Firemen are HOT!

This week, my latest story, Where there’s Smoke, opened for pre-orders at most major e-tailers, as part of the boxed set, Into the Flames. With seven stories about smoking-hot firemen, by seven incredible authors, (well, six plus me.) it’s already climbing the lists at Amazon and All Romance e-Books.

• Slow Burner by Sam Cheever
• FireBrew by Liz Crowe
• Hook Me Up by Adele Downs
• Flashpoint by Desiree Holt
• Where There's Smoke by Cindy Spencer Pape
•  Uncontrolled Burn: by Nina Pierce
• Rescue Me by N.J. Walters 

 

Here's some Fun Facts about the 1920s and Where there's Smoke

1. Where there’s Smoke was Cindy Spencer Pape’s first book set in the 1920s, but it won’t be the last!
2. The town of Carstairs, Michigan, in Where there’s Smoke, is fictional, but it is based on numerous beach towns along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
3. The Michigan side of the Lake Michigan coast has beautiful beaches and has long been a popular location of summer homes for Chicago’s wealthy.
4. In the 1920’s only the major cities had paid fire departments. That’s why Eli, in Where there’s Smoke, is a volunteer fireman, rather than a professional.
5. Not every girl in the 1920’s bobbed her hair. It was considered a little racy. Since Nettie is an old-fashioned girl in many ways, she’s chosen to keep hers long, which means she still wears it up every day.
6. Nettie wasn’t an uncommon name for a young woman in 1926. I chose it because both my mother and my father, who lived in two different countries, each had an aunt named Nettie, (one short for Arnetta, one for Annetta) both of whom came of age in the 20s.
7. During Prohibition it was quite common to have a doctor prescribe alcohol for medicinal purposes. An unethical physician and an unethical pharmacist in cahoots with a supplier, could easily keep the local drunks lubricated.
8. Much of today’s firefighting equipment has its origins in the 20s. The pump and ladder truck was a new innovation, as were heavy leather helmets and the concept of chemical extinguishers. Fire hydrants weren’t around yet, except in the largest cities, so chemicals were used unless a large water supply was at hand.
9. This was the first time since the Georgian era, where women can openly wear makeup. Lipstick and mascara and eyeliner headed the list. Max Factor and Elizabeth Arden were among the first major brands. Deodorant had been invented but wasn’t available in the stores yet, so ladies used scented dusting powder to absorb any “glow”.
10. Big cities had newsstands where people picked up any newspaper that wasn’t delivered to their doorstep, particularly those from out of town. In smaller communities, the local bookstore often did double-duty. Eli chooses not to get his local paper delivered because it gives him an excuse to see Nettie every day.

You can order your copy at:

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B014V84EUI
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/into-the-flames/id1036986607?mt=11
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/into-the-flames-3
All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-intotheflamesboxedset-1881916-166.html

 

Hot or Sexy...

...How do you like it? Of course, I’m talking about romance novels. What else would I be talking about? Do you like to read sweet stories where the lovemaking takes place behind closed doors? Or do you prefer hot books with lots of explicit lovemaking, or maybe really naughty books--ménage, BDSM, and anything else your imagination can conjure? With the plethora of romance sub-genres and sub-sub genres, there’s something for everyone. In my totally unempirical research, I believe erotic romance and erotica dominate the market. Erotic romance continues to push the envelope with ever more daring storylines. 

While I enjoy erotic romance, I don’t take it as a steady diet, but it’s a nice treat now and then. I recently read a very, very hot erotic romance novella while I was exercising on the bike at the gym. As the story got hotter, I pedaled faster and faster. It’s a wonder the bike didn’t come off the stand and break through the window. I got quite a workout that day. If the story had been a full-length novel I would have been at the gym until they closed. I could not stop reading. Now, that’s hot. Um--reading erotica as a weight loss and fitness program. Might work. My usual preference is sensual with varying degrees of hotness--to read and to write. 

There are times I get tired of writing love scenes or even reading them. With all the choices out there, I can always find something to suit my mood. I wrote my novella, “Loving Or Nothing,” as a semi-sweet story because I wanted a break from writing love scenes, and some storylines cry out for sweet. The really heavy lovemaking in “Loving Or Nothing” happens behind closed doors. I enjoyed writing that story. It was refreshing. It finaled in a contest and has sold well, so I guess readers like it too. 

I read recently that sweet romances are making a comeback. Harlequin started a new line called Heartwarming that will publish romances very like their Love Inspired line but without the spirituality. I know Inspirational romances are as hot as erotic, but I don’t believe sweet romances in general are making a comeback. I think readers still want the hot stuff. But maybe I’m wrong. There are times I want to read a hot novel and times not so much. After writing my semi-sweet “Loving Or Nothing,” I was ready for some hot. I wrote “Storm of Desire,” my steamiest story yet. I loved writing that and I fell in love with hunky, sexy Aiden Rourke, my hero, and in my opinion, every woman’s dream--incredibly sexy, but loving and kind too. 

So now you know my romance tastes run the gamut from sweet to hot to sizzling. This inquiring mind wants to know--Do you read only one type romance exclusively--sweet, sexy, erotic? Or are your tastes more eclectic?