Author Guest Post
How can a sexy, sizzling hot love story be born from abuse? I couldn’t have answered this question eleven years ago, as I emerged from yet another unfortunate relationship with an abusive man. The guy didn’t hit me, but man, oh, man, did he heap on the emotional and mental abuse. According to him, every problem that ever existed was my fault. And, here’s the worst part - I believed him.
I’ve had my share of sorrow, true. Two abusive relationships, one of them physical. Date rape as an adult by another guy. A heap of other things too private to share. But there was always this driving spirit that kept me putting one foot in front of the other. I knew there had to be a better way of life, a life of passion and joy. When I left that last marriage, I never looked back. I got happy right away. Met the man of my dreams. I have no idea what happened to my abusive ex - never saw him again - except that his son tried to commit suicide shortly thereafter and his daughter was arrested in a huge mega drug bust - wow! I had no idea! My ex was a stand-up design professional on the outside. The inside was one hot mess.
I took responsibility for being the weak link in all my failed relationships but not for his or his kid’s miseries and problems. Enough said about the past. It’s the present that matters.
When you’ve lived with abuse you tend to be shaped by abuse, like my protagonist, bad boy, Jace Savage. He’s a big, strong, sexy guy. Wild and uncontrollable like his last name. When he left home, full of rage, he used his sexuality for comfort and his fists to solve conflict. He used controlling tactics to get his way. And yet, he marshalled his intelligence to forge a career, and his passion and skill to shape what he hopes to be his future as a photographer. His twin sister took an alternate route, losing herself in drugs.
When you’re working your way out of the abuse, you do stupid things. Mistakes are made, some of them big ones with serious consequences. Jace will make his share along the way.
When I set out to write the erotic romance, Looks like Trouble to Me, I had no idea how deeply the story would affect me. I wondered what it would take to shape the character into someone likeable, loveable even, not the horny, selfish dude he is when the story starts. I wondered what it would take to get the character to start to assume responsibility for someone other than himself and his sexual needs. I talked to people who have experienced what he goes through. I added their life experience to my own. I found this common thread that shapes a person on a more positive path: determination -- this persistent ability to not give up, no matter what, coupled with a belief that there might be something more to life than the misery you’ve endured.
Looks like Trouble to Me is a love story and a celebration of what’s possible. It’s heaped with erotic passion, sorrow, love, tears, resistance and pain, but isn’t that what love stories are made of? I know it takes time for the heart fires of passion to burn through the dross of unwillingness to surrender and give over to transformation - and Zoé and Jace have only begun. I hope, as you read Looks like Trouble to Me, you cheer the character’s efforts to change, get mad at them when they do stupid things, but you don’t give up on the possibilities that lie ahead for Jace and Zoé - or for you, if you find yourself living a life less than what you’d hoped it could be.
Peace and love,
Calinda B
“It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do with it in the end that matters.”
About The Author
Her secret mission is to inspire the planet to be chock full of loving passion and she's doing her part by working on the fourth book in The Wicked Series, tentatively entitled A Wicked Ending, or the third book in The Beckoning Series, The Beckoning of Badass Things, or maybe those are done and she's working on.... She loves to write sexy books and does it daily.
Her latest book is the erotic romance/romantic suspense, Looks Like Trouble To Me.
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Looks Like Trouble To Me by Calinda B
Book 1: Deuce is Wilder: Troubled
Publisher: Self Independent Publishing
Publication Date: May 22, 2014
Format: eBook - 313 pages
Kindle - 3744 KB
Nook - 639 KB
ISBN: 978-0991302734
ASIN: B00KIYFKSU
BNID: 2940149416691
Genre: Erotic Romance / Romantic Suspense
BUY THE BOOK: Looks Like Trouble To Me
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Pump Up Your Book Tours.
Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
Book Description:
He sets out to woo Zoe Dubois, keeping her away from his trouble at home, encouraging her to let go of her inhibitions and live “Savage style,” riding with him on the back of his motorcycle, exploring the great outdoors in a variety of oh, so delectable and naughty ways.
He ends up with way more than he bargained for. Turns out she's the kind of woman who demands the truth...and that's just not the way he rolls. He uses his sexual experience to teach Zoe how to surrender. She leverages his love for her to get him to let her in - something he's not used to. Their passionate, erotic, romantic connection keeps them bound together while the trouble he brings threatens to tear them apart at every turn.
(Mature content for audiences 18+ only.)
Book Excerpt:
Sex.
Jace peered through the dimly lit, crowded room in Chica Ríos, a hip new bar in Belltown, a trendy area just north of downtown Seattle.
I need to get laid.
Indecipherable music blared through the speakers, creating a solid screen of conversation defying noise.
How long has it been? Two weeks? Four? Nothing since trouble arrived.
The bar’s décor consisted of gold fabric, dark woods, glistening copper and bronze tiles. Lamp shades floated over tiny tables from pale yellow-haired antelope legs, complete with lacquered hooves. Whoever thought using animal parts was a good idea had their head up their ass, as far as Jace was concerned - he found it macabre.
Mirrors hung everywhere, allowing the vain to see how cool they looked, the inebriated to wonder, “Is this what I look like when I’m hammered?” and the jealous to keep tabs on their boyfriend, girlfriend or ex from across the room -- the same way he’d kept an eye on Kate. He shook his head to clear it. Old news.
Images of beautiful women dotted the walls here and there.
I’ve probably already done her, he thought with a chuckle, in reference to recent attempts to purge his ex out of his system, as he studied one of the photographs of a voluptuous redhead.
“Hey, what about her? Look.” Billy pointed to a brunette across the bar.
Jace squinted through the crowd at the woman his buddy pointed at. He ran a hand through his thick brown hair, and sighed. “Yeah, I see her. What about her?” he shouted across the table.
“How’d you like to take a ride with her?” Billy let out a snort and a derisive laugh.
Jace shook his head at his drinking buddy and tossed back his rum and Coke. “Might not be so bad. She’s probably really nice.” At this point, I’ll take anything. How long has it been? He circled around his inner timeline again. Fuck. Too long. Ever since…
“Nice?” Billy hooted. “She’s a dog, Jace. Homely as a cow. Pillowcase material.”
“Jesus, Billy.” Jace tipped his head to the side, scrutinizing the woman. “Quit being a dick. No, she’s not.”
“Look,” Billy said, “I told you, I’m doing you a solid. I’m making it my mission to get you a girlfriend. A real girlfriend. A girlfriend who looks good on the outside and loves to fuck.”
“Is that your criteria for success?”
“What else is there?” Billy reached for his pale amber beer and poured some down his throat. “We have to get you over Kate Bethlehem so you’ll be fun again.”
“I’ve been working on it.” Jace’s stomach tightened at the mention of his ex. He picked up his glass and swirled the remaining droplets around and around. That’s what his insides felt when he thought of her. That shit’s over. It’s been months. I’m fine. His lower logic took over. I need to get laid. How long has it been? Oh, right. Weeks.
“We miss you on the yacht.”
“Who’s we?”
“The girls.”
Jace groaned. I need another drink.
Jace peered through the dimly lit, crowded room in Chica Ríos, a hip new bar in Belltown, a trendy area just north of downtown Seattle.
I need to get laid.
Indecipherable music blared through the speakers, creating a solid screen of conversation defying noise.
How long has it been? Two weeks? Four? Nothing since trouble arrived.
The bar’s décor consisted of gold fabric, dark woods, glistening copper and bronze tiles. Lamp shades floated over tiny tables from pale yellow-haired antelope legs, complete with lacquered hooves. Whoever thought using animal parts was a good idea had their head up their ass, as far as Jace was concerned - he found it macabre.
Mirrors hung everywhere, allowing the vain to see how cool they looked, the inebriated to wonder, “Is this what I look like when I’m hammered?” and the jealous to keep tabs on their boyfriend, girlfriend or ex from across the room -- the same way he’d kept an eye on Kate. He shook his head to clear it. Old news.
Images of beautiful women dotted the walls here and there.
I’ve probably already done her, he thought with a chuckle, in reference to recent attempts to purge his ex out of his system, as he studied one of the photographs of a voluptuous redhead.
“Hey, what about her? Look.” Billy pointed to a brunette across the bar.
Jace squinted through the crowd at the woman his buddy pointed at. He ran a hand through his thick brown hair, and sighed. “Yeah, I see her. What about her?” he shouted across the table.
“How’d you like to take a ride with her?” Billy let out a snort and a derisive laugh.
Jace shook his head at his drinking buddy and tossed back his rum and Coke. “Might not be so bad. She’s probably really nice.” At this point, I’ll take anything. How long has it been? He circled around his inner timeline again. Fuck. Too long. Ever since…
“Nice?” Billy hooted. “She’s a dog, Jace. Homely as a cow. Pillowcase material.”
“Jesus, Billy.” Jace tipped his head to the side, scrutinizing the woman. “Quit being a dick. No, she’s not.”
“Look,” Billy said, “I told you, I’m doing you a solid. I’m making it my mission to get you a girlfriend. A real girlfriend. A girlfriend who looks good on the outside and loves to fuck.”
“Is that your criteria for success?”
“What else is there?” Billy reached for his pale amber beer and poured some down his throat. “We have to get you over Kate Bethlehem so you’ll be fun again.”
“I’ve been working on it.” Jace’s stomach tightened at the mention of his ex. He picked up his glass and swirled the remaining droplets around and around. That’s what his insides felt when he thought of her. That shit’s over. It’s been months. I’m fine. His lower logic took over. I need to get laid. How long has it been? Oh, right. Weeks.
“We miss you on the yacht.”
“Who’s we?”
“The girls.”
Jace groaned. I need another drink.
My Book Review:
In the first book of a new contemporary romance series, Looks Like Trouble To Me, author Calinda B weaves an exciting erotic romantic suspense story that will get your heart racing.
Jace Savage is a self proclaimed bad boy who has sown his wild oats as a professional yacht builder and world traveled photographer ... but can his zest for living life to the fullest keep his troubled past and dark family secrets buried?
Zoe Dubois is working her way through college as a waitress at a local restaurant. She has her future plans worked out, but when it comes to men she has trust issues after being burned by her ex-boyfriend Billy.
When Jace and Zoe meet at Chica Rios, opposites attract but he just wants a fling and she wants true love. And if that isn't enough to throw a wrench in the works, Jace is best friends with Zoe's ex boyfriend Billy! But that doesn't stop Jace from wooing Zoe, and even though she is drawn into his world and they share a growing passionate romantic connection, their differing lifestyles, troubled pasts, dark secrets, trust issues, and misunderstandings threatens to tear them apart.
Looks Like Trouble To Me is a sexy and exciting romance story that easily draws the reader into Jace and Zoe's story. There is enough steamy sex, drama, suspense, and intriguing twists and turns that takes the reader on one hell of a thrilling roller coaster ride. As their growing attraction heats up into a scorching passionate relationship, obstacles threaten to stand in their way when Jace's past surfaces and trouble is right around the corner.
This riveting story has enough tension, drama, angst, and emotional turmoil that will keep the reader turning the pages and wondering what will become of Jace and Zoe's relationship. But alas, the author leaves the reader guessing and wanting more with a cliffhanger ending that will be continued in the next book in the series.
I really enjoyed the witty banter and steamy passion between Jace and Zoe, and I couldn't help but get drawn into following their complex relationship as it unfolded. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I loved bad boy Jace and his sexy motorcycle, oh my goodness his wicked ways is enough to make any hotblooded female fan themselves!
If you are looking for a scorching erotic romance story with a suspenseful twist to read during the summer, then Looks Like Trouble To Me is a must read!
RATING: 4 STARS
Virtual Book Tour Schedule
Tour Schedule:
Book Featured at Lusty Penguin Reviews
Tuesday, July 8
Guest Blogging at Behind Closed Doors
Wednesday, July 9
Interview at Butterfly-O-Meter Books
Thursday, July 10
Interview at Sexy Between the Covers
Monday, July 14
Interview at Mia Downing’s blog
Wednesday, July 16
Book Featured at The Lusty Literate
Thursday, July 17
Interview at The Writer’s Life
Monday, July 21
Book Review & Guest Blogging at Jersey Girl Book Reviews
Tuesday, July 22
Book Featured at Escape by Fiction
Thursday, July 24
Book Review at Becky on Books
Monday, July 28
Interview at As the Pages Turn
Friday, July 31
Guest Blogging at Passionate Encounters
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