Welcome to Nirvana! #Bisexuality #Bookstore #EroticRomance

By Sadira Stone (Guest Blogger)

Until 2016, I was one of those readers—literary snobs who look down their noses at romance for the usual stupid reasons: too corny, too predictable, too fluffy. Then I read about how fun and lucrative writing erotica can be. I thought, what the heck? Let's try.

I have never had so much fun with a writing project! My first steamy romance, Through the Red Door, nearly wrote itself, though it damn sure didn't edit itself. Now I'm totally addicted to passionate, heartfelt stories with happy endings, both as a reader and as a writer.

Why set the series in a bookshop? Ever since I was a wee lass, I dreamed of owning one. Add to that my fascination with historical erotic art and literature, and you’ve got the Book Nirvana series, set in an indie bookshop with an extensive erotica collection behind a locked red door.

I love writing stories in which a couple’s powerful physical attraction leads them to consider a partner outside their usual M.O.—one who just might turn out to be their perfect match. That’s how it happened for my husband and me!

I wanted to set my series in a college town, so I chose Eugene, home of the University of Oregon, with its lively arts scene and rich counterculture legacy from the hippie era. It’s now my favorite Oregon town to visit!

Blurb

She’s a free spirit. He’s a one-woman man.

Rejected by her family for her bisexuality, graphic artist Margot DuPont yearns for a life with no fences, no limits, and no family ties. Between college, work at Book Nirvana, and an art competition, she barely has time for her part-time girlfriend, much less a flirtation with her competitor.

Dumped into the foster system at a young age, ceramics artist Elmer Byrne craves a big, loving family of the heart. His artist family almost fills that need, but something is missing...until Margot. But when he offers his heart, her thorny defenses shatter him.

Thrown together in an art competition that could jump-start one artist's career, but not both, their irresistible attraction forces them to reconsider the meaning of success.

Excerpt

That fuzzy, flame-colored beard of his must tickle. What would it feel like brushing against her breasts, over her belly, between her thighs?

She bit her lip hard. Too much time in the red room.

The guy turned toward her and grinned. Was it just her imagination, or did his eyes flash when they met hers? Warm hazel eyes, thickly lashed and sparkling with playful energy.

A happy little vibration rose from her belly and twitched the corners of her mouth upward—until she recognized him.

Oh, yuck. This guy. She’d seen him hanging around the shop, flirting with Laurel, all swaggering, macho bullshit. She remembered how Doug, Laurel’s boyfriend, had tensed like an angry stork and glared at the shorter, buffer man.

Maxie waved. “Margot, you remember Elmer? He gave me a ride.” She nudged him with her bony elbow. “Isn’t he cute?”

Real cute. And he knows it.

“How’s it going, Margot?” His grin widened as his gaze flicked down her body and back up.

Creep.

No way to avoid his extended hand without offending Maxie, so she took it. Warm, calloused, his grip firm but not too tight. A tattoo of a foaming beer mug adorned the back of his hand. Beneath the copper hair on his forearm, pretty muscles flexed.

Feet on the ground, DuPont. You’ve got no time for flirtatious fuzz-beards.

Maxie’s merry gaze flicked from Elmer to Margot. “He’s exhibiting at the Rainbow Center on Saturday.” She grinned up at Elmer. “Margot helped Laurel design that poster for the art show.”

His eyebrows rose. “That’s your work? Really nice.”

She shook her head. “It’s Laurel’s work. I just helped her with the graphic design software.”

“Graphic design? Like ads and words and stuff?”

She curled her lip and prepared for battle with yet another snooty artist who looked down his precious nose at graphic arts, like nothing with words or photos could ever count as real art. “I make stuff everyone sees, not just rich people in art galleries.” She stepped closer, glaring up into his startled face while she ticked off on her fingers. “Posters for community events, book covers, the logo for this shop, and its website and signage and—”

He raised both hands and backed off a few steps. “Relax, angry elf. I wasn’t putting down your work, okay? I said I liked the poster. Jeesh.”

Maxie’s painted-on auburn brows rumpled. “Margot, I’m surprised at you.”

That stung. She lowered her gaze and shuffled her boots. “Yeah, well, I’m sick of snobby artists.”

He crossed athletic arms over his impressive pecs. “I’m not one of them.”

Her cheeks flushed hot. “Okay, cool. Sorry. So, um, what are you exhibiting at the show?”

“Ceramics. Beer steins, mostly. Donated a dozen to the Rainbow Arts Center.” He winked, her dig seemingly forgotten. “If someone likes my stuff, maybe they’ll order a complete set.”

Beer mugs. Definitely not snooty. Embarrassment drilled deeper into her skull.

The pretty potter smooched Maxie’s cheek. “Well, gotta shove off. Max, I’ll pick you up at ten on Saturday. Ladies.” He pantomimed lifting a hat brim, then ambled toward the door.

Maxie prodded Margot’s boot with her cane. “Why’d you bite his head off? He’s a nice boy. You should ask him out.”

She rolled her eyes. “Max, I’m not looking to date right now. Especially not that guy.”

“What’s wrong with Elmer?”

“I’ve seen him in action. He flirts for sport. I’m not gonna be anyone’s plaything.”

The doorway bell tinkled as Elmer strolled through. Laurel looked up from wiping the counter. “You want to wait in the café, Aunt Maxie? I’ll be done in fifteen minutes.”

“Of course, doll.” Maxie tottered toward the coffee shop next door.

Margot moved behind the counter and watched through the plate-glass window as Elmer crossed the street and unlocked his rust-bucket pickup. “Pain in the ass, isn’t he?” Nice ass, though. Firm and crunchy.

Laurel chuckled. “Oh, he’s not so bad. I think he just flirts out of habit, like some people nibble their nails or twiddle their hair.” She turned away to straighten a pile of flyers. “Margot, do you—um…”

“What?”

“Do you date guys?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Sometimes. Why?”

“On his way out, he asked about you.”

“Oh, so I should date him, get him off your back?” She scrubbed her fingers through her hair. “No thanks.”

“Well, I hope you’ll come to the art show anyway. I’m running the race at ten, but I’ll help with the set-up beforehand.” She cracked a crooked smile. “I’ll do my best to corral Elmer. Gotta warn you, though—if he sets his mind on you, he’s persistent.”

“Don’t worry.” She shoved a hand through her spiky hair. “I can handle pushy guys. I know how to push back.”

Love, Art, and Other Obstacles is on sale for just $2.99 (ebook) from 15 May-29 May on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.

Buy links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086YLR81G/

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-art-and-other-obstacles-sadira-stone/1136831927

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/love-art-and-other-obstacles

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/love-art-and-other-obstacles/id1510422852

Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sadira_Stone_Love_Art_and_Other_Obstacles?id=qtriDwAAQBAJ

Goodreads Link

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53105312-love-art-and-other-obstacles

About the Author

Ever since her first kiss, Sadira’s been spinning steamy tales in her head. After leaving her teaching career in Germany, she finally tried her hand at writing one. Now she’s a happy citizen of Romancelandia, penning contemporary romance from her new home in Washington State, U.S.A. When not writing, which is seldom, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her charming husband, enjoys the local music scene, plays darts (pretty well), plays guitar (badly), and gobbles all the books. Visit Sadira at www.sadirastone.com .

Sign up for Sadira’s quarterly email newsletter for freebies, news about upcoming books, and some really bad romance jokes!

Visit Sadira!

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Sizzling contemporary romance by Sadira Stone - only 99 cents! #CheapRomance #99cents

Check out Sadira Stone’s latest novel, Runaway Love Story – only 99 cents until September 6^th. Nearly four hundred pages of delicious, steamy contemporary romance, for less than a buck!

She hates average...he's as average as they come.

High school history teacher Doug Garvey is trying to enjoy his last few weeks of summer vacation, but receiving his final divorce decree hits him harder than expected. After a brief fling fizzles, he fears love just isn't in the cards for him. If only he could find someone who's real, someone interested in something beyond herself…maybe a new running partner who can keep up with his more carnal appetite. When sexy, straight-talking Laurel runs across his path, he dares to hope again.

He's done with social-climbing posers...she's ambitious and has big dreams.

Fired from an art gallery, Laurel Jepsen shelves her pursuit of an art career in San Francisco to help her beloved great aunt Maxie move into assisted living. While out on a morning run, she's harassed by a group of teens until a tall, broad-shouldered hottie steps in, pretending to be her boyfriend with a kiss that makes her wish it were true. But she's only passing through, not looking for a relationship.

Their fierce chemistry burns up the sheets—and the couch, the shower, the forest—but falling in love would ruin everything. Laurel can't stay in Eugene, and he can't leave. Doug's only hope is to convince her the glittery life she's after could blind her to the opportunities already in her path.

Here’s a tease of a snippet:

“I’m sorry she called you the S word.”

“Huh?”

“Sensible.”

She laughed. “Yeah. That’s a curse word, as far as I’m concerned.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I’ll strike it from my vocabulary. Your S word is sparkle.” He traced her jawline with a feather-light touch. “Look at you, Laurel. You’re blinding.” His twilight-blue gaze made her heart dance—a steamy tango with swirls and dangerous dips. He kissed her, and, for a moment, she forgot all about caution, about cutting things off before they became too serious, about San Francisco. Her focus narrowed to his lips on hers, his nearness heating her whole body, opening her like a blossom, soft and willing. Ripe for the plucking.

“God, I’ve missed you.” He scooped her legs across his lap. One hand cradling her nape, the other gripping her thigh, he kissed her senseless. His velvet tongue teased her lips apart. He tasted of sugary coffee. The world around them faded—just two bodies, calling and answering, breathing in sync, their pulses beating the same rhythm.

Get your copy while it’s on sale!

Amazon

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Apple Books

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Kobo

About the Author

Ever since her first kiss, Sadira’s been spinning steamy tales in her head. After leaving her teaching career in Germany, she finally tried her hand at writing one. Now she’s a happy citizen of Romancelandia, penning contemporary romance and cozy mysteries from her home in Washington State. When not writing, which is seldom, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her charming husband, enjoys the local music scene, belly dances, plays guitar badly, and gobbles all the books. Visit Sadira at www.sadirastone.com.

Bookstores Are Sexy! #Bookshop #Giveaway #EugeneOregon @SadiraStone

Image by Louise Dav from Pixabay

By Sadira Stone (Guest Blogger)

Romance novels are often set in exotic or glamorous locales—tropical beaches, haunted castles, space stations, Miami nightclubs, New York skyscrapers, snowed-in mountain cabins. But for the Book Nirvana series, I chose a more mundane setting: an indie bookshop in Eugene, Oregon. No one’s going to jump out at my characters wielding a sword, a ray gun, or a magic crystal, but I’ve loved creating the bookshop of my dreams. One of the benefits of writing fiction is trying on all those dream careers you never pursued. In an alternate universe, I run a bookshop, a café, a dance studio, an art studio…

Who doesn’t long to spend time browsing the aisles of a quirky bookshop, discovering new stories, lounging in a cushy armchair while sipping your favorite coffee or tea? Audiobooks and eBooks are great, but there’s nothing like that lovely, vanilla-ish scent of books, nothing like discovering a new author I never notice in my online browsing. Even though my home bookshelves are overflowing, I’m still a bookstore junkie.

Here’s an excerpt from Through the Red Door, Book One in the Book Nirvana series, in which the hero gets his first glimpse of the heroine’s bookshop.

****

Nick pressed his back against the red door and blew out a long, shaky breath. He’d heard about Book Nirvana for years, but nothing prepared him for what he found inside. The shop was aptly named, that was for damned sure.

From the first jingle of the brass bell over the doorway, he knew this place was something special. The sweet, almost edible scent of books, both new and used, wafted out to greet him. The early-summer sunlight bathed the shop in a welcoming glow and highlighted the colorful posters on the walls—Peter Max’s psychedelic sunset pointing toward the art books, the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine above the music section, and a lush still life of fruit, bread, and wine for the cooking section. Further down the long, narrow space, comic superheroes, a futuristic spacescape, an armored knight charging into battle, and, above a lacquered red door at the rear, Ingres’s La Grande Odalisque threw a languid glance over her bare shoulder—at once an invitation and a dare.

But the jewel of the collection was Clara herself. His friend at the University of Oregon told him about the pretty shop owner, but “pretty” hardly did her justice. Her unruly dark hair glimmered with just a hint of red fire. Those eyes—dark, like the Pacific on a stormy day, somewhere between green and gray—eyes a man could get lost in. Something about this woman set his pulse to revving like a race car at the starting line. Caught off guard by her startling beauty, he’d behaved like a horny teenager, ogling as her delicate fingers fiddled with the locket between her breasts. She noticed, too. Damn.

****

Beneath that sexy poster and behind that red door is what brought Nick, a cultural anthropology professor, to Eugene: a collection of historical erotica—artwork, photography, erotic stories, studies of sexual practices. Furnished with a plush Persian rug and an antique settee, this little jewel-box room is stuffed floor to ceiling with sexy books. Clara keeps it locked, only handing over the key after approving each visitor. But she hasn’t stepped through that red door since the death of her husband Jared, who curated the collection. Too many painful memories of passion lost.

Each book in this steamy contemporary romance series features a different member of the Book Nirvana staff. Runaway Love Story, coming June 24^th, features Laurel, a new shop assistant who sparks hard and fast with—well, let’s say the character from Book One who didn’t get his HEA. I’m currently writing Book Three, which features Margot, Clara’s youngest shop assistant. Of course, every couple in the series has a steamy encounter behind that red door.

Giveaway

I’m giving away one eBook copy of Runaway Love Story, Book Two in the Book Nirvana Series. To enter the drawing, pop over to my website and sign up for my quarterly newsletter. Then comment below that you’ve signed up. On Friday, June 7, I’ll choose a random winner.

And please remember, we authors live and die by reviews. So if you enjoy a book, take a moment to leave a review on Goodreads, Bookbub, or your favorite book vendor site. Thanks!

From May 31 through June 13, Book One in the series is just 99 cents (eBook) on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple/iTunes.

Blurb for Through the Red Door, Book Nirvana Book One:

Letting him inside could be her salvation…or her undoing.

Clara Martelli clings to Book Nirvana, the Oregon bookshop she and her late husband Jared built together. When rising rents and corporate competition threaten its survival, her best hope is their extensive erotica collection, locked behind a red door. In dreams and signs, her dead husband tells her it's time to open that door and move on. When a dark and handsome stranger's powerful magnetism jolts her back to life and he wants a look at the treasures of that secret room, she can't help but want to show him more.

Professor Nick Papadopoulos is looking for historical erotica. Book Nirvana's collection surpasses his wildest dreams, and so does its lovely owner. A widower, he understands Clara's battle with guilt, but their searing chemistry is too strong to resist. Besides, he will only be in town for two weeks, not long enough for her to see beyond the scandal that haunts his past.

Amazon Barnes & Noble Google Play Kobo iTunes 

Blurb for Runaway Love Story, Book Nirvana Book Two
Coming June 24^th.

She hates average...he's as average as they come.

High school history teacher Doug Garvey is trying to enjoy his last few weeks of summer vacation, but receiving his final divorce decree hits him harder than expected. After a brief fling fizzles, he fears love just isn't in the cards for him. If only he could find someone who's real, someone interested in something beyond herself…maybe a new running partner who can keep up with his more carnal appetite. When sexy, straight-talking Laurel runs across his path, he dares to hope again.

He's done with social-climbing posers...she's ambitious and has big dreams.

Fired from an art gallery, Laurel Jepsen shelves her pursuit of an art career in San Francisco to help her beloved great aunt Maxie move into assisted living. While out on a morning run, she's harassed by a group of teens until a tall, broad-shouldered hottie steps in, pretending to be her boyfriend with a kiss that makes her wish it were true. But she's only passing through, not looking for a relationship.

Their fierce chemistry burns up the sheets—and the couch, the shower, the forest—but falling in love would ruin everything. Laurel can't stay in Eugene, and he can't leave. Doug's only hope is to convince her the glittery life she's after could blind her to the opportunities already in her path.

Preorder on Amazon Preorder from Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Ever since her first kiss, Sadira’s been spinning steamy tales in her head. After leaving her teaching career in Germany, she finally tried her hand at writing one. Now she’s a happy citizen of Romancelandia, penning contemporary romance and cozy mysteries from her home in Washington State. When not writing, which is seldom, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her charming husband, enjoys the local music scene, belly dances, plays guitar badly, and gobbles all the books. Visit Sadira at www.sadirastone.com, or on Facebook Twitter Goodreads Bookbub Amazon Author Page

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