Adriana Kraft

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

Extasy Books

Aren’t you the new Mistress… #MFRWHooks #LGBTQ #EroticRomance

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Welcome to MFRWHooks!

Scroll to the end for more of this week’s tempting excerpts!

Mistress of Purgatory Point, by Adriana Kraft

BLURB

A tender ghost story and a sizzling erotic romance with a splash of BDSM, Mistress of Purgatory Point is also the deeply moving chronicle of the mid-life sexual awakening of a stoic widow who thought she’d already experienced her one allotted love.

Not quite fifty, recently widowed Martha Richards has just purchased the old sturdy house at the tip of Purgatory Point overlooking Minnesota’s Boundary Waters. She and her pastor husband often dreamed of retiring there on their summer canoe trips. Now, she welcomes the solitude and time to hone her jewelry making craft.

Forest Ranger Dan Ford, her reticent neighbor to the south, thinks the aloof newcomer has no clue what it takes to survive North Woods winters. Reluctantly, he volunteers to help her prepare the place for the inevitable blizzards.

Martha is shocked when local shop owner Natalie Bjorg says her jewelry exudes erotic passion. Natalie doesn’t stop there, but explains that as the new Mistress of Purgatory Point, Martha now holds the key to release its two ghosts: Ben and Stella have been trapped between worlds for nearly a century, waiting for an owner of their home to discover a love that matches their own and set them free.

One man, two women and two ghosts keep love’s fires burning through the deep chill of a North Woods winter—but which love will hold the key?

EXCERPT

Chapter One

“Aren’t you the new Mistress of Purgatory Point?”

Martha Richards tilted her head to the side and stared at her inquisitor. She’d never met the sprightly blonde, but then she’d only been in the combination book-and-craft store once before, to see if it seemed a worthwhile place to consign some jewelry pieces. Mistress of Purgatory Point. Really!

“I bought that property about a month ago,” Martha said in clipped tones. “I didn’t realize it came with a title.”

“Oh, it does,” the petite blonde bubbled, not in the least put off by the purposely cool response. “Oh, excuse me,” she said, smiling broadly, “I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Natalie Bjorg. I own this place.” She arched an eyebrow. “Well, I’m buying it from my parents, who moved to Florida over a year ago.”

Martha narrowed her eyes, “So you make decisions about what you will or won’t sell?”

“That’s right.” Natalie glanced at Martha’s shoulder bag. “Are you an artist?”

“I’m not sure I’d go that far.” Martha sighed. This was the hardest part of picking up her art again. Creating pieces, pouring her soul into them was one thing, but then she had to try and market them. “I do make jewelry from time to time, and I wondered if this shop might be interested in displaying them.”

“Come on over to my table,” Natalie said, pointing at one of four small round tables in a nook.

The intimacy of the nook surprised Martha. She could see it offered a pleasant place for customers to chat or read. So why were her palms sweating? Was she that anxious about her jewelry being rejected? There were several other shops in Ely that might work with her.

She scrutinized the shopkeeper as she pulled out a chair. Natalie Bjorg was hardly the kind of woman she’d expected to deal with when she’d entered the store, but if Natalie was the proprietor, she hardly had a choice. Natalie seemed rather young for the responsibility, though actually it was hard to determine the ages of women living year-round in Ely. Most of them spent so much time out on the Boundary Waters in the sun and wind or cross-country skiing in the winter that their tan skins made them appear ageless. “So you’re a native to the area?”

“Yep. Born and raised in Ely. Couldn’t imagine living any place else. Though I do want to travel more. Would you like some coffee? I don’t have the special blends, but I make good coffee.”

“Thanks. That would be nice.” Martha sighed softly, relaxing in spite of herself. How could she not, faced with such an infectious, energetic presence?

“So show me what you have,” Natalie said, after filling two coffee cups and pulling up a chair. “I am so pleased you came by. This is sort of our off season. Not much happens here until the snow flies.”

Holding her breath, Martha reached into her bag for a couple pieces wrapped in cloth. Carefully, she unwrapped the first piece, watching Natalie closely. The woman’s eyes rounded, and she gasped as soon as she saw the gold waxing moon pendant suspended from a circle.

“It’s beautiful!” Natalie exclaimed, with a hand at her throat. “You made that?”

“Of course.” Martha smiled. Why did people often seem so amazed by her creations? She pulled the cloth from the second piece, and again Natalie sat stunned. Martha caught herself grinning—probably the girl had seldom been without words.

“It’s so…so erotic. It’s absolutely stunning.”

BUY LINKS

Mistress of Purgatory Point is on sale for $3.00 from the publisher:

https://www.extasybooks.com/mistress-of-purgatory-point

Also available at these retail outlets:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mistress-of-Purgatory-Point-ebook/dp/B003XRF09S

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mistress-of-purgatory-point

Be sure to click on the links to travel to the rest of today’s excerpts!

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

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:

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?

Where does true danger lie? #NewRelease – I Am Not For Sale #MFRWHooks #RomanticSuspense

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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!

Coming this Friday, November 5, to Extasy Books!

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?

EXCERPT

Giving the menu a quick once-over, Kevin avoided looking at the blonde sitting on the other side of the booth. He counted himself lucky to be alive. Was the woman enraged at him, or did she normally drive like a demon? Fearing for life and limb, he’d made no attempt to engage in conversation, and neither had she.

He’d order the grilled walleye. That ought to be safe enough. He peeked up at Nadja, who gave him a hard stare. She was a specialist at projecting innocence, sexiness, and danger in one amazing package.

He reached for his coffee and sipped. Not bad for restaurant coffee. He glanced around the spacious eating area and smiled. Nadja wasn’t taking any chances. She’d brought him to a well-lit, fairly noisy sports bar. Hardly a setting that would engender a romantic mood.

And romance was the furthest thing from his mind—until he looked at her and felt himself drawn into her soulful eyes. Was she a witch? She had to be one of the most absolutely stunning women he’d ever met. And he was drawn to her eyes. Cripes, maybe he was getting old. At that moment, those beckoning eyes bored holes through him. Romance was definitely not on Nadja’s mind.

BLURB

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?

BIG SALE

All our erotic romance and romantic suspense novels at

Extasy Books are on SALE

~ 40% off ~

now through November 30!

Extasy Books

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