Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Guest Blogger Myla Jackson - Top Ten Reasons To Read a Romance


10. Live Vicariously - Yeah so, maybe you're not as young as you used to be, but you can remember being young and in love. Or maybe you're too busy living life with all those obligations, that you just don't get to have the adventure and fun a good romance can bring you. Read one, and live that heroine's life for a few short hours!

9. Fairy Tales Do Come True - Ever feel like the good guy never wins? That in real life fairy tales rarely come true? In a romance, they can and do!

8. More Fun Than Pilates - Want a way to relax and you don't have to go out to do it? Stay home curled up with a romance and relax, enjoy, wind down!

7. She Always Gets Her Man - If you're reading a romance and you're living the heroine's part, you will get your man

6. More Exciting than Dominoes - Where else can you rescue a victim, dodge bullets and save the world and not leave the comfort of your easy chair?

5. Beats Listening to the Boss - Is the boss's nagging voice still echoing in your head when you get off work? Do you wish you could wipe him/her out? Read a romance and he'll disappear.

4. Less Calories than Ice Cream - Reading a romance is an indulgence that doesn't add calories. Enjoy guilt-free!

3. Cheaper than Prozac - Depressed, anxious, feeling glum? Reading a romance can help make you feel better about life and it's not as expensive as therapy.

2. Guaranteed Happy Endings - Tired of books that leave you depressed, the hero gets killed in the end or it just leaves you feeling all around bad? Put it down and pick up a romance. If it doesn't have a happy ending...it ain't a romance.

1. Gets you in the MOOD! - It's said that the woman's most important sexual organ is her brain. If you want to steam it up in the bedroom, read a sexy romance before you turn out the lights, it's a ringer for getting you in the mood!

****Prize alert!!!*****Check out my website books page (http://mylajackson.com/MylaJacksonBooks.htm). Leave a comment on this blog about your favorite book cover from my website for a chance to win a prize package of print books by various authors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Myla Jackson pens wildly sexy adventures of all genres including historical westerns, medieval tales, romantic suspense, contemporary romance and paranormals with beasties of all shapes and sizes. When not wrangling words from her computer with the help of her canine muses, she's snow-skiing, boating or riding her ATV.

To learn more about Myla Jackson and her stories visit her website at http://www.mylajackson.com.

Bound and Tied, Book 3

For a hot and sexy historical western and ménage, check it out!

What do a Madame and a bounty hunter have in common? They want the same man.

When Rosalyn Smythe, aka Madame Rosie, steps aboard the Marie-Dearie, she hopes it’s the end of a year-long search for her runaway fiancé, Dalton Black. Her cabin holds a surprise: James McKendrick. Notorious bounty hunter, old lover…a man only too happy to help her clear the air—and her heart—of her murdering, thieving bastard fiancé once and for all.

In disguise as a riverboat gambler, Dalton is determined to find who framed him for killing two U.S. Army soldiers and who stole the gold they were carrying. He wants his life back—and his woman, who just happens to be on board and on the arm of his former best friend.

Convincing James he’s innocent is easier than winning back Rosalyn’s heart. Especially since Rosalyn seems to be enjoying their competition for her affections a little too much. There’s only one place to work out his dilemma. In bed.

As the sheets become unbearably hot, threads of evidence leading to the real killer are unraveling, leading toward one fateful card game—and one man who’s hell-bent on making sure Dalton has nothing left to lose.

Warning: This title contains hot ménage a trois scenes, bondage, and two men loving, sharing and fighting for the love of one woman with very specific bedroom desires and a bordello full of experience to tempt any man beyond redemption.

EXCERPT

Summer 1861

Rosalyn Smythe stood at the dock in West Helena, Arkansas, trunks stacked two-deep beside her. She wore her best gown and hat as she waited to board the Marie-Dearie riverboat bound for Memphis, just a few hours upstream.

"Ma'am." A riverboat porter in his crisp uniform stepped up beside her. "If you'd like to go to your room, I'll bring your trunks to you."

"Thank you." Rosalyn walked the gangplank, the gentle sway of the riverboat bringing back so many memories she had to remind herself to breathe. The last time she'd seen Dalton Black had been on the Marie-Dearie nearly a year ago when he dove into the Mississippi and swam away to avoid the marshal and his deputies.

Rosalyn remembered that night as though it was yesterday. That was the same night Dalton had proposed. Two shocks in one fateful night.

As she stepped onto the deck, Rosalyn fingered the engagement ring she kept on a chain around her neck. She told herself it was a reminder not to let herself fall for a card sharp, cheat and thief ever again. Deep down, she knew it was a lie. In the darkest corner of her mind her body trembled at the prospect of being with such a bad, dangerous man. But then, she knew Dalton hadn't been the thief the marshal claimed he was. That he hadn't stolen the U.S. Army payroll and run. Her heart skipped a beat. That he hadn't used her as a front to get to the soldiers in charge of transferring the money.

The gambler had blinded her to a lot of things. His way with words had made her think he cared. The wicked things he had done with his hands made her blood flow like liquid fire throughout her body, spurring desires so combustible she had burst into flaming passion every time she was alone with him. She hadn't been a naive miss, prone to believing every sweet-talking man, yet she'd fallen for him completely.

Aboard the Marie-Dearie, memories flooded over her, reminding her of the temptation that was Dalton Black, from his glossy black hair and rakish good looks, to his body of a god, strong and beautiful.

Rosalyn hurried to her room, the sunshine suddenly too bright, too revealing. Damn it.
As the owner of a very successful bordello, she'd seen it all, done it all and knew the odds of gambling with a gambler. Yet she'd fallen for Dalton Black harder than a teenage girl in love for the first time. And not because he was all that nice to her, but because he had the air of a rake, someone who would use her deliciously and walk away. Only he hadn't walked away, he swam away.

She'd been so in love that she'd turned over her business to a manager, left her home and followed the man onto the river to live the life of a gypsy. Hell, she'd given up everything, and what did she have to show for it? When the marshal had come for Dalton, the lawman had tried to implicate Rosalyn as the gambler's accomplice. It took some fancy talking and a slick escape plan to elude the law and escape to the wilds of Colorado gold rush country.

But she knew she couldn't run forever. Rosalyn wanted closure on this particularly dark chapter of her life. And if it meant finding Dalton Black, so be it. She trembled, her core heating, the warmth spreading throughout her body at the thought of seeing the gambler again.

She stepped through the door of her stateroom, tugging the gloves from her fingers, anxious to touch herself, to relieve the ache building deep inside. She didn't need a man, she didn't need Dalton. Hell, she knew how to pleasure herself.

The door swung closed behind her, closing with a click.

"Hello, Roz."

Rosalyn spun, her heart hammering against her rib cage, hope burgeoning. "Sweet Jesus!"

"No, not Jesus." The man chuckled. "Has it been that long that you've forgotten me?"

Rosalyn's pulse slowed only slightly as she got a good look at the man dressed in brown trousers, matching jacket, crisp white shirt and a dark cowboy hat slung low over his eyes. The mustache had been trimmed and a few lines had appeared next to his eyes, but there was no mistaking James McKendrick the bounty hunter.

"Oh, it's you, James." She turned her back on him and tossed her hat and gloves onto the quilt-covered bed, her heartbeat still galloping. Ah, dear, sweet James. She should have married James when he'd asked three years ago. But besides great sex, he didn't bring quite the spark Dalton did. "What brings you to the river?"

"Same thing that brought you."

Rosalyn faced the man, her brows rising. "A little gambling? I thought you'd given up gambling."
"I have. I didn't come to gamble and neither did you. I got word a man fitting Dalton Black's description boarded the Marie-Dearie down in New Orleans. I suspect you heard the same." His mouth tightened. "Like you, I came for Dalton."

The look was new to her and gave her a jolt. He appeared almost dangerous when his face drew into a frown. With her body already on fire at the thought of seeing Dalton, Rosalyn pressed a hand to her belly, her pu**y pulsing. "You think that's why I came?"

"I don't think it, I know it."

"Well, you're wrong." Rosalyn turned her back on him. She'd never been able to lie to James. The three of them, James, Rosalyn and Dalton, had been so close, sharing everything from their dinner wine to their beds.

The sound of boots crossing the wooden floor made Rosalyn tense. Would he touch her like he had so many times before? Would he kiss her throat and run his hands over her body, pushing aside the clothing as he went? Her breathing quickened.

James's cowboy hat flew across the room, landing on the washstand. His hands slipped around her waist, and he pulled her against his hard body.

Rosalyn sighed and leaned against him. How long had it been since she'd been able to lean on anyone? For six months, she'd lived on a mountain with two couples, sharing their lives and their beds, but not their hearts. All the while her own heart had been back east, aching for a man who may or may not have ever loved her. And another who'd shown her in every way that he did.
James.

He turned her in his arms and bent to take her lips in a gentle, soul-searching kiss.
Rosalyn twined her fingers around his neck, pulling him closer, needing his embrace, needing the strength he represented when she faced Dalton. James was everything a woman should want. Only it hadn't been enough for this woman.

The kiss deepened, James's tongue pushing past her teeth to claim hers, sliding along its length. One hand slipped down to her derriere, cupping her through the folds of her traveling gown and dragging her against him.

The ridge behind the buttons on his trousers pressed into her belly. The deep ache surged in her core. She couldn't forget the nights she'd spent lying with James and Dalton on either side of her, snuggled safely between the two men she'd come to love. Men who accepted her in spite of her ties to the Rose Palace bordello.

When her lips left his, Rosalyn leaned her forehead against James's chest. "What happened to us, James?"

"You made a choice."

"I did, didn't I? For this past year, I've asked myself over and over if I made the wrong choice."

"Did you come up with an answer?"

She sighed. "No."

"No, you didn't make the wrong choice, or no answer?"

"No answer. I came up with no answers to all the questions I asked myself." Rosalyn rested her hands against James's chest and stared up into his gray-green eyes. "You are perfect in every way. Why didn't I choose you?"

"Because you loved Dalton more."

She stood in James's embrace, unable to look away. "Right now I want to hold you, to be in your arms." Her fingers went to the buttons on his shirt. "To feel your skin against mine. Make me feel alive again."

He caught her fingers, and he held them away from his half-unbuttoned shirt. "Are you sure that's what you want? I'm not anxious to get hurt again."

"I'm sorry I hurt you. Let me make it up to you. Let me make love to you."

"And when Dalton shows up?"

"I'll cross that river when I get to it."

"No deal."

Rosalyn looked into James's eyes. "Don't you want to make love to me? For old time's sake?"

His grip tightened until the pain made her wince.

He let go and stepped away. "More than you'll ever know."

Samhain Publishing
Amazon
Barnes and Nobles Nook

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

i like the cover for Duty Bound the best :)

Sydney Somers said...

Love your list, Myla! Number 4 may be my favorite or maybe 6...I can't pick. lol Thanks for blogging with us.

Harlie Williams said...

One other thing about reading romance...your hubby loves it when you are more frisky than usual. He appreciates the authors that we read.

I like Duty Bound.... ;)

maw1725@gmail.com

Harlie Williams said...

Also, you get to travel to places that you've dreamed of.

Tamsyn said...

Absolutely agree with you!
Checked your website and I love the cover for "Cat Scratch Fever" although I also like "Naked Prey". Sucker for shapeshifters! :o)

tamsyn5@yahoo.com

Jennifer Mathis said...

oh i like Trouble with Mitch

meandi09@yahoo.com

Andrea Lyons said...

LOVE ALL 10 reasons - and Harlie's point re: travelling vicariously to places around the world. Would add learning delicious sensual pleasure ideas to definitely try at home! Cheers! Andrea

Anonymous said...

I love the Duty Bound cover.

Anonymous said...

I agree on the travel.

My fave cover is Moonstruck.

June M. said...

I would have to go with all the Bound covers. I love the ropes and the b&w covers. They are all great. Honor Bound would probably be my #1 fave.
June M.
manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

elaing8 said...

I love the list. And enjoyed the excerpt.Gotta love those warnings too.lol
(BTW loved her story in Girls Who Bite antho)

My favorite cover is (wow there's o many great ones) Duty Bound

elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

Rustye said...

Totally agree with your list. I would have to add that I am never bored if I have a romance to enjoy.

Such a difficult question! My absolute favorite cover has to be River Bound because there are several favorite covers!

Jen B. said...

This is a tough question but I was able to narrow it down to two. First is Alluring Tales Awaken The Fantasy. I love the subtlety on the cover.:) Second is River Bound because of the Shibari knots (I think I spelled that right). I read about the technique in a book so I looked it up. It is a really interesting rope technique. Thanks for the giveaway!
jepebATverizonDOTnet

Juniper Bell said...

Fantastic list, Myla! I'm going to bookmark that for the next time someone rags on romance. Thanks for blogging with the Naughty Nine!

Jennifer said...

I am loving the cover of "Trouble with Mitch"

Fedora said...

I love a lot of your covers, Myla, but I love the look and feel of the Bound and Tied series covers--they're timeless!

Myla Jackson said...

REGINA ROSS is the winner of the book package. Please contact Myla Jackson to claim your prize!

cky15 said...

I think that when you are looking for a good book to read the cover is very important. If it looks good than I read the back to see if it is really interesting to read.
That is how I get some of my books. Or by word or if I had already read from that author.

msmjb65 said...

river bound is a fav cover because of the yummy man tied/bound in ropes!!.
thanks for the giveaway!
MJB
msmjb65@gmail.com