Demelza Hart's Blog

On the day of its release, I’m going to take a look at the theme of secrets in A Twist of Fate.

But I’m not going to look too closely, as that would be spoiling things! Suffice to say, are Callie’s anxieties over her relationship with Paul justified? Paul seems to have secrets which he is keen to keep buried. What are they and how will Callie react? The trouble is … is she already in too deep?

Here, in my final teaser, Callie has questions for Paul and he’s about to reveal more than she bargained for.

He moved to stand up but stopped and just stayed sitting on the side of the bed with his back to me, his muscles shifting as he moved, rubbing his hands together in that way he did when he was anxious.

I put a hand on his shoulder and he didn’t immediately move away, but he leaned forward so that it became harder for me to do so without it feeling awkward. I removed my hand and asked in a voice which sounded self-consciously caring, ‘Can you tell me about it?’

‘Can do. Not sure I want to though.’

‘OK. I understand.’

He looked over his shoulder at me, his expression set. ‘I don’t want you to understand, Callie. I don’t want you to know. It’s not something you want to know, believe me.’

‘But it’s you. Perhaps I need to know.’

He leaned ever further down and his muscles strained tight. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it throbbing through my head.

Paul held his head in his hands and shook it. ‘Ah, Jesus. What more do you want, Callie? Am I never fucking going to be enough as I am?’

Panic started to take hold. I’d gone too far. I backtracked quickly. ‘All right, I’m sorry. Forget it. It doesn’t matter.’

‘It does though, don’t it?’

‘No. Look, Paul, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to mention it, it just slipped out.’ I started to get up and reached for a top, slipping it on, then pulling my knickers up.

‘Where are you going?’ he asked.

‘Nowhere. Just … a glass of water.’

‘No, stay there. If you really want to know, you should know.’

‘Seriously, please …’

‘No. Stay there and listen.’

A Twist of Fate is released in e-book format today and in paperback on 18th June.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

For once, I don’t mean exposure in a sexual sense. I mean media exposure, the exposure of having your life scrutinised and speculated on.

Tomorrow, A Twist of Fate is released in ebook format, with the paperback following in a couple of weeks. Much of the plot is focused on how the media treat Callie and Paul after their safe return following the plane crash, and how they in turn handle the celebrity. 

Does exposure make us behave differently? Does it change our reactions to situations? Does the pressure of it influence our decisions? Callie has mixed feelings about her new found celebrity. On the one hand, she is wary of it and senses the danger, but equally it excites her. She seems to think she can enjoy her fifteen minutes of fame along with everyone else.

And how will it affect her relationship with Paul? After all, their relationship starts in a situation as far removed from exposure and celebrity as can be; they cheat death and find themselves alone and isolated from the modern world. Without the distractions of jobs, commuting, bills or the internet, they can devote themselves to the pleasure of each other. How can that be maintained in the media circus they return to? It’s a different world.

Here’s an extract. Callie and Paul are appearing on a breakfast TV show and being interviewed by the hosts, Bob Rhys-Jones and Dawn Turner.

‘You two are being called the miracle duo. And I have to say, I can’t quite believe I’m looking at two people who have survived what you’ve been through. Thank you so much for taking time to come and talk to us today.’

‘Pleasure.’ Paul sounded completely at ease. He sat with his left arm stretched out across the back of the sofa, while one hand clutched the ankle of the opposing leg as it rested across his knee. A typical bloke-ish relaxed pose. And so sexy.

I was sitting awkwardly. I daren’t lean back for fear I would sprawl and became acutely aware of every part of my body and what I was doing with it. Nothing seemed to be right. I just smiled and looked at Paul for guidance.

‘You’ve been back over a week now. How are you finding things?’

‘I’m back at work. It’s all fine. I wanted to get back to normal really. It helps, I find. But, err … Callie’s still on holiday.’ Paul looked at me, indicating for me to speak.

‘Yes. We’ve been looked after very well. I’ll be ready to go back to school in September.’

‘Of course, you’re a teacher.’ Dawn smiled briefly at my response but her eyes quickly moved back to Paul. ‘And you’re a builder, Paul?’

‘I’m part-owner of a building contractor’s, yes.’

She nodded as though he’d just told her he was an astronaut on a mission to Mars.

Bob took over. ‘Now, we won’t press you on the details of the crash, but you said in your press conference, Callie, that it was Paul who unfastened your seat belt to let you swim to the surface.’

‘Yes, I was still strapped in when we hit the water, even though I could see the way out of the plane. I couldn’t move. I was being dragged down as I was still in my seat, when I felt a sudden release around my waist. But I didn’t think I’d make it. I lost consciousness in the water. Paul must have got me to the surface very quickly.’

‘Do you remember, Paul?’

‘Yeah. Callie was the one nearest me, the only one I could reach. Luckily, I managed to get her out. I wasn’t sure she was going to pull through. Again, luckily, we weren’t too far from this island. I managed to get us both onto some floating debris and make it to shore. I knew she was breathing and she was moaning and mumbling a bit. I did what I could for her but I’m not a medic. I had to wait and hope she came round, which she did.’

‘Didn’t have to perform the kiss of life then?’ Dawn asked.

‘That would be tellin’ …’ He glanced at me. I blushed scarlet.

Dawn laughed, a hand across her cleavage. ‘There you go, Callie. Given a life-giving kiss by a gorgeous Prince Charming and you don’t even know it. I think every woman watching will be jealous – you’re quite the hero, Paul.’

He certainly seems to be …

A Twist of Fate is released in e-book format on 5th June and in paperback on 18th June. It is available for pre-order now.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Let’s look at another theme from the book before the release of A Twist of Fate on Friday. Today, it’s desire.

That may not be a surprising theme to you – I can hardly write a steamy romance without desire. But desire is part and parcel of so much else: denial, self-awareness, realisation and the hope of love. The extreme desire Callie and Paul feel for each other in the book is borne first out of trauma, but is maintained through conflict, if not explicitly with each other, then for what the other stands for.

In fact, can desire actually be complete without conflict? I believe that unavoidable desire comes from the illicit, whether that be socially illicit, morally illicit, or something that we simply consider wrong for ourselves. Belief in something as illicit creates conflict.

We all know about angry sex. Perhaps it’s some of the best sex we can have. Angry sex is driven by desire which overrides sense but leads us to a realisation (hopefully) of the futility of the original conflict.

The conflict between Callie and Paul is subtle and self-imposed, but it is there, and it leads to an overwhelming desire which cannot be ignored. Will it bring them to a realisation of what they could have and hold onto?

A little taste of their desire … Paul and Callie have just appeared on a chat show after their return to the UK after the plane crash, but are not together as a couple.

‘You know it’s all bullshit, Callie, all that crap you spout about us being incompatible. Who’re you kidding? You know we work better than anything, we would anywhere. Can’t stop thinking about you, can’t stop wanting you. Tell me you don’t feel the same.’

I could have gone. I could have run. He wasn’t blocking me in, just standing close enough to dominate my every sense. And it was wonderful. I closed my eyes to it, but he was still in my hearing and scent. If I lifted my hand, I’d feel him; if I opened my mouth, I could taste him.

‘No, please …’

‘You’re only pleading with yourself, Callie. You’re pleading to convince yourself of a lie. Christ, it was hell sitting on that sofa with you. I wanted you then. I wanted to take you right then.’

‘Stop this. It’s not supposed to be like this.’

His voice was low and gravelly, but his words came with the intensity of a dying man. ‘Shut up with that! Who gives a fuck what it’s supposed to be like? Who cares if we came together through the freakiest fucking thing ever? Perhaps it were all planned. Perhaps it was meant to be. Thrown together through fate. You never thought like that?’

I nodded timorously.

‘Yes, Callie, yes. You and me, we think the same. We may talk different and dress different, but we’re the same; survivors. Life – take it, Cal, take it.’

He was right there, his breath warming me, his body overwhelming me. Again, I wasn’t threatened, only enrapt. I enclosed my hand in a fist, intent on pushing him away, but as soon as I came into contact with that indomitable torso, there was no way back. My fist opened into a palm and I pressed it hard onto him. His heart thudded relentlessly under my fingers. I met his eyes and I was lost. But it was me who launched it, me who curled my hand around his neck, me who pulled him down so that our mouths met so hard it robbed us both of breath, me who curled my leg around his and locked him to me.

But once I gave to him, he took. Oh God, he took.

A Twist of Fate is released in e-book format on 5th June and in paperback on 18th June. It is available for pre-order now.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

In anticipation of the release of A Twist of Fate on Friday, today I explore another theme of the book: predictability, or rather, breaking from predictability.

Callie, like so many of us, expects to follow a particular path through life. It’s a path already well-trodden: decent school, good degree, respectable job, a boyfriend her parents and friends approve of … She intends to continue down that path. Why? Because it’s the right path? Not necessarily. Again, like so many of us, she sticks to the predictable because it’s easy, because it’s expected. There is a certain comfort in predictability, even if it isn’t actually the best thing for us. 

Paul Mason – bluff, northern, working class – is like no one she’s ever considered falling for. So when she falls for him profoundly and undeniably, she can’t cope. But then, she has an explanation for her surprising feelings – they survived a plane crash and are stranded together on a desert island! After a shock like that, one can be excused a few unexpected reactions, surely? So she tells herself …

But Paul isn’t so easy to forget. When they return to the UK, they find the media obsessed with their story. Even if Callie wants to forget about him, it seems the British public aren’t going to let her.

Is it for the best? Perhaps the best things that happen to us, happen not because we choose them, but because they choose us, however much we fight them. They may seem ridiculous at the time, but give them a few months or years, and you’ll wonder why you ever doubted.

Will it turn out like that for Callie? Wait and see. Here’s another teaser from Paul and Callie’s first moments on the island. Paul asks Callie why she broke it off with her boyfriend.

‘Is that what you should always try for – a developing relationship?’

‘Yes, don’t you think? There’s no point in being in something that just stagnates. You should grow together, always wake up thinking there’s something new to discover about the person. Something to figure out.’

‘So you’ve decided you haven’t figured him out after all?’

‘I don’t know. I just … he’s familiar to me. He’s easy. He treats me well.’

He paused briefly. ‘Is that enough? Does that leave you enough to figure out?’

‘I suppose I’ll find out.’

I fell quiet. So did he. It didn’t matter. It was an easy silence, the only sound the crackling of the fire. After a while, I said, ‘It’s strange isn’t it, you and me?’

‘How d’you mean?’

‘Well, here we are talking, getting on perfectly well. We probably would never have spoken to each other in real life. I mean … we may never have had the opportunity.’

‘I were sitting near you on the plane for over an hour. You could have talked then.’

‘So could you!’ I chided with a smile.

He laughed and poked the fire. ‘Mad, really.’

‘Well, we haven’t exactly got a lot in common, have we?’

He pouted. ‘Edward III.’

‘Apart from him.’

‘You never know though. There could be more. Try me.’

I smiled at his game. ‘Alright. Umm … Tea or coffee?’

‘Tea.’

‘Earl Grey or PG Tips?’

He looked at me wearily. ‘Whatever’s put in front of me.’

‘Downton or Game of Thrones?’

He chuckled. ‘I don’t mind a bit of Game of Thrones. S’pose you like all those posh people poncin’ about.’

‘Downton’s nice on a Sunday night. Cats or dogs?’

‘Both.’

‘Me too. Rugby or football?’

‘Cricket. I’m a Yorkshireman, after all.’

‘There we go. I love cricket too.’

‘You were wrong then, weren’t you? We’ve got a lot in common.’ He smiled. I melted.

Paul stood up and stretched. ‘It’s gonna be a scorcher.’ He reached for a net he’d mocked up with a stick and some mesh. ‘I’m gonna try to catch us some fresh lunch.’

And right there in front of me, in one fluid motion, he pulled off his grey T-shirt. His naked torso revealed itself; broad, muscled, golden in the sun. I couldn’t help staring. I think my mouth fell open like a guppy. He could have mistaken me for one of the fish he was catching. Oh God, he was stunning.

His chest was smooth, save for the faintest dusting of dark hairs along his breast bone. At rest, the muscles swelled and dipped with smooth grace, but I suspected when he was using them, they’d firm up gloriously. I swallowed and remembered to drop my head. Paul bent to pick up the net again and looked out to sea. ‘There’s something else too.’

‘What?’ I asked, confused.

‘Something else we have in common.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Survival. We have that in common. Life.’

He looked down and held my eyes. Had I ever wanted anything so much?

A Twist of Fate is released in e-book format on 5th June and in paperback on 18th June. It is available for pre-order now.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The excitement is building! Friday sees the release of A Twist of Fate, my first full length book. Various themes occur in this story of unlikely love. In the build up to the release, I explore a theme a day and the part it plays in the story of Callie and Paul.

My first theme is guilt.

The story begins with a plane crash. This crash is cataclysmic and devastating and claims the lives of all on board save two: Callie Frobisher and Paul Mason. Through some extraordinary twist of fate they find that they have lived and have ended up on an uninhabited desert island. 

Callie and Paul have survived and others have not. Inevitably, they feel survivor’s guilt. In addition, Callie has very few memories of the crash itself and, despite a certain amount of shock, she soon finds her circumstances – alone on a beautiful island with an equally beautiful man – not unpleasant. This draws out further guilt. She not only feels guilty for surviving, she also feels guilty for falling for Paul. Paul isn’t the sort of boy she’s supposed to like, and certainly not the sort of boy her mother wants her to like. Callie is torn between the ease of lust which comes from her extraordinary situation and her sense of duty.

Then there’s her ex-boyfriend: The One, everyone says. She’s not so sure, but her guilt over him seems to drive her decision making.

How often do we make decisions based not on what is right, but on what we think others will see as right? When Callie meets Paul – as unlikely a match as he seems – she has a chance to break out of her dutiful straight jacket, but will she have the courage to do so? Shaking off the familiar comfort of guilt is tough.

And what about Paul? Does guilt play a part in his mind set? Callie, for one, is determined to find out.

Here’s a taste of Callie’s guilt:

I laughed, then winced. My arm had been hurting for an age, but I’d tried to ignore it.

‘What?’

‘My arm.’ I touched it and a fierce pain raced through it.

‘Let’s have a look.’

He took hold of the sleeve of my shirt, and only then I noticed it was stained pink with blood. He lifted it with the tenderness of a brood hen. I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. Our tiff was instantly forgotten. After a searing moment where our gazes met and my belly somersaulted, he turned back to examine my arm.

‘Nice gash you got there.’

I glanced down and winced. I had an angry cut about three inches long running along my arm. It was still seeping blood a little. ‘You may need it stitching when we’re back, but we can bind it for now. Hold on.’

He stood and jogged nimbly over to some wreckage. After scrabbling about for a while he returned with a bandage. ‘Y’see,’ he grinned. ‘We’ve got all we need. First aid kit intact.’

Paul cleaned the wound with some saline then worked concertedly and skilfully to bind my arm. ‘It’ll have to be tight, I’m afraid.’

His fingers were warm and assured and, as they grazed my skin, I felt an unstoppable surge of desire flaming inside me. He was so close and so hard and firm. My head swam and I was unable to take my eyes off him.

He finished by tying off the bandage and smiling at me. ‘There you go. Good as new.’ He didn’t move his hands away, and stayed still, holding my arm tenderly yet firmly.

I held his gaze and smiled back. He was right there, strong and sure. Would it be so bad to just … But how mad this was. All of it. I averted my gaze.

Paul drew in a breath suddenly and turned out to look at the sea. ‘Not a bad spot really, is it? I mean, if you’re gonna be the sole survivors of an air crash, there’re worse places to end up.’

My stomach dropped with disappointment.

The moment was lost. Probably for the best. This was crazy. I couldn’t enter into some mad relationship on a desert island with someone I barely knew. Someone with whom I had nothing in common. Someone who was entirely wrong for me. Just because we were stuck together didn’t mean we should do anything. And there was Rupert. I was going back to Rupert, after all. I’d already made my decision.

A Twist of Fate is released in e-book format on 5th June and in paperback on 18th June. It is available for pre-order now.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Demelza Hart:

Wrote this for the Ashes summer a couple of years ago, but in honour of Jimmy Anderson becoming England’s leading test wicket taker yesterday (and as a continuing homage to his uber hotness) let’s just see it again.

Originally posted on Demelza Hart:

It���s summer. I���m in Britain. And it���s the Ashes. There follows a slight change from the norm, but don���t worry, it���s still mainly about sex.

For those of you who are not English or Australian, the Ashes is a series of five day cricket matches played between England and Australia and bla de bla de bla ��� that���s all you need to know. They���re really important and��WE HAVE TO WIN THEM��(or retain them as we won them before ��� nya nya nya).

I love cricket. And, as may have been sussed out previously, I love men. It doesn���t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I therefore love the blokes currently making up the England side, who, let���s face it, on the whole, are FIT. And I mean F-I-T.

Example 1: Mr James (Jimmy) Anderson

Example 2: Mr Stuart Broad

Example 3: Mr Alastair Cook,��Captain

Catch my drift?

Cricket���

View original 375 more words

So, over the last few days, I’ve got things like this (sorry for fuzziness):

Suited to You’s ranking when on a brief free promotion:

Suited to You’s ranking when not free:

And this (that’s an orange Amazon best seller banner, btw)

Thank you, Tara and Patrick, you little stars. If you want to know why people are buying it, why not read it and find out? Three books in one with compelling characters, romance, and a lot of crazy sex. What more do you want? One five star review said it was ‘filthy and heartfelt in equal measures’ – just about sums it up!

Suited to You on Amazon UK

Suited to You on Amazon US

Yes, FREE! For a very limited time only, the Suited to You trilogy is absolutely free. This book was last night sitting at the very top of the Amazon UK anthology chart for ��2.99, so this is an absolute peach of a chance, but it won’t last long. Get it while you can (ie in the next few days) or you’ll have to reach into your pockets again. You’ll be reaching into your pockets anyway when you read it, but for a very different reason … ��

The Suited to You trilogy follows the adventures of Tara as she once again makes contact with the mysterious Suit, a man she cannot forget after her extraordinary night on the Tube several weeks before. (This story, Come Underground, features in the Your Ultimate Fantasy and Watching Me, Watching You anthologies.) Soon The Suit is leading Tara into increasingly exposed and exhilarating sexual situations, and she is only too happy to go along for the ride. But will she want more from The Suit himself, more than he is prepared to give?

Featuring the hottest scenarios underpinned with human frailty and the need for commitment and romance, Suited to You has it all. Get it free while you can, which isn’t long.

Here’s a little teaser from the second book in the series, Exposed. Here, Tara and The Suit are on a flight to New York, but Tara is sitting next to The Suit’s friend, Carter, whom she has only just met.

As the lights dimmed, people around us settled themselves to sleep. Patrick was the only one who kept his reading light on. I reclined my seat a little. Carter did the same. The seat divider between us was down fully, I realised. I kept it that way.

���I can never sleep on flights,��� I whispered to Carter.

���Neither can I. And I hate it when other people can.���

I turned again to The Suit. His eyes flicked to mine before returning to his paper.

The cabin crew had provided us with the softest blankets. I pulled mine over me and curled up on the seat. My leg brushed against Carter���s. I didn���t move it away and neither did he. We were completely concealed under the blankets, and the light in the cabin was significantly low. Under the circumstances, my desire surged through me. It didn���t take long for me to act on it.

I moved my leg, deliberately rubbing it along his, then brought my hand over to rest on his thigh. I started to stroke, slowly and lazily. My touch was at first light, just a fingertip or two, then I placed my palm flat on his inner thigh and pressed down. I heard Carter swallow hard. I continued, moving my hand closer to his groin. I felt again that tingle of anticipation ��� what would I find? I explored upwards to my goal. Oh, yes. What I came across exceeded expectation. I stroked over the mass already straining under his trousers. God, it wanted out.

���Jesus, Tara,��� Carter murmured. ���That is so fucking good.���

Drawing down the zip and reaching in, I soon found the naked flesh of his firm cock. My warm hand closed around it.

���Oh yeah,��� he breathed. I drew my thumb over the head, glad of the drops of pre-cum already oozing from it. I squeezed, knowing more would follow. Coating it across my palm I started a steady hand fuck, up and down with strength and dexterity. Carter moaned.

There were footsteps down the aisle. A female crew member stopped beside me. She leaned down, sticking her cold-eyed face far closer to me in the gloom than needed. ���Everything alright? Can I get you anything?���

I thought about asking for a vibrator but figured it probably wouldn���t go down too well.

���No, we���re fine, thanks,��� I smiled sweetly, thinking, ���Piss off.��� My hand was still working the erect shaft. I thought I saw her eyes flick to the swaying blanket before she moved off.

As much as I was enjoying bringing him off in my hand, I wanted something more. Leaning over to Carter, I whispered, ���I���d like to suck you off. Can I do that?���

Download now to Kindle and Kindle apps for FREE!

Suited to You US link

Suited to You UK link

A blog post I wrote for BTSemag about our ideal fictional man versus what we could reasonably tolerate in real life.

http://btsemag.com/fiction-vs-reality-the-myth-of-the-perfect-man-by-demelza-hart-btsemag/

The movie’s here. The consensus seems to be that, although hardly a cinematic masterpiece, it’s a lot better than the book.

I shall not comment. We all owe FSoG a lot and I am thrilled a fan fiction writer turned her erotic imaginings into something which gave a lot of people a lot of pleasure and made her rich. If it can happen to her, maybe it can happen to all of us one day. Yeah … right …

Anyway, I’m happy that FSoG exists in both book form and film form.

We all need good love and good sex. Getting it is never easy, but we can always dream.

Right now, I’m happy because people seem to be buying my Suited to You box set. It has romance. It has established characters and humour and all that. But it mostly has a lot of great sex. If you��want some fabulous stuff to wank to, buy it. You won’t regret it. It’s a bargain. Tens of thousands of sexy words for under ��3. A lot cheaper than a cinema ticket, and you can enjoy it in private too.

It’s Valentine’s Day. Treat yourself.