The winner of the matched set - Unlaced AND Laced with Desire - is - 

Beth C. !!! 

Come on down, Beth! Actually, email me at deniserossetti @ gmail.com (no spaces) with your snail mail to claim your prize. I’ll hold it for seven days and then redraw.

I had the best time, talking with you all. *smile* What I thought was fascinating is how important beautiful lingerie is to a woman’s confidence. So many of you mentioned it. I have visions of women all over the world, striding into job interviews with their power undies on under their ‘business’ outfits and blowing the interviewers away. Doncha love it? Heh heh

While I have your attention, I should point out that I have giveaways and contests every month on my newsletter. In fact - you guessed it - I’m giving away another matched set of anthologies, but you have to be a subscriber… Here’s all the information~

Welcome to the Laced with Desire cross-blog. 

This is our second ‘corset’ anthology together and we had such a blast with the Unlaced cross-blog, we decided to do it again.

This time, Jaci Burton, Jasmine Haynes, Joey W. Hill and I are talking about clothes - what they do (and don’t do!) for us. Yes, fashion disasters, unwise addictions, sex-kitten outfits - all is revealed. There are even a couple of pictures. Woot! (Possibly.)

Four authors, four blogs - four chances for free books. And it’s easy, just leave a comment. (Photographic evidence not required. heh heh) What’s not to love? Winners announced 9am EST (USA) Wednesday 3rd February.

Visit each of the blogs in turn to check out the giveaways from each author.I’m giving away a set - Unlaced AND Laced with Desire. If you happen to own them both already, I’m sure we can find something else.

I’ve put an easy link for you under each of our responses to the questions about clothes.

Here are the four questions  - 

1. What’s your most appalling shopping weakness, especially when it comes to clothes? Go to Jaci Burton’s blog. Giveaway - an advance review copy of her March release, Bound, Branded and Brazen.

2. What’s your most comfortable outfit and what do you enjoy doing most to relax? Go

to Jasmine Haynes’ blog. Giveaway - autographed copy of Yours for the Night.

 3. What’s your most sexy/naughty-feeling outfit? Go to Joey W. Hill’s blog. Giveaway - a signed copy of Laced with Desire.

4. What’s the outfit that gives you the most confidence? Read on! Giveaway - the set, Unlaced AND Laced with Desire.

Jaci Burton:

I have this sleeveless black dress that I adore. I can dress it up or down, wear a shirt under it if it’s cold outside or put a sweater over it. It’s multifunctional, looks great on me, I can wear heels or boots or flats with it, punk it up or class it up and it still looks great. Everyone should have a basic black dress they can do so many things with. It’ll make you feel great about yourself.

Visit Jaci’s blog for the shopping disasters and Jaci’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Jaci’s story, No Strings Attached.

Jasmine Haynes:

For confidence, I like a suit, feminine lines with a short tailored, form-fitting jacket and a skirt, either calf-length or well above the knee, never knee-length.  Under the suit, of course, very feminine lacy bra and barely there thong panties.  Thigh high stockings top it off.  Professional, feminine, and naughty all rolled into one.

Visit Jasmine’s blog for comfy clothes and Jasmine’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Jasmine’s story, La Petit Mort.

 Joey W. Hill:

That would be this dress. I wore it at the 2009 Romantic Times for the Jungle Party. Typical of an OCD personality type with body image issues, I don’t often feel gorgeous in anything, but I loved this dress. It had sexy lines, and flowed when I walked like I was a romance heroine come out of her chrysalis. It flattered hip line, maximized my minimal cleavage (grin), and had a whimsical flirtiness to it I adored. I found some great Wal-mart White Stag jewelry to go with it for almost nothing, and my mom, who went with me to RT, took this lovely near sunset picture. She was probably trying to commemorate the one time her daughter didn’t look like a bag lady!Of course, on the flip side, sometimes when I’m wearing my most comfortable outfit (see the question on Jasmine’s blog), that’s also when I feel most confident. That’s because it’s the outfit that says “this is the real me”, and there’s always a reassurance to that…as long as I don’t end up in the wrong environment for it. I remember one conference, I brought too many “comfortable clothes”, and when I went to one of the more formal events, I felt far from confident! So matching the setting to the outfit helps. However, when I’m at home and around town, I always feel quite confident in my comfy clothes. Though I think the sexy zebra dress would work anywhere (I plan to wear it to Wal-mart one day for fun – laughter).

Visit Joey’s blog for naughty/sexy outfits and Joey’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Joey’s story, Honor Bound.

Denise Rossetti:

I don’t mind admitting it - clothes are really important to my self-confidence. Feeling over or under dressed, badly groomed or untidy disconcerts me dreadfully. I suspect it’s shallow, but there you go.If I think my day at the Evil Day Job is going to be challenging, I’ll make a point of dressing from the skin out to bolster my confidence.

Matching undies first. Beyond that, I absolutely have to feel ‘put together’. I’m not a frilly or froufrou dresser, I like well-cut classics and a close fit. So it might be belted tailored trousers and shirt, with a jacket and discreet jewelry. I combine rich bright colours with neutrals because they give my skin a lift. Anything beige, dusty or muted and I could get work as an extra on Night of the Living Dead. LOL

I always wear my charm bracelet – I have a charm for every book I’ve written – because it reminds me of who I am and what I can do if I put my mind to it. (If you were wondering why the two silver inkpot/quill charms, they’re my Passionate Plume Awards.)

Excerpt from my story, Rhio’s Dancer.

Tell us about the outfit that makes you feel a million dollars. What’s so special about it?

Sounds a little weird, doesn’t it? A blog that’s cross, but nope, I’m not mad. The exact reverse, actually. To celebrate the release of LACED WITH DESIRE, our second anthology together, Jaci Burton, Jasmine Haynes, Joey W. Hill and I are running what’s essentially a blog tour. Starts Monday 1st February (USA time).

You get FOUR CHANCES TO WIN! One on each blog. (Click on the images for excerpts!)

Visit each of the blogs in turn to chat about a first and check out the giveaways from each author. Since the stories in the anthology are once again connected by a corset theme (the previous anthology was Unlaced), we decided to answer four “clothing related” questions.

We’ll let you know what’s -

1) our most sexy/naughty feeling outfit,

2) our most comfortable outfit,

3) our most appalling shopping weakness and

4) the outfit that gives us the most confidence.

We’ll each take a question and post the four answers to it on each of our blogs. If you visit our blogs and answer the question as well, or leave a comment, you’ll be eligible for the giveaway on the blog - and yes, we’ll each be having a giveaway, so comment at each one and you’ll have four chances to win! You can start with all the questions and links right and work your way around.I’ll put all the links for you under each story.

I’m giving away the two anthologies - Unlaced and Laced with Desire as a set. Woot!

Get ready to talk about clothes! What’s not to love?

Don’t know what a twofer is? No, not a toothache! It’s a cricketing term, though more usually cricketers talk about a “five-fer” - that is, a bowler taking five wickets in an innings.

Well, my dears, I’ve got me a TWOFER - and I’m so pleased and proud I could just burst!

You may remember STRONGMAN was a finalist in the Passionate Plume Awards for erotic romance (Futuristic/Fantasy/SciFI category). Well, it WON!!!!

Yip-yip-yipee!!

That is wonderful enough, but the most exquisite icing on the cake is that this makes TWO YEARS IN A ROW. (Sorry about the shouting, BTW. I’m a trifle - ahem - excited. *grin*) TAILSPIN won the same category last year.

Is that not cool?

 I’ll have a pair of these cute charms to put on my bracelet. 

I am writer, hear me jangle. *smile*

I’ve had a quick look at the list of Passionate Plume winners and I don’t think anyone else has got a twofer before. But then, I was very excited at the time, so I could have missed it. (Passionate Ink is a Special Interest Chapter of Romance Writers of America for erotic romance writers.)

The other reason I’m so pleased is that STRONGMAN is a male/male erotic romance and this is an “open” category. The judges must have considered not only the fantasy aspects, but the love story strong enough to win.

Don’t forget, members of my monthly newsgroup can read the free epilogue to STRONGMAN (try a taste here). You can join the newsletter here.

And I’ll be offering a free download of STRONGMAN in my next newsletter (in the next few days) to celebrate. Be there or be square. *grin*

I’ve been playing online Boggle for some months now - and guess what? I’m lousy at it. Downright terrible, useless. I keep trying, but I’ve only improved marginally. I think I’m addicted. *sigh*

If you’ve never played, the idea is to find words among the letters - forwards, backwards, diagonally, up and down - it doesn’t matter as long as you can form a word.

Here’s the site, it’s called Wordtwist. I play the 5 X 5 board. You get three minutes to type in words that must have at least four letters.

I think I’m insulted. I’m supposed to be good at words, right? HAH! I’m not. I can hardly get out of the “very low” range. The couple of times I hit “average” I went on a chocolate binge to celebrate. Part of the problem is that I’m a fumble-fingered non-typist and you only get three minutes. But I still can’t believe the high scores. *grumble* On bad days, I wonder if such super-bogglers even exist.

I tell myself it’s more to do with patterns and spatial ability - not my strong point - than vocabulary. But…oh dear!

You have a try. It’s absolutely free. You can even get an account. Here’s the link to the Wordtwist site and here’s the link to the 5 X 5 board I play. Let me know how you get on, okay? WARNING: This is the biggest time-waster known to woman. Guess what I’m doing instead of my revisions?   *rolls eyes*

Strongman is a finalist in the Passionate Plume Awards for erotic romance!  Isn’t that terrific? *beaming*

Some of you may recall that Tailspin actually won the the Futuristic/Fantasy/SciFI category last year. And I was there in San Francisco to accept the award. I was one happy Aussie camper, let me tell you. Click here for the post I wrote about it. Warning: hysterical babbling and silly pics ahead. *snork*

Obviously, I’m delighted, over the moon. Yes, it means I have a chance to win the award two years in a row. Wouldn’t that be fantastic? But lordy, I’d have to be lucky. The competition is terrific. I’d love it though - and one reason is that it’s the most wonderful validation. (It certainly doesn’t seem to make any difference to my sales! *wry grin*)

“But didn’t you get all validated and everything when Tailspin won?” I hear you ask. Yep, I sure did, but this is an open contest - and Strongman, as you well know, is a male/male romance. I am soooo thrilled that the judges considered the love story and the fantasy elements good enough to final against all the other erotic romances. My opinion has always been that true love is true love, regardless of what skin suit you’re wearing. Guess the judges agree!

The other reason is more materialistic. The award itself.

It’s the most gorgeous silver pendant/charm. I  have mine on my charm bracelet - the one I wear every single day, even at work. There’s a charm on it to represent every book I’ve completed. It reminds me of where my soul finds refreshment and satisfaction.

Oh me, oh my, I’d positively lurve to have two of them! Sadly I won’t be at the RWA Conference in Washington in July to attend the award luncheon, but never mind, I have plenty of mates going.

If you’re interested in the original reaction to Strongman, there are lots of readers’ comments attached to this post. And if you’d like to read the free epilogue (in which Griff finally turns the tables on Fort), all the details of how to do it by joining my newsgroup, plus the most magnificently sensual drawing of male nudes wrestling, is in this post.

Ah, wot the hell. Here it is anyway. *sigh*

Happy dancing at Rossetti Towers…

UNLACED won a CAPA Award from the Romance Studio! For Erotic Anthology of the Year. Isn’t that great? *beams* It totally made my day. Just goes to show what happens when you team up with a group of fabulous authors like the J-girls.

And we get this pretty logo graphic thingie to show off.  I suspect that’s Psyche and Eros getting it on there. Very appropriate, I must say!

Of course, Jaci Burton and Joey W. Hill also won awards for Dare to Love and  A Mermaid’s Kiss, respectively. Mega-congrats to them.

If you click on the CAPA Award graphic, it will take you to the Romance Studio, where you can find yet more treasures to add to your TBA mountain, uh, pile. Heh heh. Ooh, I’m an evil wench. *cackle*

Win a signed copy of THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW! 

THE QUESTION:

One review referred to “the clever names of the main characters” in THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW. I thought they were pretty clever too, but then you know how I love to play with words!

Tell me what word or words EITHER of the names is derived from or related to and why it’s clever. (You can lie to satisfy my vanity, okay? *grin*)

Remember, you only need to work out the derivation of ONE of the names, not both.

TWO HINTS:

1. Cenda is a FIRE witch.

2. Grayson (Gray), Duke of Ombra is a sorcerer of SHADOWS.

WHAT TO DO:

Email me your answer. deniserossetti @ gmail.com (no spaces, of course!)

CLOSES:

Midnight, Sunday 15th February, 2009

Order from Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Read an Excerpt

The winner of a signed copy of A RED HOT NEW YEAR is ~~~

Cheryl McInnis!!

Congratulations, Cheryl! Email me (deniserossetti at gmail.com) with your snail mail address. I’ll hold the prize for seven days and then redraw.

Thanks everyone for sharing your ‘first times” in honour of our first UNLACED anthology together. I loved all your stories! Some made me laugh, others made me cry, but I spent a lot of time marvelling at how different life can be - and how wonderfully strong and sensible women are. 

Welcome to the “First Time” cross-blog. 

In honour of UNLACED, our first anthology together, Jaci Burton, Jasmine Haynes, Joey W. Hill and I are talking about our “firsts” - first kiss,  first date, first love and first break-up.  Ah… Those were the days… When I originally read the stories, I was caught between laughter and tears.  Thank all the Powers That Be I’ll never see sixteen again!

Visit each of the blogs in turn to chat about a first and check out the giveaways from each author. I’ve put an easy link for you under each story. FOUR chances to win! We’ll announce our winners on Monday, 8th December.

I’m giving away a signed print copy of A RED HOT NEW YEAR, or a download of any of my Ellora’s Cave books. You choose.

So, how did you survive your first break-up, hmm?

Jaci Burton:

My first breakup was with my first love. We’d been together for two years, had gotten engaged and I knew I was going to spend forever with him. But I was young, naive, and obviously needed to open my eyes to a few realities. So did he. He was very much a Mama’s boy. And when I bought a new car instead of saving money for a house like his mother thought I should, his mother told him I wasn’t good enough for him and he broke up with me. Even though I was crushed at the time, I really should thank her for that because no way would I have wanted to marry a 21 year old man who broke up with his fiancee because his mama told him to. Yikes!

Visit Jaci’s blog for the First Kiss stories and Jaci’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Jaci’s story, The Ties that Bind.

Jasmine Haynes:

My first break up was with Bob (see my answer to the first love question on Joey’s blog!).  It took me a year to get over him.  I also had to quit my job working for his mom because I cried every time I saw him.  At 17, you cry over everything.  I was like a watering pot.  But as much as I hurt over Bob, part of my grief was losing his mom as well.  Sometimes I look up to Heaven and think, “Thanks for believing in me, Chloe, I finally got published.”

Visit Jasmine’s blog for the First Date stories and Jasmine’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Jasmine’s story, Undone.

Joey W. Hill:

Oh, it was so horrible. I was quite the messed-up teenager (think Winona Ryder’s always despairing character in Beetlejuice, and you’ve about got the right picture of melodramatic/I want to die/my perfect life sucks angst – shudder). If I was my mother, I probably would have drowned me and started over (lol). Anyhow, I had dated this boy for several months in 10th grade. He was my first real boyfriend. My first love (see my blog and Jasmine’s for more about him) was so perfect – we didn’t even have a terrible break up. We were a long distance relationship and so mutually and amicably agreed that it was best to let one another go, though vowing always to be willing to watch out for one another if needed.

Back to my first real boyfriend. Here’s a cardinal rule – NEVER date anyone as messed up as yourself. Together we were the perfect self-esteem negative-zero, dysfunctional duo. When he got bored of me (and yes, those were his words – “I’m bored of it”), devastation ruled my life for the next several months. I did all sorts of humiliating, despicable things to win back his affections, pulling in friends to pass notes to him, sneaking past his house, arranging “chance” meetings, and cried so many tears into my pillow it’s a wonder I didn’t get face rot.

Thank God and any other responsible power, none of it worked. Eventually, a friend of mine introduced me to another guy more than willing to treat me badly and capitalize on my lack of self-respect, and life moved on. Fortunately, there are wonderful men out there, like my first love, and the man I ended up with. My husband makes me feel like a worthwhile human being every day, and all the lessons I learned from that first break up (as well as wonderful first love, and all the relationships in between) helped strengthen my relationship with him. For everything you endure or receive, there’s a reason! I’m also glad I didn’t get face rot (wink).

Visit Joey’s blog for the First Love stories and Joey’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Joey’s story, Controlled Response.

Denise Rossetti:

I went out with a guy who happened to own a vintage MG. It was a terrific car, loads of fun, but a tad - ahem - unreliable. It was also his major topic of conversation, and after a while I ran out of things to say about vintage MGs. I didn’t know much about them at eighteen. Still don’t, in fact.

I was much more interested in his friend, who, now I come to think of it, looked exactly like a racecourse spiv.

Anyway, my guy and I – do you know I can still see his face, but I don’t remember his name? Isn’t that awful? We drove off to a country picnic in the MG and part of the way home, it shuddered to a stop. “Aha!” said the MG nut, “I know what it is. The fuel line’s blocked. I can fix that.”

He leaped out, popped the bonnet and proceeded to SUCK the fuel line clear. Got that?

We drove home, and – you guessed it – he then leaped on me and attempted to clear my fuel line with his tongue.

The technique might have worked like a charm on the MG, but a petrol flavoured kiss did nothing for me. I’m funny like that. And that’s when I realized he had no sense of humour either.

That was it. Over.

Excerpt from my story, Rubies and Black Velvet.

Remember, I’m giving away a signed print copy of A RED HOT NEW YEAR, or a download of any of my Ellora’s Cave books. You choose. We’ll announce our winners on Monday, 8th December.

Tell us about your first break-up. Did you walk away sighing with relief or was your heart broken clean in two?