The wonderful, prolific Maggie Ryan is back on my blog today with her book Leather and Grace.

Quentin loves three things with a passion; working with leather, vintage motorcycles, and women who have chosen a life of submission.

Blurb:

Murder… Despair… Hope.

Quentin Doucet loves three things with a passion: working with leather, vintage motorcycles, and women who have chosen a life of submission. His life was perfect until the day Beth disappeared off the face of the earth. Unable to stay in the vibrant city of New Orleans, where the memories are just too painful and his sense of guilt is just too great, he walks away when darkness threatens to consume him. It is only his sense of duty that has him returning when his best friend and business partner Brody is laid up with a broken leg. Despite Quentin's insistence that he isn't going to stay once Brody is back on his feet, fate has other plans. The night he steps into an art gallery, he feels as if his eyes are opening for the first time in two years. The paintings on the walls stir his soul almost as much as the artist herself.

The moment Grace meets Quentin at her exhibition and looks into his eyes, she feels an irresistible urge to press her lips against the pulsing vein in his neck. When he later steps into the room as the leader of her first class in submission, she knows she wants to be his. He is an enigma that she longs to solve, but she's well aware that until he is free of the pain of his past, he will never be ready to step into the future.

With the help of a detective who refuses to allow a killer to go free, Quentin and Brody attempt to unravel a twisting labyrinth of clues to bring closure to a case long relegated to the cold files. The swamps of Louisiana hide the sins of many, but when Grace disappears, Quentin knows he won't survive if she's not found alive. Will his instincts allow him to find the woman he's come to love in time, or will he lose another to the marsh's embrace? Are the fates that cruel, or will God's grace give him another chance?

Find out in Leather and Grace, a tale of BDSM, murder, suspense, love, hope, lust and exploration, from Blushing Books and USA Today bestselling author Maggie Ryan.

Publisher's Note: This tale contains adult themes, including spanking and flogging, anal play and explicit sexual scenes between consenting adults. If such material offends you, please do not purchase.

Buy it now: Amazon

Excerpt:

"I knocked," Quentin said.

"Well, obviously I didn't hear you. You might have a key, but that isn't an excuse to invade my privacy."

"Look, I didn't know anyone was here. I just came in to get some stuff for Brody."

"That's not his laptop," Grace said, pointing to a small desk built into the wall. "Why would his be out when he's in the hospital?"

"I didn't even consider that," Quentin admitted. "Forgive me, I really didn't mean to invade your privacy." He looked down at the screen and said, "Does it help if I say that you are as good a photographer as you are a painter?"

"Not particularly," Grace said bluntly. "What would help would be if you get what you need and leave."

Quentin shut the lid of the computer and saw that she had turned away. God, the towel clung to the globes of her ass, the contours promising a plump bottom that his hand itched to both fondle and spank. Forcing himself to his senses, he moved to the desk and added the laptop that did have a power cord, though it was not plugged into anything. Placing it in the box, he moved out of the kitchen to find Grace standing by the door.

"I tried to find you yesterday," he said. "I wanted to apologize. Hell, now I owe you two." When she didn't say anything, he continued. "I was an ass, and shouldn't have given you the silent treatment, and was an even bigger ass when I did speak by saying what I did. You didn't deserve either." He was pleased to see her posture relaxing slightly, her green eyes no longer flashing in anger, but she hadn't smiled either. "And I apologize for barging in. I didn't even consider you'd be here…"

"Why? Did you think I'd run away after discovering that the next-door neighbor was… how did you describe him? Ah yes, an ass."

Quentin squashed his first instinct, which was to drop the box, pull the towel off her little frame and bend her over his thigh for a spanking. Instead, he took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine, I deserved that. However, when a person apologizes, it is expected that it be accepted with grace."

"Like the grace you showed me when I apologized last night?"

"No, as I said, that wasn't grace… it was me being an idiot." He took a step forward. "I won't barge in again."

She reached for the doorknob and then sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. It was rude." Removing her hand, she held it out. "Truce?"

Buy it now: Amazon

Maggie Ryan, in her own words:

#1 International and USA Today bestselling author for Blushing Books. I write both contemporary erotica and historical spanking romances. I enjoy writing about characters that enjoy the provocative D/S lifestyle of today’s times, as well as taking a step back into the past to write stories that take place in the Victorian era with age-play as a theme.

I live in the great Lone Star state with my wonderful husband. I have always loved reading. Growing up in a family with four children, it was difficult finding a place to be alone. I was probably one of the squeakiest clean girls on the planet as I would spend hours in the tub so I could read without being bothered. It wasn’t long before I began to make up my own endings to the books I was reading. From there, it just seemed natural to begin writing my own stories.

I never try to restrict myself to any one genre because there are just too many delicious possibilities out there and inside my head. I admit to being somewhat of a romantic, though, as my stories always must have a great deal of love, passion, corporal discipline and, of course, great, mind-blowing sex. I want my readers to be able to see, hear, feel and know the characters that I’m creating as well as I do when I bring them to life and transfer their stories to paper. I want my women to be strong of character but also strong enough to know that submission given in love and trust to your partner does not make you weaker, it makes you far stronger. I want my men to be sexy, strong, demanding alpha males who know how to take what they want while acknowledging it is a gift they have been blessed with by the women that have chosen to submit to them. I want there to be no doubt that they truly would die for the other no matter how others might view their relationship.

Connect with Maggie Ryan on social media:

http://www.maggieryanauthor.com/

Follow her on Twitter: @blushingmaggie

Email: maggie.ryan.writes@gmail.com

Or find her on Facebook

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Louisa Revealed: Women of Wintercrest Book 1

Lord Edward’s Law: Women of Wintercrest Book 2

Claimed: Women of Wintercrest Book 3

Lucy Surrenders: Women of Wintercrest Book 4

Summer Solace