If I believed
the advertisements on television this Christmas, a pricey new car and a couple
of diamonds should be at the top of my wish list. Believe it or not, these are
not the kind of presents that make my dress fly up.
If you want to
see me smile, walk into a bookstore and locate the romance section. Then mosey
over to the science and history section and find something on World War I or
the depression. I know, weird but that’s what I’m interested in these days and the
people most likely to buy me presents know this.
Books have
always been my treasures. I still have my grandmother’s copy of Little Women
and the first romance that I ever bought; a now dog-eared copy of The Wolf and
the Dove. I really am going to have to replace that one. It’s always Christmas
whenever I receive a book but this month I’m excited because I actually get to
send someone a book in a fun-filled, gift bag of goodies that are being
supplied by some of my fellow authors at RB4U.
I’m giving away
an ebook of Head Over Heels, Book One in the multi-author Red Stiletto series
from Ellora’s Cave and here’s a little excerpt…
Blurb:
Rhys can’t keep his big hands off the curvy shopkeeper. Her smile captivates him and her lush body has him behaving like a he-man Neanderthal. Heated glances and sizzling touches turn into a hot office interlude and wild, break-the-bed sex that only makes him want her more. Bella is all the magic he needs.
Excerpt:
Rhys Vincent ground his back teeth and took Veronica
Smith–Hathaway’s elbow as they crossed the street. It was snowing and not for
the first time did he wish he were wearing boots instead of dress shoes with
his tux. Ronnie didn’t seem to notice the puddle that soaked her designer heels
or the frigid wind that tore at the edges of her flimsy black evening coat.
Neither had been designed for January in Kansas City.
Veronica—Ronnie—was his best friend Brian’s estranged wife. She
had insisted she knew a shop that had the fedora they needed to complete the
scavenger-hunt list—right after he’d politely refused her offer to give him the
best sex of his life. Was it too much to ask for a woman who didn’t have an
agenda to want to have sex with him? He’d been down the revenge-sex path years
ago and it was one he didn’t want to take with a woman he’d known for twenty
years.
He’d promised Brian that he’d keep an eye on her and that meant
he couldn’t very well let her walk around alone in the Crossroads art district
after dark.
As CEO of the Vincent Foundation, he’d put Veronica in charge
of the annual event as a favor. One he was coming to regret. He was still
trying to figure out why Brian was so worried about a wife he’d clearly been
neglecting for the past year when Ronnie leaned over and peered into a dimly
lit shop.
“There it is,” she hissed, pointing at a weathered brown
fedora, jauntily perched on a torso mannequin’s head. Before he could figure
out why she was hissing, he glanced through the window, started to shout and
everything went into slow motion.
He saw a pair of curvy legs that ended in sexy red spike heels
leaning forward and overbalancing a rickety ladder. The bell over the door
jangled as he pushed it open and sprinted three full strides. He reached her
before she finished screaming.
“Her” was an armful of black and white fluff he grabbed and
swept out of the way as the ladder fell.
Maybe he couldn’t breathe because she’d smacked him square in
the chest but he didn’t think so. Although it could have been because her arms
were wrapped solidly around his neck, as if she didn’t intend to let go anytime
soon. Fine by him.
He didn’t know if she was shocked that he’d caught her or
because she knew the shudder that rippled through her like a faint orgasm had
telegraphed its way into his fingertips. She looked like a naughty fairy-tale
princess with big blue eyes. A fall of silky dark hair brushed the top of her
black turtleneck and her creamy cheeks were flushed as bright as an apple. She
knew.
She blinked while he was trying to catch his breath and still
his body’s clamoring need to explore all the soft, warm flesh under her skirt.
He was trying very hard not be too obvious that he was instantly aroused by the
fact that his right hand was wrapped around her naked thigh. And then he
thought, What the hell, and slid his
thumb beneath the top of her stocking where it hooked into her garter.
She put her very plump red lips together…and blew. Nothing came
out and she looked as surprised as he felt. The chuckle built in his chest, the
low rumble originating from someplace distinctly lower.
“Excuse me,” Veronica ground waspishly from behind him before
coming into his line of vision. “Are you whistling at him?”
His surprise package turned her head slowly, her eyes widening
as if just realizing that someone else was in the tiny, dimly lit shop. A smile
quirked the corner of her lips and she shrugged.
“No, I was trying to whistle for him.” She turned her attention back to him and smiled warmly.
“I do apologize for that,” she said, with a wistful sigh that caught him hard
in the solar plexus. “You startled me.”
He did laugh then because it seemed rude not to acknowledge a
heartfelt apology while he was still holding on to her satiny-smooth, very
naked thigh, which was covered by yards and yards of hideous checked material
he wished would just fall away. He lowered her to her feet while Ronnie
seethed.
“I’m Bella—owner, operator, sometimes janitor,” she said,
holding up a light bulb, “of Bella’s Treasures. Is there something I can do for
you?” she asked as if she hadn’t noticed how much he’d been enjoying her naked
skin. There was no mistaking the twinkle in her very blue eyes. She’d noticed.
If you have a minute, drop by and check out how you could become the grand prize winner of all of the wonderful print
and e-books that are included in this month’s prize package:
Romance Books 4
Us website http://www.romancebooks4us.com/Welcome.htm
Happy Holidays
to one and all!
Paris Brandon
http://www.ellorascave.com/head-over-heels.html 
