Giveaway and Guest Author Aylssa Aaron!

Please welcome to Book Junkie, author Alyssa Aaron's who is here to talk a little about her erotic romance His Perfect Submissive !

If someone were writing a story about Alyssa Aaron what would your blurb say?
At first glimpse Alyssa Aaron doesn’t look like someone that writes erotica with a BDSM flavor. She doesn’t wear leather, or black (other than in an effort to hide her more than ample hips). In fact, she looks more like someone’s Sunday school teacher than an author of erotic romance. Alyssa is quiet, reserved, more inclined to sit and listen to the conversations going on around her than to actively engage…unless she has something of import to add, then she can become quite animated.

Alyssa is drawn more to the internal workings of people, their emotions, what makes them tick, than to their appearances and this comes through in the books she writes. Though she writes erotic romance with a degree of steam she never loses sight of her characters, their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. This focus which seems as natural to her as getting up in the morning earns her reviews like: “HIS PERFECT SUBMISSIVE is not just a fascinating story, it’s a study of human nature with irresistible characters and situations that were alternately horrifying, inspiring and thought-provoking” from Romance Junkies.

Can you tell us a little about your newest release His Perfect Submissive that isn't in the blurb?
Ultimately His Perfect Submissive is a story about learning to trust…not just someone else…but one’s self as well. In His Perfect Submissive Kara is put in the position of having to face her worst nightmare in order to save her brother and ultimately her mother who is in poor health and who would not survive her brother’s trial and subsequent incarceration.

Kara was kidnapped and raped when she was a child. She never received counseling, her family never really recovered from her ordeal, and as a result the ordeal and avoiding the memories, avoiding the panic attacks that still come when a man is too close or she catches an unexpected whiff of familiar aftershave has remained as the primary force in Kara’s life.

When Slade offers her one chance to save her brother (marry him and become his submissive) she thinks that the hardest thing will be having sex with Slade…especially kinky sex. What she learns though is that Slade won’t let her hide from him, or from the ordeals of the past. When she can no longer hide from the past and she must confront it she begins to heal. She finds that as scary as trust is, she also likes the feeling. She likes the power she gains over her past as she follows Slade’s lead.

What was your inspiration behind the creation of His Perfect Submissive?
I should probably lie here and make up something (creative license and all that) but the truth of the matter is that I have been interested in power exchange, dominance and submission, spanking, and BDSM for many years. Through the years I’ve read many forums, Yahoo Groups, and other posts about women with backgrounds that involved abuse, molestation, rape, etc., who were drawn to the lifestyle. I found it odd that someone with abuse in their background would search out a lifestyle that included bondage, flogging, spanking, and submission. It seemed odd to me, and yet I was intrigued. His Perfect Submissive came about as I mentally worked on the pieces of how that would work… I created a character with a background so chilling most of us couldn’t even imagine it…put her in a plot in which she couldn’t escape the dominance and submission aspects, and then watched to see how she (and Slade) dealt with it. I did not really know how it would turn out. There were many points at which the characters surprised me.

What was your favorite scene to write in His Perfect Submissive?
My favorite scene to write in His Perfect Submissive was the scene in which Slade learns the truth (or at least a partial truth) about Kara’s background. It’s their wedding night…he’s decided not to push her for sex but she’s so nervous, so jumpy, that he decides maybe it’s best to get the first time over with so that she can relax. (He thinks she is jumpy and nervous because she is a virgin – he has no knowledge of her past.) He seduces her…gives her an orgasm…and she begins to reciprocate – orally. He grabs her head as she is pleasuring him. This triggers a panic attack…the very thing that Kara has feared all along. Avoiding panic attacks has largely limited her life…and here she is…vulnerable…puking…dizzy…weak…

I like the scene because it is emotionally tense. Kara is so broken…and Slade gets the first glimpse of what is really ahead of him in the marriage. Though there are places where the groundwork for trust is laid before this this is a major turning point. Slade’s reaction to the panic attack is that it’s bad, it would be nice to avoid them in the future, but at the same time he won’t allow Kara to run away and hide as she’s done for the past twenty years.

Do you usually cast your characters (a mental picture) before or after you have started writing?
Yes, I usually have a mental picture of my characters before I start writing. Visual appearance of characters is a minor piece for me though. I am much more intrigued by what makes them tick emotionally, mentally.

Does it help inspire you and take the story in a different direction?
Not really. I usually know the characters well before I start writing. Sometimes they do things I don’t expect them to do, but it doesn’t have anything to do with their appearance.

If you could trade places with one of your characters, would you want to and who?
No, I wouldn’t want to trade places with any of my characters. Kara has such a dark past…so much pain in her past that I wouldn’t want to trade places with her. Slade is a dominant and I am more submissive so I wouldn’t want to trade places with him either. I do love their story though.

What accent is sure to make you swoon?
I like the southern accent and I like the British accent. Both could make me swoon in the right setting.

The house is on fire and you only have time to grab one book …… which do you take with you? (Cannot be the one you are writing)
If the house was on fire I wouldn’t take any books. Books are replaceable, or at least I don’t have any that are not easily replaceable via Amazon. Assuming hubby was able to get himself out I’d concern myself with getting my cats out. We have four totally indoor cats and a bunch of once feral cats that have indoor space in the basement and outdoor space outside. With so much cat herding I’m sure books would not really be a thought at all.

What was the most challenging thing you’ve done in the name of research that might have been out of your comfort zone?
I’ve not really done anything challenging for research for this book…nothing outside my comfort zone…but then I have a pretty large comfort zone. My husband teases that he is the head of the research department…and indeed he is.

Please share with us something that readers would be surprised to learn about you.
I can’t think of much that would be a surprise at this point. I share most things that are going on with me at the Black Velvet Seductions Readers Blog at http://www.blackvelvetseductions.com/readers_blog/ there are not many secrets.

How can the readers stay in touch with you online?
Readers can stay in touch with me through the Black Velvet Seductions Readers Blog at: http://www.blackvelvetseductions.com/readers_blog/ I typically post there under my real name Laurie Sanders but Laurie and Alyssa are one in the same. Readers can keep up with me and everything that is going on at Black Velvet Seductions at the blog.

If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be?
I’ve always been interested in what causes readers to choose one book over another. I think that it’s different for every reader. But I am always fascinated by the answers to the question what about the blurb, the cover, the interview, the reviews, the trailer convinced you to read His Perfect Submissive – if you did read it. If you didn’t – what kept you from reading it?

Kara was the victim of a brutal rape that occurred when she was seven. The event destroyed her family and left her fearful and distrustful of men.

When Kara's brother embezzles $30,000 from Slade's company, Kara goes to Slade’s office determined to talk him out of going to the police.

Slade wants a peaceful, obedient, submissive with whom to share his life and in Kara he glimpses what he wants. He seizes the opportunity and makes Kara an offer she can't afford to refuse. The only way she can save her brother from certain prison is to accept Slade's marriage proposal and become his submissive.
Kara faces her wedding with anxiety. She can't tell Slade she can't submit sexually without risking her brother's freedom, yet she doubts she'll be able to keep her promise to be a submissive, obedient wife.

This romance explores the role of trust in even the most mismatched of partnerships and explores the complex connections between dominance and submission while it demonstrates the power of real love to heal even the deepest wounds.

***GIVEAWAY***

Aylssa is giving away a $15 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner on her tour,

To Enter, please answer her question above

Giveaway ends 4/08

Open to all! 

 

EXCERPT:

 
“Are you feeling better? Is talking helping?” he asked as he maneuvered the SUV off the exit ramp.

At the bottom of the ramp he turned right and followed the sign that advertised several restaurants in that direction.
“Yes it’s helping. I don’t feel quite as scared. I still feel—” he cast a sideways glance at her, mesmerized by the tangle of emotions that played over her expressive face as she searched for the right word.
“Uncertain?” he supplied. “Steak okay?” he asked as he turned the car onto the frontage road that served several fast food restaurants and a steak house.

“Steak sounds wonderful. No, not really uncertain, although that’s part of it I guess.”
He pulled the SUV into the Ned’s Steakhouse parking lot and parked. “So, if it’s not uncertain?”
“More like—lost—.”
“Uhm—Lost huh?” He pondered her choice of words, wondering what she meant by lost, what she still needed from him that he hadn’t given her. He killed the engine and turned in the seat so he could give her his full attention. “Talk to me out feeling lost Kara.”
She sucked in a deep breath and dropped her gaze to her hand that was still enclosed in his. He stroked her with his thumb.

“I feel like I don’t know anything.” Her voice was earnest. “I don’t know where I fit in this whole dominant submission thing. I don’t know anything about being submissive or what that means to you.” Her voice rose and caught and he thought for a moment she was going to cry. He longed to pull her against his chest and wrap her in his arms but she was too tense, her breathing too ragged and he knew that such a move would only make her pull away.
He knew she was used to knowing where she fit and that she was probably also used to feeling confident of her abilities. He hadn’t meant to, but he had taken that away and left her feeling uncertain and inadequate.
He wished he had it to do over again, and could take the time to make things right between them instead of rushing her into the marriage as he had, but he didn’t have that luxury.

“Dominance and submission is complex Kara. It’s different for every couple that does it. I cannot explain what it will become for us, partly because it will depend some on what you want it to be too. It’s the kind of thing you’ll have to experience to really understand.”

“Yes, but I’m afraid I’m going to mess everything up before I get there,” she sighed.
Her voice was so solemn that it cut at him. He stroked her cheek. “There is nothing to mess up Kara. I know I dumped a lot in your lap the day I asked you to marry me but really all I want from you right now is to earn your trust and get to know you better. The rest of it will fall into place over time.
Okay?”
She didn’t know how it happened or when she had stopped fearing him and had started trusting him, at least a little but his reassurance soothed her. He stroked her cheek and she nodded her understanding. Then his mouth pressed against hers. She tensed, anticipating the breathlessness and the terror as the memory of being held down, her breath cut off by someone larger and stronger teased the edges of her consciousness.
The kiss wasn’t like the ones that she remembered. This one was a gentle caress that coaxed more than it demanded. Slade’s mouth didn’t hamper her ability to breathe, didn’t cause her to feel dizzy or to black out.
She relaxed a little, bemused by the gentle stroke of Slade’s tongue along her lip and the command to open her mouth that he whispered against her lip.
She opened her mouth, unprepared for the soft stroke of Slade’s tongue as it teased her mouth. The unfamiliar intimacy sent a stab of heat to her center.

She was shocked by the warmth that filled her and by the lack of terror. There was no fear, no dizziness, no nausea, no panic attack. Only sweetness and the sense that she was okay, that Slade wasn’t going to hurt her.
She lifted her hands to his broad shoulders, liking the solidness of him beneath her hands. She didn’t protest as his tongue slid into her mouth, teasingnan intimate dance of liquid warmth in its wake.

Her mind raced. He’d been kind and gentle and matter of fact when he’d explained his feelings about dominance and submission and what he wanted from her. The whole day he’d treated her with kindness and respect. He hadn’t belittled her when he could have. He’d remembered her headache and gotten her medicine, he’d cared that she preferred Mountain Dew from the fountain rather than a bottle. It all combined making her feel soft and warm, cared for, and taken care of in a way that was completely new to her.

She clung to him feeling grateful to him for helping her brother and for trying to make her feel comfortable in this new marriage. His kiss deepened, his mouth urging hers to open more as one large hand slid up her back and beneath the curtan of  her hair to caress the tight spot at the base of her neck.

She opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to find hers again. His hand kneaded her tight muscles, easing the strain that had overwhelmed her. His tongue explored her mouth engulfing her in unfamiliar pleasure that made her open to him, admitting him, like a flower opens to admit the sunshine.

She felt his hand move as it slipped beneath her sweater. She shifted slightly, moaning a protest that was swallowed up by his mouth. “Um—please. Slade—no—” she murmured, twisting to avoid the touch of his palm as it slid up her rib cage toward her breast.
“Shhh Kara, I just want to make you feel good,” he whispered against her neck as his hand stilled. His other hand stroked her hair and her neck.

She heaved a sigh of relief, the knowledge that the hand beneath her sweater had paused that he was waiting for her permission to go forward eased her fear and made her feel more comfortable. The knowledge that he would stop if she insisted made her feel safe. His hand felt good where it rested against her rib cage. She both wanted him to touch her and wanted him to stop.

“Relax and let me make you feel good Kara,” he whispered in her ear as his hand began to slip slowly up her rib cage toward her breast.

She wanted to protest but her breath caught in her throat as his large, warm hand closed over her breast.