2023 A to Z Challenge Blog: X-rated

Welcome back. The sun’s shining, and we’ll have double digits in temperature, so I’m hoping for some time outside and a chance to unwind.

Today’s letter is X ,and I’ve chosen X-rated to answer this question, did you know that the hardest scenes for me to write are the hot, steamy X-rated sex scenes? I tend to close the bedroom more often than not, and when I do leave it open, the sex is more sweet and endearing than X-rated. There are a number of reasons for that, but it all comes down to me. I am a fairly private person, not exactly a prude but not sexually adventurous either. I’ve been married to the same man, the one who picked my cherry, as they used to say, for 52 years come September.

I have a hard time putting my characters in bed after only a few hours let alone a few dates, so i tend to avoid those scenes unless they are critical to the plot. My knowledge of sex toys, sex fetishes is practically non-existent, and I know nothing about m/m, f/f, or any other combination you can think of. If there’s a sex scene in a book, it serves a specific purpose, or it isn’t there. That being said, the new book I’m working on will have a few steamy scenes. It’s a contemporary paranormal in my new Timeless Love series, dealing with a couple who died in Pompeii and are reunited when they discover their ash encased bodies.

Here’s the cover reveal for Beneath the Ashes and its blurb.

Dr. Lucie Raines loves her job overseeing the Mediterranean Gallery and similar exhibits at the Penn Museum, feeling at home among the remains of Rome’s glory days. When she’s offered a chance to join an archeologist on a new dig in Pompeii, she jumps at it. Her excitement becomes tinged with confusion when she sees the advance items recovered from the dig. These bits and pieces of the past aren’t simply relics, they belong to her, or rather they did—but how is that possible? And the archeologist himself? Her reaction to him is so powerful, it scares her. Could he possibly be the man who’s populated her dreams over the years, making love to her as no one else can, leaving her unable to find love and happiness in the here and now?

In the shadow of Vesuvius, Dr. Mario Tedesco, has excavated the ruins of Pompeii for years, his days filled with hours of hard work, his nights with dreams that leave him restless and frustrated. When he discovers a new dig, one as yet undisturbed, he agrees to let an American expert on Roman antiquities join him—for a price. Her museum will get eighteen of the pieces in exchange for the cash he needs to finance the dig. But the archeologist has bigger problems. His dreams have intensified since entering the house, his sleep haunted by a beautiful woman, begging him to find her.

When Lucie Raines, the American expert arrives in Pompei, Mario’s confusion increases He’s convinced that she’s the woman from his dreams, but she insists on keeping her distance, almost as if she’s afraid of him, and what may happen if they give in to their desires. Can he convince her that their love, rooted in this place, is timeless? Or will the shadow and rumbles of Vesuvius separate them once more?

That’s it for me today. Find other bloggers and their posts here. https://tinyurl.com/3we8aa84

Come back tomorrow when I’ll give you a Did You Know? for the letter Y. Enjoy your day.