Harmony in the Harem: a new departure.

Mae West said that faced with the choice between two evils, she'd always go for the one she hadn't tried yet.  My latest book, A Taste for Blood, is my first vampire story and the one I'm writing now is another first: the lovers are men.
I've made references to 'boy-on-boy' action in earlier books: In Rose Without Thorns there were the Gay Gardeners, but that's definitely a woman-man romance.
Now I've got the last two chapters of Harmony in the Harem in first-draft form.  Although it includes lots of heterosexual activity, this time the romance is homosexual.  I hope you all enjoy it.  I expect it will come out in late 2014.
To keep you going till then my full-length BDSM novel Garden of Thorns  is to be published in early 2014.
Busy, busy, busy!

Now on Facebook!

5-star review for A Taste for Blood:

"I enjoyed this erotica novella so much. The writing is crisp and witty, the sexy scenes are sensual and not rushed. Reading a story from Lucy's viewpoint was refreshing. While erotic it was also tasteful with an air of a romp, young women discovering their sexuality.The author maintained the Victorian world of privilege with no jarring breaks into modern speech.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has been a fan of Dracula movies through the years."  Review by Melisse, at Amazon.com.

I now have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/yvonnesarahlewis

Yippee!

Great Reviews for Virginia!

**** Review by Robert D Clark

Virginia, by Yvonne Sarah Lewis, is unashamedly a work of erotica. Fine if erotica is your thing, but what if it isn’t? If you look closely, his book is far more.
The protagonist, Virginia, is a strong woman who lives her life the way she wants. If “the way she wants” means loving more than one man, so be it. She is rational and mature enough to realize love doesn’t have to be exclusive or possessive.
Although there are many graphically presented sexual encounters, this is not a simple “jump in the bed” book. It is a careful study of relationships. The personalities of the characters are different, be they the gentle Peter and his loving wife, Virginia’s sexually aggressive neighbors, or Mike, the painter who can’t paint unless he’s cheating on his significant other.
None of the characters are perfect. They can’t be. They’re human. Imperfections aside, they all have strengths to more than make up for their weaknesses. Ultimately, each in his or her own way, they are good people.
Virginia is the glue holding them together and person able to bring out the best in all of them. Lewis does a fine job of fleshing out her protagonist. You may or may not approve of Virginia’s life style, but her nurturing nature, ability to overcome obstacles without hurting other people, and ability to love other people, even some who don’t at first seem to deserve it, make her an estimable character and the book an enjoyable read.
 

 **** Review by SR Howen
Virginia, by Yvonne Sarah Lewis starts out with a bang. No pun intended. The first scene is a subtle but hot sex scene, the author treats the scene realistically, while there is a little purple prose, it fits the scene and the thoughts of "Ginny". It's not just the sex that draws you in, you are introduced to intriguing plot points from page one.
Ginny's lover is married, but as the book unfolds we find out that his wife knows about their affair, or better to call it an arrangement. Ginny isn't your typical woman on the side, either. As right at the start we know she lives on a farm of some sort. Another tease is Ginny's thoughts on how she trained Peter, got him at the right time. And as the story goes on, we discover Peter isn't her only lover . . .
Questions are raised. And you are drawn in to find the answers.
Ginny has depth that comes out in the author's skillful handling of language and pace. Descriptions are colorful, yet not overdone, just enough to set the scene and the emotions.
Ginny, is the character that brings it all together, her flaws and emotions rule the day. I love her internal thoughts that run throughout the book, giving you a glimpse of both what others see, and what she thinks through her sexual encounters and her everyday life. It makes it real, and that's one of the things I really like about this book. So many erotic tales are contrived. The sex is over the top phenomenal, and mind blowing with every encounter, not so, as we get Ginny's thoughts to remind us of encounters we might have had, that weren't so phenomenal, but we let the other person think they were.
It's a neat feat for an author to manage this many intimate encounters and still bring a story to life. When things don't go well, and Ginny is left with making a choice . . . well you will have to read to find out if in the end this free spirited woman has to give up her lifestyle to save what she loves most.
Four stars for this sexy tale, it kept my interest from start to end, with an ending that isn't the normal formula romance ending.

A Taste For Blood - published.

I'm delighted that my book has been published and is now available from Torrid Books and Amazon!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Taste-For-Blood-ebook/dp/B00FX43EOC/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381929343&sr=1-7&keywords=YVONNE+SARAH+LEWIS

A Taste For Blood: Cover

Here's the lovely cover for A Taste For Blood, which is to be published on 15th October by Torrid Books: http://whiskeycreekpresstorrid.com/authors/Yvonne_Sarah_Lewis.shtml

I'm delighted with it, because it's beautifully done, and clearly shows the passion of my heroine for her vampire lover.

I'm grateful to everyone at Torrid Books for working so hard to get this book out in time for Halloween, especially the editor, Dave Field, the cover artist, Gemini Judson, and Jan Janssen, the Executive Editor.  Thanks to you all.

Contract Signed!

I've signed the contract today on A Taste for Blood.   We're going to try to get it out for 15th October, in time for Halloween, bumping my Garden of Thorns back to a 2014 release.  Very pleased!  Current blurb for A Taste for Blood:

Lucy adores handsome nobleman Arthur, but when Count Dracula comes ashore in Whitby she falls under his influence.  But Lucy is no feeble victim.  She eagerly gives herself to the very male vampire and their enjoyment of each other is mutual.  Her dark desires surprise even Dracula himself.  But Arthur is prepared to fight for her.  Will he defeat her vampire lover, or will her passion for Count Dracula conquer all?

Love to you all,
Yvonne

A Taste for Blood

Lucy Westenra has had a poor deal from Bram Stoker and his followers.  She's depicted as Dracula's passive victim.  I think there's more to her than that, so I've written this story from her point of view, to set the record straight.   

It begins where Lucy is helping Mina to say an amorous farewell to her fiancé before he leaves for Transylvania, to meet with Count Dracula.  Lucy tells her own tale, of love between her and Mina, her own fiancé Arthur, and of course, the extremely male Count himself.

Re-reading Bram Stoker's excellent Dracula, and other novels written at the time, I find that servants are barely mentioned, yet they must have played an important part in the lives of the protagonists.  To redress this balance, I have created a maid-servant, Ida, to look after Lucy, to protect and comfort her when she can.  Ida is a woman of the world, and with her robust attitude and good humor makes Lucy's life happier and more exciting than it would otherwise have been.

I've submitted my novella, A Taste for Blood, to Torrid Books today.

Garden of Thorns: Cover

Here's the cover for my next novel, to be published in October 2013.  I'm delighted with it.

I wanted sexy, and that's what I've got. 

 

The Torrid Books editor has read it and passed his edits on to me.  I've revised it and provided some changes of my own, including replacing "pert, round butt" with "bare butt".  Butts in fiction are always pert and round unless specified otherwise.

Contract Signed!

I've just signed a contract with Torrid Books for publication of my twelfth title: Garden of Thorns.

Here's the blurb:

q  “It isn’t easy, being a dominatrix.”  Tormented by a love she cannot even declare, Jennie flees to the city, where she’s fired from her job, betrayed by her boyfriend, and can’t pay the rent.  Her landlord offers a solution: she can be nice to him—and to all his friends.  She meets black-clad Galatea and her sullen chauffeuse, who take her to their home. They offer her work, training, and a place to stay.   But she must work as a dominatrix, train as a slave, and there are fetters chained to her bed.  Has Jennie forsaken the frying-pan for the fire?  If she escapes the dungeon must she sell her body to pay the rent?  Can she win through her troubles and rediscover love?

I'll post when I hear the publication date.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Love, Yvonne

Garden of Thorns

I've just sent my novel off to Torrid Books.  I hope they like it.

The Background

My heroine Jennie fled from her Shropshire home to live in Manchester, in my short story Everyone Gets Frisky at Weddings (Torrid Teasers #56).  Now she's finding things don't always go well in the big city, despite help from her friends Rhoda and Terry, whom she met in Everyone Gets Frisky at Weddings.  

Choosing the Title

It began life as Jennie, and this has been the working title for over a year.  Lately, I decided something more informative was required, and toyed with the title, It Isn't Easy, Being a Dominatrix.  But this is a bit cumbersome, and perhaps a little too humourous, too, though it describes the book very well.  I finally hit on Garden of Thorns, which suggests what the novel's about, and fits well among my other Garden novels: In an English Country Dungeon, In a French Country Vineyard, The Japanese Knot Garden, In a Welsh Country Garden.

The Right Length

At 78,000 words, Garden of Thorns is a little long for Torrid Books, but I hope they'll approve it.  I wrote 91,000 but have cut 13,000 of a parallel story strand told from the point of view of Carol.  I'll probably develop this into a short novel.

It Isn't Easy, Being a Dominatrix

First draft complete.
I've discarded a separate story strand because it did not add to the central story, which is Jennie's struggle to establish a fulfilling life, so the wordcount is now 77,000.  I'm doing a continuity edit now, making sure that things happen consistently in time, and sorting out my colours(!)  Then the book will lie fallow for a week or two before I edit through again and submit it for publication.  So please be patient!
Love, Yvonne 

End in Sight for Jennie

I'm starting what I think will be the final chapter, though I've not finished the penultimate one.  I know where I'm going with both, so this is not a problem.  I started writing this novel in January 2012, so it's taking a long time - and this is only the first draft! Sorry this is only a short post - I want to get on with the novel!

It Isn't Easy, Being a Dominatrix

Tormented by a love she cannot even declare, Jennie flees to the city, where she’s fired from her job, betrayed by her boyfriend, and can’t pay the rent.  Her landlord offers a solution: she can be nice to him—and to all his friends.  She meets black-clad Galatea and her sullen chauffeuse, who take her to their home.  But Galatea has a set of manacles in the garage and a whip at her belt.  Has Jennie forsaken the frying-pan for the fire?  Must she sell her body to pay the rent?  Can she win through her troubles and rediscover love?

This is the blurb for my current novel, working title: It Isn't Easy, Being a Dominatrix, which is nearing completion.  Jennie was previously heard of in Everyone Gets Frisky at Weddings, a short story in Torrid Teasers #56. 

I had an email from my publisher, Torrid Books, saying they'd not heard from me for a while, and had I got anything for them?  I had to oblige!  I now have over 80,000 words and expect to complete the first draft in the next couple of weeks.  It's a romantic but strict BDSM novel, which I hope you will enjoy.

Love,
Yvonne.