History Turns Me On

I’ve always loved history.

The only time I ever got caught reading under the desk in school (something I did a lot!) was in the Fifth Grade. I was reading one of my father’s Ian Fleming novels. (I mean, seriously, doesn’t everyone love James Bond?) The teacher was so annoyed that I was reading “trash” (James Bond? Trash? Never!) he handed me a copy of “I Claudius” and told me to write a book report on it. The joke was on him. “I Claudius” is history and I adore history so I loved reading the book. It was more like a reward than a punishment to me.

So it was inevitable that sooner or later I’d write a story set in the past. I have written several Regency-set romances. (I love Georgette Heyer, too. She got me addicted to Regency romances). But one day I sat down to write a medieval romance.

It grew and grew and ended up as a four-book series. It’s set in medieval Europe, but in no particular place or year, and follows the story of a woman whose father and brothers are killed in battle, leaving her in control of the family castle and lands, and all the people dependent on them.

Although women in that time period effectively managed houses, lands, castles, people and more, legally their rights were very limited, so Elinor comes up with a totally-off-the-wall plan to provide for and protect her people and property.

“Elinor’s Stronghold” Book 1: “Pillaging Elinor’s Castle”
“Elinor’s Stronghold” Book 2: “Defending Rhyannon’s Inheritance”
“Elinor’s Stronghold” Book 3: “Restoring Garnet’s Heart”
“Elinor’s Stronghold” Book 4: “Bringing Claire Home”

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Elinor%27s+Stronghold+Berengaria
Available in digital and in print.

Berengaria Brown
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown#!/berengaria.brown?v=info
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/BerengariaBrown

Bossy Characters

My characters arrive in my head and start talking to me. I don’t start writing until I understand what they want me to do with them. And things do surprise me on the way. A couple years ago I was writing the “Forever Yours” series. All three books are set in the Smith Tower office and apartment building. The first two books have a ghost in them and naively I assumed book three would as well. But while I was still writing book 2 one of the minor characters interrupted me and said, “I’m a vampire. When are you going to write my story?” By the time I’d cleaned up the coffee I’d spat on my screen and gotten my breath back he was busy telling me I should have known that already because of his name. So I googled his name and well… the rest is in “Eternity”.

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Eternity-sequel-Intensity-Complexity-Publishing-ebook/dp/B004FV54L0

“Forever Yours” is a contemporary-set series based in the Smith Office Tower building. Each story is a stand-alone novella, but various characters reappear throughout the series, such as Atal, the night security guard and one of the heroes in “Eternity”.

“Intensity”: Amos, Wesley and Keziah have been bed partners for a while. Amos and Wesley want Keziah to move in with them and become a permanent partner but she has refused, wanting to be independent. Then she stands up for her friend and loses her job. Amos and Wesley convince her to move in with them and plan to screw her insensible to make her want to stay. But chaos erupts at the company board meeting as Amos's incompetent father tries to use the menage as a weapon to take control of the company from Amos, so Keziah decides the only solution is for her to leave. And the ghost has his own agenda...

“Complexity”: An asthmatic unwilling to relax enough to enjoy life, two men hell-bent on putting their stamp on her, an embezzler who wants to keep what he has stolen, and the ghost of a murdered girl. Will an endless night of passion with Finn and Simeon be pure pleasure, or only make Tia's life more complex and messy than it already is?
“Eternity”: Yolanda is a bodyguard and used to dealing with men. But falling in love with two vampires is a different kind of challenge. How will she deal with her job AND them? Yolanda is very attracted to night security guard Atal and his partner Zadok. She agrees to a morning of acrobatic sex with the two yummy men, only to find herself falling in love with them, and wondering if they are vampires—if vampires truly exist. And she’s not at all sure that they do.

Three book series: https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Yours-Intensity-Complexity-Publishing/dp/1610342526/

Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerengariaBrown

What if the weather….

I know that as a reader, I’m ambivalent about sequels. I like to know the hero and heroine (or whatever combination of main characters) are still living happily ever after. But too often, in books something nasty happens to one or another of them down the track, in a long series. Or even to an important secondary character, like JK Rowling’s Dumbledore.

But sometimes, even though the hero and heroine are satisfactorily together, the story just isn’t finished. Other characters are screaming for their turn in the limelight, the villain escapes from captivity, or something else just appears.

This has happened to me several times now, so in each case I’ve written a stand-alone sequel where the main characters remain HEA, but other characters pick up the storyline.

My most recent sequel situation came about very differently.

The opening scene was a dream I had. I got out of bed, and wrote it down, but I had no idea what it meant, or where it was going. I showed it to author Anny Cook, and asked, “What do I do now?” She told me to keep writing. She said that sort of thing happened to her a lot. Either it turned into a book, or it would just stop. Well, I took her advice, kept writing, and it turned into three books. And finally, with the third book, I realized what the connection was. It is actually what happens more than fifty years after the “Raw Claiming” series I wrote.

What do you think? Do you mind if a former hero or heroine gets killed off in book five? Does it bother you if the end of the story is left hanging?

“Forbidden Future”: Blurb:
More than fifty years ago, wicked winds, carrying deadly diseases, swept across the land, and their ancestors fled to a protected valley. But now the easy-to-gather food and fuel are used up, and the people struggle to feed themselves. The goods their ancestors had brought with them are worn out, and life is hard trying to feed and provide for themselves.
Zuri, Udo, and Tau love each other, but have to meet in the forest to make love. The people decide to go to the city to look for food and fuel. It’s Zuri who finds the ancestors’ truck and asks for a gift in return—that she, Tau, and Udo could be together. Their request is granted. Then everyone plans for the trip to the city. It’ll be very dangerous, but the three of them will be together. But will they find any food? Will they even survive?

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Forbidden+Future+Berengaria

“Embrace the Future” Series: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Embrace+the+Future+Berengaria

Berengaria Brown
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown#!/berengaria.brown?v=info
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/BerengariaBrown

I Had A Dream

I know that as a reader, I’m ambivalent about sequels. I like to know the hero and heroine (or whatever combination of main characters) are still living happily ever after. But too often, in books something nasty happens to one or another of them down the track, in a long series. Or even to an important secondary character, like JK Rowling’s Dumbledore.

But sometimes, even though the hero and heroine are satisfactorily together, the story just isn’t finished. Other characters are screaming for their turn in the limelight, the villain escapes from captivity, or something else just appears.

This has happened to me several times now, so in each case I’ve written a stand-alone sequel where the main characters remain HEA, but other characters pick up the storyline.

My most recent sequel situation came about very differently.

The opening scene was a dream I had. I got out of bed, and wrote it down, but I had no idea what it meant, or where it was going. I showed it to author Anny Cook, and asked, “What do I do now?” She told me to keep writing. She said that sort of thing happened to her a lot. Either it turned into a book, or it would just stop. Well, I took her advice, kept writing, and it turned into three books. And finally, with the third book, I realized what the connection was. It is actually what happens more than fifty years after the “Raw Claiming” series I wrote.

What do you think? Do you mind if a former hero or heroine gets killed off in book five? Does it bother you if the end of the story is left hanging?

“Forbidden Future”: Blurb:
More than fifty years ago, wicked winds, carrying deadly diseases, swept across the land, and their ancestors fled to a protected valley. But now the easy-to-gather food and fuel are used up, and the people struggle to feed themselves. The goods their ancestors had brought with them are worn out, and life is hard trying to feed and provide for themselves.
Zuri, Udo, and Tau love each other, but have to meet in the forest to make love. The people decide to go to the city to look for food and fuel. It’s Zuri who finds the ancestors’ truck and asks for a gift in return—that she, Tau, and Udo could be together. Their request is granted. Then everyone plans for the trip to the city. It’ll be very dangerous, but the three of them will be together. But will they find any food? Will they even survive?

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Forbidden+Future+Berengaria

“Embrace the Future” Series: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Embrace+the+Future+Berengaria

Berengaria Brown
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown#!/berengaria.brown?v=info
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/BerengariaBrown

Cookbook romance from Berengaria Brown’s, “Terracotta Warriors”

Recipe: Terracotta Baked Potatoes

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb small new potatoes (approximately 24)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon salt

How to make Terracotta Baked Potatoes
1. Wash the potatoes carefully, trying not to damage the skin which must remain on, and place them in a casserole.
2. Strip the rosemary needles off the sprigs and add them to the potatoes. Sprinkle the lemon juice, water and salt over, put the lid on and shake the pot well.
3. Place in a preheated oven and bake for 60 minutes. Test the potatoes at the end of the cooking time, they may need a few minutes more. Serve hot.

Food flashfiction:
The head waiter, Harry, saw Branden arrive and snapped his fingers for the barista to make Branden's favorite cinnamon mocha latte. The barista just nodded.

Everyone was well aware of Mr. Verwendahl's almost-addiction to coffee. But no one would ever tease him.
He was much too good a tipper.
Branden noticed all this byplay as he was led to his reserved table. I suppose I should cut back on my caffeine intake. But not today.
Sloan arrived at the same time as Branden's coffee, so the server just nodded, raised an eyebrow, and said, "And one for you too, sir?"
"Long black, please."
Branden let his hand rest lightly on Sloan's. The man's hand felt warm and strong and wonderful to his jittery nerves. "If you don't like her, if you don't want this, no pressure. I love you very much. Want you. Want us," he said quietly.
"Relax, I understand. I can't be happy if you aren't happy. I get that you need both. Shh now."
Branden picked up his coffee and sipped it, loving the soothing taste of it sliding down his throat, his gaze moving to the doorway. There she stood. Five foot eight and one hundred percent woman with lush curves -- generous breasts, ample hips and a nicely rounded ass.
God, she made his dick harder than a spike. No other woman ever had that effect on him. He put down his cup to signal her, but she'd already seen him and was walking toward them, her blonde hair bobbing on her shoulders, her gray eyes dark and worried.

“Terracotta Warriors” Blurb
Naomi has a casual sex-buddy relationship with Branden, a bisexual man. When she loses her job Branden offers her a short-term position in the Museum of which he is a director, but more than that, he wonders if she could be the solution to his sexual problem. He and Sloan are very happy together, but Brand needs the softness of a woman as well as the harsher, more animal mating of two males together.
Sloan and Naomi join Branden on a business trip to Xi'an. Will adding Naomi to the mix be a disaster -- or the solution to all their needs?

Naomi called her boss a f**ing idiot. In the lunchroom. Oooops. A Story Excerpt from “Terracotta Warriors”.

"Only a f**ing asshole like Shannon could imagine for one moment that we'd be able to do a brand new test without spending several days running trials and recalibrating the equipment," said Naomi to her best friend Alison in the lunchroom at the scientific laboratory where they both worked.

The usual noisy chatter of the lunchroom had dropped to deathly silence as Naomi spoke, and now that hush was broken by multiple gasps, snorts and sniggers. Alison's mouth was hanging wide open, her eyes filled with horror.

"What's wrong?" asked Naomi.

Alison rolled her eyes and worked her jaw until it finally closed.

"Would you care to retract that comment, Miss Hunter?"

"Oh shit!" Naomi spun around and there in the doorway was Shannon himself. Mr. Shannon Charles, Head of the Organic Chemistry Division of PVT Chemical Industries -- and everyone in the room's boss.

Her head spun, her cheeks blanched and her gut churned, but Naomi knew what she'd said was correct.

Incredibly stupid to say at work, but nonetheless accurate.

Pulling her shoulders back and her spine ramrod straight, Naomi took a deep breath, and then very deliberately threw her job away. "No, sir. I will not retract what I said. As you know perfectly well, I am one of only three people in the state qualified to sign off on the tests we do, and these new samples will not be accurate enough to pass the annual audit unless we spend several days doing trial tests and calibrating the machines properly. Our reputation for accuracy will be in the toilet." Like my job.

Shannon pulled his cell phone from his blazer pocket and clicked through his address book. "Julie, make up Miss Hunter's pay sheet right now. She's leaving us." He clicked again and said, "John, get to the lunchroom now."

No one in the room moved in the brief few minutes it took for John from Security to arrive. "Yes sir?" His hand was on his weapon as if he expected to have to break up a fight or apprehend a criminal.

"Miss Hunter is leaving us. Escort her to her desk and make sure she takes only her own possessions, then take her to Julie's office to get a printout of her salary entitlements and sign for them. That is all."

A few more gasps came from around the room, but Naomi marched through the door, head up, looking neither to the right nor the left as she set a fast pace to the Organic Chemistry Laboratory where her little office was. There she collected a large, empty cardboard box and packed her things by simply upending her desk drawers into the box, dropping the few personal items from the top of her desk into it, then balancing her potted plant and purse on the top of everything else.

Anger was burning through her at her own insanity at voicing the comment, and at the rightness of it. She snagged her jacket off the back of her chair, remembered to collect her log book, lab coat and safety goggles from the lab itself, then nodded to John who had stood well back from her, totally silent.

"Is that it, Naomi? None of your stuff in the bathroom or on anyone else's desk?" he asked carefully.

"No. I could delete my personal files off the computer but Shannon might say I took proprietary information. This way you are witness that I didn't touch it and I don't care if anyone reads my emails anyway," she replied, shrugging. Besides, her personal files were on her flash drive so it wasn't a big deal.

John nodded. "I'll carry the box for you. You take the plant."

When they reached Julie's office the paperwork was all waiting for her sign. Julie's face was alive with curiosity but Naomi simply said, "Goodbye" and "Thank you". She knew Julie would be on the phone to Alison as soon as she'd left.

John walked her to her car, loaded the box into the trunk for her, and she could see him still standing there watching her leave, as she exited the gate and turned onto the highway. She drove for a couple of miles toward her home, then pulled off into a side road, switched off the engine, folded her arms across the steering wheel, and burst into shattering sobs as the anger and tension exploded from her body.

“Terracotta Warriors” is part of the “Naughty Getaways: Eleven Sultry Stories” anthology.

BUY LINK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072LWRC7W/

Berengaria Brown
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerengariaBrown

Pets in romance stories

Do you like your hero or heroine to have a pet or two? Does it make them more real to you if they cuddle a kitty after yelling at their true love? Or cry into their horse’s mane? Or maybe she owns a really clever pet bird that frightens away a would-be bad guy? Do you like the thought of your hunky hero going for a run with his dog?

I can think of one mystery author who always includes a cat or two in her books and the cats’ characters are every bit as vivid as that of the humans. And sometimes far more interesting to me, as a reader too.

I know of another author who adores animals and it shows in every line she writes about her shapeshifter wolves.

Then there are books I’ve read with a pet introduced in chapter one and never mentioned again in the book. I’m always left wondering, “What happened to the pet when the lovers hooked up? Is the pet going to get an HEA or not?”

There are a group of well-known authors who have written entire series of books where the hero or heroine is basically just a foil for the animal character that solves the mystery/ saves the world. That is another entire genre of book.

According to the God of all Knowledge, WikiAnswers, 63% of American households have a pet, the vast majority of them either a dog and/or a cat. Hamsters, fish, mice, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, bunnies, iguanas and ferrets are all in the top ten pets depending on who you believe.

So this is where I came in. If so many people own pets do they want to read about them in their books? Because they have a pet do they feel better if the hero/heroine has a pet?

Or do they see pets as something a kid needs to grow up with, rather like a bike and a football? Or just another household chore to perform? Do the laundry, cook the supper, walk the dog?

Many animals offer their human endless love, trust and companionship. They don’t fuss about unwashed blankets or unironed clothing. They adore being petted and at least pretend to listen when you talk to them. But does this uncomplaining attitude then make the hero or heroine look bad when they are upset at how their lover is treating them?

So what do you think? Should book characters be pet-owners? Or is this likely to make them be less appealing to their lover? After all, it is hardly romantic for the heroine to say, “I can’t go out without you tonight. I have to clean out the bird cage.”

Speaking of birds, in “Blue Bird of Happiness” Roland Clarke has a cat, Mr. Claws. Michael Taggart inherits two lovebirds, Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie can open the cage door and escape. Every time Roland and Mike try to get together the animals come between them. As you can imagine, their path to a happy ending is as much about the animals in their lives as the lust and love in their hearts.

“Blue Bird of Happiness”: https://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Paint-Publishing-Classic-ManLove-ebook/dp/B00NEWXO2W/
“The Paint Store Boys” series: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=the+paint+store+boys+Berengaria

Berengaria Brown
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerengariaBrown

Sex in the Water

Huge numbers of erotic romance books have a sex scene in the shower. Likely all that steamy heat, scented with yummy shower jells and even yummier naked men, is why such scenes are very popular. Besides vertical sex is just plain hotter than horizontal sex.

Hot tub sex is quite common. Again, near naked or totally naked bodies, plus steamy heat is just crying out for a sex scene.

But what about sex in the ocean or river? Likely if people are swimming it’s a hot day, and there is once again the whole nearly naked aspect bound to crank up the sexual tension. But now we have a logistical problem. Even if it is a private beach with no people around, how do the characters know there isn’t someone out on a boat, or back on the shore, with binoculars—or worse still a camera with a telephoto lens—watching them? Or does the thrill of discovery just make it naughtier and more exciting?

And then there is the problem of friction. Successful orgasms generally require friction, especially for the man, and water prevents friction. Which means pretty much anything below the waterline isn’t going to happen. So we need knee-deep water and the couple standing up. Which brings us back to the onlooker and his camera.
Or we could forget all about physics, sit our characters down in the water, and let our imaginations run wild!

My “The Beach Boys” series is set at Two Waters beach, a real place. It’s a narrow isthmus of land with a lake on one side and an ocean on the other. Families tend to stay on the placid, lake-side. The characters in my male/male romances prefer the wilder ocean side with its huge rock wall, and a sandbar just far enough away from shore to offer a little privacy.

There are four stories in this series: Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring. In each season a different couple of men discover the pleasures of the beach and each other. Each story is complete about that couple, but some characters return in cameo roles in later books.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=The+Beach+Boys%3A+Berengaria+Brown&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3AThe+Beach+Boys%3A+Berengaria+Brown

Berengaria Brown

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerengariaBrown

Why write ménage?

Readers often ask me why I write ménages, specifically male/male/female ménages.

I’ll answer that question in a minute. But actually I also write lesbian erotica and male/male stories and even one man/one woman stories. In fact, “Naughty Spice” produced by the Naughty Literati, has one of my lesbian stories in it, as well as my menage stories.

Now, why MMF?

Just think about it for a moment, ladies. If one pair of hands teasing up your ribcage feels good, how much better would two pairs of hands feel?
If one set of lips, kissing and sucking the tender skin inside your elbow feels good, how would another mouth feel on the other elbow?
If you enjoy running your hands down a muscular back and over a taut ass, how much better would it be with two taut asses to touch?
Romantic fiction is a step outside everyday life into what if. A woman’s most important sex organ is her brain. She can think, plan, imagine. Imagine what if not one, but two delicious hunks wanted you? Imagine how intense the passion could be in bed with two men. Four strong arms, two hard chests, two even harder…

Well, I’m sure you can see where my mind is going here!

“Jewel’s Menage Christmas”: Blurb: Jewel, Donovan, and Oscar live together but the excitement has gone out of their relationship. She makes holiday plans to spice things up. Jewel's thought of everything, but will Donovan and Oscar rise to the challenge?

“One Kinky Weekend”: Blurb: Logan and Zara have been married twenty years. Their sex life is boring. Dead boring. They love each other but they want more excitement in bed. The answer? Ask another couple to join them for a very dirty, smutty weekend of darkly naughty sex. Wicked fantasies and forbidden desires are shared. Girl on girl action? Double penetration? Every dark craving comes vividly to life for an orgasmic weekend.

Naughty Spice Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078XCP2HB
Naughty Spice in Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983472433
Amazon: http://a.co/1BfGSBz
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble. com/w/naughty-spice-francesca- hawley/1127757320?ean=2940155437048
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ ebook/naughty-spice-2

Berengaria Brown

http://naughtyliterati.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Naughty Spice.mp4

What Do Men Want?

What Do Men Want?
Answer? Not much different from women. They want love, respect and someone to believe in them. But, and there always is a but, they’re more direct in their needs and desires. Sex is like breathing. They want hard and rough and hot. The partner who can take all that and more is their ideal.

Writing the male POV? Think of the men in your life. The man you love. The men that drive you mad with their grunts and unwanted opinions. Then think of the man who beds you and makes you scream with pleasure because he knows exactly what you want and need. Think edgy, hard and possessive. Think need and tenderness.

Men. They're complex. To write from their perspective? A real challenge. Nothing is worse than reading a male/male book where one of the characters’ names could be changed to a female name and the story wouldn’t change at all. But written with understanding? Ahh the best romance and hottest sex ever.

Do I know it all? Hell no. Will I keep striving to improve? Hell yes!

“Getting Naughty: Twenty Tantalizing Tales” includes three of my MM stories: “Fireworks at the Lake”, “Chocolate Coated Reunion”, and “The Loch Ness Monster, Romeo and Julio”.

“Fireworks at the Lake”: Andrew didn’t want to spend the Fourth of July long weekend with the people from the office so he goes to Lake Superior instead. There he sees Luke, a blond Viking who arouses every craving for love and lust inside him. But can he overcome his low self-esteem from when Rory rejected his love and open his heart to another man?

“The Loch Ness Monster, Romeo and Julio”: Fraser Campbell and Cameron MacDonald are sent to Glasgow on business. Cam’s determined to see the Loch Ness monster. Fraser just wants Cam.

“Chocolate-Coated Reunion”: Matt arranges to meet Jake for Christmas Eve drinks after work but after a series of disasters is very late. Jake refuses to talk to him. As Valentine’s Day approaches, Matt is determined to reconnect with Jake. But is Jake too hurt and disillusioned to forgive him?

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078H4ZLPT

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/getting-naughty-2

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/getting-naughty-suz-demello/1127687384?ean=2940155023661

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Suz_deMello_Getting_Naughty?id=eo1DDwAAQBAJ

Berengaria Brown

Writing my 100th book

I was asked about the most exciting thing that had happened in my writing career and answered that it was the sale of my first book. That first sale proves that everything I thought about my ability to write was correct. I wrote a book and a publisher bought it. The icing on the cake is when readers buy it too. The second book sale confirms that the writer can write. It wasn’t just a one-time thing, or an acquiring editor with too many gaps in their schedule so they bought any old thing. Someone actually liked my books.

In fact, I sold three books in very quick succession. I began writing because I had nothing to read. I wrote a book and sent it off to a publisher, but while I was waiting to hear back from them, I still had nothing to read, so I wrote a second book and sent it to a different publisher. And again with a third. I read anything. All genres, all kinds of books, the back of the shampoo bottle in the shower…. So that’s why I wrote different genres, and sent them to several different publishers, publishers that specialize in a particular genre.

Anyway, all three books were accepted with a few weeks of each other and suddenly I was an author, with contracts to sign, artwork to choose, edits to do.

Time passed. I kept reading, kept writing, and before I realized it, I had a passel of published books and needed spreadsheets to keep all the paperwork in order, to keep track of my characters, to make sure I didn’t repeat any important places, names, ideas.

Some of my books had been on two-year contracts, which were renewed, one of my books, had been made into an audio book, and several of my books were turned into print volumes. My spreadsheet was getting complicated so I sat down to work out exactly how many books I’d written, and which ones were in multiple formats. Which was when I discovered I had more than one hundred individual books, and I wasn’t exactly sure which was my one hundredth book.

An author’s one hundredth book is supposed to be a big thing. Lots of authors hold giveaways, prizes, and parties. Mine passed unnoticed. Of course, I tend to write short. I don’t have many books over 40,000 words. I have a bunch of books 30-35k in length but my preferred writing length is 20-25,000 words. So having 100 books is not nearly as big a deal as for writers who prefer writing 75,000 for each book. But still, it’s kind of embarrassing not to be certain which book is my lucky 100.

I think it’s Book 2 of the Possessive Passion series, “Possess Me”.

Shiloah, a New Thimphu native, is envious of her friend Chevaunne's newfound happiness with her men and wants that kind of love for herself. She has enjoyed working with the luscious Stan and Goa on The Grandparents' Garden. But now the project is finished, so how will she see them again?

All four books in the series can be read as stand-alone stories, but to get a feel for the world and the people it’s better to read them in order. Book 1 is “Shared Possession”.

Chevaunne is abducted by three brothers who take her to a new world where brothers share one wife, who is their treasured possession. Jim, Sam, and Paul have waited years to find the perfect woman, and when they see Chevaunne, they know immediately she is the one for them.

Buy link for the series:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=possessive+passion+series+berengaria+brown

It's also available in print: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1619260239/bookstrand-20

Oh, and if you were wondering, I have recently finished writing book 149, and I will have party when I’ve written book 150.
Berengaria

Berengaria Brown’s links:
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerengariaBrown

An excerpt from “Sappho’s Sisters” by Berengaria Brown. Part of the “Naughty Spice: 17 Lusty Love Stories” boxed set

If you haven’t tried Lesbian romance before see what Lizabeth Tucker said about “Sappho’s Sisters”: “Lesbian stories are not usually on my TBR list. If they were all this well-written, I might reconsider that. Four stars” ~ Lizabeth Tucker

Blurb: “Sappho’s Sisters”.
Lady Eustacia Lumley is the only child of the Earl of Wentworth. It’s her duty to marry well and ensure the succession.
Margaret Durrell is the fourth daughter of a gently born, but near penniless Vicar. She has no option but to marry a man who can provide for her and possibly for some of her sisters as well.
They fall deeply in love, but is there any hope for them? Or will they both have to conform to the rigid rules of Regency society?

Excerpt: “Sappho’s Sisters”.
That evening, the women settled into a comfortable sofa in front of the fire in the yellow sitting room at Green Meadows with their embroidery.
“It’s good to be home again,” said Eustacia. “I like the hustle and bustle of Town, and shopping and parties are always fun, but I prefer to come home and sleep in my own bed.”
“Thank you once again for inviting me to stay with you for three months. Poor Papa is at his wits’ end wondering what to do about us all. Now that I’ve turned eighteen, he’s suddenly realized that Anne is very nearly twenty-two and time is running out to find her a good husband.”
“Four children in four years. Ugh. That’s one aspect of marriage I have never accepted—a baby every year.”
“No. I find that concept unappealing too. In fact, I find most men unappealing—selfish, arrogant, and quite often, silly. So many of the notables I danced with at Almack’s could not think past their clothes and their horses. They all either owned, or would inherit, property. Shouldn’t they be thinking about their lands and the needs of their tenants? Papa is always concerned about the lives of his parishioners.”
“Maybe they thought they shouldn’t talk about such things with a young woman.”
“Possibly.” Margaret did not sound convinced.
“Do you not want a husband and children of your own?”
“What I want is irrelevant. Papa can’t keep supporting us all, and what else is there for a woman who’s noble-born but impoverished? I’ve thought seriously about becoming a teacher or governess, but families wanting a governess usually also have sons, so they won’t hire a young woman like me. I could be a companion to an old lady. I can sing, and draw, and sew, as well as speak passable French. But I suspect agreeable old ladies wanting a companion are few and far between, and I’m much more likely to end up with a most disagreeable old lady.”
They both laughed, and then turned the conversation to happier topics.
Much later that evening, Eustacia noticed Margaret screwing up her eyes and frowning. “What’s wrong, Margaret?”
“I have the headache. I seem to get it more and more often these evenings. I don’t understand why. The light here is good for sewing, much better than at home. Good wax candles are so much more expensive than tallow,” she said and sighed.
“It’s almost time to go up to our chambers anyway. Would you like me to come and massage your head? My nurse used to massage mine and it really helps.”
“Yes, thank you. That would be nice.”
They put away their embroidery and walked companionably up the stairs together. Eustacia’s maid was waiting for her and soon Eustacia was in her night rail and robe, her hair brushed out. She dismissed the maid before walking down the hall to Margaret’s room. Margaret, who had no maid, was just tying her robe.
“Sit at your dressing table and let me undo your hair,” Eustacia said.
Slowly, she pulled out the pins and untwisted the braid. Margaret’s long, shiny brown hair rippled across her shoulders and down her back. Eustacia picked up Margaret’s hairbrush and drew it through the thick, wavy hair, pulling carefully and steadily from root to end in smooth sweeps.
“That does feel good. I can remember when my nanny used to brush my hair. I always enjoyed it.”
“I want you to enjoy this, too,” Eustacia whispered, letting her hot breath tickle Margaret’s left ear as she kept up the smooth strokes with the hairbrush. From front to back, from root to tip, Eustacia drew the brush through the hair in firm but gently soothing sweeps.
Margaret’s eyes closed and her shoulders relaxed some of their tension.
Eustacia noticed this, nodded to herself, and put down the brush, replacing it with her fingers as she pressed against Margaret’s scalp and began her massaging. First she rubbed in deep circles, beginning at the left ear and working her way across Margaret’s head to the right ear. Then she moved to the front of Margaret’s head, massaging deeply, pressing her fingers firmly against Margaret’s scalp, kneading from front to back this time.
By the time she’d finished, she could tell Margaret was much more relaxed, her shoulders no longer tense, her brow no longer furrowed.
Eustacia bent and pressed her lips to Margaret’s still-exposed neck, kissing it with soft, light, butterfly kisses from left to right across her neck, ending at her right ear, which she gently sucked into her mouth and nibbled on. Eustacia blew into that ear, then began to kiss her way across to the other side and repeated her caress on the other ear.
“Mmm, feels so good.”
Eustacia let her hands rest on Margaret’s shoulders, rubbing them softly, then more firmly, soothing and stroking down to the elbows, and then back up again.
Margaret’s eyes were closed, her breath coming more harshly, her body totally relaxed in Eustacia’s hands.
Eustacia rested her palms on Margaret’s sides, and when Margaret made no move to complain, she ran them up to cup the younger woman’s breasts. Margaret’s nipples were hard little points under the soft velvet of her robe. Eustacia pushed the robe apart so she could touch Margaret’s breasts through the thin linen of her night rail. The breasts were full and round, her nipples now engorged, and just touching them made cream seep from Eustacia’s cunny.
“Take off your night rail. Let me see you naked.”
“You first.”

Naughty is the new NICE! Order your preorder or paperback of Naughty Spice today! #NaughtyLiterati #romance #menage #newrelease

Naughty Spice Kindle Preorder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078XCP2HB
Naughty Spice in Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983472433
Amazon: http://a.co/1BfGSBz
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble. com/w/naughty-spice-francesca- hawley/1127757320?ean=2940155437048
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ ebook/naughty-spice-2

Berengaria Brown

An excerpt from “One Kinky Weekend” by Berengaria Brown. Part of the “Naughty Spice: 17 Lusty Love Stories” boxed set

Blurb: Logan and Zara have been married twenty years. Their sex life is boring. Dead boring. They love each other but they want more excitement in bed. The answer? Ask another couple to join them for a very dirty, smutty weekend of darkly naughty sex.
Wicked fantasies and forbidden desires are shared. Girl on girl action? Double penetration? Every dark craving comes vividly to life for an orgasmic weekend.

Excerpt:
“I was thinking about brightening up our sex life.”
His big body went still against hers and she could feel his muscles tensing up.
“Yes?”
“You meant it when you said we could try out some new things, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
His voice was firm but his body was still tense. She wrapped a leg around his hips, wiping her damp cunt along his upper thigh.
His big hands grabbed her ass and ground her pussy hard against him.
“What about a foursome? The two of us and another married couple. All four of us in bed together, everyone doing everyone, two men, two women, the four of us in a daisy chain, whatever we all want to try.”
He lifted her up slightly and slid her down on his cock. It filled her completely, stretching her tissues. “Hmm, someone likes that plan.”
She sat up a little, flicking her blonde hair off her face, pushing the bedding off her back, and braced her hands on his chest. Although his sandy-brown hair had a few gray threads in it these days, he was still a solid wall of muscles, as his daily gym routine had kept his body toned and fit. His nipples stood up under the tweaking of her fingers and his cock thrust up inside her, high, hard and longer than it had been a few moments ago.
She swiveled her hips so his cock scraped over her G-spot, then leaned forward to press her clit into Logan’s pelvis. His hips rose up under her, his thighs raising and lowering her, faster and faster, his hands tight on her hips.
“I do like that idea. We’ll have to choose the couple wisely though. It has to be people we’re compatible with and trust.”
“Condoms,” she gasped, her orgasm rising inside her as she wiggled her hips again. “Don’t want any worry about health risks.”
“Agreed.” He pinched her clit and rammed deep inside her. With a small scream, Zara shattered and came, her juices flooding Logan’s cock. He groaned and rammed into her again and again. Then a burst of hot cum blasted into her cunt as he stroked raggedly a couple more times before pulling her down on top of him.
“Excellent idea. You deserve a reward for thinking of it,” he whispered, thrusting a finger deep into her ass, and sucking her nipple and the entire areola into his mouth. His cock was still half hard inside her and he moved his hips enough to stimulate her pussy too as his finger pressed wickedly deep into her dark channel, the nail teasing every nerve ending there. His mouth was busy licking, sucking, nibbling her breasts, switching from side to side, adding a tiny bite here and there to tease her sensitive skin.
Zara felt another orgasm blooming in her core, hotter and harder than the previous one.
Logan redoubled his efforts, his hips pumping, his cock growing inside her, and three fingers now thrusting inside her ass.
“Yesssssss,” she sighed.
He bit down on a nipple as a fingernail dug into her clit.
She burst apart, her toes curling in the most delicious way as her body thrashed in spasms of delight.
“God, you’re good at that,” she murmured.
“Yup, well, I love you, honey.”

Naughty is the new NICE! Order your preorder or paperback of Naughty Spice today! #NaughtyLiterati #romance #menage #newrelease

Naughty Spice Kindle Preorder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078XCP2HB
Naughty Spice in Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983472433
Amazon: http://a.co/1BfGSBz
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble. com/w/naughty-spice-francesca- hawley/1127757320?ean=2940155437048
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ ebook/naughty-spice-2

Berengaria Brown

An excerpt from “Jewel’s Menage Christmas” by Berengaria Brown, part of the “Naughty Spice: 17 Lusty Love Stories” boxed set

Blurb: Jewel, Donovan, and Oscar live together but the excitement has gone out of their relationship. She makes holiday plans to spice things up. Jewel's thought of everything, but will Donovan and Oscar rise to the challenge?

Excerpt:
Jewel never thought she'd have to say it, but frankly, her ménage relationship with Donovan and Oscar had become boring, predictable, and stale. The three of them acted more like old married fifty-somethings than three trendy, young, ménage-sharing twenty-somethings.
They should be eager to jump into bed together or fuck up against the wall, filled with raw passion for each other. Instead, Oscar was so tired after work he fell asleep on the sofa in front of the television, while Donovan sat at the table surrounded by a mountain of paperwork he'd brought home from the office. At night, in their apartment, instead of screams of passion, there were soft snores from Oscar, and groans of frustration from Donovan as he hunted for missing pieces of data.
"We're all still young. We should be in bed having sex," she said aloud in the living room.
Neither man paid any attention to her.
She had the feeling that even if she stripped off, Oscar wouldn't wake up, and Donovan wouldn't notice unless she started dancing on the table between him and his spreadsheets.
"You're not listening, are you? I may as well be invisible!"
No response.
The way Jewel saw it, she had two options -- find herself a new relationship or kick the men into action and reignite some passion in their existing threesome. Jewel slitted her eyes and gazed critically at the men. Donovan had short, blond hair, deep blue eyes, was a fraction over six feet tall, and looked like a muscular Viking. Under that boring, plain, navy blue sweater, he had the most intricate tribal tattoo across his right upper arm. He also had a large cock that he knew how to use to hit her just right to bring her to a screaming orgasm. Not that they'd done that too often lately.
Oscar slumped on the sofa, his red head thrown back against the top of it. He had the very fair skin and pale blue-gray eyes common to redheads. He also had a lean, lithe, runner's build, making him appear taller than his six-foot-even height. His cock was a mighty fine piece of equipment, too. Oscar and Donovan were both bisexual, comfortable with fucking each other, or fucking her, or fucking as a threesome.
It wouldn't even be so bad if the men were fucking like bunnies. At least I could watch them. But lately, no one here is getting any!

Naughty is the new NICE! Order your preorder or paperback of Naughty Spice today! #NaughtyLiterati #romance #menage #newrelease

Naughty Spice Kindle Preorder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078XCP2HB
Naughty Spice in Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983472433
Amazon: http://a.co/1BfGSBz
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble. com/w/naughty-spice-francesca- hawley/1127757320?ean=2940155437048
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ ebook/naughty-spice-2

Berengaria Brown

An excerpt from “Set Me on Fire” by Berengaria Brown. Part of the “Naughty Spice: 17 Lusty Love Stories” boxed set

Blurb:
Blair, Alex and Kurt meet in the stairwell of their office building during a fire drill. They go to Kurt’s condo to soak their aching muscles in the hot tub. The building may not be burning, but they are, for each other. After a wild night of ménage sex, each of them is determined to get to know the others properly and form a relationship. But once back at work in their normal everyday lives with no drama and no fire, is romance even possible?

Excerpt:
Alex watched as Blair stepped out of her stilettos then sank onto the grass beside him. She waved a hand at Alex, saying, “Alex. Kurt. Shoes.”
Dropping down beside her, Alex laughed. He reached over and shook Kurt’s hand. “I’m Alex, not shoes.”
“Oh God, my feet,” groaned Blair, ignoring them both.
“I’m glad you finally made it. I’m bored with playing the few pathetic games on my phone. Remind me to download something better before the next fire drill.”
“Remind me to take a day’s vacation if it ever happens again,” said Blair tartly, massaging her toes. “Hell, that hurts.”
Alex reached for her foot. “Let me. May I? Do you mind? I’m sure I can help.”
“Please do. I’m not sure what rules apply to fire drills but I think fixing my feet right now ranks right up there with life-saving.”
Her skin was warm and soft under his hands. Gently he massaged the ball of her foot, rubbing circles and pressing into the pads, loosening up any tightness there. He separated each toe, stroking its length, rubbing it between his fingers and again massaging the pad of the toe. She had such sexy feet. Long, straight toes, narrow ankles, high arches.
While he tended to her feet the three of them talked. On the surface what they were saying was light, casual, just people sitting on the grass in the park waiting for the bus back to work. But underneath the conversation ran something much deeper, stronger. Lust and passion were in each look, each pair of eyes. Words used had double meanings, or the gestures that accompanied them gave them an underlying sexual connotation.
Oh yes. What was going on was more than chatting, it was very definitely foreplay. Foreplay of a very carnal, erotic kind.
“If this weren’t a public park, I could suck your toes, pulling them into my mouth, making them warm and wet. You’d soon feel much better,” he said, his voice barely heard over the noise of the park.
“Damn, that sounds good,” she whispered.
“Yes it does.” Kurt picked up her other foot and began massaging it. “I’ve never really been a foot man but I’m beginning to think the idea has potential.”
Alex’s cock pressed against his zipper trying to get out of his pants. He was so hard his dick could likely pound nails at the thought of Blair and Kurt in bed with him. Oh yeah, his wildest dreams come true. A warm, cozy, soft woman—with a sassy mouth—and the athletic hardness of a man. Blair had been absolutely right about that. Kurt was yumminess personified. Fit, wiry and hard all over. It would be agony deciding which one to fuck first.
Did Kurt swing both ways too? Or was he just being polite? Alex looked into Kurt’s eyes and saw the hot lust there. But was it lust just for Blair or for him as well? Alex wanted both of them. Did Kurt want him as well as Blair?
Blair was staring at Kurt. Are they fuckbuddies? Am I about to make a fool of myself here? And yet the underlying sexual tension feels like it involves all of us.
“There’s a huge hot tub at my condo. We can book it for private parties. How about I book it for tonight? For the three of us. Say 6:00 p.m.?” said Kurt.
Blair smiled that huge, sexy grin that lit up her whole face so beautifully. “I’d like that.”
“Count me in,” said Alex, willing his unruly cock to stay inside his pants for a few more hours.
Kurt’s fingers danced over his cell phone and the hot tub was booked.

Naughty is the new NICE! Order your preorder or paperback of Naughty Spice today! #NaughtyLiterati #romance #menage #newrelease

Naughty Spice Kindle Preorder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078XCP2HB
Naughty Spice in Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983472433
Amazon: http://a.co/1BfGSBz
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble. com/w/naughty-spice-francesca- hawley/1127757320?ean=2940155437048
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ ebook/naughty-spice-2

Berengaria Brown

Getting Naughty - Available Now!

Available Now!
Getting Naughty: Twenty Tantalizing Tales 

includes Twenty Contemporary Romance Stories from bestselling authors writing as The Naughty Literati!

Find it here:



ALICE’S SHEIKH ~ Suz deMello
A virginal English noblewoman finds herself under the complete control of an autocratic sheikh—an unexpectedly sexy one, who will do whatever he must to have her.

STEP BENEFITS: CINDERELLA SCANDAL ~ Nicole Austin
It was a onetime indulgence—a random encounter between strangers. A good girl’s dirty little secret with her bad boy stepbrother. Anything else is forbidden. Or is it?

BUYING ADAM ~ Marianne Stephens
Under false pretenses, Jessica wins Adam at a Charity Bachelor auction. Secret desires for each other ignite into passionate lovemaking. Will the truth divide them?

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER, ROMEO, AND JULIO ~ Berengaria Brown
Fraser Campbell and Cameron MacDonald are sent to Glasgow on business. Cam’s determined to see the Loch Ness monster. Fraser just wants Cam.

CHASING FLAVORGASMS ~ Francesca Hawley
When food blogger Taylor Simmons writes a scathing review of his restaurant, John “Doc” Holliday challenges her to return so he can give her the flavorgasm she’s been chasing her entire life.

MY WISH COME TRUE ~ Tina Donahue
Baby, it’s hot inside… For Laurel, Christmas so sucks. She’s out of a job, money, and luck until her neighbor, Scott, plays Santa. This tall, dark, and sexy hunk delivers sweet decadence and holiday magic that makes being bad oh-so-good.

THE LAKE BY MOONLIGHT ~ Katherine Kingston
Julie Forrester returns to Lake Como in Italy to evaluate some paintings for a former professor—and to re-evaluate her relationship with the man.

NAUGHTY BALLS ~ Suz deMello
Two college basketball players find themselves alone on V-Day evening. (M/F)

STEP BENEFITS: DIRTY PRINCESS ~ Nicole Austin
I’m sure there’s a rule in the friend code that makes lusting after your bestie forbidden. But if giving in to this off-the-charts chemistry is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

BACK IN YOUR ARMS ~ Marianne Stephens
Liz blames Brian’s family for the loss of her family’s inn. Seeking revenge, she contracts Brian to restore it. Will rekindled love spark between them?

CHOCOLATE-COATED REUNION ~ Berengaria Brown
Jake refuses to talk to Matt after he was very late on Christmas Eve. Matt’s determined to reconnect with Jake on Valentine’s Day.

SILENT SKY ~ Regina Kammer
I watched in horror as the twin towers collapsed, trying to remember if I’d told Scott I loved him before he left for New York.

HOT BUNS ~ Marianne Stephens
Angela offers to pay Vinnie to use his bakery ovens until hers are delivered. For financial reasons, he agrees. Being near her threatens his determination never to forgive her betrayal. When the truth surfaces, both must share the blame. Can smoldering love between them flame into passion once again?

THE RIDE OF HER LIFE ~ Tina Donahue
Maddy’s so desperate for fun, she’s signed up for speed dating. Ew. Before she can ditch the event, Ben, her sexy driver, arrives. After one sinfully hot kiss, they’re breaking all the rules, and then some, on a sensuous spring night.

FIREWORKS AT THE LAKE ~ Berengaria Brown
Andrew didn’t want to spend the Fourth of July long weekend with the people from the office so he goes to Lake Superior instead. There he sees Luke, a blond Viking who arouses every craving for love and lust inside him. But can he overcome his low self-esteem from when Rory rejected his love and open his heart to another man?

STEP BENEFITS: ROYAL BRAT ~ Nicole Austin
Loving two men—my stepbrothers—got me exiled to a foreign country. Without them I’m lost and alone, cast adrift on turbulent seas without a compass or rudder. In order to finally be together we’ll have to navigate a course through the landmine-infested waters of my traumatic past.

SAVING SOPHIA ~ Suz deMello
 “It doesn’t matter” is cynical Sophie Fortune’s motto. Then her best friend is killed and Sophie herself is attacked. Can Detective Inspector Nick Wendell keep her safe and heal her heart?

WINDOW DISPLAY ~ Regina Kammer
The apartment in Zurich was supposed to be the perfect disruption-free place to finish my dissertation. Trouble is, my room came with a very distracting view.

DEAR SANTA…I WANT A MAN FOR CHRISTMAS ~ Marianne Stephens
Frustrated with untrustworthy men, Melissa orders a man doll. When delivery guy, Nick, shows up, she has second thoughts about how to satisfy her needs.

FIST ME ~ Berengaria Brown
Maeve nearly fell off her barstool when sexy Taryn asked her to fist her. But is it the right thing to do?

*All titles have been previously published in Naughty Literati anthologies.*