Heroes are always a complex subject, especially in fiction and particularly in romantic fiction. On the surface of it, they seem simple. The hero is the good guy with the perfect moral compass, who always does what’s right and gets the girl. Right?

Yeah, I suppose. But, being honest? That’s the sort of hero who bores me to tears. I don’t like reading them and I sure as eggs is eggs don’t like writing them. A writer has to like his or her hero, and even fall in love with them a little themselves, otherwise how can we do their story any justice or even write a story that is credible?

My heroes are usually deeply conflicted, not perfect, and even sometimes can be considered down-right bastards. But deep within, there is something there that is redeemable. Something about them which is just waiting for the right circumstance, and the right woman to come along to make them shine, or show them the way to being the man they want to be, and of course, the hero I want to write about.

Let me share with you my thoughts on one of my favourite heroes. I make no secret of the fact I am a Jensen Ackles fan. I’ve been hooked since watching him play on Dark Angel with Jessica Alba. But my favourite role of his has to be Dean Winchester.

Like my heroes, on the surface Dean isn’t hero material. He’s rough, violent, has questionable morals when it comes to women (okay, the lad’s got the morals of an alley cat at times) and has a more meaningful link with his car than most people. He’s a liar, a conman and for a good portion of the series’es (how the hell do you make series plural anyway?) he’s wanted for murder.

If we dig a little deeper though, there is something compelling and actually heart-rending about the character. He lost his mother at a very young age, but not young enough that he doesn’t remember her like his brother, and grew up dealing with his Dad’s one-man war against everything that goes bump in the night.

He didn’t have a normal childhood, instead moved from pillar to post as John Winchester hunted, and being responsible for his little brother for large periods of time. Both boys were brought up with the knowledge that the monster under the bed isn’t a story, but is real, and how to kill it in a variety of bloody and brutal ways.

As the story progresses, we see different facets of Dean’s character revealed like little gems. His ability to kill can’t be questioned, and he’d rather take that on himself than let his brother do it and suffer agony over it. He spent time in hell and started the apocalypse, but he fights harder than anyone to put that right.

The sweetest episodes for me are the ones were we see what Dean actually wants. Far from the gung-ho, action-driven lifestyle he has, and which most men would kill for in their dreams, he wants a home and family. He wants to be normal.

However, when the shit hits the fan, and the world is about to end…even though he can’t do anything and the very attempt will probably kill him…he doesn’t back down. He faces down the devil himself to try and save his brother.

Violent, egotistical, arrogant…determined to do right, unbelievably noble and sweet as all hell. That’s why Dean Winchester is one of my favourite heroes.

Coming to Ellora's Cave March 11th

Mina Carter Bio:
Mina Carter was born and raised in Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England). After a slew of careers ranging from logistics to land-surveying she can now be found in the wilds of Leicestershire with her husband and young daughter…the true boss of the family.

Coming to Summer House Publishing March 28th, 2011

Suffering the curse of eternal curiosity Mina never tires of learning new skills which has led to Aromatherapy, Corsetry, Chain-maille making, Welding, Canoeing, Shooting, and pole-dancing to name but a few. A veteran Star Trek RPGer, she’s run both games and groups of games but now finds her home in Bravo Fleet, one of the internet’s oldest Star Trek simm groups.

She juggles being a mum, working full time and writing, tossing another ball in the air with her cover artwork. For Mina, writing time is the wee hours of the morning before anyone wakes up and starts making demands, or any spare minute that can be begged, bought or conned.

Her first stories were penned at age 11, when she used a stationery set meant for Christmas thank you letters to write stories instead. More recently, she wrote for her own amusement and to save on outrageous monthly book bills. Now she’s totally addicted and needs her daily writing fix or heads roll!

Website: http://mina-carter.com/

What makes a hero tick?

Well, that’s a bit of a loaded question. Because for as many types of men (and women) out there, there are just as many heroes. The silent, do-it-all-or-die type. The in-your-face type. Even the ones who are nothing but heart.

My heroes tend to be a mixing bag of all of those traits and whatever else happens to work for that story and for them. Each character is unique unto themselves and I love that about them. Even when they add to my gray hair.

Examination room one: Xavier’s Way
Our hero: Xavier De Los Santos
A hard working, self-motivated type of man, from a family of strong men (all brothers. You kinda feel sorry for their mother, I know I do!). What happens though when life throws him a slow and sexy curve ball in the form of one Jordan Belton? He shakes in his work boots is what happens! And the incredible thing about how he handles that curve ball is by admitting he’s scared. Admitting he may be wrong. No matter what direction he tries to take, but takes it anyway.

So he’s one type. Flexible. Accepting, able to stand up to a challenge. But sensitive to the fact that once the cat is out of the bag-Jordan’s personal attraction-he doesn’t give fate the finger. He stands up to it and challenges himself to embrace it.

Terrifying, isn’t it? You’ll have to read his story to see just how he handles it.

Xavier’s Way Book Info:

Pubilisher Link:http://www.etopia-press.net/

ARe Link: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-xavier039sway-499574-145.html

Kindle:http://www.amazon.com/Xaviers-Way-ebook/dp/B004GHND16/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1299255904&sr=8-4

Nook:http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Xaviers-Way/Diana-DeRicci/e/9781936751044/?itm=4&USRI=diana+dericci

Examination room two: Wolf Brother’s Legacy: Resurrection
Our Hero(ine): Angela Merrick (Yes a woman)

This woman has had life kick her while she’s down and even when life doesn’t let her catch her breath, she..doesn’t..stop…living. I will have to admit, this chick was hard to write. Stubbornest damn ass of a person…but that’s a side rant. In truth, just staying alive and on her own two feet is her biggest challenge because she’s dying. She knows it. She’s accepted it, now if the rest of the damn world would just let her be until she can’t fight back any longer, she’d be content. Yeah, life doesn’t happen that way.

She’s the type of woman that personifies inner strength, because even when life is kicking her ass, she kicks back. Hard. She doesn’t stop when her mind and heart are set on something. She will fight tooth and nail for what she believes in. The lioness. A fighter.

Her type is very in your face with her strength, but feminine. A spine of steel with a conscientious heart.

Wolf Brother’s Legacy: Resurrection Book Info:
Publisher Link: http://purplesword.com/zencart/
(Releasing this summer)

Examination room three: Beneath the Shield
Our hero: Jack Torres
Now here is a yummy example of alpha male that has been wounded so badly, he’s drifting, mostly hiding, living, but on the very edges. He’s the type to let you run into his fist, not hit you. His heart is in desperate need of CPR, and a certain doctor has just what he needs.

Jack learns to let go, that living is now. He is a deep strength, because only that in human nature allows us to forgive ourselves. Being a police officer shows he’s not immune to the world around him, and he shows that, but woe be to the one who dares to reach him.

So that’s three strong, very similar characters, but in each story they are as individual and unique as the world between page one and ‘The End’.

How do I see heroes? I see them in all shapes and sizes, everywhere, from the young man who helped me one afternoon to aid the driver of a car that had flipped–yes, flipped–barely thirty feet in front of me on a busy highway, to the kindness of making someone’s day by taking donuts to work–when you don’t work there. They are all around us, in the small and big things they do. There is no age limitations, no city-to-cowboy delineation, not even male versus female. We all are heroes, and I want my readers to recognize that facet of themselves in the characters I write.

Beneath the Shield Book Info:

Publisher Link: http://www.mlrbooks.com/books.php

ARe Link: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-beneaththeshield-516664-144.html

Kindle Link: http://www.amazon.com/Beneath-the-Shield-ebook/dp/B004OL2J7S/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1299255904&sr=8-6

Diana Castilleja/Diana DeRicci Bio:
With more than half a dozen ebooks currently to her credit and her first print book released in 2008, Diana Castilleja has kept busy since she started writing professionally in late 2004. Diana currently resides in central Texas with her husband and son. When not focusing her energy on her family and her writing, she loves to travel and haunt bookstores. She’s lived in several states across the south and midwest, as well as traveling to Mexico. With moving every year or changing schools since the fourth grade to her sophomore year, she learned reading was a fast escape. The freedom to read about anything and everything has fueled her adult imagination. She also enjoys romance, horses, and yes, still loves to read. Right now, she’s probably attacking her keyboard writing her next book. If she’s not, she should be!

Those wonderfully flawed heroes…

Heroes and villains—often two sides of the same coin. We can have heroes with rough edges, questionable backgrounds, possibly scarred or crippled—either emotionally or physically—and yet they’re still heroic, they still come through for the heroine, and they always leave us wanting more. The same with villains—a villain can have a few good points and still be thoroughly evil, though a good villain is rarely redeemable—unless, of course, he’s going to appear in a later story as a hero.

Then, of course, it generally takes a good woman to redeem him, right?

But what about those flawed heroes—the ones who make mistakes and screw up, who are somehow damaged or imperfect—what is it that makes us want more of them? I’ve become intimately acquainted with a terribly flawed hero, a man who has greater strengths than most, and yet who continues to make the kinds of mistakes that make you want to strangle him. And yet, in spite of his flaws, I find him one of the most compelling men I’ve ever met within the pages of my own books—he’s Anton Cheval, my über-alpha in the long running Wolf Tales series.

The spirit guide Igmutaka describes Anton perfectly: “His power appears absolute, at times, but what makes all of us love him the way we do is that he is very much, at heart, a simple man. He’s not perfect. He makes mistakes. When he succeeds, he does it with great modesty, when he fails…Ig’s chuffing snort had to be laughter…when he fails, he does it magnificently.

Ig is right. Nothing Anton does is done without passion. He’s never half-hearted, never merely trying. He does. He errs, and yet when he realizes his mistakes, he never hesitates to ask forgiveness, to apologize. And sometimes, when he’s done something wrong for all the right reasons, he will apologize with the caveat that, if faced with the same circumstances, he’ll probably do the same thing again. No, he’s not a perfect hero—he’s complex, he’s flawed, and to me, he’s a more powerful character because of those flaws.

One of his most redeeming traits? Anton loves unconditionally. He loves his packmates, his mate Keisha, his closest friend Stefan. He loves his daughter Lily more than life, and he recognizes Lily as the finest accomplishment he’s ever achieved, and that’s only because half of her DNA comes from Anton’s bonded mate. He’s quick to recognize Keisha as the true head of their pack—even though he’s more powerful, he respects her common sense, her good heart, and her ability to turn him inside out with a single glance. He loves her, and while he occasionally infuriates her, everything Anton does is motivated by love.

Coming to Kensington Publishing April 5th, 2011

And what of the beta hero? The average man thrown into extreme circumstances who is still able to prevail? That would be Dawson Buck, the hero in my upcoming DEMONSLAYERS story, StarFire. Dawson Buck is an average guy, a veterinarian in a small Arizona town, a true geek at heart who loves his work and knows he’s chosen animals to care for because they rarely come with emotional baggage. But when he’s thrown into an unbelievable situation—asked to care for a badly injured woman from another dimension—Dawson not only rises to the challenge, he goes above and beyond what is asked of him. He becomes a true hero in every sense of the word.

In spite of his fears, in spite of the unbelievable situation, Dawson prevails. He’s afraid, he doubts his abilities, and yet he puts fear and his lack of confidence aside and takes unimaginable risks for the greater good. And, he also manages to find the love of his life along the way.

So what makes a hero heroic? I think it’s his willingness to give everything to keep his loved ones safe, his ability to make mistakes and then correct those mistakes, to admit when he’s wrong, to keep quiet when he’s right (no, gloating is NOT allowed!) and to love without reservation.

I write my heroes from the perspective of a woman who’s been married to her very own hero for almost forty years. There’s a lot of my man in every hero I write—his quirky sense of humor, his powerful need to protect, even his ability to admit mistakes. Neither of us is perfect, but I think that’s part of what makes a marriage work, and it’s what makes a fictional hero more heroic—the chance to make mistakes, and the courage to make them right.

BIO:

Kate Douglas is the lead author of Kensington Publishing’s Aphrodisia imprint and the author of the popular erotic romance series Wolf Tales as well as the Zebra series, The DemonSlayers. She is currently working on her newest Aphrodisia series, Dream Catchers. Kate and her husband of almost forty years have two adult children and five grandchildren. They live in the beautiful mountains of Lake County, California, north of the Napa Valley wine country

www.katedouglas.com
www.katedouglas.com/eroticromance
www.facebook.com/katedouglas.authorpage
www.twitter.com/wolftales
kate@katedouglas.com

1st chapter excerpts:

StarFire: http://www.katedouglas.com/id56.htm
Wolf Tales 12 (Adults only): http://www.katedouglas.com/eroticromance/id67.htm

Contest:
Comment to win your choice of either Wolf Tales VII-11, Sexy Beast VII & VIII, DemonFire or HellFire! Good Luck! Winner Announced at the end of the month.

Anyone Want a Slightly Damaged Hero?
By
N. J. Walters

We all love a hero, that brave stalwart soul who will stand side-by-side with the heroine to face down any foe. He’ll use whatever weapons he has at hand—a clever wit, sword, gun, tire iron—to rescue the heroine and vanquish the villain.

Then there is the everyday hero, the man who does what needs doing whether it’s taking out the garbage, changing a tire, or helping the single mom with her kids. Maybe it’s the corporate raider who reforms for just the right woman. There are all kinds of heroes and each of them has a place in romance literature.

I don’t know about most readers, but I’m partial to the anti-hero, that brooding, dark male who is reluctant to help but does it anyway. In spite of his penchant for being a loner and not caring about the world, he is drawn into the heroine’s problems. He may grumble and complain, but he does it because of his own code of honor.

This guy is a hero in spite of himself. He doesn’t think of himself as a hero. He doesn’t want to be a hero. Yet, somehow, it happens as he becomes more and more entangled in the heroine’s life.

I’ve written a lot of these men. What can I say? I can’t help myself. These men are fascinating to watch as they evolve.

My latest in a long line of dark heroes is Isaiah Striker from my newest Legacy werewolf book, Isaiah’s Haven. His past has made him turn his back on the position of enforcer with his pack. He feels he doesn’t deserve the position because of his sister’s disappearance years ago. All he wants is to be left alone. (Brooding hero anyone?)

His downfall from his self-imposed solitude comes about because of one underlying reason—his loyalty to his family. That character trait sends him on a mission to Chicago and it is there he meets the beautiful and independent Meredith Cross. She’s not looking for a male to handle her problems. She’ll take care of them herself, thank you very much. But when she and her family are threatened, Isaiah can’t make himself leave. In spite of his determination to stay away, he’s drawn to her and the plight of her small pack. He’s willing to sacrifice everything and to face his own demons to ensure their safety.

Thus the slightly battered and worn male becomes a hero in spite of himself. His true self emerges from the darkness as he embraces his future.

BLURB:

Isaiah Striker puts family first, the pack a distant second. Which is precisely the reason he’s in noisy, crowded Chicago instead of alone in his beloved woods. One look at the owner of Haven nightclub, however, and a simple favor for his brother turns into something else entirely.

Meredith Cross holds her small pack together with sheer determination. After years on the run, they hide in the glare of the city’s nightlife. Isaiah may heat her blood, but she can’t afford to risk the lives of the outcast half-breeds in her care. Once exposed, every bounty hunter and werewolf purist in smelling distance will hunt them down.

But when their sexual attraction spirals out of control, a moment’s distraction is all it takes to lead danger right to Meredith’s door. For Meredith there’s only one choice: her pack.

But Isaiah knows his mate when he sees her. And he’s not giving up without a fight.

Read an Excerpt: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/isaiahs-haven-p-6034.html
Buy the Book: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/isaiahs-haven-p-6034.html

Some authors like J. R. Ward and Christine Feehan excel at the dark hero. Who are some of your favorite dark heroes? Share. We all love them in spite of themselves. 

—

N.J. has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Check out all my books at http://www.njwalters.com
http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakeningdesires/ (newsletter group)

OUT NOW at Changeling Press Last Call Europe: Dog Sled!

BLURB:
Werewolf Silvano wants a break from the drama in pack business. A night out is exactly what he needs. He doesn’t count on his rival’s familiar Hexuba strolling into Last Call.
Black cat shifter and wizard’s familiar Hexuba has always wanted Silvano even though he’s the enemy. One night is all she asks to indulge her wildest fantasies with him. Come morning she’ll be gone.

Will one night be enough?

BUY LINK:
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1373

EXCERPT:
Last Call Europe: Dog Sled
Selena Illyria
All rights reserved.
Copyright ?2010 Selena Illyria
This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

Silvano stood in his bathroom staring at his foggy reflection in the mirror. He drew in a breath and blew it out. Tension sung through his body as he prepared himself for the monthly fuckfest. Or, as his elders liked to call it, the compatibility test. He didn’t buy it for a second. Find your mate by fucking them. He scoffed at the notion but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Either he slept with all the available females in his pack to find a suitable alpha female or he lost his pack. So it was decreed in the pack bylaws, the rules his father had followed as laid out by his father before him and so on and so on, ad nauseam.
As a hormone-driven youth, he’d reveled at the chance to fuck so many willing women. Now, as an adult of thirty-four, with his thirty-fifth birthday right around the corner, he was tired of it. All of it. He’d fucked practically every available woman in the pack. His father had even thought of bringing in women from an allied pack to see if he would fit better with one of them. He’d turned them all down. It wasn’t just the sex that was tiresome, but also the elders and his second lieutenant, the rules, the obligations…

He was alpha, the leader, and yet he couldn’t make up new rules or lead his people the way he wanted. The system was antiquated, governed by laws and decorum that didn’t fit into today’s world of paraphiles, people obsessed with the paranormal and all aspects of it. The young pups lived in a sort of static environment, caught between tradition and the modern age where werewolves could blend in with the normal populace without being shunned for doing so.

The other problem on his horizon was twofold. One was from an ex-pack member, Turk. The man had been begun to dabble in the dark arts, accessing the magick in his blood from his wizard ancestry all in a bid to take over the pack that had exiled him long ago. Silvano feared for his once childhood friend. According to reports, Turk was going insane, being driven by dark forces. There was very little Silvano could do short of killing the man, and he was reluctant to do so. Many in both packs had blamed him for Turk’s current behavior. Silvano had refused to step aside during the pack challenge and let Turk win.

He shook his head. Silvano couldn’t have allowed that. The man was unstable. And now there was the problem of Turk’s black cat familiar: Hexuba. Just thinking her name heated his blood. His cock went from flaccid to semi-hard. He could see her face, the velvety dark chocolate colored eyes. Just a glance made him want to drag her someplace private, away from distractions, and discover what secret places on her body made her cry out and moan.

“Fucking hell.” He fisted his cock at the base and stroked slowly, allowing the arousal to grow. “Hex.” He hissed out her name as his mind painted her image among the wisps of steam. Her delicate nose, high cheekbones and lush, full lips came into view. He groaned again as his thoughts drifted to feeling those lips against his as she explored his body. Silvano could feel the pebbled tips of her nipples scraping across his belly as she moved downward. He wanted to feel her mouth on him, feel her tongue lap at the slit atop his cockhead before swallowing him whole.

The fantasy continued to build as his imagination painted Hex on her knees, lips dragging along his hardened length. The minx would tease him, giving him just enough pressure to send pulses of pleasure up his spine and throughout his body before releasing his cock. She would lap up his seed while pumping him with her hand before returning to torment him with her mouth, and he would love every minute of it.

“Silvano, are you ready?” a high-pitched female voice called out.

The fantasy evaporated just like the steam and he swore. His cock lost some of its hardness as real life came crashing in. With a sigh, he shook his head. “Time to do my duty.”

http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1373

Blurb:
All Nia Reynolds has known is being seen and not heard. Being the only one in her family to not have magical ability is hard. On her thirtieth birthday, all Nia wants is to do something different. When she enters Sensual Were on a dare from Jacinda, she doesn’t expect the instant attraction to sexy store manager Bishop Steward.

Bishop has had his eye on the sweet and innocent Nia since he first came to Strange Hollow. After being publicly shunned by his pack and his mate, he came to Strange Hollow to recuperate and be among outcasts like himself. Now that his heart is mended, he wants to go after love again and has Nia in his sights. This wallflower doesn?t stand a chance against his onslaught. So what if he insists of public displays of a sexual nature, can?t stop whispering sweet, dirty nothings in her ear, and gives her a birthday to remember? It?s only for a night, right? A sexy werewolf like him wouldn?t want a shy girl like her? Right? Wrong–and he’s got a lot of tricks up his sleeve to convince her she?s just what he wants.

Buy Link:
http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/seducingawallflower.htm

Excerpt:
Thirty. The big three-O. Another year older. Nia sighed heavily and contemplated the looming specter just a few days away. Birthdays weren’t a bad thing per se, but when you lived such an unremarkable life, as she had, there wasn’t really much to celebrate. She was an anomaly in her family, the only one lacking magical ability. Nia couldn’t even perform the most basic of spells like warming water or levitating a feather.
Isolation became a constant companion when she mingled in magical circles. Everywhere she turned, her contemporaries were doing extraordinary things. All Nia could do was fade into the background like a wallflower. She got so used to being invisible that she automatically hid in a corner at social functions. She had lived her life in corners and it was starting to wear on her.
She’d broken out of that life nine years ago when she stumbled upon an Internet ad for Strange Hollow. The town was for outcasts and anomalies of the paranormal variety like her–people who just didn’t fit in. So on her twenty-first birthday she packed up as many of her things as she could carry and left in the middle of the night, without even leaving a note to her parents. Now she had a life of her own. Nia owned her own teashop, Pot Luck, had a cottage that she loved and a few friends that accepted her. The one thing that was missing was someone to share her life with.
She sighed heavily, and had just begun to clean the counter when the bells over the door jangled. Nia glanced toward the entrance and smiled. Jacinda, the town’s founder, strolled into the shop. The fairy’s energy sent a soothing wave toward her, and she instantly felt at ease.
“Hello, darling, how’re you doing? I’ll have a green tea latte.” Jacinda sat down on a stool at the counter and leaned forward, mischief sparkling in her eyes.
Nia immediately got to work, hoping Jacinda wouldn’t bring up her upcoming birthday and anniversary. If the events weren’t mentioned, she wouldn’t have to admit she had no plans.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. “So, your birthday and anniversary are on Friday. Doing anything special?”
“Nothing.” Nia stiffened.
“Not even ice cream and cake or a movie marathon of your favorite films? What about a small party with some friends? No? We can’t let this momentous event pass without any acknowledgement. Let me think. What can we do?” Jacinda put her elbows on the countertop and rested her head in her hands.
Nia didn’t want to know what Jacinda was thinking, it could mean trouble. There was a mischievous sparkle in those violet eyes that she didn’t want to read too much into.
“Have you been to Sensual Were?”
Nia wasn’t sure where Jacinda was going but she had an uneasy idea. “No,” she said softly.
A wicked smile curved on Jacinda’s lips. “Idea! I dare you to go to Sensual Were and pick up a sexy toy for yourself. Do something daring for once. Honey, you’ve lived in a corner for far too long, it’s time to drag this wallflower into the light.”
“But–” Nia started.
“Why but?” Jacinda gazed at her in question. “You’ve lived your whole life not interacting with people for fear of the disappointment and rejection your parents and others have handed you. Isn’t it time you lived for you? Come on, Nia, when have you done something for yourself? I’ve seen the way you interact with others. You let them tell you what to do, how to do it. You don’t do what you want to do. What’s there to be afraid of? All I’m suggesting is to check out Sensual Were. Go in there and get something sexy for yourself. You deserve it. Look at you.”
Nia knew what she looked like and she was nothing like the gorgeous Jacinda, with her luminescent skin, violet eyes, long dark hair and curvaceous figure. Last she checked, Nia was plain, with unremarkable dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, milk chocolate skin and an average figure. Her simple clothing did nothing to flatter her body. She also wore glasses, and in her book that screamed nerdy and unsexy. To hide her reaction, she said nothing and finished making Jacinda’s drink.
“Have you ever felt sexy? What makes you feel good about yourself?”
Heat flushed her cheeks as she thought of her fantasies, which usually involved sexy men who were good with their hands and other things and wanted her unabashedly.
“Come on, sweetie, you can tell me. What makes you feel sexy?”
“Well, um, a sexy, gruff voice–”
Jacinda cut her off with a laugh. “No, no, no, babe, not what is sexy but what makes you feel that way.”
The blush encompassed her face, and Nia found herself floundering for a response. “Um, well…”
“Lingerie, perhaps? Or maybe sensual music? How about an erotic story? This is about making you feel desirable and good about yourself. I’m not saying we give you a makeover, you’re beautiful. I’m talking about doing something sexy for you and only you, no guy required.”
Jacinda smiled, and Nia felt unsure. “I’ve never… That is to say, I don’t know…”
“How about this? Friday you go to Sensual Were and poke around, see what you like, explore and find what intrigues you. Then we meet on Saturday for brunch and talk.”
“Talk?” Nia put Jacinda’s latte down before her.
“Yeah, we talk about what you thought of your little trip. Honey, you’ve been here for nine years and you haven’t stepped out and explored this place. Including me, Tanya and Ryana are your only friends here.” Jacinda took a sip of her drink.
Nia became very interested in her shoes.
“Ry is out of town and Tanya is visiting relatives. Neither woman will be back by Saturday, so it’s up to me to coax you out of your shell for your birthday. So, here’s the deal. Barring an emergency, I dare you to go to Sensual Were and pick out something sexy for yourself. Thanks for the latte, hon. I have to go welcome a new resident to Strange Hollow. I’ll see you on Saturday.” Jacinda stood and picked up her cup.
“Bye,” Nia called out as Jacinda left with a backward wave. Once the door closed and quiet settled on the shop, questions and humiliating scenarios swirled around in her head. What if I break something? Her palms began to sweat at the thought of picking up a vibrator and have it start shaking and then shatter in her hands. She’d never been in an adult toy store before. What if it was filled with pictures of naked people? She didn’t like looking at herself naked, much less see anyone else in the buff. Well, except for sexy men. Part of her wanted to take up Jacinda’s dare and go to Sensual Were. On the other side of the coin, she was terrified of the unknown.
I know, I’ll pass by the store and check it out. I won’t go inside. Her heart hammered in her chest. A surge of excitement rushed through her. Yes, I’ll go there tonight and check it out. It can’t be that bad, right? People wouldn’t go there if it was bad. Nia had always been cautious. The most adventurous thing she’d ever done was come to Strange Hollow and open her own teashop. She felt that if she could do those things, then she could handle checking out Sensual Were. She hoped.

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