Interview With Dawn’s Reading Nook
Dawn interviewed me (and you KNOW how I love interviews – grins)
http://dawnsreadingnook.blogspot.ca/2014/08/discover-sinful-rewards-2-by-cynthia.html
Here’s a snippet…
If you could sit down with any author dead or alive who would it be?
Cynthia Sax: Sinful Rewards is a 12 novella serial. Serials have been enjoyed by readers for centuries. I’d love to sit down with Charles Dickens and ask him how he wrote his serials. I understand that he tweaked David Copperfield when he received reader feedback. How fast did he incorporate this feedback? Was it in the next monthly installment?
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Interview With Dawn’s Reading Nook
Sinful Rewards – Cyndi’s Story
One of the fun things about having the Sinful Rewards Goodreads group ( https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/139616-a-year-of-sizzling-hot-sax-read-along) is I can share extra scenes from the story.
I can also share what minor characters are doing when they’re not ‘on the page’ with Bee. I’ve already shared the spicy encounter between Bee’s best friend Cyndi and the Tantra Twins. Cyndi’s private life REALLY takes off in Sinful Rewards 3.
Join the group! It’s free and I can assure you you’ll want to know more about Cyndi. Bee’s bestie is CRAZY!
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Sinful Rewards – Cyndi’s Story
Vote For Nicolas!
Nicolas from Sinful Rewards is in the Looking For A Hero competition at ARe!
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/
Please vote for him!
Billionaires need love too!
Note: Hawke endorses this message and gives his romance rival his full support. He considers a vote for Nicolas to be a vote for him.
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Sinful Rewards 1
Cynthia Sax
Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. He is everything she wants in a man.
Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. Hawke is mysterious, the bad boy she knows will bring only heartbreak. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing.
But when a mysterious and anonymous text message dares her to do something bad, she must decide if she is really the good girl she has always claimed to be, or if she’s willing to risk everything for her secret fantasy of being watched.
Is her mystery man the reclusive billionaire with a wild side or the darkly dangerous bad boy?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-1-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Vote For Nicolas!
Entry Level Jobs
Bee’s (from Sinful Rewards) first job after graduation is a temporary role in a charity. She addresses invitations and coordinates reminder notices for the high net worth donors. I held this role in a real charity years ago. High net worth donors contribute about 80% of the donations (the 80-20 rule) and they expect special attention.
This isn’t her dream job, very few of us luck into these roles right away, but it does appeal to her for a couple of different reasons. One of the reasons is that there is a possibility of landing a full time position. Bee wishes to belong, to have a permanent home and a permanent job. Securing the full time job will not only allow her to continuing helping her mom financially but it will also give her this emotional stability.
This role gives her an in with Chicago high society. The ball will be attended by the famous and the wealthy. As a permanent employee, she would work the event and meet some of these important people. She’d be known.
Employees at a charity are viewed very differently than employees at other companies. Many socialites and children of the wealthy volunteer with charities. The attendees don’t assume employees are working at the charity because they need the income. Employees are less likely to be viewed as less than, one of Bee’s fears.
The location appeals to Bee. Every morning, on the way to work, she strolls down the Magnificent Mile, Chicago’s fashion Mecca, surrounded by the styles and brands she loves.
Landing the full time job would also be the seal of approval, the proof of worth she yearns for. She wouldn’t be the unwanted child of the wild woman of Happydale, a woman no one wishes to befriend. She’d be the best (even though she only has one rival for the position).
What was your first real job? What did you learn from it?
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Entry Level Jobs
Time For A Slow Burn
Sinful Rewards is a 12 novella serial, approximately 1,200 pages or three 400 page novels. When Avon Impulse approached me about this exciting novella per month idea, I was THRILLED. I could finally tell one of the huge stories I have rattling around my brain.
Of course, I wanted to write a love triangle. Love triangles require quite a few pages. If the heroine changes her mind from one man to the other and perhaps back again too quickly, she appears flaky, unable to maintain a lasting relationship.
But I also wanted to write the friendship to love emotional arc. Yes, Hawke falls in insta-lust, having the hots for Bee, our heroine, immediately. That’s exciting and sexy and happens quite often in both erotic romances and life.
Nicolas, our mysterious billionaire, however, has a more cautious personality. He doesn’t trust easily and he doesn’t move quickly. He takes years, sometimes decades, developing the tracts of land he buys. He’s as careful with romantic relationships. When he falls in love, it will be forever.
And the wonderful thing about having 1,200 pages is I can tell the story from Nicolas meeting Bee for the first time to becoming friends to perhaps becoming more. I have the space.
But does Nicolas have the time? That’s the biggest issue. Will Bee be waiting for him once he’s moved through the stages? Will she choose our cautious billionaire? Or will she choose Hawke, our tattooed former marine? Their relationship is as complex and exciting. Or is there a third possibility?
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards2-1581413-149.html
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Time For A Slow Burn
Should Heroes Use Endearments?
There was a discussion on a reader loop a couple of weeks ago about whether or not heroes should use endearments for their heroines. Some readers love this. Some readers don’t.
For me, this choice is as individual as the heroes I’m writing about. Nicolas, one of the heroes in Sinful Rewards, doesn’t use endearments, at least not quickly and not in public. He’s a private man. He doesn’t talk much. He’s aware that not everyone wishes him well. He wouldn’t expose his feelings and his heroine’s safety by using an endearment.
Hawke, on the other hand, calls Bee ‘love’ and ‘sweetheart’ during their very first conversation. He continues to sprinkle their subsequent discussions with these endearments, as illustrated in this snippet.
“Expect more offers. I can be a persistent pain in the ass, especially when it comes to pretty little women with long brown hair and big brown eyes.” One corner of Hawke’s lips lifts upward, giving me a glimpse of white teeth. “And love?”
“Yeah?” I pause, wondering why I’m answering to this endearment. I’m not anyone’s love—not his, not Nicolas’s—not yet.
Bee doesn’t find Hawke’s endearments…well…endearing. It drives her crazy that he treats the word ‘love’ so casually, that he’d call a stranger this. His pet names for her cause more conflict than affection. She feels that it’s almost as though he’s mocking her most cherished dream – to be someone’s love.
I personally love it when men, both in romance novels and in real life, use endearments for their loved ones. I get a thrill when my dear wonderful hubby is out with the guys, I phone him, and he calls me ‘love’ in front of his buddies. It not only is a declaration of his feelings but it also tells the world how confident he is. It is very much an alpha male move. My real life hero cares more about what his heroine thinks than what his buddies think.
What is your stance on endearments? Do you love them or would you rather your heroes not use them?
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards2-1581413-149.html
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Should Heroes Use Endearments?
Bee And Cyndi – A Heroine’s Best Friend
I judge people by the friends they have. I think we all do. When I discover that a new acquaintance is a friend of a friend, I’m predisposed to like her. We already have one thing in common – the same great taste in friends.
I judge characters by the friends they have also. If the heroine has no friends, I wonder why. What’s wrong with her? Does she have the skills to build a lasting romantic relationship? If the heroine has a nasty best friend, I wonder why she chooses this person to hang out with. Does she have terrible judgment? Does this terrible judgment extend to her choice of hero?
Bee’s best friend, Cyndi, isn’t perfect. She’s a slut and quite proud about this. She likes everyone, even the not-so-nice people (like Angel – eye roll). But she’s fun and generous and she doesn’t judge Bee.
Cyndi is wealthy and gives Bee some access to that world, a world she desperately wants to belong to. She can afford the fashions Bee loves and, in the past, she’d take Bee on shopping trips, consulting our insecure heroine before she made purchases.
Cyndi needs Bee in other ways. Her dad feels Bee is a good influence on her. Cyndi doesn’t like to sleep alone. When she’s not hooking up with her man of the moment, she sleeps in Bee’s bedroom.
Bee needs to be needed. She likes that Cyndi is messy because her cleaning skills are needed. Cyndi can’t cook, giving Bee another way to contribute to their household. Bee isn’t an equal but she’s not a pity figure either.
Their friendship seems to work for both of them. BUT and this is a big but, it hasn’t yet been tested. Bee worries that when times get tough, Cyndi will abandon her…as her friends have abandoned her in the past.
Have any of your friendships been tested? How?
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Bee And Cyndi – A Heroine’s Best Friend
Is Lasting Love A Slow Burn Or A Passion Inferno?
Lasting love – is it a slow burn or a passion inferno?
http://ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.ca/2014/08/guest-post-with-author-cynthia-sax-and.html
Here’s a snippet…
Sinful Rewards, my sizzling contemporary erotic romance serial, features a hot, hot, HOT love triangle. Bee, a vertically challenged exhibitionist, is torn between Nicolas, a billionaire with a dark secret, and Hawke, a tattooed bad boy biker.
Bee is also torn between two types of love—a slow steady burn or a passion inferno. She has been watching Nicolas, her billionaire, for a while. She admires his work ethic, thinks he’s incredibly handsome, likes that he builds homes for people, sees the loneliness in his eyes and she knows she can make him happy.
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards2-1581413-149.html
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Is Lasting Love A Slow Burn Or A Passion Inferno?
Favorite Quotations From Sinful Rewards 2
Reading buddies have been sharing their favorite sentences and scenes from Sinful Rewards 2 with me so I thought I’d share some of my favorites also.
They’ll treat me like a damn lady, like a woman worthy of being loved.
I love this line because it illustrates Bee’s internal conflict. She wants to be worthy of love and she thinks the only way to do this is to become a ‘good girl.’ The issue is… at her core, she’s not what society would call a lady. She cusses. She is an exhibitionist. She wants, needs, craves.
“No, I don’t have a helmet.” Hawke’s smile fades, his blue-jean eyes growing serious. “But you’re safe in my hands, Belinda. I’ll be careful with you.”
This is yet another indication of Hawke’s true nature—he protects. He might be a tough former Marine but he would never be rough with Bee. He’d never hurt her, at least not physically, and never deliberately.
“Don’t give up on us, Bee.” Nicolas’s voice is soft.
Nicolas doesn’t say much. He’s a quiet, careful man. But when he speaks—wowsers, he reveals more and more layers. In this scene, our billionaire swallows his pride and asks for another chance. He also hints that someone in his past has given up on him, on her/his relationship with him. He’s been abandoned as Bee has been discarded.
What were your favorite lines from Sinful Rewards 2?
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards2-1581413-149.html
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Favorite Quotations From Sinful Rewards 2
A Bee By Any Other Name
I truly believe that names help shape our destiny. When I’m introduced to a woman named Bambi, I assume she has a sense of humor. When I’m introduced to a woman named Prudence, I assume she’s more serious.
Belinda/Bee
Character names are even more key. Belinda or Bee has two names. This is because she has dual sides to her personality. She believes she should be prim and proper but she has a wild exhibitionistic side. Her two men refer to her by different names because they view her very differently.
Her name is also important because one of her greatest fears is not being good enough, being the alternate or ‘B’ choice. She wants to be a man’s first or ‘A’ choice.
Nicolas
Nicolas’s name has as much meaning as Bee’s. St. Nicholas aka Santa Claus makes good little girls’ dreams come true. If Bee becomes the good girl she thinks she should be, Nicolas, her billionaire, might give her everything she ever wanted—a permanent home, financial security, a forever love. However, Old Nick is also one of the names for the devil, hinting that maybe our billionaire has a dark side.
It is also important that he uses his formal name. He isn’t called Nick, a more intimate, friendly name. He prefers Nicolas, putting a barrier between him and others.
Hawke
Hawke is the opposite of Nicolas. Hawke isn’t our tattooed biker’s real name. This is a nickname. Hawke sees the bird as his symbol. Hawks fly freely, soaring above the ground, surveying the land below them.
As we find out in Sinful Rewards 2, he didn’t give himself this name. His best friend came up with Hawke. That he embraced this nickname and continues to use it today says much about his personality and his relationship with his friend.
Do you have a nickname? What would you like your name or nickname to convey about you?
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Belinda “Bee” Carter isn’t quite sure what she’s gotten herself into. She’s been receiving mysterious messages from a secret admirer who is sending her more and more erotic dares. Each time she fulfills his desires, she gets rewarded. She’s convinced that her mystery texter is one of two super-hot men—Nicolas, the handsome billionaire, or Hawke, the sexy biker—but she can’t tell which one it is. And she’s coming to realize that beneath her peaches-and-cream exterior beats a heart that longs to play out all of her most secret fantasies.
As the stakes are raised again, will Bee succumb to the sensual allure of this latest dare?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89HA
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-2-cynthia-sax/1119919836
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354129
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-2/id814153762
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on A Bee By Any Other Name
