For week three, I’m featuring my first submission and acceptance with Extasy Books, published in 2007. You can read more about the story behind The Diary and the choice to set it in Chicago and the U.K. HERE.
Welcome to MFRW Hooks, where the authors of Marketing for Romance Writers share snippets from their stories to entice you into wanting more. Be sure to click on the links at the end to travel!
EXCERPT
“Luci, how could you?” Kate Noble slammed her sister’s diary shut. Kate tried to breathe normally, but how could she do that when she’d just discovered that her baby sister was some kind of nymphomaniac?
Why had she even opened the diary? Because it was there on her sister’s desk. She’d resisted opening it for at least half an hour while she busied herself watering plants and freshening the small apartment—a task Luci had dumped on her in a note telling her she’d be out of town for a while.
This wasn’t the first time Luci had up and left virtually overnight. Usually, she was gone for more than a month or so. Kate had gradually grown accustomed to Luci’s free spirited ways, so in contrast to her own. And Luci had always been able to depend on Kate to tidy things up behind her.
Kate grimaced. She’d probably been a poor substitute for a mother. She’d accepted that role when Luci’s father and their mother were killed in a car accident shortly after she’d finished her master’s degree at Northwestern. She’d never hesitated taking in her eleven year old sister.
With sixteen years in age separating them, she should have been better able to establish herself as the adult role model. She’d tried her best, but she’d come up short way too often during Luci’s tumultuous teen years. Still, Luci and she had survived and had many fine times. But she’d failed to ever really contain the girl who now had turned into such a willful young woman.
. . .
Kate slumped down at her sister’s desk. Should she read more? She’d simply dipped into the diary like so many folks casually stabbed at a verse in the Bible. Kate scowled and rested her chin on her knuckles. An alarm bell began ringing in the corner of her brain.
Professor? What professor? Luci was a college junior, an English major. Would she ever graduate? She worked nearly full-time at a trendy Near-North boutique and took college classes around her work schedule.
But a professor screwing a student—wasn’t that against some rule? Weren’t there ethics governing faculty student relations? At least such behavior must be frowned upon. How had Luci gotten herself mixed up with a professor? Who was he? And what was he trying to get from her sister—other than her body?
Kate reached for the document. Her fingers curled as if fearful of turning a page. Was she afraid of what she might learn about her sister, or did she fear for Luci’s safety? Kate shuddered. Or was she merely jealous?
BOOK INFORMATION
Book Title: The Diary
Author: Adriana Kraft
Cover by Martine Jardin
Publisher: Extasy Books, February, 2007
ISBN: 1-55410-765-2
Novel: 70,000 words
Genre: Erotic Romance
Heat Level: Four Flames. Explicit sex: M/F, F/F, Menage: F/F/M, Toys
BLURB
Lust, revenge, dark sexual escapades and the mysterious disappearance of her younger half-sister, Luci, will take art curator Kate Noble on a whirlwind transcontinental journey. The diary Luci’s left behind paints vivid images of shameless erotic exploits with a rake named only as G.C.
Can Kate learn enough under the delightful hands of her bisexual best friend, Gina, to ensnare the sensual and elusive Professor Grayson Cosgrove into a marriage proposal of her making? Can she find Luci before it’s too late? If only she could read between the lines.
The Diary ~ never have the secrets of another been so electrifying!
BUY LINKS
PUBLISHER: Extasy Books
https://www.extasybooks.com/the-diary
Currently on sale for $2.50 from the publisher.
It’s easy to download Extasy e-books to your Kindle. “Send to Kindle” instructions are at the top of the Extasy home page.
UNIVERSAL LINK for All Major Retail Outlets
https://books2read.com/u/bp6L1J
Click on the links travel to the rest of today’s excerpts:
“Her fingers curled as if fearful of turning a page. Was she afraid of what she might learn about her sister, or did she fear for Luci’s safety? Kate shuddered. Or was she merely jealous?”
Realistic and insightful!
(What is it about the name Luci? I have several “Lucy” characters, all of whom are live wires!)
LOL the name was chosen on purpose – some sources say its short for or linked to Lucifer, the devil. Must be Karma!
I have a character named Luc, which one critique partner always called “Lucky”. There’s something about those three letters in combination isn’t there?
Exactly!
Intriguing excerpt and raises a million questions
Thanks, Janet!