Book Promo: Hold ‘Em by Katie Porter

A man with handcuffs. A woman with a paddle. Both fly F-16s.

Daughter of a world-famous motocross champion, and head-on competitor with three brothers, Captain Leah "Princess" Girardi was born with a need for speed. No one tells her what to do, especially not men with chauvinistic "girls can't be fighter pilots" attitudes.

That's what ended her brief relationship with Captain Mike "Strap Happy" Templeton. Now, six years later, he’s been assigned to her squadron, and whoa damn, he’s filled out nicely. Plus he’s cultivated a Zen-like chill factor that pulls at her hormones.

Even after four tours, Mike's the new kid in the 64th Aggressor Squadron. That's not the only thing new. Since he last saw Leah, he's learned a few things about himself. A female who outranks him still makes his teeth grind, but in the bedroom he craves the rush of pain inflicted by an adoring, powerful woman.

Their reunion is an explosive revelation. Leah is the beautiful mistress he's been searching for, and she takes to her new role like a natural. But Leah's aware one thing hasn't changed. Loving him is still an all-or-nothing proposition. She's not sure her reckless streak is wide enough to risk her career--and her heart.

Warning: This book contains a hot stud on his knees, a woman wielding a paddle, and filthy-gorgeous femdom sex. Also: dangerous rock climbing, two amazing motorcycles and some bad tequila.

Read an exerpt of Hold ‘Em - HERE

Katie Porter is the writing team of Carrie Lofty and Lorelie Brown, who've been friends and critique partners for more than five years.

Both are multi-published in several romance genres. Carrie has an MA in history, while Lorelie is a US Army veteran. Generally a high-strung masochist, Carrie loves running and weight training, but she has no fear of gross things like dissecting formaldehyde sharks. Her two girls are not appreciative. Lorelie, a laid-back sadist, would rather grin maniacally when Carrie works out. Her three boys love how she screams like a little girl around spiders.

To learn more about the authors behind Katie, visit KatiePorterBooks.com or follow them: http://twitter.com/carrielofty and http://twitter.com/LorelieBrown.

Transforming a Heroine

By Katie Porter

The most common descriptor used for Leah from Double Down and Inside Bet is “hot mess.” And she totally deserves it. Seriously. She’s a disaster waiting to happen. She drinks too much, mostly and everything spirals from there. Dancing on tabletops, having intimate encounters with toilets and breaking bar mirrors. But she starts to turn around at the end of Inside Bet, when she almost makes an incredibly embarrassing mistake but is saved from herself by Ryan and Jon. She sees the light—reluctantly. By the time Hold ‘Em starts, she’s managing to stick to the straight and narrow.

And man, oh man, was it fun to write Leah. I loved her like I love specialty-made cupcakes, which made me all the more relieving when we found a home at Samhain fro Hold ‘Em. Not every publisher would have been so accepting of Leah’s foibles. For a while, it was really, really difficult to find any redeemed heroines in the romance genre. They were all virginal and sweet and kind to babies and animals. They were like the written embodiment of the interview question where they ask what your biggest flaw is and everyone answers “I work too hard.” (Except I’ve never been able to pull that answer off with a straight face. Which might be why I’m a writer instead of having a day job.)

Patricia Gaffney wrote the incredibly excellent Rachel in To Have and To Hold, of course because she’s awesome. Rachel kills her husband and her story begins after she’s served ten years for the crime. And thank goodness that there’s been more recently, too. Jessica in Courtney Milan’s Unclaimed is an honest-to-goodness courtesan. Not a debutante who fell into distressed circumstances and found a kind gentleman who posed as her protector while not actually besmirching her. Nope, Jessica was really a kept woman and through the course of her story she’s redeemed. Just like she were a rake or some other sort of libertine. And then there’s practically all of Victoria Dahl’s characters—abrasive, sometimes selfish and always amazingly, intimately real. Particularly Molly in Talk Me Down.

But she’s still not quite as big a hot mess as Leah. (I’m not sure anyone is as big a hot mess as Leah.) The thing is, Leah’s been keeping up with the boys all her life, all the way back to her high speed childhood with three brothers who race Motocross. Going into the Air Force and learning to fly fighter jets helps her burn off a lot of that energy but she’s still got stuff that needs a way out. Rock climbing, motorcycle riding, drinking too much—or playing naughty games with the delectable Captain Michael Templeton, fellow fighter pilot.

Because once her ex-boyfriend Mike shows up in her unit, toting along a new-found knowledge of himself, Leah has suddenly found quite the reason to keep herself on the straight and narrow. And that reason is sexy as hell.

***

Up next for Katie Porter, the co-writing team of Carrie Lofty and Lorelie Brown:

Now that the first three of the RT BookReviews 4½ Star Top Pick “Vegas Top Guns” series have been released, readers can anticipate the final two installments, HARD WAY and BARE KNUCKLE, in 2013.

November brings the m/m Christmas-themed CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, described as “masterful” by Publishers Weekly. In January, LEAD AND FOLLOW will launch the five-part “Club Devant” series of erotic multi-partner romances set in a hot New York City burlesque club.

Where to find us:

http://KatiePorterBooks.com

Twitter: @MsKatiePorter Or individually: @carrielofty and @LorelieBrown

We'd like to give away a copy of DOUBLE DOWN, INSIDE BET or HOLD ’EM (winner's choice) in any format.

Just answer the question: Do you have a favorite messed up heroine? Share, so we can all read more!

Open to Everyone! – Giveaway ends on October 3rd 2012 (Midnight EST)

Make sure to leave your email address - example:  emailaddress (at) gmail (dot) com

Thanks again to Stitch Read Cook Blog for featuring Katie Porter and Hold ’Em!

 Vegas Top Guns

 

COMING 2013