Tessa's Temptations

The Baroness stood next to the Duke. The firelight showed through her elegant pale gown, highlighting each curve and swell… Why not make the heroine’s arch rival in The Devil Duke star in the sequel, The Demon Duchess (soon to be released). I always enjoy a villainess, especially when she’s not all bad. Perfect example: the Baroness in The Sound of Music —my inspiration for Abigail Sutton, Trevor Barrington’s longtime mistress who is about to have her world shattered by her beau’s rowdy young house guest, Izzy De Luca. She doesn’t plan on conceding to the scrappy competition without a fight, however. “The American has put Daddy in a foul mood again. He shouts at her a lot and when he is not shouting he stares. Funny that he should always watch her. You are so much prettier.” “Yes, we will have to remind him of that. Let’s go find him, shall we?”             ARMS CR...

How do you handle a love scene when your heroine is a virgin? After all a woman’s chastity is a sacred thing and a girl’s first time is supposed to be special. It isn’t always, of course, but you can sure as hell bet it will be in a romance novel. The hero will take extra care with the de-flowering process. That is, unless the virgin in question is the sexual aggressor. Sharing an excerpt from my novel, The Devil Duke . Its sequel is soon to be released, The Demon Duchess...check it out! EXCERPT FROM THE DEVIL DUKE: He stalked toward her, wagging a finger. “You tricked me, you devious minx. You snuck into my room and crawled into my bed and you’re a bloody virgin.” She had the audacity to laugh in his face. “God, get over it.” The Duke completely lost his cool. The veins in his neck stood out as he raised his voice. “Do you have any idea what you are doing to me! You will drive me insane!” “I don’t want to be a virgin anymore, okay!” she shouted back at him. His ...

After all, we fantasize about them, idolize them and “follow” them. (I’m only referring to internet stalking, of course). We would still have posters of them shellacking our bedroom walls if dignity didn’t demand otherwise. I mean, what would the house guests say? Screw dignity and the houseguests.  Some of us, (at present), have slipped a glossy picture here or pinned a torn-magazine photo there. Our favorite fantasy guy may be a model, movie star, rock star or sports star. My 50 plus friend has a life-size cardboard cutout of ultimate bad boy Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy . He started out in the bedroom, where he belongs. Sadly, her husband made her put him in the garage. These pinups keep our blood hot in our veins and make us remember how fun it was to be a silly girl. I for one have my fridge plastered with portraits of Spanish tennis megastar and real-life gladiator, Rafael Nadal. Did I mention he’s wearing only his undies in these shots? His chiseled, sunbaked f...