Today I'm delighted to welcome my first guest author, Alyssa Bailey, and look at her latest book, His Gentle Persuasion.
This dyed-in-the-wool Texan writer lives in beautiful Southeastern Alaska with her husband, her youngest four (of eleven!) children, two dogs, and two cats.
After her mother read to her as a small child, Alyssa began writing as soon as she could put letters together to form words. Her first story at the age of six was about a performing horse that ran away from the circus. As she got older and read more of a variety of books, she would say, “I can do better than that” and then rewrite them in her head. She was writing fanfiction before the trend had a name. In high school and college, she won journalism and special recognition for her writing.
Alyssa is a firm believer in all things spanking. She loves writing about domestic discipline and power exchanges between strong, intelligent women and Alpha men confident enough to keep them safe.
Her books feature lords and ladies in Regency England or men and women in the contemporary and cowboy world.
Today we are looking at Alyssa’s most recent release, His Gentle Persuasion (from Blushing Books), which is storming the Amazon charts.
Blurb:
Rancher Ciarán O’Connor is one of the best and most successful equine and canine trainers in the Northwest. Finding a date is never hard for Ciarán but unearthing a woman that meets all of his particular expectations that is not too needy herself is more challenging. He is ready to wait for as long as it takes when he spots Nurse Katherine Franklin and makes a horse trade to get better acquainted. He finds that just like his wild or abused animals, Ciarán must slowly work at the puzzle of Katie’s past to find the jewel hidden beneath all that manipulation. It will take all the tools in his arsenal to reach his goal.
Katie has a reputation with the men in the community; hard to catch and impossible to keep. Ciarán O’Connor makes her blood run hot. This rancher expects the woman he loves to allow him to take care of her which includes her obedience when he asks for it. And a red hot bottom when she doesn’t. Ciarán doesn’t need someone like Katie, whose past screams for her to run while her heart begs her to stay, but will he take her anyway?
Can Ciarán convince Katherine that his take-charge lifestyle is not only what she needs, but everything she craves? Or is she going to turn away from the future she desires because of the past she has endured?
Excerpt:
“Where is Aaron?” Ciarán looked around as though he expected to see him somewhere. "
"Oh, inside, I told him that I was going home and I didn’t need him to go with me if he wasn’t ready. We came in separate cars so that worked out fine or it seemed like it would.”
“He allowed you to go home alone? Where is your phone? Did you already call someone to come and get you?”
She shrugged her shoulders to dismiss her answer. “I left it at home. And just to be clear, no one allowed me to do anything. I do what I want.”
Ciarán growled as he told her to sit tight and he would be right back. A shiver of
something ran through her body at his tone, creating a rolling anticipation in her stomach and a clenching of her core. Ciarán got into his pickup a few rows away and pulled up in the row front of her car. Jumping out he told her to get into his truck to stay cool and he would jump-start her battery.
“Oh, I’m all right, it isn’t too hot,” Katie said quickly, not moving from her leather
upholstery so he would not know that her legs were quickly becoming seared to the seat. She knew that skin peeled from the seat sound would be a dead giveaway.
She had made it a hard and fast rule not to let another person, especially a man, dominate anything associated with her actions or her will. She had allowed that before with disastrous results and would not do it again. She had come a long way but it was still difficult to trust anyone with macho tendencies. Gorgeous as this specimen was, he was machismo personified.
Ciarán opened the door wider and went down on his haunches saying deliberately and in a quiet voice, “Don’t argue, beag Leanaí. You will be perfectly safe. Mind me and go sit on the passenger side of my pickup or I will not get your car started and you will have to let me take you home in my truck.”
Again, Katie was dismayed when she sensed a thrill that went right to the center of her womanhood. However, she was not going to acknowledge it by dwelling on it. Nor was she going to let another man tell her what to do even if this one was sexy as hell while doing it. Been there, done that. However, her inner soul was begging that she let this one in. It was begging her to try again with this man.
“What did you say? You said it twice now, beag Leanaí. What is that?”
“Truck.” He stood up. The conversation was over.
You can find Alyssa online:
Alyssa Bailey Romance website ‖ Facebook ‖ Twitter: @blushingalyssa
email: alyssabaileyromance@gmail.com
Books by Alyssa Bailey:
Chase Abbey Series:
Lord Barrington’s Minx (book 1)
Becoming Lady Barrington (book 2)
The O’Connor Series:
Her Sweet Complication
Liam’s Lessons
Loving Liam
Contemporary / Cowboy
Cowboy Welcome
His Gentle Persuasion (Ciarán O’Connor book 1)