My Kind of Hero: Changes over time by Sydney St. Claire #eroticromance #giveaway

There are so many kinds and types of heroes. Not all live in our romance novels. For instance, when I was young, somewhere between 6^th and 8^th grade, my kitten ran up a telephone pole. My best friend went up that pole and rescued my kitten. She was my hero that day and for quite a while. Imagine, going up a pole without a moment’s thought!

Many years later, I again had a kitten who was chased across a fence by the neighbor’s dog. Where did it go? You got it. Up the pole. We were getting ready for a day at the beach and I refused to leave until the cat was down. I called the fire department. No, they didn’t rescue kittens—what a crushing blow to my image of a fireman—called tree trimming companies. Couldn’t get one. Finally, my husband climbed the pole and brought down my kitten. That day, he was my hero even though I know he only did it in order to get us in the car and heading for the beach!

Then there those heroes who save lives. My dad was a cop/fireman (they were both in that city). To many, I’m sure he was a hero. Of course, to the bad guys, he was their worst nightmare. All about perspective, right?

Then there’s our romance heroes. Many readers and writers love the alpha males. Strong, tough, brooding with looks and mannerisms that make our heroine’s heart go soft and mushy. Beta males, those kind-hearted, gentle heroes usually make me sigh with longing. What’s better than a male not afraid to show genuine emotion?

I tend to write a lot of Beta males. In White Nights (written by Susan Edwards), James Jones is in love with a very pregnant woman with three kids and an abusive husband. When the husband is out of the picture, he’s right there, treating the woman he loves gently. He was my gentle, tender hero which is exactly what my heroine needed. Of course, when the husband showed up, not dead, as everyone believed, James turned protective. No one would ever hurt the woman he loved again.

In my soon-to-be released book, Red & The Big Bad Wolf, Graham is a computer nerd in love with Lucy, a very feisty, strong woman. She wants nothing to do with another computer geek like her ex-husband. Besides, she has her nighttime Dom, a man known as The Wolf. What Lucy doesn’t know is that Graham is a Dom and in order to get close to the woman he loves, he donned his mask and set out to dominate his sub.

I like Graham a lot because he’s a mix of the alpha hero and the beta hero. As The Wolf, he’s a total alpha male who makes our heroine’s heart pound. As Graham, he’s kind and gentle and makes his feelings to Lucy known and try as she might, she’s drawn to him. He has his insecurities which make the readers root for him as Lucy stomps her “pesky geek” and then bows to her Dom.

To some of the folk who were eating at Wingstop last night, perhaps I attained “hero” status as I caught and rescued an 8-week-old black kitten who kept coming out of the ground cover to eat at chicken bones the staff had been dumping for her. My thought was why had no one there caught her and taken her to a rescue place? They‘d named her Luna but didn’t attempt to do what she needed which was to catch her and find her a good, safe, home.

As I mentioned above, I didn’t keep hero status to just males as I think anyone can be a hero when they do the right thing, at the right moment, whether it’s rescuing a kitten or helping someone in need. By the way, the kitten rescued when I was a kid was black, the one my husband rescued was a black girl named Sheba, and the one I rescued last night is also black, named Luna. She’ll fit into our life as I have two other black cats. Just for a bit of humor, I’ve always said I was one cat shy of being a crazy cat lady (5). I guess my rescue last night puts me into the crazy status <g>.

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.

Buy links:     

Wild Rose Press  (Kindle & Nook link available at publisher’s site)

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Excerpt:

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.

BIO

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.

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