to the ground, coming down on top of her.

Naughty Reader’s:  That sounds like a yummy premise for a great beginning! Do you write under a pen name?

Gem:  Gem Sivad is my pen name.
 

Naughty Reader’s: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Gem:  I like a sexy beast for the man…gruff, frequently arrogant, intelligent, responsible, not necessarily handsome to all, but with such masculine gravitas that he is immediately a presence in any room.

      I like heroines who display ingenuity and independence. You can be sure if my damsel is in distress, she’s already working toward resolving her crisis when the hero arrives to help in her rescue (and warm up the sheets).     

Naughty Reader’s:  We know you're extremely busy writing all those books. Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Gem:  I have a regular schedule:

6:00 a.m. Grab a cup of coffee (auto brewed & ready)and check my stats. (I’m totally addicted to watching ratings, rankings, and reviews.)

6:30-8:00 Answer email, visit FB, twitter,  and develop promo material for blogs.

8:00-12:30 Write. Break for lunch and watch midday news (am a political junkie).

2:00-5:00 Write. I try not to let writing take over my personal life, but in the evening with hubs, my mind is always playing with plot ideas.

Naughty Reader’s: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Gem:  If I have any common theme it would be female empowerment. (see heroine question above.

Naughty Reader’s: How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Gem:  I normally work on more than one WIP at a time in varying stages of completion so in a six week period I expect to finish a novella and a novel.

Naughty Reader’s: Do you have to be alone to write?

Gem: YES!
 

Naughty Reader’s: How do you go about naming characters?

Gem:  I try to choose names that fit the character image in my head. When I’m writing books set in the 19th century, birth records from the period are a great source.

Naughty Reader’s: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Gem:  I write then find pictures. Sometimes my first choice changes as the story evolves and the character becomes more known to me. If I’m casting Wolf’s Tender—The Movie, *BG* Adam Beach will play Charlie Wolf McCallister and Keri Russell with curly hair, is Naomi.

Naughty Reader’s: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Gem:  For my town of Eclipse, Texas, I chose a setting in the northwestern part of Texas that bordered 19th century Indian Territory. It’s a diverse geographical area with both deserts and mountains. I located my mythical town in a place close enough to Wichita Falls, Sweetwater and Abilene to travel by horseback. (Yes, I visited the area.) 

Blogger
Main site
Twitter
Facebook

 

CONTEST:  Gem is picking one commenter to win both of her e-books of the bounty hunter series, Wolf's Tender and Five Card Stud! Good luck readers! The drawing will be on Saturday and Gem will pick the winner!

 

Author Delaney Rhodes, Celtic Steel and Vampire Dental Series

Delaney Rhodes
Paranormal and Historical Romance Author

     Of Irish and English descent, Romance Author Delaney Rhodes is a native Texan from birth. She is a Graduate with double Majors from The University of Houston, in Law and Writing. She has two teenage daughters, and is married to an entrepreneurial Husband. Three of her favorite people, are her three rescued Russian Blue cats; Sebastian, Sasha, and Sissy. The family would not be complete without “13″, an adopted Bearded Dragon.
      Together they live life at a fast pace, enjoying each other and striving to help the world become a better place. Besides her writing and family – Ms. Rhodes is active in many charitable organizations that benefit animals and children, both through volunteering and fundraising.
    Ms. Rhodes’ writing was prompted and inspired by many hours of research and study into her Irish and Celtic family lineage and heritage. Many of the stories you will find in the chapters of her writings were birthed while striving to connect with those that had walked these paths and lived before her.

Naughty Reader’s: Readers, thank you for joining us as we chat with the gorgeous Delaney Rhodes! Delaney, welcome to our Boudoir! Tell us a bit about yourself .

Delaney: I’m technologically challenged. My husband laughs, because without him, I’d never be able to operate the television. Someone still needs to explain to me why every TV we have in the house needs four controllers.

And – I hate, I mean – really abhor - reality television. Where have all the writers gone? There is no creativity in poking cameras in people’s faces and calling it art. I just don’t get it.

Naughty Reader’s: What made you want to become a writer?

Delaney: It sort ‘a happened by accident'. I am a vivid dreamer and one day I decided to start keeping a dream journal. It spiraled out of control from there…lol.

Naughty Reader’s: Do you write under a pen name?

Delaney: Yes, Delaney Rhodes is a pen name. I have teenage daughters and they would be mortified if their friends knew I wrote romance novels.

Naughty Reader’s: Pen names also work well for those who want to maintain more privacy and I don't think readers mind at all. What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Delaney: Everyone loves a hero, but I appreciate when characters are also presented as real people, or individuals with flaws or some sort of challenge they need to overcome.  Encouragement is in short supply now-a-days, and if we can find it, even in unusual places, it can be miraculous for our psyche.

Naughty Reader’s:  A great way for readers to know more about what we do is for them to see us as we work. Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Delaney: It all starts with me waking up and wrangling my three cats and senior Chihuahua. My daughter calls them the ‘insane cat posse’. Getting a ninth grader off to school is the next order of business, as is helping my husband get his day started. After I finish some accounting tasks for my husband’s business, I surf the internet for a while. I will answer emails, check in with Facebook to see what’s happening with me and then I usually read whatever’s on my Kindle that week. After reading for a while, my creativity opens up and I am ready to jot down some thoughts. If I’m lucky, they’re coherent and turn into a narrative for a book.

Naughty Reader’s: Please share a bit about your new release without giving away any spoilers.

Delaney:  It’s due out in a few weeks and it’s called, Vampire Dental, Veneers.  It’s the first in a series of short novellas set in modern day, Houston, Texas, my hometown. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all net proceeds from the sale of this title will go to a fund set up for my Aunt Ruby who is currently fighting the fight.

Naughty Reader’s: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Delaney: My series, Celtic Steel, follows a theme and is a paranormal historical romance series set in 15th century Celtic Ireland, which centers around three clans and their adventures.  I think I have some messages in this series that the reader can appreciate. Love, forgiveness, redemption and the knowledge that things aren’t always as they appear at first would definitely be themes of my writing. 

Naughty Reader’s:  (Tonya) I do love a great historical romance that takes me back in time. *happy sigh* How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Delaney: Good question. It really depends on the work. I tend to let the story flow through me for as long as it’s coming, and then spend more time perfecting it and editing. If I look at the chapters in my books as a “story”, then not, too, long. I usually finished two to four chapters in a week or two.

Naughty Reader’s:  That's a great pace to maintain! Do you have to be alone to write?

Delaney: Definitely. I can’t have interruptions or the creativity stops. Of course, that doesn’t apply to my cats, they are always with me. Whispering in my ear – I think – but I have no proof…lol.

Naughty Reader’s: How do you go about naming characters?

Delaney: In my Celtic Steel series, I’ve tried to remain as true to ancient Celtic or Irish names as possible, doing research to name my characters. In my new series, Vampire Dental, I’ve used names of people I know, either friends, or people in my family.

Naughty Reader’s: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Delaney: I’ve never tried to match up my characters with pictures of random people I find. I’ve seen that happen by author’s I’ve read, and then totally lost my story ‘mojo’ reading their book, or it has completely changed my opinion of the character. I think as writers, our job is to create a vision for our readers, and then let them build around it.

Naughty Reader’s: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Delaney: My Celtic Steel Series happened as a result of my research into my family heritage and the fact that my great grandfather was from County Mayo in Ireland. My Vampire Dental series is based in the great city of Houston, Texas – my hometown.

Naughty Reader’s: What are you working on now and what should readers be looking forward to from you il the future?

Delaney: I’m working on my Vampire Dental series, which is a fore into the YA, paranormal and vampire genre. Most importantly, the first book in the series is being launched during Breast Cancer Awareness month and all net proceeds are going to a fund to help my Aunt Ruby who is currently battling breast cancer. It should release in a couple weeks.

Naughty Reader’s: Delaney, good luck on the release and may the sales help with the fund! Readers, we hope you're taking notes here and book marking sites! Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

Delaney: My site links are:

 My Web site 

Blog

Twitter @Delaney_Rhodes

Facebook Fan page 

Goodreads

Celtic Storms, Book 1 in the Celtic Steel Series - Amazon

Celtic, Book 2 in the Celtic Steel Series - Amazon

Celtic Skies, Book 3 in the Celtic Steel Series - Amazon

****Giveaway****

To one lucky winner, an eBook of Delaney's latest, Celtic Skies, 
as well as signed paperbacks of my first two books in the series.

Please leave your entry in the RaffleCopter Contest below!

Thanks and good luck!

Excerpt: Celtic Skies

Shiant Islands, Scotland

April, 1458

     She was beautiful when she was angry, and she was more than beautiful today. Aisling McTavish had broken every single piece of fine pottery and glassware her nimble hands could grasp. As it stood, the finery hutch was bare, as was the large oak dining table. The walls were nearly blank as well, and all of the servants had escaped a safe distance away, hiding behind the brocade curtains which veiled the dining area from the kitchens.

     Not one given to dramatics, Flynn simply sat down on the bench, hands in hair, elbows on knees—and sighed. “Aisling, I know this is no’ what ye wished for, me luv…” he started.

     “Oh, ye don’t!” she screeched. “Ye don’t get to pretend ye dinna’ know this was a’ coming, Flynn Montgomery!” Long blond hair whipped through the air and slapped him in the face. She turned to exit the room, but stopped abruptly. Flynn heard the tell-tale sound of Aisling’s leather slippers scooting backwards into the dining hall, and he looked up just in time to catch his father’s pale green eyes.

     Farrell Montgomery held even less patience for female theatrics than his son. Farrell was indeed a giant of a man, and he was typically short on patience. Brawny and gruff, he had an attractive charming quality that vanished the second he opened his tightly pinched mouth.

     “Why Farrell, ’tis so nice to see ye on such a bonny day as this,” started Aisling toward her future father-in-law.

     “Aisling, what is all this fuss about? What has happened to my dear wife’s, God rest her soul, play-pretty plates and pottery?” he growled as he surveyed the chaos in the dining hall. Clutching Aisling about her shoulders, he lifted her off the ground nearly two feet, and she hung limply like a rag doll before him, all blond hair and blue eyes.

     “Da!” shouted Flynn. “Da— ye must put her down, this instance.” Grabbing Aisling by the hand, Flynn led her to a nearby stool and reprimanded her with his eyes before turning to his father.

     “Da, I was jest explainin’ the situation to Aisling, and she is no’ taking the news verra well,” said Flynn, resting his hands on his hips as he looked up to his father. Nearly four inches more than six feet tall, there weren’t many people that Flynn Montgomery had to look up to. Except for Farrell, who had a good two inches on his eldest and only son.

     “Aye, what o’ the situation?” asked Farrell.

l     “I’ll tell ye!” shouted Aisling standing up in feigned courage, sticking her nose in the air. “When Flynn and I were handfasted last Bealtaine, ’twas with the understandin’ that we would reside here, on the island, after our wedding.”

     “And what o’ it?” growled Farrell.

     “Well, yer son here has been tellin’ me that we are to move to Ireland, and I am no’ goin’!”

$nbsp;    “Is that so?” asked Farrell nonchalantly.

     “Why, aye ’tis,” she responded calmly.

     “I see,” he replied grabbing a flask from his belt and taking a long swig of sour Scottish whiskey. “And pray tell how do ye intend to repay the bride price we have given yer family?”

     Aisling’s face grew red and she broke out in a cold sweat. “What do ye mean a bride price? There was nay bride price given for me!” she screamed.

     “Aye, there was,” interrupted Flynn. “A considerable one at that,” he said as he shook his head.

     “As I see it,” Farrell broke in, “ye would owe us a great deal o’ coin should the marriage fall through. T’would be most unfortunate, indeed.”

     Aisling balled her hands into fists and clenched her teeth. “I was bought like a common whore?” she shouted towards Flynn.

     “More like a common horse,” Farrell replied between chuckles. “Aisling me dear, we paid a fair bride price for ye, and ye ken that me son, Flynn, is more than suited for ye. He is, after all, a nobleman’s son,” he smirked.

     “A noblemon, me lily white arse,” she retorted. 

     “Ye see,” said Farrell pointing to his son. “The MacTavish’s were more than well compensated for their troubles. They’ve only dealt with this little minx for goin' on—what now—how ole’ are ye, Aisling?” he paused. “Oh that’s right, goin' on nigh to twenty-two summers I ’spose now. Some might say yer a spinster dear. Much too ole’ for Flynn, with him being nearly thirty summers, but we couldna’ talk him out outa’ it; although his mathair and I sure tried.”

     Aisling flung the last tray from the dining table, and it struck Farrell solidly in the chest—leaving a heap of dried fruit and bread in its wake. Positioning himself between his betrothed and his father, Flynn grasped them both by the shoulders and grew oddly quiet.

     “Aisling, ye accepted me proposal o’ marriage, this business about the business o’ marriage contracts does no’ matter; its no’ between us—’tis between our families. I am leavin’ on the Sarysin on the morrow. I’ve a commission to fulfill. I am to be the new chieftan o’ the O’Malley clan forces. It’s an honorable and prestigious position—I should think ye would be happy to be a lady about the manor.”

Aisling’s eyes grew wide, and the anticipation of wealth and status washed across her face. She never was good at holding her ideas, Flynn thought to himself. Farrell snorted and Aisling blushed.

He continued, “I’m leavin’ at first light. ’Twill be nigh on a fortnight a’fore I reach me cousin’s clan, as we are stoppin’ at two ports with merchandise. I’ll give ye two fortnights to join me there. Da can get ye on a galley goin’ that way without any stops. If ye don’t arrive in two fortnights, the marriage is off. Do ye ken what I’m sayin’?” he asked her.

She nodded as tears welled in her eyes.

     “Da, if she doesna’ make it to the galley in timeto’morra, ye can speak with her family about either  makin’ arrangements to get her there, or gettin’ yer money back for the bride price. At any rate, I’ll expect word to arrive by the time I get there.”

     “I want more,” the elder Montgomery grumbled.

     “Ye want more than the bride price?” Aisling asked. “For what—yer troubles in dealing with the likes o’ me?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders and highlighting her barely five-foot frame.

     “I want more—to repay the fancy trinkets and dinin’ wares ye broke that belonged to me Ellen,” he replied, pain washing over his face.

     “I’ll replace those, Da,” Flynn said as he loosened his grip on the two.

     Turning to Aisling, Farrell commanded, “I expect ye to clean this mess up, and ye’ll spend the afternoon washin’ in the kitchens.”

     “And, ye’ll do it too,” Flynn added, looking down at his fiancé, the love of his life, the woman he feared he would never see again.

a Rafflecopter giveaway