Writing Erotic Romance – Analyzing Scenes Part 2
This post has adult content. If you are under the age of eighteen years old and/or sensitive to adult language/situations, please do not read this post.
Last week, I analyzed a scene, showing you what I wished to accomplish with each line. That scene was the first meet between Bee and Nicolas, our billionaire hero. This week, I’ll be doing the same thing with the first meet between Bee and Hawke, our bad boy biker hero.
Once again, I’ll be using a scene from Sinful Rewards 1 ( http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0 ).
“You’re a hot mess, aren’t you?” He bends over and retrieves the wayward tube. <-- Bee is a neat freak. She HATES messes. That Hawke calls her a hot mess is significant. It shows her that she can be sexy even if she’s imperfect. This paragraph also shows readers that Hawke is a take action type of guy. He picks up the tube because she needs it back. He doesn’t wait to be asked.
“I’m not normally a mess.” I stuff my brush, wallet, passcard, and, oh my God, my emergency tampon back into my purse. My hands tremble. “The strap broke and—”<-- Hawke has seen Bee at her worst. He’s seen her emergency tampon, for goodness sakes! Notice how Bee focuses on ‘mess’ and completely ignores the ‘hot’ part of Hawke’s comment. She can’t put the two side by side in her mind.
“You have black ink all over your pretty white shirt.” He skims the unopened tube of lipstick down my cotton-covered side, leaving a trail of sweet sensation. My nipples tighten and my spine arches, my body instinctually responding to his touch.<-- Hawke tells Bee exactly how it is. He doesn’t ignore the black ink or try to be polite. He’s unrelentingly honest. He takes the opportunity to touch her. She reacts physically, almost primitively.
“Give me that.” I snatch the lipstick from him, unnerved by my reaction, and I glance down at my blouse. “Oh, God.” Black ink is smudged over the fabric. “You’re right.” My heart sinks. Has it been there all day? Since I doctored my purse this morning? Nicolas, my boss, everyone must have seen it, and no one said anything, no one except my badass biker. “I am a mess.” My voice wobbles.<-- Bee was rigidly polite with Nicolas, showing him what she thought he wanted to see. She’s honest and open to the point of rudeness with Hawke. She cusses. She shows her emotions. That Hawke is the only one who pointed out the ink stain is significant also. She can trust him to tell the truth. Notice also that she says ‘MY badass biker.’ She has already claimed Hawke as her own, giving him some of her loyalty.
“You’re a hot mess,” he corrects. “There’s a big difference between the two.” His eyes are a faded blue, matching his jeans. “Let me see your purse.” He holds out one large hand. Calluses and scars mar his skin.<-- First, Hawke notices that his comment made Bee feel bad and he immediately addresses this. As we saw in the scene with Nicolas, Bee does the same thing. Second, Bee LOVES it when outfits coordinate. This is why she notes that Hawke’s eyes match his jeans. He naturally coordinates. Third, Hawke takes action once more, asking for her purse. Fourth, Hawke isn’t perfect. His skin is callused and scarred. Bee believes perfection is necessary for love.
I eye his palm with suspicion. “Why do you want to see it?”<-- Bee is a cautious woman. She doesn’t trust or change her plans quickly.
“I need to use your brush,” he jokes. “Why do you think?” I think he’s full of shit. His brown hair is buzzed close to his head. There’s nothing for him to brush. “I’ll fix the strap for you. There’ll be less of it.” His gaze drifts down my body, his perusal more stimulating than any touch. “But then there’s less of you.”<-- Hawke jokes and she knows he’s joking. He’s a fellow fixer. He looks at her, which Bee, our exhibitionist heroine, equates to caring.
“There’s the perfect amount of me.” I put my free hand on my hip. “I’m average height.”<-- Again, Bee uses the word ‘perfect.’ She feels perfection is necessary for love. She puts her hand on her hip which would draw his gaze there. Bee is in denial about her height. She doesn’t want to be viewed as ‘less than.’
“You are average height. . .for a munchkin.” The tattooed stranger stares unabashed at my chest. My taut nipples press against the cotton, begging for his attention. “A shapely, sexy—”<-- Hawke calls her on her lies. He’ll do this throughout the story, forcing her to be honest with herself. He calls her a munchkin which has cute connotations. Again, he looks at her and she wants even more attention.
“You’re one wrong word away from a slap across the face.” I glare at him.<-- This is an open, honest reaction. Bee says whatever pops into her head, her words uncensored. Notice how her threat is a physical one, as though she’s looking for an excuse to touch him.
If you liked this post, you might like
Writing Erotic Romance – Balancing Sex And Plot
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Making Every Sex Scene Different
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Making Sex Sexy
or
Writing Erotic Romance – The Basics Of A Sex Scene
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Word Choice
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: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Writing Erotic Romance – Analyzing Scenes Part 2
Writing Erotic Romance – Analyzing Scenes Part 1
This post has adult content. If you are under the age of eighteen years old and/or sensitive to adult language/situations, please do not read this post.
Since many of us are on holiday over these next two weeks, I thought I’d take a break from the learning heavy Writing Erotic Romance posts and illustrate how some of these tips can be put into action.
I’ll use scenes from Sinful Rewards 1 ( http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0 ). This isn’t because I think they are brilliantly written. As with most writers, I look at my own writing and see room for improvement. I’m using my scenes because I know what I was thinking and trying to do when I wrote them.
At exactly ten minutes after five, a sleek black limousine rolls to a stop in front of me. The door opens and a man barks, “Get in.” <-- Nicolas told Bee he’d arrive at EXACTLY this time. Bee believes she wants a reliable, constant man. Nicolas is definitely reliable. He does what he says he’ll do. This arriving exactly when he says he’ll arrive happens throughout all 12 installments. It is small quirk that makes him different. The limousine also tells readers that this is a man who doesn’t drive himself. Why doesn’t he drive himself? In Nicolas’s case, he’s a very busy man. He prefers to spend every minute he can working.
The urge to give him the finger is intense, but I obey because there’s no mistaking that irate tone. The man works for Nicolas, my husband-to-be.<-- Bee has backbone but she is more concerned about appearances than her pride. That she refers to him as her husband-to-be tells us that she is already thinking marriage at this first meet. She has crazy high expectations that I doubt any man could have met.
I settle back into the comfy leather seat, meet the man’s gaze, and suck in my breath. Correction. The man is Nicolas. <-- Bee likes luxury. She likes nice things. She notes the leather seat before she notes the man across from her.
He sprawls across from me, his arms and legs stretched out, his dark brown eyes glinting with intelligence. He’s well dressed, the craftsmanship of his suit even more impressive up close. He’s handsome, his countenance kissed by the gods.<-- The first thing she notices is the intelligence in his eyes. THEN she notices his clothes. If Bee was a true fashionista and completely fixated on appearances, she would have noticed his clothes first. That she notices an inner quality (his intelligence) hints that maybe she’s not as shallow as she acts. She also uses ‘kissed’ which is a passionate and physical description.
And unfortunately he’s a bit of an ass. <-- Nicolas might be her ideal man but Bee isn’t blind to his faults and she expects him to ‘woo’ her. She won’t make this easy for him.
As soon as this disloyal thought crosses my mind, I smother it with excuses. He’s had a bad day. He’s a busy man. He doesn’t know me. Once he realizes what type of a woman I am, how perfect we are for each other, he’ll treat me as I should be treated. <-- Again, Bee has her pride. She won’t be with a man simply because he’s handsome and has money. She’s also loyal and is trying her damnedest to remain loyal to Nicolas.
“This wasn’t supposed to cost me any additional time,” Nicolas grumbles, his gorgeous face twisted into a very ugly scowl. “That wasn’t the plan.”<-- THIS is key. Nicolas had a plan. That plan wasn’t to meet with Bee. What was the plan? Readers don’t find out until Sinful Rewards 7. Bee also always has plans, for her life, for her career, for her relationships. This hints that the two of them have things in common.
“What plan was that, Mr. Rainer?” I ask, not brave enough to call him by his first name. Once I uncover the problem, I can fix it and fix us. Then our relationship will be back on track and my world will right itself. <-- Bee loves to fix things. When she’s faced with a problem, she derives a solution. This is important because her relationship with Nicolas and her relationship with Hawke both have problems. She also doesn’t allow problems to fester. She addresses situations immediately.
Nicolas ignores my question. His gaze sweeps over me, pausing on my purse. I wiggle, acutely aware of its embarrassingly ragged condition. “Do you have my phone?” He gets straight to the point.<-- In the previous paragraph, we learned that Bee likes to address problems immediately. Nicolas’ response is to ignore her, to avoid talking about problems. This conflict will shape their entire relationship. When Nicolas looks at her ragged purse, Bee feels he’s judging her. In previous scenes, we’ve learned that Bee has been judged harshly in the past. That Nicolas judges her makes him ‘dangerous.’
“Yes, I have your phone.” I hide my frustration under a polite smile. This isn’t how this meeting played out in my fantasies. There are no expressions of eternal gratitude or undying love. Nicolas appears grumpy, as though I inconvenienced him by finding his phone. <-- Again, Bee had a plan. She plotted out in her mind how the entire meeting would unfold. The meeting isn’t going to plan and Nicolas isn’t the man she thought he was. Her wording (eternal and undying) is also important. Bee likes relationships that last.
I dig through my purse and hand the device to him. His fingers brush over mine, his hands soft and cool. He’s a vampire, minus the sparkles. My smile spreads, my heart lightening. And it’s daylight hours. This explains his foul mood and the tinted windows.<-- Vampires live forever. They never die, never ‘leave’. Bee is also justifying Nicolas’s bad behavior, stubbornly trying to remain loyal to him.
Nicolas slides the phone into his inside jacket pocket. His form is firm and lean. He’s not all bulging muscle as the tattooed stranger is, but he’s fit. <-- Bee is sitting across from her dream man and she’s thinking about a stranger she’s seen once, a man who represents everything she’s trying to avoid.
If you liked this post, you might like
Writing Erotic Romance – Balancing Sex And Plot
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Making Every Sex Scene Different
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Making Sex Sexy
or
Writing Erotic Romance – The Basics Of A Sex Scene
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Word Choice
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: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Writing Erotic Romance – Analyzing Scenes Part 1
Writing The BIG Misunderstanding – Romance Tropes
We, romance writers and readers, love our tropes. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trope_(literature) ), the word trope has “come to be used for describing commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works.”
One of our favorite tropes is The BIG Misunderstanding. The heroine (99 percent of the time, it is the heroine) sees or hears something, interprets this something the ‘wrong’ way, and this interpretation drives a wedge between her and her love interest, causing big problems for them.
The reader can get frustrated with The BIG Misunderstanding because she knows if the hero and the heroine simply had a conversation, the misunderstanding would go away. Their lives would be honky dory again. Everything would be sunshine and rainbows.
She also knows if hero and heroine can’t have a simple conversation, their relationship is likely doomed anyway. Barring unusual circumstances, people in healthy, lasting relationships talk. That’s how we deal with the (borrowing one of Hawke’s favorite phrases) shit storms in life.
However, there are ways to make The BIG Misunderstanding work.
Unusual Circumstances
Writers can create an unusual yet believable situation where the characters can’t talk about The BIG Misunderstanding.
Some examples of such a situation are…
The heroine isn’t where she’s supposed to be when she sees/hears the misunderstanding. She’s a proper Regency miss and somehow ends up in a bawdy house, witnessing the hero’s conversation with a lady of the night. If she confronts him, she’ll have to admit to being there.
The heroine isn’t doing what she should when she sees/hears the misunderstanding. She’s stealing her nemesis’ diamond necklace out of a safe and sees the hero in her nemesis’ bedroom. Again, if she confronts him, she’ll have to admit to her wicked ways (in this case, possibly getting the hero into legal trouble).
On the legal theme… she’s a lawyer and, her client told her the information, invoking lawyer-client confidentiality. To compound things, the hero is a member (tee hee – I said member) of the opposition’s legal team, and the circumstances surrounding the misunderstanding could be used against her client.
Digging For More Information
The heroine could investigate farther with her results supporting the BIG Misunderstanding.
Perhaps the proper Regency miss asks one of the ladies of the night if the hero frequents the bawdy house frequently. The (not-so) happy hooker tells her the hero is a regular (not knowing he’s a spy, using one of the helpful ladies of the night as a source).
Having The BIG Talk
Writers can, of course, allow their characters to talk about The BIG Misunderstanding. This discussion, however, should make the shit storm worse, not better.
Our proper Regency miss leads the hero into a discussion on nobles visiting ladies of the night. He thinks she’s being judgmental and sprouts off about how ladies of the night aren’t too different from some of the wild widows in the nobility. Our heroine interprets this as confirmation.
In Sinful Rewards 3, Bee has the BIG talk. She sees an image and doesn’t like the conclusion she draws. Being a sane (and very stubborn) woman, she confronts the person in the photo. Although she doesn’t directly address the misunderstanding (she can’t without looking like a crazed stalker), everything this person says confirms her unhappy conclusion.
The Length Of BIG Misunderstandings
A well-crafted BIG Misunderstanding can be the primary plot device. She’s a princess in disguise. He assumes she’s a peasant, falls in love with her anyway. She allows him to believe this because she likes how he treats her and thinks his lovey dovey treatment will change if he knows she’s a princess.
A (not-so) BIG Misunderstanding can be a slice of the plot. Sinful Rewards is 12 novellas long. The BIG Misunderstanding in Sinful Rewards 3 is cleared up by the end of the novella.
There are usually some pages left in the story after The BIG Misunderstanding is cleared up to reassure readers that the hero loves the heroine for whom she truly is (or vice versa). Will the hero love his princess as much as he loves his peasant girl? How does he fit into her real life?
The Number Of BIG Misunderstandings
Writers should be careful about how many BIG Misunderstandings they have in a story. A heroine who constantly forms the wrong conclusions can be seen as irrational (unless this is her default conclusion – in Bee’s case, she always assumes men will leave). It signals a lack of trust between the love interests, putting the happy ever after in peril. Readers will assume The BIG Misunderstandings continue and that, eventually, one of these misunderstandings will tear the couple (or more) apart.
Have you read a well-written BIG Misunderstanding? Please share the title, author, and some of the premise!
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Bee Carter’s carefully constructed world is tumbling down around her designer knockoff heels. Pleasing others isn’t working for this small-town fashionista. Bee decides to throw caution to the Chicago wind for one night and release her inner bad girl, accepting a sexy challenge from an unknown texter, exploring the backseat of a limousine with gorgeous billionaire Nicolas, and entering a rough, tough biker bar with the mysterious Hawke.
Two hot men, one wicked night. When this good girl goes wild, who will make her erotic dreams come true—the enigmatic billionaire or the tattooed bad boy?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00I7V89JS
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards3-1613793-149.html
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-3-cynthia-sax/1119919837
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780062354143
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-3/id814148707
Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Writing The BIG Misunderstanding – Romance Tropes
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.
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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?
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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
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?
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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
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?
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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
Learning With Bee, The Heroine From Sinful Rewards
We all have our own methods of learning things. I learn by example. A writing mentor can talk to me until she’s blue in the face about a technique and I won’t understand what she’s trying to explain. But if she shows me a before and after of a piece of writing using this technique, I grasp the concept immediately.
Bee, the heroine from Sinful Rewards, is an only child, raised by a single mom. Her mom is known as the wild woman of Happydale, a very small town, which left Bee isolated from the people around her. Her mom also had to work long hours at the diner, trying to pay the rent.
School taught her English and math and science. Bee taught herself many of the other skills in life.
How did she teach herself?
Here is a revealing snippet from Sinful Rewards 1…
I fiddle with my phone, willing it to ring. Nicolas’s number is listed on my incoming call list. As a joke, I draft a text to him, linking to an article I found in a woman’s magazine. The title is “How to Be a Better Friend.”
I shouldn’t send it. I know I shouldn’t. My finger has a brain of its own, however, and presses the send key.
Bee read articles. When she had a question or a concern, she couldn’t ask her hard working mom. Instead she researched the subject, reading magazines, eventually Googling it (Google launched in 1997 so yes, Bee is very much part of the Google generation). A much younger Bee must have read articles on how to fit in during recess, how to deal with boys, how to apply make-up.
This is one of the many reasons Bee is proud about appearing normal. She should be proud. She taught herself these life skills.
How do you learn? Have you taught yourself a skill?
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 Learning With Bee, The Heroine From Sinful Rewards
Sinful Rewards 2 Releases Today!
Woot!!! Sinful Rewards 2, the second novella in my serial, releases today! I’m super excited!
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: New Releases | Comments Off on Sinful Rewards 2 Releases Today!
Cover Love For Sinful Rewards 1
Woot! Romance Lives Forever featured the cover for Sinful Rewards on their blog today!
http://romancelivesforever.blogspot.ca/2014/08/cover-love-sinful-rewards-1-cynthiasax.html
I agree — the cover DOES rock!
That’s Hawke on the cover with his barbed wired tattoo encircling his arm. He often rubs that tattoo. It has special emotional significance to him. All of his tattoos do.
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 Cover Love For Sinful Rewards 1
