Archive for the ‘Excerpts’ Category
With BREAKING ALL THE RULES coming out in a few short weeks, I should probably be giving you a teaser from it.
But when I saw this week’s My Sexy Saturday theme was “My Sexy Addiction,” I couldn’t resist. I simply had to pick a scene starring Mike James.
You see, Mike is probably MY sexy addiction. Don’t get me wrong: I love each and every one of my heroes—all for different reasons. However, if I were pressed to pick one, it’d have to be Mike, the sports reporter/stripper/inveterate flirt who captures the attention of not one but two women of Willow’s Grove.
In OPERATION SNAG MIKE BRAD, education reporter Erin starts out lusting after Mike but soon learns life is what happens when you’re making other plans. Mike, who has what he thinks are good reasons for flirting the way he does, secretly longs for the kind of girl he uses his reputation to hold at bay—until a drunken night with coworker Breanne forces him to face his demons once and for all. (That’s OVEREXPOSED, the third Willow’s Grove book.)
These seven sentences are from near the end of Erin and Brad’s story, in which Mike plays a big part. He’s a third POV in the manuscript—a departure for me, since I usually stick to just the hero and heroine POVs.
See? I know Mike better than any other character I’ve created, so he’ll always have a special place in my heart.
***
She followed her roommate’s finger to the couch, where a shirtless Mike snored. A blanket rode low on his hips, exposing the flat, tan plane of his stomach — and hinting at a bottom half as naked as the top. Erin quickly looked away, finding the cat that belonged to the cat condo in the corner of the room. A big, gray furball watched them from its perch on the back of the couch. She suppressed a nervous giggle and jabbed her elbow into Cassie’s ribs. “Maybe he really does sunbathe in November.”
“Maybe,” Cassie replied, appreciatively ogling the sleeping sportswriter. “I’m beginning to understand what you two see in him.”
“Not me. Not anymore.” Sure, Mike’s … umm … man candy was worth admiring. But she meant it when she added, “I prefer something a little — lot — more real.”
Cassie snickered. “Bree doesn’t share your sentiment.”
Sure enough, Bree’s gaze was still riveted to Mike’s bare midsection. Her eyes glittered with interest. Knowing what it was like to lust after something she couldn’t have, Erin took pity on her. With very little effort, she might be able to get the blanket to shift a little lower.
“Close your mouth, Bree. You’re starting to drool,” she muttered under her breath. Then she cleared her throat — loudly. “Yo, James.”
Bree squeaked with alarm. At the same time, Mike smacked his lips and rolled onto his back. The blanket moved a fraction of an inch higher. Crap. “Not what I was aiming for.”
Operation Snag Mike Brad is still unpublished — for now. But if you liked this snippet, check out my Amazon author page for my published stories.
It’s Saturday — and you know what that means. Time for the My Sexy Saturday blog hop.
I’m in a bit better headspace to pick a sexy scene now than I was a few hours ago. Then, I’d just discovered that when you Google “Arlene Hittle Author,” the first link that comes up (purportedly to my site) misdirects people to some spam site hawking cheap NFL jerseys. I’m still trying to get the mess straightened out, so until then, type “arlenehittle.com” into your browser instead.
This week’s My Sexy Saturday theme is “a sexy Valentine.”
Umm … I don’t think ANY of my books has a Valentine’s Day-specific scene. Most of the action happens in summer and fall. BEAUTY AND THE BALLPLAYER is set in March, after the big V-day. And my novella, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, happens in winter, covering the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Luckily, I have an out:
” …Share all those sexy moments that you have between your characters even if your story doesn’t exactly fit the theme this week…remember every relationship is important!”
That I can do!
Let’s go with a moment from my upcoming March release, BREAKING ALL THE RULES. BREAKING is the story of a by-the-book health care administrator who finds herself in need of a Klingon interpreter. Of course, the main candidate for the job is a sexy man who’s never met a rule he didn’t want to break. In this scene …
Enjoy!
***
He pressed his lips together and suppressed a sudden urge to kiss her senseless. One of them had to maintain a certain sense of decorum—and apparently tonight, he’d have to appoint himself to the task.
That’ll be a switch.
He tapped two fingers against each knee. Every strike reinforced the message: This is your boss, dumbass. The woman who signs your paycheck.
Okay then. Time to change the subject. Unfortunately, his mouth had other ideas. “What happened to by-the-book Allyson?”
She pouted. “You don’t like the new me?”
“It’s not that.” He gulped again. Maybe air would magically restart the flow of blood to his brain. “I think maybe I like the new you a little too much.”
That scared her. He saw the moment old stuffy Allyson regained the upper hand. She turned back to the mirror and began taming her hair. With every pin that went in, she stood straighter, stiffer—more like herself.
BREAKING ALL THE RULES is set for release the week of March 19. Visit my Turquoise Morning Press author page for already-available titles.
Long time no blog, eh? So much for those weekly posts I was supposed to be writing after coming home from San Antonio in July.
January has been a busy month. I started a new job in a new city. I’m still looking for a permanent place to live. I have to pack up 13+ years of crap that’s accumulated in the Flagstaff house.
I’m getting back into the rhythm of working days. Spoiler alert: It’s really cutting into my writing/editing time at Starbucks.
Since I’m fresh off the blog tour for BLIND DATE BRIDE, I’ve decided to share a moment from Kari & Damien’s story for this week’s entry into the My Sexy Saturday linkup.
In this scene, the reluctant bride and groom have just completed a couples’ yoga class — an intense experience that brings them closer than ever. In fact, it brings them so close that Kari’s willing to take a chance.
****
Tentatively, Kari traced the muscles of his shoulders and back. Slowly, her hand trailed to his rear end and then around front to flutter over his now-raging hard-on.
It was Damien’s turn to groan. Even that featherlight touch through the fabric of his yoga pants was driving him wild. Roughly, he yanked her pants down over her hips and cupped the mound of her sex.
When she made a soft sound of protest and pushed his hand away, he groaned again. So, she wasn’t quite ready yet. He captured her lips again, stroking her face, shoulders and thighs as his tongue plunged in and out of her mouth in an imitation of the sex act he wanted to be engaged in.
Slowly, he felt Kari’s resistance melting. Sending another thank-you into the universe, he pushed down his pants and positioned himself between her thighs.
Bright light flooded the Element.
“What the—?” Damien spat a curse.
A split second later, he had his answer. Sam’s voice announced cheerfully, “Found ’em.”
Find BLIND DATE BRIDE at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, and in print at CreateSpace or Amazon.
This week’s My Sexy Saturday theme is “A Sexy Sleigh Ride”—MSS’s “hats off to the holidays,” so to speak.
Sadly, none of my characters take a literal sleigh ride. However, in HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, there is a sexy Porsche ride that will suffice. In this scene, Cher and Derrick, best friends in high school, are getting reacquainted a decade later when she reluctantly returns to her hometown for some much-needed R&R. They’ve just kissed, and Derrick asks “What was that?”
Enjoy!
***
Cher pressed her back against the Porsche’s passenger door, hoping Derrick wouldn’t notice her heart still thrummed too fast. He’d been the star of some of her wildest fantasies over the years, but that kiss of his was more potent than any she’d conjured up in her imagination.
Maybe it was a good thing he’d rebuffed her in high school. She wouldn’t have known how to handle that kind of passion back then.
Like you do now?
She brushed aside her conscience. Of course she did: Humor was always her best defense. Her only defense, really. She found a few jokes were a much more effect way to get her way than tantrums or stony silence.
With that in mind, she tipped her lips into a grin. “I think it was you taking advantage of my resistance, weakened by extreme hunger.”
He chuckled. “That your way of saying I should quit flapping my gums and start driving, your diva-ness?”
“You got it.”
Home for the Holidays is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and in print through CreateSpace.
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