I’m participating in Marketing for Romance Writers (MFRW) Book Hooks today—a weekly meme that gives authors the opportunity to showcase their work and readers an opportunity to find their next read!

This is an excerpt from my brand new short story collection, Initiative: Tales of Erotic Boldness, which just released on May 1. It’s from the story “Sunshine”:

“What do you want?” she asked.

Sean blanched. What was he supposed to say? As he started fumbling for an answer, the question struck him: What did he want?

“I mean, there must have been a reason you came over to talk to me,” she continued. “What was it?”

Emboldened by her straightforwardness, Sean went with the truth. “I found you attractive.”

“And do you still?”

Sean was waiting to see some form of expression on her face. The evenness it had displayed so far, especially in contrast to the volatility he was experiencing, was a bit discomfiting.

At that moment she shifted, and he felt the heat of her body. Whatever response she may have been seeking, the answer was undeniable.

“Yes.”

Her mask slipped then, and he sucked in a breath at the sudden and unequivocal softness he saw. The placidity moved back into place quickly enough, but that moment was like the crack in an invisible door letting in a tiny beam of sunshine. And suddenly what Sean wanted more than anything else was to see it come out again.

Please enjoy visiting the other participants’ posts from the list below, and read on for more about Intiative!

With encounters between strangers, hotly developing romances, forays into domination, and sometimes all of the above, Initiative delivers sizzling stories of boldness and satisfaction.

From audacious proposals to first-time exploits to newfound inner confidence, taking initiative delves into the risqué in these thirteen smoldering tales. An accidental catalyst invokes a bold move in “Fulfillment,” while the brassiness in “Shift Change” belongs entirely to narrator Stacey. “Who’s on Top?” sees a meeting between fans of rival baseball teams turn into a game of chance and wits, and “The Beast Within” offers a present-day “Beauty and the Beast” rendition that puts a twist on ugliness, beauty, pain, and pleasure—and the surprising ways they can intertwine.

Sometimes brazen, sometimes subtle, the initiatives between these pages always showcase the erotic and how it can both inspire and evoke our most emboldened selves.