Here to share her holiday traditions, as well as an excerpt from her book A Soldier's Promise (and some awesome giveaways) is the wonderful Tory Richards!
Traditions
Definition - custom or belief, a
long-established action or pattern of behavior, often one that has been handed
down from generation to generation, the handing down of patterns of behavior,
practices, and beliefs.
How many of you have traditions on the
holidays? The kind created from someone special in your family, just for your family? For years our Christmas Eve
tradition was to all gather at my parent’s house for mom’s famous spam salad
sandwiches, and then open gifts. No kidding! However once mom passed that
particular tradition stopped, even though we still talk about it with fond
memories. Why no one else in the family continued that tradition I don’t know,
but it was a special and highly looked forward to night. It was so much more
than just opening gifts, it was just being together and eating those spam
sandwiches, which mom always made-up into finger sandwiches.
As we grow, marry and begin our
families certain traditions might follow us that were established by another
family member, or you may create your own. Traditions come from the heart, and
make the holidays so much more special.
Hey, before I forget, I have a page of
giveaways going on the whole month of December over on my blog. I’ve set up
rafflecopters to go live at different times but there are a few you can enter
now. Just make sure you follow the specific guidelines for entering so that
your entry will be valid. I’m giving away artwork, ebooks, calendars, earrings,
egift cards and more! Go here, click on the Christmas giveaway page tab at the
top, and good luck!
A
Soldier’s Promise
Now I’d like to mention one of my
books. A Soldier’s Promise, which is
a contemporary holiday romance with a lot of heat.
Blurb - Keeping promises is important to Ryan, but keeping his promise to his
younger brother David will be hard. David’s final wish is for Ryan to watch
over his wife and daughter, but Ryan’s been in love with Shannon for years.
This holiday season, Ryan will learn he can keep his promise and still have his
heart’s desire.
Excerpt:
“You want to help me, Shannon?”
Something in his tone warned her she should turn and run back to her room, but
that same something excited her into staying. “This is the only way you can
help me.”
In one smooth move, Ryan pulled
her over to the bed with him and pushed her down, following her until he
covered her with his half-naked body. Gasping with surprise, Shannon found her
mouth being ground beneath his. She struggled, but if he noticed, he didn’t let
that or his split lip stop him from stealing her breath. Then his hands took
hold of her wrists and pinned them to the bed. Against her will, she responded
when he arched his hips into the lower half of her body.
His thick, hard cock slid into
the crevice between her legs and brushed against her clit.
Shannon moaned and became aware
of other sensations brought upon by her squirming. She arched in hunger, thrust
against his erection with sharp accuracy, wishing they were naked and he was
sliding into her. She moved her hips again, rewarded when Ryan ground his shaft
against her.
He groaned and shuddered, slid
his tongue inside her mouth, swallowing her sound of pleasure. For a
spellbinding moment, they were caught up in the heat of the moment. She was no
longer interested in freedom. Her hands weren’t pushing against his chest, but
had gone to his shoulders and roamed his back in heated caresses, nails lightly
scraping defined muscles. Her hips strained upwards to meet his as he ground
his hard-on into the sweet, hot place between her thighs.
She welcomed his hand beneath
her pajama top as he claimed her breast, palming the globe and flicking his
thumb over the burgeoning nipple. Her response was wild and wanton, encouraged
him to continue, as she silently begged him to do even more. Ryan tore his mouth
from hers, pushed her top out of the way and took her nipple into his mouth.
“Oh, God!” Shannon hissed
beneath him, in nothing more than a whisper. She arched her back, holding his
head against her flesh. She was throbbing below, where his shaft provided
enough friction on her clit to make her burst with sweet release.
His mouth returned to hers, and
he kissed her savagely while his hand skimmed down her body, snaking inside her
pajama bottoms and cupping her bottom. And Shannon thought, this is it, he was
going to slide her bottoms down and take her.
All at once, a muffled noise
penetrated their sounds of hunger. Ryan froze. And during those brief seconds
of listening for the sound again sanity returned to both of them. Realizing
she’d been about to let him make love to her, Shannon closed her eyes and
willed the whole thing away. There was no way she could ignore Ryan’s hard body
or his warm breath against her mouth. His warmth, coupled with the stimulating
scent of their passion, would remain long after she went back to her room.
“Hell, Shannon. I’m sorry. I
got carried away.”
“I guess we both did.” She
wasn’t about to let him take all of the blame. “I ah, don’t know what came over
me, Ryan. I…I’ve been so lonely. It’s, been a long time.”
“For both of us.” He rolled
away. “I think I hear Alivia.”
“Yes, she sometimes wakes
during the night.” Shannon scooted off the bed and looked down at him. Ryan
continued to lie there silently, folded his arms behind his head. “Do you think
we can be friends?”
He released a long breath.
“Sorry, I don’t think you and I can ever be friends.”
“Why?” That wasn’t the answer
she’d been expecting. “Is sex all you’re looking for in a woman?”
“Does that shock you? I’m a
Marine on the go, Shannon. I don’t have time to build relationships. I never
know when the opportunity for a good lay will arise and have to get it when I
can.”
“I don’t believe you,” she shot
back with strong disappointment. She refused to think he was that cold hearted.
“Why would I lie to you?” There
was indifference in his tone.
Shannon thought about it for a
moment. “I know why,” she said sadly.
“Why?”
“Because you’re scared,” she
breathed softly. “Goodnight, Ryan.” She turned and left the room.
Not until she was back in her
own room with the door closed did Shannon begin to breathe normally again. How
was she going to face him in the morning and look him in the eye?
Sitting on the edge of the bed,
she buried her face into her hands and began to cry. Something was happening
between them and she wasn’t sure what. No matter how much Ryan tried to make
her believe it was only sexual, she knew it went much deeper than that.
Now all
she had to do
was make him see it.
Author Bio:
Tory Richards is a
fun-loving grandma who writes smut. Born in 1955 in the small town of Milo,
Maine, she's lived most of her life in Florida. Today she lives with her
daughter and her family. She has her own woman-cave which she shares with four
felines whose main goal in life is getting as much cat hair on everything that
they can.
Penning stories by hand and then on manual typewriter at the age of thirteen, Tory was a closet writer until the encouragement of her family prompted her into submitting to a publisher. She's been published since 2005, and has since retired from Disney to focus on family and writing.
Penning stories by hand and then on manual typewriter at the age of thirteen, Tory was a closet writer until the encouragement of her family prompted her into submitting to a publisher. She's been published since 2005, and has since retired from Disney to focus on family and writing.
Links:
Thank you for the excerpt!
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