Friday, November 29, 2013

Hot Autumn Nights

Welcome to the Hot Autumn Nights Blog Hop sponsored by authors H.D. Thomson and Caris Roane. Grand prize for the hop is a $70.00 gift card for Amazon or Barnes and Noble. At the end of the hop, the organizers will choose the grand prize winner using random.org by putting in the number of blog sites that participated. From there, they will use random.org again to choose a winner from the winning site, so the more sites you visit and comment at, the better your chance to win.

My prize is a $10 e-gift card of the winners choice: Amazon, BN, Starbucks, etc. Leave a comment to enter. You can earn additional chances to win by liking my Facebook page, following me on Twitter or signing up to the this blog. Let me know in the comments if you have earned additional points.

Now to the fun part. What does a hot autumn night mean to you? Is it snuggling before a roaring fire with your sweetie? That's a classic scenario, and one I used in my historical romance Rogue's Hostage.


His hostage... 

In 1758 the Pennsylvania frontier is wild, primitive and dangerous, where safety often lies at the end of a gun. Mara Dupre's life crumbles when a French and Indian war party attacks her cabin, kills her husband, and takes her captive. Marching through the wilderness strengthens her resolve to flee, but she doesn't count on her captor teaching her the meaning of courage and the tempting call of desire.

Her destiny...

French lieutenant Jacques Corbeau's desire for his captive threatens what little honor he has left. But when Mara desperately offers herself to him in exchange for her freedom, he finds the strength to refuse and reclaims his lost self-respect. As the shadows of his past catch up to him, Jacques realizes that Mara, despite the odds, is the one true key to reclaiming his soul and banishing his past misdeeds forever.

In this excerpt, Mara shows up when Jacques is at his lowest point with a bottle of wine and Swiss fondue:


She bustled over to the table and began arranging the items on the tray. “Have you ever had fondue before?”

He shook his head and stared doubtfully at the melted cheese mixture.

Mara picked up a fork, speared a cube of bread, dipped it in the fondue, and held it out to him.

He took a bite and nodded his approval. “Delicious.”

“It would be even better if I had real Gruyère cheese, but this will have to do.” She handed him the fork. 

“Now you try it.”

He mimicked her actions, but when he pulled the fork out of the pot, the bread was gone.

“Ah,” Mara said, “now you must pay a forfeit.”

He turned to her with an amused look on his face. “What kind of forfeit?”

She cocked her head to one side, a teasing look on her face. “Sometimes it is a bottle of wine.”

He clapped a hand to his forehead. “I knew it, you are after my vintage Bordeaux.”

She giggled. “Since I am still not overly fond of wine, I will not demand a forfeit.”

“Is there no alternative?” he asked. When he saw a blush creep up her face, he pressed the point. “What are you not telling me, madame?”

“Sometimes it is a kiss.”

He drew in a quick breath. “A much better idea, do you not agree?”

She looked at him uncertainly. “I suppose so.”

Jacques’s heart began to pound in his breast. It had been more than six months since he had kissed her, that last night at Fort Duquesne. Careful not to alarm her, he cupped her chin with one hand and lightly touched his lips to hers.

“I think I am going to like fondue very much,” he decided.

He pulled out a chair for her, and inched his own close so that their knees touched under the table. When she dipped her fork in the pot, he jostled her elbow, and she lost the bread.

“You did that on purpose,” she accused him with a smile.

He shrugged. “A forfeit is a forfeit. It is your turn to kiss me.”

She shook her head but complied with his request, kissing him sweetly but tentatively.

Jacques lost more bread than he ate, and soon he was intoxicated on wine and kisses. With each kiss, he grew bolder, slipping his tongue inside her mouth, savoring the tangy taste of cheese and Bordeaux.
Finally she put a hand on his chest. “Enough.”

He smiled lazily. “Oh, no, madame. I will never get enough of your kisses.”

Buy now from Amazon, All Romance eBooks,Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo and Smashwords.

Rogue's Hostage is also part of the Romance Super Bundle, ten full-length romance novels for one low price. Available at Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords.

Don't forget to leave a comment below to enter my giveaway with your email address. For extra credit, follow this blog, like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter (@LyndiLamont). Just let me know what you did in the comments for extra chances to win.

What's your idea of a hot autumn night?

Linda

Follow the linky list below to keep hopping!

36 comments:

Unknown said...

A Hot Autumn night for me walking along the beach or swimming in a pool or just relaxing reading

jessicaoz(at)hotmail(dot)com

chey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jessie2247 said...

My hot autumn night is snuggling under a blanket with my boyfriend with a giant mug of hot chocolate and watching a movie. Thanks for your great giveaway!!
i_love_book at aol dot com

chey said...

A hot Autumn Night for me includes a walk on the beach.

chey127 at hotmail dot com

Unknown said...

Cuddling with my honey next to a blazing fire.

Twitter follower- Anovelgathering

GFC-Donna Newman

anovelgathering2013(at)gmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

Hot Autumn night is on the porch with a blanket wrapped up with hot cocoa and your guy. valshemi dot gmail.com

Linda McLaughlin said...

These are all great, though around here (So. Calif.) a walk on the beach in autumn can be more cool than hot. A walk on the beach in summer can be cool sometimes.

Valerie, I love the idea of cuddling on the porch under a blanket. We had a big porch in the house I grew up in and I loved sitting there.

Unknown said...

Hot Autumn Night is cuddling with my husband.
I followed you on twitter @paranormalbookr

aprilnu2003 (at) yahoo (dot) com

squiresj said...

An hot autumn night with me is just me and my husband enjoying time alone or with grandchildren
jrs362 at Hotmail dot com

Evie said...

A perfect night would be with a nice book and some hot chocolate.
by.evie at yahoo dot com dot br

Dovile said...

Cosying up in front of a fire is definitely one of my ideas for a hot autumn night:)

spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com

Linda McLaughlin said...

Donna and Shar, thanks for following me on Twitter.

All this talk of cuddling and hot chocolate is making me thirsty for some sweet stuff. ;)

Linda

Unknown said...

In case I forget: I liked your FB page, followed via Twitter, and I'm following your blog.

To make the autumn nights here warm, I get my favorite blanket, a cup of hot chocolate, and the book I'm devouring at the moment and snuggle down on the couch with my pets for some serious reading time. michelle_willms(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Unknown said...

My hot Autumn night involves hot cocoa, my snuggie and a good book! And my honey to cuddle with!

grapeapril75(AT)gmail(DOT)com

mareb said...

Hi Linda, I'm a new follower from the hop (followed via GFC, Facebook and Twitter too).

My ideal hot autumn night would be a night at home for some "me" time.

Unknown said...

Cold Night + Hot Guy + Exceptional Scotch = Perfect Hot Autumn Night!
Happy Holidays and thanks for the amazing giveaway!
elizabeth @ bookattict . com
GFC: BookAttict
Twitter: @BookAttict
Facebook: Elizabeth Hyatt

Linda McLaughlin said...

April, thanks for dropping by.

Michelle, Satchmo & Elizabeth, thanks for following me on Twitter. I'm following you back now.

Hope you're all enjoying the hop!

joye said...

A nice hot autumn night for me would be around sitting the pool sipping on a cool iced tea wiih a significant other. Did I mention I live in Arizona and a hot autumn night would be a temperature that is hot itself?
JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com

Stormy Vixen said...

I love snuggling up with a good book. Thanks for sharing the hop and your giveaway. Wishing everyone a wonderful and magical holiday season! evamillien at gmail dot com

jmcgaugh said...

To me, a hot autumn night means snuggling up with my husband, a hot drink, and a romantic movie. jmcgaugh (at) semo (dot) edu

Jennifer Mathis said...

a fireplace a good book and a hottie to massage my back is my idea of a great night
meandi09@yahoo.com

magic5905 said...

I love watching my favorite tv show and reading a good book.
magic5905 at embarqmail dot com

bn100 said...

a fire
Nice excerpt

bn100candg at hotmail dot com

Sandra said...

Oh, what an excerpt! Thanks for sharing it.

I like your FB page as Robin Michaels and follow your twitter @hisboywonder

thanks~

hisboywonder(at)gmail(dot)com

Carolyn said...

Wonderful exchange in that excerpt. I think I know what their hot autumn night would have!

Mine would definitely include a bed, whether my love or a good book or both!

Thank you for sharing with us!

caroaz [at] ymail [dot] com used for following the blog and
@akaTheReader following you on twitter

Linda McLaughlin said...

Joye, I hear you on the hot Arizona nights. It's almost always hot, depending on where you live. Though I was at the Grand Canyon once in Nov. and there was a bit of snow.

Linda McLaughlin said...

Thanks for all the great suggestions for heating things up. Snuggling up to read is one of my favorites.

Sandra and Carlyn, glad you enjoyed the excerpt, and thanks for following me on Twitter.

Daniel M said...

relaxing with a good book - regnod(at)yahoo(d0t)com

Linda McLaughlin said...

I love relaxing with a good book, but there's never enough time for that!

JanD said...

Hot cocoa and a steamy book.
bituin76 at hotmail dot com

JanD said...

Hot cocoa and a steamy book.
bituin76 at hotmail dot com

Shadow said...

Hi! I love autumn. My favorite thing to do is curl up with a good book, drink some yummy hot coco with whip cream. So good and very relaxing! Thank you all for the fantastic hop! Its a blast! Im having a great time! Thank you! Happy holidays!
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

Juana said...

My perfect hot Autumn night is reading a paranormal romance in bed.

jmesparza821 at gmail dot com

Spav said...

Reading a book in front of a heater with a piece of cake nearby.

spav05(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Linda McLaughlin said...

Shadow, Juana and Spav - glad you made it in under the deadline. The blog hop is officially over and I'll be choosing a winner shortly. Hang on...

Linda McLaughlin said...

Congratulations to my winner of a $10 e-gift card, Donna Newman!

Donna, I'll be contacting you by email.

Thanks again to everyone who visited during the blog hop.

Happy Holidays!

Linda
flightsafancy AT GMAIL DOT COM