About the Book:
Cole Barrington, a sexy dominant and a movie producer with a reputation as a player, has been haunted by one particular young lady who unexpectedly tugged his heart strings during a five-day romp on a tropical island. Why she ducked his calls on their return he has no idea, and the question still shadows him.
 
Paige Brooks is a publicist, and when she learns she must accompany Cole to an annual charity event at the same Caribbean island where she’d spent an idyllic week with him, she grits her teeth and clenches her fists. The man broke her heart. How can she possibly get through it?
 
Thrown together on a tiny seaplane, as they fly to the private island where the event is to be held, fate throws them an unexpected curve ball. Forced to land near a tiny uninhabited island, they suddenly find themselves completely stranded and alone. Their intense attraction soon fires their passion, and when they’re drawn into a wild treasure hunt, Cole must use his dominant skill to control the impetuous woman from the perils surrounding them.
 
If you enjoy a suspenseful romance starring a take-charge alpha male, and a feisty young woman with a sharp wit and impetuous nature, look no further than this panty-melting page-turner from Maggie Carpenter.

About the Author:
Award-winning and best-selling author Maggie Carpenter has published over fifty romance novels, and is the recipient of a number Spanking Romance Reviews awards spanning a variety of genres. Her readers describe her work as, romantic, funny, suspenseful, beyond a five-star read, exciting romance with a ton of surprises.
         
Her work includes a best-selling twelve-book contemporary cowboy series, Cowboys After Dark, (http://amzn.to/2ihCNtp), a warrior fantasy trilogy, Warriors After Dark, (http://amzn.to/2iE0cDa) contemporary love stories, and several Victorian romances. His Willful Bride was a #1 best-seller for several weeks and a BookBub Feature Deal. She is best known for her smart, witty, strong-willed women who  bring unexpected challenge, mystery and humor into the lives of passionate, dominant men.
         
Maggie has a history in show-business both in front of and behind the camera, but moved from Los Angeles to live in the Pacific Northwest to pursue her writing. She is an equine enthusiast who rides every day, and writes until the wee hours of the morning when her eyes close only because they must.
          romanticsexyspankingcowboys.wordpress.com
This author loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her website: www.MaggieCarpenter.com. To sample her work for free, go to, www.3FreeBooks.com.

Excerpt:
She turned her eyes back at him. No, the world wouldn’t come to an end, though it had felt like it had the day she’d seen Miss Blond Bombshell prancing around his office and disrobing on her way to his shower. Why was it still making her crazy? It had been a year ago! She knew why! Of course she knew why. As much as she hated to admit it, she was still nuts about him and it was killing her.
“The thing is,” she continued, battling her feelings, “as much as neither of us wants this, we’ll be thrown together on the island and it’s not going to work very well if we’re at each other’s throats so I’d like to call an official truce.”
There. She’d managed it. She felt proud of herself, but then he smiled that killer smile and she wanted to climb from the car, circle her arms around his neck, press her body against his, and…
“Let’s take that a step at a time. First, personally I’m delighted that you’ll be there; second, I’m delighted to call a truce, though I didn’t know we needed one; and third, just so we’re clear,” he continued, leaning forward, lowering his voice, and fixing her with his shockingly bright blue eyes, “there’s no throat I’d rather be at than yours.”
She wanted desperately to look anywhere but back at him, but her gaze was literally locked by his, and swallowing hard she somehow managed to find her voice.
“Why did you say that?”
“Couldn’t help myself, and besides, it’s true and it needed to be said.”
“Yeah… can’t help yourself describes you to a T,” she quipped, “and if this is going to work, you need to keep crap like that to yourself.”
“Crap?” he said with a frown. “Paige, that was a compliment. Maybe a hair over the top, I’ll give you that, but it was still a compliment.”
“Compliments are meaningless if they’re thrown around like confetti.”
“What are you talking about? I can assure you I have not said that to anyone in… let’s see… at least five minutes,” he declared, his scowl abruptly disappearing as he laughed out loud. “I’m kidding, I swear, I’m kidding.”
“That wasn’t funny.”
“Oh, come on, it was a bit, but honestly, if I was a vampire I’d be sinking my teeth into you right now.”
“No, you wouldn’t, it’s daylight. You’d be dead.”
“You’re right,” he chuckled, raising his eyebrows, “and do you want to know what else is true?”
“Probably not,” she muttered, “but I doubt that’s going to stop you.”
“You need a spanking.”
The infuriating hot blush sprang back to life, her butterflies flew into their fluttering dance, and she stared at him, completely aghast.
“Whaaat?”
“You have an attitude! I don’t know why, but you do, and if you carry it with you to the island, I promise I will spank it out of you.”
“How dare you!”
She’d sounded righteously indignant, but she couldn’t imagine anything she wanted more. It would be a fantasy fulfilled. A fantasy she’d dreamed of more times than she could count since he’d first whispered the threat in her ear all those months before, but in the fantasy, not only did he spank her, when he was done he pulled her into his arms, covered her with kisses, and told her that he’d been missing her like crazy and Jasmine Juniper meant nothing to him.
“Hey, chill out. I don’t know what your problem is, but get over it. Now I really do have to leave. I’ll see you on the plane.”
“You and Miss Juniper,” she mumbled under her breath, shifting her gaze back to her steering wheel.
“No, she won’t be there.”
Though horrified that he’d heard her, she spun her gaze back to him.
“I don’t understand.”
“She’s busy. She’s accepting an award in Norway, or Sweden, or… someplace over there. Why do you care?”
“I don’t. I, uh, just assumed…”
“What is this thing you have about Jasmine?”
“I don’t have a thing about Jasmine,” she said defensively, “and I thought you had to leave.”
“I do, but this conversation is, shall we say, intriguing.”
“It is? I don’t know why.”
“Perhaps because I haven’t spoken to you since this time last year.”
“Yeah, well, shit happens.”
“There it is.”
‘What?”
“Your attitude.”
“I do not have a fucking attitude!”
“Riiiight,” he drawled, “no fucking attitude.”
“Okay, so maybe I’m a bit testy, but I’ve got a lot on my plate.”
“We’ve all got a lot on our plate.”
“Sure we do,” she groaned, rolling her eyes, “you more than anyone. So much to sample and so little time.”
The sarcasm had been dripping from her voice, and she’d seen his lips purse together. She knew what that meant. He was irritated, then suddenly he was walking around her car, and before she could protest he was climbing into the passenger seat. She stared at him as though vexed, but secretly she prayed he’d clutch her hair, kiss her passionately, and scold her for being so impossible. He didn’t, of course, he just looked at her with a puzzled frown.
“All right, Paige, enough of this. I was going to wait until we were on the island, but now is as good a time as any.”
“For?”
“What is it I did to piss you off?”
“When? Just now? What do you think, Cole?”
“No! Not just now,” Cole said, his frustration causing him to raise his voice.
“Don’t yell at me. You have no right to yell at me.”
“I’m sorry, but you are so damn exasperating.”
“Me? I’m exasperating? Oh, no, no, no! Don’t you dare call me exasperating,” Paige bristled. “If anyone deserves that title, it’s you.”
“I’ll spell it out, shall I?”
“What do you mean?”
“Dammit! Paige, will you please stop being such a brat.”
“I’m not!”
“Never mind. This is hopeless,” he grimaced, and as quickly as he’d slipped into her car he was out of it and marching back to his.
“Hey, I thought we’d called a truce,” she called, sticking her head out the window.
“Yeah, so did I,” he called back, “but I forgot I was dealing with a child. When we get to the island I’ll spank you good and hard, then maybe I’ll have a chance at having an adult conversation.”
Shocked, she watched as he slipped quickly behind the wheel of his Porsche, and a moment later, tires squealing, his car roared from the garage. Completely bewildered, wondering what the hell had just happened, she sat completely still.

Buy the Book:
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Sweet Town Love is a collection of stories that celebrates the sweet side of romance. I was thrilled to be invited to participate.

How SWEET is that cover? Makes you want to curl up on your own front porch and get caught up in all the LOVE these author's have to share.

Now, here's a banner for my story entry:

I couldn't have asked for better!

                                             Moments

A family crisis brings her home. A gift of love brings them back together. Share in the moments that take them from friends to lovers. Beulah Isabelle Grayson and Jacob Martin meet in the seventh grade and experience life side-by-side from puberty to college. A broken heart and misunderstandings tear them apart after their high school graduation, and Belle decides she never wants to see him again.  Ten years later, Jake is back in her life and saving the day. Belle knows she owes him the one thing she hasn't been ready to give, a chance to explain. Clearing up the past finally gives them the opportunity to create the future they've both desired.

                                           Excerpt:
A First Kiss
He didn’t let her finish making excuses. On his knees, Jake moved into her space. Belle sat staring, watching his every move. The whole time thinking is he really going to do this? Even on his knees he towered over her. Jake was one hundred percent pure football player, at six foot three inches tall; he was two hundred pounds of solid muscle. Belle knew he was something called a wide receiver, but she had no idea what that meant other than he was huge. His jet-black hair was always a little too long and usually unkempt. His smile was playful and disarming, and as she watched him, Belle was mesmerized. It wasn’t until his hands were cupping her face and his breath grazed her skin that she looked up into his eyes. He never wavered or broke focus as his lips descended on hers. She didn’t really know what to do, so Belle simply let it happen. While the rest of him was solid and hard, his lips were soft and smooth, similar to hers. On instinct her eyes slipped closed, as his kiss got firmer and he moved her where he wanted her to be. When his tongue moved between her lips, she opened for him. Having never been kissed before, everything Belle did was pure intuition.

The entire anthology will be available at Blushing Books & Amazon on
​February 14th!

 The Tower is a short story from The Dark Forest: A Collection of Erotic Fairytales.

About the Anthology:
  Enjoy seven wicked tales from seven bestselling authors, each more deliciously deviant than the last!
  Nothing is as it seems in our dark and twisted fairyland. Princes are not charming and the path to happily ever after is paved with creative punishments and supplication. Do not fret for our fair maidens. These are still fairytales. Love will conquer all in the end. 

About the Book:
  Rebecca 'Rapunzel' Sinclair has spent her entire life in The Tower. A forty-two story monument to her father's tech company where she lives and works, trying to be worthy of Daniel Sinclair's incredible legacy. 
  But while her father has kept her sheltered and safe, he has also made enemies, and when one of them rips Rapunzel from The Tower and takes her prisoner she is dropped into a nightmare of pain and pleasure.
  There are secrets this damned prince knows, and a dangerous history behind his motivations. As her masked captor works to break her down will she be able to face the darkness in her past, and the dangerous desires she's discovering inside herself? 

About the Author:
  Jennifer Bene is an international bestselling author of romance and erotica who loves wine, hiking, whiskey, and keyboards - not necessarily in that order. She's been writing for years, but it's always been the dark stuff that makes her tingly, so her books are full of aggressive alpha males, feisty women who may or may not have a submissive streak, and intense, psychological storylines. Whether it's showing up in dark romance, BDSM, paranormal, ménage, or anything else she decides to venture into, it's always got that touch of darkness. But, don't worry, she also insists on having a nice little happily-ever-after! After all, without the dark, we'd never notice the light, now would we?

Excerpt: (PG-13)
​  The television went black for a moment, and then a single scene played on the screen at normal speed. It was her father standing outside The Tower, speaking to a gathering of reporters. “My inspiration for what I do with Monarch Systems?” He chuckled, all charm and wit, blue eyes sparkling as he nodded at the microphones. “Well, I want a better world for my daughter. She’s my everything. Without her – I’d have nothing.”
  The television clicked off and bright lights instantly flared to life from either side of the television, effectively blinding her. “Dammit!” She flinched, closing her eyes tight as she heard a door open somewhere to her left. It shut again, the sound heavy and metal. Rebecca tried to look, but the bright lights were impossible to see through.
  “Did you hear that, Rapunzel? You’re his everything.” The low voice was slowly moving behind her, and then a large hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed just enough to make her heart stumble over itself in an effort to speed up. “Tell me, how do you think he’s going to feel when he gets that video of what I did to you in your precious Tower?”
  “Fuck you,” she spat, and he yanked her head back, tilting her chin up so she could see the mask again.
  “I already fucked you, and you came like the little whore you are.”
  She tried to struggle, but only rewarded herself with pain as the cuffs tore at her skin and his grip tightened further around her throat. “What do you want from me?” she whispered through the strain.
  “What do I want? I want your father to suffer. I want to see him ruined like he’s ruined the lives of so many others.” He grabbed her chin and forced her head back further, making her back arch painfully. “And you’re going to help me, Rapunzel.”
  “My name is Rebecca,” she hissed.
  “Oh, but daddy dearest always calls you Rapunzel, doesn’t he?” It sent a shudder through her that he knew that fact. How long had he been watching them? Watching her?
  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
  “Don’t lie to me, I know everything, princess. Remember that. Now, you have a task to perform.” He let her go and she rolled her neck to ease the ache as tiny red dots sprang to life in the ceiling. One directly in front of her, two in the corners, and as she turned she saw they went all the way around. Every angle covered.
  This can’t be happening.
 The man stepped behind her again, leaning down to speak directly into her ear, “Go on, talk to him. Tell him how much you want to come home.”

Buy the Anthology:
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