My very first guest has come to play with me today and I'm so excited! Helena Harker is multi-published and writes in many genres. She's sharing her latest release with everyone today, so please leave her some love at the end and one lucky commenter will be put in a drawing to win a PDF copy. A winner will be drawn on the 13th and notified. Good Luck! Take it away Helena.
Thank you Gray. I'll start with my bio and get right into the Blurb and an Excerpt. Please do leave a comment.
I'm Helena Harker and a teacher by day, writer by night, a daydreamer who
loves to escape to other worlds. Her fiction is populated by strong men,
passionate women and lots of paranormal creatures. In her free time she enjoys
photography and curling up with a good book. She is multi-published and also
writes in other genres.
Website: www.helenaharker.com
Twitter: @HelenaHarker
Blurb:
Bad-ass
Bella is always on the defensive and sick of being burned by guys who run out
on her after a month. When she’s given a Psychology assignment on the
connection between pleasure and pain, she ends up doing research at Sextravaganza,
smack in the middle of the BDSM section. She meets Darius, a sexy whip-maker
who’s more than willing to give her a practicum on pain. Yet Darius has an
unexpected soft side, and his particular method of inflicting pain produces
highly unexpected—and highly pleasurable—results. He knows a bit about
psychology himself, and he’s determined to convince Bella to let down her guard
and let him into her life.
Excerpt:
What a place to do research
for a Psych paper. I hooked my thumbs into the pockets of my army camouflage
pants and glanced at the huge black and red banner over my head: Welcome to
Sextravaganza, your consumer sex show. Yeah, not exactly my number one
place to spend the afternoon, especially since I managed to wander smack into
the middle of the bondage section. Up ahead, I heard a woman advertise the
benefits of the bondage bed, where you could immobilize your partner in all
kinds of kinky positions. What the hell did a bondage bed look like, anyway?
Did it come with its own rope and an assortment of D-rings?
I didn’t really want to
know, so I hung a left down another aisle, coming face to face with a display
of books about something called shibari, which was…let’s see…Japanese
rope bondage. I picked up a hardcover issue and leafed through it. The models
were tied with thick rope that formed complicated geometrical patterns over
their bodies. I didn’t know whether I should appreciate shibari as a
form of artistic expression or be disturbed at the sight of all these bound
women. Flipping through a few more pages, I tried to make up my mind. The
images had a haunting, sensual quality. Some of the rope patterns were
exquisite. Okay, I decided, returning the book to its shelf, shibari
was art.
Sighing, I readjusted my
backpack over my shoulder, pulled the brim of my baseball cap lower over my
eyes and scanned the crowd. People seemed pretty normal, a lot of couples
strolling hand-in-hand, groups of men in their early twenties, and even a few
white-haired ladies with their husbands. Before coming here, I pictured
something totally different, like nymphomaniacs on the loose, women strutting
around half-naked, and guys coming on to me left and right.
Not that I’d mind if guys
came on to me. Sometimes it was fun to turn men down. It gave me a rush of
power to grind a man’s ego under my boot. Yeah, I was a little bitter at the
moment. A bad boyfriend led to a bad breakup, which led to a bad attitude. My
life sucked big-time and I had three days left to hand in a five thousand word
paper on the connection between the sensations of pain and pleasure. I had a
title, “The Paradox of Pain,” and…absolutely nothing else. I didn’t even have an
idea to start with, much less a full-fledged thesis to expand on. But I had
questions, a whole lotta questions, and I planned to get some answers from my
roommate’s ex-boyfriend.
Daphne dated Darius for a
few months and when things got too intense, she broke up with him. What she
meant by too intense, I had no idea. They were still friends, though.
She said he’d be the perfect go-to guy for info about pleasure-pain dynamics,
and I’d find him at “The Whipping Booth.” At first I didn’t get it until she
explained what Darius made in his spare time. Whips, she said. Darius
is a whip-maker. It took a while for her comment to sink in. Most men
spent time in their garages tinkering with car engines, or they cruised down
the highways on their motorcycles, or they went camping on the weekend. But
Daphne dated a guy who had a passion for whips. I guess the only thing crazier
than him making whips was the idea that people actually bought them.
Finally, after strolling
past sexy latex cat suits, handcuffs with fluffy pink lining, and a stunning
array of leather collars—some with wicked-looking spikes—I found a kiosk called
“The Whipping Booth.” There was the man I was looking for. The whip-maker stood
in front of a glass display case, feet apart like a soldier on guard, a long
glossy ponytail down his back. Man, I wish my hair looked half as good. Of
course my hair was cropped short, but I’d love to have the same silky-soft
shine. This guy could star in his very own hair care commercial. I’d have to
ask him what conditioner he used.
Damn, he must practically
live at the gym to have those killer biceps. His cut-off T-shirt revealed
well-defined muscle and tanned skin. He could sweep me off my feet, all one
hundred and fifteen pounds of me, and do multiple sets of curls. And his chest?
To die for. The T-shirt’s stretchy fabric hinted at powerful pecs and ripped
abs. Sexy dark stubble covered his cheeks and his lips were full and firm, the
kind of lips a girl wanted to kiss. Fuck, was I getting the hots for my best
friend’s ex? No, never, not for a guy who believed sex and pain were a
perfectly matched pair, like peanut butter and jam or popcorn and melted
butter. Darius makes whips, remember? Stay away
from him, Annabelle.
Oh, Helena, how yummy! Remember everyone, please leave my lovely guest some love for a chance to win. Don't forget to leave your name and email address too!
Stay Naughty, My Pets! Until next time,
Gray
Love the title and enjoyed the excerpt. This has been added to my tbr wishlist. Thanks for the chance to win. (My husband makes whips which is another reason the title caught my eye)
ReplyDeletePatricia
panthers.ravens@yahoo dot com
What a great title and enjoyed the excerpts, and good luck have added to wishlist.
ReplyDeleteHolly J Gill
holly_gill at btinternet dot com
Love the cover...thanks for sharing a great excerpt, would love to read it :)
ReplyDeleteEva
evitap67(at)gmail(dot)com