Scandalously yours…
Through the ages, where
there has been society there have always been norms and, conversely,
scandals when love gets in the way of propriety.
From the ancient Celts
to medieval Cornwall, from Regency and Victorian England to the
American west after the War Between the States, eight stories by
multi-published, bestselling authors explore the triumphs of love
between a man and a woman—even scandalous love—over what’s
considered “proper” in their time.
Bringing
the Goddess Aphrodite to Erotic Romance
By Anh Loed
By Anh Loed
I
was working as a contemporary romance writer a few years back. I
wasn’t writing sweet books and my editor at the time thought I
might do well with erotic romance. I took on the challenge, and
Aphrodite’s Necklace was the first erotic romance I ever
wrote. What a learning curve that was, and it still reads as very
spicy today, despite the mainstreaming of erotic romance. It is
fitting that it is historical, set in early Victorian England, since
the first romance story I ever sold was also a Victorian historical.
Ironically, we’ve come full circle and I’m writing contemporary
again, though I still write a lot of historicals, too. It’s been a
pleasure to revisit and update this story, and also remember where
the original idea came from—the Tarot.
I
based Aphrodite’s Necklace on the Queen of Pentacles Tarot
card. Mostly I focused on the themes of the card, as found in The
Sexual Key to the Tarot by Theodor Laurence.
You
will see the goddess Aphrodite dressed as the Queen of Pentacles in
some of the scenes though! I had fun looking at different versions of
this card in the Tarot decks I own. As Aphrodite sees in the opening
scene of the novella, the card signifies her love of sensual
pleasures and sexual freedom. She embodies the card herself as a
woman of magnificent beauty who loves sex for sex’s sake.
When
Aphrodite offers her magic necklace to my unsuspecting characters,
she gives them the gifts of sexual openness, excitement and
generosity. There comes a time when she takes her gift away and then
the reverse of the card creates problems for Emily and Will. They
experience mistrust in each other. To find lasting love, my
characters have to work their way back to those positive gifts in
their own way.
Blurb
Aphrodite’s
Necklace, by Anh Leod
Exiled
by her husband to staid, Victorian England, the goddess Aphrodite is
determined to spice up life for a mortal couple by giving them a
magic necklace that opens their minds and hearts to passion. Can she
teach innocents to delight in sensual love?
Emily
Rogers is in the marriage mart, but once the necklace is in her
hands, she enlists William Coxe, her family butler, to help find its
owner. As Aphrodite intended when she dropped the priceless piece at
a ball held in Emily’s home, desire overwhelms Emily—and also
William, whom Emily’s parents would never countenance her marrying.
Good
sense prevails when the two return the necklace to the goddess, but
by this time love has caught the lovers in what seems an impossible
situation. Can improper love survive the loss of Aphrodite's
necklace? Only with the goddess’s help can they find a way toward
lasting happiness.
Excerpt
Emily
caught a glimpse of the mysterious woman in the doorway that opened
onto the corridor. She walked forward as quickly as she could without
losing all decorum, but the woman had vanished into the hall. Nearly
skipping in her eagerness to reach her, Emily didn’t see the
obstacle until she stumbled over it.
A
candelabra cast its light to the floor and she saw what had impeded
her progress, nearly causing her to fall. She gasped and reached down
a hand. It was the woman in red’s necklace.
How
could she have missed her jewels tumbling to the floor? Emily
examined the piece. The clasp was undone, though it didn’t appear
to be broken. Perhaps it was loose, or hadn’t been fastened
properly. Emily saw the winking diamonds and sparkling emeralds were
quite real. If it were hers she could sell it for not only a
significant dowry, but also a year’s household expenses.
Holding
such expensive gems made her feel funny, as if her heart and senses
wanted to jump out of her skin. What felt almost like a cool breeze
lifted her skirt and the air caressed her womanflesh. She shuddered
and looked around. Thankfully, no one was paying any attention to
her.
Holding
the necklace and feeling quite steamy in her private area, she
stepped into the hallway. She pressed her thighs together and when
she separated them, they were sticky with some kind of hot fluid that
had moistened her inside. She swallowed her shock as her nipples
thrust against her corset. What was happening to her?
Once
again, she saw Coxe coming toward her. She must have strayed too far
from the party for a second time. This time, instead of embarrassment
at shirking her duties, she felt a hot flush of excitement. She
folded her arms around herself and leaned against the wall.
Her
face felt feverish and she licked her lips, thirsty despite the
lemonade she had so recently finished.
“Are
you well, Miss Rogers?” Coxe asked. She saw genuine emotion in his
eyes, an unusual concern for her as she held up the necklace to him.
“Where
did it come from?” he asked, touching the pearl drop at the end of
the necklace’s center stones.
She
watched with wonder as his entire body shuddered and when he looked
at her again, his eyes were alight with the same kind of fever she
was experiencing.
“The
lady in red,” she whispered, “I saw it on her before.”
About
Anh Leod
Anh
Leod, AKA Heather Hiestand, was born in Illinois, but her family
migrated west before she started school. Since then she has claimed
Washington State as home, except for a few years in California. She
wrote her first story at age seven and went on to major in creative
writing at the University of Washington. Her first published fiction
was a mystery short story, but since then it has been all about the
many flavors of romance. Heather’s first published romance short
story was set in the Victorian period, and she continues to return,
fascinated by the rapid changes of the nineteenth century. The author
of many novels, novellas, and short stories, she has achieved
best-seller status at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. With her husband
and son, she makes her home in a small town and supposedly works out
of her tiny office, though she mostly writes in her easy chair in the
living room.
Social
Media Links
Website:
http://www.anhleod.com
Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/heatherhiestand/
Buy
links:
Amazon.com—
http://amzn.to/1QG7y2d
Amazon
UK-- http://amzn.to/1POPAdZ
All
Romance Ebooks-- http://bit.ly/1Vk1rED
Books
will also be available at barnesandnoble.com and iTunes (Apple), but
buy links are not yet available for them.
GIVEAWAY!
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