Burnt Out

My week had a rocky start and just culminated into the craziness that it became. I felt like I was no longer living life, but it was living me, and screwing me, and beating me down, and not at all in a hot and sexy way.

By Thursday I was spinning out of control.

I got my first chance at de-stressing Thursday night. I was picking a fight with my husband, obsessing about a party we were throwing this weekend, yelling about having to clean the house, and complaining that I was tired.

He turned to me and said, "You have two options. You can come out and have a beer and wings with me and chill the fuck out. We can worry about cleaning tomorrow. Or you can stay home and pout and clean alone, but I am going out either way."

I am no dummy, I didn't want to clean anyway, so no way was I doing it alone!

We ate, we drank, we were merry. And I slept that night, so nice. I woke up refreshed.

And then Friday just tore me back down again.

I was teetering on the edge of lunacy. I could feel the tears threatening, welling up behind my eyes.

There are not enough hours in the day. I am not getting enough done in these hours. I am not feeling balanced, I am not feeling together. I am pedaling faster and getting nowhere.

Work has me in a panic. But then I come home to my husband, my rock, my love, my biggest supporter. And I snap at him and get grouchy and mope. He wants to take me out, we should go meet some friends. We should unwind! We should have some anal sex later.

Oh yeah?

Well, why the hell not? But I am feeling unprepared for this. We have been so busy lately our sexual encounters have been less of the planned, drawn out affairs they used to be and have become more of the 'wham bam, thank you ma'am' encounter.

Needless to say, not much anal action going on. So it's probably a good idea to put the butt plug in before dinner.

Yes, I said, probably a good idea. Turns out it wasn't. As we had to wait for a table, and then everyone was having a good time talking and catching up. We did not get home until three hours later, I was past the point of sexed up and hot. Now I was cranky, more irritable and more than a little uncomfortable. 

Did I feel like having anal sex after all that? No. Did I feel like having any kind of sex? No. Did I feel like pouting, being angry at the world, curling up into a ball and crying, and ignoring my ever- loving and understanding husband? Yes, yes I did.

I sort of lost my shit and let some of the crazy out.

I took a shower and we were getting ready for bed and my husband wants to know am I okay now? So how do I answer? I cry.

The man was at a loss. He had tried all week to make things okay. He listened and tried to understand and tried to help where he could. He tried distraction, he tried plying me with my favorite foods, he tried mini celebrations for my newly released book. And where had it gotten us?

He pulls me into our bedroom, I'm still wrapped in my towel, still wet from the shower, and he says "I don't really want to do this, but I don't know what else to do."

And then my husband, the man who doesn't "get" the whole spanking thing. Who thinks spanking is only about sex. Who has been very open minded, but doesn't get where I am coming from. Who has been trying to understand, but really wasn't connecting the dots-

Pulls me across his lap and spanks me. Hard. And long. Until I am kicking my feet up and gasping. Past the point I feel like he has spanked me before. And I feel something inside me unwind. And I feel something open up just a little. 

I don't think I really get it. It just is. And I am glad he doesn't want me to explain because it is unexplainable.

He wants to know then, as I am standing in front of him naked with my ass on fire. Am I okay now? Did that help?

Yes. Yes it did.

We had some sleepy, relaxed sex after that. The house got cleaned. The party happened. We had a great weekend.

I am still feeling 'right', and I am just so thankful for that.

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The Books We Love

Welcome to another edition of the Round Table Discussion- Spanking Hot Topics, brought to you by Spanking Romance Reviews.

This week our guest topic was provided by Lucy Appleby: The importance of dynamic first chapters, opening paragraphs, & narrative

I signed up for this topic and then immediately questioned my judgement.

Sure, I have been dabbling in writing for the past year, but that by no means makes me an expert on our topic today. Then I had a thought, I have been reading my entire life, I know what books I like and what books I don't. So I come to you today as a reader. 

What makes me like a book? Well my first favorite book that I can recall was The Eye Book

"My eyes see. 
His eyes see. 
I see him. 
And he sees me."

Okay, not exactly dynamic I guess, but to a four year old it was high quality. Also, I loved the rabbit on the cover. He looks a little crazy, and even as a kid I could respect that.







Moving on in my reading career. I have a confession to make: I hated reading when I was a kid. This seems like such a sacrilegious statement to make as an author. But I did. I hated reading. Required reading for school was the worst!

We have to jump about ten years to get to my next favorite book in life. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Required reading for my high school freshman English class.

It may have been the only book I read in entirety during my high school career. I was wondering myself what would have made me actually read this book. Here is how it opens:

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.... When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out."

I was recently wondering what it was about this book that enticed me to read it. It just may have been these opening lines. Even now it hooks me and I am thinking it has been a long time since I read this. I might have to go dig out my copy.

A while back we were all tagging each other on facebook to name ten books that influenced you. I ended up having a lot of plays on my list. I was a theatre geek and I always read plays. Well, they are shorter than books, makes sense I had chosen to read these over full novels. But I think the real reason is that they are all action. You can't have a lot of set up or back story in a play, it's dialogue, events, things are moving. The audience needs to know what's going on without someone saying "She was crying because she burned the muffins." You have to actually see her burn the muffins.

I think, to me, that is what makes a good book. Putting me in the middle of something that is already going on. As if I'm "joining this program already in progress," go on, do your thing. I'll catch up.

Taking the big picture and zeroing in on one thing you want me to focus on. It sets up an intimate relationship between me and the book.

His eyes see, and Jem broke his arm. Small things going on in a big world, but they were all I cared about for those moments in time.

Now I am all about the spanking, the romance, the sex. Please have sex! I'm not saying I don't like a book without sex, but if you are alluding to it the whole time and then don't seal the deal, I get a little ornery.

My favorite setups into a spanking romance are when it opens on the heroine doing something a little bit dangerous. Maybe a little naughty. Something that feels like it might lead to a spanking. Yeah, I guess I get a little single-minded about these things, but I'm not going to lie about what I like.

What about you? What about an opening paragraph makes you want to read?

Be sure to check out all the other Round Table posts for today! Thanks for stopping by.

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The Bossman by Renee Rose- Falling in Love with the Mafia

Today I am sharing my review of Renee Rose's The Bossman. It's no lie that I enjoy reading a good spanking romance. I generally enjoy romances of the historical fashion, but there is something about a contemporary domestic discipline story that, when done well, can be so off the charts hot!

There are so many things that should be unlikable about the hero, Joey La Torre. He's a member of the mafia! He spanks women, sometimes without their consent! He probably owns suits that cost more than my car! (Okay, that last one is just a 'me' thing, but still!)

Here is my review of The Bossman:

Sophie Palazzo finds herself face to face with the Mafia Don's brother, Joey La Torre. She's determined from their first meeting to remain distant from the Mafia life her father had been involved in before his death. But Joey's charm and persistence might prove to be more than Sophie can ignore.

I loved the way Sophie and Joey played off each other. I like a sassy, mouthy heroine and Sophie was charmingly both. I found myself chuckling at the back and forth between the two characters. Renee Rose does an excellent job of making you fall in love with a man that you shouldn't want to fall in love with. I think I fell for Joey right along with Sophie. He works for the Mafia, an organization that does bad things, but there's something about him that makes you want to spend the rest of your life with him.

In The Bossman you experience the highs and the lows with Sophie and Joey. There were parts I found myself laughing out loud, while other parts had tears blurring my vision. I was wishing so hard for their happy ending that at some points I didn't think it was going to be possible. I kept trying to read faster just to make sure everything came out all right.

You should buy this today. Then you should call out of work and lock the door, because you're going to want some time and privacy!

Blurb for The Bossman:

Sophie Palazzo steered clear of the mafia after her father's involvement ended with his murder. Fifteen years later, Joey La Torre, the Don's brother himself, shows up unannounced at her massage studio and wheedles his way into a date. She has no interest in aggressive, macho men like Joey, or so she tries to tell herself, but her body just doesn't get the message. When Joey takes her in hand with a firm bare-bottomed spanking, she ought to be furious, instead, she's aroused. As she explores her physical desires to be dominated, she tries to keep Joey at arm's length emotionally.
Joey knows he wants Sophie for keeps from the moment he walks into her life. She is hot, classy and full of fire, even though submission turns her on. But his involvement in the mafia is a hard limit for her, bringing to conflict his own dedication to the Family, the code of silence and his relationship with his older brother. Can he reconcile his duty to the organization and his growing need for Sophie to remain in his life permanently? 

Buy Links:

Amazon, Amazon UK, ARe, Barnes & Noble

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Dungeon Crawl- "Am I Getting Through to You?"

Welcome back to another week of the Dungeon Crawl! I still have not been kicked out, seriously, who is running this thing? Oh, Romancing the Kink! I have them all fooled!

Anyway, this scene from my book Cursed Waters picks up where last week left off. Trevor is punishing Roxy for almost getting herself killed. He is not done yet!

She heard Trevor moving behind her and then felt him at her back. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to his front. One hand traveled up and massaged her neck and shoulders. The hand still at her waist began working on the button of her jeans. Roxy let her arms go limp at her sides and closed her eyes. She loved when Trevor undressed her, even if his intention was to punish her, it made her feel completely his. Once the button was open he slid down the zipper and started working her tight jeans down her hips. They stopped at mid-thigh, where they had gotten wet, the tightness and the material would have made them a struggle to get down to begin with, but with them being wet on top of everything else they may as well had been glued to her thighs.

He grabbed her hips and turned her around, giving her a hard look that dared her to defy him. He then led her the few feet to the desk and bent her over the edge. Roxy lay her cheek on the cool smooth surface as Trevor slid her panties down to meet her jeans. She imagined her ass was already glowing red judging from the sting the spoon had left. Trevor grabbed a handful of her hair using his forearm to press her upper body into the desk.

His hand came down on her right cheek and she jumped on impact, curling her fingers around the edge of the desk. He began a methodical rhythm, right, left, center. He started towards the top and was working his way down, she cringed as he got closer to the place where her ass met her thighs, but she remained in place. 

“Am I getting through to you?” he asked. Roxy didn't respond at first, caught off guard by the break in the silence. She was rewarded with a tug on her hair and three smacks to the backs of her thighs.

Thanks for stopping in. Visit all the other Dungeon Crawlers this week!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Emmaline's Groom- Cover Reveal of My New Novella!

Today I am just showing off my fancy new cover and blurb for my Victorian Novella, Emmaline's Groom.

If all goes as planned, it will be available for purchase later this week!

Emmaline Lawford, the youngest daughter of an English Marquess, is intended to marry. Though to whom might be up for debate. Her older brother, Samuel, has his sights set on marrying her off to a Duke. Emmaline finally accepts her fate, until a breach in etiquette finds her back in the arms of the man she truly loves.

Leo Colston is stunned when Emmaline is thrust back into his life. He had resigned himself to the fact that he would never marry the woman he loved. Now they are taking hasty wedding vows and being urged to move to America, where they can leave the talk of scandal behind them.

Emma and Leo realize settling into marriage is not going to be as smooth sailing as they thought. As they try to work out their differences and get used to living in close quarters Emmaline finds herself in trouble with her new husband on more than one occasion. Leo's favorite way to end an argument is to take his lady over his knee and spank her bare bottom until she submits. Emma thinks he should just give in to her womanly charms. Who will win this battle of wills?

This book includes spanking, graphic sex, anal play, and more. If any of this subject matter offends you, please do not purchase this book.

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Spring Fling Blog Hop Winners!!

Hi Everyone!

Thanks again to all those who visited the blogs for the Spring Fling Blog Hop and thanks again to Hops with Heart for hosting!

We have some winners to announce!

Kindle Fire— Sally Fryman Wagoner

$75 Amazon Gift Card— Eva

$25 Starbucks Gift Card— Eva Millien

$25 Blushing Books Gift Card— Kathy Osborn

$25 Loose ID— Jessica Subject

And the winners from my own personal contest were Petula and Ray!

Thanks for playing. Have a great week!

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Taming Megan by Natasha Knight- A Hot Love Story

I've been busy writing and editing and toiling away on projects, but I did find a little bit of time to read in the past few weeks.

Today I would like to share my review of Taming Megan by Natasha Knight. 


This is the third book from the Roark Brother's, and I was already so in love with Luke and Liam that I couldn't wait to meet the third brother, Jake. I was not disappointed!

My Review:

This story is about a newly married couple, Jake and Megan. They're in the first year of their marriage where they are also implementing Domestic Discipline as a mainstay in their relationship. Megan enters the marriage knowing that this is how Jake wants things. She is so in love with him and so happy he is with her that she let's herself ignore it. Until she can no longer ignore it anymore.

I think Ms. Knight did an excellent job portraying a new marriage between a man and his younger wife. Megan is more naive than Jake. She is still figuring herself out and coming into her own whereas Jake is already established in adulthood. Megan is trying to come to terms with her past and overcome the feeling that she is not good enough for her husband.

The characters are very real. I think a lot of people experience similar emotions during the early stages of a relationship. Loving another person so wholly, but not really understanding that they love you back with the same intensity. I enjoyed watching Megan grow into herself, and the scenes between Megan and Jake were so hot I needed a cool drink.

Another home run from Natasha Knight. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up now!

Here is the Blurb for Taming Megan:

Jake Roark is the husband Megan never dreamed she could have—handsome, responsible, kind-hearted, and so much more. Before she ever said her wedding vows, though, she also knew that he was traditional enough to take a misbehaving wife in hand. When the bad habits from the wild life she led before she met Jake begin to resurface, Megan soon finds herself over his knee for a bare bottom spanking. 

Jake's firm hand and old-fashioned ways only increase her love for him, but when a mistake from the past is suddenly thrust into the forefront of her life and her marriage, will Jake's love for Megan be strong enough to keep her in his arms forever, no matter what he learns about her? Publisher’s Note: Taming Megan is a stand-alone sequel to Taming Emma. It is an erotic romance novel that contains graphic sexual scenes, anal play, and spankings, including domestic discipline in a contemporary setting. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.

Buy Links:

Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, All Romance, Barnes and Noble, Blushing Books

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Saturday Spankings- Changing Her Attitude

Happy Saturday! I have a new book coming out sometime next week. You can win an Advanced Copy, just sign up for my newsletter over on the right. You'll get a monthly update from me and I am choosing a winner from all of my new sign ups this weekend! 

The new book is called Emmaline's Groom. It's a historical, set in the Victorian era.

This scene is between Emma and Leo. It doesn't need much setup, they have a past together, and they will have a future (enough of a tease?), right now they're at odds with each other.

Emma turned to face him head on, hands on her hips, a steely resolve showing in her eyes. A smarter man would have retreated. He didn't consider himself a very smart man, and he was feeling a bit reckless today, “Go on then, tell us your troubles,” Leo reached up and patted the horse between the ears, “or go find someone else to terrorize.”

Emma's eyes shone with fury. She closed the distance between them, stomping towards him, until they stood nose to nose- or actually nose to chest. She was a little bundle of temper and fire, he could see her body trembling from it. Leo itched to reach out and weave his fingers through her flowing locks. If Emma were his, he could think of a few ways to change her attitude.

Thanks for stopping by! Visit all the other Saturday Spankers too!

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Spring Fling Blog Hop

Welcome to the Spring Fling Blog Hop hosted by Hops with Heart!

Make sure you enter to win the fabulous prizes being offered at the bottom of this post.

Today, I have an excerpt from The Winter Storm: An Ever After Chronicle, a book I co-authored along with Renee Rose and Katherine Deane.

In this selection Coral is just meeting Jake and she is caught off guard by her instant attraction to him. Coral works at a fetish lodge and likes to frequent the BDSM dungeon, she's intrigued to see if Jake will venture down with her.

After she took a shower and put on some dry clothes Coral headed down to the kitchen to warm some milk for hot cocoa. She stopped in the doorway, caught off guard by the man standing at the stove.

“Would you like some hot cocoa? I was just making myself a mug of it.”

Jake smiled at her as she hesitantly stepped into the room. She wasn't expecting to find anyone else in here.

“Yes, thank you.” She turned her back to him as she busied herself getting mugs down from the cupboard. She needed a second to get her bearings.

“So, you work here?” He had turned back towards the stove, stirring chocolate into the boiling milk. She took the opportunity to let her eyes wander over his broad shoulders, down his muscular back, to his tight ass. 

He glanced over his shoulder at her, his lips quirking up when he caught her staring. Her face heated in embarrassment and she forced words out of her mouth.

“Uh, yeah. I take care of the fish.” She shoved the mugs onto the counter next to the stove and retreated to the wooden dining table in the middle of the room.

He filled the mugs and carried them to where she sat, “The fish?”

“The aquariums and fish ponds. I maintain them for Mr. Wolfe.” She wrapped her hands around her mug to stop them from shaking.

“So you don't work in any other areas of the lodge?” His voice carried a hint of disappointment.

“No,” she paused, “well, I don't get paid to at least. But there are no rules about employees playing with the guests. Are you a guest?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “I'm not going anywhere in this weather. Mr. Wolfe was nice enough to let me and my sister take shelter from the storm.”

She nodded her head in agreement remembering what Mr. Wolfe said about Jake and his sister staying with them, “What did you do to your head?”

He placed on hand on his bandage and frowned. “I took a fall,” he said, “thanks to my darling sister.”

“I have a few sisters like that,” she replied.

“Do they work here too?”

“They don't live around here, I don't really see them much.” A pang of regret hit her and she needed to change the subject. “You're name is Jake right?”

He stuck his hand across the table to shake her hand, “Yes, Jake. And you are the beautiful Coral, if I remember correctly.”

She felt her cheeks warm from his compliment.

“Once we finish our cocoa would you like the grand tour?” She didn't normally fraternize with the guests if she wasn't playing, but this one seemed different.

Blurb:

In a world where fairy tales and real life collide, in which truth is sometimes stranger than fiction and romance and fetish are the norm, a winter storm forces a cast of characters to converge at a unique lodge, and three interwoven tales are set in motion.

Jillian and her brother narrowly escape a wolf attack, thanks to a shapeshifter, Bertram. As the owner of the lodge, Bertram opens Jillian’s eyes to a whole new world filled with spanking and so much more. Will she keep fighting her submission, or allow herself the chance for true love?

Coral is a fugitive—hiding from herself, her true desires, and the sea witch to whom she owes a great debt. She fears showing real emotion and letting herself be free, but Jake Hill’s dominating presence beckons her to yield to him—not just her body, but her heart, mind, and soul. When the sea witch demands retribution, though, she may lose the one man she has come to trust.

When Faye blunders while casting a spell upon her landlord, he claims her as his slave until she can undo the magic, and she finds herself subject to his firm discipline. As her attraction to him grows, Faye fears she will give in to the handsome shifter and forever lose her maidenhood, and consequently her powers and the ability to fix her mistake.

Even as all three women struggle with surrendering to the dominant men they have fallen for, each finds herself on a journey to discover her true self. Can they find a way to yield to love without losing themselves in the process?

Publisher’s Note: The Winter Storm is an erotic romance novel that includes spankings, anal play, sexual scenes, age play, exhibitionism, elements of BDSM, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon UK

All Romance ebooks

Kobo

Blushing Books

B&N

Enter with Rafflecopter for a chance to win one of these grand prizes!

1 Kindle Fire (Donated by Blushing Books)

1 $75 Amazon (or B&N) Gift Card

1 $25 Starbucks Gift Card (Donated by Sue)

1 $25 Blushing Books Gift Card (Donated by Patty)

1 $25 Loose Id Gift Card (Donated by Cara)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'll also be giving away a copy of one of my previous releases to two lucky commenters, so leave me some love!
(Please leave your email in comment so I can get at you if you win!)

Thanks for stopping by!

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Dungeon Crawl- "It's Supposed to Hurt"

Welcome back to another Dungeon Crawl from our friends over at Romancing the Kink!

You had a whole week to limber up and stretch it out before you got back down into the crawl again, here we go!

This is from my book Cursed Waters. In this scene Trevor is displeased that Roxy has lied to him and almost gotten herself murdered by zombies. You know, just your everyday lover's quarrel...

Trevor reached up and pulled her arm. She fell, ungracefully, across his lap. Roxy put her hands out to steady herself on the floor and readjust, but before she even had a moment he started spanking her. The wooden spoon bit into her flesh. She still had the protection of her jeans, but thinking they were any kind of buffer would have been a mistake. Her mistakes kept adding up today. Lying to Trevor, hiding things from him, and letting him pack a damned wooden spoon.

“Ah,” she cried out, a particularly hard smack hitting her upper thigh, pulling her from her self deprecating thoughts. “Please!” Roxy kicked her legs straight out behind her and she tried to twist away from the incoming blows. “It hurts!” She yelled out.

Trevor stopped and waited for her to stop wiggling around. She felt his hand on her lower back rubbing small circles, “It's supposed to hurt, Roxy.”

His response infuriated her. He wanted to hurt her? She fought against his hold on her and pushed herself to her feet.

Trevor looked up at her in surprise. “Are we done?”

Roxy used both hands to try to rub the sting from her ass, “Yes!” she shouted at him.

“Who decides when the spanking's over?” He asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't respond.

“Who's in charge here?” He questioned her again. Roxy wanted to kick him, he was pulling out everything he knew that would get her to comply. “Do you need a break?”

She still didn't reply but she felt tears pricking the backs of her eyes. Why did she get so over emotional when he could remain so in control?

Trevor pointed to the corner behind the desk. “Go face the wall and think for a minute.”

When she didn't move right away he raised his eyebrows at her, Roxy spun on her heel and made her way over to the appointed corner. 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to visit all the other posts this week too!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Being Comfortable in Your Own Skin

I will just preface this post as saying this has nothing to do with spanking; it has nothing to do with promotion, trying to get you to buy something, or even writing for that matter.

But this is my blog, and I have more than one side, people! (Although, I am sure I can work a spanking innuendo in here somewhere if you stick around, because I am not dead.)

You might know, or you might not know, that I joined a roller derby league 9 months ago. It's excellent exercise, it's a nice way to channel my competitive nature, and who knew I could be sporty? (I certainly didn't)

I have a whole new image to get used to, and I felt very alone about it until reading this post this morning.

The thing is- working out and sweating my ass off a few nights a week on roller skates has changed my body. I know this shouldn't be shocking, but I guess I just didn't anticipate the results because that wasn't my goal. 

I'm 31 and I was feeling more and more like an old lady. My lower back would tighten up, my knees were hurting, I would get winded walking up the stairs with the laundry. My goal of joining a sport was to trick myself into exercising, as I abhor sweating, or working out for no reason. And I figured if I was being active, I wasn't resigning to a sedentary life- where 10 years down the road I couldn't do much of anything at all.

Body image-wise I was fine. I have always been a curvy girl. I got boobs when I was 11 so I had a long time to come to terms with my curvaceousness. So yes, by 30, I was comfortable with the fact that I had boobs, an ass, hips, and would never fit into a size smaller than a 14 again. And I didn't care!

Then I started to lose some weight. Yay! My clothes were fitting better.

Then they weren't fitting better. Because they weren't fitting. They got big and swimmy, and I hardly noticed until my husband mentioned that maybe I should go buy some new duds.

And then people started making comments.

"I hardly recognized you, you look so different."

"You got so skinny!"

and my favorite:

"You lost sooooo much weight!"

(Way to make me feel like I was once a ginormous cow, and now I am finally worth noticing)

This is where I say I am afraid at this point I am sounding like I am complaining about losing weight. I am not. I don't even think I'm complaining. I really am just addressing this issue I am having about my body image changing in my 30's. Suddenly I feel like I am 13 again and everyone is staring. Everyone is judging. And (of course) everyone has an opinion.

I spent the last 20 years making jokes about my curvy figure. Shaking it to distract from my minor insecurities. My mental image of myself has not caught up with the image everyone is seeing. Now in large group settings my comments and jokes about "being curvy" die on my lips because I am not sure I am equipped to make them anymore.

I shrug off compliments, dodge questions about my weight (I don't own a scale, I have no clue how much I lost), and cry when my husband comments that my boobs shrunk. Yes, I cried, I think I scared him. It was not a good day.

I'm getting faster. I'm becoming more agile. I'm feeling like a real roller derby player and that is all I am judging myself on.

Recently, I was talking to one of my brother's friends and I think he brought it all into a better light for me. He went through the obvious- you look great, I didn't recognize you, blah blah blah. I awkwardly shuffled my feet and laughed and tried to be gracious. Then I was waiting for the follow up question- usually it's the 'How much did you lose?' But he caught me off guard and asked something that really does matter.

"How do you feel?"

I hesitated, no one had asked me that before. And I realized something:

"I feel pretty, fucking awesome." 

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How The Story Came to Be: Guest Post by Joelle Casteel

It's day 3 on my blog tour for the re-release of "Out of the Night: Book One" of my Vala's Story serial. Please visit this page if you want to catch up on missed posts. Thank you, Casey, for hosting me.

When I was coming up with my ideas for this tour and this post came to me, I just hoped that Emily Tilton would agree to host- something told me that she'd appreciate this story. Of course I've told it a few times, in a few ways, but never all these details. You're wondering what story that is? Well about the creation of Vala's story-verse :D .

I still remember the first time I saw Tom. I was just back from college for a visit. I'd escaped my parents to go to Ferndale to see my friends, the people I actually cared about. Larry was hitting on me and while I wasn't interested, I wasn't horrified or anything. But Tom was sitting at the big round table with Larry and he was hot. Giggling, I hid behind him, calling out "Hide me, hide me!" Oh his chuckles reached between my legs just like an erotic romance author would write. I finally stood up beside his chair, Larry having wandered off. I looked down into Tom's eyes and I could have come just standing there. Then I noticed all that crazy, curling hair of his, reaching down to the middle of his back. I'm sure I begged something then, although I can't recall quite what.

I was his slave, I wasn't his slave. College caused issues, then getting kicked out of college caused issues. He placed his bat necklace around my neck, marking me as his, even if only our friends at Gotham were familiar with that necklace. Hours spent in applying Goth make up, hours spent in traveling to him as neither of us had a car. I still don't know why "Old Gotham" ended up being the floor plan for Night when it was "New Gotham" that ended up being the location where we did our dance. We had been off for awhile, but then he decided to give me a second chance. I wasn't sure if or maybe how Liz was still around, his sometimes, something, Domme maybe. For I had fallen in lust, love, submission to a switch. His birthday was coming, January 19. 8 days before my own. I wanted the perfect gift for him. The gift that told him how I longed to openly be his slave. The gift that finally pleaded the case enough for why I dreamt of the time we could manage to have sex, for him to enjoy my body, for him to manipulate my body as he already did my mind.

So I started writing on my word processor. I knew I could write him a story. He'd loved the poem "Prettiness and Darkness Surround." Although an erotic poem was sure to gain his notice. The Queen. It made such sense as a character name. With his recreation of his own name, names upon names. When I heard his Vampire character name, Tarantula, it was always accompanied by the squeezing together of my legs, pushing the arousal back into me. I slaved over the writing, the typing, figured out how to print to the size... so I could take it to Kinko’s and get it bound. So much work that last night. Then going to Gotham, giving it. He remarked on how Vala was like me, although he didn't touch on the places she was like him, or that he was like The Queen.

Tom was living at Gotham. Then it closed. He said he'd contact me. I waited. Things went on with my husband and I- we were poly. I started to grow depressed. We met Shaman; I felt the stirrings of arousal again, but I was waiting for Tom. Oh Shaman and I both enjoyed the sex, but part of me was waiting. I got depressed enough; Shaman (not literally) said, "Shit or get off the pot." I cried out "Master!" as I started coming, riding Him in a chair.

What had been a birthday present for Tom evolved into a serial that's Vala's Story, the journey of Mearr from drug-addicted, homeless prostitute to Vala, who has sixteen weeks of training to find out how to please The Queen.

"Out of the Night: Book One" blurb

Restless and world-weary, Mearr isn't about to admit she needs anyone's help, even this gorgeous man who has taken her into his home. Well one of his homes and part of this huge family she's heard about but not met all of. She's young, looks young, and knows it but at least she's legal now so she can pick a new name to go with her new life...

The Queen knows he wants Mearr bad, ever since the first time he saw her in the window of the coffeehouse. He has his plan, but even a Dominant's plans don't always survive the unpredictability of the future. He struggles to figure out this temperamental woman he's brought home, how best to help her. Then he takes her to his mansion...

They wait patiently for The Queen to bring Mearr home. Well to the home they've been redecorating for Him and for the hopes that she'll become part of their family and be trained to please Him. Simon and Tommy have seen her, of course, being The Queen's right and left hands; they say she'll be a perfect addition...

Please come along with Joelle on this journey, shared with the readers in serial fashion. A multitude of "Happily-ever-afters" are waiting with the completion of book 9.

Author's Note: This novel is meant for open-minded adults. Activities described include a wide range of BDSM and sexual activities, some of which are male/male, male/female, consensual slavery, oral/anal/vaginal intercourse, bondage. The story also covers some sensitive topics in characters' backstories, such as drug abuse.

Buy it on-

Smashwords

As they become available, please check on the "My Books" page for links to buy on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Allromanceebooks.com, if you'd prefer not to buy at Smashwords.

Joelle's Bio:

Joelle Casteel has been writing for as long as she can remember. Explicit, graphic, her writing isn't for minors or the easily offended. Once upon a time, she preferred to write on a PC, sitting on a stool- there were those who told her she looked like Tori Amos playing the piano. She's still trying to get the hang of writing in an arm chair instead, normally with a heavy dog's head resting on her feet, whether she wants that or not. With BDSM gaining a broader audience with various books- which she will not name because she can't stand them- she feels it's past time to put out her impression of what BDSM can look like in reality.

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Sat Spanks- "You May Choose a Safeword"

Welcome back for another week of Saturday Spankings!

I have another snippet from the recent release The Winter Storm: An Ever After Chronicle penned by yours truly, Renee Rose, and Katherine Deane.

Coral is down in the BDSM dungeon with Jake. It's not her first time in the dungeon, but her first time with him, and he is unnerving her:

Coral wanted to jump back, his hot breathe on her ear making her shiver.

“I’ll find your limits, and then I’ll push them.” Jake stepped in a circle around her, making her feel caged in, “You may choose a safeword, but I doubt you’ll use it.”

“Plankton,” she whispered.

“Fine,” he said and nodded, “pants, now.” He gestured for her to hurry up, “Or I can go back for that nice wooden paddle I saw before.”

She swore she could see him laughing as her hands flew to the front of her jeans, fumbling with the button. She tried to remind herself to breathe.

Blurb:

In a world where fairy tales and real life collide, in which truth is sometimes stranger than fiction and romance and fetish are the norm, a winter storm forces a cast of characters to converge at a unique lodge, and three interwoven tales are set in motion.

Jillian and her brother narrowly escape a wolf attack, thanks to a shapeshifter, Bertram. As the owner of the lodge, Bertram opens Jillian’s eyes to a whole new world filled with spanking and so much more. Will she keep fighting her submission, or allow herself the chance for true love?

Coral is a fugitive—hiding from herself, her true desires, and the sea witch to whom she owes a great debt. She fears showing real emotion and letting herself be free, but Jake Hill’s dominating presence beckons her to yield to him—not just her body, but her heart, mind, and soul. When the sea witch demands retribution, though, she may lose the one man she has come to trust.

When Faye blunders while casting a spell upon her landlord, he claims her as his slave until she can undo the magic, and she finds herself subject to his firm discipline. As her attraction to him grows, Faye fears she will give in to the handsome shifter and forever lose her maidenhood, and consequently her powers and the ability to fix her mistake.

Even as all three women struggle with surrendering to the dominant men they have fallen for, each finds herself on a journey to discover her true self. Can they find a way to yield to love without losing themselves in the process?

Publisher’s Note: The Winter Storm is an erotic romance novel that includes spankings, anal play, sexual scenes, age play, exhibitionism, elements of BDSM, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon UK

All Romance ebooks

Kobo

Blushing Books

B&N

Check out all the other Saturday Spankings today! Thanks for stopping by!

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