Dangerous in a Kilt by Anna Durand (VNBtM, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT ADULT title

I have the pleasure of starting off the new year with a guest post by author Anna Durand, who shares her thoughts on...



Passionate Hearts: The Real Reason We Love Romance

by Anna Durand


Romance has remained the most popular fiction genre for decades, far outselling all other genres. Why do we love romance so much? The obvious answer is the happily ever after at the end of every story. Happy endings may be the hallmark of romance, yet I don't consider it the main reason so many readers flock to the genre. For me, one element in romance stands out—emotion.

Lots of non-romances are full of emotion, but no genre focuses on the emotional connection between two people like romance does. The sensual passion in romances must be borne out of that emotion, otherwise it falls flat. The personal relationships between the hero/heroine and other characters, such as family or close friends, are also often imbued with real, powerful feeling. But it's the connection between the romantic couple, the ups and downs of their emotions as they struggle to forge a lasting bond, that turn a simple love story into a true romance.

I love to explore passion of the heart in my romances, for this very reason. In Dangerous in a Kilt, Erica and Lachlan each endure the lowest of lows and revel in the highest of highs during their unusual courtship. She has lost her trust in humanity in general, but especially men—and whoa, look out for the hot ones! Lachlan wants nothing to do with commitment, for painful reasons that eventually become clear and affect his entire relationship with Erica. Emotion has become so important to me as writer that I will listen to intensely emotional songs (with vocals) while writing critical scenes, to get me in the right frame of mind to craft a heart-rending moment or a soaring happy ending.

Yes, all romance fans love the happily ever after and we count on it to provide the ultimate payoff in the story. What I believe draws us all to the genre, however, is emotional passion. Without genuine, often intense, feeling behind every scene, we wouldn't cherish romances half as much. Through these books, we can safely experience the whole spectrum of emotion, knowing everything will work out in the end.


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Dangerous in a Kilt

by Anna Durand

This is an ADULT title

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GENRE: erotic romance

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BLURB:


Good-girl Erica Teague is out on bail, charged with a crime her ex-lover committed. Her desperate bid to experience one wild night of sizzling sex, before her trial and certain conviction, lands her in the arms of Lachlan MacTaggart, a hot Scot with a secret past. She can't resist his offer to enjoy one month of sex and companionship with no strings. But when their hot fling gets personal, can their passion free their imprisoned hearts?

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EXCERPT


I swigged my brandy. A flash of fruity sweetness raced over my tongue, chased by a tangy burn. Why was I waiting for a man who didn't have the courtesy to call and cancel? Enough of this. I leaped off the stool onto my five-inch heels and tottered, mirroring my stool's motion. What the hell had I been thinking, wearing stilettos for the first time in my life?

Strong hands grasped my upper arms. "Easy there."

I craned my neck to behold my would-be savior. My heart thudded.

A giant of a man peered down into my eyes, his body towering several inches above me. Whoa, mama. The heels elevated my five-four to five-ten, which must've made him well over six feet tall. Thick muscles in his impossibly broad shoulders flexed as he maintained his hold on me. The lights glistened on his short, dark hair, casting it in unearthly hues. The sensation of his fingers on my skin and the proximity of his body flooded me with heat and my mouth watered at the sight of acres of hard, defined muscles straining his skintight black T-shirt. His powerful thighs vanished under a kilt, its plaid woven in pastel shades of green and blue with orange lines threaded through them. The blue in the fabric echoed his pale eyes, which studied me with electrifying interest. Black combat boots covered his feet but somehow, combined with his angular features, they lent him a rugged appeal.

I raked my gaze over his body, drinking in every inch of him, until our gazes intersected. 


Buy Links:

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The e-book has a special pre-order price of $0.99 and regular price will be $4.99. The special will extend through part of the tour, as the release date is 12/16.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Anna Durand is an award-winning romance writer specializing in steamy romances populated with spunky heroines and hunky heroes, in settings as diverse as modern Chicago and the fairy realm. Her romances have to date won eight awards and her novel Intuition was a 2016 RONE Award nominee, while her short story Tempted by a Kiss was a finalist in The Romance Reviews 2016 Readers' Choice Awards. Anna also maintains a blog, Spunk & Hunks, where she writes her own articles and reviews romance books, as well as hosting wonderful guest authors.




Website
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a Rafflecopter giveaway

The tour dates can be found here 

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My review:

3.75 out of 5 stars

Dangerous in a Kilt by Anna Durand is a contemporary romance that is Book One in the ‘Hot Scots’ series. This story follows accountant Erica Teague, who is facing one of the worst challenges of her life, and decides to have one last fling before she meets her fate. As luck would have it, she meets Lachlan MacTaggart, a wickedly attractive Scotsman who is quite willing to have a vacation fling but refuses to commit to anything else. That fits right into Erica’s timeline, but not so well into her heartfelt desires.

This fun and flirty story has great elements…a yummy guy with a seductive accent and a penchant for rescuing damsels in distress, a personable canine who is loyal to his mistress (usually, lol), and a woman caught in terrible circumstances who nonetheless has a sense of humor and a desire to shed her dull accountant’s persona. I liked the chemistry between the main characters and adored the dog, but there were several things that I wasn’t so enamored of, including Lachlan’s attitude toward Erica as they develop a relationship, and the odd hiccups in continuity since I kept finding myself wondering what had happened to the dog who seemed to be there one moment and then gone during the passionate encounters between the main couple. Despite this, I thought this was an entertaining story and recommend it to anyone looking for a light romance with a sexy guy in a kilt.

A copy of this title was provided to me by Reading Alley for review.