“I vow to grant you….”

By Starla Kaye

Every so often I like to go back and revisit my favorite characters, Maggie and Ian from Maggie’s Secret Wish are two such people. Here’s another look at the story’s blurb and a new glimpse into their lives today. And I’m doing a contest in celebration of my fun-loving couple, so be sure to read all the way to the end of this post.

BLURB:

Maggie’s boring workaholic life and focus on her obnoxious ex is grinding her down. A friend’s advice sends her to Madame Evangeline’s high-end dating service 1 Night Stand. She hopes to find some fun, a date, and va-va-voom sex…not necessarily in that order. At least she will get out of her apartment for one hot night! Because, yes, she is just that desperate for a change, and there is that secret fantasy she’s been wanting to try out….

As Ian turns forty, his day job as writer of steamy erotica and night job as part-time Dom has him worried he will never have a “normal” relationship. With his particular kinky quirks, what woman would consider him husband material? Madame Eve is pretty good at her own job, are these two a match in a million or just a one night flash in the pan?

A LOOK AT THEIR LIFE NOW:

Ian had missed his precious Maggie more on this lonely book tour than ever before. After being married for almost three years, he’d thought his feelings for her would calm down, his need for her would lessen. Neither had.

He worried about her not eating right when he was gone. Without him around to cajole her into cooking “real” meals, she tended to simply nibble on whatever was easiest. She was his Snack Food Queen. And without him to entice her into bed at a decent time, she would stay up until the wee hours. She’d work on her websites or respond to emails or post blogs on Facebook. She would do anything to keep from crawling into bed alone…or so she’d told him.

She needed him. But he needed her so much more.

He pulled into the driveway of his home in the Highlands and his breathing sped up, his body ached. Ever since his flight had left New York City he’d thought of little beyond striding into the house, searching out his lovely lass, and then scooping her up into his arms. He couldn’t wait to carry her upstairs and toss her down in the middle of their big bed. He didn’t think he could even take long enough to strip either of them first. Once he joined her on the bed, ripping their clothes off suited him just fine.

All he wanted was to get his hands on her…his mouth on her…his cock deep inside her.

He grabbed the special gift he’d bought her—them actually—from the passenger seat and climbed out of the car. A “Kinky Vows for Adventurous Lovers” activity card set he’d spotted one day in a store while wandering around the city, missing Maggie. He couldn’t wait to try them, sometime. Right now he didn’t need any sensual suggestions for seduction. He knew exactly what he wanted to do.

Striding toward the house, he thought about his bags. Later. Maybe tomorrow or the next day. He didn’t plan to leave their bed for a good long while.

As he reached the bottom of the steps, the front door opened. His beautiful wife stood there in all her naked glory. Naked except for a wide red ribbon wrapped around her waist. A huge bow was tied at her cute little belly button. The tails of the bow trailed directly down to her curly mound. Lord help him!

He froze, heart pounding so loud that he imagined she could hear it. He struggled to breathe, to think, to move.

Her face pinched in annoyance, she stepped barefoot onto the porch. “Get a move on, husband. I’ve got a serious need of you.”

“Ah, lass, I’ve a powerful desire for you as well.”

I hope you enjoyed this little look into Maggie and Ian’s life once more. It’s always fun for me to play around with what they might be doing.

CONTEST: One lucky commenter will win the Kinky Vows for Adventurous Lovers card set mentioned in this snippet story. The winner will be chosen April 28^th

Since the release of Maggie’s Secret Wish, I have published four more stories with Decadent: Starting Over, The CEO and The Cowboy, Acceptance, and most recently Cowboy Dreamin’.

Maggie’s Secret Wish

Genre: Contemporary, erotic romance, BDSM

Heat Level: 4

Decadent Buy Link 

#starla_kaye, #1NS, #1nightstand, #decadentpub

(Cowboy Dreamin’) – Back to cowboys

by Starla Kaye

I am thrilled to announce that I have a new contract with 1Night Stand for Cowboy Dreamin’. My first two books with 1NS didn’t have cowboys, nor did my Edge book, but my gay romance that wasn’t part of a series, The CEO and the Cowboy, got me back to writing about some of my favorite men: cowboys.

Cowboy Dreamin’ not only has one cowboy hero but two, plus a spunky heroine.

Kendra Barlow has a lousy good track record with love and romance, and she doesn’t have time in her life to try again. That doesn’t mean she can’t fantasize about it. Her dreams always include a hunky cowboy showing her a real good time in bed or out of it. And she envisions him eventually coming to her wearing a white hat, riding a white stallion, and carrying her off to a Happily Ever After.

But those are all dreams. It won’t ever happen to her, especially if she never even dates a cowboy.

Then her best friend convinces her to at least try Madame Evangeline’s matchmaking services for one special night with a cowboy. Kendra is resistant, unsure if she wants to have reality ruin her fantasies. What if he’s a jerk? What if he’s a real disappointment? What if….

But Madame Evangeline goes that extra step for Kendra. She makes an arrangement with two cowboys! They’re ranching partners with emotional baggage of their own. The Kansas cowboys are totally out of place when they come see her in Kauai. They are denim-wearing, six-packed, absolute stud muffins in low-tipped Stetsons. And they are hers! For one night only, God help her.

I had such fun writing about my purple-haired heroine who shakes up Shane’s and Carson’s lives from the moment Kendra comes hip shimming in a pink grass skirt into their world. Nobody gets what they expected. And nobody cares. 

Happy Second Anniversary to Maggie and Ian

By Starla Kaye

I can’t believe it has been two years this June since Maggie’s Secret Wish, my first release with Decadent Publishing, came out with the 1Night Stand Series. Where, oh wher,e does time go?

When we last saw Maggie and Ian, she had gone to Scotland to see if the stubborn Scot could fulfill more of her dreams…the rest of their lives kind of dreams. After he’d nearly hugged her to death on his doorstep, he vowed to never let her go again. Did he hold true to that promise? I’d like to take this opportunity to share in Maggie’s surprise for Ian to celebrate their second anniversary together.

Maggie’s heart skipped merrily about as she prepared to welcome her husband home after his recent book tour. She had trouble believing they’d been together for two years. So much had changed in their lives. She’d moved all the way from Kansas City to Scotland. She still did some website designing, but she could afford now to be real picky about whom she took on as clients. Ian had become her biggest and most important client. She had taken over his websites and most of his social media work, all chores he detested. She had also become the heroine in his new erotica series, something which had taken a little getting used to at first. But that fact really was their little secret.

She glanced at their enormous bed with four thick rich mahogany columns stretching from the floor nearly to the ceiling. Halfway up one of the bed posts was a big velvety soft ribbon, tied in a bow, waiting…

A shiver of a delicious memory crawled over her. She could be so “naughty” sometimes. Or was it Ian who behaved so naughtily when he tied her there, when he did such very wicked things to her. God, she loved her big, bad Scot.

She hurried over to the camel-backed antique trunk that had once housed small weapons of his Highlander warrior ancestors. Now it held their stash of goodies they’d been collecting. She’d added a few items while he’d been gone the last month.

Excitement tearing through her, she picked up the pink and black fluffy flogger. The downy softness of the faux fur sent a quiver over her buttocks. She could envision herself bent over the end of the bed, bare bottom out for Ian’s sensual attention. He would like this…so would she. Once he’d lashed her a bit beyond the light play and applied just enough sting, he would move on to something else. And she would lie there eagerly anticipating…

Next she picked out the little purple feather tickler. Ian would shift her legs apart, nudge her further  forward, and then he would tease her sensitized body. She would tremble and struggle for breath as he tickled her between her thighs, over her already moist lower lips, and flick her hardened clit.

Pulling her from her pleasant musings, she listened to the first of Ian’s heavy footsteps on the stairway. Home! Oh,yes!

He called out in his deep, husky brogue, “Maggie! My sweet Maggie, I’m home!”

She scurried across the room and tossed her toys on the bed. Then she moved to the doorway and said breathlessly, “I’m up here, Ian, waiting for you.”

His steps came more rapidly and she hurried over to the bed. Sitting down, she arranged her gifts to him, and sat naked on the edge to await her lover. At the last second, she reached up to her neck and fingered the soft white leather collar with “Maggie” emblazoned on it. He’d gotten it for her last Christmas but hadn’t worn it yet. He hadn’t pressed her to do so, knowing she would put it on when the time was right. To her, it was a symbol of her giving herself totally and forever to him, although she would only wear it when they were together in private. She’d made the decision while he’d been away.

Ian stopped in the doorway, filling it almost completely with his big body. His thick, wavy dark hair brushed his shoulders and he wore it loose in the way he knew she liked, making her fingers ache to thread through it. And he must not have shaved in the last day or so for he had a nice growth of beard stubble. But it was his eyes that captured her focus. They mirrored his desire for her, were heated with the promise of an intense reunion, something she would long remember.

He swallowed hard as he spotted the collar she wore. Immediately tears glistened in his eyes. “Oh, my precious lass, you’re wearing…” He choked up and walked slowly toward her.

She jutted out her chin and stood to face him. She took his hand and together they touched the collar. “I belong to you, Ian, only to you. Always.” 

Celebrate with Maggie and Ian! Leave a comment and one lucky commenter will win a copy of one of my ebooks, along with a fun, sexy suprise!

Since the release of Maggie’s Secret Wish I have published three more stories with Decadent: Starting Over came out 8-14-11 as part of the 1 Night Stand Series, The CEO and the Cowboy came out 7-7-12, and Acceptance was released 5-7-13 as part of The Edge Series. And I have just submitted Cowboy Dreamin’ to the 1 Night Stand Series.

Maggie’s Secret Wish

Genre: Contemporary, erotic romance, BDSM

Heat Level: 4

Decadent Buy Link

Making Time

Buy Maggie's Secret Wish HERE

By Starla Kaye

I was catching up on reading some of the 1NS blogs and caught Heather Long’s “BeYourself” and Olivia Starke’s “Starving Authors.” They hit home with me in different ways and inspired me, I guess. Not that I’m carrying on with their thoughts, but more getting deeper into mine.

Life gets so absolutely crazy sometimes that we can’t possibly fit one more thing into our schedule. At least that is how I feel, especially lately. My terrific editors would like to see more work from me. My fans ask about sequels. My muse gets all excited and fills my head with a hundred different story ideas.

Fortunately I don’t work besides being a full-time author. Still there are community activities that I’m involved in that take the place of working and can almost be more demanding. One of my writers’ groups depends on me for leadership in so many of its projects, since I was a founding member many years ago. Another writers’ group would like to see me be involved again, if only I had the time. The seniors at my church seem to live for the monthly newsletter I do for them and get frustrated when it is occasionally a week late (I’ve been doing it for 18 years now). The cultural arts group I volunteer coordinate at a senior center would like me to go with them to their numerous outings (I don’t have their kind of stamina). The center’s director wants me to teach writing classes and about making art quilts.

And then there is my family. My BFF/daughter lives halfway across the country and likes me to come see her at least 3-4 times a year. My older brother in another state wants me to come see him. Two family reunions (different sides of my family) want me to join in their events. My sister tries to steal as much of my time as she can manage for going to gardening workshops, taking an exercise class with her, spending time together making art quilts, going to watch her teenagers play in tennis tournaments, and anything else she can come up with. My husband is really the only one of my family that doesn’t put demands on my time, especially this time of year. He’s an accountant (CPA) and he’s crazy busy now, too.

After listing all of that, I’m terrified, overwhelmed. How can I possibly meet all of those needs? How can I make everyone happy? Do you ever feel that way?

I guess what it comes down to is that so popular word today: prioritizing. Unfortunately, I’m not very good at that. I want to do it all. I want to make everyone happy. What about me?

Maybe I just need to fill the bathtub up with a nice steamy bath and lots of bubbles. Take in a glass of wine and my Kindle. Turn on some background music and tune out the world. Enjoy a nice long breather…and then emerge hopefully revived and ready to kick some serious ass, get into high gear again and be Super Woman.

In my first story with 1 Night Stand, Maggie’s Secret Wish, Maggie is a busy career woman. She’s struggled with relationships and is more comfortable with her work and dreaming about her fantasies. A part of her would like to see her “secret wish” come true, but she’s certain it won’t ever happen. But Madame Eve has other ideas about that…

Quilting vs Writing

Buy Maggie's Secret Wish HERE

by Starla Kaye 

I have many favorite things in my life: family, friends, playing games with my family, reading, going to movies, traveling, watching pro football (yes, I’m one of “those” women), and the list could go on and on. What can I say? There are few things in life that I don’t enjoy in some manner.

But I wanted to talk a bit about one of my newest interests: quilting. No, I don’t make those big, beautiful quilts for beds. I don’t have that kind of patience. I make art quilts that I can complete in a reasonable period of time. And I particularly like creating my own patterns, including making ones based on photos of places I have been to and that then mean something to me. One of my first such quilts was based on a photo of my daughter and I visiting Blarney Castle in Ireland. It was completely designed from that photo…and, trust me, I learned a lot of what to do and more what NOT to do. But that mini quilt still means a lot to me.

I recently made two other quilts using a basic quilting pattern, but applying my own tastes in fabrics and the overall theme. For some ridiculous fun writing, I occasionally write short stories about a cow named Blossom and her bullfriend Ferdinand. In her honor, I made a cow-themed mini quilt. Blossom’s stories and some of my various quilt projects can be seen on my second website: www.starlacriser.com.

A second such “fun” mini quilt I created with cowboys in mind, since I write a lot of cowboy stories, including The CEO And The Cowboy (a non-series book with Decadent Publishing). Now that I’m thinking about this, I need to come up with a mini quilt in honor of Maggie and my Scottish hunk from Maggie’s Secret Wish. Hmmm.

Now, why did I label this blog “Quilting vs Writing”? They are both things I enjoy doing, both things that take a lot of thought and patience. Putting a quilt together is like putting together a puzzle. Which piece goes where? The entire process of writing a book of any size is also like working a puzzle. Does this scene go here? Or there?

When my quilt is finished, I sit back and enjoy looking at it. And I sigh in relief that it’s finished. When I complete a book, I sit back in relief and think about how I’m going to miss the characters, who have become my friends in a way. 

Dreaming Up a Fantasy

Buy Maggie's Secret Wish HERE

By Starla Kaye

The first thing I come up with when I start a new story is the title. Every writer is different about that, many working with just a temporary title or simply calling it “Work In Process.” Not me. My title defines the story. My characters come from it.

When I came up with the title Maggie’s SecretWish, I knew two things immediately (as did the reader). First, there would be a heroine in the story named Maggie. Second, she had a secret wish. It needed to be special, something she wouldn’t flat out admit to almost anyone else.

Most of us are like Maggie, in that we lead lives where we present a certain image to those we work with, have acquaintances with, or share our basic lives with. A lot of us have another side that we show to very few people, if anybody else. That protected image of ourselves knows our innermost fears, longings, dreams…secret wishes. Maybe that “secret” person inside you wanted to be a grand adventurer, to travel to other worlds, or to be a super spy. Or maybe you have a bit more wild “secret wish,” something you wouldn’t want everyone to know about.

This is my Maggie. She leads a somewhat dull life as a website designer who spends a great deal of time alone. The men she typically dates are nice, but oh-so-boring. Deep inside her she wants more. With a basically lackluster love life, she reads erotica, dreams of doing much more than just slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am sex.  Beyond that she discovers an interest in light BDSM, mainly about spanking. She’s not particularly interested in anything harsh or super painful. She just wonders what it would be like to experience a bit of sting from a man’s hand connecting with her bare bottom. This isn’t something she would share with her family or friends. Yet she fantasizes about having at least one encounter with a man who is not vanilla, a man who is willing to show his dominate side.

Fortunately for Maggie, Madame Eve somehow knows her secret wish…and she knows the right man to fulfill it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Leave a comment admitting whether or not you have a slightly spicy secret wish of your own. You don’t have to do more than say “yes” or “no.” I’m the first to admit that YES I have one. One lucky person who leaves a comment will win an ebook copy of Maggie’s Secret Wish AND a small container of Rose Petal Soap Flakes. You can take a nice bath; maybe read of a hot romance while you soak, 

or just do some dreaming about your “secret wish.”

I like my men “hot” and vulnerable

by Starla Kaye

I admit that there are plenty of everyday men who make great everyday heroes. I’m even married to one of them, what he refers to as “just another boring accountant.” But he is so much more than that. Still, even though he likes to tell everyone that he is the model for the heroes I write about, he really isn’t. I write fiction, stories in which my readers and I escape from reality. Stories where I create men that can excite and stimulate and …well, you understand.

Ian, my Scottish hunk of a hero, was going through that typical “I just turned forty, Oh My God!” moment in Maggie’sSecret Wish. He was floundering, questioning what he was doing with his life and what he really wanted to do. (Something many of us, myself included, have faced in our lives.) His life wasn’t awful as an erotica writer and as a professional Dom. But he wanted more. There had been a time when he’d hoped to one day settle down with a woman and have a family. After his years of living with his quirks, he didn’t think he was suitable husband material. He is depressed about his future and certain the one-night-stand arrangement he’d reluctantly agreed to couldn’t work out well. Yes, he could satisfy Maggie’s secret wish, but other than that… She deserved a better man than he.

In Starting Over, I had two strong, yet vulnerable heroes. Corbin is now divorced after many years of trying to make a marriage work, one that really never had a chance. Now he is struggling to begin a new chapter in his life, get back into the dating game…as a gay man this time. He is scared to death; especially about going through with a one-night-stand arrangement his ex-wife had more or less pushed him into. Matt is dealing with the pain of losing the man he’d been certain was his mate for life. His family had written him off years ago when he’d admitted to being gay. He’d searched for someone who love him and whom he could trust with his love, finding it with Henri. Now he goes home alone, has no one to share things with. Loneliness clawing at him, he decides to take a chance at finding a man much like himself…even if only for one night.

The CEO AndThe Cowboy also involves two very special, “hot,” and vulnerable heroes. Calhoun has just witnessed the wedding of the woman he’d been engaged to for five years and never could walk down the aisle with. He has had a secret longing that he has never acknowledged and is still afraid to embrace. He meets a friend of his ex’s husband at the wedding, a striking man with a sexually enticing scrutiny. The man unnerves him even as he arouses him. Daniel is immediately drawn to the ruggedly handsome cowboy, his “hot guy” inner warning system going crazy. But he’s not really on the hunt for a new man in his life. He’s still dealing with the hurt and betrayal of his last lover.

Do you have a favorite “hot” hero that haunts you with moments of “if only”? Share at least his name in a comment and take a chance at being the one lucky commenter to win a Surprise gift. The winner will be chosen September 12, but the gift won’t be sent until after September 27 (when I get back from vacationing in France).

Addicted to Men with Wounded Hearts

by Starla Kaye 

What can I say? I love writing romance and I love writing about men with wounded hearts. Big, tough men who have been brought to their knees by a woman (or a man) who broke their heart and tromped on their pride and then try to show the world that nothing affects them (but really does) are my weakness. I have to find them someone capable of shattering the defenses they’ve tried to build up to protect themselves. I have to give them someone that they can’t resist loving.

My first book with 1Night Stand, Maggie’s Secret Wish, wasn’t exactly that kind of story. But Maggie had been emotionally hurt in the past and had avoided getting into another relationship. Between her friend who encouraged her to contact Madame Evangeline and Madame Eve’s uncanny wisdom for making matches, she comes out of her blue funk and … Well, you’ll just have to read the story to see how her life takes an exciting turn.

Starting Over, my second book with 1Night Stand, does involve the “wounded heart” hero, actually two of them. In this story, Corbin is just coming out as a gay man, at the encouragement of his ex-wife. He is unsure of all the changes and what is expected of him, and sad about leaving a comfortable but not right for him marriage. His wife loves him enough to encourage him to finally begin the life style he has secretly wanted. The man he is matched with, Matt, is an experienced gay man who has lost the male lover he had envisioned living the rest of his life with. He is trying to move on, but it is hard. Again, you will have to read the story to see how everything works out for them.

That was my first completely GLBT story published and I really enjoyed writing it. I love to be challenged as a writer and stepping into unfamiliar writing territory was exciting. In fact since I wrote that book I have toyed with wanting to try my hand at another one. I do have a new book, The CEO and The Cowboy, another GLBT story coming out from Decadent Publishing later this year (date unknown at this time, but I do have my cover!). Unfortunately I couldn’t figure out how to make it a 1 Night Stand story.

As a special giveaway, one lucky winner can pick their choice of an ebook copy of either Maggie’s Secret Wish or Starting Over. 

Please go to the Decadent Publishing website and read the blurb for Maggie’s Secret Wish and include in your comment what was Ian’s part time job. Be sure to leave your email address in your comment.

Maggie's Secret Wish

 

I was so happy to be asked by Valerie Mann and Kate Richards about possibly writing for their new One Night Stand series as part of Decadent Publishing. They were particularly interested in having me write in a sub-genre that I’ve been publishing in for a long time, D/s that focuses mainly on romance but includes some spanking elements. I don’t write about spanking for spanking’s sake.

When I first started reading stories involving varying levels of spanking elements, I became intrigued by the couples in these kinds of relationships. I’ve always liked strong Alpha men who want to be in charge. But my Alpha man must also respect his partner and absolutely end up loving her with all his heart. He must stay within the bounds of whatever agreements the two of them have made concerning D/s or domestic discipline. If he can’t do that, he isn’t a hero for me and he won’t be in my books.

I also like a woman who is willing to be submissive to the man she loves and respects, on her terms. In other words, she isn’t a doormat for abuse and accepts his need to occasionally discipline her because she is okay with it. Not to a crazy extent.

Not everyone who reads a good spanking romance can see beyond the fact that a man is physically disciplining his partner. They see only an abusive relationship. That isn’t what I write. I write about two people who have discussed the issue, decided they are both okay with it for their personal reasons, would not go against their agreement, and who—above all else—love and trust each other.

Maggie’s Secret Wish has a spanking element to it, mainly one borne of curiosity on the heroine’s part. She believes she will never want to be really involved in such a lifestyle, but she wants a taste of what it is like to be spanked. She ends up matched to a very special man who is part of that unique world. But Ian has come to realize that because of his experience with being a Dom, he probably won’t ever find a woman who can truly love him. He doesn’t believe a woman can see beyond his quirks, even if he might be willing to give them up.

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