Late Night Reading: Welcome to the Black Room by Laura Hault

I am a huge history buff. So when I have the opportunity to review a work that takes place in another time period, I get a little weak in the knees.

In Laura Hault's The Masquerade Affair: Welcome to the Black Room, we are immersed in a time of lords and ladies, tavern wenches, and as the title would suggest, masquerade balls. These aren't your typical formal affairs, however - these parties pack a kinky punch, as well as a dirty little secret.

This was a thrilling ride all the way through, and I was definitely not disappointed in how Laura was able to weave a fantastically sexy story throughout a realistic historical context. I was appreciative of her attention to detail, an effort which resulted in me being able to enjoy myself much more than if she hadn't been so thorough.

From the blurb:

Young women should always be wary of men who promise them money, but Henrietta has no choice. With a drunken lout of a husband and only a pittance to be earned as a barmaid, she cannot say no to the lord who promises her more gold than she’s ever seen. All she needs to do is attend a party, a single night of hedonistic debauchery.  

When lords and ladies gather in the Black Room there is no telling what temptations Henrietta will be subjected to. She’ll have no choice but to give in to their pleasure.

Are you intrigued? I know I sure was! Let's break it down after the jump.

Eight Sentence Sunday #14

Happy post-holidays, everybody!

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for me. Thanks to the generosity of a fellow author and reader, I was able to provide my daughter with a great Christmas, complete with her most coveted gift: an artist's easel. The days leading up to and following that very special Christmas morning are sort of a blur, hence why I missed last weekend. :(

But I'm back! And since I'm back, so is The Haunted Lingerie!

This is a snippet that falls into place just a little while after Misty becomes privy to the fact that Anita's memories are beginning to mingle with her own. She's walking through Anita's old house with Jack, the Deputy Sheriff she's harbored feelings for with since they were teenagers, looking for clues as to why she disappeared - and how she died shortly thereafter. The home was rented out a few times after she went missing, but no one ever stayed for long, and it's been abandoned for several years. Creative punctuation is in use!

 

... She stole one last glance at Jack over her shoulder, meeting his gaze beyond the shadows that turned his skin into a patchwork of darkness and light beneath his furrowed brow. She wished she had his strength; his confidence; his gun. 

And yet, without any of these things at hand, Misty somehow mustered the courage to clamp her fingers around the metal handle and turn it, revealing the startlingly radiant glow of the room beyond. 

She lifted her arm up over her eyes, shielding them from the summery rays cascading in through the crystal-clear panes of the bay window facing the street. Sheer cotton curtains rippled in a gentle breeze, billowing in time to the melodic chirping of the wind chimes swaying outside the front door. She could smell the sweet, heady fragrance of the blood-red roses blooming just beneath the windowsill, each prideful petal puffed up to perfection as they gloated over the menagerie of the lesser flowers that cowered in their shadows, stealing the thunder of their own effulgent smatterings of yellows, pinks, and violets scattered about the lawn that stretched out like an emerald green ocean toward the dull, gray asphalt of the road beyond. 

Misty knew it wasn’t real – it couldn’t be – but when she pinched herself, the vision remained; she was stuck in the realm of Anita’s memories. 

But for how long? ...

If you're craving more, you can read eight FREE chapters of The Haunted Lingerie at FictionPress.net by clicking here. I will update with additional chapters until a certain point is reached in the narrative, at which time I will leave the rest up to the release. I don't want to spoil the surprise!

I hope you've enjoyed my eight sentences this week. If you've enjoyed this snippet, you can take a look at my other works on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks, and Smashwords. You can also access my Amazon author page by clicking on the cover art image above.

And if you're looking for some more great reads, try Veronica Hardy and John Dylena on for size!

Hope you're having a great weekend, and that it only gets better from here!

Eight Sentence Sunday #13

Happy weekend, everybody!
With Christmas approaching, I am working harder than ever on The Haunted Lingerie. My original goal was to finish it by the end of October, but that didn't work out. My new goal is to finish it before January 1st, get it edited, and then have it released before Valentine's Day.
Incidentally, I put seven chapters of the story up on FictionPress.net, and holy crap! In less than a week, I have almost 700 readers. I'm in awe, and it gives me hope for the impending release. It was exactly what I needed to reassure me that I don't suck as an author and that I might still be able to achieve my dreams.
So of course, this week's snippet comes from there again!
In this scene, Misty is internally interrogating Anita, the spirit haunting her cursed lingerie. Anita can't remember how she died or who killed her, and it's up to Misty to try to jog her memory enough to figure it out for herself, and hopefully break the spell in the process. Anita is replying in bold italics.

... I remember the swings at Linden Park. I remember pumping my legs until my muscles were sore, trying to reach out and touch the sun. I remember my parents taking me to Coney Island every fall to ride the carousel and visit the boardwalk – it was the only time I ever got to see the beach. They had a rollercoaster there. I remember the first time I rode it, I thought, “this is the highest I’ll ever be.” There was an aquarium, too. A pause. But I never got to see it. ...

If you're craving more, you can read seven free chapters of The Haunted Lingerie at FictionPress.net by clicking here. I will update with additional chapters until a certain point is reached in the narrative, at which time I will leave the rest up to the release. I don't want to spoil the surprise!

I hope you've enjoyed my eight sentences this week. If you've enjoyed this snippet, you can take a look at my other works on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks, and Smashwords. You can also access my Amazon author page by clicking on the cover art image above.

If you're looking for some more great reads, try Veronica Hardy and John Dylena on for size!

Hope you're having a great weekend, and that it only gets better from here! 

New Release: "Yulene and the Wolf: A Yuletide Legend"

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

I have been incredibly busy with the holidays as well as working on new stories. My newest one is just in time for Yuletide, and a story about a sacrifice made in honor of the season.

From the blurb:

Yulene has grown up on the tales of Ragnarok, the great clash of the gods that will destroy the mortal world. Every ten years, a young girl must be given as a sacrifice on the eve of the solstice; a gift meant to placate the ravenous Fenrir, a beast destined to kill Odin as part of the apocalyptic prophecy. Yulene must face the wolf this year, but when she does, she finds that there is another hunger that lurks within him. Can she satisfy his dark appetites? And will he let her live if she does?

If you like shifters, werewolves, and Norse mythology, this might just be the story for you!

You can check out an exclusive snippet, as well as the cover art, after the jump!

Eight Sentence Sunday #12

Happy post holiday, everyone!
I accidentally missed last week's WeWriWa. It wasn't necessarily holiday-related. Steam had a sale, my boyfriend bought Civilization V, and I got absorbed in taking over the world. It's very nice to be able to do so in a game since I can't do it in real life!
This week's snippet is from a point a little farther along in The Haunted Lingerie. Misty has suggested that she and Jack venture to the former house of the spirit haunting her lingerie. She's hoping that revisiting the scene of the crime will jog Anita's memory and allow her to come to terms with how she died, and who killed her. When they arrive, the home has been foreclosed upon and has been vacant for several years. We pick up at the point where Misty exits the car for the first time and begins having a look around.
Without further ado, here are my eight sentences for this week. Creative punctuation is in use.

As Misty rose up out of her seat, her gaze fell to a row of dark, thorny stalks jutting up out of the ground. They encircled the front portion of the vacant house, a parade of twisted bundles so dry and withered that they looked like the slightest touch would snap their jutting limbs in half. She blinked as the edges of her vision began to blur, only to find that when she opened her eyes again, the gnarled collection of twigs had blossomed into a lush arrangement of red rose bushes in full bloom. 

A gardener used to come twice a week to take care of them, Anita whispered, her voice quavering and taut. I used to sit by that big window and look out at them all the time. I was so proud of them - I’d never had anything that beautiful before. It almost makes me glad I didn’t live to see them like this. She paused, then gave way to a whimper: My babies…

I hope you've enjoyed my eight sentences this week. If you've enjoyed this snippet, you can take a look at my other works on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks, and Smashwords. You can also access my Amazon author page by clicking on the cover art image above.

If you're looking for some more great reads, try Veronica Hardy and John Dylena on for size!

Hope you're having a great weekend, and that it only gets better from here!