GUEST BLOGGER AND AUTHOR--LIZ CROWE

**PRIZE INFORMATION: One random commenter at each stop will win either one of five $10 Amazon gift cards, one of three winner's choice of a book from Liz's backlist, or one of two $20 Zinterman's gift certificates. Zingerman's is an Ann Arbor institution, world famous for its gourmet deli items, breads and desserts all of which can be ordered and shipped ANYWHERE in the world.

I'd like to welcome author Liz Crowe to WHERE'S MY MUSE? today for a guest blog-She is talking about her HAWT new series, The Realtors: Life in the House Lane. 

But first---Let's get a little bit of info about the author and her books.



~ About the Series ~

The Realtors: Life in the House Lane

Love is an easy word to use, a hard one to demonstrate, and sometimes impossible to trust. 


The Realtors is a sweeping epic, encompassing over ten years in the lives of two people who know how to love with their bodies, how to please and get pleasure, to control and be controlled. When it comes to the deeper meaning of the one word they both need however, their strong personalities get in the way. While their physical connection sizzles they continue to disappoint one another emotionally.



Jack Gordon has it all--money, success, a string of women—but sustains a deep longing for something more. When he thinks he finds it with Sara Jane Thornton, his world is never the same again. Sara releases his natural Dom, a side of him he'd thought buried out of frustration and unhappiness. Sara learns a true submissive must trust implicitly, something she cannot associate with him, no matter how many times she tries, and he fails.


With a rich cast of secondary characters, including a young man who presents a near-perfect foil to Jack's intensity, and who falls hard for Sara; The Realtors series is a romantic saga with an emphasis on contemporary life and love, with a healthy dose of white-hot eroticism. Modern, busy, driven characters living lives of purpose and real-time stress, seek the ever-elusive and highly coveted combination --a friend, lover and trusted advisor who will be there for the long haul.



Book One

Jack Gordon is Ann Arbor's most delectable bachelor. At age thirty-five, he's made millions as a top-selling Ann Arbor real estate broker and has the right connections to close a deal by any means necessary. With his rugged good looks and compelling personality, he has a virtual black book most men would kill for and he uses it often, never settling for one woman for very long.

While his D/s past remains buried, exactly where he wants it, an undercurrent of boredom and dissatisfaction runs through his life now. A disastrous experience years earlier made him swear off the whole scene, but the more Jack suppresses his natural Dom, the more his frustration grows.

Sara Thornton, a rookie in the real estate game, has fast-tracked herself to the top of the Ann Arbor market. Her life reflects a disciplined and focused routine, exactly the way she wants it. However, as her career takes off, the fulfillment she seeks remains inexplicably out of reach. The one thing she knows for sure, she will not join the Jack Gordon groupies in her company, no matter how tempting that might seem.




Book Two



Jack Gordon thought he’d finally made it. He had a wildly successful career, money in the bank and even returned to his life as Dom, putting an end to a string of unfulfilling sexual encounters. Now that he's made the ultimate commitment to Sara Thornton, he believes all is right in their world. However, a series of misunderstandings and a dose of self-fulfilling prophesy bring his perfectly crafted house of cards tumbling down around him, forcing him to confront lingering misgivings about marriage and trust. Could those be the only two things he can never achieve?

Sara struggles with her intense need for Jack and her desire for less volatility in her busy life, two goals which appear to be mutually exclusive. Although willing to put in the time and emotional effort to make their relationship work, she finds it futile and frustrating, littered with clashes thanks to near-identical personalities and temperaments. Given Sara’s history, easing back into the comfortable status quo becomes easier than fighting a war with the one person who should be her safe haven. But will the easier choice satisfy her the way only Jack can? Is her "war" one that comes from without or within?

Buffeted by circumstance, temptation and distraction, Jack and Sara’s tenuous relationship crumbles, sparking a continuous quest for the ever elusive: trust, love and acceptance. By the time they rebuild a foundation for renewal, fate has other plans. This leaves them both reeling, once again questioning their destiny.





Book Three

Love conquers all?

Not likely, according to Sara Thornton. She's spent eight years coming to terms with the new parameters of her life while resigning herself to the idea that “happily ever afters” are best left to fairytales. Sales manager for her successful real estate office and juggling an added element of responsibility she never thought she'd face, Sara continues to struggle with the men in her life. Love, for her, has only meant hurt, broken trust and anger; all of which she’s completely banished from her life, so she claims.



Jack Gordon has come a long way since his early days of obsession with Sara. As the general manager of Stewart Realty, his own level of responsibility for the well-being of others has ramped up. He’s even honed his caretaking skills, now that he has someone who loves him unconditionally.



Continuing to invest effort and rebuild their relationship, he and Sara grow close as friends. Despite this, his ultimate question remains unanswered; the one he keeps asking, no matter how many times she says no. Sara isn't prepared for the keen focus of his need--to have her back, once and for all. Her stubborn resistance nearly rips both lives apart

The epic conclusion to The Realtors series, Closing Costs brings Jack and Sara truly full circle. Proving that the heat of lust and obsession; the need for control and to be mastered in many areas of life can lead to love —surprising you when you least expect it – if you will only allow it.





~ Book One: Floor Time ~

Book One Excerpt: Floor Time  **WARNING--RATED R RATING EXCERPT PEOPLE**



Book One



She turned away from him, hoping to marshal her strength and tell him to leave. As she made her way down the office hallway she knew by heart even in the darkness, she could smell him on her and knew at that moment, without a doubt, she would fuck him, right then in that office. 



They had been building towards it for too long. Her brain knew to keep quiet; it would not be heard over her body’s clamor. Her baser need for him took over, and when he put a hand on her shirt and firmly tugged her back to him, she let him, shutting her eyes and praying she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

She started to turn but he grabbed her from behind.

“Don’t turn around,” he whispered. “Let me show you what happens next. Just leave it all to me.”

She relented and leaned back into his body. His lips claimed her neck. His hands rubbed both nipples at once. She bent her knees and moaned, raised her arms and put them behind her, around his head. He managed at some point to lose his expensive cufflinks and roll up his sleeves exposing tanned, strong forearms. He released each breast from their cup; caressed, rubbed, and pinched the aching, hard nubs of sensitive flesh. His lips and teeth remained on her damp skin.

She began to move, rubbing against the heat of his erection pressed against her back. He groaned, and increased attention to her nipples, continued to use his lips to caress the back of her neck. A small fire burned wherever he touched her. She imagined she could come against the seam of her jeans, the pressure of his straining zipper against her, both of his hands on her nipples and his mouth in her ear and on her neck.

“Mmm… I have been dreaming of doing this to you for weeks.” The words caused every nerve in her body to tingle. She closed her eyes.

He turned her around to face him, his hands on her upper arms. Before she could whimper about her poor lonely nipples he crushed his mouth on hers, pushing her up against the wall. Her left leg lifted and encircled his waist as her engorged clit begged for contact.

Oh my God, I am dry humping this grown man in my office.

He reached down and slowly unzipped her shorts, never removing his lips from the skin of her neck. He was muttering, something about “You smell exactly like I thought you would,” but she couldn’t be certain as her brain started fogging up like the inside of a car window, obscuring all rational thought.

Jack reached a hand down, brushed the outside of her panties. She moaned and leaned her head back against the wall. Sweat dripped slowly between her breasts as her breath caught in her throat. She sensed him grin against her skin as he leaned down to find the moisture and lap at it, his fingers lightly teasing her clit.

“Somebody is really happy to see me.” His voice had an edge to it she loved.

Sara realized that she was moving her hips, thrusting toward him as though drawn by a magnet. She started to reach down, needing to feel his flesh, but he grabbed her hands, lifted them up over her head, pinned her wrists against the wall.

“No, baby, let me. Just lean back and relax. I’m in charge.”

Everything in her struggled against him, tried to resist, but the firm grasp he kept on her wrists was one of the most erotic sensations she’d ever experienced. She bit her lip as Jack slid her shorts down. He reached inside her panties, forming two of his fingers and thumb into a delicious double stimulator. Slowly, he moved against her swollen nub and slipped into her pussy as his lips traveled from her mouth, to her neck.

He manipulated her and maintained his control, seemingly without much effort, still holding her wrists captive over her head. She started lifting off, becoming as light as air, reaching the edge of extreme pleasure, while part of her tried to maintain her control. The man she’d been dreaming about for months was there, touching her, holding her captive against her office wall, and his lips, dear God... Eyes closed, head and arms up against the wall, she finally gave in to the pure, shuddering pleasure of it. Ignoring how much further she’d be willing to go with him; her usual reservations abandoned in his arms.

~ About The Author ~

Links:

Website

Facebook

Blog

Twitter

Microbrewery owner, multi-published author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three teenagers, and soccer fan, Liz brings years of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse PLUS making her way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry) to her life as erotic romance author. When she isn't sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications.

Otherwise, look for her doing pounds of laundry for her athletic children, watching La Liga on the Fox Soccer Channel, or trying to figure out what to order in for dinner. Liz loves her Foo Fighters Pandora station, and watching reruns of Deadwood, when there isn't any decent sports on the telly (like during “golf season”). Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally recognized for its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high powered real estate offices. Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.

Publishers include:

• Tri Destiny
• Ellora’s Cave
• Decadent Publishing
• Rebel Ink Press
• Breathless Press

~ Guest Blog Post ~

Liz Crowe

By any measure, "Realtor" places somewhere along the scale of humanity slightly beneath "scumbag" but always above "used car salesman" and "lawyer."

I know.

I was one myself, for several years, including the ones wherein the real estate market imploded (2004-2011). It was frustrating at first, fighting against the perception that I was in turns a "necessary evil," "miracle worker," "marriage counselor," "chauffeur," and "tool." Long about 2008 however, as things became downright ludicrous in the market, I looked around me and realized something. There were plenty of people making a good living at it, some of them supporting not just families but entire sub-offices of assistants and what not. And they did it on one hundred percent commission. Think about it a minute. No paycheck. No safety net. No company paid insurance. Nothing but your sales skills between you and bankruptcy--or a vacation home. And there were people making GREAT money at it. I know that there are folks who are annoying and pesky. But at my company we were trained carefully to know when to talk and when to shut the hell up.

But the problem (or strength) with the type of personality that thrives and makes a living (see: safety net/paycheck/health insurance) is that they are pretty big. That is to say, the really successful ones are Type A's, Masters of their respective universes, don't-take-no-for-an-answer in most cases. I know. I am one too, at times. And I was surrounded by a bunch of them as my company is the most successful in a very competitive and dynamic market.

So I was at an open house one Sunday, you know those of you of make a hobby of "house looking" on the weekends are familiar with this. I'm there a couple of hours, usually alone, with just an empty house and my imagination. The "what if..." drifted through my mind more than once. What if that colleague you have a particularly difficult transaction going with, forcing you to talk daily, many times more than once to hold things together. And what if that colleague is one of the selling rock stars, with a larger than life rep with regard to the ladies and what HE'D done to stay occupied at boring open houses or on house tours with attractive members of the opposite sex? What if he just "stopped by" to check on your open house, because you had mentioned how boring you knew this Sunday would be at a listing that had gone "stale" (had been seen too many times for anyone to take it seriously at the list price anymore)?

Hmmmm.....

I realize there are certain types that people our erotic romance landscape. The hot cop and firefighter. The wounded CEO or Senator. The dreaded cowboy (gay and straight and everything in between). The pro football player with the broken heart (and I'm sure the Tim Tebow loses his virginity story inspires some). And of course the vamps, the shifters, the bounty hunter, Irish bartender, Highlander in a somehow always clean kilt (look it up--Scotland was a dirty place), rock 'n roll star, you name it Alpha males and their loving females certainly abound amongst these august professional groups. When I started writing a couple of years ago, I set myself a challenge. To bring the "sexy" to the everyday. To put more ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances and settings and let them loose.

My heroes brew beer, own breweries, market breweries (see: Liz's Bio). They live in Istanbul, work in their family's rug business and fall madly in love with Americans. They are hotel consultants and the occasional celebrity chef. I even have a struggling writer heroine (who falls for both the hotel consultant and the celebrity chef but they work it out, I promise). Yeah, I've touched on the pro athlete meme but using soccer and am pondering an entire series based on a major league soccer expansion team in Detroit.

I also have an entire trilogy of novels that span nearly 12 years in the lives of a bunch of realtors and their friends and family. The first of these, Floor Time, has garnered great reviews. The exact things I wished to show: "Raw," "emotional," "real," "tough," "compelling," are words appearing frequently on review sites. I don't write anything sweet, though, so be warned. These books sizzle with hot explicit sex, but also with the sort of dialogue and circumstances that reflect the natural stress of living from commission to commission. Jack and Sara are real people. You will love and hate them in turn, sort of like your friends. And they sell real estate.

**Don't Forget---leave a comment for a chance to win either one of five $10 Amazon gift cards, one of three winner's choice of a book from Liz's backlist, or one of two $20 Zinterman's gift certificates.
 
Thank you Liz for stopping by and showing us exactly how SMEXY a Realtor can be!