BooksChatter: ☀ Dance of Desire: 1001 Dark Nights [36]

Thank you for joining us on the Review and Excerpt Tour for the newly released Dance of Desire, a Contemporary Erotic Romance by Christopher Rice (23 February 2016, Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated, 148 pages).

This is the 36th book in the 1001 Dark Nights series, and Christopher's third contribution to it.

Dance of Desire is the first contemporary romance from award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice, told with the author's trademark humor and heart. It also introduces readers to a quirky and beautiful town in the Texas Hill Country called Chapel Springs.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below, as well as details of the other two titles in the series penned by Christoper Rice, and which are part of his own Desire Exchange series.

Do comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀) and reviews (✍).

Synopsis | Teaser | The Desire Exchange Series | About the Author | Tour Stops

Synopsis

When Amber Watson walks in on her husband in the throes of extramarital passion with one of his employees, her comfortable, passion-free life is shattered in an instant. Worse, the fate of the successful country music bar that bears her family's name suddenly hangs in the balance. Her soon to be ex-husband is one of the bar's official owners; his mistress, one of its employees. Will her divorce destroy her late father's legacy?

Not if Amber's adopted brother Caleb has anything to do with it. The wandering cowboy has picked the perfect time for a homecoming. Better yet, he's determined to use his brains and his fists to put Amber's ex in his place and keep the family business intact. But Caleb's long absence has done nothing to dim the forbidden desire between him and the woman the State of Texas considers to be his sister.

Years ago, when they were just teenagers, Caleb and Amber shared a passionate first kiss beside a moonlit lake. But that same night, tragedy claimed the life of Caleb's parents and the handsome young man went from being a family friend to Amber's adopted brother. Has enough time passed for the two of them to throw off the roles Amber's father picked for them all those years ago? Will their desire for each other save the family business or put it in greater danger?

**READER ADVISORY. Dance of Desire contains fantasies of dubious consent, acted on by consenting adults. Readers with sensitivities to those issues should be advised.**

Teaser: Excerpt

     “Tell me why you really don’t want me to go,” she hears herself whisper. “Tell me why you—”
     He takes her in his arms and rocks them into the wall, so suddenly she expects her head to knock against the wood, but one of his powerful hands cushions the back of her skull just in time.
     His lips meet the nape of her neck, grazing, testing. It’s hesitant, the kiss he gives her there, as if he’s afraid she’s an apparition that will vanish if he tries to take a real taste.
     He gathers the hem of her shirt into his fist, knuckles grazing the skin of her stomach. She’s trying to speak but the only things coming out of her are stuttering gasps. She’s been rendered wordless by the feel of the forbidden, by the weight of the forbidden, by the power of the forbidden.
     It’s the first time they’ve touched since that night on the boat dock, if you don’t include the light dabs of hydrogen peroxide she’d apply to the wounds he got fighting, usually while they sat together in the kitchen, her parents watching over them nervously. So many years living under the same roof and they never shared so much as a hug after that night, nothing that might risk the feel of his skin against her own.
     And now this.
     Now the intoxicating blend of the cologne he wore as a teenager mingling with the musky aroma of his belt and boots. Now the knowledge that he’d asked after her virginity years before, that the thought of her lying with another man had filled him with protective, jealous rage then just as it does now.
     She feels boneless and moist. One of those feelings isn’t an illusion.
     If this is what it feels like to be bad, she thinks, no wonder so many people get addicted.
     “Tell me,” she whispers. “Tell me why you really don’t want me to go.”
     “I am,” he growls.
     He presses their foreheads together, takes the sides of her face in both of his large, powerful hands. It’s torture, this position. It’s deliberate, she’s sure. It keeps her from lifting her mouth to his. Keeps her from looking straight into his eyes. He’s fighting it, still. Just as she’s fought it for years.
     She parts her lips, inviting him to kiss her.
     “Please,” he groans. “Just, please don’t go.”
     “Caleb…” She reaches for his face.
     She’s reaching into open air.
     The door slams.
     He’s gone.

Dance of Desire
Available NOW!

The Series: Desire Exchange

The two novellas in this series were released as part of the 1001 Dark Nights series.

The first novella, The Flame, was Christopher Rice's first work of erotic romance, and it kicked off this steamy new series set in New Orleans, featuring magical candles and a sexy new breed of supernatural beings, The Radiants, who are devoted to helping heroes and heroines realize their heart’s desire.

THE FLAME earned accolades from some of the biggest names in erotic romance and was quickly followed up by THE SURRENDER GATE: A Desire Exchange Novel, available from Evil Eye Concepts as a Blue Box Special.

|| [0.5] || [1] || [1.5] ||

Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.

The Flame [0.5] (1001 Dark Nights [11])

IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT…

Cassidy Burke has the best of both worlds, a driven and successful husband and a wild, impulsive best friend. But after a decadent Mardi Gras party, Cassidy finds both men pulling away from her. Did the three of them awaken secret desires during a split-second of alcohol-fueled passion? Or is Mardi Gras a time when rules are meant to be broken without consequence?

Only one thing is for certain—the chill that’s descended over her marriage, and her most important friendship, will soon turn into a deep freeze if she doesn’t do something. And soon.

LIGHT THIS FLAME AT THE SCENE OF YOUR GREATEST PASSION AND ALL YOUR DESIRES WILL BE YOURS.

The invitation stares out at her from the window of a French Quarter boutique. The store’s owner claims to have no knowledge of the strange candle. But Cassidy can’t resist its intoxicating scent or the challenge written across its label in elegant cursive. With the strike of a match and one tiny flame, she will call forth a supernatural being with the ultimate power—the power to unchain the heart, the power to remove the fear that stands between a person and their truest desires.

[Published 11 November 2014, 128 pages]

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The Surrender Gate [1]

**FREE on Kindle Unlimited**

Emily Blaine’s life is about to change. Arthur Benoit, the kindly multi-millionaire who has acted as her surrogate father for years, has just told her he’s leaving her his entire estate, and he only has a few months to live. Soon Emily will go from being a restaurant manager with a useless English degree to one of the richest and most powerful women in New Orleans. There’s just one price. Arthur has written a letter to his estranged son Ryan he hopes will mend the rift between them, and he wants Emily to deliver the letter before it’s too late. But finding Ryan won’t be easy. He’s been missing for years. He was recently linked to a mysterious organization called The Desire Exchange. But is The Desire Exchange just an urban legend? Or are the rumors true? Is it truly a secret club where the wealthy can live out their most private fantasies?

It’s a task Emily can’t undertake alone. But there’s only one man qualified to help her, her gorgeous and confident best friend, Jonathan Claiborne. She’s suspected Jonathan of working as a high-priced escort for months now, and she’s willing to bet that Jonathan has uncovered some possible leads to The Desire Exchange—and to Ryan Benoit. But Emily’s attempt to uncover Jonathan’s secret life lands the two of them in hot water. Literally. In order to escape the clutches of one of Jonathan’s most powerful and dangerous clients, they must act on long buried desires—for each other.

When Emily’s mission turns into an undercover operation, Jonathan insists on going with her. He also insists they continue to explore their impossible, reckless passion for each other. Enter Marcus Dylan, the hard-charging ex-Navy SEAL Arthur has hired to keep Emily safe. But Marcus has ulterior motives for taking the job; he, too, has a burning passion for Emily, and he turns out to be as rough and controlling as Jonathan is sensual and reckless. As Emily searches for a place where the rich turn their fantasies into reality, she will also be forced to decide which one of her own long-ignored fantasies should become her reality. But as Emily, Jonathan, and Marcus draw closer to The Desire Exchange itself, they find their destination isn’t just shrouded in mystery, but in magic as well.

[Published 3 February 2015, 263 pages]

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Kiss The Flame [1.5] (1001 Dark Nights [29])

Can be read as a standalone novella. In a standalone novella that combines the worlds of THE FLAME and his novel, THE SURRENDER GATE, New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice returns you to a mysterious candle shop in the New Orleans French Quarter where the scents of passion provide the courage to embrace your heart's desire.

Are some risks worth taking?

Laney Foley is the first woman from her hard working family to attend college. That's why she can't act on her powerful attraction to one of the gorgeous teaching assistants in her Introduction to Art History course. Getting involved with a man who has control over her final grade is just too risky. But ever since he first laid eyes on her, Michael Brouchard seems to think about little else but the two of them together. And it's become harder for Laney to ignore his intelligence and his charm.

During a walk through the French Quarter, an intoxicating scent that reminds Laney of her not-so-secret admirer draws her into an elegant scented candle shop. The shop's charming and mysterious owner seems to have stepped out of another time, and he offers Laney a gift that could break down the walls of her fear in a way that can only be described as magic. But will she accept it?

Light this flame at the scene of your greatest passion and all your desires will be yours...

Lilliane Williams is a radiant, a supernatural being with the power to make your deepest sexual fantasy take shape around you with just a gentle press of her lips to yours. But her gifts came at a price. Decades ago, she set foot inside what she thought was an ordinary scented candle shop in the French Quarter. When she resisted the magical gift offered to her inside, Lilliane was endowed with eternal youth and startling supernatural powers, but the ability to experience and receive romantic love was removed from her forever. When Lilliane meets a young woman who seems poised to make the same mistake she did years before, she becomes determined to stop her, but that will mean revealing her truth to a stranger. Will Lilliane's story provide Laney with the courage she needs to open her heart to the kind of true love only magic can reveal?

[Published 10 November 2015, 140 pages]

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About the Author

After publishing four New York Times bestselling thrillers by the age of 30 and being declared one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive, award-winning writer Christopher Rice became the first author to make his erotic romance début part of the 1,001 DARK NIGHTS series.

Aside from authoring eight works of dark suspense, Christopher is also the co-host and executive producer of THE DINNER PARTY SHOW WITH CHRISTOPHER RICE & ERIC SHAW QUINN, all the episodes of which can be downloaded at TheDinnerPartyShow.com and from iTunes. Make sure you’re subscribed to The Dinner Party Show’s You Tube channel to receive their newest content in 2016. Also keep up with the show on these social media sites: