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Finding Jackie Release party contest Winners!

May 18, 2013

Contest 1 (Going to the Dogs) winner: H.B., whose name was drawn from the hat. H.B.’s entry was Loving Fur Ball, name Cuddles! Love it. I’ll be contacting you, H.B. to get your preference of which e-book. Thanks!

Contest 2 (Easy Peasy) winners: 1st draw, Catherine! I’ll contact you, Catherine, to get some mailing info. 2nd draw, Holly! I’ll be in touch to make sure you can get your prize downloaded! Thanks to you both.

And thank you to everyone else! I had a great time.

Finding Jackie: Where they went, where they’re going

May 18, 2013

This will be a quick post. I’d hoped to do a little more, but time has gotten away–as it will do when you’re having a good time–and I’m overtime already. So, mostly pictures here, but my hope is that these might be fuel for some talking points in tomorrow’s chat, which will be at the Dreamspinner Goodreads board. The time is 12-5 Eastern or 9-2 Pacific. In case you missed out on the contests or conversation here or just want to chat some more, I’d love to see you there!

Now, down to places: After Seattle, (see NSFW previous post), Luki and Sonny go to Nebraska. Here’s Lincoln, which is an important place in the search for Jackie:

And they end up in the desert of Eastern Washington (yes, most of Washington state is dry, arrid land. This is a forest, actually, and is beautiful, but it’s dry, dry, dry and hot! Here’s the Umatilla:

After this they start a new story, Saving Sonny James, and the opening finds them back home in the weather-ruled Olympic Peninsula:

But then an awful lot happens, and the next thing he knows, Luki is desperate to save Sonny… in Paris, France…

… where there are bones.
Stay tuned! I will be back in a few minutes to announce winners to both contests. And thank you everybody for coming to the party, I much enjoyed your company!

Finding Jackie Release Party Easy Peasy contest!

May 18, 2013

Seriously, easy. All you have to do is tell me you want to enter, and your name will go right into the hat. TWO WINNERS will be drawn. The first will receive a paperback copy of Finding Jackie unless they prefer ebook, or unless they live outside the USA. Shipping is a bummer, sorry. The second will get an ebook of Finding Jackie. So just comment, say that you are entering contest 2.

NSFW Finding Jackie Excerpt… Bath time in Seattle (X)

May 18, 2013

Skip this if explicit material offends you, or if you are not of legal age in the country where you live. That is all.

Luki and Sonny had checked into their hotel room before they went to the market, but they’d only had their bags placed inside the room; they’d never even gone in. They had decided to stay this time at a different hotel altogether, thinking the Fairmont was beautiful but the memories of their previous stay mostly not so good. At the Monaco, they’d been offered the Ambassador Suite, but Sonny had insisted the purple furniture would prevent him from sleeping, so they ended up with the Monte Carlo suite. They walked back to the hotel after their business and pleasure at the market was done, and Sonny sighed.

Luki said, “What?”

“Nothing,” Sonny said, sounding like a martyr. “It’s just… interesting wallpaper.”

“Baby,” Luki said, not understanding at all but willing to go to any lengths to please his man, “If you hate it—”
“No, no, I don’t. I mean, it’s not bad—it’s probably even good. I just need to get used to it. The colors in here are gorgeous, truthfully. And you know what?”

Luki’s eyes followed his husband, who paced from side to side, peeked around curtains and walls, opened doors. He made a sound, something like “Mm,” knowing Sonny wasn’t really looking for a response, but would appreciate knowing Luki was paying attention. He also smiled. Something about the quirky way Sonny settled himself into a space was too sweet for words.

“You know what I need to do, honey?”

Luki noted with glee that Sonny had begun to strip. This time, when he said, “Mm,” he didn’t have to feign interest.

“I need to get in that bathtub—do you see that thing? It’s like a swimming pool. I need to get in there and soak, all nice and relaxed, and take in that wallpaper until it seems normal to me.”

The man is fucking crazy, Luki thought, both disappointed and surprised. Sonny was already in the bathroom, fine-tuning the water temperature. Luki put his hands in his pockets—not a characteristic posture at all, but he was at a loss. He literally jumped when Sonny whooped and yelled.

“Yes! There’s bubble bath in here!”

Now, Luki was so nonplussed that he sat down on the couch, rather hard. When he tried to think of something he might be doing the only two things that came to mind were jerking off—which he dismissed immediately—and eating a hamburger. He considered the hamburger carefully, decided against, and got up to wander into the strangely wall-papered, thoroughly lavender-scented bathroom.

“This is a big tub, Luki.”
Luki stepped closer to Sonny and pushed a long strand of dark hair off his chest, letting it join its fellows falling down Sonny’s back.

Sonny grabbed Luki’s belt at the buckle and made as if to undo it. “Get in, Luki. There’s room. Look.” He lifted a foot out of the water. “See, my feet don’t even reach all the way to the other side. Not crowded at all.”

Luki stood silent, chewing his lip. He wasn’t one for shower play, which Sonny knew. It just reminded him too much of lonelier days. He never took baths, especially bubble baths. And, he really, really didn’t want to smell like flowers. But he loved his husband so much, and there the man was, asking for this simple, little thing.

“Luki, take a bath with me. Come on.”

Luki started to strip, tossing his clothes back out onto the chair in the bedroom. He was, of course, hard by the time he was naked, which was something Sonny certainly didn’t fail to notice, even though he said nothing. Luki stood there, feeling confused, never before having realized that deciding how to get into a bathtub and situate oneself was so difficult.

“Luki, you can just sit on that side, facing me so I can look at your eyes and we can talk. Okay? That way you won’t feel so awkward.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s something in that statement I should scold you for, Sonny Bly, I just haven’t figured out what it is,” Luki said that while climbing in and turning around and sitting down as instructed. But once he settled, his hands found Sonny’s legs, and he couldn’t help but rub them. And then Sonny found his foot, and as Sonny well knew, Luki’s toes were really sensitive. And Sonny played with them. All the while they looked each other in the eyes.

“Luki,” Sonny said, finally, “you don’t play in the shower.”

“No. What’s your point?”

For answer, Sonny took Luki’s foot and laid it along his own erection, which was one of the sexiest things that had ever happened to Luki. Then Sonny took his size a-very-large-number foot, with its long, nearly prehensile toes, and not too gently stroked it up and down Luki’s cock, and Luki spent a few seconds catching his breath.

“This isn’t a shower,” Sonny said.

Luki nodded. “Right.”

Sonny let a little water out, added some hot to adjust the temperature. “We could fuck here, if we so desired, which I do.” Sonny actually looked hopeful, as if he was a little afraid Luki would say no, or maybe scoff.

Luki wasn’t about to do either one. Sonny was the most beautiful, lovable, eminently fuckable person on the planet, and Luki wasn’t about to fail him. As he’d explained to Sonny just the other day, fucking Sonny happy was his personal joy. He licked his lips. “Come here, baby.”

Sonny more or less slithered up Luki’s body, dragging his weight over Luki’s flesh until he’d brought his lips even with Luki’s. He stopped, offering his slightly open lips, but waiting for Luki to take them. Luki did, starting with a suck and nibble of Sonny’s lower lip, then licking with just the hard tip of his tongue along the underside of Sonny’s upper lip. He kept it up, nibbling, sucking, licking, lingering at the sensitive corners. Sonny made a move to kiss back, but Luki pulled away, and answered Sonny’s widened eyes by kissing them. He smiled, biting his own lip, made sure Sonny saw the expression, then whispered in his ear. “Just let me do whatever I want to you, baby, okay? It’ll be good, I promise, and when I want you to kiss me back, I’ll tell you. Okay?”

“Oh!” Sonny’s breath puffed out; then he nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Yes, Luki. Okay.”

The water, hot and ever so slightly silky from the bubble bath, made touching—running his hands along Sonny’s back, over his ass, down his legs—a little bit different than touching had ever been before, for Luki. And by different he meant, damn, that’s nice! And Sonny, who was never, ever still unless specifically instructed, kept squirming and rocking, moving his body side to side over Luki’s. And the water lifted him just a little bit so Luki felt little weight on him, only a teasingly sweet, achingly light friction.
He pulled his lover tight against his chest. “Sonny, baby, you are so damn sweet!”

Sonny was not very coherent. “Mmm, mm… ooooh! Luki!”

Luki chuckled. He couldn’t help it. Then he took hold of Sonny’s forelock and tilted his head back until he was sure he had Sonny’s eyes, and he said, “Stick out your tongue.”

Sonny did so, a little, and said, “Aauuh?”

Luki smiled. “More.”

When Sonny obeyed, he said, “Yeah, like that.” Then he laid his own tongue alongside it, teased it, licking at its tip, and finally closed his lips around it and sucked it into his mouth, meanwhile invading Sonny’s mouth with his own tongue, and touching every part of Sonny he could reach with any limb, and rocking Sonny over him, cock to cock, chest to chest. At some point he said, “Okay, kiss me back, Sonny.” Finally, after a long interval of bliss, or else torture, Luki asked the question he almost always asked when they made love. “What do you want, baby?”

Unlike his earlier efforts at speech, Sonny answered clear and concise. “Fuck me.” Then he buried his face in Luki’s neck, where he commenced licking, sucking, and yes, even biting.

Luki gasped at the sensations that weren’t quite tickle, weren’t quite pain, “So you’re serious, you want to fuck here? In the bath?”

“Mmm-mmm.”
“Turn over, baby, and turn around; get up on your knees. I want your ass right here, up close and personal.”

***
Sonny blushed, but he wasn’t embarrassed much. He had no time, or energy, or room for feeling anything else but desire. Or lust. And love. For Luki. So he did just as directed. Put his knees outside Luki’s and arched his back so that his ass cheeks would be high and open and not more than six inches from Luki’s face. He heard Luki gasp, felt his breath rush out and skim over the wet skin of his ass and balls. Luki took hold of his hips and pulled him back, and the next thing Sonny felt was Luki’s slick, talented tongue snaking up from the base of his cock, tugging at his balls, sliding up his perineum and stopping, pushing at his hole. Luki played for a while, and Sonny heard himself once again making noises no one could decipher. But he was pretty sure Luki knew what they meant, because every now and then he stopped, light stubble on his cheek or chin still scratching so sweetly on Sonny’s ass, and say “yeah, baby,” or “it’s okay,” or “sweet, Sonny, so sweet.”

And every time he heard those things in Luki’s scratchy voice, Sonny groaned with pleasure, with something very like fulfillment.

But after a while he simply couldn’t wait. He needed Luki inside him, felt like he needed it the way he once needed dope—like he’d be sick damn near to death if he didn’t have it. “Please,” he said.

“Yes,” Luki said, soothing but not promising.

“Please, Luki!”

“What, baby? You want me inside you?” Luki’s fingers were at work, already. He had rummaged quickly through the small bottles on the shelf beside the bath, opened one, and let the cool contents run down Sonny’s crack, all over Luki’s fingers. Now he had a finger in, and it burned a little, even though Sonny had felt like he was so wide open he could handle Luki’s swollen cock without preamble. Sonny was once again glad Luki was in charge. Luki always took good care of him.

“What is that, Luki?”

“The label says it’s olive oil, sweetie. Just scented olive oil. Okay?”
Sonny grunted an answer, and now Luki used two fingers, fucking in and out. His long middle finger nudged Sonny’s prostate, but only once, twice. Teasing. Luki leaving it for later, the best for last, Sonny thought. “Please,” Sonny said again.

“Please what, baby?” Three fingers.
Oh, Sonny thought, my God. Then he thought, Oh, Luki. And for him, at that moment, the two thoughts were the same. “Please fuck me. Please!”

“Yes, baby. Well, I can’t really.”

“What?”

“Sonny, take it easy. I didn’t say we couldn’t fuck. It’s just you’re going to have to ride me, okay? I can’t figure out how else to arrange our big ol’ man bodies in here. It’s a big tub, but not quite big enough, I don’t think. Okay? Whenever you’re ready, just sit here in my lap, sweetie.” Sonny did, wasting no time, changing his angle to come down on the hard, thick erection Luki was holding up for him. He slid down over his lover like a glove, and heard Luki sigh. He started to move—small movements, contained, so as not to create a storm in the bathwater, but it didn’t matter. Once Luki was in there deep, Sonny knew right where he wanted to put things. As usual, his excitement built until he started to lose control of his muscles. He said, “Oh!” And he must have sounded mournful—he felt that way, afraid he was going to lose what he’d worked so hard and sweetly to build. “Oh!”

“All right, baby, I’ve got you.” Luki wrapped his arms tight around Sonny’s chest and helped, lifting him and bringing him down in short, hard strokes against his body. The even rhythm he held them to started the water rocking, and the waves played over their skin, soothing and stroking like warm, wet hands. Now, every time Luki pulled Sonny down to sheath his cock, sure of his aim, he tapped against Sonny’s hidden gland. And their testes touched and slid together, the most insistent tickle. Sonny knew Luki had to be close to his own orgasm, but his strength never flagged, and Sonny didn’t worry—he knew Luki would hold on, determined to give Sonny what he needed, and that realization put what Luki had said about orgasms in a new light. For just a few seconds, Sonny thought about how he was the luckiest, most protected, cherished, loved man in the world.

He moved his hand to his own slick, hard penis and began to stroke, rougher than usual, but with the water and steam it felt right, felt necessary. He squeezed precum into his cupped fingers, brought them to his mouth and sucked them in.

“Oh,” Luki breathed. “Oh, Sonny, you know damn well what that does to me. You’re so goddamn beautiful. Sweet man. Sweet, sweet man.”

Sonny whispered, “Luki.” Then he came.

The orgasm lasted several seconds or forever, and just as it started to subside, he felt and heard Luki explode inside him. And as embarrassing as it would have been at any other time with any other man, Sonny felt tears roll down his cheeks, and he didn’t try to stop them.

Fucking Luki in the bath had been good, better, more than beautiful.

Getting out of the tub, not so much.

Finding Jackie Party continues: Meet me. Well, okay, that’s not all…

May 18, 2013

Here’s me:

Okay, I know I’m not as eye-catching as Sonny or Luki, nor as cute and fluffy as the pup-child of Bear and Jojo. But it’s nice to meet you any way and here’s my bio, in 3rd person because that’s how we do things…. No, really, that’s the only reason I can think of.

Lou Sylvre hails from southern California but now lives and writes on the rainy side of Washington State. When she’s not writing, she’s reading fiction from nearly every genre, romance in all its tints and shades, and the occasional book about history, physics, or police procedure. Not zombies, though. Her personal assistant is Boudreau, a large cat who never outgrew his kitten meow. She plays guitar (mostly where people can’t hear her) and she loves to sing. She’s usually smiling and laughs too much, some say. She also loves her family, her friends, the aforementioned Boudreau, a Chihuahua named Jo, and (in random order) coffee, chocolate, sunshine, and wild roses.

Visit her at http://www.sylvre.com or contact her at lou.sylvre@gmail.com. For Twitter: @sylvre.

Now, some of you have met my assistant, Monsieur Boudreau, before. But I may have a couple of updated pics. Let’s see, here:

Okay, this you’ve probably seen. It’s his true demonic nature.

And this is him guilt-tripping me about the storyline.

And, of course, he stayed out drinking and dancing, and he wants to sleep in. At all costs.

So that’s us, intros out of the way. Next I’m going to post some excerpts that take you to some of the places Luki and Sonny go in Finding Jackie. Maybe even some steamy stuff… And another easy peasy contest! Back soon with that.

Finding Jackie Correction: the discount is still good!

May 18, 2013

The discount code I mentioned in the first post is good through May 31, 2013. My bad. And the promo code is VJ3FindJack. I’ve fixed the first post, but I just wanted to make sure people are aware. Thanks Jase and Elizabeth for trying to keep me on the right track!

A Finding Jackie Excerpt: Wedding on a Windy Hawaiian Hilltop

May 18, 2013

I’ve decided to share their whole darned wedding.

The ceremony involved simple words, panic, laughter, and tears.

First, Kaholo led them through some traditional vows. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, and so forth. Luki stopped himself from thinking, yada, yada.

Then it was Luki’s turn to wing it. He’d rehearsed only a little and never really planned the words. He was surprised how easy they came, how good they felt. “Sonny, I promise to love you, never to try to change you, to trust you with my heart and with everything I have, and always to remember how precious, how fine, how beautiful you are to me. And I’ll keep you safe, Sonny. I’ll always keep you safe.”

Panic entered the picture when it came time for Sonny to respond—which he couldn’t seem to do, really. “I… I… Luki, I… oh.” Tears started, and Luki had no idea what to do until Josh nudged him and mouthed the word handkerchief.

“Oh!” Luki said. “Yeah. Here, baby.” He held the snowy-white square out as if he was going to wipe his groom’s nose, but Sonny snatched it away, swiped it down his face, and then grabbed hold of Luki’s shoulders, bending slightly to bury his face in Luki’s neck. Luki reached up and put his two big hands over Sonny’s slender ones—Sonny’s trembling hands that seemed so vulnerable. “Shh, sweetie. It’s okay. You don’t have to say anyth—”

“Shut up, Luki, of course I have to say something.”

Those words left Luki slack-jawed again, but the need to decide what to say or do was swept away from him as Sonny stood away once more, grabbing both of Luki’s hands and holding them to his chest, where the many-colored scarf buffeted against them in the breeze, tickling. Luki met his lover’s dark, dark eyes, and found them smoldering despite the rim of moisture, smoldering with such intense sincerity or need that Luki wondered absently if a spark would ignite them like oil on water.

“Yes, Luki. I have to say things. I have to tell you that I… will love you and no other, body and soul… will honor your strength and cherish it. And, Luki, I promise to give you what I am. Every day I want to show you beauty—the beauty I see in the world. That vision is the best I have to give, the best of what I am. And….” His voice trailed to a whisper. “Thank you, Luki, for loving me so much.”

“The rings,” Kaholo said, somehow managing to put an audial eye roll in the words. Josh passed one to Luki, and Jackie passed one to Sonny, and chuckling with their guests they pushed them past knuckles that seemed to have recently grown too large.

“Kiss, then,” Kaholo ordered, and pronounced them a pair of husbands.

Everyone had survived. The boys began to help the guests line up for congratulations. Neither of the grooms had wanted a receiving line, but Kaholo and Leilani insisted. Both of the men looked a little shell-shocked, but a worried look suddenly flashed across Luki’s face. “Wait!”

All eyes turned Luki’s way as he dropped Sonny’s hand and reached into his vest pocket. “I forgot something important. Sonny, this is a wedding present. I know it isn’t all glamorous or anything, but… I hope you’re happy with it.” He held out a hand to Kaholo, a hand holding a half-smoked pack of cigarettes and his dad’s USS Vincent/Dennis the Menace vintage lighter. “Uncle, please take these. I’m quitting. As of right now, I don’t smoke.”

Finding Jackie party post#2 (Going to the dogs, and maybe win a book)

May 18, 2013

I apologize this post is so slow in coming. I thought I had connectivity problems, and I did, but I also had brain problems apparently. So this is part of what I was going to post. The rest will come after an excerpt in a separate post. I’ll try to catch up.

Critters first: Luki and Sonny have acquired a Dog, as many of you know. Actually it’s mostly Luki’s even though he’s so poorly oriented to pets that he’s not sure when first meets this four-legged if it’s really a dog. Here’s the dog’s portrait:

Looks sweet, huh? And he is! He even went to Hawaii for the wedding…
Luki turned to load a long-suffering Bear into his huge travel crate, which had wheels to make moving the big Chow mongrel possible. Bear would be traveling with Kaholo and the boys. Leaning down to hug the devoted animal before closing up the crate, he said, “Don’t worry, Bear, we’ll pick you up when we get to Nebraska, and you can ride in the fucking RV with us all the way home. You don’t get carsick, do you?” For answer, Bear licked his ear and breathed on him. Luki said, “Yuck. Thanks.”

But Bear is also fierce! This is why he’s such a good match for his chosen human. (Yes, hooking up with Luki was his idea):
Bear turned his snarl toward the advancing guard, doing his best to protect his family, it seemed. Luki appreciated it, but worried for the big dog—a snarl wouldn’t stop a bullet.

But now for something different, here is my real life grand-dog, Jo:

Most people think he’s all Chihuahua, but he’s really half Pit. Yes, really. He’s little though, and his shoulders would probably reach Bear’s knees.

Now here’s the contest: If Bear and Jo had a baby (yes I know they’re both boys, we’re just playing around, here), what three words would describe the baby, and what would you name it?
Your name goes in the hat for contest #1, and you can win an ebook of any Vasquez and James title.

Finding Jackie: let’s start the party with a game of catch-up (i.e.–how did they get into this mess?)

May 18, 2013

Hello! I’m Lou Sylvre, author of the Vasquez and James books, and I’m here again to celebrate the latest (#3) in the suspense/romance series, which doesn’t count the novella Yes. Entitled Finding Jackie, #3 was released by Dreamspinner Press yesterday, May 17.

Rather than start with the publisher’s blurb…

Vasquez and James Wild Romance to Date (In a Nutshell:)

Some of this I’ve cloned from the last release party. I just think it’s nice to have some background. Agree?

Luki Vasquez and Sonny Bly James met by chance on the street in the early pages of Loving Luki Vasquez(VJ1), and got their relationship off to a rocky (somewhat belligerent) beginning. When a not-quite-sane criminal threatened their lives, they each recognized in the other the “good thing” they might have missed. They survived because Luki’s a badass and Sonny’s the very definition of courage, so naturally they got together for good.

Well… sort of for good. By the time Delsyn’s Blues(VJ2) rolls around, beginning late the following winter, Sonny has driven Luki away in the midst of his own misery about his nephew Delsyn’s failing health and eventual death. But it turns out Delsyn’s death was a murder, and bad things keep happening after that, and of course Luki is determined not to leave Sonny to face this on his own. Circumstances like murders and gun running—yes gun running—need a badass, like, say, Luki Vasquez just for safety’s sake. So they’re back together, but the relationship is up and down once again. But, by the time Delsyn’s Blues ends, the lovers are fiancés, and a wedding is in the works.

Now the blurb:

Sequel to Delsyn’s Blues
Vasquez & James: Book Three

Luki Vasquez and Sonny Bly James finally have their Hawaiian wedding, and it’s perfect, almost. But their three-phase honeymoon is riddled with strife. Luki’s status as a working badass spells discord for the newlyweds. A former informant from Luki’s days with ATFE brings a troubling message (or is it a warning?) from a Mob hit man. When Luki’s sixteen-year-old nephew, Jackie, is lured into capture and torture by a sadistic killer, the honeymoon is well and truly over.

The couple put aside their differences and focus on the grueling hunt, which takes them from leather bars to dusty desert back roads, and calls on Sonny’s deep compassion as well as Luki’s sharpest skills. Their world threatens to fall apart if they fail, but their love may grow stronger than ever if they succeed in finding Jackie—before it’s too late.

By the way, from now through May 31st, get 20% off on Finding Jackie at the Dreamspinner Store, with promo code VJ3FindJack.

Winners!

April 7, 2013

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented today. The 3 winners are uwalumni2, Juliana (oceanakers) and Carolyn (caroaz).  Fire Horse releases on Friday (4/12) so you can expect to hear from me at that time. Better yet, send me an email at  mickie.ashling at gmail.com and let me know the format of choice.  Please include your address if you’d like a paperback.