books

I’m kind of obsessed about making sure my apartment smells nice. Before I got cats I always had a fancy candle burning. One of the cats singing his tail put a stop to that habit, but I can still use nice air fresheners.

I currently use this dual scent Febreeze plug in thing that I love in one room, and a trusted Glade plug in back in the bedroom. I also spend a lot of time picking out scents that are pleasant, but not overwhelming.

Usually I tend to like sweeter, non-floral fragrances. Apples, cinnamon, chai, clean linen. I’ve probably had a lot of different ones in my apartment over the years! My favorites are always the holiday themed lines that come out for just a few weeks. I might be guilty of stocking up on those.

Since we’ve moved into the digital age and most of us read on our ereaders now, the scent of a book isn’t part of the equation nearly as much as it used to be. When I was younger, I loved the fragrance of my favorite books. How the lingering odor of fresh cut grass clung to the pages of one I’d read outside, how another had an earthy scent because I spilled a little tea on the corner at the kitchen table. It was hard enough then to translate the written words into things like sounds, feels and scents.

In romance books, sometimes I think they should come with a piece of scented paper, like what a sales person at a department store will give you with the latest fragrance spritzed on it. On one side you could have the hero’s scent, and on the other the heroine’s. A fragrance is unique to a person. Because of the way the chemicals react on our skin, no two people can smell exactly the same despite using the same fragrance.

Before I ever sit down to write a hero I do character bios. This includes crazy details that might never make it into the book. One of those things is picking out the hero’s scent. I think it’s as important as anything else I figure out. I mean, I spend way too much time just picking out the fragrance for my apartment, and here I am choosing something to identify my heroes!

I also kind of cheat. Sometimes I go through the candles at a store and smell them to figure out how my heroes will smell! What I love is that a lot of places have begun to carry more masculine scented things. Here’s some of my favorites:

Bamboo and Green Tea – this one is soothing, has an earthy hint to it. I picture this hero as the quiet, unexpected romance. He might be the guy next door or the boy you used to go to study hall with, but he’s not a total rule follower.

Amaretto – this is a liquor scented option. This is your GQ guy, classy, maybe a bit of a corporate bad boy.

Indian Musk – a blend of Indian spices, sandalwood and musk, it’s exotic and a bit down to earth. This is the guy who can wear jeans and a t-shirt, but also dress it up. He’s going to surprise you.

Smoke – this sounds weird, I know, but there’s actually a fragrance that is designed to smell like a pleasant smoke aroma. The secondary perk of this one? It eliminates other odors, so that man of mystery, your secret agent or maybe undercover cop, he’s free to smell good and keep his mysteriousness!

I could go on, but you get the idea. Scents have personalities to them, why we chose them tells something about ourselves.

What do you like your heroes to smell of?

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It can never be said that Sidney Bristol has had a ‘normal’ life.  She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and belly dancing.

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Bound with Pearls   Ellora’s Cave | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

The last thing Christine wants to do is another favor for her sister, but Lucy always gets what she wants. This time it’s Chris playing sub to a demanding Dom. Their relationship begins with a power exchange and progresses to time spent between the sheets. Now emotions are getting complicated and the Dom isn’t just a hunky guy in black.

Daniel’s expectations are turned upside down when he meets Chris. She’s more than a well-trained submissive. She’s a woman with a body he wants to memorize. He’s willing to spend as much time as it takes to learn her, because she might be his match and his muse. He’ll make her come so hard he’s imprinted on every inch, and then he’ll offer her the most precious thing he can, himself.