From my newsletter July 2, 2022
I’m in the middle of a new book where the issue of trust keeps popping up. As I write, I think of the many, many times I’ve trusted people when I shouldn’t have.
I’m not pleading innocent here. I’m sure I’ve let people down more times than I’d care to admit. But I hope I’ve never put anyone’s life at risk.
Years ago, when I was a freshly certified scuba diver, a senior diver invited me to do a beach dive with him.
I said, “Sure.”
We went to a remote site, geared up, and waded into the water. I let him navigate because, after all, he was so experienced. When our air ran low, he indicated we should surface to start to snorkel back to shore.
I followed his ascent only to discover that he’d made a mistake. We weren’t in the middle of the protected cove where we'd started. We were at the mouth of it, and a strong ebbing tide was pulling us toward open sea. I tried not to panic but I hadn’t given our dive plan to anyone and, as far as I knew, neither had he. It was just the two of us in a hidden cove. The sun had set and night was falling.
Worse than that, we were about thirty feet from the rocky outcrop that marked the edge of the cove. Weighed down with eighty pounds of scuba gear, to me it looked like miles away.
My dive buddy opened the goody bag attached to his gear belt and handed me one of its thin straps.
"Hang on to this,” he said and started swimming toward the rocky outcrop.
I grabbed the ropey strap and followed. I swam with every scrap of strength I could muster.
Cut to the finish: we made it to the rocks and slowly edged our way back into the calmer waters of the cove. Finally, I stumbled onto the beach and sat for five or ten minutes, until there was enough air in my lungs to speak.
When I thanked him for the strap, he laughed. “That wouldn’t have saved a kid. I just didn’t want you to panic,” he said.
I’d like to say that was the last time I ever went diving with him. It wasn’t. I had one more scary experience with him before I decided he was bad news and the only person I could trust underwater was myself.
Fast forward a few months: I met my husband when we were both diving at that same cove. For the longest time, I let him lead our dives but I always double checked the navigation when we were underwater. After a few dives, I accepted that he knew what he was doing. More than that, he was watching me and my air supply and keeping us both safe.
Those contrasting experiences reinforced these perpetual life experiences:
1. People will always betray and disappoint us. 💔
2. Sometimes we find something symbolic, like a piece of string, to hold onto as we find our way to safety. The smallest things can help us save ourselves, from the neglect or indifference of others.
AND
3. Love and trust are evergreen. 💖 Even after long droughts, a true friend or lover can appear in our lives when we least expect them. We can learn to trust again.
If you know my books, you probably recognize these themes. I hope they resonate with you.
Back to my initial questions then: when and how have you been betrayed? How did you recover or have you? What did you learn?
Why the 1920's? 🍁 🎄
A friend asked why I chose this era (the 1920’s) and this city (Victoria BC Canada) for this year’s Christmas novella.
I didn’t have a fast answer because the idea evolved slowly. It started when I was invited to participate in a pirate anthology in late 2019. I suspected that most of the stories would be about European pirates of the Atlantic/Caribbean area.
All too often my mind seeks a different response to challenges. Usually a more difficult one. So of course I decided I’d write around the rum-runners and smugglers of the Pacific Northwest. Very quickly it became apparent that I couldn’t manage that AND get The Lighthouses of Devmaer series off the ground so the pirates went on the back burner.
Earlier in 2020 I was invited to participate in a Christmas historical anthology. Once again I thought great! I immediately decided my historical period had to be Victoria in the 1920’s, because that ties in with one of the busier periods in the rum-running and smuggling world here. I bailed from that anthology when I was told the story had to be vanilla. No erotica. No kink.
I have written and been published in mainstream fiction twice before I landed here in this gauzy world of secret desires and I always felt like I was lying a bit about who I am.
So I combined some of what I learned about Victoria’s underworld with a period of history that intrigues me because of the rampant social change after WWI. Voilà – Papa Pierre’s Christmas Gift.
If readers like it enough it may develop into a full series.
It will be released soon. You can get your free copy by subscribing to my newsletter here: http://libbycampbell.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter
Hope you love it.
Saving Jessie, Safe and Secure book 2, by Alyssa Bailey
The incomparable Alyssa Bailey is here today with Saving Jessie, book 2 in the Safe and Secure series.
Protecting her past will destroy her future.
Blurb:
Accountant Jessica Roe kept her head down and always followed the rules. When she discovered possible illegal activity with her employer, she left that job and joined Reynaud and Associates. Life was good, her brother hadn’t asked for money in months and she was now dating Mark Jensen. Within one week: her brother needed money, her old employer was trying to blackmail her, and she was nearly raped and killed. Not only is her savings at risk, but her relationship with Mark, her job with Reynaud and Associates, her friends, and her life. |
Mark Jensen worked hard and played harder, preferring one-night stands to anything long term, until he hooked up with the company accountant. Jessie is a sassy, sweet, rule follower with a deep-seated loneliness about her that is unlike any woman he’s dated. She has stolen his heart. Just when Mark had finally convinced Jessie to move in with him, her brother has more than money problems to lay at his sister’s door. Suddenly, Jessie is over her head and making all the wrong decisions while trying to protect her new friends, brother, and lover.
When Jessie’s past and present puts her in the middle of international illegal trade, it will take the whole team to keep her safe while they figure out the details and bring this operation to a crashing halt.
This is book two in the Safe and Secure series but can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Publisher’s Note: This adult romance contains elements of mystery, suspense, action, adventure, danger, power exchange and sensual scenes. If any of these offend you, please do not purchase.
Buy link: Amazon
Excerpt:
Jessie hated punishments…
Sliding two fingers inside the elastic at the waist of her panties, Mark slowly brought them down over Jessie’s bottom, stopping his descent briefly to rub his hands in slow, sensual circles over her bared rear end. The frissons of response that action created were both erotic and expectant. Her knees became unsteady. One sharp sting on a lower cheek followed by his skillful massage before repeating the act on the other cheek had her melting.
“Mmm,” came his hum of approval. Without warning, a long, experienced finger slid between her nether lips just enough to tease her vaginal entrance. A line of wetness trailed his finger, and he resumed his panty retreat from her thighs, his caresses repeated as he walked the silk, and lace over her calves.
“Step,” he instructed when the panties reached her feet. She did, and then they were whisked away. She couldn’t believe he was sniffing her panties then pocketing them, but he was. Mark was obviously as turned on as she was.
“Mark…” her voice anguished.
“These have your tantalizing perfume sweetheart, and I can’t resist inhaling.” Then he patted his thigh, and his voice lost all playfulness. “You have to place yourself this time, baby. We’ve been here enough. You know what to do.”
He patted his thigh again, and Jessie could feel her face and neck flush with heat. Her lip hurt from her teeth bearing down on the tender flesh, her tongue slipped out to caress the nipped area. Mark pulled her toward him and kissed her bruised lips, bruising them more with his intensity. He spoke with longing and a hint of frustration as he squeezed her bottom. The room twirled, and Jessie thought she was going to come from the arousal her man had excited in her.
“You make it hard to punish you when all I want to do is take you to bed and have my wicked way with you.”
“I want that.”
“Spanking first, naughty girl.” His tone was resigned. She needed to be resolute as well. Get past this part so we can move onto the good stuff.
Before she could register more than consuming lust, she found herself ass up over his knee. She swiftly took a deep breath, her ass already stinging, and heating. No warning, no warm-up, no words. But his impatient frustration took the job of placement from her. The few other times he’d made her count out the number of punishment swats he had proclaimed she’d earned, but not this time. He slapped her backside hard, and fast, painting every single inch several times over with his painful presence. The heat was intense, the sting approached unbearable, and her squirming had begun in full force.
“Mark, please, please, this… ow… this is too much. Baby, please, I… ow, I get it. I’m sorry, please, stop.”
She wiggled her bottom, and he continued to slap it until, as quickly as he’d started, he stopped. A deep breath in, and a whoosh of pent up air released. He was rubbing her tight, hot, aching bottom, and while it still hurt like hell, she could feel her liquid arousal. The tears in her eyes did not diminish the burn in her ass or the ache in her pussy. The tingling was morphing into desire. Without any indication he was going to change his activity again, his large fingers invaded her wet center, scooping up some fluid and spreading it to her clit, then gathered more to smooth over her back entrance.
More about Alyssa Bailey
USA Today and International best-selling author, Alyssa Bailey, is a dyed in the wool Texan living amongst the beauty of Southeast Alaska. She lives where the sky meets the mountains; the mountains touch the ocean, and the wildlife frolic on land, sea, and air. Humans, the ultimate interlopers, are wedged in where allowed and are properly thankful for the privilege.
Alyssa loves writing about consensual power exchanges between strong, intelligent, sassy women who are not afraid to make a stand and men confident enough to give his woman space, but Alpha enough to keep her safe.
If she can throw a little mystery, humor, and suspense in her stories, it’s even better. She writes historical and contemporary love stories devised to leave you with that book hangover we crave.
Q & A with Alyssa Bailey
1. Where did Jessie come from?
Accounting, of course. Ha-ha Jessie was mentioned in the first book as a quiet, non-descript scene filler and before I knew it, she was taking over one of the ending scenes of Saving Sharlee.
2. Mark seemed more intense and yet disciplined less than the others. Why?
Mark disciplined for discipline and he wasn’t as much into that as the sexy discipline sessions. He also adjusted his intensity to be with Jessie who was a polar opposite from Sharlee. The things we do for love.
3. What is one of your favorite things to do?
Have a tea party. We do one at Christmas with all the girls from 0 to 99.
4. Do you like your men with long or short hair?
LONG. If it is kept neat and clean, I love it flowing down his back.
5. Beard or mustache?
Both, if you mean on him not her. I love a full beard on some and then some… not so much. Mustache is the same. If it is trimmed neatly and kept clean, I love it. No straggly mess for me.
Connect with Alyssa Bailey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alyssabailey.romance
Twitter: @blushingalyssa https://twitter.com/blushingalyssa
Blog/web page: http://alyssabailey.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Alyssa_Bailey
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/alyssa-bailey
Instagram: @alyssabaileyromance https://www.instagram.com/alyssabaileyromance/
Amazon: https://goo.gl/r9XjXd
Blushing Books: http://goo.gl/nGfLPA
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/alyssa_bailey/
More exciting books from Alyssa Bailey and Blushing Books:
The O'Connor Series:
Liam & Jocelyn's Story
Her Sweet Complication, Liam O'Connor Book 1
Liam's Lessons, Liam O'Connor Book 2
Loving Liam, Liam O'Connor Book 3
Ciaran and Katherine's Story
His Gentle Persuasion, Ciaran O'Connor Book 1
Rancher's Creed, Ciaran O'Connor Book 2
Katie Consents, Ciaran O'Connor Book 3
Quinlan and Cheyenne's Story
Quinlan's Quest, Quinlan O'Connor Book 1
Accepting His Ways, Quinlan O'Connor Book 2
Her Balancing Act, Quinlan O'Connor Book 3
Kelli and Parker’s Story
Meeting Her Needs, Kelli O’Connor Book 1
Kissing Kelli, Kelli O’Connor Book 2
Keeping Kelli, Kelli O’Connor Book 3
Cián and Molly’s Story
In Pursuit of Molly, Cián O’Connor Book 1
Freeing Molly Cián O’Connor Book 2,
Forever Molly, Cián O’Connor Book3,
Lords and Little Ladies Series:
Lord Thayer’s Choice (Book 1)
Lord Ashton Decides (Book 2)
The Black Laird Demands (Book 3)
Lord Kendrick's Obligation (Book 4)
Safe and Secure Series:
Saving Sharlee (Book 1)
Saving Jessie (Book 2) Jan 2020
Clearwater Ranch Series
Piper's Plan (Book 1)
Camille’s Second Chance (Book 2)
Life imitating art
I’m a worrier. I worry about social injustice, climate change, animal cruelty, racism, child poverty…the list goes on.
One of these issues seems to crop up in every book I write, either directly or indirectly.
The basic premise of His Land, His Law was inspired by days of wonderful hiking in the forests of Salt Spring Island (one of Canada’s Gulf Islands). His Land, His Law is about competing claims on an important tract of forest. Both of the main characters have indigenous roots (Luke is 1/8th Tsawout and Cara is 1/8th Inuit). She wants to save the forest, he wants to reap the material wealth that would come with its destruction.
When they confront each other, there is major conflict which, of course, is resolved by the end of the book.
One of my main pleasures in writing is being able to give stories a Happily Ever After (HEA) ending. You know, the thing that happens far too infrequently in real-life.
The Gulf Islands have seen many chainsaw conflicts. Now, four and half months after the release of His Land, His Law, a new one has arisen:
First Nations at odds over logging of reserve land on Saturna Island.
As the article concludes, the decisions about whether to log or not are never easy, like a lot of environmental and social issues. Economics and preservation will always be at odds.
That doesn’t mean we should hide from the hard choices. So I touch on them gently in my novels, in the hope that visualizing a HEA might be one step closer to finding one.
What do you worry about? If you could have a single HEA today, what would it look, smell, and taste like?
Clear-cut on Tseycum and Tsawout First Nation lands on Saturna Island. Photograph by Nick Claxton.
A new release - His Land, His Law by me!
My latest book, His Land, His Law, is live today. I loved writing this time travel-paranormal romance so much, I keep wanting to call it, His Land, His Love because Luke is a very loving character.
Blurb:
Since she inherited her parents’ home, Cara Eckford has used walks in the nearby woods as inspiration for her art, so she is shocked and upset upon finding that ‘No Trespassing’ signs have recently been put up on the property. But when she angrily confronts the land’s new owner, the infuriatingly sexy Luke McCrae, she merely earns herself a stern scolding and a sound spanking.
Despite her irritation, Luke’s bold dominance leaves Cara’s heart racing and her panties soaked. He soon proves more than ready to tame her fiery temper with his belt applied to her bare bottom, but even with tears in her eyes and her backside on fire Cara’s need for Luke cannot be denied, and when he takes her in his arms his masterful lovemaking satisfies her deeply.
Cara’s newfound romance with Luke grows stronger and more passionate with each passing day, but when conflict over his plans for her beloved forest threatens to tear them apart, can she make use of her powerful connection to both of their ancestors to convince him to change his mind?
Publisher’s Note: His Land, His Law includes sexual scenes and spankings. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.
Cara wants to save the forest. Luke wants to log it. He wins the first battle. Who will win the war?
Buy link: Amazon
Excerpt:
We join Luke and Cara mid-spanking. She has accepted a spanking rather than face the police after she has gone into his house when he wasn’t there:
[Luke] sighed like a man doing a difficult but essential job. “But you’re not sorry enough for my purposes. I’m going to continue until I’m sure I’ve left a lasting reminder. I may even continue until you beg me to stop.” He rubbed one cheek then the other, an almost soothing gesture except for the fact that he was telling her the session wasn’t over. “I will stop when I think you have a lasting reminder of the consequences of your misbehavior. Some of the websites I’ve read say true contrition can only be reached if I bring you to tears. Do I need to make you cry, baby doll? Is that the only way you’ll believe I mean what I say?”
“No, you don’t need to make me cry. I’m upset enough as it is.” Cara’s voice wobbled although she was speaking the absolute truth. If she could rewind her actions from the morning, she’d undo what she’d done. No, she wouldn’t. She’d be more careful to leave no trace.
She wasn’t going to share that with Luke. She said, “I know I trespassed. I know I shouldn’t have. And I’m very very sorry.”
Luke murmured something she couldn’t quite hear.
“Pardon me?”
He spanked her right cheek, then her left. Both slaps were soft, closer to love taps than punishment. “Just a little more then…”
He continued to spank her softly for what seemed like an eternity but was really only another minute or so.
By the time Luke helped her to her feet, she was hiccupping tiny sobs. Her eyes were dry, but her bottom felt like it had been stung by a thousand bees. He patted the sofa next to him but Cara snatched up her panties and slid them on before sitting down.
“You okay?” he asked, stroking her back. “You did well. You were brave.”
“Yeah. Fine.” Her hiccupping eased. “Do you always do this when you don’t like what a woman has done?”
He laughed. “Yesterday was the first time I’ve spanked a woman as punishment. What about you? Any Fifty Shades of Grey games with your boyfriend?”
“What boyfriend? No, none of that.” In spite of her stinging bottom, she gave a short bark of laughter.
Luke put an arm around her, drawing her close. He smelled like lime and wood smoke. She melted against him, trying not to accept his gesture of comfort too easily. At the same time, she wanted him to hold her, tell her everything was okay between them. But worse, she wanted way more than that. She wanted to take his handsome head in her hands and run her fingers through his hair while she planted kisses all over his face and neck.
#SaturdaySpankings - the schedule
Welcome to the Saturday Spanking blog where every week we look at who is in the naughty corner.
I hope you enjoy this excerpt from my latest book Trusting Ingrid.
Ingrid has spent her entire life looking after number one. Charming when she needs to be, she can lie more persuasively than an Academy-award winning actor. After all, society’s rules don’t apply to her.
If her outrageous behavior made her happy, it wouldn’t be so bad. But she’s a desperately unhappy woman, wrestling with alcoholism and not winning the battle.
In this scene, she had just accepted Lachlan’s offer to help her get her life on track.
Lachlan, a man with a commitment to rehabilitating feral, frightened creatures, intends to take her in hand.
From Trusting Ingrid, book 3 in the Romancing the Coast series:
“I’m going to spank you tonight. That much you’ve figured out already, right?” Lachlan asked, although it wasn’t really a question.
She nodded hesitantly.
“What you may not realize is that I consider your problems, your bad behaviors, to be long term, entrenched habits that can only be broken and rebuilt over a period of time, with regular and consistent correction.”
Ingrid froze. “Period of time? What does that mean? What is consistent correction?”
“The initial period will be a month. For the next four weeks you will be spanked at least once a day.”
Ingrid gasped. “No!”
“Yes” Lachlan kissed her neck.
With his warm lips caressing her skin, her determination to resist him weakened. She protested feebly, “That’s too much.”
“It’s barely a start, considering some of the things you’ve done. The spankings aren’t the only important thing. Far more important is your submission. That will tell me that you know you need to change, that you consent to my direction for the process.”
“At least once a day?” She hated the timidity in her voice.
“Once a day to pay for old sins. More than that for new offences. You’re lucky. Today you’re only going to be punished for today’s wrongdoing.”
Buy link – Amazon
Want more hot spanking snippets? Please visit these other blogs:
#SaturdaySpankings - Boundaries
Welcome to the Saturday Spanking blog where naughty behaviour usually ends up with the roasting of someone's backside.
Today I’m sharing an excerpt from my latest book Trusting Ingrid.
Ingrid has spent her entire life looking after number one. Charming when she needs to be, she can lie more persuasively than an Academy-award winning actor. After all, society’s rules don’t apply to her.
This scene happens shortly after she has behaved outrageously in a movie theatre.
Lachlan, a man with a commitment to rescuing feral, frightened creatures, intends to take her in hand.
From Trusting Ingrid, book 3 in the Romancing the Coast series:
“Until you’ve got a much stronger moral compass, you obviously need help.” Lachlan patted Ingrid’s two clasped hands with his free one before letting them go.
She sat back, savoring the lingering strength of his touch. Heat rose from her clenching pussy. This was it, the dangerous, exciting aspect of love that she’d been so curious about.
Lachlan drummed the table with his left hand. “Yes, I will punish you. As you demonstrated tonight at the cinema, you have few boundaries. I will help you develop a few more. I don’t want to take over your life or make all your decisions for you. What I want is to help you make better decisions by yourself which is a simple matter of training and practice, otherwise known as discipline. The only discipline worth a damn is self-discipline. If you want to be with me, you’re going to need a lot of it. I’m willing to help you get it. Are you willing to let me? Are you willing to be accountable to me?”
“Starting when?” Ingrid asked in a whisper.
“Starting as soon as we get home.”
“That’s not fair,” she protested. “I didn’t know that rule when we got to the movie.”
“I didn’t say it was fair. But you have between now and when we pull up at Casa Morrison to decide if you’re willing to abide by my terms. They aren’t negotiable.”
Buy link – Amazon
Want more hot spanking snippets? Please visit these other blogs:
#SaturdaySpankings - a challenge for Lachlan
Welcome to the Saturday Spankings blog hop where some of your favourite writers share their work. Today I'm sharing Trusting Ingrid.
Ingrid is incredible in the old-fashioned sense of the world – almost beyond belief.
She has spent her entire life looking after number one. Charming when she needs to be, she can lie more persuasively than an Academy-award winning actor. After all, society’s rules don’t apply to her.
If all this made her happy, it wouldn’t be so bad. But she’s a desperately unhappy woman, wrestling with alcoholism and not winning the battle.
Enter Lachlan, a man with a commitment to rescuing feral, frightened creatures.
From Trusting Ingrid, book 3 in the Romancing the Coast series:
Ingrid melted against Lachlan, driving her long powerful thighs against his. She was hungry, her need at least as great as his. He could feel it in the heat pouring from every cell in her body.
Then she shut herself down.
She wanted control, a power-exchange game he knew well.
What does a control freak need the most? Someone to take over the helm for a while. When he told her he’d spank her, he’d swept his hand over her breast. Sure enough, her nipple had hardened at his words. That was all he needed to know. Even if she said she wouldn’t pick him up at the airport, he’d come back here anyway. She wasn’t going to get away that easily.
The biggest challenge with Ingrid would be reading her true desire. Even if she said she was direct, sex was never that simple. Lachlan’s type of sex was even more precarious. He’d have to get her consent without her conceding any sort of defeat.
Conquering a woman of Ingrid’s complex combination of strength and frailty would be like walking through a minefield. He couldn’t wait to get back to her.
Buy link – Amazon
Want more hot spanking snippets? Please visit these other blogs:
Revenge in the Highlands by Brandy Golden
Brandy Golden brings us a tale of drama and high stakes today. Revenge in the Highlands is book 2 in the Revenge Series but can be read as a standalone novel.
Eileen is driven by pain and betrayal, can a loving hand heal her broken heart?
Blurb
Morgan MacAlister and his wife, Kat, return to the Highlands to reclaim Morgan's heritage, only to find that the sister he left behind is waging a war of vengeance on their traitorous half-brother, Canton. Eileen is no longer the innocent young girl he remembers.
Gallagher Glencairn has returned with Morgan to reclaim his own inheritance and finds that the golden-haired lass with the beautiful haunted eyes now rules his clan. Gallagher is determined he'll take his clan back any way he can. He gives Eileen two choices: she can agree to wed him, or he will wage war against her and take his inheritance back.
Eileen is tough on the outside but harbors a terrible secret within – a secret of pain, betrayal, and a fierce desire for revenge.
Publisher's Note: Revenge in the Highlands is a steamy historical romance, set in the another world and another time. It contains old-fashioned, loving discipline.
Buy link: Amazon
Excerpt:
Eileen studied her elderly husband closely, looking for signs of duplicity. Cold wrath burned inside her, yet she realized he meant what he said. Women were just possessions to be moved about and used as needed; their feelings didn’t mean anything. They were pawns in men’s masculine endeavors and they should accept their dictates without question.
“Looking for absolution are ye?” she scoffed, refusing to give him a trickle of credit. “Especially now that death is upon ye?”
“Nay, lass,” he replied flatly. “Just the assurance that what I have decreed will be carried out. Jamie will see to it that the babe stays here to be raised to his inheritance and status in life. Ye are free to go if ye wish, I’m done with ye.”
Eileen trembled with the force of her frustrated rage but knew there was little she could do. There was nowhere to go, no place to hide and her son did deserve his honors. At least the old curmudgeon owed her that.
“Oh, I’ll stay, ye can rest assured of that. My son will have what is due him. It’s the least he deserves for the manner in which ye brought him into this world."
“Be silent!” The Laird shook with anger and he reached out to backhand Eileen but collapsed into a fit of coughing, his face turning mottled.
Jamie sent her a warning glance but Eileen was beyond caring a whit.
“At least ye have no control over what I do once ye are gone,” she mocked, feeling no pity for him whatsoever. “I’ll raise my son to hate ye, to be a curse on your name and I will rule the Glencairn clan myself.” She hugged her son fiercely to her breast. “Not only that, but I’ll wage war on my half brother and relieve him of Castle McKenna and rule the Macalister clan as well. Morgan Macalister will rue the day he left me defenseless.”
Brandy Golden in her own words:
I’m a sweet romance writer with some hanky spanky play added in. I like to write about strong alpha males who don’t mind taking their ladies in hand when they need it and who want to share the special bond that spanking can bring between a couple. My stories are mostly basic simple discipline in a romantic setting with very protective men. Cowboys, pirates, business suits, you name it, they are all sexy when they are dominant and I love to write their stories. I’ve been writing on and off for around fifteen years now and I still love it. You can find me in middle america, cowboy and ranching country, with my husband and a wonderful family of children and grandchildren around me. I hope you enjoy my adventures as much as I enjoy creating them for you. ~ Brandy
New release: Trusting Ingrid
My road trip has drawn to a happy conclusion and I’m home again. Just in time to share the news that Trusting Ingrid, book 3 in the Romancing the Coast series is out now.
Ingrid has been expecting to have this conversation her entire life. She’s skated on the edge of the law for so long, she’s always expected to have it with a judge or prison warden.
Blurb:
Ingrid Nickel doesn’t want to go into rehab. Again. She tried it once but it didn’t work.
When she meets Lachlan Morrison, the connection is electric. She sees a handsome man, directing and challenging, who won’t be intimidated by a powerful woman like her. He sees a woman whose bluster and sarcasm is a cover for something deep inside her that is badly broken.
The daughter of a grifter, Ingrid has grown up street-wise and lawless. Lachlan has rescued more than one creature whose bark was worse than its bite.
Will his stern, loving magic work on Ingrid?
Publishers note: Although loosely part of a series, Trusting Ingrid, a spicy romance can be read as a stand alone story. It includes scenes of domestic discipline and power exchanges.
Buy link: Amazon
Excerpt:
The newsreaders said the rain was part of an atmospheric river that would pass in twenty-four, maybe thirty-six, hours but Lachlan insisted they walk Cotter regardless.
“A dog like that needs lots of exercise,” he said.
Ingrid trudged along silently, unable to talk to Lachlan because they were both hunched under their hoods, deafened by the hammering downpour. In those drenched miles, Ingrid learned what it would be like to walk along a riverbed, with water constantly washing over her. By the time they were home, she was chilled, tired, and in a mood darker than the skies above. She decided to get the next bad part of the day over with, sending Lachlan the usual text.
He found her in the bedroom, playing poker on her iPad.
Without looking at him she said, “Guess what? I’m too tired for a spanking.”
He sat beside her. “Guess what? You’re getting one anyway.”
He took the iPad out of her hands and wrestled her to her feet in front of him. She stood, stubbornly not looking at him. He tried to pull her leggings and panties down. She locked her legs together, pressing her lips into a thin line, her jaw set.
“You want to make this last longer, do you?” he asked. “Because I’ve got the rest of the afternoon free. If my hand gets tired, I have a belt. You decide.”
Her eyes met his. She blinked before pulling her own pants down. She was barely across his lap when he started to spank her. Hard. He spanked her quickly, efficiently, with more force that he’d ever used before. Within seconds she forgot the rain, she forgot being embarrassed by having to ask for a spanking. She forgot everything but the river of pain being delivered to her backside. By reflex she cried for him to stop, even though she knew he wouldn’t. Every ounce of willpower she possessed was devoted to not breaking the position on his lap, even though she knew she was strong enough to get away if she wanted to.
Lachlan wasn’t a caveman dragging her by her hair to a beating because she was helpless to resist. She was physically strong. She was mentally devious. She could scream loud enough to wake the dead if she wanted to. In short, she could get up and walk away. And then what? Try to find someone else as sexy, as affectionate, as caring as Lachlan?
Impossible.
Besides, the idea of the spankings turned her on. The reality of them scared her. But they didn’t last forever and he was always so gentle after.
When the spanking stopped that afternoon, she burst to her feet like a diver coming up for air. Grateful for his determination to spank her, to not let her weasel her way out of what they both knew she needed, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Kissing the top of his head, she said, “Thank you."