Friday, August 30, 2013

Casual S*x Friday -- The Home Store

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To Whom It May Concern:


I am writing this today to tell you that I am very glad I purchased a bed from your store. The bed is very sturdy, and the assembly was not difficult.


I also appreciate the fact that your able salesman, Kevin, took the time to point out the bed’s finer qualities. As I said, it’s very sturdy.


It seems you have an exemplary employee in Kevin, who not only addressed all my questions about purchasing my first mattress, he also took the time to allay my fears about trying something new.


For a while I had my doubts about transporting something that big, plus, I was worried about toxic off-gassing but Kevin assured me that this would be fine. Beyond that, he reassured me it would look and feel as natural to me as what I’d been using all my life.


He even allowed me a brief “test drive” in the store, after which, he purchased me a plate of meatballs with lingonberry sauce. I have to admit, that was a first for me. It seems you take customer service to a whole new level.


I found I liked that particular sales experience so much that I’ve reached out to Kevin to introduce me to many of your fine products. We’re currently working our way through kitchenware. I find I particularly appreciate the silicon spatulas and bamboo spoons. Long wearing AND dishwasher safe. In fact Kevin has become so essential to my new home design plan you’ll find him in my home as much as in the Home Store these days.


I just wanted to commend your fine staff and let you know I have become a happy Home Store shopper for life.


Regards,


A Very Satisfied Customer


 


 


 


 



Casual S*x Friday -- The Home Store
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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Tuesday Teasers

This Tuesday Teaser is from my back list. Shall we play GUESS THE BOOK?

Last Weeks Winner : Kaija!

love of books

Okay! Try to guess the title of the Z.A. Maxfield book this teaser comes from to get an ebook copy of the book in question or any other book from my backlist. Be sure to leave a valid email address so I know where to send your ebook. The 9th person to email me with the correct title  WINS an ebook from my backlist!

Email me at zamaxfield @ zamaxfield (dot) com and put Tuesday Teasers in the subject line!

Whilst we’re at it, I’d like to invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, for free stories, exclusive contests, and all the news before anyone else gets it! Coming up, I have a cover reveal, a deleted scene, and more fun and games with cowboys!







I cursed myself even as I began helping the boy pick up his shit. I had the broom out already because I was planning to sweep the patio after I got the ashtrays, and I used it to clean up the mess. As I was trying to get the smaller chunks of shattered porcelain I said, "€œI'm sorry. I'€™ll help you clean this up. I saw that asshole bothering you. Are you all right?"

The boy said nothing, just concentrated on picking up the silverware, scraping the bits of food off the concrete into his hands. I worried that he would cut himself.

"€œHere,"€ I said slightly louder. "€œI"€™ll get that, you go on ahead. I don’t want you cut."€

"€œDon'€™t bother," said the man who caused the trouble in the first place. "€œIt'€™s not like he can hear you." The guy seemed to think this was funny and nudged his companion again. Fucking drunks. I'€™d been their patron fucking saint and I still couldn'€™t get over how much I loathed them.

"€œWhat?"€ I asked, though I did it politely, which was a stretch.

"€œHe's deaf, you asshole." Amber Eyes picked up the tub and left, not looking back.

Well. When a cosmic joke like that comes your way, you have to laugh. Amber Eyes was probably the first guy in three years who I saw in color, and he was deaf. And me? The only human language I had anymore was music.







Tuesday Teasers
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Friday, August 23, 2013

Casual S*x Friday - Treasure



munstermap


Calvin had drawn his original map of James with flat, muscled plains and sensitive valleys. Rivers of bright laughter, which burbled up from deep, cold pools of doubt.

Yet Calvin knew the nature of cartography: such maps evolve.

An example could be found in the way James softened at the sight of babies in those days.

Sentimentality was a trait Calvin had never guessed at and James had never revealed. Not in all the years they’d been together.

Tenderness fit James’s personality like a spiky iron breastplate made for someone a whole lot smaller. Yet there he sat, tickling tiny toes as if he had temporary amnesia. As if he’d been dazed by a head injury and remembered himself not at all.

Calvin couldn’t fathom this new reality. James cradled his sister’s little Sophia to his breast and smiled like a man recently possessed.

How very curious!

Calvin needed to redraw his map of James entirely under the circumstances. This was undiscovered territory and he — its first explorer — the first man to lay eyes on the beauty of a pristine new landscape.

Calvin observed laughter emanating from James at the oddest times, along with funny faces and blown raspberries and slow, sleepy hours of holding vigil while the newcomer napped.

James’ rocky shores eroded beneath the sweet rain of delight. His chaparrals bloomed with a riot of colorful wildflowers.

Possibility limned a brilliant, rich new continent where once Calvin had only drawn a wide, unknowable ocean full of repetitive days.

A new map, that’s what the situation calls for.

Calvin covered James gently with a nubby knitted throw and began to make plans for an expedition.

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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Tuesday Teasers

This Tuesday Teaser is from my back list. Shall we play GUESS THE BOOK?

Last Weeks Winner : Sin Chan!

love of books

Okay! Try to guess the title of the Z.A. Maxfield book this teaser comes from get an ebook copy of the book in question or any other book from my backlist. Make your guesses by replying to me in an email, zamaxfield (at) zamaxfield (dot) com, because if I can’t find your guess, I can’t reward you! Be sure to leave a valid email address so I know where to send your ebook. The 10th person to email me with the correct title  WINS an ebook from my backlist!

Email me at zamaxfield @ zamaxfield (dot) com and put Tuesday Teasers in the subject line!

Whilst we’re at it, I’d like to invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, for free stories, exclusive contests, and all the news before anyone else gets it! Coming up, I have a cover reveal, a deleted scene, and more fun and games with cowboys!







"What'€™s he doing?"€

"How should I know?" She turned to him, pulled the cigarette from his hand, and took a drag. "€œAre we about done here, honey?"

Deep in the stable, **** muttered a few choice curses."€œOh, man. What the hell? You guys are not going to believe this."

**** just wanted to get out of there before the cops showed up or something. "€œYou aren'€™t supposed to be in there, ****. That'€™s like€...blasphemy or something."€ He took his cig back from **** and took a long drag, blowing the smoke out. "œYou can get in big trouble for messing with--"

"How did you get here? What happened? Did someone leave you here with the baby Jesus?" **** kept up a running patter of soft words that had **** looking at him like he was crazy. He crouched low again, backing out the way he came, behind the shepherds, behind the sheep, then out of the circle of light to the shadows to where they waited on the sidewalk. When he approached them, he cradled something in his arms.

"€œI hear you, hold on." **** spoke softly, but the thing in his arms flailed and mewled at the top of its lungs.

When **** leaned over to look at what he had, ****'€™s hand shot out to shove him back. "What. The. Hell?"€

"Exactly. I found this"€ — **** leaned over so they could both see he was carrying not a cat, as **** had imagined but a very real, very live human baby — "€œin the creche. I don't know what the hell people are thinking these days."













Tuesday Teasers
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Monday, August 19, 2013

Blog Tour - My Cowboy Heart

My Cowboy Heart Banner II


Follow along with my blog tour, the schedule is here:


Giveaway

 

Grand Prize: 

$50 Gift Card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble (Winner’s choice)

e-copy of “My Cowboy Heart”



Additional Prize:3 winners will receive e-copy of “My Cowboy Heart”


Tour Stops: 


Tuesday, August 13, 2013



Wednesday, August 14, 2013



Thursday, August 15, 2013



Friday, August 16, 2013



Saturday, August 17, 2013



Sunday, August 18, 2013



Tuesday, August 20, 2013


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

The Blog of Sid Love


Thursday, August 22, 2013

The Tipsy Bibliophile


Sunday, August 25, 2013

Ramblings From This Chick


Monday, August 26, 2013

My Fiction Nook


Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Book Lovin’ Mamas


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Tea and Book


Thursday, August 29, 2013

Book 2 Book


Friday, August 30, 2013

The Armchair Reader

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Tara Lain


Monday, September 2, 2013

Book Reviews & More by Kathy

Friday, August 16, 2013

Casual S*x Friday - Train Tracks

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I give the kid a piece of bittersweet chocolate. He looks young enough to take it and  be grateful for it. He looks old enough that he’ll expect me to ask for something in return.


I won’t, because in his wary acceptance I see the fires of hell.


I’ve earned my bitter desert dreams. I’ve nurtured blood and death. I rend the air with screaming nightly, but this kid, he never speaks, not a word, not a sound. His hell is a cold, cold place. He’s isolated by it, frozen past feeling.


I think that’s enough to be going on with.


Ominous clouds curdle overhead. Darkness approaches. We have a choice: follow the rails to the east or the west. I don’t suppose it even matters, but I let him point the way. Our boots crunch over gravel. Sometimes, like the boy he is, he balances on the iron line, arms out, indomitable. Look at me.


I say, “Aren’t you something?”


He turns and gives me a hard stare that shuts my mouth again.


Tough boy. Broken man.


Yes. We’ll get along well enough.



Casual S*x Friday - Train Tracks
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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Tuesday Teasers

This Tuesday Teaser is from my back list. Shall we play GUESS THE BOOK?


love of books


Okay! Try to guess the title of the Z.A. Maxfield book this teaser comes from get an ebook copy of the book in question or any other book from my backlist. Make your guesses by replying to me in an email, zamaxfield (at) zamaxfield (dot) com, because if I can’t find your guess, I can’t reward you! Be sure to leave a valid email address so I know where to send your ebook. The 8th person to email me with the correct title  WINS an ebook from my backlist!


Email me at zamaxfield @ zamaxfield (dot) com and put Tuesday Teasers in the subject line!


Whilst we’re at it, I’d like to invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, for free stories, exclusive contests, and all the news before anyone else gets it! Coming up, I have a cover reveal, a deleted scene, and more fun and games with cowboys!








 “Don’t think, ****. Look me in the eye and just move.”


**** couldn’t help shivering. His eyes found ***’s green ones. Yeah. ’Cause looking right in *** ************ eyes could make this easier. He pressed his lips together.

“Okay, now we just do what we’ve been doing, only we stop thinking about it. I compliment your…jacket.”


“And then you’d say, ‘Stop stepping on my feet.’” **** pursed his lips again.


*** favored **** with a blinding smile, and he missed a step. “It’s not rocket science, ****. Just move with me, all right?”


**** found it a little hard to breath, but he did as he was told. The heat radiating from ***’* chest seemed to warm him too, right up to his cheeks, which he was sure were on fire. It took a while for him to relax, but they continued scribbling their box shape on the cool marble floor. His knees softened a little with practice, and he noticed *** telegraphed the moves he was going to make by leaning or with a gentle press on ****’* back. Sometimes the trunk of his body swayed in the direction they were heading even before it was time to move their feet, and **** just naturally went with him. As long as he didn’t take his eyes off ***’*, as long as he didn’t think, it worked perfectly.


Until the song changed.


**** got discombobulated and stepped back, embarrassed.


“Don’t worry. That’s a different style of dance. It’s a rhumba, which has a different tempo. Want to try it?”


“I guess.”


*** took ****’* hand and said, “Sure you do. Stand next to me, here. Now this step, forward, side together, and back, side together is just exactly like the other step we did, except it goes slow, quick-quick, slow, quick-quick, slow, quick-quick. Got that? There’s a little more hip action here. More attitude, yeah?”


**** did a little stumbling around but finally got the rhythm right, and *** took him in his arms again. When that song ended, *** found another radio station that played mostly Latin songs, and they danced for what seemed like a long time.


Sometimes *** altered the steps subtly or the rhythm changed. ****didn’t care. It didn’t take him long to realize *** was a strong enough dancer to take a novice out on the floor and make it look and feel wonderful. After that he just let go, and the result was magic.


****** and ***** said nothing. They just flashed him an occasional smile as they danced past.


“I like this. I think I can do this.” **** let himself drift wherever *** wanted him to go.


“Don’t sell yourself short, ****. You couldn’t be the musician you are without having some moves.”


**** knew he didn’t deserve any credit. “Says my big brother.”


***’* brows drew together slightly. “I’m not your brother.”


“Right. I know that. You’re not my brother by blood but—”


“****.” ***’* face was mere inches from ****’*, and his arm tightened until their bodies touched. **** had to stifle a gasp of surprise when he felt the iron of ***’* erection pressing insistently against the wood he’d been trying to hide all night. “I am not your brother.”







Tuesday Teasers
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Friday, August 9, 2013

Casual S*x Friday - Observation Car

thThe train lumbered through farmlands. It traversed dense forests. It crossed bridges that spanned impossible gorges. It snaked its way through mountains, clinging to the edge of cliffs high over rivers that sparkled in the afternoon sunlight.


My new companion and I gazed out on all this wonder in comfortable silence.


My new friend was older than I. He wore a tweed jacket over a handsome nubby sweater vest. He seemed to be a seasoned traveller. From what little passed between us, it was clear he had a sturdy intellect. The miracle of his countenance — as his was a very fair face indeed — was due to high cheekbones, a strong jaw, and the straight, narrow nose of a greek statue.


He had golden hair and nearly colorless blue eyes, from what I could see beyond his lightly tinted glasses. I had yet to see him without them.


Richly scented pipe tobacco perfumed the air as our train lumbered over a mountain pass, lurching and groaning with effort. Our little window to the world filled with glorious white capped mountain peaks, and in the very next instant, a tunnel plunged us into a Stygian void.


I froze, seized by sudden, juvenile anxiety — an old and familiar fear of the dark. My heart thundered as I waited, counting the seconds until the train passed through the tunnel and into daylight again.


Hot breath caressed my neck. “Come with me,” a voice invited.


Christ. Darkness and childish nightmares forgotten, I remained paralyzed for an entirely different reason. Lips I’d seen smile sweetly at herds of contented dairy cows — lips too absurdly full and soft to exist on a man’s face — caressed the sensitive spot just beneath my ear.


“Come. With. Me,” he punctuated each word with a nip.


The hair on my neck rose and my breath left my lungs in a shudder of longing. The tip of a tongue — moist and hot and sinuous — traced the shell of my ear. Heat crackled all over my skin.


“Come with me,” he said again.


My entire body tightened with desire. Hunger and dread warred within me. Yearning like I’d never known.


Light flooded the car and I could breath again. I glanced around and found my companion leaning indolently against the exit. I met his searching gaze. The only hint he gave of what he’d said — what he’d done — was in his momentary hesitation before leaving the car.


He didn’t look back.


I struggled to catch my breath — to find my feet — and then I followed him.



Casual S*x Friday - Observation Car
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Thursday, August 8, 2013

This is FUN!

my cowboy heart-1Here’s a link I got from my pal Belinda McBride for My Cowboy Heart at the Penguin website! From here, you can preorder the book at several of your favorite booksellers:


CLICK HERE


For an excerpt, go HERE



This is FUN!
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Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Tuesday Teasers

This Tuesday Teaser is from my back list. Shall we play GUESS THE BOOK? (sorry I’m a little late today!) ***Congrats to Kim for last week’s win, I’ll contact you today to ask you which ebook you’d like from my backlist.***


love of books


Okay! Try to guess the title of the Z.A. Maxfield book this teaser comes from get an ebook copy of the book in question or any other book from my backlist. Make your guesses by replying to me in an email, zamaxfield (at) zamaxfield (dot) com, because if I can’t find your guess, I can’t reward you! Be sure to leave a valid email address so I know where to send your ebook. The 4th person to email me with the correct title today, WINS an ebook from my backlist!


Whilst we’re at it, I’d like to invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, for free stories, exclusive contests, and all the news before anyone else gets it!







“I spent over half my life in the marines, *******. I’m simply reserved. I’m no pedophile, and I’ve very charitably decided to give you the benefit of the doubt for being a protective father.”


******* turned. He was about to say something. Father? But ***** looked like he wasn’t finished talking, and ******* was getting puffed. It seemed to ******* that ***** ran a lot faster when he was feeling insulted. ******* turned back around to watch where he was going. He was having a hard time keeping up.


“I’m going to say this once. I have been watching you and ****. I have been — kind of — following you. But not for the reason you think.”


Later, when the paramedics arrived, ******* thought that ten years before — hell, even five — he wouldn’t have been so shocked.


“I’ve been watching you.”


******* kept running, eyes on the road, one foot in front of the other. Breathe…


“And I’m dying to know if you taste as sweet as you look.”


******* snapped his head around to look at *****’s face. To see if ***** was telling the truth. To see if the man was serious or teasing or crazy. The last sound ******* heard was the loud clang when his head hit the metal light post.




 






Tuesday Teasers
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Friday, August 2, 2013

Casual S*x Friday - Cherry Blossoms

Cherry-TreesA young man stands beneath a cherry tree. Blossoms rain down all around him.  He waits expectantly. He glances at his watch, impatient — always impatient — for the next  the next glimpse, the next word, the next accidental brush of hands.


The first velvety press of lips.


His heart thunders. His eagerness electrifies the very air around him. He closes his eyes and imagines what will be.


Two old men sit beneath a cherry tree. They lift their faces to feel the falling blossoms kiss them and smile at the wonder of it.


 



Casual S*x Friday - Cherry Blossoms
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