What turns you on or off?

Today’s Thursday 13 is a list of what turns me on or off and I’d love for you to share on the blog and also come out tonight to share your thoughts and find out more about human sexuality when I host the wonderful Dr. Charley Ferrer.

Dr. Charley is an award-winning Clinical Sexologist and Life Coach who helps individuals and couples reclaim their divine sexuality. Dr. Charley conducts workshops on sexual health, women’s empowerment, men, sex and relationships and I am honored to have her with me tonight at 10 PM EST for a discussion on sex, erotica, erotica romance and what turns you on or off!

You can click on this widget or cut and paste this link to join the video chat tonight: http://t.wbx.me/f8qgs

Also, drop by Sonya Clark today for an interview with yours truly and a giveaway!

So here goes for my 13 turn on/offs:

1. ON: Shoulder Length hair
2. OFF: Frizzy long hair
3. ON: Young men (think Chris Evans)
4. ON: Older elegant men (think Christopher Plummer)
5. OFF: Violence toward women
6. ON: Playful/Intense Sparring a la Diana and Ryder in DARKNESS CALLS
7. ON: Lean muscles and those little V things on guy’s hips
8. OFF: Too much muscle
9. ON: Some bald men (think Patrick Stewart)
10. OFF: Vampires that glitter
11. ON: Spike
12. ON: Playful bondage
13. OFF: Submission

Share your turn on/off now and tonight during our stimulating chat with Dr. Charley!

To visit other Thursday-13 participants, please click here!

Wicked Wednesday with Stephanie Draven

Welcome to today’s wet, but still decidedly Wicked Wednesday! I have with me today my friend and fellow author Stephanie Draven. Stephanie and I got to meet at an RT a few years back and it was so nice to get to know here. Before we kick off with Stephanie, though, just a reminder that the guest blogs and giveaways continue today! Please take a moment to stop at The Qwillery for a chance to win some goodies.

But now for a little bit about Stephanie who is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.

Books like DARK SINS AND DESERT SANDS, her latest release for Harlequin Nocturne! Here’s a little teaser for you.

Wrongfully accused and broken by torture, an American soldier transforms into a mind-controlling minotaur bent on revenge…

Escaping a hellish Syrian prison, U.S. serviceman Ray Stavrakis emerges with uncanny powers and an eerie ability to morph into a mythical Minotaur, half-man, half-bull. Only one woman can prove his innocence and soothe the savage beast inside–the same woman who’d driven him to the brink of insanity with her cool-eyed interrogation and her hot-blooded sensuality.

But Vegas psychologist Layla Bahset has no memory of Ray or her past. Only a feeling of being stalked by a nonhuman predator. Is it Ray…whose eyes condemn her soul even as his hands ignite her body? Or is another evil force hunting her down like prey?

Now nothing can stop Layla from remembering what she really is…and what her evil creator has planned for her and her soldier lover…

Without further ado, here’s a little more from Stephanie.

My Big Fat Greek Monster Romance
by Stephanie Draven

I’m a sucker for Greek mythology. Who doesn’t love all those dysfunctional deities and dangerous demi-gods? The ancient Greeks knew a thing or two about human nature, and most of the things that we fear–or get turned on by–are covered in their stories. So why not twist the legends into a romance?

That’s just what I’ve done with my Mythica series for HQN Nocturne, each of which is a stand-alone book set in a shared world, all centered around the following premise:

What if the monsters of ancient mythology still walked the earth…and what if you found out that you were one of them?

Dark Sins & Desert Sands is the most daring book of the series and I was delighted that one reviewer already pointed out the super-hot subway sex scene. I’m eager to find out how readers are going to react to a hero who can control the heroine with nothing but his mind. He’s a modern day minotaur with the power to see deeply into her thoughts and to trap her in the labyrinth of her own memories. He’s a man bent on vengeance who unexpectedly finds love along the way and I hope you’ll enjoy the following excerpt:

Ray slammed his hand against the bedside table. “I was innocent, damn you!”

Her accusation obviously infuriated him, instantly and powerfully. He looked like he could tear the whole room apart, like he could kill her, but when he reached for her, he just took her face in his hands. “Layla, you need to listen to me. I didn’t do anything but risk my life for my country. Someone told you otherwise, and I need to know who. What was the evidence against me?”

“I don’t know,” Layla said. “I don’t remember.”

Fury burned higher and hotter in his eyes. “I need you to remember. I’ll make you remember.”

In her half-naked humiliation, she felt angry and defiant. “Oh? How are you going to manage that?”

“I have an idea or two,” he said with a dark laugh. “Every time I get your pulse racing, you seem to remember something else. The first time I touched you, you whispered my name. I kissed you, and you remembered your ex. I bent you over a sink, and now you remember questioning me. What happens if I throw you down on this bed and give you what you really need?”

“Don’t,” she said, putting her hand on his chest.

He grabbed it and twisted it just to the edge of pain. “You know I can do it. In fact, you want me to do it. All that crap you said in there about how you looked like a slut, that’s just an excuse. You’re just scared, and maybe you should be, because let me tell you something, I’ve done worse things to unlock people’s memories than get them off.”

The coarseness of his language seemed to physically scrape her skin. All the bravado went out of her, and she was left only with her vulnerability. “You don’t understand,” she whispered. “I’m not like this. I’m not this person who…who…has sex in a stranger’s motel room.”

“We’re not strangers,” Ray said. “And it’s pretty clear to me you don’t know who the hell you really are. You think you’re some demure little rabbit, but do you want to know what I saw inside your mind?”

Layla inhaled sharply. “What?”

“I saw a lioness.”

“A lioness?” It sounded wrong in every way. She wasn’t anything like a lioness. Layla was wary and restrained, not wild and free. She was a creature of order and logic, not instinct. It’s true that when she’d defended herself in the stairwell she’d felt like a fierce predator, but she hadn’t known that part of herself. She also didn’t know the part of herself that wanted this man. She was a stranger to the part of herself that quivered and ached for him.

“Then make me remember, if you think you can,” she said. “Do it.”

Thank you, Stephanie for dropping by! I love mythology and am really looking forward to reading this one. What about you guys? Are there any myths that you especially love? Persephone? Diana (you know I love that one!). Narcissus? Share any that you would like to see incorporated into a story.

Thursday 13 – Breaking up is hard to do…

The blog tour continues! Don’t forget to visit The Jeep Diva today to find out what she has to say about THE LOST and for a chance to win a LOST T-shirt or copy of my upcoming e-book, ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.

Also, tonight I have Anjanette Delgado with me for a live video event and we’ll be talking about break-ups, fixes for broken hearts and her latest release, THE HEARTBREAK PILL which explores what happens when one woman seems to find a cure for her break-up pain.

So for today’s Thursday 13, I’ve got a list of things you do when you break up!

1. Sing out loud to Gloria Gaynor’s I WILL SURVIVE
2. Get chip-faced like Sandra Bullock in MISS CONGENIALITY
3. Move to Tuscany and start a new life
4. Cry. A lot.
5. Go to the gym and beat the crap out of the boxing bag.
6. Eat chocolate.
7. Drink wine.
8. Find a new guy and hope he isn’t just a rebound guy.
9. Go out with friends and cry some more, drink some more wine.
10. Read a good romance.
11. Watch DIRTY DANCING six or seven times a day (like THE NEW GIRL)
12. Cry some more.
13. Get over it and move on.

Share your break-up remedies by leaving a comment here on the blog or even better, join Anjanette and me tonight as we talk about heartbreak and some remedies!

To visit other Thursday 13 participants, you can click here.

To watch the live video event tonight, you can cut and paste this link into the browser
http://t.wbx.me/f8qgs or click on this widget:

Thursday 13 & 18+ Blog Hop

Join me for a dual day with this Thursday 13 and 18+ Blog hop! For those who are new here, my latest release is THE LOST and here is a little teaser from it!

Adam Bruno is no ordinary millionaire. The heir to an ancient race possessing a dark, powerful magic, he can shapeshift and create energy. His gifts make him a living weapon and have forced him to live in seclusion. But now an inhuman force hunts down Adam-just when he finds someone who makes him feel more human than he ever imagined possible . . .

Home from combat in Iraq, Bobbie Carerra wants only peace, yet soon joins Adam in a terrifying battle against paranormal enemies who hide in plain sight. She’s drawn to his strength of mind and body; he’s attracted to her courage and intoxicating energy. Their scorching passion can either transport them to the heights of ecstasy or-if Adam’s powers rage out of control-destroy them. But when an invisible brotherhood tightens its nets and someone Adam trusts betrays him, only a heartrending decision can save them.

Leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win a $10 gift card and a collection of swag from myself and other authors!

Discover these 13 paragraphs from

THE LOST!

THE LOST Paranormal RomanceThere was no denying how difficult it was for him, remembering that day. But then he surprised her, and maybe even himself, by saying, “I think I’ve seen those energy balls before. When Salvatore found me. Before I forgot who I was.”

“Forgot who you were?” she questioned, seeking clarification because she didn’t want to misunderstand what he meant.

“When I woke up, I had no memories of who I was or where I came from. I still don’t except…”

“You remember the energy. The way the men tossed it. The way you returned fire,” she put out for him to consider.

He nodded and screwed his eyes shut, as if forcing himself back to that time and those memories, but then he expelled a harsh sigh and shook his head. “I can’t remember any more.”

“It’ll come to you.“

“It hasn’t come to me in twenty years, Bobbie. What makes you think it’ll happen now?” he challenged, obviously frustrated.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose. Maybe now it’s time for you to figure it all out,” she said, paraphrasing an oft-told old scripture she’d heard in church.

“You expect me to have faith, only I’m not a religious man,” he warned.

“Hasn’t there been anyone in your life in whom you had faith?” she asked, but as a river of emotions washed over him and transferred itself to her, she knew the sad answer to that. Because she didn’t want to press and cause him more heartache, she rose from the couch.

“It’s time I went home.”

“Stay,” he said, but quickly added, “I’ve got half-a-dozen empty rooms all beautifully decorated by some famous designer whose name I can’t even remember. Just choose a room.”

Insanely she knew what room she wanted to choose-his-but tempered that rashness. It would only create more issues and much like she had told him, there was a season and a time for everything.

paranormal romance Jersey Shore

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paranormal romance Jersey Shore

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Wicked Wednesday – THE FIFTH KINGDOM Romantic Suspense

THE FIFTH KINGDOM Romantic Suspense by Caridad PineiroWhen I was busy thinking about AZTEC GOLD atop that Mexican pyramid (and also wondering how I’d ever get down), I was also envisioning how I could use the locale for another of my favorite things – a romantic suspense novel.

That’s how THE FIFTH KINGDOM was born. I wondered what would happen if someone found something very important, like the tomb of the last great Aztec leader Montezuma. A find like that would have great historic and symbolic significance, especially since only one other such tomb has been found. Of course my writer’s mind then envisioned what would happen if there was something dangerous in the tomb. Something that could do great harm if it fell into the wrong hands. Add a sexy and wounded CIA agent and the daughter of a missing archeologist, who hasn’t seen her mother in nearly 14 years. Shake and you’ve got a romantic suspense novel.

What I liked most about this novel was surprisingly not the action and adventure, but the fragile understanding that develops between Bill Santana, the CIA Agent, and Deanna Vasquez, the daughter who also happens to be a well-known historian in her own right. They are both wounded souls who come to discover that maybe having family is not as bad as they both thought.

Without further ado, a short excerpt from THE FIFTH KINGDOM which will be out in July 2011 from Carina Press.

FIFTH KINGDOM Romantic Suspense by Caridad Pineiro and Carina press

Wicked Wednesday – When Jesse Meets Liliana

Jesse's Back on STRONGER THAN SIN Paranormal RomanceToday I am sharing with you…Jesse’s back! What a gorgeous back and shoulders!

Wait no excerpt? Okay, so I’m also sharing with you an excerpt from STRONGER THAN SIN. This excerpt is the first scene in the book where Jesse meets Liliana, but where you also find out that the two have crossed paths before and not necessarily in a nice way.

Hope you enjoy today’s wicked excerpt! If you cannot see the excerpt below, you can also click here or cut and paste this link into your browser:

http://www.scribd.com/full/44895991?access_key=key-1cp9uzv5yubl1fdl8u2s

Stronger Than Sin Jesse Meets Liliana Excerpt

Fun Friday – Arts, Crafts & News

This weekend will be hopping for me! First there is the Liberty States Fiction Writers Mayke It Happen get together! Can’t wait to go and hang out with all of my buds and talking about our writing projects.

I’ll be down the shore and hoping to see some sun! But just in case it’s rainy, I’m sharing a fun project with you from my friend Kathy Cano-Murilla, the Crafty Chica aka the Goddess of Glitter! As writers and readers, we always seem to have a vast collection of pens and I thought this crazy pencil cup would be fun to share with you!

If it is sunny, I hope to get some time in along the boardwalk, researching some more spots for . . .

BOOKS 3 and 4 IN THE SINS SERIES!


Yes, you heard it here first! I’ve accepted an offer from Grand Central Publishing for two more books in the SINS series. Not only that, you won’t have to wait that long to read about the continuing adventures of the Carrera clan as well as some new and very dangerous people that will enter their lives (can we say some non-human people with very unusual and deadly powers?)

As you know, STRONGER THAN SIN will be out in November 2010 and you’ll be able to read both Books 3 and 4 in 2011 if all goes as planned! I can’t wait to share these exciting paranormal romance stories with you and I know you’ll all like to see what’s up with Mick, Caterina and Liliana as well as find out more about the dark creatures who will threaten the Carrera clan. As for who will be the hero and heroine in book 3 — here’s a hint: You’ve read about them already in one of the SINS-related books/prequels and you’ll see more of them in STRONGER THAN SIN!

That’s all the beans I’m spilling for now! Hope you all have a great weekend!