Adriana Kraft

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

Contemporary

“We have nothing to hide…” #SnippetSunday #SnipSun #RomanticSuspense #Sale

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Welcome to Snippet Sunday – ten (or so) sentences from all your favorite romance authors! You’ll find them all at this Facebook Group every Sunday:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SnippetSunday/

Continuing with The Heist, romantic suspense.

EXCERPT

Set Up: picking up where we left off last week. When Cara arrived to open the museum on Monday, she found the doors unlocked. She’s meeting with her assistant.

“It’s hard to imagine a guy from Chicago doing anything in Elk Grove, Nebraska—other than holding his nose while he decides which one of us is a likely thief.” Sasha shifted nervously from foot to foot in front of Kara’s mahogany desk.

“Since we have nothing to hide, I doubt he’ll get very involved with any of us. Besides, he’s not coming to investigate the break-in, since nothing was taken. He’s coming to help us improve our security system. That’s a good thing. Right?”

“I guess.” Sasha crossed her arms, underscoring her obvious skepticism.

“He won’t arrive until tomorrow. In the meantime we’ll need to set up a meeting with the Board for him, and I’m sure he’ll want to spend time with our Security Committee. We’ll want to make sure all our procedure manuals are available. And all staff should be on call in case he wants to talk with them.”

BLURB

A special-order art theft? Tedious, but seamless – until small town museum director Kara Daniels calls in the experts. Furious her favorite trio of priceless impressionist paintings has been stolen from its traveling exhibit on her watch, Kara is determined to save not only the paintings, but her future in the art world. She’ll stop at nothing to entrap the thief.

Ted Springs knows the underbelly of the criminal world a little closer than he might like—but he’s turned it to good advantage, first as a police officer, and now as detective for the Upper Midwest Arts Council. His job? To guarantee the security of the valuable paintings in the Council’s traveling exhibits.

Heat sizzles when Ted and Kara collide—can they work together, before it’s too late?

BUY LINK

On Sale for just $0.99!

https://books2read.com/u/4D65wD

REVIEWS

Five stars at Goodreads: “The sex is hot and I loved the phone sex scenes. Never did I expect the ending. It was brilliant. The Heist is a winner!” Sheila G.

Five stars at Amazon: “From the start, the perspective of Kara, the museum’s director and the thieves are cleverly interwoven…  rich in detail…   held my interest and kept me reading forward.” Gaele  “Very hot…engaging, entertaining, funny and serious, well written and extremely enjoyable to read.” Donna H.

“He’s supposed to be very good…” #SnippetSunday #SnipSun #RomanticSuspense

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Welcome to Snippet Sunday – ten (or so) sentences from all your favorite romance authors! You’ll find them all at this Facebook Group every Sunday:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SnippetSunday/

We’ve spent the last eight weeks in the world of horse racing, following the Triple Crown races – now we’re dipping into the world of art for a bit: The Heist, romantic suspense.

EXCERPT

Chapter 1

Kara Daniels swiveled in her desk chair to get a better look at her curator, Sasha Ivory.

“You’ve met this Ted Springs who’s supposed to be dashing to our rescue?” Sasha spat out the question and pushed a strand of blond hair back into her fashionable pixie cut.

“Briefly,” Kara responded, trying not to get caught up in Sasha’s frustration. As director of the Nelson Museum, Kara had overall responsibility for the mid-sized institution, including security. She hugged her aching shoulders. The stress had been building ever since she’d arrived early that morning to open the building, only to discover it was already unlocked. “He’s supposed to be very good at what he does.”

BLURB

A special-order art theft? Tedious, but seamless – until small town museum director Kara Daniels calls in the experts. Furious her favorite trio of priceless impressionist paintings has been stolen from its traveling exhibit on her watch, Kara is determined to save not only the paintings, but her future in the art world. She’ll stop at nothing to entrap the thief.

Ted Springs knows the underbelly of the criminal world a little closer than he might like—but he’s turned it to good advantage, first as a police officer, and now as detective for the Upper Midwest Arts Council. His job? To guarantee the security of the valuable paintings in the Council’s traveling exhibits.

Heat sizzles when Ted and Kara collide—can they work together, before it’s too late?

BUY LINK

https://books2read.com/u/4D65wD

 

June is Pride Month #Giveaway #Polyamory #Bisexual #LGBTQ #BiPride

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June is Pride Month.

Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride feels especially important in our current culture, which is at best torn and at worst possibly poised to erase the progress of our last several decades in recognizing, normalizing, and honoring all sexual orientations.

Pride is a personal issue for my husband and me. Both within our family and in our friendship circle are many LGBTQ+ persons. We have celebrated with them at every step of the way towards full recognition and inclusiveness, and we tremble with them as their rights and safety are threatened. We continue to work, in our own small way, toward advancing and preserving these gains.

One way we do that is through being inclusive in the fiction we write. Of our fifty plus published romance novels and novellas, fully two thirds feature bisexual women as major characters.

I’ve written elsewhere about the range of options through which bisexual women reach that romance-trope mecca of the HEA – Happily Ever After. For some, it’s a long-term romance with one person, of whatever gender. For others, a primary relationship with a man and consensual sex with a woman or women outside that relationship form the core of long-term stability and happiness. Still others manage to forge a stable polyamory relationship, usually a threesome with two women and a man, but sometimes even a foursome, where the women share an intimate relationship with each other. The involved men might or might not do so – my focus here is on identifying satisfying long-term arrangements for women who identify as either bisexual or pan sexual.

In honor of pride month, I’m giving away a free e-book copy of our award winning polyamory story, The Reunion, to the first ten people who email me in response to today’s post. To be eligible, simply send me an email at adrianakraft99 at yahoo dot com, let me know the date and title of today’s blog post, and request your free copy. I’ll take care of the rest.

Wishing you a Happy and Safe Pride month!

BOOK INFORMATION

The Reunion
B&B Publishing: September, 2013
ASIN: B00F30CTLK
Novel: 71,000 words
Cover Artist: Dawné Dominique

A dark and brooding bad boy,
his petite Latina lover,
and his unattainable
former high school crush ~
a sizzling, combustible threesome.

Heat Rating: Five flames.

Explicit sex: M/F, F/F;

Ménage: F/F/M, F/F/F;

Multiple partners; light bondage;

voyeurism; anal sex; sex toys.

 

BLURB

Dark and brooding, Adam Granger was always the bad boy out of reach—but now he’s in Sarah Atkinson’s bed, the morning after their twentieth high school reunion. When Adam beats a retreat to his Pacific Palisades estate, former good girl Sarah throws caution to the wind and pursues him.

Petite copper-skinned Maria Ramirez greets Sarah at Adam’s front door. The former exotic dancer doesn’t challenge Sarah’s assumption she’s the maid—how long will it take the dark-haired beauty to figure out Maria is Adam’s live-in lover? Better yet, how long before Maria can entice her into their bed?

Determined not to rock his hard-won lifestyle, Adam resolves to push Sarah past her sexual limits so she’ll leave. When she stays, he watches helplessly as the two women fall in love with each other. Will they shut him out? And, if they let him in, what must he sacrifice?

New Release from Janina Grey @janina_grey #Paranormal #Romance #KindleUnlimited #MFRW

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LOST IN YOUR RHYTHM / Earth and Sky Series Book 3, by Janina Grey

Tagline—Lose yourself in the rhythm of love.

Hashtags—#Romance #AdirondackMountains #TattooGirls #Poolshark #ContemporaryRomance #WitchLit #ParanormalRomance #SoulMatePublishing #KindleUnlimited #MFRW

Blurb—It’s time to stop hiding.

Liza Minelli Purkypile has spent the last seven years hiding from life after defeating cancer. Left to deal with the emotional, physical, and meta-physical impacts of her battle, Liza’s survival depends on avoiding crowds, not to mention love—until Jack Issa drums his way into her heart.

A lifelong New Yorker, Jack’s spent much of his living, learning, playing, and performing on and around Broadway. No longer able to keep the lead spot with the rave-reviewed percussion performers of THUMP!, Jack retreats to the Adirondacks after a life-altering stage accident leaves his spirit broken.

A chance meeting in the local pub finds Liza and Jack unprepared for what their first touch tells them. Sizzling hot and horny from years of abstinence, both soon find out that they’re totally ready to pick up the beat and lose themselves in the rhythm of love.

Excerpt

Following her every action, Jack paused as he processed, then asked, “No one has sex in Purkyville, eh?”

“Of course we do. Just not—”

“On the first date.” He tucked a tendril behind her ear.

“Um. Sometimes? I think it depends.” Liza dropped her gaze to his mouth, fighting the urge to lean in a bit more.

He moved closer and prodded with a whisper. “On?”

“Onnn. . .” The rest of her sentence was forgotten as Jack slipped his forefinger under her chin, tilting her face toward his.

“Jack,” she whispered back, feeling his breath caress her lips as he moved closer still.

“Liza. I’ve never kissed anyone named Liza before.”

The hum of the fridge was louder than his voice. But she heard his every word.

“Well, what are you waiting—?” She murmured against his lips as he gently stole the end of her question with his own question. A gentle prodding, a searching, wondering wordless query that bid her to answer.

BUY LINKS—  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4Q6X181

 Bio— Janina Grey has been writing since she could hold a crayon, and there has been no stopping her since. Journaling, short stories, poetry, newsletters, news, feature, columns, Op/Eds, and press releases have kept her busy her whole life. But it was the sweet Harlequin romances she read in her downtime that stayed forever in her heart and gave her the inspiration to write her own contemporary romances now published with Soul Mate Publishing.

By day, Janina guides domestic and sexual assault survivors down their path of healing and empowerment. But in the wee hours of the morning, she hunkers down at her childhood writing desk with Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, or Led Zep streaming through her earbuds while she brings to life her characters as they face their real-life sorrows and successes, and best of all, their happily-ever-afters.

Growing up on Long Island and living periodically in Tennessee as a youth has given her the opportunity to meet many different types of people and experience many different lifestyles. After moving from Long Island to settle in the Mohawk Valley in Upstate New York with her family, she found the support needed to pursue her writing endeavors with Central New York Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America.

When Janina is not writing, she may be marching for women’s rights, kayaking, camping, drumming, or dancing around the fire.

With the kids grown, she and her husband, David, share their 115-year-old Mohawk Valley farm house homestead with a few resident spirits and a very squawky murder of crows.

Email: [email protected]

Websites: www.janinagrey.com
Amazon: amazon.com/author/janinagrey

B&N: www.barnesandnoble.com/s/janina%20grey
Facebook: facebook.com/janinagrey
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/18967836.Janina_Grey
Instagram: @janinagreyauthor https://www.instagram.com/janinagrey_author/
Twitter: @janina_grey  / https://twitter.com/janina_grey
Bookbub.com: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/janina-grey

Sign up for my newsletter and enter to win a $20 gift card to Amazon and receive a Barefoot Dan behind the scenes story!

Newsletter— https://mailchi.mp/ff6710d770aa/janina-greys-adventure

“Why are you here?” #OutNow #MFRWHooks #EroticRomance

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Her passion smolders – will it ignite?

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!

SMOLDERING PASSION
PASSION SERIES BOOK ONE

OUT NOW!

BUY LINK

https://books2read.com/u/3nDdOe

Set Up: Barely awake the morning after a big blowup with Harry, Melissa answers her door wearing only her bathrobe. But it isn’t Harry – it’s the Center’s other co-director.

EXCERPT

Melissa couldn’t prevent a frown. “Why are you here, Claire?”

Appearing a little sheepish, Claire said, “I guess telling you I was in the neighborhood will hardly work, because I haven’t been to Brooklyn since I was a little girl. And that was a ways back.”

Melissa couldn’t suppress a giggle. “So you’re one of those Manhattan ethnocentrics.”

“Uh-huh.”

Melissa clasped her hands at her waist, resolved to wait out the ensuing silence.

“Okay.” Claire inhaled and exhaled before continuing. “I want you to sketch me.”

“Really? I’m honored.” Melissa’s pulse quickened. Her fingers ached. It would be good to work again. This might be exactly what she needed.

“You’ll do it?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I’m talking about one of your tasteful erotic type drawings. Me in the nude.”

“I didn’t think you’d want to be sketched wearing a business suit.”

“I am fifty-seven.”

Melissa scowled. “Do I care? Maybe we can come up with something that will inspire fifty and sixty-year-olds to pose for erotic drawings. Let me change and I’ll be right back.”

“No,” Claire said, grabbing her hand. She hesitated momentarily before adding, “I don’t want to wait. Surely, you must sketch or paint from time to time wearing only a robe.”

“Of course.” Melissa tugged on Claire’s hand. “Come on, and I’ll show you my studio.

“As you can see, it’s not much,” she said, leading Claire into her favorite room. “A couch, easy chair, desk, which is my workspace and which also substitutes as a prop sometimes. And of course lots of art supplies.”

“And beautiful sketches and paintings,” Claire intoned, as if they were standing in a church or a museum. “You are extremely talented. We really must set up a show for you through the Center.”

“So do you have a particular medium or pose in mind?”

“No, you’re the artist. I see you have a music center.” She reached into her shopping bag, withdrew a CD, and handed it to Melissa. “Do you mind playing this? It’s one of my favorites from the seventies. It will embolden me.”

“No problem. Though I would never have guessed you needed anything to strengthen your resolve.” Melissa peeked at the label. “Helen Reddy. I like her stuff.”

“Thought maybe it’d be too old-fashioned for you. I’m glad you like it. She throbs with heat.”

BOOK INFORMATION

Title: Smoldering Passion
Passion Series, Book One
Can be read as a stand-alone
Author: Adriana Kraft
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Publication Date: April 7, 2023
ISBN 978-1-4874-3815-9
Length: 70,259 words
Genres: Erotic Romance, LGBT Romance
Pairings: MF, FF, FFF, FMF, MFM

Tags: Contemporary, Menage, Bisexual, New York City, struggling artist, age gap
Heat rating: four flames

BLURB

Her passion smolders. Will it ignite?

When art student Melissa Hopkins finally unpacks the two boxes her Aunt Phoebe left for her and sees Phoebe’s black and white photos, it’s like opening Pandora’s Box. A simple quest to find a new job morphs into an about face—not just in her art, but in her career and personal life. Short on funds now that her graduate stipend is ending, she applies to work where Aunt Phoebe once worked: a center for sexuality and sex studies.

Sworn off women after a disastrous relationship, Center Director Harry Gage ignores the danger signals and hires the striking young woman who reminds him of his former lover. Her air of innocence will captivate center viewers, so he’s sure she’ll be a hit on camera. What he’s not prepared for is how she pierces his heart.

When the sparks flare up, is it love or just sex—and what must each of them risk to find out?

Don’t miss the rest of today’s enticing book hooks – click on the links to travel!

At least he didn’t turn her off… #OutNow #MFRWHooks #EroticRomance

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Her passion smolders – will it ignite?

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!

SMOLDERING PASSION
PASSION SERIES BOOK ONE

OUT NOW!

BUY LINK

https://books2read.com/u/3nDdOe

Set Up: The Center where Melissa works regularly produces videos that might appeal to an older audience. When Harry assigned Melissa to work on camera wit Max, a recently widowed long time Center performer more than twice her age, she balked. Now she’s waiting in a café to meet him for the first time.

EXCERPT

Melissa studied the man entering the café and looking around as if he was meeting someone. She knew immediately when his eyes met hers. His face lit up in a broad smile ,and he walked directly to her table. Clearly, Harry had shared her picture with him and hadn’t bothered to give her the same courtesy.

“You must be Melissa,” the man said easily. “I’m Max. May I join you?”

She nodded and shook his hand. He didn’t have to bother asking. She was here at his request. The twinkle in his eyes was quite infectious. She smiled softly. “Please, have a seat. I’ve ordered coffee.” She waved at the waiter.

“Let me take a moment to look at the menu,” Max said. Melissa took the opportunity to consider him more carefully.

She gave him credit for staying in shape. While he wasn’t buff, he wasn’t flabby, either. He was mostly bald, with gray hair, including a mustache. What did they say about bald men? She couldn’t remember, but she thought they were supposed to be more sexy.

She frowned. At least he didn’t turn her off. He appeared healthy and seemed quite comfortable with their situation—more comfortable than she was. And there was that inexplicable sparkle about him. She sat back in her chair and relaxed a bit. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as bad as she’d feared.

He sat the menu aside and smiled at her. “So do I pass?”

“What?”

“Figured you were sizing me up. Thought maybe you expected a dinosaur, or a dirty old man at the least.”

“I…” She grinned at his broad smile. “I didn’t know what to expect. You do seem quite civilized. And no, you don’t strike me as a dirty old man. So what about me? Do I measure up for what you have in mind?”

Max leaned back and practically roared. “You’re kidding!” He shook his head at her. “No, I see you’re not. You’re a very lovely young woman. Agnes would approve of you. She liked women with an air of mystery about them.”

~ o ~

In case you didn’t know, Mr. Kraft and I don’t shy away from writing steamy romance featuring older characters. Max, who is in his sixties, will have his own story in Ripening Passion, scheduled to release in June. Stay tuned!

BOOK INFORMATION

Title: Smoldering Passion
Passion Series, Book One
Can be read as a stand-alone
Author: Adriana Kraft
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Publication Date: April 7, 2023
ISBN 978-1-4874-3815-9
Length: 70,259 words
Genres: Erotic Romance, LGBT Romance
Pairings: MF, FF, FFF, FMF, MFM

Tags: Contemporary, Menage, Bisexual, New York City, struggling artist, age gap
Heat rating: four flames

BLURB

Her passion smolders. Will it ignite?

When art student Melissa Hopkins finally unpacks the two boxes her Aunt Phoebe left for her and sees Phoebe’s black and white photos, it’s like opening Pandora’s Box. A simple quest to find a new job morphs into an about face—not just in her art, but in her career and personal life. Short on funds now that her graduate stipend is ending, she applies to work where Aunt Phoebe once worked: a center for sexuality and sex studies.

Sworn off women after a disastrous relationship, Center Director Harry Gage ignores the danger signals and hires the striking young woman who reminds him of his former lover. Her air of innocence will captivate center viewers, so he’s sure she’ll be a hit on camera. What he’s not prepared for is how she pierces his heart.

When the sparks flare up, is it love or just sex—and what must each of them risk to find out?

Don’t miss the rest of today’s enticing book hooks – click on the links to travel!