Cupid Rocks
Francesca Hawley
Book Length: Novel
Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publishing Inc.
Availability: Feb 22, 2013
DESCRIPTION
When her parents’ rock band The Pack performs at Zach’s bar, Mandy discovers her True Mate, Joe Blackwolf, the band’s lead singer and guitarist. All she has to do now is convince Joe that she told a little white lie to make her mom happy, her father that rock musicians aren’t all alike, and her new mate’s family that rockers aren’t all that different from classical musicians. Joe Blackwolf is celebrating his fortieth birthday. And what he wishes for when he blows out the candles is to find his True Mate. He succeeds when he meets Mandy Goldwolf. Problem is…she belongs to someone else. Finding out the truth leaves him free to explore every inch of her smokin’ hot curves, but now Joe and Mandy are neck deep in overbearing relatives and everyone is in for a rockin’ Valentine’s Day. A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
Did you all know that one of my New Year's resolutions is to become more up to date musically. I come from a musical family but my musical interest extends to whatever is on my iPod while I am at the gym. But lately I've been reading steamy romance and erotica centered around rock and roll musicians and it's made me want to know more about music.
Thus, when Bewitching came up with CUPID ROCKS by Francesca Hawley from one of the publishers where erotica is no holds barred, I wanted to be part of it.
So, here's Francesca with her writing playlist trying to help me fulfill my New Year's Rez. Interesting questions at the end. Thanks for coming over Francesca!
Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publishing Inc.
Availability: Feb 22, 2013
DESCRIPTION
When her parents’ rock band The Pack performs at Zach’s bar, Mandy discovers her True Mate, Joe Blackwolf, the band’s lead singer and guitarist. All she has to do now is convince Joe that she told a little white lie to make her mom happy, her father that rock musicians aren’t all alike, and her new mate’s family that rockers aren’t all that different from classical musicians. Joe Blackwolf is celebrating his fortieth birthday. And what he wishes for when he blows out the candles is to find his True Mate. He succeeds when he meets Mandy Goldwolf. Problem is…she belongs to someone else. Finding out the truth leaves him free to explore every inch of her smokin’ hot curves, but now Joe and Mandy are neck deep in overbearing relatives and everyone is in for a rockin’ Valentine’s Day. A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
Did you all know that one of my New Year's resolutions is to become more up to date musically. I come from a musical family but my musical interest extends to whatever is on my iPod while I am at the gym. But lately I've been reading steamy romance and erotica centered around rock and roll musicians and it's made me want to know more about music.
Thus, when Bewitching came up with CUPID ROCKS by Francesca Hawley from one of the publishers where erotica is no holds barred, I wanted to be part of it.
So, here's Francesca with her writing playlist trying to help me fulfill my New Year's Rez. Interesting questions at the end. Thanks for coming over Francesca!
I went ahead and put some of the videos in off YouTube.
Hi everyone - Francesca Hawley here!
My latest release is CUPID ROCKS and it takes place in my shapeshifter universe at Valentine's Day.
My hero, Joe Blackwolf, is a lead singer/lead guitarist in a rock band. The story opens on his fortieth birthday where he's wondering what he's got to show for his life. Years of touring, but no home and no pups. Complications arise when he meets his True Mate, Mandy Goldwolf. He discovers she is the only daughter of two True Mated musicians in his new band, The Pack.
Even worse in Joe's eyes, he thinks Mandy is a cheater and he has some negative experiences of that. Mandy isn't mated, but she told her mother she was in order to get some breathing room on the ever present topic of "when am I going to get some grandpups?" Well, Mandy has some 'splaining to do because she doesn't tell Joe the truth right away. Instead, they do the wild thing in an empty office between sets. Now she has to straighten out the mess she created by lying to her mother and not telling Joe the truth before he found out in a very public way.
So what do I listen to in order to get in the mood to write this? Well, I've created a playlist of songs that I might expect to hear The Pack play during a concert. Here are some of the songs I used for inspiration and why:
Sweet Child O'Mine - Guns and Roses This one opens the concert at the opening of the book. One of the most recognizable opening guitar riffs ever. I can see Joe playing this clear as day. He hasn't met Mandy, but this is who she'll come to represent to him. (No, not his child - find the lyrics and you'll know what I mean).
http://youtu.be/1w7OgIMMRc4
Joe Fabulous - Bad Company
This one should be pretty self-explanatory. Joe Blackwolf is fabulous. At least Mandy thinks so and this song is a great showcase for Joe's guitar playing.
Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi Great guitar riffs at the opening and it describes life on the road really well. It fits Joe's mindset at the opening of my story. Tired, jaded, but loving the life he's led for the last twenty years. Like Bon Jovi - Joe's "seen a million faces and he's rocked them all."
Turn The Page - Bob Seger Another song about life on the road. The mood of this song is mournful. I love the sense of "other" Seger sings about when going into restaurants. "Is that a woman or a man?" Joe's always had long hair so this is part of his background. Sometimes listening to the right songs, gets me inside the core of a character faster than anything else, and when he sings it, his parents get a sense of who he is.
http://youtu.be/afvFgV3_kuw
Bouree (J.S. Bach) - performed by Yngwie Malmsteen
When I first started writing this story, I didn't know who Yngwie Malmsteen was. I'd heard of Hendrix, Beck, Clapton and Van Halen. I sat down with musician/guitarist Dorian Michael and shared info about my guitar player and picked his brain for ideas. Little things that would be useful to know. As I described Joe, Dorian mentioned Malmsteen and how the Swedish artist was a heavy metal guitarist and shredder to the nth degree who had a classical background. It was almost like he was describing Joe to me and I knew that Malmsteen would have been a huge influence on Joe when he was starting out as a musician. So when The Pack plays, they always include at least one Malmsteen cover so Joe can rock out.
http://youtu.be/Wq7ob8T_tP8 (1983)
My Father's Eyes - Eric Clapton
Since Joe joined The Pack, the band has always opened the second set with two songs about fathers. Joe sings these songs in tribute to his own father but he never expected his father to hear him sing because of Leopold's disapproval for rock music.
Leader of the Band - Dan Fogelberg At the concert that his parents attend, the band begins the second set the way they always do, despite Joe's uncertainty. Joe loves his dad a lot but he's never been able to tell him. This song allows him and his brothers, who join him on stage, to tell Leopold how they feel.
Malaguena - Steven Pasero Originally the sixth movement of the Suite Andalucia by Ernesto Lecuona. I heard a live version played by Steven Pasero and it evoked Joe in classical mode. I knew the passion and intensity of this performance was in Joe's soul and it would inspire and arouse Mandy when she heard him perform it. She's a guitar chick, after all.
http://youtu.be/zIaEum8J0uw
Rockstar - Nickelback
This is just tongue in cheek funny. Joe's a working rock musician, not a rock star. He almost can't imagine the "Rock Star" life. He's good enough to have made it but wasn't really willing (as he feels ) to lose a piece of himself to make it. So he makes fun of the life by singing a cover of this song. Most of his band mates are influenced by the sixties and seventies greats. Joe is more eighties and nineties because he's always been the oldest member of a band in the past.
BTW, if you've never seen the video for this song, seek it out. It is hilarious. You'll see one of the guys from ZZ Top, Ted Nugent, Gene Simmons, Wayne Gretzky, blond Playboy bunnies and many more in cameo appearances. Nickelback doesn't even appear in this video until the last couple of bars of the song. It is a killer video. (You can't tell I'm a Nickelback fan, can you?)
http://youtu.be/_1hgVcNzvzY
The Load Out/Stay - Jackson Browne
Encore time. More life on the road, but this is dedicated to the audience. Kind of a "thank you" for coming. I've always loved this song, and I'm sure a lot of bands have covered this tun through the years. Mandy's mom plays the keyboards, but Joe sings it. I love the way The Load Out just segues into Stay. It's a great encore tune.
Faithfully - Journey Mandy has never liked life on the road, but Joe is a musician. He can't stop or he'll stop being who he is. In his past, long distance relationships have crashed and burned. But with Mandy, he's willing to try...Faithfully. Mandy is willing to give up some of her security to travel with him at times, while she provides him a home base to come back to. The love and passion between them
http://youtu.be/OMD8hBsA-RI
Angel Eyes - The Jeff Healey Band
Joe's view of Mandy. He can't believe she could or should want him. I've loved this song ever since Jeff Healey was featured in RoadHouse. This song has a real blues flavor mixed with the rock and Healey's rough voice makes this song a must hear. It fits Joe's view of Mandy - untouchable - yet there's nothing he wants more than to touch her. Love her. sigh... Yeah, I love this one.
Angel - Aerosmith Angel is Joe's nickname for Mandy. Great love song with good guitar riffs. He's crying and aching for her. He wants her to come and save him. Totally fits the story and the characters. I love Aerosmith. Between Steven Tyler's vocals and Joe Perry's guitar, they're gold practically every time they perform.
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton This song is bittersweet for Mandy and Joe because of the context of its appearance in the story. I've made up my mind to have it make a reappearance late in the story. This kind of becomes "their song." ***
Hope you enjoyed my playlist. When you are writing what do you listen to? Do you create a playlist? Do your songs have words or are they classical so they don't distract you? If you're a reader, do you turn on background music when you're reading or do you prefer silence so you can immerse yourself in the story?
By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.
“Am I dead, Angel? Cause you look like you’re straight from heaven!”
My hero, Joe Blackwolf, is a lead singer/lead guitarist in a rock band. The story opens on his fortieth birthday where he's wondering what he's got to show for his life. Years of touring, but no home and no pups. Complications arise when he meets his True Mate, Mandy Goldwolf. He discovers she is the only daughter of two True Mated musicians in his new band, The Pack.
Even worse in Joe's eyes, he thinks Mandy is a cheater and he has some negative experiences of that. Mandy isn't mated, but she told her mother she was in order to get some breathing room on the ever present topic of "when am I going to get some grandpups?" Well, Mandy has some 'splaining to do because she doesn't tell Joe the truth right away. Instead, they do the wild thing in an empty office between sets. Now she has to straighten out the mess she created by lying to her mother and not telling Joe the truth before he found out in a very public way.
So what do I listen to in order to get in the mood to write this? Well, I've created a playlist of songs that I might expect to hear The Pack play during a concert. Here are some of the songs I used for inspiration and why:
Sweet Child O'Mine - Guns and Roses This one opens the concert at the opening of the book. One of the most recognizable opening guitar riffs ever. I can see Joe playing this clear as day. He hasn't met Mandy, but this is who she'll come to represent to him. (No, not his child - find the lyrics and you'll know what I mean).
http://youtu.be/1w7OgIMMRc4
Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi Great guitar riffs at the opening and it describes life on the road really well. It fits Joe's mindset at the opening of my story. Tired, jaded, but loving the life he's led for the last twenty years. Like Bon Jovi - Joe's "seen a million faces and he's rocked them all."
Turn The Page - Bob Seger Another song about life on the road. The mood of this song is mournful. I love the sense of "other" Seger sings about when going into restaurants. "Is that a woman or a man?" Joe's always had long hair so this is part of his background. Sometimes listening to the right songs, gets me inside the core of a character faster than anything else, and when he sings it, his parents get a sense of who he is.
http://youtu.be/afvFgV3_kuw
http://youtu.be/Wq7ob8T_tP8 (1983)
Leader of the Band - Dan Fogelberg At the concert that his parents attend, the band begins the second set the way they always do, despite Joe's uncertainty. Joe loves his dad a lot but he's never been able to tell him. This song allows him and his brothers, who join him on stage, to tell Leopold how they feel.
Malaguena - Steven Pasero Originally the sixth movement of the Suite Andalucia by Ernesto Lecuona. I heard a live version played by Steven Pasero and it evoked Joe in classical mode. I knew the passion and intensity of this performance was in Joe's soul and it would inspire and arouse Mandy when she heard him perform it. She's a guitar chick, after all.
http://youtu.be/zIaEum8J0uw
http://youtu.be/_1hgVcNzvzY
Faithfully - Journey Mandy has never liked life on the road, but Joe is a musician. He can't stop or he'll stop being who he is. In his past, long distance relationships have crashed and burned. But with Mandy, he's willing to try...Faithfully. Mandy is willing to give up some of her security to travel with him at times, while she provides him a home base to come back to. The love and passion between them
http://youtu.be/OMD8hBsA-RI
Angel - Aerosmith Angel is Joe's nickname for Mandy. Great love song with good guitar riffs. He's crying and aching for her. He wants her to come and save him. Totally fits the story and the characters. I love Aerosmith. Between Steven Tyler's vocals and Joe Perry's guitar, they're gold practically every time they perform.
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton This song is bittersweet for Mandy and Joe because of the context of its appearance in the story. I've made up my mind to have it make a reappearance late in the story. This kind of becomes "their song." ***
Hope you enjoyed my playlist. When you are writing what do you listen to? Do you create a playlist? Do your songs have words or are they classical so they don't distract you? If you're a reader, do you turn on background music when you're reading or do you prefer silence so you can immerse yourself in the story?
By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.
An Excerpt From: Cupid Rocks
Copyright © FRANCESCA HAWLEY, 2013 All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.“Am I dead, Angel? Cause you look like you’re straight from heaven!”
“That has to be the worst line I’ve ever heard,” Mandy laughed, looking up into warm brown eyes.
She shivered as he settled into the chair beside her.
“Maybe, but it made you laugh.” He took her hand. “Can I buy you a drink?”
Joe waved over a waiter and ordered for them without once releasing her hand. She could feel the rough calluses guitar playing had created on his fingers, but they turned her on. He turned her on. This was Joe? “Good ole Joe” as Eddie called him. He was neither good nor old. No. He was gorgeous…and talented. Zach wasn’t kidding when he’d said this Blackwolf was a great guitarist and singer.
For the first time since Carly bugged her, she wished with all her might she hadn’t lied about Zach being her mate. Zach might be handsome, but Joe made her throb in places that hadn’t throbbed in all of her thirty-five years.
“So what’s with the camera, Angel? Fan or reporter?” Mandy looked down at her fingers clenched around her camera strap.
If she told him who she was, he’d back off so fast she’d see skid marks on the floor. Just this once, she wanted to pretend she was someone else. Just tonight. She leaned forward pressing her lips against his ear.
“I’m more than a fan. I’m a groupie. Can’t you tell?”
He shuddered, turning his head he met her gaze. The fire glowing in his eyes set her boiling. Yes. She had to have him. Now.
“A groupie? For just any rock musician?”
“No, Joe. I want you.”
“Fuck, yeah,” he growled, standing so abruptly his chair toppled over.
No one nearby noticed as he dragged her to her feet. “Where?”
Mandy looked over toward the hallway leading to Zach’s office and smiled. They had a clear path. She pulled him after her and they ducked into the shadowy space.
He pressed her to the wall and took her mouth in a deep kiss. Their mouths meshed together. Joe pulled back to nip at her lips, then ran his tongue along the inside edge of her lower lip. She caught his long dark hair in her fingers, holding his mouth to hers. Fire. Heat. She’d never felt anything like this in her entire life. She moaned as his mouth slid to nuzzle her neck. Mandy wrapped her free arm around him, clutching his leather jacket. She lifted her right leg along his hip. He stepped into the opening she’d created, thrusting his hips against hers. She shivered as his rough fingers slid along her leg and under her skirt. He slipped his fingers under her panties and cupped her ass. Grasping her, he pulled her more firmly against his hard cock. He reached up to her peasant top, untying the drawstring to bare her bra covered breast. His hot breath teased her neck and then his warm tongue grazed her skin as he licked his way over her curves
“Hey. Anyone seen Joe?” Mandy and Joe froze as she heard Eddie’s voice. He was close. Too close. She looked out of the entrance of the hall. She didn’t see him, but he was right there. She knew it. Mandy closed her eyes, fighting to keep her panting excitement from giving them away.
“I think I saw him with a hot chick earlier. I didn’t get a good look at her though. Just noticed she was his type.” Tom responded with a laugh. Joe groaned in her ear, and kissed her cheek. She turned to look up at him. He was still on fire, she could see it but there was a definite question in his dark eyes? Stop or go? She lowered her leg and he sighed, then she smiled and grabbed his hand.
“This way,” she whispered. Mandy knew there was an empty unlocked office back here and she wanted this wolf and she wanted him now.
He chuckled as they moved into the darkness. She found the door on the right and turned the knob. Hearing the click, she pushed, wincing at the creak when the door stuck. He pushed her through and they shut the door behind them. Mandy flipped the light switch, blinking a bit to adjust to the table lamps that came on. She’d been expecting an overhead. They looked at each other and grinned. Joe pulled her over to the empty desk and she climbed up onto it. He stroked her cheek.
“You’re sure?” “Yes. I don’t want to stop. Not now.”
Hi. I’m Francesca Hawley and I’m a fat chick. A woman with dangerous curves just like my heroines.
Many people don’t like the word, “fat” but I do because it’s the truth and I’ve learned to own it. I am a fat chick and I always will be. Even if my fairy godmother popped in right at this moment and waved her wand to make me a size 2, I know that mentally and emotionally I’d still be a fat chick. So why is this relevant? Well, my size has had a major influence on how I see the world and how I write.
I first began to read romance when I was in my teens. I loved the genre, but the heroines were all thin. Their thighs didn’t rub together…had never rubbed together…and frankly I had trouble relating to these ladies. The stories were great—full of emotion and well told, but the heroines weren’t like me and that was a major disappointment. I kept wondering where were the fat heroines? I found some occasionally, but to have their Happily Ever After they usually had to lose weight and go from ugly duckling to swan.
Well, I wanted a fat heroine who loved herself—or at least learned to love herself—and a hot alpha hero who liked her jiggly bits just the way they were. Since I didn’t find many big girls to read about, I decided to write about them myself. After all, I loved to write anyway and had been writing almost as long as I’d been reading, so Francesca Hawley – author of Romance with Dangerous Curves was born.
In a Francesca Hawley romance, my readers will find authentic, sensual, fat heroines who love and are loved by their intense, passionate, and seductive Alpha heroes. I hope you enjoy their dangerous curves just as much as their hunky heroes do.
http://www.francescahawley.com
http://www.francescasmindstream.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/francescahawley
http://www.facebook.com/francesca.hawley
http://www.youtube.com/francescahawley
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He pressed her to the wall and took her mouth in a deep kiss. Their mouths meshed together. Joe pulled back to nip at her lips, then ran his tongue along the inside edge of her lower lip. She caught his long dark hair in her fingers, holding his mouth to hers. Fire. Heat. She’d never felt anything like this in her entire life. She moaned as his mouth slid to nuzzle her neck. Mandy wrapped her free arm around him, clutching his leather jacket. She lifted her right leg along his hip. He stepped into the opening she’d created, thrusting his hips against hers. She shivered as his rough fingers slid along her leg and under her skirt. He slipped his fingers under her panties and cupped her ass. Grasping her, he pulled her more firmly against his hard cock. He reached up to her peasant top, untying the drawstring to bare her bra covered breast. His hot breath teased her neck and then his warm tongue grazed her skin as he licked his way over her curves
“Hey. Anyone seen Joe?” Mandy and Joe froze as she heard Eddie’s voice. He was close. Too close. She looked out of the entrance of the hall. She didn’t see him, but he was right there. She knew it. Mandy closed her eyes, fighting to keep her panting excitement from giving them away.
“I think I saw him with a hot chick earlier. I didn’t get a good look at her though. Just noticed she was his type.” Tom responded with a laugh. Joe groaned in her ear, and kissed her cheek. She turned to look up at him. He was still on fire, she could see it but there was a definite question in his dark eyes? Stop or go? She lowered her leg and he sighed, then she smiled and grabbed his hand.
“This way,” she whispered. Mandy knew there was an empty unlocked office back here and she wanted this wolf and she wanted him now.
He chuckled as they moved into the darkness. She found the door on the right and turned the knob. Hearing the click, she pushed, wincing at the creak when the door stuck. He pushed her through and they shut the door behind them. Mandy flipped the light switch, blinking a bit to adjust to the table lamps that came on. She’d been expecting an overhead. They looked at each other and grinned. Joe pulled her over to the empty desk and she climbed up onto it. He stroked her cheek.
“You’re sure?” “Yes. I don’t want to stop. Not now.”
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