Welcome best-selling author Lydia Michaels!

I am pleased today to welcome best-selling author Lydia Michaels! Her latest release, from Secret Cravings Publishing, is titled FAKING IT. 

Blurb:

Sheilagh McCullough has been pretending to be someone else her entire life. When she takes her rebellious act too far, her overbearing brothers decide it’s time for her to grow up and face her future. After six years of procrastination and parties, Sheilagh is finally going to college.

Dr. Alec Devereux is an ethical man, but when Sheilagh McCullough enrolls in his class, his morals as a professor are put to the test. Brilliant, tenacious, and a contradiction to herself in so many ways, Alec is enchanted by his new student and unable to resist temptation. Persistent and logical, Alec unravels the mysterious woman who has captured his heart only to discover the greatest threat to their future might be her past.

A courageous journey of the soul that confronts one woman’s fears of love and embraces the truth in her heart.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lydia-Michaels/e/B0071ZV41G

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/lydia-michaels

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lydia-michaels/id577453828?mt=11

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/Search?query=Lydia%20Michaels&fcsearchfield=Author

ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Lydia+Michaels

Excerpt:

“You have no right!”

“Shut up!” the three of them shouted at once.

Her eyes prickled with unshed tears as they drove. Under the passing shadows she saw each one of them staring away from her, fury stamped into their set jaws. She kicked the seat in front of her and Tristan grunted.

After she discovered Luke and Tristan’s affair, Tristan handled her with kid gloves. Sheilagh didn’t want his pity. She was tougher than that. She was a McCullough, for Christ’s sake. She had five crazy brothers and she could hold her own with every single one of them.

The farther they drove out of town, the more self-doubt crept in. “Where are we going?”

No one answered. The commercial storefronts faded away as Kelly turned the SUV onto the highway leading out of town. As they took the jug handle onto the interstate her concern doubled. Their anger was so thick it seemed to siphon the air right out of the car.

Her concern for herself doubled as her eyes rapidly blinked back tears, forcing those telling little spills to stay put where others couldn’t see. Her entire existence focused on hiding those telltale signs of weakness from the world.

She hated that her stupid, childish heart was permanently damaged and her life derailed. Since the day she’d discovered Luke and Tristan, she’d been going at the world like a runaway train, making one poor choice after another and leaving nothing but self-destruction in her wake. It was the only way she knew to control the pain, control herself. But in truth, over the last few years she felt out of control and with every stupid transgression came another reason to hate herself.

She wasn’t sure she’d ever be normal again. She wasn’t breaking hearts, just breaking herself, battering pieces of her broken heart, little by little, with each poor decision.

Suddenly the car swerved. She slammed into Luke and he pushed her off. Gravel spewed under the tires as Kelly tore onto the shoulder and threw the SUV in park.

It was dark and no one said a word. Fear tickled her spine. Why were they there? It was completely dark and eerie and she wondered if this was their version of some kind of confessional.

The sound of their breathing sawed out of their lungs and she waited. Luke, of course, broke the silence. “Are you out of your god damn mind?”

She turned to unleash the fury inside of her. “Oh, shut up, Luke! You have no right to pass judgment on me!”

Kelly swiveled in his seat, his blue eyes boring into her through the dark. “What did you suspect people would do after you bared your titties for the town? Praise you? Christ, Sheilagh, use your fucking head!”

“Like you have any room to talk, Kelly! There isn’t a woman in Center County who hasn’t seen your wank!”

“And do you think I didn’t pay a price for my actions, Sheilagh?” Kelly stormed.

No, she didn’t. Kelly lived the high life and still managed to find his soul mate. No one in this car had a right to even pretend they understood what it felt like to be invisible.

“It’s like the sheep fucker!” Kelly snarled and turned toward the windshield.

What? “What?”

“Shamus the sheep fucker!” her brother snapped. “The old Irishman in the bar that built the church and sailed the sea, but no one remembers that because he fucked one sheep.”

“No one’s fucking a sheep, you moron!”

“Well, what do you think people would say if you started stripping? You wouldn’t be Sheilagh the beautiful McCullough or Sheilagh the genius. No, you’d only be Sheilagh the stripper. Do you want that kind of reputation?”

She crossed her arms over her breasts and glared out the window.

Tristan turned. “Why would you do this, Shei?”

She blinked repeatedly. Because no one notices me anymore. Forcing an expression of indifference, she shrugged. “Why not?”

“You’re better than that. You know you are,” he said in a soft voice.

She didn’t know what to say back. Maybe she wasn’t better than that. Maybe that’s all she was meant to be, a stripper in some Podunk town.

Luke wouldn’t look at her, but she still heard him growl. “This is bullshit. When are you going to grow up?”

She pivoted and turned her glare on him. “Me? How about you, Luke? When are you going to grow up? You have an awful lot to say about how everyone lives their life, when you don’t have the balls to let the world see who you really are!”

The car grew deathly silent. Kelly said her name in warning and she snapped. “No! I’m sick of it! Just say it! Say it!”

“What do you want me to say?” Luke roared.

Tristan’s stare cut to her and she felt a pinch of regret much like the lament she saw in his eyes. Why couldn’t they just come out and let everyone know they were in love?

“This isn’t about Luke,” Tristan said quietly. “It never was. I’m sorry, Sheilagh. I know this isn’t what you asked for, but sometimes life is unfair.”

She fumed as she glared back at him. “I wanna go home.”

No one said anything for quite some time. “You’re going away,” Kelly finally announced.

“What?”

“You’re going to college. There’s nothing for you here and you know it. It’s time for you to get on with your life and make something of yourself.”

Author Bio:

Bestselling author Lydia Michaels writes all forms of hot romance. She presses the bounds of love and surprises readers just when they assume they have her stories figured out. From Amish vampyres, to wild Irishmen, to broken heroes, and heroines no man can match, Lydia takes readers on an emotional journey of the heart, mind, and soul with every story she pens. Her books are intellectual, erotic, haunting, always centered on love.

Lydia Michaels loves to hear from readers! She can be contacted by email at Lydia@LydiaMichaels.org

Webpage: http://www.lydiamichaels.org

Other Titles by Lydia Michaels:

Falling In

Breaking Out

Coming Home

Sacred Waters

Skin

Chaste

Faking It

Forsaking Truth

As Tears Go By

Simple Man

Breaking Perfect

White Chocolate

All 4 You

To Catch a Wolfe

Chasing Feathers

Called to Order

Calling for a Miracle

Destiny Calls

Call Her Mine

McCullough Mountain: Family Tree

Guesting on Tabitha Shay's blog today!!

I am pleased to be guesting on fellow Secret Cravings author Tabitha Shay's blog today!! 

http://tabithashay.blogspot.com/

GREAT review for WITHOUT A TRACE!!

So happy about this review of WAT from reader Erin M.! 

"I couldn't put it down! The characters of Rachel and Matt are well-rounded and jump off the page. The dynamic chemistry between them is captivating. Without a Trace is beautifully written, with enough detail to pull you in yet still leaves some things to the readers imaginations (in a wonderful way). My heart raced at various points, seemingly in time with theirs. While some may say their passion is steamy, I think that is an understatement. I truly enjoyed every bit of Without a Trace and look forward to reading more by Laurie White."

She said she's giving it 5 stars on Amazon once she resolves some technical glitches. :-)

Guesting on V.L. Locey's blog today!

Good Thursday, everyone! I am guesting over at V.L. Locey's blog today, writing about "cop heroes." Hop on over, leave a comment, and you just might win a copy of WITHOUT A TRACE!

http://thoughtsfromayodelinggoatherder.blogspot.com/2014/02/laurie-white-pays-visit-book-giveaway.html

V.L. is a fellow Secret Cravings author who writes multi-genre erotic romance, and her latest, PINK PUCKS AND POWER PLAYS, is a sizzling one set in the pro hockey world. Thanks to V.L. for hosting me today!!

Guesting on Molly Daniels' blog today

I am being interviewed today on fellow Secret Cravings author Molly Daniels' blog today. Check it out!!

Molly's Musings is at http://www.mjdaniels.blogspot.com/.

Welcome V.L. Locey!

Thank you to Laurie for hosting me on my Pink Pucks & Power Plays road trip!

One of the best things about being an author, aside from being able to kill off people that aggravate you in real life in your books, is being able to create something from scratch. I'm not sure how the creative process for all writers works, but for me it begins with an idea or notion. Generally this notion isn`t firmly rooted in anything solid, it`s kind of a free floating apparition that bounces around inside my mind. Sometimes the ghost of a novel disappears when I shine the light of reason on it.

'Uhm yeah, zombie cats that ride OCC choppers is cool, but I`m not sure that a cat could pass the written part of the motorcycle licensing exam. They have no thumbs to hold the pen.'

Other ideas are specters just waiting for a blank page to bring them to life. That was the case with my To Love a Wildcat series. After writing Goaltender's Penalty, an M/M hockey novella, I knew I wanted to pen more ice hockey romance. Being a big fan of the New York Rangers, my love of the sport, and the men that play it, was already in place. Now, I needed a team. Since I've lived on the east coast of the United States all my life, I placed my new team in a city I had visited numerous times, Philadelphia.

Then I had to ascertain if this series would be male/male or male/female, as I do pen both. That decision was an easy one, for most of my work comes to me with the sexes of the leads already in place. So, the Wildcat series would be male/female. Check. Now we needed the starring male and the female.

I knew that I wanted the ladies of the Wildcats to be different from the typical mold of romance heroines. So Viviana was created. Viv is a sassy, curvy woman who has embraced her plus size. Her leading man, the handsome, and younger, defenseman Alain Lessard, contrary to what many would have us believe, finds Viviana highly enticing and erotic. I knew Alain was from Quebec the moment I wrote him. I could hear that sensual accent in my mind.

I bet you think we`re done now, right? Wrong. Now we needed to create an entire hockey team and organization. From scratch. That is a lot of people! This is what the process looked like.

It took a great deal of time but was well worth it. From owner to equipment manager the Philadelphia Wildcats are neatly laid out on virtual paper. After that, I could dive into writing this erotic romance. And dive I did! How about a PG rated excerpt so you can meet Viviana and Alain and dive in as well?!

*~*~*

Four dogs raced off the front porch that ran the length of the front of the house. They hit the driver’s side door like a pack of rabid wolves, barking and clawing at my paint job. I was not impressed. I didn’t dare get out, lest my lovely dress get ruined. The porch light came on and Alain filled the door. His shoulders looked as if they would barely fit through the doorway as he sauntered out to stand on the porch. Toenails were scrabbling on the window. I tooted the horn. Even with the windows up, his bellow was clear. The dogs ran to him, their tongues lolling. He rubbed the various furry heads as if praising them for attacking me. I pushed my door open and something the size of a feral cat leaped into my lap. I screamed as the animal went for my face.

“Daisy!” Alain shouted as I swatted and shrieked. The beast sat down instantly. I opened my eyes and found a canine that possibly weighed four pounds sitting on my thighs. My dress was covered with mud and hair and spittle flecks. Daisy, the frizzy white hellion, was wagging her stumpy tail and smiling at me. I was now far less than amused. Alain reached in, kissed my cheek then lifted the little dog from my lap. “She is so very glad to see you.”

“Yes, I can still smell her exuberance,” I sniffed, frowning down at the ruination of my clothing. I tried to remove the mud and fur, hopelessly. “It took me half an hour to choose this dress!”

“We can clean it up,” he said, dropping down into a crouch to swat at a hairball sticking to my thigh with determination. “Come inside. We will take it off and toss it in the washing machine.”

I looked over at him as if he had lost his mind.

“Alain, this is an original Presterman Gondola. You don’t simply toss this into the washing machine. This is crèpe de chine.” I held up the soiled hem of cool crème. “This will require a professional cleaner and a prayer to the dry cleaning gods that the rusty, red soil stains will come out of it!”

“She is very sorry,” Alain cooed, holding the tiny dog up at eye level. I glowered at the mutt. She lapped at my nose. “See? She did not mean to ruin your crap dress."

“Crèpe,” I muttered, slinging my legs out of the car. Alain eyed them with open admiration as he straightened and stepped back. His arm went around my waist with familiarity that I enjoyed.

“Yes, crèpe,” he said, pronouncing the word as if he were clearing his throat. He led me through the happy hounds into the house. It was a massive, old place, with large, airy rooms going off in haphazard directions. The furnishings were used, more than likely by the hellhounds Alain owned, by the looks of them. We passed a living room and a den as we followed the smell of roasting beef into the kitchen. It was an impressive, grand room that could hold my entire condo. The appliances were not new. The linoleum was old and torn in a few places. The cabinets were sort of ratty. Alain placed Daisy, the dress destroyer, to the floor. She went over to slake her thirst alongside the rest of the dogs.

“Can you wash the dress by hand?” he asked, stepping to the double stainless sink to wash his hands before checking the food in the oven.

        “I suppose,” I replied, running a keen eye over the wallpaper border that hugged the rather stained ceiling. Alain stepped up behind me. When his lips found my neck I allowed my eyelids to close for a moment. The backs of his fingers, still damp from washing, skimmed over my neck lightly. He found the zipper pull and gently unzipped my best dress slowly, dropping kisses to each inch of flesh he exposed. The crèpe de chine slid down my legs and puddled around my ankles.

*~*~*

You can find Pink Pucks & Power Plays at the Secret Cravings Store as well as all other major retailers:

Secret Cravings Publishing

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, belly laughs, anything romantic, Greek mythology, New York Rangers hockey,  comic books and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a steer named after a famous NHL goalie, and a flock of assorted domestic fowl.

V.L. is a self-published and conventionally published author. She is a proud Torquere Press and Secret Cravings Publishing author. When not writing romantic tales, she can be found enjoying her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand, writing, or cheering on her beloved New York Rangers. She can also be found online on Facebook, Twitter, and GoodReads.

I love to meet new friends and fans! You can find me at:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/VL-Locey/124405447678452

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vllocey

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5807700.V_L_Locey

My blog: http://thoughtsfromayodelinggoatherder.blogspot.com/

I'm in USA Today!!!

I am SOOOO excited! WITHOUT A TRACE is mentioned in USA Today!!! Fellow Secret Cravings author Whitney K-E is also mentioned!! Please click on the below link to read the story!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2014/02/07/erotic-romance-eroticas-new-releases-february-2014/5273775/

Also, WAT is now available on Amazon (Kindle Store), Barnes & Noble (Nook Books), Smashwords, and All Romance E-books in addition to the Secret Cravings Publishing web site. Just in time for a steamy Valentine's Day read!!