Excerpt 2 A Slower Lower Leap and the GIVEAWAY!

“What’s wrong?” Logan asked, polishing off his second chicken leg.

“I’m not as hungry as I thought I was. And I have a touch of a headache.” Lizzy stood and picked up her plate. “Would you mind keeping an eye on Colby for just two seconds while I go get some Tylenol? I left my purse in the car.”

“Sure. He’s not a problem at all.” He furrowed his brow as if he knew she wasn’t telling the whole truth.

The entire truth it might not be, but her head did throb as a result of not drinking enough that day coupled with an immense amount of stress. It wasn’t unusual for her to have headaches three or four times a week.

“Thanks, I’ll just be a minute.”

She tossed her plate in the nearest trash can, regretful of the food she’d wasted, and made her way to her vehicle rubbing her temples on the way. After digging in her bag for several minutes then opting to dump the entire contents on the seat in search of the bottle of pain reliever she knew had to be in there somewhere, Lizzy found what she was looking for. She popped the lid, tossed a couple of capsules in her palm, and reached for her cup which she’d put on the roof of the car. When she didn’t find it, she stood all the way up and spinning around she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Jesus Christ,” she squeaked and grabbed the base of her throat. “Do you always sneak up on people like that? And where’s Colby?” Looking around Logan’s shoulder, she discovered her son was nowhere in sight.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He handed her the cup she’d been looking for. “And Colby’s with Mom. He’s safe. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt that little guy. I wanted to talk to you, away from all those little rows of corn.”

“About what?” Lizzy popped the capsules in her mouth and chased them with a healthy swallow of tea.

“You must be joking. About what? About whatever it is I feel when I’m within spitting distance of you. And you just admitted you feel it, too.” Slowly inching toward her, Logan backed her into the door frame until she had nowhere left to go.

“Feeling things and doing something about those things are two different things,” she said, her heart rattling in her chest as her eyes landed on his lips.

 

“Oh, believe me, woman, I’m aware of the difference.” With his blue eyes blazing, he curled one hand around her nape and descended on her mouth before she could protest.

Thanks for spending a few realmantic moments with me today...Lila Munro

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I’m From Slower Lower…Where? And the GIVEAWAY!

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Lila Munro, multi-faceted romance author. I’m probably most known for my steamy BDSM and ménage pieces, but what most people probably haven’t picked up on yet is that my career didn’t begin there. It actually began with more sensual, contemporary roots.

My first two works, The Executive Officer’s Wife and Bound by Trust, were both contemporary military reads and had been out some weeks when I made the decision to pull A Slower, Lower Love—which was under contract at the time but not officially published—and revise it based on what I had learned from my editor at the time. I knew based on what I’d learned it needed some hard core work in order to be truly ready for the viewing public. I also knew that eventually the other two works would be released and come back to me and they would undergo the revisions they so desperately needed as well. The Executive Officer’s Wife received its treatment last summer and Bound by Trust will later this year.

Once I was done picking apart A Slower, Lower Love I turned it over to the capable hands of the editing staff at Rebel Ink Press and prepared to find out what else I was sure I knew but really didn’t. When I received word from E they were finished with it and we needed to talk, well, let me tell you my heart stopped. But, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the thing we needed to discuss was turning A Slower, Lower Love into a series. I agreed to take on this task and thus I was forever the incidental series writer. Who knew?

A Slower, Lower Love started the rounds on the review circuit and I began writing book two, A Slower, Lower Life. About mid-way through that project, the reviews began pouring in…and they weren’t half bad, but a recurring criticism was that the romance was neither slower nor lower.

Well, of course it wasn’t…that’s not at all what slower, lower means. And although the meaning of that phrase is referenced more than once in both works, somehow it escaped notice.

My husband is from Sussex County Delaware, which is the southern most of the three counties in Delaware and is part of the peninsula comprised of the tips of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. It’s beautiful country. Lazy, rolling, green. Farmland and colonial homes grace the landscape…and when you ask someone from that part of the country where they’re from the answer is almost always, “I’m from slower lower.”

You see, slower lower is a description, it just doesn’t apply to the couples’ love affairs in the Slower, Lower series. It describes a way of life, a place, and the people who live there. Life in slower lower is marked by Sussex County Standard Time. No one rushes, everyone stops to appreciate, people breathe and notice what’s on the air…freshly turned soil, the Nanticoke River, the ocean. Pizza cooking at Grottos. People use their front porches and they say y’all.

So, don’t be shocked when you read any or all of the books in this series, the latest of which released February 17, A Slower, Lower Leap, and the romance is smoking because the reviewers were right in one thing…love on the eastern shore is definitely not slow.

Lila Munro

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Excerpt 1 from A Slower, Lower Leap and the GIVEAWAY!

“What about his daddy?” Logan hooked his thumbs in his front pockets and watched Colby darting along the grass with the other kids. As far as he could tell he had no more idea he was different than the man in the moon and neither did the other kids.

“No one knows who he is. He’s completely uninvolved. Although I’ve always had a pretty good idea,” Bryce said just as Cait came over with Riley cradled in his sling across her middle.

“And just what are you two doing?” she asked, with one hand fisted at her hip and the other hand supporting Riley.

“Watching the kids. What are you doing?” Bryce leaned in and kissed Riley’s cheek. Logan’s heart twisted when Bryce smiled and ran his fingertips gently over the peach fuzz on top of the boy’s head.

“Liar,” Cait said flatly. She reached out with the hand she’d had at her hip and grabbed Logan by the collar pulling him nearly nose to nose with her. “You listen and listen well. If you hurt Lizzy you’ll have me and half dozen other women to deal with. And none of us feel very chipper as of late. You got me?”

Logan and Bryce turned their heads in tandem to see Deidre and their three sisters lined up, all as pregnant as could be and hormonal attitude stamped all over their faces. And lo and damn behold, Nana and their mother flanked them.

“Tell Cait what you’ve learned, baby brother,” Bryce said, smiling and waving to the women.

“I’ve learned this isn’t about getting someone to the altar as fast as I can get old Eldon to marry us. That theory may have been concocted in haste. It’s about putting someone above yourself until you draw your last breath,” Logan said. He poured his beer on the ground and shoved the empty cup into Bryce’s hand. “I reckon I need to make sure that little fella likes me before I go asking his mama out to dinner. If he don’t like me what’s the point? Seems to me he don’t need any more disruptions in his life than he’s already got and be damned if I throw him off kilter or hinder forward progress by just being the greedy bastard that likes tits.”

 

With that Logan gave the female line-up a mock salute and ambled off toward the kids. If there was one thing he could say for himself, he’d spent enough time at the kiddy table over the years he at least knew how to talk to them.

Happy reading! Lila~~

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Let's Start the Morning with a GIVEAWAY!

Hey everyone I'm back, talking all day again about A Slower, Lower Leap, book 3 in the Slower Lower series which just released from Rebel Ink Press. Today I'll share a couple of excerpts and be explaining just exactly what slower, lower really means...For now here's the skinny on Logan's and Lizzy's story and a chance to win some signed paperbacks!

Lila Munro

When you're the last man standing...

Not only was Logan Delaney the last of his siblings to remain unmarried and unsettled, his entire family believed he'd never find a wife. The baby of eight, he's been dubbed an irresponsible player and told he'll never amount to a hill of beans. And at one time, Logan may have been okay with those descriptions, but no more. On a quest to prove his worth, he's spent the entire summer learning the family business, staying in at night, and saving his money. And if his family would stop meddling in his affairs and trying to dictate who he should and shouldn't be seeing, he might just show them he's found the one, Lizzy Jenkins.

And have a bad reputation to blame...

Elizabeth Jenkins had always known Logan Delaney existed, but he'd never so much as turned one glance her way until she handed him his butt on a silver platter in three sentences or less over the phone. After that it seemed at every turn there he was and the more she resisted the heat building between them, the bigger the fire got. Until his family interfered. And why wouldn't they? Between Logan's legacy and her baggage, they were a disaster in the making.

Can you be trusted with a fragile heart?

But Logan doesn't run when he finds out about Colby. In fact, he embraces Lizzy's special needs son and defies the advice of everyone urging him to leave Lizzy alone. But after one moment of weakness, Logan finds himself knee deep in a marriage complete with the little boy whose father bailed before his birth and Lizzy's grandfather, who needs constant care as well. Then there's the man who just might be the demise of it all.

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A Few Hometown Favs...

I suppose I should explain straight away, naughty Lila didn’t show up today…I know readers, it’s quite a shock, but I confess, Lila’s roots began on the softer side of the house and my very first series was in fact a run of the mill contemporary romance themed deal with a bit of hot lovin’ sprinkled in.

It’s been two years since the first book in the Slower Lower series came into existence and I actually thought A Slower, Lower Love would be a stand-alone until E contacted me and persuaded me otherwise. So, a series was born, but it was another few long months before book two was born, A Slower, Lower Leap…and then my career took a left turn into BDSM territory and much to my contemporary fans’ chagrin…book three never materialized…and never materialized…and never materialized. The idea was always here, lurking and teasing me, but my naughty muse kept shoving her much less naughty sister down and kicking her in the knee. Well, Arwen finally managed to get upright again, much to Bronwyn’s horror, and now here we are two years later and A Slower, Lower Leap is finally a reality.

I’ve been out on tour with it and the theme of the tour is all things Delaware and Delaware related as that’s where the series is set: Sussex County, the southernmost county of all three in the state and much a part of the slower lower culture residing on the Delmarva Peninsula. So, I thought today I’d share a few of my favorite things from my husband’s hometown of Seaford.

In all three books there is mention of a fictional Italian joint…but in real life there is a place that was my inspiration for that. Grotto’s Pizza located in Seaford and at the beach. Founded in 1960, it is my humble opinion there is no better pie on the planet and boardwalk fries? Now my mouth is all worked up for want of something from there…gelato, pasta…did I mention the pizza? We are so in love with this stuff, there have been occasions my MIL will buy them half-cooked on her way down for a visit (6 hour drive) and we’ll cook them off when she gets here. Is there any wonder I included a fictitious Italian eatery in the Slower Lower books?

The Country House…now technically…this is in the Mar part of Delmarva, but who’s splitting hairs. Right? I love, love, love this place. If you’re into primitive home décor…you have to visit this place if you’re ever in Salisbury. They have a discount outlet open on Saturdays…and if you just can’t make the eastern shore, they are online. Nearly all my curtains came from The Country House.

Rehoboth Beach…Really? Does a beach need explanation? It just happens Rehoboth is the beach I use as the backdrop for the Delaney family beach home where romance is made and so are babies on occasion. J

Pizza King…also known as PKs to the locals. Now I know…two pizza joints on the favs list? Well, actually PKs isn’t my fav pick for pizza…It’s my fav pick for breakfast. You’ll find my Delaney’s go out at times for breakfast to a joint very much similar to PKs where the scrapple is crisp, the eggs fluffy, the waitresses spunky, and the coffee is always hot. Before my husband’s grandfather died, it was tradition whenever we were in town we met at PKs for breakfast at least once while we were in town.

And last but not least…and you’re probably going to think how weird. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Our Lady of Lourdes is mentioned several times throughout the series and is a very real place and is indeed called Our Lady of Lourdes. This is the Catholic Parish my husband grew up in. It’s where he was baptized, confirmed…where he burned up the confessional as Logan so aptly puts it in A Slower, Lower Leap. It’s where we attend Mass whenever we’re in town. Our Lady’s roots run back to 1937, and when I enter the sanctuary I get a sense of just how deep those roots run. No matter how long we’ve been away, we see someone we recognize, someone my husband grew up with, took first communion with. It gives a sense of family…a sense of peace and embodies all that is slower lower.

Thanks for taking this little tour with me through Seaford and the surrounding community. J And don’t forget to enter to win some signed copies of the first two books in my giveaway posted earlier...

Have a realmantic day!

Lila

A Slower, Lower Leap Excerpt and GIVEAWAY!

With a mixture of emotions swirling through her, Lizzy watched the same storm overtake Logan’s features which was brewing inside her. A veritable lightning bolt passed between them as soon as he’d touched her. She knew she’d always been attracted to Logan, but the instant heat still scalding her skin from his fingers left her unsettled. It was but a mere couple of hours prior she was trying to convince herself she could do with some sort of quickie sexual gratification, although she’d admitted it could never be with Logan, and now she wanted nothing more and the door to her emotions was wide open leaving her vulnerable and believing maybe they could have both. And just as she was trying to tell herself to stop trusting the lies her deprived body was concocting, Logan decided to try to convince her he might be interested in more as well.

Where was Logan the player and who was the imposter sitting across the table from her who could probably talk her right into his bed with one sentence or less and keep her coming back heartbreak on the horizon or not?
 
As her pulse slowed a bit, she turned to look at Colby and reminded herself why she couldn’t be playing horizontal Twister with anyone let alone Logan. And she sure couldn’t go letting Colby think there was a reason to get too comfortable around him. He seemed to like Logan and the Delaney herd of kids and she didn’t want him getting his feelings hurt because she couldn’t control her hormonal urges. What if she made the mistake of screwing Logan’s brains out, things didn’t work out, and that made it awkward to be coming around anymore? This was the first time anyone had really taken them in and welcomed them unconditionally and she didn’t want to rob Colby of it.

You can purchase A Slower, Lower Leap now at:

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Be sure to enter my giveaway below and you could win signed paperback copies of books one and two in this series, A Slower Lower Love and A Slower Lower Life...Contest open through midnight March 5, 2013.

Lila Munro

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The Man Who Gave Me Firsts...

I’m so excited to be here today and talk about my new release A Slower, Lower Leap. It’s the third and final installment of my Slower Lower series. If you’ve not read any of the books and don’t know anything about them, they’re set in Seaford, Delaware, a very real place and home to my husband. Although, I must tell you, none of the people in my stories are real. They’re conglomerations of personalities I may have encountered at one time or other, but are absolutely not real individuals.

 Today I’m going to tell you a little bit about how I became an adopted daughter of the first state and what firsts followed. It’s really quite ironic it’s the first state, because the first man I ever met from there gave me many firsts and I ended up marrying him. (Anyone noticing a pattern here yet?)

My first glimpse of Delaware was at sunrise four days prior to Thanksgiving 1997. I woke up after being in the car for my very first long distance road trip with someone other than a family member to see we were barreling down a winding unmarked road and were headed straight for another vehicle. Welcome to Delaware!

“One of us will move, babe,” my beloved assured me just before the other car took to the side of the road and waved with a smile.

Really? What the hell was this strange land?

After that, my beloved took me on many firsts. He took me on my first plane ride, I saw the beach for the first time with him and I got my first overseas visit with him via orders from the USMC not a year after we married (the marriage wasn’t a first, but it was the first time I truly loved the man I married).

Through the years, we enjoyed many trips to the slower lower (now you know where the titles come from J ) eastern shore board and it was in those trips that unbeknownst to me, stories started to form. Many years later when I finally took up my pen once again after my muse being dormant for what seemed like an eternity, the faces, places, sights, smells, traditions, and landscape of Delaware kept haunting me…and wouldn’t you know it? Seaford, Delaware became the setting of my very first series.

Thank you husband and thank you Seaford for lending me inspiration and so many firsts…and readers, I hope you enjoy getting to know that part of the world through my eyes.

Lila Munro

Good morning from Lila Munro!

Good morning everyone!

As always it's a joy and a pleasure to be here at the Pavilion rolling out a new release. After a year since the release of the last book in the Slower Lower series, I am happy to announce the final installment in the Delaney family saga has released from Rebel Ink Press. Today I'll be sharing a few things which inspired me from Sussex County, Delaware, the home place to the Delaney's as well as my husband. I'll also be tossing in an excerpt and a giveaway, so be on the lookout!

A Slower, Lower Leap

When you’re the last man standing…

 Not only was Logan Delaney the last of his siblings to remain unmarried and unsettled, his entire family believed he’d never find a wife. The baby of eight, he’s been dubbed an irresponsible player and told he’ll never amount to a hill of beans. And at one time, Logan may have been okay with those descriptions, but no more. On a quest to prove his worth, he’s spent the entire summer learning the family business, staying in at night, and saving his money. And if his family would stop meddling in his affairs and trying to dictate who he should and shouldn’t be seeing, he might just show them he’s found the one, Lizzy Jenkins.

And have a bad reputation to blame…

Elizabeth Jenkins had always known Logan Delaney existed, but he’d never so much as turned one glance her way until she handed him his butt on a silver platter in three sentences or less over the phone. After that it seemed at every turn there he was and the more she resisted the heat building between them, the bigger the fire got. Until his family interfered. And why wouldn’t they? Between Logan’s legacy and her baggage, they were a disaster in the making.

Can you be trusted with a fragile heart?

But Logan doesn’t run when he finds out about Colby. In fact, he embraces Lizzy’s special needs son and defies the advice of everyone urging him to leave Lizzy alone. But after one moment of weakness, Logan finds himself knee deep in a marriage complete with the little boy whose father bailed before his birth and Lizzy’s grandfather, who needs constant care as well.  Then there's the man who just might be the demise of it all.

Purchase now at:
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You can find out more about me and my work at Realmantic Moments.

Have a great time today!
Lila Munro

Goodnight everyone!

It’s been a great day around here, thanks so much readers, fans, and Goddess Fish for hosting our little party. I hope you all enjoyed the first glimpses of Assumed Calling and can’t wait to share this perfect ending to the Identity series with you November 17. It will be available at:

Amazon           ARe      Nook

If you’d like to keep up with me after today, I rather enjoy having you join me at my blog, Realmantic Moments, or on Facebook or Twitter. You can follow my blog either through Blogspot or Networked Blogs and I’d be happy to have you give my fan page a like and/or follow my tweeting antics.

Have a great evening everyone…and I leave you with this from Allen…

Easing the door open, he found only one lamp burning in the far corner of the room and Nicki huddled in the middle of his mahogany, four-poster King. She looked like a scared little girl who'd just witnessed the boogey man coming out of her closet as she sat against the heavy headboard with the manacles embedded on either end, her knees drawn to her chest, her chin atop them. Rivulets of blackened tears ran down her cheeks as she looked at him through the bluest eyes Allen had ever seen. Dark hair hung in long, wavy curls around her shoulders and her pouty, coral lips were parted as almost indiscernible whimpers escaped from between them. God help him, but she had to go at the earliest possible moment because truth be told, something was snapping inside him. Something which hadn't snapped in a long time. At the moment, all he really wanted to do was gather her up and comfort her then turn her over his knees and give her what he gave best, a good old-fashioned spanking.

Lila Munro…

Writing one realmantic moment at a time 

The Identity Series, A Recap...

In case you were wondering…

About the first four Identity books. In truth, the Identity series was never initially planned to be a series. The first book, Identity Crisis, was in fact originally a stand-alone novelette. I never really imagined it going any further than that and had no plans for furthering that line of thinking. But while editing Identity Crisis, a new character started telling her story and True Identity, book two, was born and thus a series began. I thought I’d share the first four books today in case you’re unsure of the order or in case you’d like to get caught up on the stories before November 17 when Assumed Calling comes out. Although they are all stand-alone reading on their own, the first two books being completely independent of the rest of the series, beginning with book three Assumed Identity, the characters begin to meld and reappear in subsequent installments. Please enjoy and if you’re so inclined, whether you have read them or are reading them or read them prior to book five coming out, I do so appreciate reader feedback at Amazon. Your reviews would be most welcome. J

Identity Crisis, Series Book 1
Published By: Rebel Ink Press LLC
Published: Mar 07, 2011
ISBN # RIP0001024
Word Count: 21,700
Heat Index 5 Flames

Someone once said you never truly know a person,

Chad Dearborn was raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was given everything a person could want and more, country clubs were his daycares and Paris and London his playgrounds. Heir to Dearborn Inc., Chad stands to inherit a veritable fortune. But the problem is his parents want to gift him the perfect wife to go with it. A woman in the form of a molded, plastic, jet set dolly. Certainly not Chad’s idea of an ideal mate. He wants a woman that can hold her own, in and out of the bedroom. Who knew he’d find her in one of Portland’s hottest leather clubs? Chad was fascinated by what went on there, but something just wouldn’t let him cross that line.

until you sleep with them.

Country clubs? Europe? The closest Tori Myers ever came to those things were the covers of magazines. With an absent father, a less than attentive mother and nowhere to go, Tori finds herself drawn to an alternative lifestyle at the tender age of eighteen. Vertigo is a treasure chest of Dom’s willing to give her anything she wants. But when Chad Dearborn walks through the door, Tori figures out sometimes what your heart wants isn’t necessarily what your body is willing to compromise to have.

Or do you?

The thing that just wouldn’t let Chad cross the line with his sexuality has come home to roost. And as a result, he's faced with a huge decision. Accept who he is and what he wants. Or continue to fight the biggest identity crisis of his life.

ARe Amazon Nook

True Identity, Series Book 2
Published By: Rebel Ink Press LLC
Published: Jun 07, 2011
ISBN # RIP0001029
Word Count: 41,000
Heat Index 5 Flames

You have to leave the city of your comfort…

Jillian Stewart was as straight laced as they came. Or was she? After one man tearing her down to her very foundation, she’s set out on a path of self-discovery. Pursuing a Master’s degree in sociology, Jill’s determined to wrap her mind around the complexities of the BDSM world. Getting into a good doctorate program won’t be easy so she’s pulling out all the stops. After disregarding her professor’s warning against subjecting herself to the lifestyle, Jill finds she’s drawn to her tutor. But this isn’t her world. Is it?

and go into the wilderness of your intuition…

A career Marine Corps officer, Stephan Sachelles has always chosen to keep his lifestyle choices to himself. He avoids the underground house parties on the base to frequent a club miles from home in an effort to protect his privacy. Steph’s been a Master at Steele Image for years and he's enjoyed the company of many of the subs there with no intention of ever settling on just one. How would he make that work…it wasn’t like he could convert his base house into the dungeon of his dreams. Then Jill walks through the door. Steph’s intuition tells him there’s wild abandon inside her fighting for a chance at life. In the depths of her eyes, far behind the over analysis of everything she encounters, Steph sees the heart of a true submissive. But the resistance Jill puts up is driving Steph crazy. While she’s a good student, she just won't let go. Fighting his own internal battle, Steph finds he wants nothing more than to be the only Master to help her find her true identity. 

ARe Amazon Nook

Assumed Identity, Series Book 3
Published By: Rebel Ink Press LLC
Published: Jan 16, 2012
ISBN # RIP000308

Word Count: 77,192
Heat Index Five Flames

Innocent childhood games of dress-up and pretend…

Julie Stevens is as straight as they come. Or so she tries to convince herself. But it isn’t easy believing that little white lie when she has the two most sexually eccentric best friends on the planet. One is a bi-sexual Domme who believes if it looks fun, try it. The other is a gay man in the role of slave to his very sexy Master whom Julie often wishes wasn’t gay. Dante’s commanding presence makes her want to do things that set her on fire with need and embarrassment. Given her boring vanilla life, how exactly does she fit into their world? Would they like to have a shinier third wheel?

Are a completely different animal for grownups…

After one wild evening and a bit too much liquid encouragement, Julie discovers a side of herself she’s always tried to ignore. The realization she’s a sub not only scares her, it excites her and she yearns for more. But the process of finding the right man to teach her becomes a real issue, until Mason comes along. He’s everything Julie imagines a Dom should be. Armed with her masque and Renaissance costume, Julie is thrown for a loop when the handsome Master draws more willingness out of her than she ever thought possible. Is it possible she’s more than a submissive? And will the assumptions he’s made about her identity end up tearing them apart?

ARe Amazon Nook

Assumed Identity, Series Book 4
Published By: Rebel Ink Press LLC
Published: May 3, 2012
Five Flames

We may be born to the lifestyle,

Julie Stevens and Dante Larson always knew their tastes were a bit more eccentric than those of the average person, but acknowledgement of their chosen paths came at different times. While their lives have run parallel for the last twenty years, destiny always came knocking at the wrong time. Julie was a closeted edge player and before Dante could pull her free of her fears, Mason came along and dragged her kicking and screaming from her self-inflicted darkness, leaving Dante wanting. Although Dante’s been in love with Julie since the day he first laid eyes on her, he's happily married to Blake. But the tides are turning.

But Lady Fate dictates how it should be lived…

Still mourning the death of the only Master she’s ever known, Julie finds herself forced to live with the one man she’s been terrified of for years, Dante. While she has to admit something between them feels right, just as many things feel very, very wrong, starting with the fact he’s married to her gay best friend. Before she even has time to sort out her current predicament, another man catches Julie's attention. But after losing her mother, her sister, and her husband, can Julie come to grips with the fact that Keegan McKettrick jumps out of perfectly good helicopters for a living, rescue diving for the Coast Guard? And where exactly does that leave Dante, who knows for sure he needs a woman to complete his unconventional marriage? Quite frankly, he's tired of waiting.

ARe Amazon Nook

Happy reading!

Lila Munro 

Excerpt from Assumed Calling, Book Five, Identity Series...

Please enjoy a snippet from Assumed Calling… 

Glancing at the clock on the mantle in his study and wondering if sleep was in the cards for him at all, Allen sank into the welcome comfort of the leather love seat opposite the couch where Kyle had taken up residence, sipping on a Cognac.

“You look like you could use one,” Kyle said, holding up his glass then setting it on the table between them and standing to go to the liquor cabinet. “Where did you happen to come across this vintage?”

“It was a gift,” Allen answered, sinking further into his seat and accepting the glass Kyle offered.

“You can’t keep letting Mason’s death dictate what you do with the rest of your life.” Kyle retook his seat and resumed possession of his drink. “Life being the key word.”

“When the hell did we wake up old men?” Allen asked, slipping off his shoes and propping his feet on the cocktail table. “All this…” He waved the hand holding the glass around and his eyes roamed his study. “The houses, the money, the cars. None of it means shit in the end, does it? We get creaky, we turn gray, and we fucking die. And if fate really hates us, we leave behind some beautiful creature heartbroken and alone.”

“She is beautiful,” Kyle agreed, one corner of his mouth quirking. “I looked in on her. Cute as a button and so very…innocent looking. You'd better snatch her up and play with her before someone else does.”

“Playing with her is exactly what it would be.” He wiggled his toes a few times, wishing he’d at least found someone to rub his damn feet for him before he pitched a bitch and sent them all packing. Was a foot rub so much to ask for in the scheme of things? “She needs more than I’m capable of giving her. I saw it in her eyes. I have a feeling she’s been neglected and tossed to the side more than once and me stringing her along to let her go at some point would be just plain cruel.”

“More than you’re capable of or more than you’re willing to give? Is she agreeable to a temporary arrangement?”

Allen rolled his eyes and drained his tumbler, wishing the warmth it spread across his palate and sent through his veins would find its way to his soul, that part of him which had been icing over for a while now.

“You didn’t even bother asking her, did you?” Kyle accused, his eyes narrowing. “You’re not afraid of your mortality. You’re afraid of yourself. Afraid you might actually be able to care for someone.”

“I’ve cared for plenty of someones,” Allen said.

“But never loved anyone.”

“No.”

Thanks for having a read,

Lila Munro

Swoon-Worthy or Not, That is the Question...

Swoon-worthy is a matter of perception, like many things in romance. There are hundreds of aspects surrounding romance novels. Completely unlike what experts declare to be the six or so key elements key to the formula. Or pattern as it were…But does the pattern really still ring true?

Let’s see…Guy meets girl, or guy meets guy, or guys meet girl, or wolf meets girl, or vampire meets guy…

As you can see the first pattern of romance is established via the perfectly normal relationship according to societal standards…(okay—can you see my smirk from clear over there?) So, seems we’ve disrupted that part of the “pattern” a bit…

What’s the next stop on the formula highway?

They fall in love, there is a grievous “thing” that keeps them apart for several chapters, the “thing is resolved,” they have the most explosive, best feeling sex ever (even if they are both virgins and have nothing to compare it to), oh, and then happily-ever-after, blah, blah, blah…

Formula complete.

Well, I don’t know about y’all, but I grew way tired of that little pigeonhole, box mold formula a long time ago. Give me something to chew on for a while. Not…

See Dick.

See Jane.

See Dick fall in love with Jane.

See Jane swoon.

See Dick and Jane get married.

See Jane wears white even though at that cocktail party that night they slipped into a closet and it was “implied” they were doing something other than kissing.

See Jane give birth seven and a half months later.

See Dick get frustrated some years down the road and divorce poor Jane.

Okay that last bit is how I see life. Realistically. Problem ridden. The silver lining needs silver polish and the rainbow is missing a color or two at times and the pot of gold happens to be a cardboard cut-out. J

My secret is out. I am indeed the Queen of Conflict.

That’s one of the problems I have with formulaic romance. The lack of serious conflictual material. I love conflict and think it makes the story. It allows your characters to overcome something other than the decision as to what to wear to that big cotillion over to the country club. It gives them depth and gives them room to grow—editors call it character development. And, they like it deep. (hehe)

However, I’ve learned to rein this conflicting skill in to a fine art. The conflict must be something realistic that can be overcome or it’s off the board for me. I live in a real world with real people all around me with plenty of real life issues to draw from. There is no excuse for me not to have a beautiful storyline chock full of conflict, heroism, tears, joy, and resolve to write a romance novel which my readers can believe in and be inspired from. If my characters can do it, well, then they need to believe they can too and anything is possible in their lives.

They can find true love, even if that love comes home from Iraq not completely the person they left as. They can overcome the heartache of loss and move on to find love again. They can face their inner demons and become the people they know they can be.

My characters have substance.

But do they make anyone swoon?

I hope so.

What is swoon worthy anyway? Well, just because I make it so real doesn’t mean my heroes and heroines don’t know how to be romantic and display loving gestures fit for any Lady of any court befitted upon them by any Knight. (I love historical, but only well written, factual, down and dirty historical where things aren’t always sunshine and daffodils—who’d have guessed that, right?)

So, the moral of the story is…

One man’s seven course dinner is another man’s roof job, or, one man’s moonlight walk is another man’s switch to his heroine’s behind.

Some of Allen’s romantic gestures which I consider swoon-worthy from Assumed Calling include; he keeps Nicki’s studio filled with daisies (her favorite flower), he sends her texts reminding her to eat, and he takes her to sub-space to help her control her anxiety.

Romantic gestures are all in the perception of them. Swooning is optional. J

I hope y’all enjoy getting to know Allen and his romantic methods in a few days…

Lila Munro 

Good morning from Lila Munro!

Good morning everyone! Welcome to the party and thanks to Goddess Fish for hosting. J I always enjoy myself immensely when I get to come to an event here because all you readers who come by are so fantastic. I love interacting with all of you and I hope what I have to share with you today piques your interest…

First a bit about me for anyone in the crowd who’s unfamiliar. I’m Lila Munro, procurer or realmantic notions, head chief at Realmantic Moments, military wife, doggy lover, mom, gardener, stitch worker at times (I embroiderer), Vera Bradley fanatic, shoe collector, bubble bath enthusiast, and appreciator of Crown Royal. J I’ve been following my marine around for the last sixteen or so years and have lived all over the place from Okinawa Japan to Missouri to Virginia to North Carolina…and have learned so much and been so inspired in my travels. And last but not least, I’m excited to be here this morning.

The release I’m sharing today will hit e-shelves November 17 through all major outlets and I owe much thanks to my publisher, Rebel Ink Press, for their support, editing staff, and care with my work.

Assumed Calling is the fifth and final book in my Identity series, which I’ve dropped by and talked about many times. It is Allen’s story who you’ve all met in previous volumes, first in Assumed Identity then again in Assumed Master. Although, something few people know, he has known Kyle Montgomery from book two, True Identity, his entire life in spite of the fact he’s never mentioned in that particular story. Ending the series was bittersweet for me. I realized while writing Assumed Master the series was coming to an end and rather than try to push my luck and keep adding on when there was no more material left (a lesson I’ve learned through observation), I decided I should end the series on a positive note and go out with a bang.

I don’t think Assumed Calling will fail in either area. Readers will discover that this story didn’t just end the Identity series, it actually sets the scene for a spin-off series to be rolled out in 2013, Steele Image, and it also sets the stage for the third and final installation to the Force Recon books which I’ll be writing with BethAnn Buehler next year to be titled Force Recon: Rogue Nation.

I’ll be sharing excerpts today and later this evening I’ll share where Assumed Calling can be found on November 17 and where you can find and follow me. J

Have a great time today everyone! And don’t be strangers. I’ll be popping in and out all day and I love to chat and answer questions. Feel free to grill me.

Like the beat of a primal drum whispering the rhythm of an ancient dance, the lifestyle calls…

At the seasoned age of fifty-six, Allen Bourke has resigned himself to the fact he’ll probably never find someone to top he can also love. While he’s had wives and lovers, none of them endured and he’s come to the conclusion the clock’s ticking and age is working against him. Then a very intriguing Nicki Cartwright pings on his radar at what Allen determines will be his last house party. He can’t help but notice while he and his friends are getting older, the players emerging on the scene are forever getting younger. Nicki's no exception. Determined to resist the vibes humming between them, he only agrees to service her after his old friend, Kyle Montgomery, convinces him it's entirely feasible. Then it’s brought to Allen’s attention who Nicki really is. Knowing their pasts are forever intertwined, as hard as he tries to ignore his heart, he finds himself yielding to the tides of fate.

Born to senatorial royalty, Nicki Cartwright has spent her entire life trying to shield her mother from her father’s wrath while drifting further and further into a world where panic is normal and anxiety is always on the edge of her reality. Tired of burning the candle at both ends and forever trying to live up to the picture of All-American perfection her father James Cartwright touts as his ace in the hole during election cycles, Nicki finds herself on the path of self-discovery in search of relief from the stressors continually swamping her mind. What she doesn’t expect is to find who she thought she was is truly just a shadow of the person she really is. And what scares her most is the fact Allen, the only person she thought she could trust, has been holding a secret since before she was born which could destroy her entire family. 

Thank You and Good Night!

I've had a lot of fun here today and wanted to wind the evening up with a great big thank you to the readers and to Marianne and Judy for hosting another terrific event. Remember, Private Pirouette comes out September 17 and will be available at:

Amazon     ARe     Nook

I'd love for all of you to come keep up with me and my writing. I can be found regularly at:

Realmantic Moments      Facebook     Twitter

Thanks again and....
Happy Reading All!

Lila Munro

I'll Be on Tour...

During the months of September and October I'll be taking Private Piourette on tour through Goddess Fish. Please be sure to join me. Follow along and leave me comments along the way for chances to win a $25.00 gift card. You can find me at the following places and dates:

Sept. 24: Maria-Claire Payne
Sept. 25: Rachel Leigh - Erotic Romance
Sept. 26: Christine Young Romance Writer
Sept. 27: Ramblings From This Chick
Sept. 28: Sugarbeat's Books

October 1: From Me to You ... Video, Photography, & Book Reviews
October 2: Reviews by Molly
October 3: All I want and more
October 4: The Bunny's Review
October 5: Dark Haven Book Reviews
October 8: The Brunette Librarian
October 9: Wickedly Wanton Tales
October 10: Books and Other Spells
October 11: Erzabet's Enchantments
October 12: My Reading Obsession
October 12: STOP 2 Queen of the Night Reviews

Lila Munro