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Title: Going Topless
Author: Renee Knowles
Publisher: Siren Publishing
Genre: Erotic romance
ISBN: 1-933563-74-5
Susannah, her sister, Chelsie, and their friend, Mattie, embark upon a vacation to Amsterdam to enjoy life, relieve stress, and resolve secret issues. Normally, I don’t care for books that have numerous povs, but this novel sucked me in and held me in its grip like a Pitt bull’s steely jaws. The author handled multiple povs like a professional. I found myself wrapped up in the life of each woman, crying with them (something that’s hard to make me do when reading fiction), rooting for them, wanting to smack each one at times, then suddenly wishing I could hug them.
Susannah is recently widowed, but finds out her husband was cheating on her. She finally lets her hair down and finds a lover much younger than she is. Through him, she realizes why her heart is so wounded.
Chelsie is bent on winning back the man she fell for years ago, but she must come to grips that he never wanted her to begin with. She also knows that if her sister ever found out….
Mattie doesn’t feel like she fits in anywhere, so her story is that of a late bloomer who wows not only her first real lover, but her friends too.
This is the best damn contemporary romance I have read for years! Yes, I said years! Also, this novel has humor in it that had me cracking up. One particular line involves a secondary character trying to enjoy his morning routine in the bathroom with a newspaper while the apartment is full of women who want to use the toilet and the mirror. Going Topless if full of lines that sparkle with beauty, and deep emotion that encompasses things that many of us wish we could talk about with those close to us, but never do.
Never have I read an e-book that kept me spellbound like this. I hated to see Going Topless end, but the ending is beyond satisfying; it’s life at its richest, its fullest, and it gives the reader hope that each woman is healing and on a new, bright life path.
This author needs to have an agent and a bright shining contract with a NYC publisher.
Well done. {insert applause 
}
“Elizabeth?”
“Hmm?” Elizabeth looked up from where she sat on the suede sofa, her feet drawn up under her. She cradled a cup of mint tea in her hands.
“I know Sarah thinks Daniel is wonderful, but be careful anyway. I don’t want to see you get hurt like you did with Brian.” Victoria fell silent, allowing Elizabeth to absorb her warning.
Sitting in a matching suede armchair across from them, Trudy nodded and reached for the serving tray placed on the coffee table. “I agree with my sister.” She used a tiny pair of tongs to pick up a perfect cube of sugar from its dish and dropped it into her empty teacup. “We love you, so just be careful.”
“Men can’t be trusted,” Victoria continued, shifting her position on a chair across from her sister. “Brian left you, and Howie dumped me last week.”
“Oh, no.” Her cup half way to her lips, Elizabeth looked at her friend in alarm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m bouncing back,” Victoria adjusted the hem of her nightgown so that it covered her knees, “but what makes me mad is that Howie said my money intimidated him. Now he’s seeing some woman who cleans rooms at The Waldorf Astoria.” She chuckled wryly. “Oh, well, if he marries her, she’ll make a better housekeeper than I ever would.”
The women’s laughter filled the house.
“Don’t worry about me, Victoria. I’m not getting involved with Daniel, regardless of what Grams may think or want.” Elizabeth took a sip of tea. “As for you, I’m sure you have several guys already begging you to go out with them.”
“Are you kidding?” Trudy glanced at them briefly before giving her full attention to the tea she poured into her cup. “My sister is the only woman I know who can snap her fingers in a crowded room and men will kill one another to see who reaches her first.”
“Trudy!” her sister glared at her.
“Well,” Trudy giggled and settled back in her chair, “it’s not far from the truth.”
“What ever happened between you and Brian?”
Victoria’s question caught Elizabeth off guard.
“I’d rather not get into it,” she answered, offering a weak smile. The shattered remains of a vase, some pills on the coffee table, and worshiping the porcelain god flashed through her mind. “It’s in the past and it doesn’t really matter now anyway.”
A you’re-not-fooling-me look settled upon Victoria’s pretty face. “After all this time, you still can’t talk about it?” She shook her head. “Elizabeth, did Brian physically hurt you? Did he do something that you should have reported?”
Trudy stared at Elizabeth over the rim of her cup, her large blue eyes wide with worry.
Elizabeth smiled reassuringly. “Brian hurt me, but I’m just as much at fault for what happened between us as he is.” She sighed, attempting to reign in her fear and squelch the onslaught of tears threatening to start. “I just don’t want to talk about him, okay?”
Several seconds passed, but finally, Victoria nodded.
“I was serious when I said that Daniel looks a lot like Brian,” Trudy said.
“She’s right,” her sister added.
“I know he does, and I realize now that is why I was interested in Brian, but their personalities aren’t even remotely close.” Looking at her friends, Elizabeth wished she could share the truth with them, but if she did, they would think less of her, and she couldn’t handle that. “What Daniel and I had is in the past, but Grams thinks we’re destined to be together. I don’t want, nor do I need, a man in my life.”
“Amen to that,” Victoria said loudly.
“Ready for some more bagels?” Sarah called from the kitchen.
“No thanks,” they called simultaneously and grinned at one another.
Sarah appeared in the doorway. She wiped her hands on her apron, an amused expression upon her cherubic face. “Is Alex still asleep?”
“Yeah,” Elizabeth popped her last bite of bagel into her mouth, “all the excitement yesterday wore him out.” Her grandmother stood quietly watching them. Elizabeth sensed something was on her mind. “Okay, Grams, out with it.”
“Out with what?”
“Don’t play cute with me. You always get quiet like this just before you dump a load of news on me.”
“Now, Elizabeth—”
“Grams…”
“Should we leave?” Trudy asked.
“No, dear,” Sarah ambled across the living room and paused at the coffee table to pour herself a cup of tea, “you’re family too.”
“Well?” Elizabeth shot her grandmother a pointed look.
“I have decided,” Sarah turned and settled into an upholstered chair on the far end of the sofa, “to enlist George’s aid with the design and construction of a bookstore-café, which will be part of Our Daily Bread.”
“Oh, hell,” Trudy whispered. “Let me out of this room before there are casualties.” She set her teacup on the coffee table and stood up.
Elizabeth motioned at Trudy to sit down. “Grams, you never mentioned anything to me about starting construction on the bookstore so soon. We only talked about what a great idea it is and argued it’s too soon for it.” She stared hard at her grandmother, who sat stirring her tea without looking at anyone.
“If you have too much time to think about it, you start backpedaling.” Sarah sipped her tea; the steam curled around her face. “You’re a bargain hunter, Elizabeth, and you have plenty of business savvy, but you won’t take chances when the odds are in your favor.”
“I hate it when you drop things on me unexpectedly. And I’m sick of you saying that I don’t know when to take chances.” Elizabeth scooted to the edge of the couch and set her cup on the tea tray with too much force. “You’ll gripe about me keeping things from you, but what do you call this?”
“Janay will be over any minute.” Sarah eyed the cup that Elizabeth had just slammed down on the tray. “I invited her to have tea with us.”
“Grams, don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not,” she said, shooting her granddaughter a dark look. “I want to ask Janay if she would be interested in managing the bookstore.”
“You’re jumping into this whole thing too fast.”
“It is a cool idea, Elizabeth,” Trudy cut in. “We used to have coffee in a couple café bookstores, remember? They draw a nice crowd of people, plus the quiet, contemplative atmosphere is appealing to those who like a nice get-a-way place.”
Brows raised, Elizabeth looked at her friend. “I know that, but those places are booming businesses.”
“I agree with Elizabeth,” said Victoria. “Sarah, it’s risky to start such a venture when your restaurant could go under within two or three months. You should focus on drawing more business first.”
“See?” said Elizabeth.
“It’s two against two, so it’s a tie,” Sarah retorted in a half amused tone.
“We’re not opening a bookstore,” Elizabeth said hotly.
“Elizabeth Louise, I own half of our business. However, it was my stock investment that paved the way for it and that same investment has provided us with our comfortable lifestyle.” Sarah leaned forward and picked up a bagel. Calmly, she dipped a spoon into a jar of marmalade and spread it over her breakfast, her voice just as steady as her movements. “So, my dear granddaughter, since you fought and lost the battle of what to do with my Christmas bonus that I invested, what makes you think that you’ll win this battle?”
“Fine,” Elizabeth said icily. She barely glanced at Trudy and Victoria, who moved to the safety of the kitchen. “But when the bottom falls out of everything, you’re the one who will be fully responsible. I will not accept the blame for your carelessness.”
“That’s fair,” Sarah said. “While we’re discussing it, Trudy and Victoria said that they would like to take Alex to the mall for the afternoon. Since they’ll be gone, and I’ll be at the restaurant, Daniel agreed to take you over to St. Clairsville to price building materials. I already looked at the building next door and talked to the owner, who offered a reasonable price.”
“What the hell do you need me for in all this?” Elizabeth yelled. “You’ve already taken care of everything.” She placed her hands over her face and flopped back against the couch cushions. She muttered, “I love you, but you can be such a bitch.”
“Lower your voice,” her grandmother snapped. “Besides, every woman is allowed to be a bitch at one time or another and I choose to be one now.”
Elizabeth gaped at her, and Sarah smiled back.
“If there’s blood shed in there, I’m not cleaning up the mess,” Victoria called from the kitchen.
Elizabeth glared at her grandmother. “I’ll cuss if I want to because you’re being unfair and inconsiderate.”
“Maybe, but at least I’m not afraid to try something new.”
“Excuse me,” Elizabeth stood and retied her robe, “I’m going to go get dressed before I say something else I might regret—or throw something at you.”
*~*~*~*
You’ll love to hate her, want to hug her, yell at her, and then root for her. Raised by a Bible-beating grandmother and a starstruck mother, naturally, Elizabeth has issues.
Forced to leave town seven years ago by the local minister, Elizabeth has returned. With the help of some meddling angels and her overbearing grandmother, she finally finds her way back to her one true love. Sometimes, a bit of heavenly conspiracy is required to set things right.
Based on true-life accounts, Conspiracy of Angels is a controversial tale of deception within Christianity where sex is a sin unless there’s a gold band on the ring finger and people gossip while sequestering the skeletons in their own closets.
Rating: Tangy
Book Length: Plus Novel
Price: $12.99 — print
Genre: Angels/Demons/Contemporary
This makes for an amazing Christmas gift for the avid reader on your shopping list! You can get it at amazon.com, but it’s $3 less at Freya’s Bower.com! Just clicky! http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=69
Also, if you order my novel from Freya’s Bower.com, the first four who want an autographed copy just include a note to the publisher in the special note place when you order. I have four copies left that I can autograph!
And if you’d like to check out my other books, you can visit my website where there are many excerpts and direct to-buy links to my publishers. www.faithbicknellbrown.com Drop me a note via my contact form on the site!
Part of the One Touch, One Glance Romance Anthology coming to Freya’s Bower.com December 9, 2008
Do two wrong guys and a pair of pink mittens spell doom for Lana’s love life, or will a kiss under the Christmas stars prove that love was right under her nose?
Midway through the party, Lana received her bonus and was extremely pleased with the amount. Alone, she stood in a corner, sipping spiked punch and nibbling a sugar-sprinkled cookie. What was keeping Derek? It was time to leave for the skating pond; several co-workers had already left the party. A few stragglers by the door debated about the stock market during Christmas, and, clustered round the Christmas tree, the wallflowers discussed something about plans for New Year’s. Worried and sensing the worst, Lana grabbed her things and hurried out to the smoker’s area to see if Derek had left the building.
Cars pulled out of the icy parking lot. Down the street, the traffic light blinked from red to green and back again. Lana picked her way across the pavement toward Derek’s Mustang. A filigree of frost had spread across the windshield and the passenger’s side. She checked the driver’s door and found it unlocked. Maybe she’d get lucky and find the keys in it too. That way, she could listen to music with the heater on while she waited for Derek and Melody to come out. Surely they would realize she wasn’t in the office and come looking for her.
Sliding behind the steering wheel, Lana shut the door. Damn. No keys. Come to think of it, she recalled Derek slipping them into his coat pocket. Headlights swept the Mustang’s interior. A disturbing thought flittered through her brain, and Lana twisted to look out the rearview window. Many of the employees had carpooled to the farm and would pick up their vehicles later. She hoped that Derek and Melody hadn’t carpooled to the farm without her.
She started to get out of the car, but something in the backseat caught her attention.
Her mouth dropped open. Pain stabbed her gut.
A pair of fuzzy, pink mittens.
Oh, no. Not again.
“I can’t seem to find my pink mittens anywhere. I just wore them yesterday.”
Furious, she stepped out of the car and slammed the door-hard. How could she be so stupid again?
Determined to find Derek and confront him, Lana stormed across the parking lot. As she passed the side entrance to the building, a giggle erupted from the breezeway where the janitors had curtained it off to keep the wind from drifting snow there. She paused and backtracked. Dread pooled in her heart. She peeped around the edge of the tarpaulin, sensing the worst.
This contest is closed. For another contest, go here
Winner of this contest is Lexe Toste.
Answers:
1. 2001
2. Without Camouflage OR Checkmate Strategy
3. Screwing a co-worker.
Dean Wellern works in a warehouse. His life is just like any average Joe’s until the Friday night a freaky looking man follows him half way home. Spooked, Dean bumps into a well-dressed man who invites Dean to dinner and can read his thoughts. Plagued by erotic, frightening images of intertwined red-eyed men and women in the throes of ecstasy, Dean rushes home only to have one bizarre incident after another happen. When a court summons delivered by the largest man he has ever seen arrives, Dean knows something is seriously wrong. But what happens next will force him to walk a road less traveled.
This is a chapter book. Each chapter will be rated based upon the content of that chapter. One chapter may be sweet, and the next could be beyond sizzling. This particular story will include M/M as well as hetero sex and will reach at least the sizzling rating in subsequent chapters. (you can find all four books here: http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4&zenid=8e30ae22369345545fd0771df8120832)
This series is contemporary, but full of faerie lore, hot sex, and dark humor. Answer three questions and be entered to win books one AND two of this four-book series!
All answers are on my website.
1. On the ABOUT page, what year did I take the position of romance and horror editor for Wild Child Publishing?
2. Name one of the titles on my COOL STUFF page that’s free to download.
3. On the BOOKS page, what did Kazzi do in Mr. Delicious that nearly cost her her job (answer is in the excerpt; click on book cover to read it)?
Send your answers to fbicknellbrown @gmail.com (close space) and put CONTEST in the subject. Correct answers will go in a hat. Winner will be drawn Monday morning, November 3.
Good luck! Oh, and be sure to check out the other contest below!
Answer two questions from two of my e-titles; one from The Red Storm and another from Mr. Delicious. Send your answers to me through my contact page and put CONTEST in the subject.
Winner will win a free professional edit up to 5,000 words, which is roughly the equivalent of two normal chapters or three shorter ones. (Find out more about my editing services and how to obtain more info on my rates at the Editing Services page on my website)
You can find The Red Storm and Mr. Delicious on my BOOKS page or go to www.freyasbower.com and click on science fiction for The Red Storm. Mr. Delicious can be found under Zinnia Hope at www.redrosepublishing.com (If you enjoy the books, drop me an email!)
Question #1: From the Red Storm, what color is President Gart’s head painted?
Question #2: From Mr. Delicious, what part of Dietrich does the dragon, Nip, burn?
Deadline for entries is December 20th.
Please pass this contest along to fellow readers/writers!
Good luck!
The brilliantly shining moon shone down on the breathtakingly beautiful lake. Water lapped softly against the roughly hewn dock. Elle stared blindly at the scenery, her mind on Anthony¢s beautifully muscled physique, his darkly tanned body arousing her shapely figure.
Blech! (Reaches for an antacid tablet.)
Not only is that bad writing, but it has twelve adverbs too many. Let¢s try it this way:
The moon shone down on the lake. Water lapped against the dock, the sound soothing. Elle stared at the scenery, her thoughts dwelling on Anthony¢s physique and tanned skin. Heat surged through her loins, and her breath quickened.
See the difference? And bear in mind that too many adjectives (words that describe nouns such as the brown dog) can also clutter your prose.
My new site is da bomb! I’m so thrilled with Celia’s work and creativity! Here you’ll find classiness mixed with the paranormal and just a touch of eroticism thrown in. Celia, thank you for your amazing work!
I’ll be moving the occassional reviews that I do to this blog. Since this is my website, this will now be my main blog too. Oh, don’t worry…if you prefer to visit my myspace blog I’ll either leave a link or I’ll be sure to copy posts to it.
Btw, check out the Cool Stuff page. Not only are there some nice links there, but you’ll find two free PDFs to download, so enjoy!
If you read one of my books, drop me a line via email or the contact form.
Please check back! And while you’re at it, why not sign up for my newsletter on the “About” page?
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