Teresa D'Amario

Author Archive

Well, I’m not a poet, and I seriously know it, but I decided to have just a little fun today as I thought of the holidays. I hope Mr. Clement Clarke Moore will not be offended by my taking liberties with his wonderful little story. :)  And no cringing allowed here.  Enjoy the diddy, and feel free to add your own in comments!

The Friday before Christmas and all through the house
Not a computer was stirring, not even a mouse.

The CD’s were lined up on the counter with care
In hopes of being installed, with the speed of the air.

And Dad in front of the tv and me with a book
Had just settled in and wait for a cook.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, sirens and screams from happy delight,

A serious joy that made me want to write.
Excited anew my heartbeat pounded hard, so I sprang from my couch, as this was not a thought to discard.

I peeked out the door, determined to check the score.

This holiday season there was not a flake of  snow,
But the streetlight I pay for lit up the scene below.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear?
but a full sized firetruck with santa dressed in his gear.

He said many a word, his cheer loud for all to hear! He shouted and whistled and called me by name.

On Teresa, let’s go, you know you can do it.
It’s time to write, so put your mind to it.

I grabbed my laptop and my usb drive all ready to dive.

I dropped to my seat, my fingers on the keys
Ready to type out whatever may appease.

To the top of the page, my fingers they flew,
words and phrases, to me they were new.

The sirens they whistled and pressured my brain
While Santa continued and no child did complain.

And I heard him exclaim er he drove out of sight,
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.

Captain’s Virgin Fantasy – Abby- Rae Rose

Released December 5^th 2011

He’s changed everything…but she can’t change the fact she loves him.

Victoria refuses to let Ishmael intimidate her— She‘s faced with a choice. Return to her life of duty, or embrace her spirit of adventure…and sail the high seas with the man who has captured her heart.

Captain Ishmael’s demands are simple… In exchange for his pleasure, and her body to quell his voracious lust, he will guarantee safe passage.

But, Ishmael’s plan doesn’t include giving up his lover so easily. And, once he gets a taste of Tori’s sweet blend of innocence and boldness, he can’t imagine living without her.

Abby, Thanks so much for joining me today on my blog!  For those who don’t know, I’ve known Abby for a few years.  We met and laughed and researched and edited together over at Romance Divas, our favorite writing website.  When she showed me her book cover, I just KNEW we had to have her visit.  Pirates are just so kewl, aren’t they?

Abby-Rae Rose is an independent student working on her PhD in English. She writes Paranormal Romance, and Western suspense, also working on a YA Romance series. She is very hard-working and Open-minded. She has written for 2 years. Writing is not only a dream, but it has become her life. She wants to write stories that make her readers use their imagination. She will have you fall in love all over again, make you believe that life is not just hard work, but it’s fun and unexpected things can happen.

Q- What motivates Abby-Rae Rose the author? Why do you write?

A-     Life, Family, and Love motivates me to write. Without life, what stories could be created. Without family, what drama would there be to follow. Without love, what hope for happiness would we have. Those three things motivate me to sit and write every day. They fuel the mind with adventure, and what if’s, which leads to inspirational stories.

Q-When did you know you were a writer? Was it always your destiny or did you stumble upon your craft by accident?

A-     January 2009, my husband was taken from me. Christmas 2009, I was working on a tree farm, and the owner bought me a gift.  I didn’t open it, just left it on the table. Days went on and the gift just sat in the same spot. One cold day, I decided to open the present. To my surprise it was Stephanie Myers “Twilight.” I smiled and laughed this wasn’t something I was likely to read. So I opened the first page and read, “I’d never given much thought to how I would die – though I’d had reason enough in the last few months – but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me. Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved.  Noble, even. That ought to count for something. I knew that if I’d never gone to Forks, I wouldn’t be facing death now.  But, terrified as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to regret the decision.  When life offers you a dream so far beyond any your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end. The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to kill me. “

Q- Is there a particular genre you haven’t tried but what like to? What is it and why?

A-     I want to try Historical Romance. I have been reading a lot about the Victorian days and just fallen in love completely.

Q-How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you have a set routine or do you write when the mood strikes?

A-     When I first started to write I would sit in front of my lap top for hours at a time. Really writing nothing important. It was just the typing that had me hooked. Then lines turned into sentences. Sentences turned into paragraphs. Paragraphs turned into a story.

B-     I don’t have a schedule or routine at first. When I finally have a first draft of a full manuscript, I finally set times when I will spend time writing.

Q-Who is your favorite author? And, if given the opportunity to meet them, what would you ask them?

A-     That list is endless. LOL But here are a few: Teresa D’ Amario, Sela Carson, NJ. Walters, Shelly Laurenston, Keri Author, Catherine Coulter, Vanessa Kelly, Jayne Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, Christine Feehan, Nora Roberts, Rachel Lee, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lori Foster, Sharon Sala, Janet Chapman, Nalini Singh, Jennifer Lyon, Stephanie Laurens, Shannon K. Butcher, Cherry Adair, Carolyn Jewel, Maya Banks, Julia Quinn, Lauren Dane, J.R. Ward… And the list goes on and on and on.

Q-Wow, what a huge compliment!  Abby, I do love you!  You honor me.  Ok, so back to you:  What did you do when you found out your first book had been contracted?

A-     So, my happy dance turned out to be a tragic event, I crushed my little puppy. He’s fine though no worries.

Q-Has there been a person or influence in your life that has helped you reach your writing goals?

A-     There is a group of ladies that influenced me. Romance Divas. It’s a group of women that come together to reach a common goal, Writing.

Q-Do you have any words of inspiration to aspiring authors? What advice would you offer a writer trying to publish?

A-     Don’t give up. There are too many nay-sayers out there who will try to discourage you. Don’t listen to them. The only one who can make you give up is yourself.

Q- Do you have any upcoming projects in the works?

A-     I’m working on a springtime Romance right now. As well as a mystery series romance. 

Q-Where can readers connect with you?

A-     http://alanimarie.wordpress.com/

So don’t forget folks, check out Captain’s Virgin Fantasy!  And feel free to ask Abby any great questions I know you guys will come up with that I didn’t!

Ok, for those who haven’t followed my hit and miss pained tweets, I thought I’d share what’s been happening this year.  I’m really looking forward to 2012, because things have to get better.   I don’t typically put my life out there for everyone to see, but I don’t want to lose those who have been following and trying to figure out if I’ve decided I hate my readers or something.  I don’t!  I love my readers! Every last one of you!  You are awesome, and are who I write for. :D  You make my day when you send me an email, you make my week when you recommend my book to others!  I couldn’t be this happy without ya!

But, my health this year was pretty rough.  2011 started out like any other year – rushed, and full of promise.  The problem was, I was having alot of pain, and started experiencing alot of “pulled muscles” for no reason.  Breaking teeth in my sleep by grinding my teeth, and even my vision was kind of flakey.  So after my docs yelling at me for ignoring things (The pulled muscles that I hadn’t done anything to cause them to hurt), I finally was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and given medication.  It was awesome.  The pain disappeared – ok, not completely, but it did great.  The only bad thing was, so did I.  I went from hanging out on chats and twitter to sleeping.  And sleeping.  And just a little bit more sleeping.

Two months into the meds, I suffered severe Esophageal spasms.  For anyone who’s had those, you know how painful that can be.  Mine lasted 18 hours.  Thought I was dying.  Even my dog thought I was dying and he never notices when ppl get sick.  So I stayed in the ER and slept.  Oh wait, I didn’t sleep that day – it hurt too much.  But, at last the pain eased, and the young man next to me who had cracked his spine was up to his room (Yes, I felt horrendous sadness for that poor young man.)  I blame my meds for the issue – because that was way above and beyond what anyone should suffer the first time around with it.  Everyone says it lasts 2-3 hours.  HA!  Little do they know!

In June, just as I was about to sleep my life away, I found out my mother had cancer.  The terminal kind.  Later we discovered she’d known for a very long time, but was just now telling us.  We discussed options, all of which she promptly ignored.  So, I headed to National Conference, at which I once again, slept half of it away.  But it was kewl, because I’d lost weight, and when I was awake, I was in the zone.  I was walking faster (Jodi, my roommate for the last 2 years went from having to drag me places to having to rush to keep up with me).  I was happier.  But I was sleeping.  Alot!

In July I visited my ill mother, and came to terms with her condition (if that’s even possible), and slept.  Yes, I even slept there.  We drove home.  I slept.  Ahh yes, life was one big sleep fest.  It was great. It was sad.  Somehow July turned to August, then to September.  I’m not even sure what happened those months, probably because I slept them away.  My husband had gotten used to me only emerging in time for the “evil day job”, and then going back to bed when I was finished.  He’d done all the housework, all the shopping, and well, just everything, while I slept.

I had  a book release in September, but I think I slept thru that too, so thought I should make a point of actually letting you guys know about it.  So if you haven’t seen it yet – make sure you check out Blood Moon Betrayed, the story of Sean and how he recovers from his “Events” of SheWolf.  And watch closely, as many questions are answered in this book! If you like a man who’s had his heart taken out and stomped, that would be Sean!  I love the way he tries to fight his feelings, knowing he’s been hurt before, but seeing his True Mate battered and bruised had an affect on him even he couldn’t fight.  You can get your copy at allromanceebooks.com, FreyasBower.com and of course Amazon.com.

Back to my sleeping.  Oh wait, it’s now October and I visited my doctor and said, hey, we have to do something about this sleeping.  And oh, and my hair is falling out.   Yes, the meds were making my hair fall out.  So, we tapered me down, and then had to return to my Mother’s to care for her for three weeks.  I started a new med while there, and suffered severe hot flashes, but I slept less.  Hooray!  Of course I hurt more, but not as much as without the meds.

I got home in time for Thanksgiving, which we had a nice quiet day off, and then on Friday, my mother passed.  Back to Alabama I went.  I’m back home now, and slowly things are getting back to normal, and the sleeping isn’t as bad as it was on the previous med.  Though I made the mistake of trying to get in shape with the treadmill.  Apparently my Fibro isn’t liking that, so I’ve decided to wait till after the holidays – when I’m not so busy.

So for those who wondered where I was for the last year, I was sleeping.  I’m not whining (Ok, maybe a little) in this post, just wanted to let you know why I’ve been so quiet.  It was an ugly year.  Well, I think it was an ugly year. It’s hard to know since I slept through it all.  But don’t worry – Sleeping Beauty has awakened, and hopes to take the world by storm in 2012!  So don’t think I forgot all my wonderful readers, because I haven’t!  I love you all!

So here’s for 2012 being a much better year.  Or at least, being awake for it.  Cuz I’m so tired of being tired!!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!  I don’t know which holiday you celebrate, but as for me and mine, we celebrate Christmas, and so we wish you ALL a Merry Christmas.

Let’s talk about villains, where they come from, and how they develop.  Sometimes my villain changes in a book, because I realize the character I’ve created doesn’t have the correct motive.  Or, the development has taken that character a different direction than I intended.  But sometimes, it’s easy.  I just have to take something from the news, and I can create the perfect villain.  The hard part is motivation.  What makes people do what they do?  How can they be so cold, and hard hearted?  Especially when it involves children.  Lately the news is filled with abducted children left and right, and what happens to those children is even worse.  Let me give you a few examples:

1. Shania Davis.  This poor child was allegedly sold by her mother to her drug dealer friend, who took her to a hotel an hour away, raped her, and dumped her a few miles from my home.
2. 7 yr Georgia Girl raped and murdered. 
3. Susan Smith – Who killed her children and pretended her car was carjacked.
4. Pamela Mikels Waldher - who’s body was found on Ft. Bragg, NC, which is an open base. 
5. Zhara Baker - killed by her stepmother, dismembered, and hidden in the dump.

These are just a few examples I’m aware of (and by no means am I making accusations).  But what surprises me is how often a female is invovled in the deaths of these children.  This begs the question – has our media just noticed the female murderers such as Susan Smith, and women like Shania Davis’s mother, who traded her life for drugs (allegedly), or is this  a new trend?

Often I think the internet has brought out alot of news that we might not otherwise be aware of.  What would be a local “Issue” suddenly is now national news – blasted on the television, on your news webpage, and all over the internet.  Finding the motive for such acts is difficult. Why are so many men and women so “Ill” that they are willing to kill a child?  And in some cases, completely torture them in the process?

So to help me answer that question, I asked a friend, who’s a retired profiler.  

  In order to DO ‘evil’ or BE ‘evil’ requires a total lack of empathy. You don’t see people as people, they’re but annimate “things” which serve or hinder your purpose.    Some ‘evil’ do-ers are sociopaths, they only mimic emotion to lure in the prey.  To go to war, you can’t dwell on your adversary’s family, next of kin, or pain. You de-humanize them to do what needs be done at the moment and don’t dwell on why the hell you’re there in harm’s way in the FIRST place.    Evil folks are beyond that step in thinking…  No ‘conscience’ therefore no guilt.   Evil* people (*gratuitous calamity) don’t see anything in common with their victim. 

 And some… are products of such a distored pre-adolescent situation, they feel no social or societal ties. They are adrift among those who are sonambulistic, apathetic and some just plain gullible. I’ve long been a proponent of losing “innocence” A.S.A.P. In Nature a naive animal doesn’t reach maturity.  Forewarned is forearmed.

There’s a book, by a female psycholgist “Harmful To Minors” by Levine.    Another favorite is, “Boobs, Boys and High Heels” by Diane Brill.   It about how a teen girl can be popular without being a bitch to anyone.

Thanks for some awesome insight and the book recommendations.

Our world has no shortage of villains, I’m sorry to say, so when writing, I tend to look to the news.  In Lone Wolf,which is to be rereleased soon – the villain is a twist of a character who once wandered about the internet. I won’t tell you what he did, because that would just ruin the book. LOL.  The worst part was what he did was totally legal, albeit horribly gross and disgusting. 

Of all the villains you’ve read, whether real or imagined, who is your most terrifying?

Being an author has it’s perks, though I’m afraid money isn’t really one of them.  So, like any job, you have to have fun whenever you can.  You can play with people’s minds and watch their eyes fill with tears or widen in terror.  Watch them race away or stop all conversation.  Or, watch them all start whispering about the strange women in the corner talking about the whips and chains.  And that’s even before they read your book!  

Last year I was working Dark Succession and another manuscript that is, as of yet, not published. My critique partner and I met at a mexican place in town to go over pages and fix errors, etc on Dark Succession, plus pages of one of her manuscripts.  The pages I’d given her covered the murder of one of the characters.  Murder is fun when it’s in a book, and the character’s neck had been broken.  Coincidentally, in the other MS I was working on at home,  I was at the point where someone had also just died, and also had their neck snapped. (hmm, better make sure that doesn’t become a habit).  So yes, I was thinking alot about how to kill people.  

A young couple sat caty-corner to us, just ahead of me.  My CP couldn’t see their faces, though she knew they were there.   I had noticed the couple was listening closely, as though trying to figure our conversation.  For more than 20 minutes they spent more time trying to listen to what we were saying than eating their own meal, and let me tell you, at this place that’s just a crime.  I kept trying to talk quieter and quieter, and I could see them leaning more in our direction, trying really hard to listen.

So when we got the “snapped neck” part, I just couldn’t help myself.  I raised my voice so I knew they could hear me.  “Yes, I’ve been killing people left and right this week.” I mimed the act with my hands and said,  “Snap!  And now he’s dead.”

You could have heard a pin drop at the other table.  The looks on their faces were so precious.  Horror filled their expressions, forks dropped by the side of their plates and for long moments, they just stared at one another.  Eventually the wife took out her cell phone as though to call the police, though the husband touched her hand and shook his head.  Who knows what was going through their minds.

I started chuckling, and my critique partner asked me why, so I leaned over the table and whispered the couple’s reaction, and then she started laughing.  The couple hurridly finished their meal and left, terrified to even look back as they rushed toward the cashier then out the door, never to be seen again.  I sometimes wonder if they even remembered to leave a tip.

The instant the front door closed, my CP and I burst out laughing so hard I had tears running down my cheeks.   I couldn’t stop – every time I did, I kept picturing their horrified looks and the rush out the door.  I’d never had so much fun playing with eavesdroppers in my life.  It served them right to so openly eavesdrop on another table.  (Not that my manuscript wasn’t interesting enough to hold them)

So if you’re ever sitting at a diner, or some place where there’s people talking about death, destruction, and murder, there’s something my mom used to always say that you might want to remember:  If you’re going to eavesdrop, eavesdrop on the entire conversation, not just part. 

Otherwise, you just might get the shock of your life!

Oh I love that sentence:  “Even my sweat is sweating”.  I wish I could take credit for it, but I heard it over on “Ghost whisperer” the other day.  I swear to goodness, it’s exactly how I feel these days.

Now, I’m from down south, where ladies don’t sweat, the perspire.  And true to the south, my body had always only perspired.  When I was a kid, I’d go outside in the middle of the Alabama summers and work in the garden, and would stop when I felt that tiny trickle down my back – sweat.  It only happened after I’d been out there a while, because my body was convinced:  Ladies perspire, so do not sweat.  Ok, so maybe it wasn’t the words that made me sweat so little, but when I was a kid I was the only one who didn’t have to change clothes in the middle of those hot Alabama summers.

So I joined the military and moved on, only to discover I’d begun getting heat rashes.  Why?  “You don’t sweat enough”, said the doctors.  Really?  How weird.

I was in a car accident a few years later, and when spring came, a friend coaxed me into laying outside in the sun with her.  So I headed out, very self conscious of the purple, protruding scar on my knee.  I laid back and closed my eyes, when I felt this odd sensation.  Something was on my knee!  And it moved!  I sat up, and was shocked to see beads of sweat trailing off my knee cap where I’d had surgery to repair damage from the accident.  No other part of my body was sweating.  Just my knee.  At last, one part of my body was normal!  At least for a while.  It too went back to no sweating a year or so later.  I was back to the “Ladies only perspire”.  LOL.  My great grandmother would be proud, don’t you think?

Of course when you don’t sweat you instead do things like overheat.  Yes, there were times I suffered heat stroke and heat exhaustion through the years.  I found a cool bath always helped out when I got to that point, so that’s good.

But then something changed.  Yes, that terrible moment everyone woman experiences.  Hot flashes.  At first, they were mild.  They seemed less “Flashes” and more a “casual” feeling of being a bit hot.  I noticed my clothing was a tad damp around the waist, etc.  Not a big deal, but slightly irritating.  Nothing that every woman doesn’t have to go through at some point in their lives.

But then I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a fun condition, to say the least.  I’ve probably had it many years, but it was finally getting the best of me, so I went in and was put on a medication which did wonders.  No, I wasn’t completely cured, but I was able to do things I hadn’t for the last few years.  Things like go to a zoo and not have to fight off the pain of exhaustion as I looked at animals.  The ability to walk more than 5 minutes without wanting to curl up on the sidewalk and wait for a cab that never comes.  So things were great!

Only one problem.  There were those nasty side affects.  And what is the side affect to my med? You guessed it.  Hot flashes.  When combined with the ones of that magical “mature woman” sensation, I suddenly went from mild hot flashes to set me on fire and get it over with flashes.  One day, two weeks ago, I had a hot flash so hot I thought I was going to find blisters on my skin. It exploded from within, rushing thru the veins and to my brain (or is it the other way around? Never could figure that out).  Where’s the marshmallow’s people?  Just hold them over my body and watch them toast!  You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not.  Ok, maybe the marshmallows wouldn’t have turned brown, but they definitely would have melted. My hand, which was laying in my lap at that time, felt as if I’d just considered picking up a hot pan on the stove and caught myself “Just in time”, the heat already searing through the skin.

So when I heard the phrase “Even my sweat is sweating” I cracked up, and immediately took to using it.  It was the best way to explain how I felt.  I no longer was a lady of the south.  I no longer perspire.  I sweat.  My clothes aren’t just damp anymore, they are soaked.  The other day I washed my hair and let it dry naturally.  Wait, it never did dry – it stayed wet even after I went to bed.  Due to sweat, of course.  (That makes it sound like I never wash my hair, but I promise, I’m just making an example. LOL)

One simple warm breeze would send me into a frenzy of heat.  My favorite way to sleep, wrapped around a pillow, no longer worked, because the pillow would rest against my chest, holding in the heat, and you guessed it, I’d wake up drenched and ready to go stick my head in the freezer.  Luckily the hot flashes are tapering off because I’ve changed meds. Either that or the fact I don’t have the heat on in a cold house is doing the trick.

Two nights ago my teeth were chattering it was so cold in my house, but I refused to turn on the heat, knowing it would only make matters worse.  I was just considering bed, when sure enough, there it was.  Heat swept through my body at a speed ten times the speed of light (Only a slight exaggeration).  Definitely faster than my heroines when they get a real good look at their hot hero.  But the weird thing?  My hand, sitting on my computer mouse, was still ice cold.  How do I know?  Cuz the first thing you automatically do is touch your forehead, as though you have a fever.  Now that was a shocker.  An ice cold hand touching a burning hot head.  Wowsa!  LOL.

The good thing is I’ve now changed meds, and over the last few days I’ve noticed the hot flashes seem less intense.  I’ve actually slept two nites in a row without waking up 15 times to throw off the covers, and then 15 more times to put them back on.  Maybe, just maybe, I’m about to get back down to the normal, everyday, “That change” hot flashes. 

So if you’ve wondered why I was a bit quiet the last six months – it was because even my sweat was sweating, especially when around the computer! The heat coming off our systems was all it took to throw me into one of those sweet, adorable flashes of heat so strong I could probably toast bread.  Like the boy on Ghost Whisperer said: Even my Sweat has been Sweating!

Because of You – by Jessica Scott

Keeping his men alive is all that matters to Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison. But meeting Jen St. James the night before his latest deployment makes Shane wonder if there’s more to life than war. He leaves for Iraq remembering a single kiss with a woman he’ll never see again- until a near fatal attack lands him back at home and in her care.  Jen has survived her own brush with death and endured its scars. And yet there’s a fire in Shane that makes Jen forget all about her past. He may be her patient, but when this warrior looks her in the eyes, she feels – for the first time in a long time – like a woman. Shane is too proud to ask for help, but for Jen, caring for him is more than a duty -it’s a need. And as Jen guides Shane through the fires of healing, she finds something she never expected – her deepest desire.

For the last few years I have harped on how realism seems very important when writing a book.  Even in paranormal.  Research makes or breaks a book because it gives the reader something to grasp hold of that’s real.  In contemporary, it’s even more important, because it’s hard to believe a book if the world created is filled with flaws.  The same can be said for television shows.  It’s why they always have someone who’s a technical adviser on the set.  But I hate watching a show where said adviser hasn’t done his or her job well.  Sometimes the plot of the story takes over the story line, and the adviser would have to rewrite the entire thing to get it right.  Take for example, the tv show – Army Wives.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the show, but it definitely wasn’t accurate.   At no time will the Post Commander’s wife spend time regularly with an enlisted man’s wife.  Especially when the enlisted soldier is new to the army.  It just doesn’t happen.  The structure of friendship  relationships is as strong as their husband’s rank.

As a military retiree, it bugs me to no end to see a colonel’s wife hanging out with an NCO’s wife in either books or tv, and when the husbands are there, they are best of friends, too.  It can’t happen.  And when it does, it can cause “issues”.

Recently I read Because of You by Jessica Scott.  Congratulations to Ms. Scott for a perfectly portrayed world of the military.  If you like contemporary romance, or you like the true alpha male, and watching the pieces fall apart only to be put back together, then this is the book for you.  I admired not only the detailed military scenes, but the accuracy which flowed with every word in this book.

Let me first say that yes, I know Jessica Scott.  We are both members of RomVets and we met at the last conference, though we didn’t have alot of time to chat.  I follow her on twitter, and I read her blog from time to time.  It’s no secret that Ms. Scott is an Officer in the US Army.  One who deploys to the gulf, and one who leads alot of soldiers.  She sees more in a seven day period than most see in a lifetime when it comes to the ravages of our current war.

And let me tell you, if you want to know what these people are going through, read Ms. Scott’s book.  She has successfully given a true rendition of what COULD and probably DOES happen in her life.  But be prepared – this book is a total tearjerker!  If I had a complaint about this book, was it didn’t wrap up quite as comfortably as I’d hoped. I won’t say it felt rushed, but at the same time, I felt like something was missing.  But I will definitely be reading Ms. Scott’s next book which comes out in May 2012.  Don’t let the title fool you – this book is not filled with soppy sweetness.  Because of You is filled with hardcore military events, and the tragic aftermath.  Don’t forget to grab that box of kleenex to keep by your side!

I’m not sure why, but it seems that a lot of the paranormal romances I’ve read have the same type of scene inside that really gets me upset. Sometimes I skip said scenes, and sometimes I’m reading it, with tears in my eyes. Always at the end, I feel as though something has gone wrong in this book. I no longer respect the hero. The point behind the scene is to show the hero’s strength, whether it be magical or physical. The scene? Angry Sex. Ok, we all get off on angry sex now and then. Don’t get me wrong – it’s in all kinds of books and we all like to read it. It’s hot, and it’s sexy, and we all wonder “should we piss off our husband’s just for fun?”

But in reality, what some of these books are portraying is rape. The heroine has said no, and the hero continues to push. The hero wishes to teach the heroine a “lesson” in how powerful he is. A true alpha male doesn’t prove how powerful he is using sex. Instead, he does it against villains or other males, hoping she’ll see how truly strong he is. If she can’t, then obviously they weren’t meant to be.

It’s funny, because when I first joined groups of readers, I heard how awful it was that another author had bullies for heroes. She was drawn and quartered in the public. Cries of rape and violence swept through blogs like wildfire. Interestingly, this author only had one book where the hero went a bit far, and the heroine pretty much went at him, accusing him of rape, and he realized he’d gone too far. He paid for his “crime”. Yet in these new books, there is no outcry, there is no hero realizing he went too far. And worse, there is no heroine accusing him of rape.

So where is the line? Where does “angry sex” turn into “rape”? For me, it’s when the heroine says “NO” frequently during the event. For me it’s when the hero thinks he is teaching the heroine a lesson. A lesson he can only instill with forcible big O’s, or forcible sex, whether it’s by the hero’s own hand or his magic.

I think what has surprised me is not that this makes it into books now and then, but that it seems to be coming a trend. Heroes overstep the bounds of good alpha male behavior, becoming bullies, and they force the heroine to accept them using either physical or magical strength. Oddly enough, a true alpha male never bullies, he never forces his females. A true alpha male coaxes his female to accept him, showing his strength in other ways – never against her. Ok, maybe he does, but not “Teaching her a lesson” using sex.   What ultimately happens in the bedroom is always the female’s choice. So if that’s the case, why are these books so popular?

Examples:

True alpha behavior: A hero might tie up his female, and while she may be uncomfortable, she trusts him enough to allow this activity, though she may struggle just a little.

Borderline behavior:  A hero and heroine may fight, using their magic, and it turns into a sexual pleasure.  Both are in on the “game” and enjoy themselves.

Bully behavior: A long drawn out struggle between the hero and heroine in which he “teaches her a lesson” in who’s in charge. She is actively fighting him and is scared as much as she is turned out. While the big O may be mind blowing, the fight to get there was not.

One of my favorite authors tends toward the bully behavior, or did when she first started out, and I think that’s where the trend began. Interestingly, I always skipped the scenes related to such bully behavior, as they always felt out of place in her books. Now, she has drawn back from such behavior and is as popular as ever.

Maybe it’s just that I don’t think these heroes, or even human males, are sexy when they want to “teach a lesson”. It comes too close to what is true rape. If I needed a lesson taught to me, I sure wouldn’t want it done while I fought against it in the bedroom. This is not a fantasy of mine I want to live vicariously through books. Yet I don’t have a problem with the H/h showing their strength in an argument. Just not during sex. At least, not forcibly.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not prudish enough to believe that fight sex isn’t hot. Sure it is. But teaching a lesson is not.

So what do you think? Which is it?  A bully or Strong alpha hero who teaches his heroine a “lesson” using sex?

Come join me when visiting Maria, Damaris, And Wanda at Good Choice Reading!  Prizes are there so don’t be late!

Come check out Lovin’ Me Some Romance to talk about choosing the perfect song for that book trailer, and how important it is for the music to match the feel of the book.