Special Guest Sara Brookes & Giveaway!!!
I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have SARA BROOKES here with me today! And she is giving away a copy of one of her books in the Sypricon Masters series to a lucky commenter!
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I don’t have to tell ya’ll how awesome Lisa Fox is, right? I can’t thank her enough for having me over here today.
A question I get asked a lot is how do I determine how hot (or not) to make my books. The answer is both complicated and simple at the same time. To be honest, most of the time, the characters determine the heat level of the story. Based on phrasing they use in their conversations, whether or not the characters are engaging in any kind of Dominance or submission, and things of that type. Naturally, any story involving D/s is going to be on the hotter side of the scale from me.
My latest book is just such a story. Perfect Limit takes place inside a BDSM club. From the beginning, because of that fact, I knew the situation, the language and the heat level would have to be hotter. Hotter doesn’t always means it has to be all sex all the time either. In Perfect Limit, there’s actually a wonderful story about the non-sexual aspect of BDSM. Seeing how much a Dom truly cares for his submissive outside of the club walls.
So, to turn things around, I’m curious to know is what readers prefer? Do you like to read something hotter or something sweet or even somewhere in between? Leave me your answer this week and I’ll come back and draw a winner from the comments to receive a download of either of the books in the Sypricon Masters series—Impulse Control or Perfect Limit.
Good luck!
Contest ends Sunday, October 2, 2011 at midnight. Winner will be announced on Monday, October 3, 2011
PERFECT LIMIT
2nd book in the Sypricon Master series
Now available from Decadent Publishing (www.decadentpublishing.com)
Deputy Brigade Manager Rayna Donaghy is convinced she’s imperfect. Abandoned and left for dead, Rayna now lives on Sypricon, a frontier planet known for its scarred surface. After a fatal blaze at one of the planet’s quarries, Rayna seeks an escape at the landmark BDSM club, Tawse.
Burke, a Dom at the club, is captivated with the woman who has been under his command for the past several months. However, he’s finally had enough of her self-loathing and is determined to help Rayna overcome her fears. In the center of the action, Burke lays her bare for all to see in order to show her being perfect is simply a matter of perception.
Warning: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable including but not limited to: D/s, exhibitionism
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OMB936
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Sara Brookes is an award winning author who has always been fascinated by the strange, the unusual, the twisted and the lost (tortured heroes are her personal favorite). She is an action movie junkie, addicted to coffee and has been known to stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing RPG video games. Despite all this, she is a romantic at heart and is always a sucker for an excellent love story.
***UPDATE***
AND THE WINNER IS… CARA BRISTOL!!!
Huge thanks to everyone who stopped by!
Lisa Fox Romance 
I like it when a BDSM story carries some sweetness to it. I don’t mind the whips and chains, floggers and collars, but I need more than hot boundary-pushing sex to get me to like the characters. I love it when the story shows the trust and mutual attraction in a D/s relationship, but also tender caring and devotional love.
Love you guys! Intriguing question. Great blurb!
Great post, and it is so true, the characters really do determine the level of heat. In your works I’ve read I think you have a skill when developing the characters, involving the reader early in their hopes and desires. So really the level of heat is also determined by how well the reader is relating to the characters. …I just rambled..sorry..Great post. And both Sara and Lisa are HOT in my list of sensational authors.
Story, characters and genre determine the heat level…although, I think I’ve read more books that I thought could have been hotter than I’ve read that I thought were over the top. What I like to see is chemistry and seduction. I want the characters to have heat out of bed as well as in it and I like it when the hero has to woo the heroine. I do find that a lot of bdsm novels are quite seductive in this regard … the heroine is new to the scene and enters it gradually. I love a protective alpha male/Dom.
I know since I’ve been writing, I’m a lot pickier as a reader. lol. If the sex is there, it can’t be a “cut and paste” kind of thing that leaves me yawning. (I’m mentally thinking “deepen the POV”. On the other hand, many times if it isn’t there, I’m thinking “insert sex”. :p
For me the test of great writing is when the story unfolds and I’m so deep in it I don’t think at all until I get to the end–then I’m saying, darn, I want more. Doesn’t matter the genre for that to happen.
Hmmm, I like subtle sweetness, it’s more poignant.
The fabulous Sara and Lisa together – hooray! I love BDSM stories, but the ones that get me is when the Dom gets deep and there is an underlying sweetness behind all the play. I cannot wait to read this book!
Hi Sara,
It depends on my mood, sometimes I like a really hot, steamy, no holds barred sex in a book and sometimes I’m in the mood for something a bit softer. Though in all books I read, I want the characters to be developed and to have an emotional connection instead of a book of sex with just random scenes thrown in to break up the sex.
It’s more of a mood thing for me too. I tend to read a lot of dark and edgey, and when I pick a bdsm story, I love to explore the aspects of command and cherish.
I haven’t read a book that was over the top in terms of heat level, but I always like a little more than just sex. In BDSM, I really enjoy when we get to see the vulnerable side of a Dom, his need to please his sub.
Great post!
I guess for me, it depends on the mood I am in whether I want really hot, or more sweet, heart tugging. In the perfect book for me, I might tear up a time or two, both Dom and sub would have strong and vulnerable sides, complement each other completely, yet be able to heat it up really well. I really enjoy BDSM stories and am always looking for new series to follow.
Ya’ll have got some excellent, excellent answers. Wow. Keep ’em coming!
I definitely lean toward the hotter stories though I do like some sweetness thrown in every once in a while 🙂
smaccall AT comcast.net
Hope I am not too late! I have to admit that I usually prefer hotter but at the same time I really like sweet as well.