By Adriana Kraft (Guest Blogger)
Do you love New York or hate it? I love it. Our newest release, Smoldering Passion (Extasy Books, April 7, 2023), pulls together some of what my husband and I love best about New York and pays tribute to a favorite aunt of mine. It’s no accident that we placed our fictional Center for Sexuality and Sex Studies in a vintage Greenwich village Brownstone, where everything we love about the city is easily accessible.
We gave our heroine, Melissa Hopkins, a Brooklyn apartment and neighborhood based on our son’s just after college – upstairs over a laundromat, not far from what was once Dodger Stadium/Ebbets Field. The neighborhood is polyglot, full of deli’s, coffee shops, shoebox restaurants, and specialty grocery stores from almost any cuisine. It’s also in easy walking distance of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. One of my favorite scenes in Smoldering Passion takes place in its Shakespeare Garden, where I’ve often sat and watched the crowd.
Somewhat older than Melissa, hero Harry Gage is the director of our fictional Center. A Manhattan snob, he takes a dim view of pretty much any place that isn’t Manhattan, Brooklyn being near the top of his list. He lives in a high-rise condo apartment with floor to ceiling windows overlooking Central Park. We took advantage of that window for another of my favorite scenes.
When the story opens, Melissa is an art student working on her master’s degree, and she needs a job. She’s technically very proficient in her art medium but has been told she lacks passion. She answers an ad for a research worker at Harry’s center – where her aunt used to work. We’ll let readers decide if Melissa succeeds in unlocking her hidden passions – we think they were smoldering all along.
Passion is exactly what prompted my favorite aunt to pursue a groundbreaking career in sex studies and erotic art and to champion women’s rights, and this series is dedicated to her memory.
Blurb
Her passion smolders. Will it ignite?
When art student Melissa Hopkins finally unpacks the two boxes her Aunt Phoebe left for her and sees Phoebe’s black and white photos, it’s like opening Pandora’s Box. A simple quest to find a new job morphs into an about face—not just in her art, but in her career and personal life. Short on funds now that her graduate stipend is ending, she applies to work where Aunt Phoebe once worked: a center for sexuality and sex studies.
Sworn off women after a disastrous relationship, Center Director Harry Gage ignores the danger signals and hires the striking young woman who reminds him of his former lover. Her air of innocence will captivate center viewers, so he’s sure she’ll be a hit on camera. What he’s not prepared for is how she pierces his heart.
When the sparks flare up, is it love or just sex—and what must each of them risk to find out?
Buy links
https://www.extasybooks.com/Smoldering-Passion
https://books2read.com/u/3nDdOe
Excerpt
Harry chuckled and shook his head. “You think I don’t know Claire had you in the screening room that afternoon?”
“It won’t happen again,” Melissa squeaked.
“I know that, too. You’re hardly Claire’s type—at least for the long haul.”
“So,” Melissa said quietly, feeling her cheeks warm. “Am I your type, Harry?”
Harry smiled and got to his feet. He reached out his hand for her. “Stand up, woman, and let me show you.”
She stood, and he gathered her in his arms. His strong hands cupped her rump, her breasts crushed against his chest, and their lips met in a midair tango. She smiled against his. Yes, she must be his type. He sure was her type.
Holding hands, he guided her to the tall window overlooking Central Park. Rain continued to pelt the window, but it was refreshing to lean against Harry’s frame and imagine the park before them.
He nibbled on her ear and laved at her neck.
Melissa craned her neck, basking in the feel of his tongue. She experienced a sudden pang of guilt for getting him to talk about Aunt Phoebe without sharing her own story. Maybe she should’ve simply blurted it out.
His tongue scraped across the roof of her mouth. She no longer had a pressing need to talk about her aunt. “Mmm,” she moaned, “that’s lovely. I love rainy Monet mornings like this.”
“Me, too. Particularly when I can share them with you.” He snickered. “Though I would’ve expected you to prefer bright sunshiny days with pristine blue skies.”
“I like those, too. But don’t forget, I’m an artist. I have many moods. I also enjoy the first snowfall, and certainly spring flowers.”
“I bet you like to jump in leaf piles, too.”
“How did you know?” she said, squeezing his butt.
“A lucky guess.” His nose rubbed back and forth across her neck. His busy hands slipped inside her robe to cup a breast each.
She took a long breath as he played with her nipples. “So cozy,” she murmured, lowering her eyelids.
Her eyes popped open when she realized he was tugging at the sash of her robe. “Harry,” she scolded, “we’re standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window. Someone may see us.”
“Nonsense,” he whispered into her ear. “Can you see anything through the raindrops?”
She shook her head and did nothing to stop his fingers, already playing at her mound.
“Besides,” Harry continued, “you know New Yorkers. They never look up. They’re either too busy looking around to avoid being mugged, or down to avoid stepping in dog crap.”
About the Author
Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a married pair of retired professors writing erotic romance and erotic romantic suspense together. We like to think we’ve broken the mold for staid, fusty academics, and we hope lots of former profs are enjoying life as much as we are.
Having lived in many states across the Midwest, we now make our home in southern Arizona, where we enjoy hiking, golf, and travel, especially to the many Arizona Native American historical sites.
Together we have published more than fifty romance novels and novellas to outstanding reviews. Whether readers open our romantic suspense or our erotic romance, they can expect characters they care about, hot sex scenes, and a compelling story.
Author Links
Blog: https://www.adrianakraft.com/blog
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3 comments:
I love New York, and like you, I've worked some of my favorite places into my stories.
I'd love to know more about your aunt, though!
Thank you, Lisabet and thanks for hosting me. My aunt was quite the character :)
Hello again, more buy links just came in! Here is the universal book link that will take readers to all retailers who carry the book:
https://books2read.com/u/3nDdOe
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