Adriana Kraft

When it's time to heat things up...

Contests

The Best Man #Giveaway #EroticRomance #MFRWAuthor

by 5 Comments

Do you ever fantasize about the perfect bad boy? We packed all his most desirable characteristics into Jared Jacobs for this erotic romance. Then we gave him a woman to match—take-no-prisoners Kitty Paige. We loved playing with dominance/submission, power and control as the sparks begin to fly between these two characters. You might also fantasize about all the many ways a yellow Thai silk scarf might be put to use…

Our Rafflecopter giveaway for the month of May is an autographed print copy of The Best Man – The Rafflecopter is at the end of this blog post.

BLURB

The Best Man

Bad boy meets bad girl – is that all there is?

Passionate, hard working and every inch a business woman, Chicago realtor Kitty Paige likes her sex raw and edgy, and sees no reason to limit herself to just one man. Never married and not quite forty, the striking blonde has successfully raised her daughter, Susan, and is already pushing her new-found freedom to the limits.

Wealthy commodities middle-man and race horse owner Jared Jacobs is father of the best man at Susan’s wedding. He is smitten by the vision in yellow who exudes sex as she escorts her daughter down the aisle. Also single, the handsome mustached California ranch owner with mischievous eyes views his sex life as a series of splendid love affairs, and sets out to make Kitty next on the list.

Together and apart, their chemistry is explosive, and their sparkling repartee and steamy sex catch both partners by surprise. Jared is first to recognize he’s fallen in love. When Kitty panics, can Jared finesse his every move and reel her in?

EXCERPT

“Oh, God. Have mercy.”

“Not this time, babe.” Jared easily lifted Kitty’s butt and slid one end of the scarf under it. Quickly, he had her loins encased in silk and handed the ends of the scarf to her care. “I won’t be needing these for awhile. You may find a use for them.”

Her fingers curled around the scarf and he settled between her legs. He laved the silk around the edges of her pussy and then looked up with a grin. “Isn’t it amazing how silk feels when it gets wet—your juices and my tongue.”

She tugged on the silk scarf, increasing the pressure against her loins, and nodded jerkily. “Make me come, Jared.”

“Like this?” He tongued the silk covering her pussy and pushed a little inside her folds.

“Oh, yeah. That’ll do it. A little more.”

He lifted his head and shook it when he saw her distressed glower. “Not yet,” he whispered, retrieving the scarf. “Not nearly yet. You won’t come until I’m ready for you to come.” He laughed as her gaze burned into him. He grabbed her wrist and tied one end of the scarf loosely around it.

Her eyes rounded with awareness. Her lower lip trembled slightly when he tied the overlap of the knot around a bedpost. She didn’t move when he reached for her other wrist.

“You know what I’m going to do?”

She nodded. “You’re going to ravish me.”

REVIEWS

Top Pick: Five Stars at The Romance Reviews:

This is a story about what happens when a takes no prisoners, makes no apologies, adventurous mom, Kitty, meets Jared, the father of the best man. The mating game starts and the pursuit begins. There is giving and taking, catching and falling into love. Boundaries are pushed and it’s a race to see who wins. But falling in love lets everyone win, as Kitty and Jared find out. Lorrie

Five Stars: I loved Kitty and Jared.  Both are strong willed characters who will not run from their attraction. Both expect a short but passionate affair, but their plans are upset when their emotions become involved.  Watching them both fight their feelings made their capitulation so much sweeter… THE BEST MAN is excellent. Sheila, Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Taste of Ginger ~ The Cougar Book #Cougar #Giveaway #MFRWAuthor

by 6 Comments

Our April Rafflecopter contest is for an autographed (by us) print copy of The Cougar Book, edited by Jolene Du Pré. This spectacular anthology of sexy escapades by cougar women was published ten years ago by Logical Lust Books, and we still have a few print copies available.

We love all the stories in this book, and you will, too. Ours, A Taste of Ginger, is an enticing evening encounter between a mid-life new divorcee and a hot young stud.

The Cougar Book

An incredible night of decadence and sensuality, or New Year’s Eve alone at the bar?

BLURB

Against her better judgment, mid-life divorcee Ginger Nelson lets a co-worker talk her into spending New Year’s Eve at a swing club to celebrate her final divorce decree. When Annette tells Ginger a handsome young man at the bar is checking her out, Ginger wants to run the other way—but Annette abandons her to pursue her own interests, and Ginger must make her choice for the night of a lifetime.

EXCERPT

“There’s a handsome young man checking you out!”

“Where?” Ginger Nelson didn’t dare look around the sweeping bar to where Annette James pointedly stared. It wasn’t Ginger’s idea to come to this swingers club. That was Annette’s doing.

Apparently it was one of Annette’s frequent weekend haunts. Ginger thought she knew her co-worker better than that, but they hadn’t really started doing things together socially until recently, after her divorce. This was why she’d agreed to this crazy idea in the first place. Today marked the final divorce decree. She was a free woman again—at fifty-five.

“Don’t be so uptight,” Annette cautioned. “He’s a hunk, and he’s really looking you over.”

“He’s probably looking at you,” she groused, staring into her wineglass.

Annette giggled. “No way. He doesn’t even know I’m here. You could at least peek at him. That’s why we’re here, to look at the guys.”

“That may be why you’re here.” Ginger groaned. “I know. I know you didn’t force me to come with you tonight. But—but this is different than I expected. The music is too loud. People are making out right by the bar. They’re all so young. And I feel so old.” She tried not to wail.

“Nonsense! You’re overreacting. There are plenty of people here our age. But don’t dismiss the younger guys so quickly.” Annette squeezed her friend’s elbow. “I bet the guy undressing you at the end of the bar doesn’t have a single gray hair on his body.”

Frowning, Ginger cocked her head sideways enough to peer out the corner of her eye and catch a glimpse of the far end of the curved bar. “I don’t see anyone. I only see a guy with a couple girls draped over him.”

“Exactly. And his eyes are on you. Think of the girls as accessories. They’re no competition. Not with you.”

We also highly recommend an f/f story by Emerald, To Make it That Way.

EXCERPT

When people tell me I seem different now, my stomach clenches for a moment. At those times, there are two things I know: first, that they’re right; second, that even though I am aware of precisely why, I could never explain exactly what happened to make it that way. It was, and still is, an enigma in my life.

I was twenty-one when I met her. Three of my friends and I were standing outside one of the bars we went to all the time when she pulled up in a black Toyota and stopped at the curb right beside us. I glanced over, and her eyes fastened on mine with an expression I couldn’t begin to decipher. It was an expression I would come to know well. It meant that she was seeing me, really seeing me, and she saw something I needed that she knew she could give me.

“You,” she said to me. Her voice was sweet but had an edge of command that made me jump even as she smiled. I moved forward to her open passenger side window and looked down at her.

She nodded at the bar. “You going in there to get laid, sweetheart?” I just stared at her, at a loss for what to say. Behind me, I could hear my tipsy friends shuffling and murmuring.

Her smile grew wider. “Why don’t you come with me instead?” She kept her eyes trained on mine, and I grew no less stupefied as the seconds ticked by. I thought I hadn’t understood her correctly, and I didn’t give the idea that she was serious more than a second’s—an elated second’s—thought. She lowered her voice and made her intentions perfectly clear.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Safe, for the moment… #MFRWAuthor #MFRWHooks #Giveaway

by 8 Comments

Welcome to Book Hooks, a Wednesday offering by members of Marketing For Romance Writers to share a little taste of our work and entice you into wanting more! Click on the links at the end to travel to other Book Hook posts, and enjoy!

Our monthly giveaway for February is an autographed print copy of Detour Ahead (Riders Up, Book Four). Contest details after the excerpt! Of course, you can always read Detour Ahead for free on Kindle Unlimited.

Detour Ahead is the story of Cassie’s best friend, Tracy Steele. Mourning the recent death of her father and unable to concentrate in her job as a crack-shot county prosecutor in Chicago, Tracy finally gives in to Cassie’s pressure to take a break—for two months, in a time share north of San Diego.

EXCERPT

Traci Steele peered through the rain-splattered windshield of her rental car trying to focus on the taillights ahead. She’d climbed the foothills east of San Diego for nearly an hour. Abruptly, the traffic slowed to a snail’s pace.

Why so slow? The rain was letting up some. Traci loosened her grip on the steering wheel to rub first one forearm and then the other.

She squinted trying to read the orange road sign. Damn. The sign grew clearer with each few feet she advanced: Detour Ahead.

A lanky deputy sheriff leaned down to answer her unasked question. “Sorry, ma’am, the road is closed. We had an oil tanker jackknife and roll on the slick pavement. This road likely won’t be reopened until sometime tomorrow.”

“I’m headed for Buteo. To the Live Oak Resort.”

“No problem. Just stay on this route we’re sending traffic over.” The deputy gestured toward the narrow road to Traci’s right. “About a mile down that road you’ll have an option to come back to the main road you’re on now. Don’t take it. This detour is actually a short cut to Buteo, and the views can be spectacular. Just don’t try going too fast.”

“Thanks.” Traci nodded, raking fingers through her hair. “I won’t be rushing on these roads.”

She took the right-hand turn. A small paint-chipped sign read “Buteo Canyon Road.” Another stated “Open Range.” What did that mean?

Three miles farther the road climbed sharply. It twisted and wove its way through deep ravines and across a dried-up creek bed. A bright yellow sign proclaimed: “Dip Subject to Flooding”. Easing closer she looked up and down the ravine as far as she could see and then sped across. Safe, for the moment, anyway.

BLURB

Threatened race horses, city slicker attorney, sexy California wrangler—what can possibly go wrong?

Hot-shot Chicago prosecuting attorney Traci Steele works tirelessly keeping rapists off the street to prevent other women from suffering the hell she’s endured, so she resists her friends’ insistence that she take a two month R&R in their California Live Oak condo—until they persuade her to help their rancher friend as a private investigator. 

Though he runs the stables at Live Oak, well-muscled mustached wrangler Scott McCord much prefers working with the race horses he trains at his ranch, and he can’t believe his old friends have sent a greenhorn female to help him with horse troubles.

The improbable dance between this mismatched pair barely fits in around the escalating suspense of whoever’s after Scott’s horses. Traci is as tenacious in her sleuthing as she is terrified about her inability to ever love a man. Can Scott succeed in gentling her—like he does his horses—before she flees in panic?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Why Willow? #Giveaway #MFRWauthor #BookHooks

by 13 Comments

Our monthly autographed print book giveaway for January is Willow Smoke (Riders Up, Book Three). Contest details at the end of the post, and of course, Willow Smoke is always free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Be sure to check out the rest of this week’s Book Hooks authors!

Why Willow?

When we lived in northern Minnesota, our forty acres included a small marshy area that grew willow shrubs. I always cut some branches each spring and set them in a vase inside to open as pussy willows, usually the first blossoms of the year. My husband dabbled in wood carving while we lived there, and gnarled willow sticks made inviting projects to carve, sand, and stain.

Enter Daisy Matthews, the waif Cassie rescued through her Chicago group home job in Riders Up, Book One. By Book Three, Daisy is tall and lanky and holding her own as an assistant trainer at Chicago’s Arlington Park.

We did not have a title when we began writing this book, but we did know our characters. The much older Nick Underwood has left the stock market, where he made a killing, and he now runs a small company crafting handmade wooden canoes. When he first encounters Daisy in the Arlington Park track barn, he doesn’t know her name, but he’s struck by her smoky eyes and her tall willowy frame. He decides to call her Willow. Our title was born, but we had no idea how important this small shrub genus would become in our story.

As the story gradually made its way onto the page, we sent Nick and Daisy on a canoeing trip to northern Minnesota’s boundary waters, which we so often enjoyed ourselves. On their way home, he stops at a friend’s home (forty acres and a farmhouse, imagine that!). Daisy has often watched Nick working the wood at his shop, and his friend finds an appropriate willow stick and talks her into getting started with it.

We won’t give away the story’s ending here – I’ll just say that Daisy’s willow stick plays an important role when the chips are down.

When the chips are down, there’s nobody there.

BLURB

Willowy blonde Daisy Matthews has survived the Chicago streets with this mantra, but she’s unprepared for the much older Nick Underwood’s urgent pursuit.  The wealthy businessman receives a thoroughbred in payment for a bad debt and is thrust into Daisy’s world.  She teaches him about horse racing; he teaches her about love.  When Daisy’s seamy brother-in-law threatens Nick’s safety, she doggedly tries to stop him by herself, but flees to the familiar streets when he attacks. Can Nick find her in time – and if he does, will she still want him?

REVIEWS

Five stars at Amazon “Adriana Kraft has created memorable characters that linger long after the story has ended and I’ve closed the book. She has done what an author should – brought me into the book’s world and made me care about the characters so that my world will not be the same as before their foray into it.” Sheila G.

Five stars at Goodreads “Suspenseful, intriguing and truly romantic! What a fabulous story of the blending of two worlds… the plot twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your seat and the pages turning.” Risha C “…dreams can become reality, love can transcend age… Exciting, engaging and very entertaining story. The character interplay is spot on and the story is extremely well written.” Donna H.

EXCERPT

Here’s the opening scene:

“I won’t let anything hurt you.” Daisy Matthews finished wrapping the ankles of the chestnut mare and sat back on her haunches to evaluate her work. The mare’s ankles were cooler than they’d been two hours earlier.

It wasn’t easy to convince a horse to stand in buckets of ice, but after three years of being a groom and an exercise rider, she could do it about as well as anybody at Arlington Park. At least that was what her boss said when he promoted her to assistant trainer.

Daisy grinned. There wasn’t much prestige associated with being an assistant trainer for a fellow with a string of only twenty-some claimers and allowance horses, but it was something, particularly for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

RainbowBlaze took a step forward.

“I know.” Daisy groaned. “Step one: pay attention. Sorry, I got lost daydreaming. You’re right. Taking care of you is an important job.” She chuckled. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.”

“Hey kid, do you always talk to horses?”

The horse reared and pawed.

“It’s okay, girl.” Daisy kept her voice soft and ran her hand slowly along the mare’s neck.

When the mare had stopped trembling, Daisy stepped out of the stall, shaded her eyes from the sun and faced the interloper. She scowled at the man’s new sneakers, monogrammed shirt and neatly pressed slacks. He looked like he’d be more at home on a sailboat than in a barn.

The man peered over wire-rimmed glasses like he knew something she didn’t. Or was he appraising her? Why? His dark hair set off a chiseled face; it was hard to guess his age, but she could see a few gray hairs at his temples. He was money. Understated, but money. Probably the stock market. What was he doing in her barn?

She thrust her jaw at him. “So who the hell are you? Don’t you know better than to sneak up on someone who’s working with a horse?”

BUY LINK

Willow Smoke is available on Amazon as a print book or an e-book, and is always free to read at Kindle Unlimited:

CONTEST

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Why had he come? #Sunday8 #wewriwa #SundaySnippet #MFRWAuthor #Contest

by 11 Comments

Our giveaway of an autographed print copy of Willow Smoke lasts all month – of course, you can always read it free at Kindle Unlimited!

Be sure to visit Weekend Writing Warriors to check out the rest of today’s exciting excerpts!

Contest details after our Sunday Snippet:

Riders Up

Book Three:

Willow Smoke

This May/September romantic suspense follows the teenage waif from the group home where Cassie worked in Book One. No longer a teenager, Daisy is carving a life for herself in spite of threats from her past.

EXCERPT

The sputtering sounds of the apartment buzzer penetrated Daisy’s sleep. She rolled over and pulled a pillow over her head. The buzzer continued ringing sporadically. “Go away,” she grumbled. “It’s Monday. It’s my day off.”

Scrambling off the futon, she grabbed her robe and poked her arms through the armholes as she strode angrily toward the entry. She’d have to remember to get the landlord to fix that damn buzzer. Maybe she should just snip the wires.

Daisy peered through the peephole and grew deathly still. Why had he come? She didn’t want him to know this part of her world. With fingers trembling slightly, she turned the knob and opened the door.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Piece of Ourselves #RomanticSuspense #Giveaway #MFRWAuthor

by Leave a Comment

Our autographed print giveaway this month is Heat Wave, Book Two in Riders Up. Contest details below, after the excerpt.

There’s always a piece of us in any story we write, but I suspect there are far more than usual in our Riders Up series. You already know both my husband and I loved horses long before we met, and you might know that as adults we were finally able to own or partially own six horses, one or two at a time. Five of these were racehorses; the sixth was not, and we’ve saved him for the final book in the series, Detour Ahead.

So it goes without saying we’ve poured what we learned about caring for and training race horses into this series, but there’s more. Just as Cassie’s Hope (Book One) drew on our ancestor’s family farms in McHenry County Illinois, Heat Wave draws on early family history in rural central Iowa, somewhat north of Des Moines. It’s set in the year 2000. Iowa farm values had dropped precipitously during the 1980s and were beginning to recover, but many family farms were still struggling and went under, especially as corporations moved in to purchase them. We used this knowledge to place our widowed heroine’s family farm in danger and force her to make a bold decision.

Our hero, Ed Harrington? We ourselves have never been horse trainers, though we co-owned our racehorses with a local trainer. But Ed has struggled with alcohol, and Heat Wave focuses on his recovery journey – a journey we’ve walked alongside some close family members. They helped us out with those sections of the book for authenticity. We hope some of the depth, struggle, and love from our own journey shines through as Ed and Maggie come together to save her farm.

EXCERPT

Ed didn’t blink, staring at the single shot-glass of whiskey and a stein of beer sitting on a tiny, circular table.

He gripped its pedestal between his knees. The darkened corner of Mel’s Tavern in Beaverhill provided a welcome hiding place. Almost as good as a cave.

He’d driven for hours after leaving the farm—after running as quickly as he possibly could from that menacing woman. That night had been spent in his car…

He ran a finger around the rim of the shot glass. Long moments dragged by while his mind resembled a blank slate. He knew if he drank enough, he could make those blank periods last longer. Blackouts—they enticed him and terrorized him. He would be able to function, but not remember. Was that bliss, or a coward’s way out? It wouldn’t take long, if he only had the courage to take that first drink.

Hah. So many people in those meetings he’d been attending talked about the courage necessary to avoid that next drink. Here he was asking himself if he had the guts to lift a single glass to his lips and let the stinging, hot whiskey glide down his throat. He could practically feel the familiar burning. So why didn’t he just gulp the damn stuff down and get on with it?

He could leave them all behind. No Maggie harping at him, wanting more than he could give. No worrying about which kid was going to get injured next. No wondering when they’d all figure out he didn’t measure up—that he was some kind of fake, a figment of their imagination.

Ed glanced furtively around with renewed awareness. His senses sharpened. How long had he been sitting like that, gawking at his future? The waitress and bartender were staring at him as if he were an alien. He scratched the two-day growth of beard. He swore inwardly at the booze. He swore at the memories.

Why couldn’t he just walk away from her? He didn’t owe her anything. Not anymore. He’d paid his debt. But she wanted more, much more.

The bouncy, buxom waitress stood in front of him. “Listen, Bud, if you’re gonna drink, drink up. We’re gonna be closing soon. And don’t forget my tip.” Leaning over, jiggling huge breasts, she whispered, “Or maybe you’ve got something else in mind. You’ve got possibilities. I can see that.”

She withered under his icy glare. “Okay, I get the message, Bud. Why don’t you just get out of here? You give me the willies. Any man who buys whiskey and beer and then just stares at them for more than an hour can’t be much of a man in my book.” The waitress brushed back curly brown hair and then flounced off to serve other customers.

Ed hardly knew she’d left. He wet his lips. Trying to steady his hand, he reached for the whiskey glass. Lifting it, he paused, and then slammed it down, splashing its contents over the scarred table.

He might be able to run from all of them, but he knew he’d never be able to run from himself.

Pushing his chair back, Ed stumbled getting up. He threw some coins on the table and rushed toward the exit.

Outside, Ed gulped for air. His hand shook like some ancient reminder of what used to be and could so easily have been again. He placed a hand in his pocket and curled his fingers around the ninety-day chip.

a Rafflecopter giveaway