Inkwell Guest: Cristal Ryder

Hi, everyone! Today I’m happy to have fellow EC author, Cristal Ryder, as my guest! She has a super-hot new release–and a super-hot cover! (Isn’t it so cool? I could stare it at all day!). She’s got a post about summer and below an excerpt from her latest, Elemental Heat. Please welcome her to the blog!

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Thanks so much for having me to your blog, Michelle. I’m pleased to be here.

It’s sum-sum-sum-summertime! What are you doing this summer? I’d love to hear your plans. So far mine will involve a trip down to L.A. and then on to Anaheim. I wish I could say it was for holiday but it’s not. It for our national writing conference. I know, I know, all work and no play, and you feel sorry for me right? Don’t! After the obligatory Leadership Seminar I need to attend as President of Passionate Ink, and workshops, spotlights, meetings, then its playtime! Oh yes, and the fun we’ll have. It will be great to see my on-line friends, and make new ones. This will be my fourth RWA Conference and I’m looking really forward to it. If any authors out there are going, it would be great to meet up.

I’m quite excited about the flight there. There was enough points on my card to bump me to Executive Class which is very cool because the booking agent told me in was the ‘new interior’ on the plane which means those pod beds. The ones that lay flat and it’s like you have your own little room. Which is actually a very good thing because it’s a red-eye flight home and I’m not a fan of night flying. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed the agent is correct.

Are there cowboys in LA? Not the kind that you’d find in my recent Ellora’s Cave release, Elemental Heat. What’s not to love about a cowboy and I’m sure in love with my hero, Chet. His lady from the east, Jenna, finds him to sumptuous to resist. Below is a blurb and excerpt from Elemental Heat that I hope you enjoy.

Blub:

Jenna takes a big risk and decides to live in the moment. After months of communication by social media, she accepts an invitation to Colorado where she finally meets her cowboy. Burned by past romances, Jenna is determined to move on and goes with one goal in mind—a booty call with a tall, dark, sexy cowboy.

 

Chet is a romantic at heart and when Jenna arrives, he knows there’s more to her than a pretty face and a hot body. A casual fling won’t do. He’s smitten and decides to woo her the old-fashioned way with time and patience. And of course, hot sex.

Their chemistry is elemental and they come together with heat that sears the snowy peaks. When Mother Nature steps in, Jenna is forced to face the feelings she’s tried so hard to keep buried and Chet has to draw on his mountain skills to save the woman he has come to love.

Excerpt:

An Excerpt From: ELEMENTAL HEAT
Copyright © CRISTAL RYDER, 2012
All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

“I can’t believe the stars.”

“Magnificent isn’t it?”

“Totally.”

“I dare you to pick a star and wish my name on it.”

She giggled. “That’s not a dare.” Jenna inhaled the wonderful scent of wood smoke, night air and barbequing meat. For the first time in a long time a sense of well-being filled her. She reclined on the lounger, pulled the blanket to her chin and searched the sky for the perfect star. “I found one.”

“Where?”

Chet put the lid down on the grill and came to sit at her feet, holding her ankle gently with his big hand. She trembled at his touch, and loved the wave of arousal that swept up her leg to settle between her thighs. She wanted his touching to be so much more. Time for that later. Jenna pointed to a bright star a little bit off to the right. “See? The large one there.”

He glanced up and right at that moment a shooting star streaked across the sky and right over top of the star she just picked.

“Holy shit! Did you see that?” Jenna bolted upright and watched the fiery trail the meteor left behind. “What are the odds of that happening?”

“Yes, I saw.” She heard the smile in his voice.

“What does that tell you?” Jenna asked him.

“I think the important thing is what it means to you.” His voice was soft and she switched her gaze from the sky to his face.

“To me? Well, a sign.”

“What kind of sign?”

She hesitated a moment, quite struck by the shooting star. What were the odds that just as she chose a star a meteor would streak over the one she picked? There was a whole big sky up there, a great vastness and yet the celestial streak happened in her minuscule portion of it where she picked a star to wish his name on. It told her volumes, but she couldn’t really express it without feeling ridiculous.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged, feeling embarrassed to almost voice thoughts she normally would never let enter her mind. “Maybe that our visit was written in the stars…”

Chet squeezed her ankle gently. “I hope you made a wish on it.”

“I didn’t!” Was it too late? Jenna squeezed her eyes shut and wished. Wished with all her might that maybe, just maybe she was wrong and that she could find true love. Her birthday was this week, while she was here with a very sexy cowboy. One who seemed almost too good to be true.

If it seems too good to be true it usually is.

Jenna opened her eyes and glanced at Chet. Was he hiding any secrets?

“I hope it was a good one.” Chet’s deep voice reached her through the dark.

She pulled the blanket tighter. “Time will tell. There’s been lots of wishing upon stars over the years and I think only one has ever come to fruition.”

“Which one was that?”

Jenna laughed. “A horse. When I was little I would go outside every night and search for the first evening star and wish desperately for a horse. I finally got my wish when I was twenty. But I had to wait an awful long time.” She glanced at his now achingly familiar face, his rugged features softened by the bonfire. “I hope I don’t have to wait as long for this wish.”

“Sounds to me like you don’t have a whole lot of patience. Remember, all good things come to those who wait.” He winked at her and stood.

Jenna watched him walk to the barbeque. He was all fluid grace. For such a big man he wasn’t awkward at all and she couldn’t wait to see him in the saddle. He’d promised they’d go riding tomorrow. But there was a lot of time between now and then. She watched him flip the steaks and take a sip of wine from his glass, then hold the spatula aloft. The image was ingrained in her mind and she swore she would never forget this moment.

Before she knew what she was doing or could change her mind, Jenna swung her legs off the lounge and stood. Chet turned and watched her approach, the dark dreaminess of his eyes drew her. She needed to taste him, to feel his lips under hers and if he wasn’t going to make the first move then she would.

The blanket slipped down her back and she clutched the edges below her breasts.

He put the spatula down without looking where he placed it and it clattered to the patio stones. She stood before him and wound her arms around his neck, holding the corners of the blanket, wrapping them in the warmth of the wool. Her fingers pressed against his neck and the strength in his muscles made her feel truly feminine.

Almost at eye level, she had to look up only slightly to meet his gaze. All her senses tuned in to him, his essence permeated her and she let it. The long-distance teasing they had done the past few months came to a head and Jenna trembled with desire. She tipped her head back and pulled him to her. The hesitation when their lips were a hairsbreadth apart was exquisite. Energy crackled between them in the moment of anticipation before fulfillment.

Chet’s vigor and arousal radiated from him in pulsing waves. The whisper of air between their bodies vanished when he snaked his arms around her waist and brought her hard against him. Jenna sucked in a breath and a little “oh” popped from between her lips.

“This is where I’ve wanted you all day, woman.”

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Links where to find me!

www.cristalryder.com
https://twitter.com/#!/CristalRyder
https://www.facebook.com/cristal.ryderauthor
ARe
Amazon
Barnes & Noble