Bubbly: An erotic contemporary romance for New Years

Bubbly: An erotic contemporary romance for New Years

By Anne Holly

Beth’s had the best of everything and the worst of everything. From the outside, a poor little rich girl, hounded by the press, but, on the inside, bruised by dark memories. When she seeks escape from her suffocating world on New Years Eve, she accidentally gets a taste for how the other half lives. Rough bartender Tig Riley offers her a whole new outlook on life in his arms and maybe even a brand new future, if only she can trust him. Can he really help her heal herself?

PG-13 Excerpt…

“You are far from cold, lady.”

She felt herself swoon at his words.

“But you may well freeze,” he said. “We should get you inside.”

“Inside?” she chirped, suddenly alarmed.

“It’s up to you,” he said. “You can go in there, and go freshen up, and carry on with your party or we can go inside some place private and see where this leads us.”

She felt torn. His arms eased away from her and she was relieved he was giving her the option of escape, but she was suddenly too embarrassed to ask him to continue doing to her what she wanted him to do.

“But your job?” she asked, her mind hazy.

“It’s okay,” he said. “My buddy in there owes me one.”

“You won’t tell him?”

“Of course not,” he said. “My days of bragging are over. I’ll just tell him I have the shits or something.”

She laughed at his vulgar reassurance, and so did he.

“You’re so pretty when you laugh,” he said.

“So are you.”

“There you go again,” he mock-snarled. “You go on up, and I’ll meet you wherever you want.”

“My room, on the third floor?”

“Sure,” he said and touched a curled knuckle to her lips with incredible affection.

“Okay,” she said, reluctantly straightening off his lap. She wobbled a moment, her knees lacking assurance on those silly heels.

“You need some help?” he asked.

Oddly tempted, she almost said yes, but gathered her dignity enough to step away from him.

He grabbed his bag and gestured for her to go on ahead, and she carefully picked her way back to the door as she heard him slam and lock the van.

Whatever was about to happen, good idea or not, was not what Beth had planned for ringing in the New Year. But she had dreamed about spending it with someone special and that glimmer of hope gave her courage.

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For more info, please visit http://annehollyholiday.webs.com/newyearstales.htm

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Anne Holly is a Canadian writer of romance and erotic-romance, as well as a mother and teacher. She has found a particular niche in holiday romance. You may visit Anne at her blog or website, or find her on GoodReads, Facebook and Twitter (@anneholly2010). Sign up for her newsletter here. Email her at anneholly2010@gmail.com.

New release!!

This weekend marks the release of my YA Paranormal, written under my pen name, Sleeping Garden!!!

(Applause wouldn't be out of order, here.)

Olivia didn’t plan to find her mother dead when she came down for breakfast. She never would have dreamed that the summer before her senior year would be spent in a house that looks like a museum rather than basking on the beach with her friends. If you had tried to tell her that she would instead spend her time gardening, trying to find out why someone would lock a garden and juggling two attractive boys, she would have fallen over in laughter.

But when her life changes in a heartbeat, all of this and more challenge this strange young woman.

A fairytale told with a modern edge, this story is a retelling of the classic Frances Hodgson Burnett tale, A Secret Garden, but with a paranormal twist.

So, for you lovely blog readers, here is a sneak peek at Sleeping Garden! (The artwork, by the way, is by © www.JulieFainArt.com and you can see more of her work here. )

Excerpt:

The moon beckoned me, a luminary being, all alone in the darkness. I began to talk to it, the moon, the only familiar thing outside the window.

“My mom is gone. I am completely alone. Did you ever feel like the whole world has given up on you? And your life is over? Because that is how I feel tonight.”

As if in answer, a shadow crossed the bright disc of light hanging in the velvet sky.

As if posing for me, the shadow paused, silhouetted against the moon. Had I dozed off and not realized it?

It looked like a dragon.

Ridiculous, but that was what it appeared to be, and I blinked trying to decide what I was looking at. By then the image was gone and the creature had dipped back into the trees.

It couldn’t have been.

I sat sentry for hours but the thing never reappeared.

The dragon had been either a dream, a figment of an overactive imagination or perhaps the onset of some madness that would swallow all that was left of me from this dark life. I clung to those ideas even as I drifted into sleep with my head pressed to the glass.