Lust Abroad in the #TropicalTryst boxed set #preorder #RB4U @WhitleyCoxBooks

Please welcome the author of Lust Abroad, featured in the highly anticipated summer boxed set Tropical Tryst, Available TOMORROW! ONLY 99cents!

https://books.pronoun.com/tropical-tryst/

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Hi, everyone, I’m Whitley Cox. I write contemporary erotic romance with beginner kink and lots of humor. My current series, The Dark and Damaged Hearts, is on the darker side, but some of my upcoming releases are much lighter. I do read in the same genre I write, but I also read a variety of other genres as well. I’m a big Game of Thrones fan, as well as Terry Goodkind’s the Wizard’s First Rule and anything by Diana Gabaldon or Rebecca Zanetti. I’m a stay-at-home mom to a two-and-a-half-year-old little girl, so my writing time is typically nap time with a fluffy dog on my lap, bedtime and on Saturdays when I go sit in Starbucks for hours. I’m a big tea granny, love the smell of coffee but not crazy about the taste and my favorite form of exercise is rebounder (everyone gets their own mini-trampoline!) I’m also an avid runner and when the words just aren’t happening I’ve been known to paint and/or bake. One thing that people might now know about me is that I’m a HUGE Young and the Restless fan. So, if you’re interested in discussing all things Genoa City, I’m your girl! You can find me pretty much everywhere. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, my website. Send me a message or just a quick “hi”, I love getting mail!

My story Lust Abroad is set in Peru. For our honeymoon my husband and I backpacked for six months through twelve countries. We had a modest DIY wedding, and chose to put all our saved money into the trip of a lifetime instead of a one-day party. We visited Central America, Peru, Easter Island and then headed over to South East Asia for the second half of our adventure. This wasn’t our first rodeo though, we backpacked Indonesia together a few years previous and I backpacked Thailand and Malaysia on my own. But even then nothing prepares you for some of the trials and tribulations a backpacker, thousands of miles away from home, in a foreign country where the language is different and the customs are different, faces. I’m not going to sugar coat things here Peru was a disaster for us. We were robbed not two hours after having landed, out of our hostel no less. They broke in, ransacked the place and took all our valuables. Then while in Cusco my husband ended up in the hospital. We’re experienced backpackers, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t thrown for a complete loop and contemplated giving up and going home.

If it hadn’t been for a couple of fellow Canadians I stumbled across in the police station in Miraflores and their overwhelming generosity and kindness, not to mention our stubbornness to not let Peru get the best of us we would have thrown in the towel. But we didn’t. We followed Elissa and Matt back to their hostel, met some incredible people then continued on with our trip. It wasn’t until Cusco where my husband fell ill with a gastro-intestinal bug and was admitted to the hospital just two days before we were set to go and hike to the ruins at Machu Picchu that I really got scared. Things and possessions are one thing, they’re replaceable, but when the love of your life is on a gurney in a foreign country and they’re using some rather unorthodox methods on him, that’s when the real fear sets in.

But again, we made it through. We didn’t take the Inca Trail, for obvious reasons, but we hiked the fifteen hundred steps to the top, then the twelve hundred steps to the top of the second mountain. We persevered, we did it together and we will carry those memories with us forever.

Now my story, Lust Abroad isn’t about a couple on their honeymoon, it’s about a second chance at happiness and love. Two broken hearts meet on an airplane and the attraction is instant. Fate has them both staying at the same hostel and from there the sparks fly. Throw in some comedy, hot sex and some maniacal gun-wielding drug lords and Lust Abroad is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat, turning pages and give you all the happy feels.

Despite our rough go in Peru I decided to write a story set there and weave in some of our experiences. Because rather than dwell on the negative things and get angry (believe me at the time I was homicidal) I’ve now decided to take what we learned, take our experience and turn it into a positive. We grew more as a couple in those two hellish weeks than I think we did in the entire six months of our trip. We’ve learned some valuable lessons about trust. Who you can trust and when you should trust your gut. And most of all we learned what is really important, and that’s being together. Yes, they stole our cameras (among other things), but we got a new one and moved one. We still have pictures and we’ll always have the memories and we’ll always have each other.

Social Media Links

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Lust Abroad is one of 25 brand new sexy romances in the Tropical Tryst Boxed Set. Escape with us to a hot and tropical setting for only 99 cents. It’s available for pre-order now and will be released Aug. 1. 

Buy links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble  
Kobo | Google Play

And bonus: visit www.tropicaltryst.com for special pre-order giveaways and join the Tropical Tryst Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TropicalTryst/) for updates and a chance to win Tropical Tryst swag!

Sunset Seduction in the #TropicalTryst #boxedset #RB4U #romance @carmicwords #99¢ #preorder

We have a special guest with us today !!!!!  Please welcome the author of Sunset Seduction from the Tropical Tryst Boxed Set, available in pre-order for 99¢ !!!

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I’m Carma Haley Shoemaker. I’m a nurse, wife, and a mother of three boys. While I’ve always written fiction, most of my stories ended up in the bottom drawer of my desk. I began my writing career in the world of greeting cards and non-fiction magazine articles. Once I became an empty nester, I decided to switch gears and chase my dream of having a book published. Now, my dreams keep getting bigger and so do the worlds my mind creates.

I am in love with the food channel, and chefs, and cooking, and ... well, you get the picture. And on the Island of St. Lucia, where my story Sunset Seduction takes place, there are quite a few renowned restaurants serving some delicious dishes. The Dasheene Restaurant at Ladera is just one example, and the one I chose to include in my story. 

What genre(s) do you write in? Do you have a favorite?

I write mixed genre romance including paranormal, urban fantasy, and high fantasy. I would have to say my favorite is urban fantasy. I love writing about magic in all its various and possible forms.

Besides being an author and super awesome, what other fun things do you like to do?

Besides being an author, I also love music, dancing, and cooking. And I have been known to do all three at once.

What's your guilty pleasure?

I would say Jensen Ackles is my guilty pleasure, except for the fact that I feel absolutely no guilt where he’s concerned. So, I would have to say my guilty pleasure would be Taylor Swift’s music. Yes, I know. Most of her songs are cheesy. But she has a great voice, and after hearing one of her songs, the lyrics always are stuck in my head for days. They are just so darn catchy! She's definitely a guilty pleasure, but I’d still probably deny it in public.

Coffee or Tea?

I prefer tea over coffee. Chai tea is my favorite, but I drink green tea, black tea, oolong, and earl grey as well.

What is one thing that very few might know about you?

One thing not too many people know about me is that I used to be a dancer. I was part of a dance team in high school and I’ve won several solo competitions. I was (and still I guess) pretty good. I actually had dreams of moving to New York and becoming a professional dancer, maybe even working on Broadway. But, I’m little too short to be a Rockette.

Where can we find you on the web?

Facebook.com/writercarma

Amazon.com/author/carma

Instagram.com/carmicwords

Twitter.com/carmicwords

www.carmicwords.com

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SUNSET SEDUCTION is one of 25 brand new sexy romances in the Tropical Tryst Boxed Set. Escape with us to a hot and tropical setting for only 99 cents. It’s available for pre-order now and will be released Aug. 1. 

Buy links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble  
Kobo | Google Play

And bonus: visit www.tropicaltryst.com for special pre-order giveaways and join the Tropical Tryst Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TropicalTryst/) for updates and a chance to win Tropical Tryst swag!

Tropical Tryst

Year of the Cat by Janice Seagraves

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0748CP9JH

My daughter is pregnant again, and I've been working like crazy trying to get all my writing projects done before she is due. I want to sit and hold my newest grandson and not worry about anything. Yes, she is having another boy, due mid October.

One of those projects is called Year of the Cat. A paranormal romance. I've always love this story from early conception (it was only three scenes) to first short story, to it's new shape a novela, Year of the Cat.

I love the hero Jared and the heroine Morgan.  Their interaction together was fun to write.

I've been working nonstop, since I received my covers from my cover artist on Monday, going through my manuscript. It's fully edited but there are still those little typos that get missed.

And isn't the cover lovely? It was created by Lex Valentine of Winterheart Designs.

Its finished and just released this morning. I am actually surprised that it happened so quickly. When I posted it last night, the message that popped up said it could take as long as 72 hours. This isn't even twelve hours since I posted it at midnight and it's now seven am.

I did use their new Kindle Creator, called kindle create, that may have helped to get it published sooner. It was easy to use but your manuscript has to be full written with the copyright info, dedicated page and author page all there. You can do little things like adding or taking out a word or sentence, or small correction, but its really not designed for writing. It's still in it beta stage but worked well for my needs.

Excerpt:

Jared stood in the snow and tried not to shiver. He usually wasn’t outside this early, but at least he could give his free lesson before working with the other patrons. He let out a breath and it blew out in a vapor. Even with his quilted pants and parka it was freezing. The whole bloody mountain range was Baltic. A light dusting of snow obscured the traces of yesterday’s activities.

A black and brown calico rubbed against his leg.

“Trying to make amends?” The cat stuck her nose in the air and turned away.

“Don't get haughty with me, Ms. Puss, you started it.”

“Are you talking to the cat?” Morgan said softly behind him.

He sniffed and caught the light aroma of spice and flowers with an undertone of Morgan’s sweet feminine scent.

Jared swung around.

Morgan was dressed in a stylish sporty outfit of black bottoms and a bright pink jacket. It went well with her blonde hair and pale blue eyes.

She gave him a shy grin, he almost chuckled. “Such a sweet smile on a lovely lady. Is that smile all for me?”

When the cat hissed, he picked up a fistful of snow and dropped it on top of her. The calico ran.

Morgan huffed and sat her fists on her hips. “You’re mean. What did that cat ever do to you?”

“She scratched me once.”

“Only once?” She cocked her head.

“Well…” He couldn’t tell her the truth. “More than once.”

She strolled over, snow crunching under her boots. “And if I do something to displease you during our lesson, will you dump snow on me, too?”

In his excitement from seeing her again, he’d nearly forgotten he’d promised a free skiing lesson, but the thought of what other lessons he could give her made his pants tight.

He took her hand. “I’ll be gentle.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Promise?”

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Kindle:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0748CP9JH

Two Reckless Hearts in the brand new #TROPICALTRYST Boxed Set #Preorder #RB4U @hollycortelyou

Super excited to have a Tropical Tryst author to the blog. Please give a big RB4U welcome and lots of love to today's guest!

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Hey! I’m Holly Cortelyou, and I write small town, contemporary romances as well as supernatural and paranormal romances. I love it sweet, and I love it steamy…and at the end of the day, I just gotta have my happy-ever-after!

My latest novella, Two Reckless Hearts, will be debuting in the TROPICAL TRYST boxed set that releases on August 1^st (https://books.pronoun.com/tropical-tryst/). 

It’s been a blast writing an enemies-to-lovers story set on a lush tropical island, deep in the Caribbean. I dreamed of silky, blue waters and the sexy beat of steel drums the whole time I was writing Jami and Beck’s battle to love.

On my average writing day, you will find me in my little office with the white French doors, with a silver lab puppy napping on her giant Costco bed, and my Maine Coon kitty sprawled on my keyboard. Between fighting for my chair with the cat and fluffballs floating through the air, I sip on black coffee all morning and type away.

My favorite quotation and writing inspiration is from C. Ara Campbell -- "Here's to the girl who read the compass written on the walls of her heart and follows the North Star etched upon her Spirit."

But, in case you think I’m all woo-woo and starry eyed, I learned how to drive a semi-tractor trailer in order to "catch" my man!  LOL!

Please come find me on the web (and snag a free book) at:  https://www.hollycortelyou.com/

Luv ‘n hugs,

Holly Cortelyou

…Always Dare to Love!

***

Two Reckless Hearts

Two Reckless Hearts is one of 25 brand new sexy romances in the Tropical Tryst Boxed Set. Escape with us to a hot and tropical setting for only 99 cents. It’s available for pre-order now and will be released Aug. 1. 

Buy links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble  
Kobo | Google Play

And bonus: visit www.tropicaltryst.com for special pre-order giveaways and join the Tropical Tryst Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TropicalTryst/) for updates and a chance to win Tropical Tryst swag!

Tropical Tryst

History of Tequila

History of Tequila

Today, July 24, is National Tequila Day. Sounds fun, right? Back in the day, I drank my share of tequila, with salt and lemon.  As a nod to my younger days, I thought I’d research the history of tequila.

Tequila is the name for a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, 40 miles northwest of Guadalajara. The red volcanic soil in the surrounding region is particularly well-suited to the growing of the blue agave plant. (Wikipedia)

Mezcal wine, tequila’s grandparent, was first produced only a few decades after the Spaniards came to the New World in 1521. Agave played a much larger role than the source of an alcoholic drink. Its leaves were used for a hemp-like fiber to make mats, clothing, rope and paper. It was also the source of the nutrient and vitamin-rich brew, pulque. (Source: Los Cabos Magazine)

The distillation of pulque into something stronger may have originated by the Conquistadors as early as the 1520s. You’re all familiar with Cuervo Tequila. Jose Antonio Cuervo was the first licensed manufacturer of tequila. He received the rights to cultivate a parcel of land from the King of Spain in 1758. Today, Cuervo is the largest manufacturer of tequila in the world. (Source: Los Cabos Magazine)

Mexican laws state that tequila can only be produced in the state of Jalisco and limited municipalities in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. Planting, tending, and harvesting the agave plant remains a manual effort, largely unchanged by modern farm machinery and relying on centuries-old know-how.

The men who harvest it, the jimadores [ximaˈðoɾes], have intimate knowledge of how the plants should be cultivated, passed down from generation to generation. (Wikipedia)

"Tequila worm" misconception

A young agave plant

THE WORM
Another interesting error is an urban legend related to a worm. The worm-in-the-bottle myth is old and tired. The truth has been broadcast and expounded for years by the cognoscenti of tequila, in newspapers, magazines and on the internet. Yes, it’s true, some American-bottled brands put one in their bottle to impress the gringos and boost sales, but it was a marketing ploy developed in the 1940s, not a Mexican tradition.

Sometimes however, there is a worm, properly a butterfly caterpillar, in some types of mezcal. You may also get a small bag of worm salt and chile powder tied to a mezcal bottle. There are two types of worms in mezcal: the red, gusano rojo—considered superior because it lives in the root and heart of the maguey—and the less-prized white or gold gusano de oro, which lives on the leaves. The red gusano turns pale in the mezcal, the gold turns ashen-gray. Both larvae are commonly eaten as food and are sold in Zapotec markets.

Yes, you’re supposed to eat the worm in mezcal. Don’t worry: it’s quite well pickled and free of pesticides (they’re often raised just for use in mezcal, cooked and pickled in alcohol for a year). But dispel any idea it has any magical or psychotropic properties, that it’s an aphrodisiac or the key to an "unseen world." It’s merely protein and alcohol—but it’s very rich in imagery. Note: Yuck.

In Mexico, the most traditional way to drink tequila is neat, without lime and salt. Outside Mexico, a single shot of tequila is often served with salt and a slice of lime. This is called tequila cruda and is sometimes referred to as "training wheels", "lick-sip-suck", or "lick-shoot-suck" (referring to the way in which the combination of ingredients is imbibed). The drinkers moisten the back of their hands below the index finger (usually by licking) and pour on the salt. Then the salt is licked off the hand, the tequila is drunk, and the fruit slice is quickly bitten. Groups of drinkers often do this simultaneously. (Wikipedia)

Note: I always thought you used lemon. That’s what we did. We used to drink it this way in groups in a bar, mostly the summer of 1971, at the Jersey Shore.

Now that you know all the important facts about tequila, go out and celebrate National Tequila Day.

Since this is summer and many of us go to the shore or the beach (We say Shore for New Jersey, Beach for the Delaware beaches), I have a sweet story set the Jersey Shore.

Loving Or Nothing 

2012 Gulf States Silken Sands Star Contest Third Place Winner
2012 Best Indie Book Award Semi-Finalist

When a ruthless developer and a sentimental bridal shop owner clash, sparks fly. 

No stranger to loss, Tami Morrelle is holding on with one satiny thread to the only thing she has left that ties her to her loved ones – the family bridal shop.

Local bad boy Daniel Ramsey is back in town and on a mission – to turn Tami’s world upside down – any way he can.

Daniel needs Tami’s beachfront home and business to complete his crowning achievement as a successful developer. His latest proposal hinges on buying former high school classmate Tami’s land to make it happen. More importantly, it will show those in Loving who were convinced he’d amount to less than nothing they were dead wrong about him.

For Daniel, it’s Loving or nothing. For Tami, selling out to Daniel will leave her with nothing. But when the ruthless developer and sentimental bridal shop owner clash, sparks fly. 

A secret crush. Two wounded hearts. Will Daniel and Tami be willing to give up what they think they need and open their hearts to what really matters in Loving?

(Includes bonus short story, "Accidental Love.")

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LQ99U0/?tag=carmaraut-20

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/loving-or-nothing-cara-marsi/1105483901?ean=2940013022232

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/loving-or-nothing/id904787646?mt=11

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/loving-or-nothing