Saturday, November 21, 2009

Saturday Snippets: Arrivals

Today's theme for Saturday Snippets is "arrivals".

When I thought about this I thought about the arrival of a new child. But it can mean other things as well.

My morsel for you today is the arrival of the demi-God Leo, as in Leo the Lion. He's tired of being in heaven and wants someone fun to celebrate his birthday with so he skips down to Earth. His father Zeus is mad at him of course and wants him to learn a lesson so he can't get home without help. Meanwhile, without Leo's guidance all his earthly Leos start to run amuck and chaos ensues.


This was a fun story to write and I was thrilled when Ellora's Cave selected my story about Leo for their month of August Zodiac story in 2006. It's still available if you want to read the entire story. :)

By the way, I'm a Scorpio and my birthday is today. My moon is in Leo, however, and if you know anything about the Zodiac, I'm on the cusp of Sagitarrius.

This story began as a story directed at Scorpio - the heroine's a Scorpio like me with her moon in Leo. But Ellora's Cave asked me to write it for Leo babies and I was happy to oblige. I hope you like it.

So here's my birthday present for you.

Hubby gave me a new laptop for my birthday this year and I love it! However, it has a different version of Word and everything including blogger is acting wonky. I don't know if my links will work. I'll have to fix them after my daughter's softball tournament game which I have to run to now. If they don't work please stop by again later so you can also visit all the other authors in today's group to read their excerpts.

An Excerpt From: HEAVENLY HIJINKS
Copyright © ASHLEY LADD, 2006

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

The bell tinkled again and Clestie slumped against the counter and breathed a sigh of inordinate relief. “Hallelujah! She left.”

Then a duet of voices interrupted the blessed silence, and Clestie’s heart skipped a beat. She clawed at Elizabeth’s wrist. “Hurry. Lock the door. They’re multiplying.” Like an invasion of locusts and all the other frightening biblical stuff in Revelations.

Her cousin rolled her eyes and shook off her death grip. “Our aunt was revered.”

Clestie could go for a little mediocrity about now. “Do I have to go out there?” She’d rather face a swarm of locusts.

“Afraid so.” Elizabeth patted her back.

She wished Elizabeth had a canister of oxygen as well. She might have to purchase an inhaler of her own. Truly, she’d have to practice her deep breathing exercises as soon as she could get a few minutes to herself. The way things were going, she’d have to lock herself in the bathroom to get any private time. “Save me.”

Her cousin cracked a smile. “Welcome to the joys of entrepreneurship.”

Clestie checked her watch and almost groaned when it only emphasized how many hours of daylight were left. “You mean the headaches.”

The bell tinkled again…and again. By the time Clestie ran to the front, a mini mob had formed. She dragged in several deep, cleansing breaths. “I’m sorry, but we’re not open for business.”

“But we’re lost. We need guidance.” They started chanting, “Sun. Moon. Sun. Moon.”

A tall blond man with golden tresses cascading down his back pushed through the crowd. And he was only wearing a loincloth! But he moved oh-so sensually, with leonine grace and assured strides, that he could be forgiven anything. “Perhaps I can lend assistance. I am a master of reading the zodiacal charts and prophesying fortunes. I also read the tarot.”

Really needing that oxygen desperately now, Clestie was about to hyperventilate as her gaze took in the nearly naked Tarzan. Mesmerized by the man’s godlike beauty, Clestie’s skin tingled in decadently scandalous ways and she prayed that mind-reading wasn’t another one of his many talents. Her respiration shallowed and perspiration beaded heavily on her brow, threatening to run into her eyes. She dabbed at the tiny droplets with her fingers as she searched for her voice. After several muffled attempts, she finally croaked out, “You can?”

Elizabeth hissed, “Mr. Chippendales is stealing our business. Kick him out.”

Ignoring her cousin, Clestie stepped forward, trying not to ogle the man’s hunky bod. But his rippling muscles and shimmering hair made her pussy clench and her nipples peak so tightly that she was about to orgasm without anyone touching her. His intensely golden eyes and sparkling smile stole her breath. “Are you applying for a job?”

Heavenly Hijinks is available at: Ellora's Cave

Vivian Arend
Leah Braemel
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
TJ Michaels
Juliana Stone
Eliza Gayle
McKenna Jeffries
Jody Wallace
Lauren Dane
Juliana Stone
Kelly Maher
Shelli Stevens
Victoria Janssen
Moira Rogers

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday, Ashley! I'm a fellow Scorpio - mines the 7th!

Enjoy your day...

Anonymous said...

It is very interesting for me to read this post. Thank author for it. I like such topics and anything connected to them. I would like to read a bit more on that blog soon.

Linda Kage said...

Oh, thank you so much for providing the excerpt; I totally love the cover of the book. It was like a birthday present to ME!!

Happy birthday, hope it was a good one.

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