Last day for $1.99 erotic romance sale plus watch the sexy kissing book trailer and read hot stories

Today is the final day of the Passion erotic romance $1.99 sale so if you want 20 sexy stories, get them now for Kindle, Nook, Google Play or Kobo (it's already back to regular price on iTunes though, sorry!).



Since the sale is ending shortly, make sure to check the price before buying and I will post when there's another sale up on my books! (In other sale news, sometimes my print book prices drop drastically and then change quickly. It's hard to tell when or why this happens so I do try to spread the word and right now, as of this posting, you can get Best Bondage Erotica 2011 in print for under $6, if either of those are your cup of tea or you want to get someone a kinky gift.)

Whether you take advantage of the sale or not, I wanted to share the book trailer and five sexy passages from the book. It is National Masturbation Month, after all!

The kissing-filled book trailer. So many memories!



Here's a few sexy passages I particularly enjoyed:

From "My Dark Knight" by Jacqueline Applebee

“You must think I’m weird, but I’m really into the whole reenactment scene.”

“I don’t think you’re weird, it’s just a bit unexpected,” I explained, but Omar looked at me warily. “I just never believed I’d meet a knight in shining armor.” It was true, I’d heard of reenactment fans, but I’d always pictured them as geeky white boys running around a field, hitting each other with wooden swords. “Hey, are you a black knight?” I asked jokingly.

Omar rolled his eyes, although he still smiled. “Sure I am. Why do you think they called it the Dark Ages?” I hit his arm playfully as he continued. “The armor is European, but there were plenty of knights in Africa; the ancient kingdom of Bornu and Sokoto had armored soldiers on horseback who were feared throughout the land.” He closed the distance between us as his voice dropped. “But I like the whole age of chivalry, the romance and the adventure that English knights embodied,” he murmured against me. “My fair princess,” he whispered, and then no more words were said as we kissed. Everything I had ever dreamt about Omar was eclipsed as his adventurous mouth pressed against mine. His tongue touched me, swept over my teeth and sucked on my lips. I found myself making contented noises as he held me tight. This was better than any fantasy I could have.

I felt the heat of the evening as Omar’s hands stroked my back. I felt sweaty, a little disheveled but completely wonderful. I pulled off my top and stepped out of my shoes. Omar looked lovingly at my breasts before he kissed first one and then the other through the lace of my bra. He then dragged his T-shirt off, messing up his short hair as he did. I wondered briefly what he must look like wearing the armor.

“Bed,” he whispered urgently. I nodded my head.

Omar held me about the waist, and then he shocked the life out of me as he lifted me up and put me over his shoulder. The whole room seemed to tip upside down as I was carried bodily to the bedroom.

Omar carefully let me down, and I lay giggling and panting on top of the bed. I shuffled out of my skirt and watched as Omar pulled down his trousers. I’ve seen a naked man before, but as Omar disrobed, I suddenly felt incredibly shy. He was so visibly turned on that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his cock.

“I’ve got some protection,” he said shyly. “I didn’t want to assume, but I thought it best.” Omar opened his hand and produced a little foil packet. He may have enjoyed being a knight of old, but he was a thoroughly modern man.

Omar clutched at my backside. “I’ve been longing to feel this,” he said, giving my bum a squeeze. “I’ve wanted to stroke it, lick it and spank it,” he said with a hoarse voice. I was completely surprised at his admission; I’d never thought my backside was anything special. I’d certainly never had anyone want to spank it before.

“You can, if you like,” I whispered, nervously looking up at him. “You can spank me.”

From "The Silver Belt" by Lana Fox

Now here she was in the silver belt that both kept her and frustrated her. The cord around her wrists dug blissfully deep and as she rolled onto her back, the silver belt groaned, its weight like a metal collar, its links gripping her through the open dress. She raised a leg, which burst more buttons, and flexed her foot inside the stiletto. Candlelight danced across her body as Art returned to her side, half-undressed, his chest now dark and bare. Kneeling, he circled her ankle with the whole of his hand and drew it away, opening her thighs. He knelt between her knees, his eyes flicking across her body, and, in a soft growl, explained that he would fuck her until she could take no more: “…until you’ve had your fill.”

Then, in sudden frenzy and without touching the belt, he began to tear the dress from her, his swelling biceps tightening as he worked, his skin gleaming as the candlelight swept across him. Soon she was half-bare in black silk lingerie edged with lace, and stockings teamed with garter belt and stilettos. He raised her bound wrists high above her head and, rubbing her nipple beneath the black silk so it pressed against the pad of his thumb, he fell on her, biting her shoulder, her neck and the cleavage that swelled from the delicate lace. He unzipped himself and fell on her wildly, entering her so swiftly that she cried out, pleading for his frenzy. Suddenly he was rutting with the power of a lion, telling her through shuddery breath that he’d often seen her in the store and had dreamed of possessing her many times but he’d held back because of the ring on her finger, glinting there, like a trap. “What changed your mind?” she asked.

“I couldn’t bear how sad you looked.”

The silver belt leapt on her waist as his body lunged against it, again and again, and with her bound wrists raised above her head, he pulled out of her, groaning and fell on her breasts, peeling back the lacy cups of her bra. “You’re exquisite,” he whispered, licking her nipple with the flat of his tongue. She glanced down at his dark, muscular back, where the skin was glossed with perspiration, then at her saliva-streaked breast, and she felt a wonderful burn in her pussy.

“Take me,” she pleaded. She strained at her ropes, longing to touch her clit, but this only caused them to dig more deeply.

From "Lingua Franca" by Justine Elyot

Instantly I am caught up in his embrace once more, my legs held up by his in case they give way, which is not unlikely. He walks me backward, painstakingly, until I fall onto one of the red plush sofas, and then he is looming over me, one hand next to my head, preventing my escape, and the other takes hold of my white uniform blouse and rips it open. A pearl button pings onto a nearby table and I gasp, part thrilled and part outraged. “Karel!”

“I sew it,” he grins, then his head is down there, his hair brushing my throat while he explores my cleavage with the full force of his lips and tongue. His hand works busily at my other buttons, undoing them in a less destructive way, until my lace bra is exposed to him, and his stubble prickles downward, seeking out the overspill of my breasts.

He lures my nipples out of the cups using the tip of his tongue, licking and sucking, taking his time, savoring the flavor. I plant my fingers in his hair, which is reddish-brown and falls over his brow, plentiful and sometimes a little lank. I stroke and knead automatically, my wits absent, all of me concentrated at my nerve endings, especially those between my legs.

He seems to understand instinctively that attention is needed there. He lays me down along the length of the sofa, pulling off my skirt and burying his face in my belly while his fingers stray down beyond the elastic waistband of my knickers. They almost dance, they are so light and nimble. I arch my back and squirm, inviting him to increase the pressure and move on downward, but he loves to tease me and watch my expression as it grows more frantic with need, laughing softly, looking up at me through the valley of my breasts. “Touch me,” I gasp.

Read these stories in full plus 17 more sexy tales in Passion: Erotic Romance for Women (of course male readers are more than welcome!). Right now it's only $1.99 for Kindle, Nook, Google Play or Kobo but you can also get Passion in print and audiobook form.

Erotic romance anthology Passion is only $1.99 on sale this week!

I know I've neglected my blog - a lot has been going on as I strategize about what I want to do with my life and how to improve the things that aren't working so well, and expand on the ones that are going well. So I'm taking some time away from blogging and social media to some degree to ponder and plan and assess and sort of get my bearings. But I wanted to share this sale, because it's a great price and because while I love erotica, I also love erotic romance. I read both, though I've written less of the latter, and Passion is a book I think has a broad appeal that may have been lost in the shuffle of putting out a lot of books at once so the sale is a chance for me and, hopefully, some of you to visit or revisit it.



It's got a lot of wonderful authors whose novels you may have read, and others who may be new to you. It's $1.99 on Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo for the next week or so, I believe through Friday, March 6th. Enjoy!

Passion Table of Contents and introduction

Introduction: Getting Passionate

Big-Bed Sex by Donna George Storey
My Dark Knight Jacqueline Applebee
Dear in the Headlights Angela Caperton
The Cherry Orchard Wickham Boyle
Autumn Suite Suzanne V. Slate
Contentions Isabelle Gray
The Silver Belt Lana Fox
Five Senses Rachel Kramer Bussel
The Arch of Triumph Monica Day
Crave You Close A. M. Hartnett
An Easy Guy to Fall On Annabeth Leong
Lingua Franca Justine Elyot
Third Time’s the Charm Charlene Teglia
Riding Wild Things Lizzy Chambers
No Risk, No Reward Saskia Walker
If Emerald
Getting It Right Teresa Noelle Roberts
The Morning Ride Delilah Devlin
The Efficiency Expert Portia Da Costa
Rekindle Kathleen Bradean

Introduction: Getting Passionate

Passion. It can mean greed, desire, affection, love or simply, emotion. You will find all of those and more in the stories contained herein. As you read these twenty stories, you too will be swept away by passion as you travel to Paris and Greece (and Beverly Hills). You’ll get stuck in an elevator, take a bubble bath and a bus ride (not to mention some subway foreplay and flirting) and explore nature in some very intimate ways. You’ll find couples, and couplings by men and women looking (whether they know it or not) to spice things up in the bedroom.

Here, couples at all stages of their relationships (including the very beginning) kindle their passion in various ways, from exes who reunite to young marrieds on a naughty nature walk to first timers mixing business with pleasure. When Krista in “Crave You Close” by A. M. Hartnett tells Nicky, “I’m so used to having to hold my breath,” she is saying so much about their usual erotic m.o. At night, outdoors, she is free to make as much noise as she wants to.

These couples explore getting kinky, precisely because they feel intimately connected to each other. They go places, literally and figuratively, they wouldn’t dare without the other. They revisit old flames and nurture new ones; indeed, sometimes the men these women crave, such as Maya does in “The Silver Belt,” are not their husbands at all, but someone else, someone special, someone who is seeing them in an entirely new light. Those stories mingle with other tales of longtime liovers ignited to fiery scenes within these pages.

Passion can mean so many things, from the sexual submission of a caning to exploring new bodily territory⎯sexual experimentation, trying something you’ve fantasized about. It can mean makeup sex or role-play, a change of scenery or simply a change of thinking. It can mean looking at a lover, a husband, a boyfriend or a new boy toy with fresh eyes, sizing him up, baring yourself, daring him to come and get you.

Just as in real life, there are lovers’ quarrels within these pages, slights real and imagined, as couples find tender, erotic ways to heal their hurts and become even closer. There is an element of real, raw emotion in the way love and desire can as easily tear us down as build us up, that makes us appreciate each expression of romance all the more, because we know how truly special it is. I’m grateful these authors skip from playful romps to relationship-saving sex to tender memories to scorching sex scenes, together creating a book that will likely make you blush and make your heart swell. As the narrator in one of my favorite pieces, “My Dark Knight” by Jacqueline Applebee, says, “I’m a not-so-hopeless romantic. I believe that chivalry still exists, I hope to find quiet nobility in the most random of places, and I believe that people who love each other can live happily ever after.” She finds a dark, very sexy knight who she rescues, seduces, and then… But you’ll have to read the story to find out.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City

If that intrigues you, I hope you'll check out Passion, and a reminder that if you buy the Kindle edition, you can also get the Audible audiobook for just an additional $3.99 (that's also available on its own for a credit if you prefer audiobooks).

Today's the last day for these $1.99 ebooks: Spanked, He's on Top, Passion

Today's the last day of March and the last day to get my Cleis Press books Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica, He's on Top: Erotic Stories of Male Dominance and Female Submission and Passion: Erotic Romance for Women for only $1.99. He's on Top came out in 2007, what feels like a lifetime ago, and also means I don't have the original file handy to share the table of contents and my introduction, but you can look inside on Amazon and read for yourself. Pretty sure I never expected to be where I am today, both having edited so many books, working for myself, and living in New Jersey. This book contains many favorites, including "The Sun Is an Ordinary Star" by Shanna Germain, which I reference at most of my erotic writing workshops. It's hot and kinky and deals with cancer. How many erotica stories can say that? First of their kind books are always special and this was my first specifically kink-oriented anthology (aside from spanking). Spanked too has one of my personal favorites, "Daddy's Girl" by Teresa Noelle Roberts, which to me is a perfect example of age play, the first I published. I love Spanked for the variety of spankings it contains and the assorted motivations. As a spankophile, I think it does the topic justice, though of course if you just can't get enough, there's also Bottoms Up and Cheeky Spanking Stories (the Pretty Things Press books are now out of print--yes, I've been at this long enough that I have books that are out of print--but I hope to edit more spanking erotica someday). Happy reading!




Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica

Introduction: “A Fantastic Kind of Pain”

Spanking You Rick Roberts
Perfect Bound Shanna Germain
Betty Crocker Gone Bad Alison Tyler
Laser Tag Madeline Glass
A Rare Find Donna George Storey
Game, Set, Match Sage Vivant
Tied Down Andy Ohio
Through a Glass, Sharply Elizabeth Coldwell
Reunion Madlyn March
Riding the Storm Thomas Christopher
The Breeding Barn L. Elise Bland
Pink Cheeks Fiona Locke
Page by Page Laura Bacchi
Fiscal Discipline Simon Sheppard
Pre-Party Thomas S. Roche
Still Life with Infidels #56 M. David Hornbuckle
Indulgences Tenille Brown
Logan Rosalind Christine Lloyd
Daddy’s Girl Teresa Noelle Roberts
The Depths of Despair Rachel Kramer Bussel

Introduction: “A Fantastic Kind of Pain”

Just as I have a seemingly endless capacity to bare my ass and get it smacked soundly or make a squirming bottom hover on the edge of erotic oblivion with loud, ringing, stinging whack after whack, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of reading stories about spanking. There was a time when I wasn’t sure I could say that; after all, just how much is there to say about bending over and letting a firm hand connect with a pertly offered-up bottom? Or striking a pretty pair of buttcheeks so well the person beneath you moans in ecstatic agony? Well, as I’ve learned while editing this collection, there are an infinite number of ways to talk about the pleasures of getting spanked or spanking someone. While the actions may look alike, we all experience them differently and have different motives for indulging in this beloved kinky activity.

Me? I get off on just thinking about bending over for that special someone. Maybe I’m wearing panties, and only part of my bottom is visible. Maybe I’m not, and my spanker can see everything, including my wetness. I get wet at the mere idea of offering up my entire body to a lover to play with, tease, spank, and arouse. I’ve also had plenty of eager bottoms spread before me, offering asses that just begged to be spanked, whether they speak words to that effect or not. But for me, and for many others, spanking is about much more than just the physical. It’s about what that sensation creates inside of us. Spanking breaks down our barriers in ways even sex sometimes doesn’t; it stirs up emotions; it makes us whimper or cry, or be proud of just how much we can take. It’s primal and powerful, not to mention incredibly popular. I was thrilled to see spanking make an appearance on Showtime’s Californication, where the bratty, bossy bottom of a secretary demands that her boss spank her for any office infraction. “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” indeed.

And those who bestow spankings, whether with hands, paddles, hairbrushes, or other devices, relish that power to bring pleasure and pain mixed together, to completely undo the person they are spanking with just a few (or possibly many) whacks.

The authors included here get just how intense spanking can be. Reading these stories took my breath away, and, even more so than my previous collections (Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 1 and 2), made me instantly horny. They’ve tapped into the beauty of spanking in a way that newbies, seasoned spankophiles, and those who are simply curious will be able to understand in an instant.

Rick Roberts opens this anthology with “Spanking You,” a story I’ve read and reread numerous times, mesmerized by its rendering of a man so entranced by the vision he makes when he spanks his girlfriend, you imagine he could do it all night, every night, and never tire of it. He even offers up a little bit of a how-to for those would-be spankers looking for the courage to simply turn him or her over and begin this sensual process:

I used to tease you at the beginning of every spanking. As you’d kneel before me on the bed, not a stitch of clothing on your tan body, I’d fake the first blow—stopping just short of your ass, letting the air kiss your skin—and then place an affectionate caress onto your behind. By removing the certainty of whether the next sensation would be soft or a stinging slap, I’d keep you centered in the moment, keep you waiting and vulnerable, and your anticipation for the spanking grew. I would look down at you and smile, knowing that your desire for the first slap on your ass was growing unbearable by the moment.

Part of the thrill of spanking someone is being able to dangle what they most desire before them, to see them there waiting, panting, asking for it with body and soul, to know (or at least, fantasize) that they can’t get off any other way than by the “punishment” you are about to deliver. Elizabeth Coldwell paints a portrait of a true top in “Through a Glass, Sharply,” when she writes, “You have never really known power until the man you love is at your feet, naked or very nearly so, helpless and vulnerable, while you remain fully dressed and completely in control.”

Madlyn March describes a first-time spanking in a way that will be familiar to any who have gasped, trembling, as they realized they not only can take, but crave, a whole lot more spanking than they’d initially expected:

I remembered how it felt when Mimi did it to me. At first, you’re surprised someone’s hitting you, even if you’ve asked her to. Then you’re excited. Then you’re in pain, but it’s a fantastic kind of pain. Each slap makes you want more, as much as you can take, until you can’t take any more, and you’re shaking, more than ready to have an orgasm, the kind that can only be gotten from a woman diving headfirst into you with her wet tongue licking rapidly.

Any time an author can make me hot for something that in real life actually unnerves me, I’m sold. I’m not usually a fan of Daddy/girl stories, but in Teresa Noelle Roberts’ excellent story, simply entitled “Daddy’s Girl,” she renders that role-playing relationship and its spanking potential perfectly, dissecting her characters’ motivations while maintaining the magic they each hold so dear about their arrangement.

For some people, spanking is playful, almost sillyæsexy in a way that makes you laugh as you come. This spirit is alive and well in L. Elise Bland’s “The Breeding Barn,” where a cheese paddle does double duty on the ass of an unsuspecting but happy boy bottom. And for the woman who goes by the name “Pink Cheeks” in the story of the same title, her fantasy comes true, to the letter, though in a setting she’d never have expected.

What I love most about this book is that while there are plenty of naughty boys and girls, that potentially clichéd setup never gets boring, because the authors take you right there, into the heart of a punishment spanking, letting you know that, on some level, each of these naughty boys or girls doesn’t just deserve but needs to be spanked for his or her own reasons. The authors play around with these tropes, recreating the act of spanking until it morphs into something endlessly entertaining, just as a good top can keep a bottom on the edge, smacking harder and harder, then backing off, drawing out the play.

While I’ve subtitled this book, “Red-Cheeked Erotica,” what happens on the surface of the skin is just the beginning when it comes to spanking. There’s an elegance, a poetry, a beauty to spanking that is much more akin to making love than fucking. It’s a rhythm, a beat, a gracefulness, a way two people can connect without saying a word. These elements come together in M. David Hornbuckle’s simple yet powerful “Still Life with Infidels #56,” in which a planned kidnapping is set against the sparse backdrop of a steel mill as two recently reunited lovers attempt to recover what they’d lost.

The thrill of erotic spanking is nothing new, even if each time can make even the most experienced bottom feel like a blushing virgin all over again. James Joyce wrote a series of spanking-loving letters to his beloved wife Nora in December 1909 (and for a lesson in the art of sensual, utterly kinky yet romantic erotica, look up Joyce’s naughty letters online). I cannot legally quote him here, though believe me, Joyce was a fullon spankophile according to these missives, understanding precisely what it means to submit (and to willingly struggle).

As I already told you, when it comes to spanking, I simply can’t get enough. I hope these stories turn you on, inspire you, and spark your own imagination about just how hot a spanking from someone who knows exactly what he’s doing can make you.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City


He's on Top: Erotic Stories of Male Dominance and Female Submission


Passion: Erotic Romance for Women

3 ebooks of spanking and BDSM erotica and erotic romance for only $1.99 on Kindle

For a limited time (sorry, I don't know how long, so I'd hope on the sale now) my books Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica, He's on Top: Erotic Stories of Male Dominance and Female Submission, and Passion: Erotic Romance for Women are on sale for only $1.99 on Kindle! More info about each is below, including the very first book trailer I ever made, for Spanked.


Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica

Watch the book trailer (yes, I get spanked in it, safely enough for YouTube):




He's on Top: Erotic Stories of Male Dominance and Female Submission


Passion: Erotic Romance for Women

4 erotic romance anthologies for Valentine's Day and 1 book trailer full of kisses

I'm known more for my erotica than erotic romance, but these 4 erotic romance anthologies have plenty of hotness, sensuality and desire mixed in with the romance, and all make perfect Valentine's Day gifts. From now through Valentine's Day, use code VAL14 when shopping directly from publisher Cleis Press and get 4 for the price of 1. Here are the links to cleispress.com for these books: Irresistible, Obsessed, Passion, Only You. Do I have a favorite? Well, Irresistible has my favorite cover, but they are all sweet and sexy in their own way. Here's the book trailer for Passion to give you a little teaser, in which I make out, show off my "open" tattoo and sparkly fishnets and along with some special friends:

Love and sex have always been intimately intertwined--and Passion shows just how delicious the possibilities are when they mingle in this sensual collection edited by award-winning author Rachel Kramer Bussel. Be swept away as you travel to Paris and Greece (and Beverly Hills). Get stuck in an elevator, take a bubble bath, and explore nature in some very luscious ways. Indulge in "Big Bed Sex," get geeky with "My Dark Knight," find "An Easy Guy to Fall On," discover why there's "No Risk, No Reward," go to work with "The Efficiency Expert," and "Rekindle" an old flame. Featuring work by talented authors, Passion offers succulent stories sure to quicken heartbeats while appealing to the most romantic of souls.

Buy Passion from:

Amazon.com

Kindle ebook

Barnes & Noble (Bn.com)

Nook ebook

Powell's Books

Books-a-Million

iBooks

Google Play

Audible audiobook (click for free listen)

Cleis Press

Irresistible features loving couples who turn their deepest fantasies into reality—resulting in uninhibited, imaginative sex they can only enjoy together. Engage in a little sexting in A.M. Hartnett's sizzling "Safe for Work" office tryst, and follow a kinky candidate for public office—and his lusty wife—in Alyssa Turner's intriguing "Hypocrites." Cole Riley's moving "Same As It Ever Was" shows that makeup sex can be worth fighting for. As editor Rachel Kramer Bussel notes, the lovers in this daringly romantic anthology are "able to open up in the ways they do precisely because they have another person to rely on...We get to see how the layers of trust that have been built up get used to stoke the fire that burns between them."

Buy Irresistible from:

Amazon

Kindle ebook

Bn.com

Nook ebook

Powell's Books

Books-a-Million

iBooks

Google Play

Audible audiobook (click for free listen)

Cleis Press

We've all been there—so taken by a lover that you just can't stop thinking about him. Your imagination runs wild, fueling your fantasies. You feel hot, feverish, out of control. Your only hope of release is to possess and be possessed. In Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women, Rachel Kramer Bussel has curated a gloriously explicit collection of riveting romance with an edge. Whether just-blooming passions, rekindled sparks, or reinvented relationships, these lovers put the object of their obsession first. From the almost-divorced couple in "Aftershocks," by Bella Andre, who finally confess their deepest desires during an earthquake to a woman who tells her boyfriend just how much she lusts after another man in Emerald's "Then," these lovers push the boundaries of their trust, and are rewarded for taking those risks. Obsessed lovers don't always do what is rational; sometimes they chase their dreams, as in Kayla Perrin's "One Night in Paris," across the world and across the landscape of their lovers' bodies. Lustful and literary, Obsessed asks just how far you'll go for the man you love.

Buy Obsessed from:

Amazon

Kindle ebook

Bn.com

Nook ebook

Powell's Books

Books-a-Million

iBooks

Google Play

Audible audiobook (click for free listen)

Cleis Press

Only You is full of tenderness, raw passion, love, longing, and the many emotions that kindle true romance. The couples in Only You test the boundaries of their love to make their relationships stronger. These lovers don't just go along for the ride—they want to take control and see how daring they can be. New parents rediscover their hunger for each other at a hotel in Lolita Lopez's "Mom's Night Out" while first class passengers get creative with ice cubes (and each other) in Catherine Paulssen's "In-Flight Entertainment." Kristina Wright's quarreling couple ends up having the hottest make-up sex imaginable in "The Love We Make." Whether it's a woman wanting to surprise her husband with cuffs and a blindfold, cooks exploring the sensual possibilities in the kitchen, or young artists who simply can't keep their hands off each other, Only You showcases twenty stories that are as loving as they are lusty.

Buy Only You from:

Amazon

Kindle ebook

Bn.com

Nook ebook

Powell's Books

Books-a-Million

iBooks

Google Play

Audible audiobook (click for free listen)

Cleis Press

Bargain erotic romance Kindle ebooks: Passion and Obsessed are $2.99!

For a limited time, the Kindle editions of my erotic romance anthologies Passion and Obsessed are only $2.99! Get 'em while they're hot. And here's a deal where you can get one free, giving you 2 books for $3.99: review either Passion or Obsessed on Amazon, email the link to the review to me at rachelkb at gmail.com with "Kindle" in the subject line, and I'll send you the other book as a Kindle gift! You need to specify which email address to send it to. Offer good through June 14th, 2013, 5 pm EST. Note: If this sale ends earlier than planned, this offer will be null, though I'm told the sale will be going on through then. Thank you for supporting my books!



Passion: Erotic Romance for Women

Introduction: Getting Passionate

Big Bed Sex by Donna George Storey
My Dark Knight Jacqueline Applebee
Dear in the Headlights Angela Caperton
The Cherry Orchard Wickham Boyle
Autumn Suite Suzanne V. Slate
Contentions Isabelle Gray
The Silver Belt Lana Fox
Five Senses Rachel Kramer Bussel
The Arc of Triumph Monica Day
Crave You Close A.M. Hartnett
Any Easy Guy to Fall On Annabeth Leong
Lingua Franca Justine Elyot
Third Time’s the Charm Charlene Teglia
Riding Wild Things Lizzy Chambers
No Risk, No Reward Saskia Walker
If Emerald
Getting It Right Teresa Noelle Roberts
The Morning Ride Delilah Devlin
The Efficiency Expert Portia Da Costa
Rekindle Kathleen Bradean

Introduction: Getting Passionate

Passion. It can mean greed, desire, affection, love or simply, emotion. You will find all of those and more in the stories contained herein. As you read these twenty stories, you too will be swept away by passion as you travel to Paris and Greece (and Beverly Hills). You’ll get stuck in an elevator, take a bubble bath and a bus ride (not to mention some subway foreplay and flirting) and explore nature in some very intimate ways. You’ll find couples, and couplings by men and women looking (whether they know it or not) to spice things up in the bedroom.

Here, couples at all stages of their relationships (including the very beginning) kindle their passion in various ways, from exes who reunite to young marrieds on a naughty nature walk to those who mix business with pleasure. When Krista in “Crave You Close” by A. M. Hartnett tells Nicky, “I’m so used to having to hold my breath,” she is saying so much about their usual erotic m.o. At night, outdoors, she is free to make as much noise as she wants to.

These couples explore getting kinky, precisely because they feel intimately connected to each other. They go places, literally and figuratively, they wouldn’t dare without the other. They revisit old flames and nurture new ones; indeed, sometimes the men these women crave, such as Maya does in “The Silver Belt,” are not their husbands at all, but someone else, someone special, someone who is seeing them in an entirely new light. Those stories mingle with other tales of longtime lovers ignited to fiery scenes within these pages.

Passion can mean so many things, from the sexual submission of a caning to exploring new bodily territory--sexual experimentation, trying something you’ve fantasized about. It can mean makeup sex or role-play, a change of scenery or simply a change of thinking. It can mean looking at a lover, a husband, a boyfriend or a new boy toy with fresh eyes, sizing him up, baring yourself, daring him to come and get you.

Just as in real life, there are lovers’ quarrels within these pages, slights real and imagined, as couples find tender, erotic ways to heal their hurts and become even closer. There is an element of real, raw emotion in the way love and desire can as easily tear us down as build us up, that makes us appreciate each expression of romance all the more, because we know how truly special it is. I’m grateful these authors skip from playful romps to relationship-saving sex to tender memories to scorching sex scenes, together creating a book that will likely make you blush and make your heart swell.

As the narrator in one of my favorite pieces, “My Dark Knight” by Jacqueline Applebee, says, “I’m a not-so-hopeless romantic. I believe that chivalry still exists, I hope to find quiet nobility in the most random of places, and I believe that people who love each other can live happily ever after.” She finds a dark, very sexy knight who she rescues, seduces, and then… But you’ll have to read the story to find out.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City



Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women (want more enticement? here's my entire story "I Want to Hold Your Hand," about a big, very handsome man and the woman who loves him)

And just for fun, an Obsessed cupcake from the book release party in 2011:



Foreword: Behind the Mask of Obsession Caridad Piñeiro
Introduction Rachel Kramer Bussel (see below)
Silent Treatment Donna George Storey
One Night in Paris Kayla Perrin
Concubine Portia Da Costa
Love and Demotion Logan Belle
Mephisto Waltz Justine Elyot
Then Emerald
It’s Gotta Be Fate Jennifer Peters
Hooked Ariel Graham
Aftershocks Bella Andre
Secret Places Adele Haze
Loser Charlotte Stein
Here In Between Kristina Wright
Spellbound by Garnell Wallace
Raven’s Flight Andrea Dale
Raindrops and Rooftops Elizabeth Coldwell
Topiary K. D. Grace
I Want to Hold Your Hand Rachel Kramer Bussel
Storm Surge Teresa Noelle Roberts
Undercover Kink Louisa Harte

The women in Obsessed show their passion for their lovers in all kinds of ways. For some it’s about indulging in acts of daring, for others it’s about letting go of their preconceived notions of propriety and going where their bodies tell them.

In many of these stories, communication, the touchstone of advice about good relationships, is missing in some key way, whether it’s the almost-divorced couple in “Aftershocks” by Bella Andre who finally, during an earthquake, confess their deepest desires, or the one-time lovers in “Silent Treatment” by Donna George Storey who find plenty to say with their bodies at a silent retreat. In “Then,” Emerald explores what happens after a woman confesses to her boyfriend just how much she lusts after another man. They push the boundaries of their relationship and the boundaries of their trust in each other—another theme of this book.

Charlotte Stein paints a portrait of a “Loser” who manages to capture the attention of the narrator–and keep it by impressing her with his ardent desire. Stein writes, “He does little things, like when I stop him saying words like those with my mouth on his, he brings his hands up to cup my face. Other guys don’t cup my face. And he does it as though he wants to keep me as close as possible, so he can fully concentrate on my mouth and the way it moves and how much tongue I’m giving him at any given time.”

Obsessed is not about obsession for a new purse or a new car or a new perfume. It’s not even about the obsessiveness of a crush, the kind of panting lust that cycles over and over itself with no end in sight. Instead, Obsessed is about the way a lover can get under your skin, can drive you crazy with lust as well as so many other emotions–love, longing, hunger, anger, confusion. Are there happy endings here? Yes, there are, but they are not always the happy endings you’d expect. These stories sizzle with the kind of obsession that is fueled by our deepest desires, the ones that hold couples together, the ones that haunt us and don’t let go. Whether experiencing just-blooming passions, rekindled sparks or reinvented relationships, these lovers put the object of their obsession first. They don’t always do what’s rational or proper; instead, they chase their dreams, as in Kayla Perrin’s “One Night in Paris,” across the world and across the landscape of their lovers’ bodies.

I hope Obsessed speaks to the part of you that knows what it’s like to do anything for the right person, to bare yourself body and soul in the hope that once stripped to your most secret self, you will be rewarded with someone who sees you for who you truly are. With these nineteen stories, though, you don’t have to hope–I can tell you now that these gutsy heroines find men who know exactly how to treat their wild, hungry hearts. How they get there is yours to savor.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City

$1.99 erotic romance anthologies: Passion and Obsessed

My anthologies Passion: Erotic Romance for Women and Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women are only $1.99, a huge bargain, on Kindle right now! Not sure how long this sale lasts, but check it out. They even made the Amazon erotica bestseller list (they've been shifting, but as of this posting, Passion is #18). And you do NOT need to own a Kindle to read Kindle books; just download Kindle for your computer (I actually read largely on Kindle for Mac, because I like the layout). Yay for happy news! I still have getting a book trailer on Amazon on my editorial bucket list, but I think it will have to be far far afield of erotica for that to happen. That is in the works too, if I can motivate. Fingers crossed.


Passion: Erotic Romance for Women


Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women

Erotica audiobooks: Listen to me now at Audible!

Cleis Press and Audible.com have paired up to bring you audio erotica! Several of my anthologies, as well as some anthologies featuring my stories, are now available for your listening pleasure. Below are links to Amazon, and you can also buy directly from Audible. I haven't heard them yet but think this is a very cool new way of getting erotica out there. If there are more, I'll link to them.

He's on Top: Erotic Stories of Male Dominance and Female Submission

She's on Top: Erotic Stories of Female Dominance and Male Submission

Orgasmic: Erotica for Women

Passion: Erotic Romance for Women

Hide and Seek: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists

Best Sex Writing 2010

"Fight for Passion" - guest post by Angela Caperton

Today's guest post is by Passion: Erotic Romance for Women contributor Angela Caperton.



Fight for Passion

I’ve been fortunate to enjoy the companionship of my partner Drake for over ten years now, and through these years I’ve learned a lot about passion – mine, his, ours. We’ve been careful to nurture our relationship, have faced bad times and good times, dealt with bumps and bruises, and I am ever amazed at this relationship we share, at what I’ve learned about our passions, how we’ve channeled them, and that we’ve both worked to not take the other for granted. With him as inspiration and often instigator, passion is something I come by naturally, and it manifests in all my writing – even those stories that are not erotic in nature.

I’ve learned through experience that passion can often be fleeting and fickle, that it is not always machine-washable, and sadly, relationships – love – and sexual pleasures seem to suffer from passion’s capricious nature more often than not. A relationship can burn like a wildfire, then wink out with little more than a wisp of smoke as evidence, or remain banked, like glowing coals of desire that just need a puff of air and a little fuel to bring a rich flame back to life. I’ve heard it said that the mellowing of passion is to be expected, that it is the natural progression of a relationship when two people become less and less of a mystery to each other, when what was new and exciting becomes common and pre-packaged. That might be true, but it shouldn’t be inevitable.

What does amaze me is how easy it is to fall into the trap of ranking physical passion as sometimes less important than the most mundane chore. Hot sweaty sex with my partner, or clean the bathroom? I’ve been guilty, I’m ashamed to say.

Life is a varsity sport – unfortunately we’re expected to play without knowing all the rules. I know there are legitimate reasons why sex may fall down the list of priorities – been there – but in my opinion, sex and passion should not always be the first casualty of a busy life, that it be the price for our desire to be more, do more, own more. It is doubly sad, because sex can be an antidote against stress and can bridge the widening emotional and physical gap that can manifest in a relationship. People will fight for days over a $50 parking ticket, but won’t fight – or forget that we are allowed to fight – to keep passion alive in a relationship.

My story in Passion: Erotic Romance for Women is called “Dear in the Headlights” and touches on just such a fight. For Cassie, it’s been five months since she and her husband have enjoyed sex. They both have busy, travel-filled jobs, and when their scheduled date night is threatened by minor car trouble, Cassie takes matters into her own hands.

Kick complacency in the butt – fight for passion.

Stay sexy!

**

Award winning author Angela Caperton writes eclectic erotica that challenges genre conventions. Look for her stories published with Black Lace and eBury Publishing, Cleis, Circlet, Coming Together, Drollerie, eXtasy Books, Renaissance, and in the indie magazine Out of the Gutter. Visit her at blog.angelacaperton.com for a full list of her books, and to read her ongoing erotica horror serial "Woman of His Dreams."

Autographed books at Barnes & Noble Greenwich Village

I moved to Mercer and West Third Street in Greenwich Village way back in August of 1996 when I first moved to NYC to go to NYU Law School (long story short, I didn't finish law school). I used to shop and stroll all over the area and one of those places I prowled was the Barnes & Noble at the corner of 6th Avenue and 8th Street.

I walked in on Saturday and saw this in their Fiction Anthologies section:



I then browsed and bought Passions of a Wicked Earl by Lorraine Heath, a historical romance, and said I was an author and asked to sign some books. They then gave me a pen and I signed all their stock, which was quite extensive. So if you're in NYC, check them out for signed books (and I'll post here if I sign other places), including the ones you see above and Please, Ma'am and I think a few others.

Not in NYC and want a signed book? If you're in the US, you can Paypal me at rachelkb at gmail.com $14 and I'll send you any of my Cleis Press books signed to whoever you'd like. If there's another book you ant, email me at that address and ask me if I have any spare copies, and if I do, I'd be happy to autograph them.

Speaking of books, check out Violet Blue's Top Hot Sex Books for Gifting, Coveting - I've read most of them, and those I haven't, I want to, and Passion and Best Bondage Erotica 2011 are on there!

Passion reading photos!

Check out the entire set from last night at WORD by Laura Boyd on Flickr.


L to R: Sarah MacLean, Donna George Storey, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Emerald, Monica Day



Kumquat Cupcakery made me cupcakes to match my book cover and the peppermint ones were SOOOOO good. It tasted like the inside of a York peppermint patty in frosting form!



I actually really like the black and white ones:

Sexy tights for tonight's birthday Passion reading!

Join us at WORD, 126 Franklin Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (G to Greenpoint) tonight for free cupcakes and buttons and sexiness! Call WORD at 718-383-0096 if you need help finding it.

Click here for excerpts from all the stories.

Please join me, and if you can’t, please tell your NYC friends to join me as well as my authors who are coming in from Berkeley, California and Washington, DC, to celebrate my 35th birthday with free cupcakes and a steamy, sensual reading from my brand-new anthology Passion: Erotic Romance for Women!

November 11, 7-8:30 pm
Passion reading and Rachel’s 35th birthday celebration
Join Passion: Erotic Romance for Women editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Monica Day, Emerald and Donna George Storey, along with historical romance author Sarah MacLean (Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord) at Greenpoint, Brooklyn indie bookstore Word for readings, discussion, signing and free cupcakes to celebrate Rachel turning 35. Free Passion buttons will be given out to all attendees.
Word, 126 Franklin Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (G to Greenpoint Avenue)

Facebook invite

It's my birthday! Visit me and enter to win a copy of Passion at The Smutketeers

Today is my 35th birthday, and as part of the Passion: Erotic Romance for Women virtual book tour, I'm over at The Smutketeers sharing my favorite passions and finding out about yours. Click to read an excerpt from "Getting It Right," a kinky story by Teresa Noelle Roberts in Passion. And do join me, Monica Day, Emerald and Donna George Storey tomorrow, November 11th, at WORDs of Passion at Word, 126 Franklin Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where we're sharing the stage with historical romance author Sarah MacLean and chowing down on free Kumquat Cupcakery cupcakes and giving out free Passion buttons!

"Can it be true that Uranus causes explosive, unpredictable behavior?"

That is a question, in slightly truncated form, that author Jenny Brown asks about her debut historical romance novel, Lord Lightning on her blog:

Eliza Farrell, the heroine of my debut romance, Lord Lightning, which will be on the stands September 28, is a gently raised lady who is a direct descendant of William Lilly, England’s most famous astrologer.

Though you might be surprised to learn this, the use of astrology was very popular much during the Regency period, and among its greatest challenges was to figure out what the astrological meaning was of the new planet, Uranus, which had only just been discovered in 1789.

Not so coincidentally, this turns out to be Eliza’s biggest challenge, too. For Eliza reads the chart of an anonymous stranger and interprets it as being that of a man who was born to love, only to be told that the chart is that of a well known libertine, nicknamed Lord Lightning, who is famed for his cold heart and shocking behavior.


Sure enough, the outrageous Lord’s chart is dominated by the new planet Uranus, which stands at the very point that shows the role the person takes on the world’s stage. Can it be true Eliza wonders, that, as some speculate, Uranus causes explosive, unpredictable behavior?



I first heard about Lord Lightning on Sarah MacLean's blog, where Jenny Brown serves up "Twelve Ways to Win His Heart (Astrological Version)" as part of Sarah's blog promotion around Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord, which you can hear her read from for free along with me at the Passion: Erotic Romance for Women reading, plus free cupcakes on Thursday, November 11th at 7 pm at Word (or, properly, WORD) in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Full details on Facebook.

Anyway, that guest post sold me on the book - I'll let you know what I think when I'm done with it!

Click here to read an excerpt from Lord Lightning

Click here for Jenny Brown's website

Click here for Jenny Brown's blog

Kindle and Nook editions of Passion: Erotic Romance for Women available now!

Passion: Erotic Romance for Women has been out in print for a few weeks, and now is available in e-book form (click on the title above to watch the sexy book trailer and read more about the book, and do join us for a free reading and free cupcakes November 11th from 7-8:30 at Word, 126 Franklin Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn). With Kindle, you get to read the introduction for free and most of Donna George Storey's "Big-Bed Sex," just click "send free sample." Also you don't need a Kindle to download - I did it on my iPhone, and you can also do it for Mac.


Passion: Erotic Romance for Women, Kindle edition

BN.com offers Passion for sale for their e-reader, the Nook.

Passion: Erotic Romance for Women sexy kissing in a bar book trailer!

Check this out...shot in Brooklyn! And Passion: Erotic Romance for Women is out now! I'll have copies for sale and free buttons on Thursday at In The Flesh and at the official Passion reading at Word on November 11th!

Thanks to everyone who participated and helped with the trailer, especially my friend Twanna A. Hines, who blogs at Funky Brown Chick and is in the trailer (and another trailer of mine for those who've seen them all).



Passion also got its first official review at Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews, which wrote:

Talk about a collection of stories to make you squirm in your seat! Chilly fall night or a quick pick-me-up to get in the mood—this is the one...

First is Third Time’s The Charm by Charlene Teglia. This was my first foray into the world of Ms. Teglia, but it won’t be my last. The heat sizzles in this short little story of confusion and redemption. I loved Nick. He’s not perfect, but he’s honest and from the vision I got from reading the description, he’s yummy. Lynn came across as a bit cranky, but I understood and liked how she grew through the experience. Plus, who said elevator sex isn’t hot?

I also loved No Risk, No Reward by Saskia Walker. What if you had to say goodbye to the one person who made you tick, the one who got you out of yourself? Would you do something crazy? I loved how the narrator pined over the man she loved. It was sweet to read her reminiscing. I felt like I was there in the Land Rover with her, struggling to decide what to do about Cameron. He’s forthright, but it’s good because he takes charge. The ending left me sighing and panting. Yeah, it’s that hot.

And this is the blurb USA Today and Essence bestselling author Kayla Perrin gave me:

"Passion delivers just what you would expect - super hot stories with sex that burns up the pages. Don't miss it!"



Purchase Passion from:

Amazon.com.

Kindle edition

Barnes & Noble (Bn.com)

Borders

Books-a-Million

Cleis Press

Erotic romance excerpt: "Lingua Franca" by Justine Elyot in Passion

Taken from author Justine Elyot's blog is this excerpt from her story "Lingua Franca" in my just-published Cleis Press anthology Passion: Erotic Romance for Women.

Also: anyone who buys the book is entitled to a free Passion button, while supplies last! You can either snail mail a receipt to me at Prince St. Station, P.O. Box 39, New York, NY 10012 or scan it or email it to passionateantho at gmail.com with "Receipt" in the subject line and your mailing address (US only). Thanks!

From "Lingua Franca" by Justine Elyot:

“Instantly I am caught up in his embrace once more, my legs held up by his in case they give way, which is not unlikely. He walks me backward, painstakingly, until I fall on to one of the red plush sofas, and then he is looming over me, one hand next to my head, preventing my escape, and the other takes hold of my white uniform blouse and rips it open. A pearl button pings on to a nearby table and I gasp, part thrilled and part outraged. “Karel!”

“I sew it,” he grins, then his head is down there, his hair brushing my throat while he explores my cleavage with the full force of his lips and tongue. His hand works busily at my other buttons, undoing them in a less destructive way, until my lace bra is exposed to him, and his stubble prickles downward, seeking out the overspill of my breasts.

He lures my nipples out of the cups using the tip of his tongue, licking and sucking, taking his time, savouring the flavour. I plant my fingers in his hair, which is reddish-brown and falls over his brow, plentiful and sometimes a little lank. I stroke and knead automatically, my wits absent, everything of me concentrated at my nerve endings – especially those between my legs.

He seems to understand instinctively that attention is needed there. He lays me down along the length of the sofa, pulling off my skirt and burying his face in my belly while his fingers stray down beyond the elastic waistband of my knickers. They almost dance, they are so light and nimble. I arch my back and squirm, inviting him to increase the pressure and move on downwards, but he loves to tease me and to watch my expression as it grows more frantic with need, laughing softly, looking up at me through the valley of my breasts.

“Touch me,” I gasp.

“No talk,” he admonishes, almost-but-not-quite delving into the folds of my vulva. The fingertips are barely-there on my outer lips and I try to buck so that he is tricked into the fast-flowing juices, but he is wise to me and simply gives my thigh a light slap, laughing again, a laughing demon. “OK,” he says eventually, relenting, and I ease out a low sigh at the sudden invasion of his fingers, properly in and on and around me, pressing and pushing, finding me more than ready for whatever he has in mind. While his fingers work, he watches me, intently, catching every nuance of my response to him, every pained twitch, every flutter of eyelid. “I see what you like,” he tells me, now using two fingers to skewer me, in and out, getting coated with the evidence of my arousal. “I like it too. You want me? Inside?”

It seems a redundant question, given the rate at which I am flipping about on his fingers, but I am glad that he has asked it. He is not – as I vaguely feared – using me for some kind of sexual revenge. My pleasure matters to him just as his does to me.”



Purchase Passion from:



Amazon.com.



Kindle edition



Barnes & Noble (Bn.com)



Borders



Books-a-Million



Cleis Press

Historical romance author Sarah MacLean joins Passion reading November 11th with free cupcakes!

I'm thrilled to share the news that romance author Sarah MacLean will be joining us on November 11th at 7 pm at Greenpoint, Brooklyn bookstore Word for my 35th birthday Passion reading, with free cupcakes from mini cupcake company Kumquat Cupcakery. I'm working out the flavors now but they will be red and white to match the cover of Passion.

official Facebook invite if you want to pass the word along.

November 11, 7 pm
Passion: Erotic Romance for Women and Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord reading
Word, 126 Franklin Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (G to Greenpoint Avenue)

Join Passion: Erotic Romance for Women editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Emerald and Donna George Storey, plus historical romance author Sarah MacLean (Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord) at Greenpoint, Brooklyn indie bookstore Word for readings, discussion, signing and free Kumquat Cupcakery cupcakes to celebrate Rachel turning 35. Free Passion buttons will be given out to all attendees.



By the way, Passion just came out this week! Click on the cover above to read the introduction. I have room left on the November virtual book tour if any bloggers want to join - just email passionateantho at gmail.com with "Book Tour" in subject line and your URL and name and mailing address in the body.

I actually met Sarah for the first time at Word and her first novel Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake was my first foray into historical romance in a long time and I loved it. I'll write more about it later, and why I think it's a feminist romance novel. I'll add my review of it to the end of this post, but first I want to share her bio and the cover of her new book, which you can hear her read from at Word and get a signed copy, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord. Do visit her blog daily as she's doing some fun guest posts around the theme of Ten Ways plus book giveaways - I'm cribbing from those posts on which historical romance authors I should be reading!





New York Times and USA Today bestselling author SARAH MacLEAN grew up in Rhode Island, obsessed with historical romance. Her love of all things historical helped to earn her degrees from Smith College and Harvard University before she finally set pen to paper and wrote her first book. Sarah now lives in Brooklyn with her husband, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She is the author of Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and her latest, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord. Please visit her at www.macleanspace.com.

Official book blurb from Sarah's site:

Ten Ways... is the follow-up to the New York Times & USA Today bestselling Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, and the second in a trio of Regency-set historicals about the Marquess of Ralston, his twin brother, and their half-sister:

"Lord Nicholas is a paragon of manhood. And his eyes, Dear Reader! So blue!”
Pearls & Pelisses, June 1823

Since being named on of London’s "Lords to Land" by a popular ladies’ magazine, Nicholas St. John has been relentlessly pursued by every matrimony-minded female in the ton. So when an opportunity to escape fashionable society presents itself, he eagerly jumps—only to land in the path of the most determined, damnably delicious woman he’s ever met! The daughter of a titled wastrel,

Lady Isabel Townsend has too many secrets and too little money. Though used to taking care of herself quite handily, her father’s recent passing has left Isabel at sea and in need of outside help to protect her young brother’s birthright. The sinfully handsome, eminently eligible Lord Nicholas could be the very salvation she seeks.

But the lady must be wary and not do anything reckless…like falling madly, passionately in love.

My review of Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, available in bookstores now. Ten Ways will be released October 26th from Avon. Read lots more reviews on Amazon



I do not read much historical romance but saw Sarah MacLean speak on a panel about romance writing and liked the premise of this book so I tried it and...I loved it! Callie's list of 9 rules she wants to break speak to the restrictions on women in society of her time, and how the single woman was basically left to simply husband hunt. That is not what Callie (Calpurnia) wants, and while she is not sitting around pining for Ralston, she knows in her heart that she loves him and won't settle for anything less. In the meantime, she is willing to go out of her way and risk her reputation to check off the items on her list, perhaps not quite realizing the risks involved and what she's setting in motion. MacLean adds enough twists, and paints Callie as both the perfect foil for rake Ralston as well as someone generally pitied by many in her social circle, as evidenced by the wager placed on who will marry her first. Throughout, Callie is feisty, headstrong and, most of all, holding out for true love, even when it means rejecting the only man she has ever loved. This is a clever romance that captures how each of its protagonists are changed by the experience of falling in love, even when they don't realize it. I'd recommend it to others who are newcomers, or even skeptics, when it comes to historicals, as well as anyone looking for a sensual, steamy romance.

November 11: FREE cupcakes for my 35th birthday and Passion reading

Please join me, and if you can't, please tell your NYC friends to join me as well as my authors who are coming in from Berkeley, California and Washington, DC, to celebrate my 35th birthday with free cupcakes and a steamy, sensual reading from my brand-new anthology Passion: Erotic Romance for Women!

November 11, 7-8 pm
Passion reading and Rachel's 35th birthday celebration
Join Passion: Erotic Romance for Women editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Wickham Boyle, Emerald and Donna George Storey at Greenpoint, Brooklyn indie bookstore Word for readings, discussion, signing and free cupcakes to celebrate Rachel turning 35. Free Passion buttons will be given out to all attendees.
Word, 126 Franklin Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (G to Greenpoint Avenue)

Facebook invite - pass it on! Free cupcakes!



Table of Contents

Introduction: Getting Passionate

Big-Bed Sex by Donna George Storey
My Dark Knight Jacqueline Applebee
Dear in the Headlights Angela Caperton
The Cherry Orchard Wickham Boyle
Autumn Suite Suzanne V. Slate
Contentions Isabelle Gray
The Silver Belt Lana Fox
Five Senses Rachel Kramer Bussel
The Arc of Triumph Monica Day
Crave You Close A.M. Hartnett
Any Easy Guy to Fall On Annabeth Leong
Lingua Franca Justine Elyot
Third Time’s the Charm Charlene Teglia
Riding Wild Things Lizzy Chambers
No Risk, No Reward Saskia Walker
If Emerald
Getting It Right Teresa Noelle Roberts
The Morning Ride Delilah Devlin
The Efficiency Expert Portia Da Costa
Rekindle Kathleen Bradean

Introduction: Getting Passionate

Passion. It can mean greed, desire, affection, love or simply, emotion. You will find all of those and more in the stories contained herein. As you read these twenty stories, you too will be swept away by passion as you travel to Paris and Greece (and Beverly Hills). You’ll get stuck in an elevator, take a bubble bath and a bus ride (not to mention some subway foreplay and flirting) and explore nature in some very intimate ways. You’ll find couples, and couplings by men and women looking (whether they know it or not) to spice things up in the bedroom.

Here, couples at all stages of their relationships (including the very beginning) kindle their passion in various ways, from exes who reunite to young marrieds on a naughty nature walk to those who mix business with pleasure. When Krista in “Crave You Close” by A. M. Hartnett tells Nicky, “I’m so used to having to hold my breath,” she is saying so much about their usual erotic m.o. At night, outdoors, she is free to make as much noise as she wants to.

These couples explore getting kinky, precisely because they feel intimately connected to each other. They go places, literally and figuratively, they wouldn’t dare without the other. They revisit old flames and nurture new ones; indeed, sometimes the men these women crave, such as Maya does in “The Silver Belt,” are not their husbands at all, but someone else, someone special, someone who is seeing them in an entirely new light. Those stories mingle with other tales of longtime lovers ignited to fiery scenes within these pages.

Passion can mean so many things, from the sexual submission of a caning to exploring new bodily territory--sexual experimentation, trying something you’ve fantasized about. It can mean makeup sex or role-play, a change of scenery or simply a change of thinking. It can mean looking at a lover, a husband, a boyfriend or a new boy toy with fresh eyes, sizing him up, baring yourself, daring him to come and get you.

Just as in real life, there are lovers’ quarrels within these pages, slights real and imagined, as couples find tender, erotic ways to heal their hurts and become even closer. There is an element of real, raw emotion in the way love and desire can as easily tear us down as build us up, that makes us appreciate each expression of romance all the more, because we know how truly special it is. I’m grateful these authors skip from playful romps to relationship-saving sex to tender memories to scorching sex scenes, together creating a book that will likely make you blush and make your heart swell.

As the narrator in one of my favorite pieces, “My Dark Knight” by Jacqueline Applebee, says, “I’m a not-so-hopeless romantic. I believe that chivalry still exists, I hope to find quiet nobility in the most random of places, and I believe that people who love each other can live happily ever after.” She finds a dark, very sexy knight who she rescues, seduces, and then… But you’ll have to read the story to find out.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City

Passion excerpts:

"The Cherry Orchard" by Wickham Boyle

We drink champagne from singing crystal glasses and each clink proclaims our love and gratitude for sleeping babies, long friendships, big dicks and sucking cunts. We gorge on food whose slippery countenance mirrors my own slip and slide. The salmon is like slices of cool sex, squeezed between our fingers and popped into each other’s gullets. The butter, sweet and creamy, tops bread that follows the orange fish down to our molten centers. More bubbles, more kisses, and the room revolves with candlelight and sweet confusion. Nothing is cleared and the whipped cream appears with strawberries quick on its heels. The cream is heaped in peaks in a wide-mouthed bowl and we suck and dip from finger to mouth. Yes, a cliché meal, but one fit for a final night in a treasured house. I am now so ready for my gob to be crammed with the solid force of a dick that will not melt and disappear.

I kiss my fine red-haired man, using the kissing to push him into a chair. I trail down his face and chest and pause to nibble his nipples, sucking them into tiny points, pencils sharpened finely by a simple tool. The tips glisten now and I continue my pursuit hotly until he tosses his head and moans, supine in the chair. My victim is pinned by lust in my lair, a willing subject waiting my ministrations, an imagined member of my seraglio coming to be serviced by the great sultana. I will oblige because without me he will ignite. And I take pity as his bright orange hair and fur shoot out from his body and remind me of the flames between us.


Wickham Boyle

"Five Senses" by Rachel Kramer Bussel

I sink into the water, surrounded by bubbles and that sweet scent. I scoop up a handful of fluff and blow it at Lawrence, laughing when he sneezes. At first I try to keep my head above water but he insists that I sink lower, massaging my shoulders again so I have no resistance. My lips hover just above the waterline and I shut my eyes. Like that, we could be anywhere, anyone, really. I sense him shut off the lights and I hear rustling. He takes my hand and presses it against his heart and we sit there like that, me deep in the water, inhaling the sweetness--“Vanilla,” he whispers at one point when he hears me sniffing--and letting the warmth penetrate my bones. This time, I don’t reach for his cock.

He kisses my forehead, long and tenderly, then down my nose and our lips meet. His tongue teases mine, coaxing it out only to shove it back in as his tongue claims my entire mouth. We both stand close to six feet tall--I’ve never been a shrinking violet--but when he kisses me, I do get smaller. Or maybe it’s just that his mouth is so much bigger than mine, it can capture mine in a moment. I can’t breathe with my mouth anymore, so I only use my nose, and now I smell him, pure Lawrence. He is kissing me and also not. His teeth are sinking into the area right around my lips, his saliva dripping onto me as I push back against the edge of the tub to press my head closer, give him more of myself. Just as I’m getting frantic, he pulls away again. “Don’t move.” I nod. His white shirt is drenched and he unbuttons it, giving me a view of his firm chest, the muscles not rippling but still so achingly clear, firm, just below the surface, that I clench down below.

He steps outside, dropping the shirt on the floor like I’d done with my clothes. I hear him take a few steps, then he’s back to slip a blindfold over my eyes. It’s padded, warm against my lids. He runs a little more hot water. The splash against my toes is louder with the blindfold on. He runs his fingers lightly between my legs, just a hint, before he walks off.


Rachel Kramer Bussel

"If" by Emerald

I closed my eyes and imagined Hayden finding me in the guest bedroom. I could almost feel his tongue circling one nipple, then the other as he pulled my clothes off before pushing me onto the bed and shoving my legs apart as I begged him to ram his cock into me hard.

I made myself come six times. As I got up shakily and headed for the shower, my eyes fell on the name tag still stuck to the dress crumpled on the floor. My insides twisted as I remembered that what had just happened with Hayden in my fantasies could remain only there.

Two weeks later I woke in the middle of the night. Blinking sleepily, I glanced at the moonlight penetrating the blackness out the window and didn’t bother checking the clock. I looked at Chris, his breathing even as he lay on his side, facing me, his hands balled into fists just under the edge of the blanket.

I had been thinking about Hayden alarmingly frequently in the weeks since I’d met him. It had been a bit surreal to feel something so encompassing that Chris had no idea about. I found the juxtaposition uncomfortable, and I had a sad feeling that Chris had no idea anything was wrong. Of course, while I knew that something was, I had no idea what. And it had been there, I knew, even before I met Hayden.


Emerald

"Big-Bed Sex" by Donna George Storey

I felt another stab of lust low in my belly. Why was this turning me on so much? I’d never buy a man, never take advantage of any power I might have in real life to obtain sexual favors. But something about this absurdly luxurious room, that waiting bed, brought out my sense of entitlement. Every woman who stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel deserved a willing servant to cater to her most selfish whim.

“Believe me, young man, I’m going to make sure you work very hard tonight,” I replied with my new hauteur.

Will caught my eye and smiled then dipped his head modestly.

We stepped under the pounding spray together. I handed him the large bottle of body wash. “Spread this all over me. And remember that the dirty places need an extralong scrubbing.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, squirting a large blob of the viscous white cream onto his palm. With slow, circling strokes, he spread the soap over my shoulders, back and arms. The water washed it away as quickly as he applied it, but still he massaged me conscientiously, working his way down my back to my buttocks.

I turned to face him. “Do the front of me now.”

With a submissive nod, he squeezed out another generous mess of cream and set to work on my breasts. I arched back and moaned at the sensation of his slippery hands on my sensitive nipples.


Donna George Storey

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Sex column: "The Nonconsensual Play Party Voyeur" and vain attempt at catchup

I clearly don't have much time to update this blog - not sure if/when that will change but you can keep up to date by becoming my fan on Facebook, where I post articles I've written and news mentions. You can also keep up with me daily on Twitter (@raquelita) and Tumblr, where I also offer free books to Amazon reviewers when they're out (right now I am looking for 20 reviewers for the extremely hot Best Bondage Erotica 2011 - click here for details, until that link is no longer active and I've gotten all my reviewers lined up, that book comes out in November, just in time for my 35th birthday).

My latest Secrets of a Sex Writer column is called The Nonconsensual Play Party Voyeur.

When I was in my mid-twenties and just starting to discover my kinkiness, I went to a lot of play parties. I was never much of a participant, but I liked being a voyeur, seeing the things I’d previously only read about come to life right before me. I could watch someone—not porn stars, just regular people—get punched, spanked, flogged, whipped, tickled, teased, tortured, fisted, live and in person.

Attending events taught me there was a community of fellow perverts who were into some of the same things I was, and even if we didn’t share a specific kink, there was a commonality of spirit. I liked the rules that went along with BDSM, the mantra of “safe, sane and consensual.” That made complete sense to me.

Over the past few years, I’ve shied away from public sex or play parties because I prefer my bouts of limited exhibitionism to take place in other arenas. Recently, though, I found myself at a party I hadn’t consented to attend—I hadn’t even known it was a play party.

I can’t reveal too much about the logistics or specifics, but I can say that because I wasn’t prepared, I felt not only out of place, but extremely uncomfortable. I didn’t have a date, which I don’t mind, but I couldn’t relax. I was surrounded by complete strangers and had to wait to get a ride in order to leave. I felt trapped.

Read the whole thing at SexIs Magazine.

I wrote about the big new national sex survey and quoted Debby Herbenick, PhD, and author of Because if Feels Good, at Lemondrop, where I wrote about my tattoo (and garnered 344 comments, none of which I've read, because I'm smart like that).

I have two very exciting interviews coming up at Lemondrop, so stay tuned, and will soon be writing for the must-read site, The Nervous Breakdown, whose book club I also highly recommend (first two picks were Room by Emma Donoghue and Exley by Brock Clarke). It's $9.99 a month in the U.S. and books arrive at your door, along with, at times, bonus books, like the Merge Records history. Presents in the mail and intelligent discussion about them and unexpected literary treasures? Do check it out.

My 2010 IPPY Gold Award winning book Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories (click to watch sexy SoHo Grand-shot champagne, lingerie and kissing book trailer and read TOC and intro) was given a shoutout in Canada's Globe and Mail as a good book to read for those who want to talk dirty. I concur! From the piece:

Your boyfriend has (like many men) never fully expounded on what it is he wants? Divert. Pick up an anthology of erotica. Suggestions: Do Not Disturb, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel; Lips Like Sugar, edited by Violet Blue or Russell Smith’s collection Diana: A Diary in the Second Person. Propose story time and read aloud to your paramour. Note carefully what each of you responds to. Even if you do not get to the end of the story, you may want to keep your librarian glasses on.

Erotica gives you a script. You did not invent this naughty story; you are merely one of its players. Talking dirty makes for role-play. And role-play? Ms. Rosenblat says: “Once you are in character, it is the perfect way for women to give feedback. Then he feels like a porn star and she gets the sex she wants.”

My reading series In The Flesh ends December 16th with a blowout event. The next reading is October 21st, Orgasm Night, with 5 (yes, 5!) readers from all over the country from my book Orgasmic: Erotic Stories for Women plus authors I'm so lucky to have and you will not want to miss! See the site for full lineup. Also mark your calendars: I'm having a public 35th birthday celebration and Passion: Erotic Romance for Women reading, again with authors coming in from Berkeley and Washington, DC (aka, not people you can see here all the time). That, along with free cupcakes, happens November 11th at 7 pm at Word, 126 Franklin Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, right off the G train.

Look for Passion ads in the November issue of Romance Writers Report (for the Romance Writers of America authors reading this) and on the sites Romance Divas and Smart Bitches Trashy Books. I need bloggers for the virtual book tour in November - you get an assigned day in November and in exchange you get a free book and write about it on that day. Email passionateantho at gmail.com with your URL and mailing address! The sexy kissing book trailer will be out soon too.

My calls for submissions page has now been updated to reflect the calls for the 2011 collections Women in Lust, a couples erotica anthology and Going Down: Oral Sex Erotica. My 2012 calls will be coming soon.

And October 16-17 I will be walking 39 miles in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Wish me luck! Click on that link if you'd like to donate.

This is what happens when I don't blog for a while. Ha! I'm working on not making promises or plans I can't keep, so again, use the links above to find me, and I occasionally post photos from my iPhone to Flickr. Like this one from when I was sitting at a Starbucks in Burbank and saw the Los Angeles Times folded to reveal this: