Welcome to my stop on Karen Stivali's Super Book Blast for Decadence. Please leave a comment or question for Karen to let her know you stopped by. Karen will be awarding one ebook from her backlist to a random commenter during the tour. You can follow her tour stops here.
Decadence
by Karen Stivali
Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Release Date: July 5, 2013
Genre: Erotic Contemporary
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Book Description:
A book in the Spice
Rack series.
In
eight years of marriage, Eric Carlson has never forgotten to kiss his wife
Jessica goodbye—until this morning. As Jessica runs her errands, all she can
think about is the missing kiss. When Eric calls to tell her he thinks he left
the toaster oven on, she rushes home, annoyed and afraid her house may be
burning down. Instead of smoke and flames she finds Eric, looking hot and sexy
as hell as he prepares fresh waffles.
Eric
knows he and Jessica have been drifting apart. He’s bought the hot new product
everyone’s talking about—the Spice Rack, guaranteed to spice up your love life.
The jar he opens advises them to “Spend a decadent day indulging all your
senses.” With the whole day ahead of them, a fridge full of tempting treats and
the house to themselves for a change, that’s exactly what Eric intends to do—in
the kitchen, on the washing machine, wherever the mood strikes. And Jessica’s
got a super-steamy surprise for him too.
A
Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
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Excerpt
He
didn’t even kiss me goodbye. Jessica knew it was silly to get upset over
something so minor, but she couldn’t help it. In the eight years they’d been
married, she couldn’t remember another morning when Eric had forgone the
farewell kiss. Sure, the kids were running amok, a sea of backpacks and
lunchboxes, but that was normal. Eric saying goodbye with a wave was not.
“See
you later.” He’d thrown her his trademark sexy grin. She’d stood still for a
few seconds, holding the door open as the kids piled out of the house, waiting.
And…nothing.
While
queued in the drop-off line at the elementary school, she flipped open the
vanity mirror. She didn’t look like a beauty queen but at least she’d showered.
Her skin was clear, her cheeks even a bit rosy from gardening the day before.
She grimaced. I should have brushed my hair. Dark hair, wavy and out
of control, pulled into a loose ponytail paired with t-shirt and yoga pants. I
look like a teenager. Not exactly sexy. Frowning at her reflection, she
heard the car behind her honk.
“Mom,
pull up, it’s our turn.” Timmy, though only seven, had been a backseat driver
for nearly five years.
“Sorry.”
She inched the car toward the orange drop-off cone and stopped. “Have a good
day, guys. I love you.”
“Love
you too, mom,” the chorus of three came from the backseat as they scrambled out
the door.
Taking
a last quick glance in the mirror, she snapped it shut and eased back into the
parking lot. As she was about to turn onto the main road, her cell rang. XXXXX,
Eric’s ringtone. She fumbled in her purse and slid the purple case open.
Holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, she pulled onto the street, not
wanting to get beeped at a second time this morning.
“Hey,
sweetie,” Eric said. “Can you do me a favor?”
Sighing,
Jessica shifted to keep the phone in place as she changed lanes. “What’s up?”
“I
know you said you were going to the grocery store, but I need you to stop home
first. I think I may have left the toaster oven on.”
“Can’t
you go check?”
“I’ve
got a really important meeting this morning. I need you to do it. Please?” She
could hear the smile in his voice. The charming, irresistible smile to which
she’d never been able to say no.
“Fine.” Even
if you didn’t bother to kiss me this morning.
“Thanks.”
Did
he just chuckle?
She
hung up and tossed the phone back into her purse. Great. Now I have to go
all the way home, which means I won’t get to the store for another hour. Not
that it was a huge deal. With all three boys in school this year she had her
days to herself. She’d been looking forward to that for years, but it wasn’t as
fun and freeing as she’d expected. All the same responsibilities were there.
The house still needed to be cleaned, dinner still needed to be made, laundry
was always piling up. And she always had a stack of work on her desk. Freelance
graphic design was the perfect work-from-home job and she could do it any time
of day or night, but lately she felt as though everything was getting away from
her. Somehow she’d had more structure to her days when the kids were home than
she managed to have with them in school all day.
As
she turned onto her block she couldn’t help but look for signs of smoke pouring
from her windows. God, I hope he didn’t really leave the toaster oven on.
What the hell was he even using the toaster oven for? Eric ate cereal for
breakfast, though now that she thought about it she hadn’t seen him pour
himself a bowl this morning. She’d been too distracted by the fact that he was
wearing only pajama pants as he plodded around the kitchen. She’d been so busy
the past few weeks with back-to-school shopping and beginning-of-term projects
they’d barely spent any time together. Seeing him bare chested, hair tousled
from bed, reminded her that it had been a while. Too long. Her stomach
fluttered from a combination of longing for Eric and fear that her house might
be burning.
Jessica
slammed the door of the minivan shut, breathing in deeply to see if she could
catch any hint of smoke in the air. Nothing. As she opened the front door,
another scent greeted her instead. The incredibly delightful aroma of…waffles. Why
does the house smell like waffles? She rounded the corner into the kitchen
and saw the waffle maker on the counter with Eric poised before it, faded jeans
slung low on his narrow hips, a t-shirt clinging to his muscular back, dark
hair still damp from a shower hanging loosely into his eyes. A wave of heat
washed over her, settling between her legs. Her mouth watered from thoughts of
more than just a bite of the waffle Eric was lifting out of the grates.
“Perfect
timing,” he said, grinning so wide the dimples on his cheeks were positively
cavernous. Blue eyes twinkled at her, full of mischief.
“What
are you doing?” She tossed her purse onto the counter, mystified.
“Celebrating
Mother’s Day.” He plucked a strawberry out of the colander in the sink, swirled
it in a bowl of what appeared to be freshly whipped cream, and approached.
“Mother’s
Day is in May. It’s October fifteenth.”
“I
know.” He held the plump red berry close enough that she felt the gentle brush
of cream melting against her lips. “I was thinking it was something we should
celebrate more than once a year.”
She
curled her tongue around the cream-covered berry and gave a quick suck before
biting off a piece.
The moan Eric emitted sent a tremor rolling down her body, making her
knees weak. His lips were on hers before she finished chewing. The sweetness of
his velvety tongue blended perfectly with the fruit and cream. This was already
better than any Mother’s Day she could recall.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Karen
Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant
for books, movies and fictional British men. When she's not writing, she can be
found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends, who
never seem to mind the excessive quantities she tends to prepare.
She
attributes her ability to multitask to the fact that she rarely sleeps, which
gives her more hours every day. Prior to deciding to write full time Karen
worked as a hand drawn animator, a clinical therapist, and held various
food-related jobs ranging from waitress to specialty cake maker. Planning
elaborate parties and fundraisers takes up what's left of her time and sanity.
Karen
has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so she
favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and their
relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the dynamics between
characters and has a tendency to craft romantic tales filled with sarcasm and
sexy details.
Although she writes in three genres (erotic romance, contemporary
romance and women's fiction) all of her stories are love stories with happily
ever after endings.
Karen
has published several erotic romance novels with Ellora's Cave including two
award winning stories: Always You (published September 2011, First Place Winner
of the RWA Passionate Plume Award - 2012)Marry Me (published June 2012, First
Place Winner in the NEC-RWA Bean Pot Reader's Choice Award - 2013) and
Decadence (July 2013).
Her
works of women's fiction, Meant To Be, and its sequel, Holding On, (published
by Turquoise Morning Press in August and November 2012, respectively) both made
the Best of 2012 list at Literati Literature Lovers.
Karen's
contemporary romances Then, Again (May 2013) and Leave the Lights On (coming
November 2013) are published with Samhain publishing.
To
learn more about Karen you can visit her website karenstivali.com where
she blogs original recipes, sassy commentary on The Bachelor, and tidbits about
her journey in the writing world. Karen can also be found attempting witty
banter on Twitter
http://twitter.com/karenstivali
Don't forget to leave a comment or question for Karen to let her know you stopped by. Karen will be awarding one ebook from her backlist to a random commenter during the tour. You can follow her tour stops here.
