Sunday, June 26, 2011

Guest Blogger: Sam Crescent

I've got Sam Crescent with me today, folks. She's got one beautiful cover and one cool blog about finding the perfect hero.

Congrats on your first publication, Sam! :)

What makes the perfect hero?

This question will have a different answer for everyone. We all have different tastes in men and in women. The hero in a romance story is one of the crucial parts to any story as is the heroine. For many years I was a plain and simple reader and to be honest I never really thought much about the characters. I either liked the story or didn’t.

Then because I like to challenge myself I started a career path of becoming a writer and now everything I find I have to look into detail. What type of hero would be perfect for my story? Is he mean or tender? A bad boy or the sweet boy next door? Is he sexy or rugged? Aged or mature? Young or dangerous? All these questions go around my head. I have certain authors I read who handle the dangerous guy perfectly; Diana palmer, J.R.Ward, Kresley Cole the list can continue.

Why does this have any relevance to me? Well, after spending the last three years writing, earlier this year—March—I finally received my first official acceptance email. Since then, it has been one long ride. This week—June 20th—Office hours was finally released in e-book.

Anya my key female character is a gutsy fiery red head and she needed the right kind of male to tame her. This was a struggle for me, as she was a difficult woman to let loose on the unsuspecting male characters rolling around in my head.

Not one man would do. He would have to take her and love every part of her for whom she was and would not try to change her in any way. He would need to be strong but affectionate. Anya maybe strong and give the attitude she doesn’t need a man, but in truth, she just wants to be loved.

She has been hurt in the past and cut off all of her emotional attachment to men. Her relationships are based on the more clinical.

Nathan Banks was perfect for her. He is strong, tender, affectionate and would never change anything about this woman who tempts and teases and makes up all the empty parts of his life.
I have a real affection for this couple. One of the reasons because it was the first story of mine to be published but also because for the first time the couple really seemed right. They took me on this story. I remember once being asked why I didn’t write my own stuff—at the time I didn’t write anything—and my lame reason was I would know the ending. I would know the outcome. That is why we read, to escape and to be in a world that is not our own. I thought I would know all my stories from back to front even before I typed a single word.

How wrong I was.

I never know how a story is going to end. I start writing with my characters in mind and how I would like it to end but with Office hours, I really didn’t anticipate the turns they made together.
I would love to know your thoughts on the perfect man. Who is your idea of the best male character? I have so many characters I love but the one that comes instantly to mind is Zsadist. He is damaged but still willing to learn and to love and has one of the most beautiful endings in a story I think. I was almost crying by the end of it.

Sam Crescent.

Bio:

Sam Crescent is passionate about fiction. She loves a good erotic romance and so it only made sense for her to spread her wings and start writing. She began writing in 2009 and finally got that first acceptance in 2011 by Total-E-Bound.

She loved creating new characters and delving into the worlds that she creates. When she’s not panicking about a story or arguing with a character, she can be found in her kitchen creating all kinds of havoc. Like her stories the creations in the kitchen can be just as dubious but sometimes things turn out great.

You can find me at:

Blog: http://samcrescent.wordpress.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SamCrescent
Facebook: http://en-gb.facebook.com/people/Sam-Crescent/100002178529657
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4879423.Sam_Crescent

Blurb: Office Hours

Fiery redheaded temptress Anya King is desperate for the carnal delights of
a pleasure weekend. A chance to indulge in every sexual fantasy… But demanding, sexy boss, Nathan Banks, has signed them both up for a ‘team-building’ weekend in the beautiful country town of Buxton.

An innocent weekend turns to hot, lusty sex—hot enough to melt the snow outside and the ice around their hearts. Will the job Anya loves survive the weekend? And will their time together be more than just a moment?

Excerpt: Office Hours

“What the hell is this?” Anya King stormed into her boss’s office carrying the offending memo and slammed it with as much force as she could muster onto his desk.

Nathan Banks stopped typing to glance at his personal assistant, then at the memo he’d left on her desk while she went out to lunch. “It’s about a team-building weekend. It’s a new scheme to help colleagues work together better.”

“I can clearly see what it’s about, Mr Banks. What I want to know is why my name is on that list?” Anya placed a hand on her hip. She needed to keep her head, relax and breathe.

“I signed us up for the course as a team.” He pushed the paper away, looking at her with calm composure. Anya felt anything but calm.

“You did this without even consulting me?” She swallowed down her anger, keeping her fiery temper at bay. Work relationships were supposed to be kept professional. It wouldn’t do for her to lose her temper.

“ In case you hadn’t noticed, Miss King, I happen to own this company, what I say goes and if I think this weekend will benefit my company, as my personal assistant you’ll be accompanying me. No questions asked.” He looked pointedly at the memo until she picked it up again.

Anya watched him go back to his computer, his sure, sturdy hands typing purposefully away. Clever hands that could bring a woman all kinds of sexual pleasure, if all of the rumours floating around the office were true. Anya tried not to think about her boss and sex. It was wrong and unprofessional, but sometimes when she was alone images of Nathan crept into her mind, and not all of them in employer-employee situations.

“I have plans this weekend.” She folded her arms underneath her full breasts. She needed this weekend! There was only so long she could resist her natural urges. Face it, she was over-sexed. Images of Nathan fucking her had entered her mind one too many times of late. Time away with another man, or men, should put her system back to rights. Nathan could go back to being just a man she happened to work for.

“Cancel it.” He didn’t even lift his head.

“How am I supposed to cancel at the last minute?” She wasn’t going to give in just like that. He was going to hear her out whether he liked it or not.

But Nathan was just as stubborn as she. “Find a way. It’s not my problem. I’ll see you here tomorrow at nine. Pack for a busy weekend and read the memo, it’ll tell you what you need.” He dismissed her, lifting up his phone to dial an associate.

Anya thought about waiting it out, to see if he really was calling someone and not just doing it to get rid of her. Instead she nodded, simmering to herself, took the memo and quietly left his office, closing the door without making a sound.

Sitting behind her desk, she grabbed her bag, pulling out her ticket and the file about her planned pleasure weekend. Tomorrow she was supposed to be leaving for a small, isolated mansion, where every little lust and desire the body craved could be experienced, along with the promise of total anonymity. The ticket alone would have left most people crying at the cost. She could only just afford it on her salary.

She sighed. It was a good job the ticket could be used on any weekend over the course of a month. But her ticket was for December, one of the busiest times of the year, which meant her time was already in short supply.

Anya usually went for the first weekend of the month, but overtime at work, along with life in general, had got the better of her this month, so she had been planning to spend the second weekend of December at her erotic hideaway. Had been, until her domineering boss had demanded her presence on his stupid team-building weekend. He said, “Jump,” and she had no choice but to say, “How high?” Anya took pride in her work, but sometimes being the best personal assistant was a pain in the arse. The reward for good work was more work. Shaking her head in disappointment, she reflected that at least there were still two weekends left after this work-together-better nonsense or whatever he wanted to call it. She folded up her ticket and placed it carefully back in her bag.

She could survive this weekend, but she would need reinforcements. Sexual reinforcements.

Snag your copy of Office Hours today from Total E-Bound!

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