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GianMarco Interview:

Eve: Today I’ll be interviewing Mr. GianMarco Grimaldi. You might know him from the first book in the Blood Brother’s series GianMarco. Thank you for the honor of this interview Mr. Grimaldi.

GianMarco: You’re welcome. But please call me GianMarco or Marco.

Eve: Okay. GianMarco. How about starting out by telling us a little about yourself.

GianMarco: Well, I’m a vampire. I’m over six hundred years old. I’m the youngest of four siblings, all brothers.

Eve: Wow, a vampire. What’s that like?

GianMarco: What’s it like being a vampire?

Eve: Yes

GianMarco: *smirk* What’s it like having breasts?

Eve: (awkward pause) Errr….great?

GianMarco: I’m just teasing you, my dear. I imagine being a vampire is no different from you being human, except I have extraordinary abilities like mind reading, exceptional hearing and eye sight and incredible speed. I’m also mastering the ability to teleport but that ability comes when one is really ancient. Even at this ripe age, I’m not considered an ancient yet. My brother Dante however is nearing that milestone.

Eve: That’ pretty interesting. Speaking of being a vampire, I hear you guys have an interesting way of feeding. Could you tell us a little bit about that?

GianMarco: I don’t think there’s anything particularly interesting about the way we feed but since you asked so nicely I don’t mind explaining. My kind can eat food just like humans. We enjoy it in fact, but it does not give us enough sustenance to sustain our body’s unique physiology. What’s gives us our fortitude is human essence which can be found in either blood or sexual secretions.

Eve:*clears throats* Uh, sexual secretions?

GianMarco: Yes, I’ll spare your delicate sensibilities by not going into detail but let’s just say, that’s one of the reasons we’re very sexual creatures.

Eve: *nods* I appreciate your discretion, GianMarco. But as far as feeding on blood goes, how does that work?”

GianMarco: When a vampire is younger he gets his blood from a close relative like a parent of their guardian. As we grow older when usually get it in the act of sex. I do enjoy the warm flow of blood in my mouth, Type O being my favorite, but there’s nothing like the other stuff…if you catch my drift. *winks*

Eve: *wiggles in seat* So…six hundred years is a long time to have lived. What have you done with yourself over the past few decades?

GianMarco: I’ve held many occupations in my lifetime. I’ve been an artist, a carpenter, a sailor, a farmer, a police officer. You name it, I’ve probably dabbled in it. Currently I run a detective agency with my best human friend Oliver Townsend. And when I’m not working my day job, I’m an agent in my brother Dante’s agency called The Underground.

Eve: That sounds fascinating. What exactly is The Underground?”

GianMarco: There’s only so much I can tell you since our missions are usually top secret but I can tell you its purpose which is to eradicate the rouge threat. Dante started the Organization because rouge vampires killed our parents. We’ve been on the hunt for a particularly nasty rouge named Il Diavolo. Dante feels, and I agree that he is behind a lot of the terror plaguing the immortal community.

Eve: Wow, that sounds dangerous and exciting. I hope you guys find this guy.

GianMarco: Thank you, my dear.
Eve: You’re welcome. So I hear congratulations are in order on finding that someone special.

GianMarco: *smiles*Thank you. Maggie is very special to me. She saved me from myself.

Eve: How so?

GianMarco: Before I met her, I was on a path of self destruction. I took my pleasure wherever I could find not caring who I hurt. She made me see I didn’t want to be that person anymore. You see, I had lost someone very special to me before she came along but she taught me how to love again.

Eve: Aww, that’s so sweet. You’re a big softie aren’t you?

GianMarco: Don’t tell my brothers that or I’ll never hear the end of it.

Eve: So what can we expect next from you?

GianMarco: Well, I intend to focus on my family and help Dante out when I can. One day we will get il Diavolo so that all will be safe.

Eve: That’s very noble of you GianMarco. I’d like to thank you for allowing me to interview you. Anything else you’d like to add?

GianMarco: You’re always welcome. And to all those who enjoyed hearing my tale, my brother Niccolo has his own story to tell and I hear it’s coming soon.

Eve: I can’t wait! Thank you, GianMarco.

GianMarco: *inclines head graciously* It’s been my pleasure.

Find out more about GianMarco in his story: GianMarco which is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Once bitten, twice shy…

Private detective GianMarco Grimaldi takes his pleasure wherever he pleases. A six-hundred-year-old vampire, he’s tortured by his past and jaded by immortality. Once a promising artist, a personal tragedy had turned him to a life of bitter solitude, avoiding anything and anyone who reminds him of the life he used to have.

Fed up with GianMarco’s habit of sleeping with the administrative assistants in their agency, GianMarco’s business partner hires someone he thinks GianMarco will have no interest in: Maggie Williams.

Maggie’s trying to put the pieces of her life back together after her husband of twenty-three years left her for another woman. Determined to start her new job with pride, she’s dismayed to meet her arrogant, super-sexy boss.

As passion threatens their hearts, a powerful enemy from GianMarco’s past threatens their very lives.

Go get your copy! Discounted until Dec.

Amazon

A grieving sister…

Twelve years after the brutal murder of her brother, Jessica Smith

 still deeply mourns his loss. Afraid to branch out and take chances, she isolates herself from most of the world until a chance meeting with a handsome stranger 

changes everything.

With one look, Jessica and Simon fall in love and enter a passionate all consuming love affair. But when Jessica learns of Simon’s connection to her brother’s death, the devastating truth threatens to tear them apart.
To err is human. To forgive is divine. But will love be enough bring to heal two broken souls?

Amazon

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Coming soon to Barnes and Noble

I’ve been getting lots of emails and inquiries on the free story I posted on my loop titled Burned. The story is no longer available on my loop due to someone violating my copyright. I have future plans to publish the story for those who want to know what happened to Sadie and Rhys. Their story will be finished but I can’t give a date as of yet. In its place is a new story called Obsessed. Hopefully those who follow the free stories I share on my loop will enjoy this one just as much. 

Loving Day Blog Hop

 Happy Loving Day!!! Today celebrates the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Loving vs. Virginia that struck down anti-miscegenation laws. We salute Mildred and Richard Loving who stood together in the face of adversity not because they wanted to make a statement, or piss people off but because they loved each other and wanted the right to be recognized as man and wife in the eyes of the law. 

My first crush was a kid name Tom Kennedy in kindergarten. He was adorable, with his big brown eyes and gap-toothed grin and freckles all over his face. He reminded me of Elliot from ET, and I followed him around like a love sick puppy. It never occurred to me that it wrong for me to have these feelings. I was five years old but I was in love, that is until Tom decided to share his graham crackers with Melissa Whitfield instead of me.   Crush terminated.  But that set me on a long string of crushes, some White, some Black, some Latino, some Indian. As long as the guy was cute, it didn’t matter to me.

Today I’m married to my best friend. We’ve been together for almost thirteen years, married for nearly ten. We have a gorgeous little girl who stole my heart the minute I set eyes on her. Me and hubby argue like cats and dogs some times, but we love even harder. We’re just like every other couple who have our ups and downs, thankfully the ups outweigh the downs  We have fun together, we laugh and cry together. And he may be white and I’m black, and our daughter biracial  but we’re still a family not because love is colorblind but because love is Omnipotent.

Book 2 of the Dated, Mated & Wed series.

Tana works hard but plays even harder—in and out of bed. But most men can’t keep up with her. After lamenting her recent sexual misadventures to her roommate, she wonders if she’ll ever find a man who can satisfy her insatiable sexual needs.

Xander is an incubus used to taking what he wants, whenever he wants. But he’s in a huge bind. Unless he finds a suitable mate to impregnate, his life force will burn out. When all else fails, he allows himself to be convinced to seek the services of Eternal Mates. He’s sure no human woman can be his match. Until he meets Tana, anyway! Lust-filled dreams may just lead to an otherworldly connection of a permanent nature.

http://www.ellorascave.com/dated-and-sated.html

A broken spirit…

Having suffered through an emotionally abusive childhood, self-doubt constantly plagued the shy and reserved Noelle Greene. When she finds herself at a crossroads in her life, entering into a relationship is the last thing on her mind…until she meets James. She soon finds herself in over her head when James makes an offer not of love, but of convenience.

A fractured soul…

James Rothschild has one goal in life:  to be powerful enough to overshadow his shameful past. In order to achieve his goal he clawed his way to the top of the business world, associated with all the right people, and dated women with impeccable pedigree. When he meets Noelle, she’s just what he’s looking for…in a mistress.

Noelle is consumed by James’ commanding presence, and immediately falls for him. Though she’s willing to give him whatever he wants, will James realize Noelle is exactly what he needs before it’s too late?

Amazon

Barnes and Nobel

Thank you for hosting me today. I’m excited to discuss what makes good heroines and my recent release, Rose, Exposed, a multicultural historical erotic romance set in the 1930s.

What Makes a Good I/R | Multicultural Heroine?

When Plucking the Pearl came out, I received a lot of reader feedback. As with most books, there are people who love it and others who don’t. I read each comment and tried to learn from it, especially since I’m new to the I/R genre. When I worked on my latest release, Rose, Exposed, I even revisited the feedback to make sure I addressed everything I should.

One reader really got my attention because she saw Pearl as a Mary Sue heroine — too perfect with green eyes and a privileged background. Uh-oh, I thought. If she didn’t like Pearl, she’s really not going to like Rose, my latest heroine who struggles with her biracial identity. I chose to give these heroines different backgrounds to make them stand out and not fit into the community so easily. This created the drama and conflict I wanted.

Why didn’t I write about Sadie, the reader asked? At that point, I had to laugh because I’ve been planning to tell Sadie’s story as the third book in the series for a long time.

What makes a good I/R | multicultural heroine? I’m not talking about the general stuff that applies to all heroines, such as likeability and not being too stupid to live, but genre-specific traits. I got a little help from the ladies at the Café au Lait Book Club. Strength ranks high as well as taking pride in who she is and where she comes from. Thank you all!

Because my series takes place in the 1930s, I think my heroines need to be especially strong to face the challenge of having an interracial relationship in a society that isn’t as open as it is today. Having a career was tougher for women then too. That’s why I gave each woman a calling. Pearl plays the piano, Rose paints, and Sadie — well, I’m keeping her new talent a secret for now.

Keep the feedback coming. I thank that one reader for really opening my eyes and making me a better writer. I hope she reads my latest release and Sadie’s story when it comes out.

Rose, Exposed

Publisher: Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Release Date: 27 March 2013
eBook ISBN #: 978-14199-45205
Buy eBook:
Stay tuned for reviews and more:

Video/trailer:
(I love creating trailers for all my books!)

Blurb
When Leroy Johnson gets promoted at the new oyster plant on Pearl Point, all he cares about is working hard. When he meets the flirtatious artist Rose Wainwright, however, nothing matters except getting her to the altar and into bed. Healing from a recent loss, he’s not about to let her go too.

Because Rose’s strict, social-climbing father doesn’t approve of dark-skinned Leroy, they court in secret anyplace they can find. Although Leroy’s raw passion can convince her to do almost anything, why can’t he understand she needs freedom, not marriage?
Her father wants her to be white, but Leroy wants her to be black. Playing both sides of the fence leaves this young biracial beauty exposed in more ways than one.

Excerpt (explicit)
Rose, Exposed – Copyright © AFTON LOCKE, 2013 – All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

“You’re so…dark,” she exclaimed. Instead of the disdain he expected, he heard fascination.

Come on, lady. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a colored man before.

“Yes, I’m dark,” he agreed as he politely removed her hand, “which is why it’s not a good idea for us to sit alone together in this car. Someone might come along and jump to the wrong conclusion.”

A conclusion that could get him beat up or worse with the Klan close by on Oyster Island.

But before he could stop her, she clasped both sides of his face and pressed her sweet mouth to his. Aw, hell. A man only had so much self-control, and she’d just shattered his. Unable to stop himself, he plundered her delicate mouth. Her lips reminded him of rose petals, and he sucked the sweetness out of them as if he were a bee. The more he tasted, the more he wanted.

She opened, giving him access to her even sweeter tongue. His penis strained, hard and now wet, against his undershorts. Hell, even his balls must be twice their normal size. Taking a big breath, he pulled away from her.

“We can’t do this. You’re white.”

She looked down at her upturned palms. “Then I really do look white?”

Leroy frowned. “Aren’t you?”

For the first time, her smile disappeared, making him shiver in his wet clothes. “The truth is, I don’t know what I am. I suppose that’s why I took this foolish drive.”

She must be biracial then, he realized, and not forbidden after all. The thought made him want to dance on the hood of the car. She still looked white, though. If he didn’t have the time to court a girl his own color, he sure didn’t have any for a complicated one like this.

“Kiss me again,” she demanded.

Without waiting for him to answer, she locked her hot, damp mouth on his again and tugged hard on his shoulders. Before he knew it, he was on top of her on the front seat. He wished her dress weren’t so thin when two round breasts pushed against his chest and long, slender legs shifted restlessly under his. Dizzy with the scent of rain and her, he froze.

At that moment, nothing mattered except finding out if her cunt was as sweet and yielding as her mouth. He didn’t care if the entire Klan showed up, knocked on the window and caught him thrusting between her legs on this slippery leather seat. It had been too damn long since he’d had a woman. He needed to stop this while he still could.

“Do you know what you’re asking for?” Lust had turned his voice into a husky croak.

She laughed and touched his face again. “I don’t know. What am I asking for?”

This girl was crazier than he’d first thought. What if someone less honorable than himself had stopped instead? She could’ve been raped.

“A whole lot of trouble.” He sat up. “Look, this is not the time or the place. Now let’s get you home.”

The sooner he could be rid of her—before she derailed him from his job, family, and everything else that mattered—the better.

WIPs Coming Soon

Rose, Exposed is the sequel to Plucking the Pearl, an interracial historical erotic romance.
http://www.aftonlocke.com/pearl.html
I have two more books planned for the Oyster Harbor series. Next up for romance are Sadie and Henry.

In addition to interracial/multicultural historicals, I also plan to keep writing erotic contemporaries.
Can an older woman find love with a hot male stripper? My current WIP, Two Hours to Entice, will answer that question.

Where readers can find me

I will be attending EC’s RomantiCon Oct 10-13, 2013 in Canton, Ohio
Don’t miss the book signing on Oct 13th.
I’m also hosting a Fabulous Fusion workshop with Koko Brown and Eve Vaughn to celebrate interracial erotic romance for EC’s Fusion line.

Website:

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Newsletter-The Love Chronicles:

Goodreads:

Café au Lait Book Club:

This post is part of the official Rose, Exposed Blog Tour (3/26 – 4/09).
The grand prize for the tour is vintage-style rose earrings for pierced ears (U.S. shipping address only).
To be eligible, COMMENT on this post. Comment should include the historical time period and geographical setting (when and where) you’d most like to see in a romance.
The tour winner will be announced at http://www.aftonlocke.com/RoseExposedTour.html on April 11th.

It’s almost been a year since Fifty Shades of Grey was released. In one year, the book took the world by storm, offended many, turned on more, opened the mainstream eyes to BDSM and then slowly, but surely slipped away. It’s still out there, circulating through the hands of eager women, prominently on display in bookstores and inspiring talk show hosts and news anchors alike, but the initial frenzy is gone.

While Fifty Shades of Grey has already had it’s 15 minutes of fame, some would say we have E.L. James to thank for making BDSM a well-known sexual lifestyle and for giving it a little more of a positive connotation. Although people actually involved in the lifestyle disagree, saying her portrayal was inaccurate, it hasn’t stopped thousands of women from flocking to their nearest Adam and Eve or hardware store to pick up the perfect accompaniment to their night of bondage and discipline. In fact, adult novelty stores saw an overall 50% raise in sales last year and toys like ben wa balls saw up to a 400% increase.

Psychologists hypothesize that the sudden interest in BDSM is due to the breaking of the “glass ceiling,” saying that women now need a place to relinquish their control and BDSM is the perfect way to do that. I don’t think they are entirely wrong, but BDSM has been around for centuries, long before the glass ceiling came down, and women and men have enjoyed it for just as long. It has more to do with power, trust and building a connection with your dom, master or partner–however you would like to refer to them or rather, however they want you to refer to them. It’s about giving yourself up entirely to someone and trusting them to take care of you and give you the pleasure that you both want and need. There’s something very freeing about that and I think Fifty Shades was able to show that to a lot of women (a
nd men).

With that said, what erotic romance focused on BDSM turn you on to it? Are you offended or intrigued by it? Why do you think that is? I think we all have our own reasons, maybe it’s something from our past, maybe we do like giving up the power, maybe it’s just something new we’ve never tried before? Whatever the reason, if it works, it works, if not, then try something else. There are plenty of fetishes for a reason.

If you’ve been thinking about trying BDSM, be sure to do your research. Fifty Shades can be a decent introduction, but it doesn’t really get into the nitty gritty. Be sure to communicate with your partner about what you do and don’t want, what your safe word is going to be and the parameters of your relationship. Above all else, you just want to make sure you and your relationship is protected, so don’t go in blindly. Begin to experiment and keep an open mind once you feel like you have a decent grasp on it all. And don’t be afraid to include props in your play like scarves, handcuffs, candles, sex toys and even books–reading erotic romance to each other would be a great way to get it started.