I am pleased to welcome another Wild Rose Press author to my site today….Sydney St. Claire. Sydney’s latest book CINDERELLA & PRINCE DOM releases today, and she’s here to tell us all about it. (And keep reading. Sydney’s offering up some assorted goodies via Rafflecopter at the end.)
Jaimie Newberry is jobless, her rent is due, and her cat just died. On top of that, she was accused of embezzling before she was fired. When her friend invites her for a weekend of kinky fairytale role-playing, she agrees to go as Cinderella. What has she got to lose when sex with a handsome prince is involved?
CEO Bryce Langston needs to know if Jamie is innocent of embezzlement or just very clever. He arranges for her to be his weekend sub but soon realizes the pretty scullery maid is naïve to the BDSM lifestyle. As her prince and her Dom, he intends to not only learn the truth but to make sure she has a fantasy come true.
Welcome Syndey, please tell us about yourself.
I live in Central California where the summers are hot which I dislike immensely! I love being outdoors—call me a child of nature—but I can’t handle the heat! It’s usually way too hot to work outside in the summers so my beautiful 26-foot medicine wheel garden is being overtaken by weeds! It needs desperate help! Now that fall is just about here, it’s time to get out there and start pruning. I have a ring of Rose Of Sharon shrubs that enclose it and a beautiful climbing rose arbor. Right now, it’s like walking into the secret garden! (CC: My green thumb consists of stuffing a bunch of plants into half a dozen outdoor pots and then hoping they survive!)
I have five cats and there are always at least 3 on my desk. I have this pretty white executive desk with tons of room. Unfortunately, three cat beds barely leave room for my monitor and keyboard…. Three dogs share my office—two at my feet and a large Great Pyrenees mix to one side of it. (CC: Ohhh, Pyrenees..they are beautiful!)
I’ve just dusted off my sewing machine to make some cute baby girl dresses and outfits for my first grandchild. I haven’t done any serious sewing since my own daughter was small. I also have some knit and crochet items started and a stash of yarn that would rival a yarn store! Too little time….
You sound super busy Sydney. And congratulations on your first granchild. When you do find your way to your desk through all the animals and yarn, do you have a process for coming up with character names and book titles?
I really don’t. I often just flip through a baby name book or sometimes if I hear a name I like or see one, I’ll write it down to save for future use. For my historical romances, I sometimes go online and search for surnames here in the USA for whatever year I need. I’ve been known to just pull a name out of the air. There’s been a couple times where I wanted siblings to start with the same letter so that mean a bit more searching.
Titles are often determined by the series I am writing as I currently have three series: White Series, SpiritWalker Series, and my newest one, Once Upon A Dom. The White series is both easy and difficult as I need just one other word that also fits the theme of the book. The SpiritWalker series is four books themed around the 4 seasons, and the Once Upon A Dom is centered around fairytales and the world of Dominants and submissives so titles will have the word Dom or submit with whatever character.
And speaking about your Once Upon a Dom series, please tell us about your current book.
I was trying to come up with an erotica series and wanted it to focus on the Dominant/Submissive world. Once upon a Time just popped into my head or I saw it, and then it became Once Upon a Dom and that started the whole fairy tale theme. It’s been fun creating Pleasure Manor and all the lovely and isolated cottages spread out over the estate for weekends of fun and sex.
Coming up with my ‘Cinderella’ was also fun. I took a character who had a lot of reasons to be angry and bitter by what life had thrown at her. She discovered embezzling going on in her department, took it to her boss, but learned too late he was involved. She was fired for doing what was right. And of course, other things in her life were going badly: her rent is due, her car leaking oil and her cat just died. Now most of us would be a basket case. Not Jaimie. She might not break into song like Disney’s Cinderella but she doesn’t break under the pressure. She’s a fighter.
And Bryce is a real hero. He lost his wife to cancer and hasn’t participated in the BDSM games he hosts, as that was something they did together. But he learns a terrible lesson in delegating too much when his employees stealing from him. He’s furious that he’d trusted the wrong people and quickly deals with his thieves. Trouble is, he has no idea if Jaimie is innocent or guilty. When he learns she’s been invited to the games, he sees his chance to learn the truth. It doesn’t take him long to learn she was innocent or to find a second change at love. Too bad Jaimie learned who he was before he could tell her the truth.
It does sound like a lot of fun. Would you mind sharing an excerpt?
Just one? Okay, here you go…
Bryce spotted his Cinderella entering the parlor below. The ruffles of her skirt swirled playfully around slender thighs, and the low cut of her simple top revealed a nice swell of breasts. Deep inside, anticipation hummed, and not just for learning the truth. Annie had been gone five years now, and while he hadn’t been celibate during those long years, he hadn’t participated in the games he hosted either. This would be his first.
And only because he needed to know the truth.
Jaimie had uncovered an embezzling ring in one of his accounting firms. Her boss implicated her, her files backed the man up, but as he’d found out, the man himself had proved to be a liar, and the leader in the group of employees caught.
Lucy, his personal assistant, swore Jaimie was innocent, that she was the one who’d discovered the theft, then been fired because of it. The fact Jaimie had blown the whistle lent her story credence, as did the files she gave Lucy to give to him, all dated before she’d been fired. He’d hired auditors, and they thought she was innocent. But he wouldn’t know until he spoke to her. A study of her employment files indicated the woman was smart. She could easily have done what she did to make herself look innocent and then gotten out before being caught.
“Does it matter if she is as guilty as the others?”
Bryce nodded. “Yes. If she was part of it, I’ll press charges. No one steals from me.” He’d already gotten confessions out of the rest of his employees and fired those who were supposed to oversee that department. Fools were more concerned with their ladder climbing and brown-nosing instead of doing their job.
Determining Jaimie’s level of involvement was unfinished business. Was his Cinderella truly innocent, or had she been framed? He couldn’t find any money trails leading to her bank accounts, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have money squirreled away elsewhere, under another name. No, he needed to know for sure.
Glorie laughed low in her throat. “My, your little playmate looks ready to bolt, and it’s not even midnight.”
Bryce narrowed his eyes. Glorie was right. Jaimie was staring at some of the costumes with mouth agape. He couldn’t see her eyes but imagined they were wide with shock. Even from where he stood, he could see her face was flushed with embarrassment. She took a big gulp of her champagne then grabbed Lucy by the arm. Though he couldn’t hear the conversation, it was clear his sub was having serious doubts.
Rocking back on his heels, he grinned. From the questionnaire, he knew Jaimie was new to this world, and he was looking looked forward to introducing her to some light BDSM.
Need a little more temptation? Take a peek at Sydney’s trailer… Cinderella Book Trailer
Sydney is offering some assorted goodies including a Once Upon a Dom tote bag or mug. Check it out at RAFFLECOPTER
Thank you Sydney (fanning myself). I’m looking forward to reading more about Bryce and Jaimie. Where can my readers and I find you and your books?
My books can be found at:
WILD ROSE PRESS: http://bit.ly/1vOUIWS *Where it is currently half price!
Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/1zUYwGp
(Nook & Amazon links available at the publisher website)
And me, Sydney St.Claire, readers can find me at:
Email: Sydney@sydneystclaire.com
Website: http://sydneystclaire.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sydneystclaire
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sydneystclaire
Blog: http://sydneystclaire.wordpress.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/sydneystclaire
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sydneystclaire/
A little more about Sydney…
Sydney St. Claire is the pseudonym of Susan Edwards, author of 14 Historical Native American/Western/Paranormal romances and the author of the popular “White” Series.
Sydney loves writing and sharing stories of love, happiness and dreams come true with her readers. She credits her mother for her writing success. Encouraged to read as a child, she always preferred happy endings which meant romances were her favorite genre. Sydney takes her readers into the world of erotica romance where her characters come together in explosive passion as they solve life’s problems and find true love along with the best sex our hero and heroine have ever experienced.
Sydney’s office is quite crowded with three dogs at her feet and five cats to keep her company while she writes. Three cats always insist on beds on her desk, barely leaving enough room for her monitor and keyboard. Life gets fun when all five insist on supervising…
When not writing, she enjoys crafts of all sorts including quilting, sewing, cross-stitch, and knitting. She and her husband of 30 + years are avid gardeners. He takes care of the veggies, and Susan is in charge of the ‘pretties’. Her medicine wheel garden is in a contact state of war: flowers vs. weeds. Sadly, right now the weeds are wining…
While writing, she listens to a wide variety of music. Her current favorites are Blackmore’s Night and David Lanz.
Thank you so much Sydney for visiting today, and best of luck with CINDERELLA & PRINCE DOM.
(If you would like to leave a comment for Sydney or myself, the COMMENTS RSS for this template is down the right side.)
Charlotte Copper... 