A Valentine's Gift for You - final day - FREE on KINDLE

So here it is at last, Valentine's Day. A day for sharing with the man or woman of your dreams. But sometimes that isn't possible and if you can't have romance on our favourite day of the year, at least you can read about it.

Come, Dance With Me is FREE today for your kindles and if you don't have a Kindle, it is not too late to leave a comment at the bottom of the page for a chance to win a signed paperback copy.

Here is the last excerpt of Come, Dance With Me ...enjoy and if you want to read more, you know what to do.

In this excerpt Sasha and Andrei are enjoying a meal with friends.

Sasha, in seventh heaven to be at the table with the two men she loved most in the world, was aware of Andrei’s leg beneath the table. Each time he moved, his knee brushed hers, making her quiver. It was extraordinary how, even though she spent the larger part of each day in his arms, she was still not yet accustomed to his touch. She didn’t think she ever would be, even if she spent a lifetime dancing with him. It was as if his every contact marked her, imprinted on her soul, as if he was slowly taking possession, making her his – piece by piece. One day, she knew, he would touch her and she would be totally consumed, leaving nothing more of her to be had.

She watched him chewing his food, his jaw strong. He put down his knife and fork and turned to reply to something her brother had said, using his hands to punctuate his sentence. At that moment, in the circle of the candlelight, Sasha admitted to herself for the first time, that she was deeply in love with him. Seeing him there, in the company of her brother, surrounded by the soft music, the gentle laughter of friends, the whole affair between them seemed inevitable. There was nothing she could do to stop it. It would happen. She wanted him; he wanted her. She wondered why she had fought against it for so long.

Jack chewed thoughtfully, emptying his mouth, twitching his fork as he spoke.

‘So, Andrei, what are the chances of you two winning Celebrity Dance then?’

Andrei sat back, put down his knife and picked up his wine, his gaze warm on the back of Sasha’s neck.

‘If your sister works as hard as she has been up to now, we stand every chance.’

She blushed scarlet, took a deep breath before straightening up and turning to look at him. 

‘Surely not, Andrei. I mean, I’m not that good and I make so many mistakes. What about Vanessa? She is so much younger, so much more …sprightly.’

‘You make it sound as if you are a million years old, my darling. It is not just about the steps, it is about feeling the dance, interpreting the music...’ His voice trailed off as he became aware that all three of them had stopped eating and were staring at him in some astonishment. Sasha’s face was suffused with colour, her eyes like lamps.

He shrugged, suddenly seeming more foreign, more exotic. ‘What have I done? What did I say?’  His eyes darted from Sasha to Jack, and back to Lisa again, his brows raised, his face anxious, afraid he had offended them in some way.

Lisa put down her glass. ‘Nothing, Andrei,’ she said. ‘You did nothing wrong at all. You just called Sasha your darling, that’s all.’

Blood rushed up to taint Andrei’s face and, to help him overcome his obvious confusion, Jack turned away and began to ask Lisa about herself, where she worked, where she went on holiday, if she had a partner. 

Sasha, meanwhile, with her ears burning and her insides aflame, experienced Andrei’s every movement as if she made them herself.  When he stroked his chin with his long fingers, her own fingertips tingled, when he lifted his glass it was as if she became the rim, when he dabbed his lips with a napkin it were as if she were made of damask. 

Everyone noticed that she was uncharacteristically quiet but they were too well-mannered to mention it that the thing that had been growing between them, threatening to swamp them both, was now inevitable.  Even Sasha knew that now. Although she listened to the conversation, laughed gently in the right places, spooned up her dessert without tasting it she knew, without a shadow of doubt that by the end of the night her life would be changed forever. Whether the affair between them was short lived, or lasted for the rest of their lives, it had to happen.

Leave a comment now to be included in a draw to win a signed paperback copy or get on over to Amazon for a FREE kindle copy of Come, Dance With Me. Available today only.

 

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A Valentine's Day Gift for You - Day three

It is day three of the giveaway. Tomorrow Come, Dance With Me will be FREE for your Kindle, PLUS the person who leaves the best comment on my blog will receive a free signed paperback copy.  Excerpt number three is below. Andrei and Sasha are alone in his apartment ...

A short pause in the music, and then a new track began, a strain of The Blue Danube spreading about the room. Sasha stilled and put down her glass. ‘I love this,’ she whispered, ‘it reminds me of my dad.’

‘I love it too.’

And then Andrei was on his feet beside her, holding out his hand. ‘Come,’ he begged, ‘dance with me.’

Sasha’s mouth fell open. Andrei Kovalevsky was asking her to dance …and she had two left feet.

She turned very warm and her cheeks flamed as she looked down, twisting her fingers in her lap. She shook her head. ‘I- I can’t dance.’

‘Sure you can. Anyone can dance with me. Come, I will guide you.’

The tingle when he touched her fingers travelled up her arm, into her body making her breasts quiver. She felt as if she was in a sort of dream as she was pulled, against her will, to her feet. She stumbled from her seat and followed him to an expanse of polished wooden floor beside a grand piano.

It was a waltz. He eased her toward him, positioned her body firmly against his, then he slipped an arm about her waist, took her hand in his. Sasha had spent her teenage years dreaming of this moment. Her eyes were level with his neck. Instead of making a fool of herself dancing, she longed instead to press her lips against his skin and taste his sweetness. For all she knew, she was probably no good at sex either but at least in bed she could lay passively beneath him while he exercised his famous sexual prowess upon her. On the dance floor there was nothing she could do to disguise her incompetence.

But he was swaying, moving her in the steps of a dance she did not know.

‘Feel the music,’ he whispered, his lips brushing her ear. ‘Feel it in your heart, flowing in your blood and once you grasp it, relax and let yourself go with it.’

She had to trust him but it was hard to concentrate when she was in his arms, the hardness of his body tight against hers, forcing her to move in ways she had never moved before. 

The Blue Danube played on and after a while, as her mind filled with his music, she began to enjoy it. She felt the melody was being played on her heartstrings, the beat pulsing with the blood in her veins.

Andrei’s palm was firm beneath her fingers, the muscles of his back undulating beneath her other hand. She wanted to run her fingers over him, slide them inside his shirt, tear open the buttons and stroke the smoothness of his skin and welcome whatever it was that came next.

They danced for a long time. When her steps faltered, he caught her close to prevent her from stumbling and, thereafter, held her more securely, until they were pressed so close that she was sure he would feel the erratic beating of her heart.  She was drunk but, on some subconscious level, she knew that it wasn’t just the champagne making her want to weep and cling on to this moment for the rest of her life.

Her head was so dizzy that she was unaware when they stopped dancing for the room continued to spin. She felt so light it was as if they floated a little way above the floor. She blinked up at him and when he reached beneath her hair and cradled her skull firmly in his big, steady hands, she relaxed fully, closing her eyes and waiting for his lips.

Oooh,  you naughty girl Sasha! For another romantic interlude with Sasha and Andrei don't forget to visit and leave your comment for a chance to win a FREE signed paperback of Come, Dance With Me. 

My romance books are all available on Kindle. Titles include Vittorio's Virgin, The Greek Tycoon's Secret Daughter, Where the West Wind Blows, and For One Night Only
If you are in the UK click here 
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A Valentine's Day Gift for you - Day two

Come, Dance With Me - the protagonists meet for the first time when Sasha interviews Andrei for her television show.

The studio lights came on. He stalked across the stage and sprawled in the empty chair, tossing the camera a smile destined to send all the women in England swooning to their knees. One flash of his perfect teeth, the glint of his dark, sexy eyes and the applause of the live audience grew to deafening proportions.  Crossing his long, lean, leather-clad legs, he swivelled in his chair to greet the presenter.

He blinked. The blinding studio lights made a halo around her hair and, as her face came slowly into full focus, Andrei forgot his determination to be disobliging. She was smiling, her pink lips stretched wide, her thick lashed eyes set wide apart, skin glowing, hair writhing in vibrant snakes about the prettiest face he had ever seen.   Her eyes met his and it was as if a hot knife had been thrust into his chest, where his heart used to be.

He swallowed, leaned into her welcome and she took his hand.  Her palms were warm, slightly moist but pleasantly so. She continued speaking, her lips moving; he glimpsed the pink tip of her tongue and his attention lingered on her mouth, waiting to see it again, wondering how soft her lips were, how they would taste.  

At first, he heard only the music of her voice, the sense of her speech falling on his ears in a confused jumble. He answered wildly, hoping that somehow his instincts would take over and see him through. As her voice continued, his eyes left her wonderful face to trickle down her luxuriant neck, resting for a moment on her full, red clad breasts before travelling to her slim waist, and journeying along her lengthy, slender legs.

‘When did you first learn to dance, Mr Kovalevsky?’

He jerked his head, fumbling for his senses, blinking into lights that were no more dazzling than his hostess.  He moistened his lips, cleared his throat, wrenching his attention back to the matter in hand. Andrei tugged at his tie, pulling himself together but his voice when it came was hoarse as if he needed a drink.

‘Oh, I was a boy. M-my mother is a great lover of the dance and she showed me …just the rudimentary steps. Later, I took lessons and …it all took off from there really.’

‘Then the world owes your mother a lot, Mr Kovalevsky. We all loved you in last season’s Celebrity Dance. I’ve followed your career for a long time and I for one was gutted when you only came second. Tell me, just how important is it for you to win? How determined are you to lift that Celebrity Dance trophy?’

She was warming to the interview now. He raised his head and looked into her bright eyes. It was like staring at the sun; uncomfortable, dangerous but somehow compelling.  He blinked and swallowed, a muscle in his jaw tensing as he ran a hand through his hair, sending a ripple of delight through the largely female audience.

‘Oh, you can rest assured, Miss Johnson, I don’t care how long it takes but I will not rest until I have won it.’

Tune in tomorrow for excerpt number two. Don't forget to leave a comment on any of these Valentine posts for a chance to win a signed paperback of Come, Dance With Me.

All my books are available on Amazon Kindle Click here if you are in the UK

And here if you are in the US

Love is not just for St. Valentine's Day.

No romance author worth her salt would miss posting a blog on St. Valentine's Day so here I am, blogging on February 14th, 2012 about love and what it means to me.

 When I was a giddy young thing I believed there was nothing worse than a Valentine's Day devoid of cards and flowers - my (then) partner never dared to overlook such an important day or the resulting row would be horrible. So, for many years I had the red satin hearts and the flowers, not always roses for they are hard on a fella's wallet. But the gifts always seemed to lack something, perhpas I was ungrateful but I have come to realise that the thing they lacked was the sentiment.
It's easy to give flowers once a year and let that be the limit of romantic expression. I understand now that I was with the wrong man.

Now I am older, (some would say wiser but they'd probably be wrong) the cards don't matter so much and neither do the gifts. The thing that is important these days is the affection that is given daily. For almost twenty years he has been bringing me coffee in bed every morning and working extra hard, allowing me to write full time (despite never making enough money at it.)  I don't need roses or fancy cards one day a year because at least once a week, he comes home with something small thing he has seen and thought I might like. It might just be a piece of art deco china or a pretty vase to most people but, to me, it's special  because it comes from him. We don't dine out very often because it is nicer here with just the two of us.

As long as he continues to come home, kiss me on the cheek and ask how my day has been, I will be happy because it's the moment I have waited for all day.  So, if your partner forgot your card and left the hyped-up tacky gifts on the supermarket shelf, don't worry; as long as he comes home with a smile and a pleased-to-see-you kiss, you shouldn't really need anything more.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.