Review Tuesday: Restless Spirit by Sommer Marsden - #BDSM #eroticromance #ReviewTuesday

Restless Spirit by Sommer Marsden

Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2013

Tuesday Cane has trust issues. That’s not too surprising. She lost both her parents in an accident and grew up with her grandmother as her only family. Her first serious relationship went sour when her lover began to physically abuse her. She set him straight, literally beating him off with a baseball bat, but the trauma has left her cynical, suspicious and wary, especially about love.

Not about sex, though. Tuesday’s libido appears boundless. As long as there are no strings attached, she’s up for almost anything.

When Tuesday inherits her grandmother’s house in a picturesque lakeside community upstate, she figures it’s her chance to escape from her ghosts and start a new life. Her gran’s presence haunts the comfortable A-frame like a benevolent guardian, but Tuesday still feels insecure and on-edge. That doesn’t stop her from getting sexually involved, simultaneously, with three different men.

Adrian works as caretaker for her gran’s property. He’s a good-looking local boy with whom Tuesday had a fling when she visited during her teenage years. Reed is a charming, articulate former TV star who now owns a berry farm in the town. Shepard is Tuesday’s next door neighbor, a formidable bear of a man who had a career as a cage fighter before settling in as a carpenter in Allister Lake.

These men have little in common aside from the fact they all want Tuesday. She can’t resist getting pulled into erotic encounters with each of them, sometimes all three of them in a single day. She rationalizes her promiscuous behavior, reassuring herself that it’s all just recreational sex. As long as none of them touches her heart, she’ll be fine.

Until one of them does get through her armor—and she’s ready to run again.

Restless Spirit is a delicious erotic romance—with the emphasis on erotic. Sommer Marsden writes gorgeous sex scenes, simultaneously lyrical and visceral. Although I’d guess that seventy five percent of the book is sex, it’s never boring or meaningless. Ms. Marsden has a knack for weaving the character’s emotions into each erotic encounter. Tuesday is a horny lady, but sex for her is much more than scratching an itch. Indeed, it’s another way for her to escape from her demons. That’s one reason she likes a little pain with her sex, as several of her lovers discover. The intensity not only magnifies the pleasure, but it makes her forget herself.

Although Tuesday eventually realizes she loves one of her three sex partners (and I won’t say which one, though you’ll probably figure it out by the time you’re halfway through the story), even her early encounters are spontaneous, wild, arousing and satisfying.

To avoid spoilers, I won’t say much about the plot, except to say that there’s a suspenseful subplot regarding a stalker. There are also paranormal echoes. Neither of these aspects of the book are as fully realized as they could have been. The author’s focus is squarely on the developing connections, both sexual and emotional, between Tuesday and the man who completes her. Everything else falls into the background, which ultimately weakens the novel.

Nevertheless, if you enjoy graphic but graceful depictions of erotic situations, I recommend Restless Spirit. It offers convincing characters, a vivid setting and extraordinarily hot sex with a BDSM edge.

Review Tuesday: Haunted by Sommer Marsden

Haunted by Sommer Marsden

Excessica, 2015

Betrayed by his fiancee, Maddox Kinsey is on a tour of abandoned and desolate places, places that mirror the empty wasteland of his spirit. Rumor has it that Screamland Amusement Park is haunted. All Maddox sees are the bleached remains of a world once dedicated to fun, now derelict and ruined. Sure, a child was abducted from the park years ago, only to be found murdered months later. Yes, the boy’s father hung himself in the park on the anniversary of his son’s disappearance. But Maddox doesn’t believe the stories of a curse, despite the accidents that dogged Screamland in the years before its final closure.

Olyvia Bennett knows that ghosts exist. A member of the East Coast Ghost Squad, she prowls supposedly haunted locations, seeking evidence of a world beyond the grave. After losing her unborn daughter to a miscarriage and her husband to the consequent ravages of grief, she’s practically a ghost herself. She spends most of her time alone. She has to set an alarm to remind herself to eat. To stop the hurt, she has muffled her heart in layers of deliberate indifference.

These two lost souls meet among the dilapidated amusements, the Tunnel of Love choked with trash and the roller coaster collapsed like some dinosaur skeleton. Both are so accustomed to the pain of loss that the spark of mutual attraction astonishes them. Wary at first, then increasingly eager, they reach out and connect, each finding physical delight and emotional sustenance in the other’s arms.

However, they are not alone. A malicious specter stalks the park, threatening not just their newly-formed bond but their very lives. As Maddox and Olyvia struggle to escape the vengeful ghost, they discover just how powerful love can be.

I loved this book. Ms. Marsden evokes the sad, creepy world of Screamland with astonishing skill. For me, amusement parks and carnivals have always had a dark sort of magic, an aura of concentrated desire. Ms. Marsden shows us that magic, scattered and scarred but still potent.

The very best parts of Haunted, however, are the gorgeous love scenes, which are simultaneously explicit and spiritual. Sex is pure pleasure, rare joy, but much more. It elevates. It heals. Like Screamland’s coaster and carousel, Maddox and Olyvia are both broken. As they open themselves to one another, learning to trust and express their arousal, old wounds close. New hope builds. Terror, physical pain and threat of death only accelerate that transformation.

Ultimately, Haunted is a tale of redemption and a paean to the power of sexuality, a beautiful, uplifting and yes, very sexy, book. I bought it on impulse while shopping for something else, drawn by Willsin Rowe’s stunning cover. I’m so glad that I did.

The Beast in Me

[Hi everyone! I'm still on vacation, but meanwhile you can enjoy this sneak peak from Beast in Me, a great new paranormal romance from Sommer Marsden. ~ Lisabet]

Blurb

Weather worker Cameron Bale rolls into Divination Falls after being prompted by Spirit and Brother Lighting. He discovers that the small, hidden town full of shifters and magical types is suffering a series of unsettling events. There’s speculation from the town seers that he could be the answer they’ve been looking for. Cameron’s willing to try and help: he’s got nowhere to go and nothing to lose. His life is simply about loneliness and it turns out that Trace, a grumpy wolf with stunning eyes, knows just what that feels like. Cam finds himself wishing maybe they could be alone … together. Oh yeah, and battle whatever evil it is that still lurks in Divination Falls.

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Excerpt:

A dragonfly zipped past and Cam watched it go. What next? Bluebirds and butterflies and singing cartoon woodland animals? It was all too nice, too perfect … Surreal.

‘You OK?’ The voice was deep and dark and full of secrets. That was his first impression.

Cameron jumped, clutched at his pounding chest. Inside his heart was going berserk and he felt a little lightheaded with it.

‘I was. Jesus Christ, you scared me.’

Trace grinned with half his mouth. Somehow that little smirk made Cameron think of the big bad wolf. Made him flash back to that body sprawled, lean and powerful, over a small, lumpy bed. Made him remember one of those huge hands on a powerful, hard cock. He licked his lips.

‘Careful, lightning rider. I can smell your emotions.’ Then the wolf chuckled, bending to tie his work boot.

‘I – I’m sorry I spied on you.’ It was all Cameron could think to say.

Trace shrugged. Cameron watched his big shoulders flex with power. He was stunning with his huge body, big, fat attitude, and purple eyes. Just being so close to him made Cameron feel slow-witted and thick-tongued.

‘It was the most excitement I’ve had in ages,’ the wolf said and started to walk.

Cameron watched him go off, his heart sinking. He wanted the man to take his apology seriously. He also admitted to himself he wanted to be close to the wolf. There was no hope of anything happening between them. There was very little hope of anything happening for Cam with anyone. He’d come to terms with that long ago. But still, he could just be near Trace. Remembering the sight of his body and the sound of his voice just outside Cam’s barricaded bedroom door as he brought himself off.

Wolf at the door, he thought, and then shook it off.

Fifty feet away, Trace stopped, and Cameron felt his spine go rigid, his pulse pick up. The man turned to him and shielded his eyes from a bright beam of sunlight between the thick tree branches. ‘You gonna stand there all day admiring my ass, or are you coming?’

Cameron blinked, feeling a wild urge to laugh but pushing it away. ‘Yes! Right!’ he called, bouncing on his toes like one of those perky, hyper dogs. He blushed, but refused to let himself feel silly or embarrassed. He very much wanted to go along.

He hurried along the path until he was almost even with the wolf. Then Trace turned and continued to walk, Cameron right on his heels.

‘Why are you here?’ Trace asked.

The question stunned Cameron but he swallowed hard and tried to focus enough to answer. ‘Good question. I … work with weather. Lightning to be specific. I guess the best way to put it is I was nudged here.’

‘Like with voltage?’ Trace asked with a gruff laugh.

‘Yeah. Sadly, I do get nudged with voltage.’

The wolf turned those deep purple eyes on Cameron and said, ‘What for? What’s here?’

How did eyes get that colour? Cam wondered. Had he been born with them or was it a shifter thing? He had no idea; all he knew was they were the most amazing eyes he’d ever seen. And they were attached to one of the most amazing bodies he’d ever seen.

Trace cocked his head, giving a half grin. ‘Hello?’

‘Sorry! I was just looking –’ He flushed, caught in the act. ‘Your eyes, they’re amazing.’

That closed the bigger man down. He’d had a nice amused and open expression on his handsome face and that fast, it shut down like someone turning the lights off in an empty house. ‘Thanks. I guess. They’re the product of a very bad infection when I was a kid.’ He turned on his heels and kept walking without further explanation.

Cameron had to force himself to swallow. He had just complimented the first man he’d lusted after in goodness knew how many years on some sort of mutation? Something that clearly upset him when discussed. Good going, dumbass!

Cameron hurried along the patch, ducking reaching branches and praying there was no poison ivy to be found here in Divination Falls. ‘I’m sorry! I didn’t know. And I don’t know what’s here. Or why I am,’ he gasped, finally catching up.

The wolf shrugged. He shot Cameron a sideways glance and said, ‘Why would you know what’s here?’ He stopped fast and Cam found himself almost crying out from the sudden shift in motion. ‘As for why you’re here, how could you not know that?’

‘I never really know until it’s revealed,’ Cameron said. He kept his gaze pinned at Trace’s chin so he wouldn’t get mesmerized by those stunning eyes that clearly upset the custodian.

‘Was it me, maybe?’ Trace asked, his lips twisting into a grin. ‘Was it secretly watching me jack off? Was that your big mission?’ He took a step toward Cameron which forced the lightning rider to step back. Or get crushed against an angry wolf.

‘I’m sorry,’ Cam breathed. ‘It wasn’t my intention and then I couldn’t …’ He shook his head. His skin was tingling and he wondered if he was going to get struck. Or worse yet, if Trace would strike him. ‘You might want to step back,’ he said without thinking.

‘Why is that?’ the wolf asked, taking a step forward. ‘Am I invading your space?’

‘I get it,’ Cam stammered. ‘I invaded your privacy. I’m no better than a pervert. I know! But you could get …’

The wind kicked up. It often did when he was frightened or excited and his blood leapt in his veins and his heart beat fast with arousal. His last lover had been zinged by energy one too many times and when some of his hair had actually caught fire, he’d bailed. Calling Cameron a freak in the process. Cam wasn’t up for either Trace being hurt or thinking him a freak.

‘I might get what? And it’s OK – you invaded my privacy, now give me an excuse to invade yours.’ He pushed his face closer and Cameron caught a flickering of animal shine in the man’s eyes. They turned golden around the very iris and a fast, steady pulse beat at the base of Trace’s neck. When he took Cameron’s wrist in his big hand and squeezed, Cam felt the air rush out of him. His cock pressed eagerly to his jeans and he tried his best to focus on something – anything! – besides the wolf so maybe his hard-on would abate. No such luck because Trace took his warm hand and very briefly cupped the evidence of arousal in Cam’s pants. ‘Looks like you’re still a bit worked up from last night.’

‘You were watching me in wolf form.’

‘I was.’

‘You heard me.’ It wasn’t a question. Very briefly, Cam wished for Trace to put his hand back. To touch him.

‘I did. I also smelled you and tasted you on the wind. Do you know when you come your breath does this shuddery little sigh thing?’

‘No.’

‘Well, it does.’

Beast in Me: Book 2 of the Divination Falls Trilogy is available now from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

  

Bio

Sommer Marsden’s been called “…one of the top storytellers in the erotica genre” (Violet Blue), “Unapologetic” (Alison Tyler), “…the whirling dervish of erotica” (Craig J. Sorensen),and "Erotica royalty..." (Lucy Felthouse).

Her erotic novels include Restless Spirit, Boys Next Door, Big Bad, Learning to Drown, Wanderlust and the Zombie Exterminator series. Sommer currently writes erotica and erotic romance for Xcite Books, eXcessica, Ellora's Cave, Pretty Things Press, Resplendence Publishing and Mischief Books. The wine-swigging, dachshund-owning, wannabe runner author writes work that runs the gamut from bondage to zombies to humor.

Sommer's short works can be found in well over one hundred (and counting) erotic anthologies. Her short stories have also been included numerous adult and romance magazines--both in print and online.Links

 
Blog: http://sommermarsden.blogspot.com
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/sommer_marsden
Facebook: http://facebook.com/sommermarsden
Twitter: @sommer_marsden
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sommermarsden

Zombies and the Art of the Erotic

By Erzabet Bishop (Guest Blogger)

I used to hate zombies. Really. Night of the Living Dead gave me more nightmares than any other movie I have ever seen. (Except for The Last House on the Left. But that is a whole other ball of wax.) The sequels had me shuddering and changing the channel. Now I can’t get enough of them. Crazy, right? I agree. If there is a new episode of Walking Dead or a rerun of Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland, I am so there with the DVR, setting that thing to tape so I can watch it while hubby is at work. Confirmed zombie hater that he is, that suits him just fine.

The problem with most zombie movies is that they are written for men. And let’s face it, there aren’t any great erotic zombie movies out there. The closest I have found was a particularly interesting scene in Fido when a zombie owner tethers his pet zombie pinup girl and has a wild night with her. It must have been hard to get around those snapping jaws for a night of blazing sex.

In Coming Together: Hungry For Love, I took my love of horror and blended it with my enjoyment of erotica. In my story, “Dark Hunger” you have a girl who is going on a first date and things take a turn for the dark and erotic when he pulls in to an old cemetery on the outskirts of town. Hot, heavy and with a surprise twist ending, this story was a lot of fun to write.

Coming Together: Hungry for Love is a collection of zombie-themed erotic fiction edited by the fabulous Sommer Marsden. Sales proceeds benefit the American Diabetes Association.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Little Deaths (Cora Zane); My Name is Brighton (Alana Noel Voth); Dead in the Water (Lynn Townsend); Head Full of Zombie (Alison Tyler); Zombie Apocalypse: First Responder (Kissa Starling); You Look Better Dead (Jeffrey L. Shipley); Zombie Goddess (Sadey Quinn); Dark Hunger (Erzabet Bishop); Love Never Dies (t'Sade); Meat (Bobby Diabolus); Annie Morgan (Armand Rosamilia); Queer Zombie Disco (Kirsty Logan); The Tenderest Meat (Elise Hepner); Last Man on Earth (Blacksilk); Zombie Factory (Kiki Howell); Screen Siren (Annabeth Leong); You Make a Dead Man Come ( Sommer Marsden)

Buy Links:

Smashwords
Amazon

CreateSpace (print)

Amazon (print)

All Romance Ebooks

OmniLit

Dark Hunger Excerpt

"I missed you." His voice was breathy as he pulled her tighter against him. His hand reached around to the front of her body and wandered down her thigh and underneath her skirt. Skimming the outside of her moistened panties, his hand traced her mound and she gave an involuntary shudder as he ever so lightly edged beneath the delicate fabric and slid a finger into her seeping folds.

"Trevor!" She gasped in sweet agony. Arching her back, she molded her body against him. He slowly moved his finger within her sopping cunt, creating a tension inside of her that bordered on insanity as his thumb rubbed over her clit. She struggled against the confines of her panties and wanted the offending article off. Now.

Tearing the flimsy scrap of fabric from her body, he grabbed her hips with both hands grinding her ass right into the hardness of his cock. She let loose a strangled moan and ground backwards against him. Sliding her skirt down and off, she spread her legs wider, completely naked and exposed.

***

When I interview authors on my blog, I often ask them a series of questions. Now it’s my turn to answer a few. 

 

*When did you start writing erotica?

That is an interesting answer. I had dabbled a bit, but it wasn’t until I read the famed or infamous depending on your viewpoint, 50 Shades that I decided it was time to take pen to paper so to speak. I created a blog for reviewing more of the genre I was growing to love and decided after reading about ERWA and checking out their amazing submission lists, that I would try to write a few.

*What is the hardest/most awkward scene you ever wrote?

You would think it would be the sex, right? Nope. It was the fight scene in Hungry for Love. I read tons of erotica. If you want to write, first be a reader. Fight scenes are usually not in my choices of literature but I also remembered an author I interviewed for one of my blogs who said she used stuffed animals to imitate body movement and battle strategy. Guess who used her stuffed pig and detachable head zombie doll for roll playing? *raises hand*

*Pepperoni pizza or sushi?

Pizza. You would never get sushi past my lips. Ever.

*Chocolate or ice cream?

Can’t I have both?

*Favorite type of erotica?

BDSM, f/f, m/f, horror and paranormal

*Favorite character type?

I love strong women who can stand up for what they want and not be a doormat. At the same time, it takes great strength to put your trust in a Dom/Domme and be a submissive. The art of BDSM erotica fascinates me with the power dynamics and I am longing to explore more. My December release in the Milk, Cookies and Handcuffs anthology by Storm Moon Press has an incubus with a particular fetish for Christmas  ornaments, kink and a young woman he meets at a bookstore. 

 

About the author:

Erzabet Bishop has been in love with books since she could sound out the oddities of Dr. Seuss. Inspired by the life size cutouts of Dracula and his bride that adorned the wall of her bedroom as a teenager, she has been reading and writing fiendishly ever since. She is a writer of erotica and has never been happier since she discovered that naughty stories really are more fun. Under her real name, she reviews music, is an aspiring YA and horror author, blogs about books and can be found crocheting and watching monster movies with her husband or chasing around one of her furry children and insisting loudly that they behave. They don’t listen.

Check out her erotica reviews at http://erzabetsenchantments.blogspot.com/.

Follow her on twitter @erzabetbishop

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/erzabet.bishop

Pinterest:http://pinterest.com/erzabetbishop/

Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9774083-erzabet-bishop

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=210218566&trk=tab_pro

Erzabet's favorite zombie movie is Shaun of the Dead but Zombieland and Fido come in pretty close as second and third. Bring on the Twinkies.

Romancing The Girl (or Why I Write F/F Fiction)

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Review: Base Nature by Sommer Marsden

Reviewed by Lisabet Sarai

(You can buy Base Nature from Ellora's Cave.)

Wolf-shifter Garrett Gustafson has left his pack. He can't accept the death of his beloved mate at the hands of a drunken hunter, nor the decision of his pack not pursue vengeance. Still grieving, he never expects to find another woman who calls to him, body and soul--especially not a human.

Liv McCoy spends her life in fear. Daughter of a battered mother, she finds herself attracted despite herself to men like her father, men who threaten and abuse her. At first, when Garrett protects her from her angry boyfriend, she doesn't dare trust the big, handsome carpenter. Before long she understands that even though Garrett is half-beast, he will protect and nurture her in a way that she has never experienced. For Liv, however, that is not enough. Having spent her life without power, now she wants the power that only Garrett can give--by turning her into a wolf like him.

Sommer Marsden's Base Nature is a classic shape-shifter romance with all the traditional elements of the sub-genre: a massive, strong, noble but emotionally tortured hero; an irresistible attraction between him and the heroine; a quirky but supportive shapeshifter clan; an excruciating change from human to other; and of course, a happy ending. As one might expect from a writer with Ms. Marsden's credentials, the book offers a well-crafted development of the relationship and plenty of hot sex scenes.

What sets this book apart from the dozens of other wolf-shifter novels available, in my opinion, is the character of Liv. Especially in the first half of the book, her emotions blaze off the page. I remember reading a scene where she is being stalked by her abusive boyfriend and suddenly realizing that adrenaline was flooding my body. My heart was pounding; my mouth was dry. I was there with her. Ms. Marsden has vividly evoked the tangled psychology that draws the abused to her abuser.

As the tale developed, I found Liv's changed personality somewhat hard to accept. It seemed to me that she trusted Garrett a bit too quickly to be plausible. By the end of the book, though, when she and her wounded lover are holed up in the deserted house where she saw her mother abused, I was ready to believe that she had truly found a reservoir of strength within, power that had nothing to do with her beast nature.

The novel also appealed to me because the wolves are portrayed as powerful but not invulnerable. Their hyper-keen senses and muscular strength are believable extensions of real wolf abilities. They can, however, be hurt or even killed, including by careless humans. As I've written in other posts, I prefer a paranormal world in which the magic is clearly defined and limited. I dislike worlds where anything can happen, where the author can pull out some new, unexpected power at any time in order to save the day.

If you're a fan of were-wolf romance, you'll enjoy Base Nature. The book has all that you expect, and more.