Adriana Kraft

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

Extasy Books

Colors of the Night ~ Northern Lights, a love goddess, and an unhappy couple #Sale #TBT #Backlist #MFRWAuthor @extasybooks #paranormal #timetravel

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It’s Throwback Thursday, and we thought we’d show a little love for one of our favorite stories – in fact, the first book of ours that was released by Extasy Books. We poured so much of what we love into this book. Camping on the Minnesota Boundary Waters, and yes, frequent viewings of the Northern Lights, often out our north-facing patio doors, a cozy place to watch when it was below zero. Our hero and heroine live in the Twin Cities, one of our favorite haunts. But since there’s an immortal goddess involved, that’s not the only setting in the book. Sometimes they time-travel (and sometimes we write something we haven’t seen or done).

All backlist books are currently on sale 40% off at the Extasy Books website.

BLURB

The dazzling and timeless love goddess Aria pays a visit to struggling thirty-something Jamie and Ryan Hazleton, who are on the brink of divorce.  When the hot sex that results from her first lesson cools to icy glares, Aria decides to move in with them and provide more experiential learning.  Can Ryan overcome his jealousy of Jamie’s uninhibited response to the delectable goddess? What if he succumbs to his own desires?  Only time will tell whether this love triangle with an immortal will ignite or extinguish the dying embers of Jamie and Ryan’s love.

EXCERPT

Jamie heard the tent zipper open and felt the rush of cool night air all in the same instant. Where was Ryan going in the middle of the night? Startled, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. A tiny sliver of night sky was visible through the open tent flap—and it was pulsating with light.

“Jamie. Wake up. You’ve got to see this.” Ryan’s voice was a whisper.

Did he really want her to join him? She hugged herself against the chill, grabbed her sweatshirt, and crawled out of the tent.

Ryan’s hands were reaching for her, so she took them and let him pull her to a stand. Tall columns of color—multiple hues of greens, blues, reds, yellows, and occasional whites—fell in a shimmering waterfall connecting sky and lake. The colors danced across the entire dome of the sky. She’d never seen anything like it.

They stood hand in hand for a long minute, then wordlessly walked down to the lakeshore and sat side by side on a low rock. Shrouded in rising mist, the lake seemed to be hovering between earth and sky with no boundary. Jamie lost herself in the throbbing rhythms of the dancing light.

“This is what I’ve been missing,” she heard herself say. “It feels like magic, like time is suspended. I wish we could catch and hold this moment forever.”

“I know,” Ryan replied. “It’s been difficult to remember such moments. I sometimes wonder what else we’ve forgotten.”

“You have each forgotten how to love.”

Jamie gasped and squeezed Ryan’s hand. “Who said that?”

Ryan shook his head.

“I said that.” 

Jamie watched in awe as the mist swirled and collected itself into the shape of a stunning female. The image pirouetted as if to prove she was much more than a vision. Jamie tried not to stare. The woman’s copper skin was barely concealed in a gauzy white gown; Jamie could make out her darkened nipples as the image floated closer to them.

“You two need help.” The phantom shook her head, sending her long dark hair flying.  “Your marriage is crumbling. You care for each other, but you’ve forgotten how to love—if you ever truly knew how.”

BUY LINKS

Extasy Books

$3.00 at Extasy Books https://www.extasybooks.com/colors-of-the-night

It’s easy to download Extasy books to your Kindle. “Send to Kindle” instructions are at the top of the page at the Extasy Facebook Reader Group, Book Carousel. While you’re there, we’d love to have you join us—theme days, author events, games, prizes, plus a chance to get to know all the wonderful Extasy authors.

Other Retail Outlets

$3.99 at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XREZ1W

$4.99 at Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1021002949

$4.99 at Apple https://books.apple.com/us/book/colors-of-the-night/id950075962

$5.99 at Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/colors-of-the-night

New Release: His Proposition, by Maggie Blackbird @BlackbirdMaggie #BookGiveaway #BookTour #MFRWAuthor #Romance

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I’m not usually a fan of the “he has to marry to keep his inheritance” trope, but I am a fan of Maggie Blackbird. His Proposition pulled me in immediately, and I could not put it down. Fresh, original, characters worth caring for, all sensitively woven into a plot that rises above the prejudices and stereotypes that are so rife in our western culture. You won’t want to miss this compelling story.

His
Proposition

by
Maggie Blackbird

Genre:
Contemporary Romance

Her biggest dream’s offered on a platter,

but the clincher is, she has to marry a perfect stranger.

When her employer offers the no-nonsense Shannon Nadjiwon the position of chauffeuring Séamus Daugherty, she jumps at the chance. To work for one of Toronto’s most powerful families means she can make her biggest dream of owning a fleet of limos come true, something her female relations tooling away at her Ojibway community want badly for her, and she won’t let them down.

His reckless need for speed cost Séamus Daugherty his license. If he doesn’t marry,as demanded by his overbearing father, he will lose not only his lucrative job with the family business —the only positive aspect in Séamus’ gilded cage life—but everything Daugherty.

The unpretentious and gorgeous Shannon will make the perfect bride, and Séamus is ready to strike a deal with her. One that will ensure he keeps everything he holds dear if she puts a wedding ring on her finger. However, they face three big obstacles: His family, her family, and a marriage neither truly wants, leaving both wondering if the sizzling sexual chemistry and cozy rapport they share is enough to create a happily ever after.

BUY LINKS

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EXCERPT

“I see…” Well, what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t throw her life down the toilet because she felt sorry for a client. “Look, I feel bad about the predicament you’re in, but I’m your driver—”

“A driver whom I asked to marry me.” His gaze had turned to steel. Even his brows slanted inward.

“I can’t…” She coughed. “I can’t marry you. We don’t even know each other.”

“That’s because you won’t allow me the chance to know you.” He settled both hands on the table. “Allow me to get to know you. I can provide you with what you truly desire—your own town car for clients. Your own business.”

“Where are we going to get married? This place is a tourist resort.” Okay, what she’d said was dumb, but that was about all she was capable of uttering right now.

“Banff. I can procure a ring for you at a local jewelry proprietor. It’s simply a matter of visiting the town hall to obtain a marriage license.”

He was truly and utterly serious. She sagged in her chair and set both palms on her temples.

“Goodness, Shannon.” He chortled. “You look as if I asked you to rob a bank with me when I simply asked for your hand in marriage.”

Hearing her name on his lips again left a velvet-like tingling sensation on her skin. She glanced up. He continued to sit with both hands on the table, simply staring.

“Marriage is a serious commitment—”

“I think I know how serious of a commitment marriage is.” He finally lifted his filled glass and sat back. From the way he moved, he must have crossed his legs. His elbow rested on the arm of the chair. “There has never been divorce in my family, otherwise I think my mother would have left my father ages ago.”

“Is this why your father is strict about who you’ll marry?”

He grinned while sipping from his glass. “No. He prefers to keep with tradition. Every son and daughter of a Daugherty marries into another family from old money.”

“Then I think he’d have our marriage annulled,” Shannon pointed out—anything to stop this crazy conversation from going a step further.

“Never.” Séamus’ grin vanished. “He wouldn’t do anything to smear the Daugherty name. As I said—there has never been divorce in our family. Annulment isn’t an option, either. We are Irish Catholic.”

“You have a strong faith?” This took Shannon by surprise.

Séamus flicked his hand. “I attend Mass when I’m obliged.”

Well, his beliefs weren’t any of her business. No doubt his father ordered Séamus to attend service for special holidays and such. He was correct in one respect, though—his family’s outlook was from over a century ago.

“Now… I offered you your own business. What do you say? Yes?” He took another sip from his glass.

He was so nonchalant about everything. Maybe it came from being stinking wealthy and having whatever he wanted at his fingertips.

“Your father wouldn’t approve. I’m not Irish. I’m not Catholic. I’m not from this old money you speak about. I never even attended university. I’m Ojibway and from the rez. I follow the teachings of the Seven Grandfathers.”

“No, he wouldn’t approve, but I think you are perfect.”

“Perfect?” She shifted in the chair. “How?”

“You’re everything I would want to marry.” He motioned at the attendant. “Let’s eat first. We can discuss this further on the balcony.”

An Ojibway from Northwestern Ontario, Maggie resides in the country with her husband and their fur babies, two beautiful Alaskan Malamutes. When she’s not writing, she can be found pulling weeds in the flower beds, mowing the huge lawn, walking the Mals deep in the bush, teeing up a ball at the golf course, fishing in the boat for walleye, or sitting on the deck at her sister’s house, making more wonderful memories with the people she loves most.

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Stress – But not a complaint! #EroticRomance #RomanticSuspense #MFRWAuthor

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Do you let stress derail you plans?

Um, yes. Today’s Wednesday. I always have a post ready ahead of time for the MFRW Book Hooks weekly blog hop – but not this morning. I wasn’t even aware I’d missed it until I started running into the BookHooks posts of other authors on social  media this morning.

Stressors? On top of political turmoil and Covid fears, we lost a very dear friend Christmas day, and as so often also happens when I’m under stress, I didn’t pay enough attention to self-care and have developed a minor infection (short lived and easily cured, I hasten to add).

Stress doesn’t necessarily always stem from negative events – we’re thrilled our granddaughter is getting married this weekend. We can’t be there, and I put pressure on myself to get our gift to her in a timely manner. Which went out FedEx this morning.

I’m not writing all this on our blog to complain, but to talk about the impact of stressors on the best laid plans. Sometimes we have to simply step aside, accept what life has handed us, and change direction.

This is what Merry Delaney faces with the intrusion of Detective Jim Barnes into her life. Widowed for over a year, Merry is happily exploring all the dimensions of her new sexual liberation and has no plans to stop or slow down for anyone. Jim is investigating a mob funds-laundering scheme related to drug trafficking, and one of Merry’s accounting clients is under suspicion. She’s just discovered that some of her files have mysteriously disappeared from her home office computer…

EXCERPT

Merry looked up from the computer screen to see the object of her concern stalk into her office. He didn’t look any more relaxed than earlier. He held out his hand to her. She saw three tiny objects.

She cringed away from his hard stare. “What are they? Where did you find them?”

“Each of your three phones was tapped.”

“Shit. You were right about the computer, too. I don’t know why the security programs didn’t block the hacker. Somebody knows what they’re doing. You didn’t find anything else?”

“I’m not an expert on that, so we’ll wait for the people I called.”

“So we don’t know if anyone is listening as we speak.”

“Probably not.”

Merry slammed a fist on her desk. “This is too much. Having you spy on me from bushes is one thing, but this guy or woman is lurking in my space.”

“As I said, Merry, I doubt they have the house bugged. We’ll know for sure in a couple hours.”

“Good. I don’t like this, Jim. Not one bit.” She chewed on her lower lip. “It’s scary.”

“I know it is. Come on,” he said, offering her a hand. “Let’s go outside. Just in case.”

She grabbed his hand and led the way out onto the patio. “Would you hold me, please?” She directed him to the chaise lounge and sat on his lap. “Put your arms around me, please. I’m chilled. I’ve never been this scared. I was just trying to help—to help those young girls stay off drugs.”

BUY LINKS

All our backlist, including The Merry Widow, is on sale at Extasy Books through the month of January:

  Extasy Books

Additional Buy Links:

Amazon   Kobo   Barnes & Noble

Apple    Google Play

Goodreads     BookBub

Please visit all the Book Hooks bloggers who were timely at this link – you’ll be glad you did:

Holiday Romance – Love it? We do! #RomCom #EroticRomance @ExtasyBooks #MFRWAuthor

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Fellow Extasy author Maggie Blackbird is featuring I Heart The Holidays at her blog all this month, and Mr. Kraft and I stopped by to visit her today and talk about why we love writing holiday romances (and what’s tough about it).

Oh, and there’s an excerpt, too – hope you’ll stop by:

Adriana Kraft – A Gift for Adam

Nadja Petrov – Adventuresome Heroine #RomanticSuspense #Steamy #NewRelease #MFRWAuthor

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Do you like adventure? Do you love an adventuresome heroine?

Nadja Petrov has already experienced more adventures than most of us will ever know, long before her story opens in I Am Not for Sale.

You can read all about those adventures on Lyndi Alexander’s BLOG today. I won’t give away the adventures still in Nadja’s future – I hope you’ll buy the book 😊. I’ll just say two things.

Thing one – part way through the story, Nadja tells the hero “I’d do anything to protect what’s mine.” She’s going to have to live up to this promise.

Thing two – our reviewer, Mrs. N., loved living in Nadja’s shoes. We hope you will, too.

It’s nothing personal…A desperate espresso café owner, a determined coffee franchise rep, a quiet Midwestern town, anonymous threats out of the blue—where does the true danger lie?

Five Stars

Highly recommend: I couldn’t stop reading… the perfect blend of blistering hot romance and suspense… it’s the character development throughout I am Not for Sale which makes this such an incredible story. NN Light’s Book Heaven

 

 

Breaking News

I Am Not for Sale is a finalist in the Steamy Romance category for the N. N. Light 2021 Book Awards!

 

I Am Not for Sale – Now available at #Amazon #Kindle #RomanticSuspense #HotRead

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A desperate espresso café owner, a determined coffee franchise rep, a quiet Midwestern town, anonymous threats out of the blue—where does the true danger lie?

EXCERPT

Set Up: Nadja’s cafe, just after Kevin has proposed buying her out and finally left.

Blocking the annoying stranger from her mind, Nadja busied herself by packing the leftover bakery goods she would drop off at the local food bank. She glanced up to see her aunt leaning against the doorjamb separating their two stores.

How long had Ivett been standing there? What had she seen? Her dark eyes sparkled as if she possessed a tantalizing secret. Nadja sighed, girding herself for a grilling.

She hoped when she was forty-three she’d look as attractive as her aunt. Ivett’s clear, heart-shaped face was framed by dark flowing hair and set off by the most expressive eyes. But Nadja knew she’d never bubble like her aunt—that kind of free spirit didn’t lurk anywhere in her body.

“Hmm, who’s the tall dark handsome stranger?” Ivett quipped, stepping into the coffee shop. “I don’t think I remember seeing him around. And if I had, I think I’d have noticed. He seemed quite engrossed in you.”

“Nonsense. He was just a customer.” There was no need to tell Ivett about the man’s outlandish proposition. The man had no manners—or maybe he was merely another example of American bluntness.

“Few customers, even male customers, stand at the counter and blatantly undress you in their minds.”

Nadja gasped. “He wasn’t.”

She frowned. Or was he? Her cheeks warmed. She wasn’t blind. She’d noticed his broad chest pulling at his shirt. But she hadn’t considered him any more thoroughly than that. And she didn’t think it wise to do so now.

She shook her head. “You must be wrong. He was only interested in the coffee business.”

“Right! I don’t believe that for a minute, but if you must, go ahead. Your mother has been gone for nearly two years now, Nadja. It’s time for you to get on with your life.”

“I am. Look at this place.” She swept her gaze around the shop. “This was only a dream eighteen months ago. But with the inheritance from my mother and your and Uncle Steve’s help—this is a reality.”

“Your dream is a reality because you worked twenty-six hours a day on it with very little help for the first eight months.”

“I couldn’t hire help until I got the place up and running.”

Ivett blew air through pursed lips, and Nadja prepared herself for what had become an all-too-familiar lecture.

“You could at least show some interest in a man.”

“I don’t even know his name.”

“I don’t only mean him. But he’ll be back.”

BUY LINKS

https://www.extasybooks.com/I-am-Not-for-Sale https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L7WQH12/

BLURB

It’s nothing personal…

It all seems simple enough—Ukrainian immigrant Nadja Petrov is determined to hold on to her thriving new coffee shop, Nadja’s Literary Cappuccino, and Java Beans District Rep Kevin Langley is equally determined to move into her North Iowa town with a franchise and run her out of business.

He scopes her out, she keeps a watchful eye on him, and the sparring begins. But there are other players involved, and the web of intrigue soon threatens Nadja, her shop, and her aunt as well as Kevin, his potential franchise, and his son. Within this cauldron simmers a sexual attraction between Nadja and Kevin that catapults them to overcome their fears of intimacy and commitment. Their lovemaking is tender and raw. Their love is nearly lost in tragedy—can it survive doubts, fire, and even a death?