Thank you for joining us on the first day of the Virtual Book Tour for Velvet Trap, an Erotica novella by Mael D’Armor (1 July 2014, AUS Impulse, 73 pages). This is the first book in the The Awakening Trilogy.
PREVIEW: Read the Prologue with Amazon Look Inside.
Check out the book's synopsis and the excerpt below
Author Mael D’Armor will be awarding an eCopy of Velvet Trap: Awakening Book 1 to 3 to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀).
Synopsis | Teaser | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops
Synopsis
Life's a beach, or about to become one, for newly-wed young Helen. Fresh out of uni, she is on her way to a private tropical island, on the Queensland coast, to sample its delights before her adorable husband can join her for their honeymoon.Trouble is, her sultry hostess Selena had more than cute portraits in mind when she persuaded her to pose for the lens. Can Helen ignore the steamy fantasies which this blue-eyed Circe is fanning in her heart?
Confused by her own unexpected desires, the angel-faced bride is trying so hard to remember who she is, and where she came from. So hard. But sometimes, trying is just not good enough. Especially if a gorgeous sorceress wields the tempting hand.
Teaser: Excerpt
Helen has not bothered to slip out of her clothes. Lying on a thick futon in the guest bungalow behind the main house, she is staring at the dark shape of a motionless ventilator on the ceiling. The mist in her mind has cleared slightly and the hiccups are gone, but she is still floating on clouds. Sleep is eluding her, though, kept at bay by a kaleidoscope of thoughts and impressions. The chopper ride to the island, the coral swim, the sunset watch on the deck, that rather unsettling conversation …
As if born of the night, muted strains of music begin to waft through her open window. She can’t make out the melody but recognises the soft sounds of a pan flute. Intrigued, she gets up gingerly in her darkened room and makes her way to the window. The music is coming from Selena’s bedroom across the lawn, where light is pulsing dimly through the gaping French doors. Candlelight probably, judging by the flickering glow.
A shape now, outlined against the glow. A woman’s shape, moving sensually in the half gloom, dancing it seems. Yes, dancing a slow, sinuous dance. Elbows raised high, hands holding back long strands of hair, hips gyrating. The body glides and flows in perfect unison to the tune, as though part of it.
Helen is puzzled by the performance. This is not your standard workout. A relaxation technique perhaps, before sleep? Whatever it is, she cannot take her eyes off the undulating silhouette. The dancer has moved to the right and stepped into the glow. Helen catches her breath, for Selena is stark naked, and the candlelight is fluttering across her hips and breasts. Luscious, curvaceous breasts, which sway gently to the rhythm of the flute.
Helen feels a twinge of guilt. She is intruding on a very private moment. What if she is seen? She is only metres away. How awkward. But that’s impossible. Her own bedroom is cast in complete darkness; there is no way her hostess could know she is here, peeping.
Her curiosity snuffs out her qualms and she watches on, with growing fascination. Selena has started spinning in slow motion as she rolls and sways. Like a golden extension to the notes, the candlelight is playing lascivious games with her curves, coaxing out of obscurity now the swell of a hip, now the crescent of a buttock.
Helen cannot make out her expression. The dancer’s face remains stubbornly plunged in darkness, screened by unruly locks of hair. No face then. Just a flowing shape, without identity. A tantalising shape. Helen is curiously bound to the aura of this lithe body. She had no idea the female figure could be so enticing, so mesmerising. She had always had an aesthetic appreciation of the beauty of her sex, of course, acquired, among other things, from her academic meanderings through European art, and gleaned also, more prosaically, from the countless health and fashion magazines she had pored over as a teenager.
But this – this is something else, although she is not sure exactly what is moving her. A longing, an attraction, oddly foreign to the pinpricks of jealousy she had felt before, when scrutinising the glossy, elongated and perniciously photoshopped bodies of the vapid models that spilled out of her monthlies. Not envy, then, but a bizarre captivation for this fluid silhouette. Is this the effect of the mist still drifting through her mind? Perhaps it is. She hopes it is. She does not know how long she has been standing there but, surprisingly, her heart aches with the pain of sudden loss when the music finally dies and Selena moves beyond the door frame.
As if born of the night, muted strains of music begin to waft through her open window. She can’t make out the melody but recognises the soft sounds of a pan flute. Intrigued, she gets up gingerly in her darkened room and makes her way to the window. The music is coming from Selena’s bedroom across the lawn, where light is pulsing dimly through the gaping French doors. Candlelight probably, judging by the flickering glow.
A shape now, outlined against the glow. A woman’s shape, moving sensually in the half gloom, dancing it seems. Yes, dancing a slow, sinuous dance. Elbows raised high, hands holding back long strands of hair, hips gyrating. The body glides and flows in perfect unison to the tune, as though part of it.
Helen is puzzled by the performance. This is not your standard workout. A relaxation technique perhaps, before sleep? Whatever it is, she cannot take her eyes off the undulating silhouette. The dancer has moved to the right and stepped into the glow. Helen catches her breath, for Selena is stark naked, and the candlelight is fluttering across her hips and breasts. Luscious, curvaceous breasts, which sway gently to the rhythm of the flute.
Helen feels a twinge of guilt. She is intruding on a very private moment. What if she is seen? She is only metres away. How awkward. But that’s impossible. Her own bedroom is cast in complete darkness; there is no way her hostess could know she is here, peeping.
Her curiosity snuffs out her qualms and she watches on, with growing fascination. Selena has started spinning in slow motion as she rolls and sways. Like a golden extension to the notes, the candlelight is playing lascivious games with her curves, coaxing out of obscurity now the swell of a hip, now the crescent of a buttock.
Helen cannot make out her expression. The dancer’s face remains stubbornly plunged in darkness, screened by unruly locks of hair. No face then. Just a flowing shape, without identity. A tantalising shape. Helen is curiously bound to the aura of this lithe body. She had no idea the female figure could be so enticing, so mesmerising. She had always had an aesthetic appreciation of the beauty of her sex, of course, acquired, among other things, from her academic meanderings through European art, and gleaned also, more prosaically, from the countless health and fashion magazines she had pored over as a teenager.
But this – this is something else, although she is not sure exactly what is moving her. A longing, an attraction, oddly foreign to the pinpricks of jealousy she had felt before, when scrutinising the glossy, elongated and perniciously photoshopped bodies of the vapid models that spilled out of her monthlies. Not envy, then, but a bizarre captivation for this fluid silhouette. Is this the effect of the mist still drifting through her mind? Perhaps it is. She hopes it is. She does not know how long she has been standing there but, surprisingly, her heart aches with the pain of sudden loss when the music finally dies and Selena moves beyond the door frame.
Velvet Trap - available NOW!
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US:
The Series: The Awakening Trilogy
A trilogy of seduction, entrapment, and ultimately, liberation.Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.
Sweet Dreams [2]
Life's a bitch, or rather newly-wed Helen has become someone else's - much to her dismay. Her perfect holiday on a tropical island has gone disastrously off script, and she is now at the sexual beck and call of hypnotic hostess Selena.With her libido running wild, Helen also finds herself lusting for Selena's brother Karl, a gifted dolphin whisperer. Honestly, what is a fallen bride to do? Is this all part of her harsh mistress's plan? But then, upright Mister Karl won't respond to her salacious overtures.
And what if the key to these confusing, enmeshed desires was to be found in bizarre wet dreams? Ones where pig-headed girls cavort naked with bull-headed boys, and horny goddesses pop out of swans' eggs? [Published 1 August 2014, 76 pages]
Dangerous Liaisons [3]
Life's oh so confusing for young newly-wed Helen. Enthralled by sultry sorceress Selena on a tiny island, lusting also for Selena's brother Karl, she now finds out that her perfect husband Uli may not be, after all, quite so perfect.v
Should she trust Selena, who is dead set on exposing the dangerous liaisons of the past? Should she follow her heart, and her raunchy fantasies, pointing the way to a perhaps equally perilous future? When Uli finally turns up, he certainly has no intention of giving up his trophy wife, or going down without a fight. It is showdown time, then. Karl must kick and punch. Selena must seduce, and more. And Helen must confront her own fears, as well as her own desires.
She must confront the goddess within. [Published 1 September 2014, 70 pages]
About the Author
Born in a cosy village in Brittany, France, Mael D’Armor has worked as an academic, cartoonist and young children’s author. He came to Australia in search of wide spaces and exciting life forms. For reasons as yet unclear to him, this prompted his move into fiction and his first, award-winning short story was published in 2012.
He writes about the complexities of desire, frustration, hope, love and French kissing - though not always in that order.
Follow Mael D’Armor:
Giveaway and Tour Stops
Enter to win an eCopy of Velvet Trap: Awakening Book 1 to 3.Remember to comment to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow Velvet Trap's tour at:
Sep 14: BooksChatterSep 15: The Blog of C.R. Moss
Sep 16: Romance Novel Giveaways
Sep 17: We Love Kink
Sep 18: Dena Garson - Real... Hot... Romance
Sep 21: Blog of author Jacey Holbrand
Sep 21: Long and Short Reviews
Sep 22: Archaeolibrarian - I dig good books!
Sep 23: Liz Gavin's Blog
Sep 24: Erotica For All
Sep 25: BookSkater
Sep 25: Teatime and Books
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for hosting my Awakening trilogy! I hope readers find it not just titillating (goes without saying) but also uplifting, in a strangely "mythical" sort of way. I meant it as an inspiring coming-of-age story really, with a (relatively) innocent young woman discovering the tantalizing meanders of sex and love. There's the good guy that turns out to be bad, the bad girl that turns out to be... not so bad, and of course the heroine who turns out to be not so good as she thought she was, but not so bad as she feared she might be. Life is complicated, but we knew that already, didn't we?
ReplyDeleteI'm actually writing this not from tropical Queensland, where (relatively) innocent Helen found herself, but from my native Brittany in Western France. Been back here for a few months in fact, busy writing a new erotica novel, among other things (too many other things!). This one starts in Sydney and ends... yes, you guessed it, deep in the heart of Celtic Brittany! There'll be romance, mystery, a few knights, a lot more magic than in The Awakening, a sprinkling of suitably hot French phrases and of course lots of very steamy scenes. The book should come out in about a year, so watch those Harper Collins releases...
Mael d'Armor
Hi Mael, thank you so much for dropping by and giving us this captivating insight and brilliant update (and making me jealous as where you are the weather must be a lot better than it is here in rainy London...)
DeleteYou may have noticed that in the article I provided a link to your Goodreads author page - I have populated your basic profile and used the cover for The Awakening Trilogy as the author's profile picture (btw you can claim / take ownership of that profile by following the link below and filling in some very basic info - it's well worth it! https://goo.gl/nTdb0j )
Is there any way for your readers to find the latest information about you and your works? Do you have any plans of joining the Twitter or Facebook community?
Flora
Hi Mael,
DeleteI just wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Awakening series. It is great to hear that you are writing another novel and I am looking forward to reading it.
Catherine
Thanks for the encouraging comments Catherine, and I hope you like the next one too. I have spent quite a bit of time on the plot and there'll be a couple of (totally unexpected) twists along the way. Plus new light will be shed on the hallowed Merlin legend - and I can guarantee that your understanding of French will have improved noticeably by the end of the novel. Always a good thing to have a few phrases handy if you want to blend in with the locals.
DeleteI'd like to respond to Flora too (can't find the reply button under your comment Flora). I really appreciate the exposure and the time you took to shift things around to beef up my author's profile - and thanks for including that Goodreads link too. The last few months have been a little on the busy side, what with relocating to Brittany (for the time being) and wearing a number of hats (and berets) at work and elsewhere. But I'll keep your very useful hints in mind!
And you shouldn't feel too jealous about the weather in Brittany, it's almost as temperamental as the Melbourne variety! (i.e. 4 seasons in a day - or 5, or 6 even).
Mael
Hi Mael, I hope your relocation is proving successful.
DeleteTemperamental weather: yep, that is the UK... it would be fine if it just was a few degrees warmer!
I have followed advice and now have the Awakening trilogy :-)
Take care,
Flora
Hi Book Chatter readers,
ReplyDeleteI have read the Awakening series and I would highly recommend it. I found the novel to be very well written, sensual and fascinating in more than one way!
I am very pleased to hear that Mael D'Armor is writing another novel as I have added him to my author to watch list.
Catherine