Guest Blogger Tina Donahue - You Know You Have Trouble When...

Don’t you just love a romance where the plot keeps twisting and turning, throwing you off balance, making you wonder what in the hell is going to happen next?

That’s what I strove for in The Yearning, my erotic paranormal released today. There’s Jasmine, cursed to desire without relief. There’s Mike, an Alpha hero she’s just met who doesn’t know Jasmine means to imprison him so he’ll slake her passion. There’s his telekinetic power he intends to use to get free, and then…then…

Let’s just say between their passion and looming disaster, things get very hot and complicated.

Here’s the blurb and an excerpt to show you what I mean:

BLURB:

To break this curse, they’ll have to turn the heat up. Way up.
Jasmine Dante prowls Key West’s nightlife, fighting a losing battle against a jealous rival’s curse that forces her to seek carnal pleasure, no matter the danger. Weakened from lack of sleep, driven by insatiable lust, she spots a man who stirs her desperate craving, and begins yet another dance of seduction.
Except the dark stranger who returns her direct stare is no ordinary lover. Inside his powerful body lies a raw sexuality that just might be enough to break her curse. There’s only one way to find out: imprison him in her bed and feed on his passion.
Former U.S. Marshal Mike Stearn is many things, but he’s no woman’s sex slave. The deadly telekinetic power he ruthlessly suppresses comes alive again at Jasmine’s touch. Beneath her bold, potent sensuality he senses vulnerability and desperation. He may be in handcuffs, but she’s the one who’s enslaved.
As Mike resurrects his power to free himself so he can find the curse’s source and defeat it, Jasmine revels in his masterful rule. Her ravenous yearning evolves into rapture as she surrenders to his hunger, her darkest needs—and the emotional connection that lies beyond. Unless the curse takes her life first…
Warning: Tons of steamy sex, smoldering passion and a to-die-for love story with a hot Alpha hero who finds himself imprisoned by one sultry and desperate babe.

EXCERPT:

Sweat rolled down Mike’s forehead, running into his eyes. He blinked repeatedly at its sting, swiping the back of his free hand across his face to dry it.

The damned cuff wouldn’t open. He’d been concentrating on the lock for ten minutes, willing it to turn. The metal shivered slightly and stopped. For all he knew, the cuff moved because of his clenching fist, not because of his gift. He sagged against the pillows, trying to catch his breath and calm down.

Impossible. His mind flew in several directions at once, none of them good. He hadn’t called on his power for nearly two years. Had it wasted away like an unused muscle? How could it in such a short period, given its previous strength? Hell, he first noticed his talent when he’d been three and amused himself by making his Fruit Loops dance above his cereal bowl. For him, the action had been as effortless as having his cells divide. All he needed to do was look at something, not even think about the object, and there’d be a whirring buzz, like a too-close bee, followed by the thing moving. His only problem, in the early days, had been with control. More than once, he’d sent his blocks and puzzles sailing from his bedroom into his parents’ instead of the toy chest where they belonged.

Over the years, he’d kept his gift a secret, not wanting the government to research it or have himself exposed to the public as a freak. He’d never seen any practical use for it other than to amuse himself. And he had, mastering his telekinesis until he could move a fly like a remote-controlled airplane. He’d lift the insect above his kitchen table, watching its wings beating violently, then bring it down for a landing. After it made contact with the wood, he’d lift it again, landing it on the counter, the stove, the fridge, taking the poor thing on the ride of its brief life.

His power couldn’t have disappeared.

He glared at the cuff, his mind picturing the lock turning, opening, the metal falling away from him.

The pulse in his wrist thumped too fast, with it being the sole movement. The only sound was the thudding of his heart. No buzz.

Mike ran his hand down his face, thinking about his promise at Tommy’s grave never to use his gift again. His loathing for it and himself hadn’t waned. Was guilt blocking him?

“Fuck.” He tried for another five minutes. His thoughts went bleary. White-hot pain ran the length of his shoulders and arms. Rolling off the bed, he opened the nightstand drawers slowly, so as not to make any unnecessary noise. The first drawer held the string of condoms they hadn’t used. The middle drawer held a variety of sex toys: a dong, dildo, vibrator, lubricants. Stacks of women’s socks crowded the third drawer. There wasn’t a handcuff key beneath them, or even a hairpin he could use to pick the lock.

He closed the drawer and studied her figurines. Without a strip of metal beneath the ceramic, they were of no use. Wait. What about her body jewelry? He turned it over in his palm, noted its ineffectiveness and dropped it back on the wood. His watch caught his eye. If he pulled out the stem with his teeth, he might be able to get it into the lock. Would the thin column of metal be long enough?

Hell no. Hannibal Lecter couldn’t have used it to get free. These cuffs boasted a double lock, not impossible to pick, but harder than the single-lock variety. His gaze scoured the room for something he could use, while his mind told him it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t be able to reach it.

His ass hit the bed, shifting the mattress. Something tapped the footboard. He looked over and spotted the laptop, his window to the Internet and Erica’s email. A grin broke across his lips.

He pulled on the comforter to bring the computer close.

It didn’t cooperate, bumping into the wood as it slid over the fabric and stayed away. He figured the same would happen if he yanked on the sheets.

Face down on the bed he tried to reach it with his free hand, stretching himself as far as he could. Something in his shoulder popped, sending new waves of pain up and down his spine.

Although it didn’t deter him, his fingers still wavered inches from what he wanted, just like the criminal Tantalus in Greek mythology, another tale from high school. The gods had cursed Tantalus to have food and water just out of reach for all of eternity.

And the obstacles in Mike’s path to freedom, his desire to save Jasmine from the curse keep mounting and mounting and mounting…

The Yearning is available today!!!!

Buy Link: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/the-yearning-p-6248.html

To celebrate the release of The Yearning, I’m offering a contest today. One lucky commenter will have her choice of one of my following books**:

Lush Velvet Nights – ebook

Adored – ebook

Deep, Dark, Delicious – ebook

In His Arms – ebook

Bad Boys with Red Roses – trade paperback

Take My Breath Away – trade paperback

** Winner chosen at random. Winner in continental US has her choice of one of the six. Winner outside continental US has her choice of one of the ebooks

Tina Donahue is a multi–published novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work; she has reached finals and /or placed in numerous RWA–sponsored contests. Just recently, three of her erotic novels were named finalists in the 2011 EPIC competition. She was the editor of an award–winning Midwestern newspaper, worked in Story Direction for a Hollywood production company, and is currently the Managing Editor for a global business document concern.

Email: tina@tinadonahue.com

Website/blog: www.tinadonahue.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinadonahue

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000458023097