Please Welcome Author...LEIGH ELLWOOD!!

Good day, romance friends. I'm pleased to be here, guest blogging just a few days shy of my birthday. I don't have any special plans beyond writing, editing, and enjoying lots of gourmet chocolate. Some friends have seen to the last by sending some wonderful stuff my way. As you read my blog, http://www.leighellwood.blogspot.com/, you will find periodical reviews of the sweet stuff I enjoy. The spicy stuff, I write. ;)

Just a quick overview of who I am an-d what I do: I am multi-published with Phaze, Samhain Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, and have recently contracted with Loose-ID. I write erotic romance (usually romantic comedy), M/M erotica and romance, and non-erotic mystery as L.K. Ellwood. Phaze Books has the majority of my titles, in particular my Dareville series, the latest of which is to be released next month!

Dareville is series of erotic romance novels and shorts set in fictional Dareville, Virginia, a small town (with big love) inland of Virginia Beach. If you're familar with the area, it would be near the Suffolk/Franklin region. The first in the series, Truth or Dare, was one of Phaze's earliest bestsellers and continues to do well. Book Two: Dare Me, has won a few reviewer's awards and remains my favorite of the group (check my website for the whole series).

In September, Dareville's borders will expand with the release of Daringly Delicious, a hot little short that acts as companion to a series of longer works planned for the series. Delicious is the first Dareville story to feature a BBW heroine, and it combines two of my favorite things - sex and chocolate!

When it comes to chocolate, Tish Richmond delivers the goods. Her home business, Tish's Dishes, is booming, and a new contract with Dareville's popular grocery store allows her the opportunity to expand her reach. Happy as she should be for the exposure, Tish longs to stop her waistline from expanding further so love can reach her.

Gorgeous Vinnie comes to Dareville to work for his uncle's limousine company. One look at Tish and he's struck by the sexy, voluptuous entrepreneur. Can he convince Tish that the size of her dishes don't matter to him, and will she let him satisfy his sweet tooth?

Daringly Delicious will release as an eBook for $2 per download, and will also be featured in an upcoming print anthology, More, More, More!, devoted to BBW heroines. I'll be joining Sammie Jo Moresca, Meg Winston, and Victoria Blisse on that one. For now, you are invited to a sneak preview of my story, right here! Enjoy!

Daringly Delicious by Leigh EllwoodPhaze Books, September, 2008Excerpt copyright (c) 2008 Leigh Ellwood

“Oh. My. Fuck. Ing. God!”

That was what Tish heard, anyway. Despite the hopefully positive body language Lauren Marbury exhibited—the dreamy smile, the raised eyebrows—Tish remained apprehensive. Perhaps if Lauren had waited until after swallowing the truffle to give her critique, she might have better interpreted the words.

Lauren appeared to have just finished off the one when she reached into the plastic container for another bon bon. The dark chocolate shell crackled between her teeth and a diamond-shaped sliver broke away and landed on the heel of Lauren’s hands as she pulled it away. Tish could tell by the white pinwheel design piped around the truffle that Lauren had selected the chocolate key lime flavor—her signature concoction.

Appreciative moaning followed Lauren’s devouring of the second candy, and the woman licked the smeared chocolate from her fingers and palm. This Tish took as a good sign and she relaxed in the molded retro chair opposite Lauren’s. They sat in the little café dining area of Jake’s Organic—it was early and the store would open in thirty minutes. All around them workers in dark green shirts and long khaki pants bustled up and down aisles of shelves and the bank of registers, preparing for the new business day. Tish let the activity distract her momentarily as she remembered her days of punching a clock to make money on somebody else’s time. No more.

Thank the angels and saints she had the talent and drive to go into business for herself. She could wear any color she chose—a fortunate thing, since only so many shades complimented her large frame.

“Good night, lady!” Lauren sounded out of breath. “I think I need a cigarette now.” She patted her breastbone, stifling a burp, and laughingly brushed her hand against Tish’s. Tish realized she must have looked surprised at the comment, and Lauren’s gesture served to assure her. Clients and potential clients often praised her work, but never before compared it to sex.

Like I’d know, she thought with some sarcasm. She pulled the hem of her short skirt over her chubby legs. Her “lucky” outfit—worn only to important meetings—was beginning to feel a bit tight on her. Seeing how far back the hem of her skirt pulled when she first sat shocked Tish, and she realized she needed to stop eating so many of her culinary mistakes.

“I take it you like the samples,” she finally addressed Lauren’s enthusiasm.

“I adore the samples. I’ve tasted so many dry and tasteless cakes and goodies this week, I swear I was spitting out sand afterward. But this,” Lauren gestured to the sample tier of buttercream enrobed chocolate cake—crumbs sprinkling the wedge space where a piece had been cut—and the box of truffles, “is absolutely scrumptious.”

“Thank you,” Tish said.

“And you don’t have any exclusive agreements to supply cakes anywhere else?”

“No. I only just started with the cakes.” The swish of the nearby automatic sliding doors momentarily distracted Tish. The gorgeous hunk of man entering the store continued to hold her attention.

“The truffles are distributed all over Hampton Roads...and the Internet,” she managed before her voice died. Did she have a website? She couldn’t remember anymore. Her own name became fuzzy and lost in the powerful aura given off by the sexy, dark man scanning the breadth of the store for assistance. He stood tall in a form-fitting white t-shirt that nicely set off his tanned arms, and black slacks helped display a nicely-rounded ass. Muscles twitched and cords in his neck tightened--he appeared anxious.

Pity. A more attractive, confident Tish might have extracted herself from the business meeting to offer the handsome stranger the opportunity to relieve that tension. She could guide him to the baking aisle, and select any of a wide variety of oils for a sensual massage.

I can knead dough, but I need a man.

She wished she could cross her legs to stop the rising throb in her pussy. She reached for a truffle and set it before her. No, she would not satisfy for lust again with a fattening substitute.

All the while she listened to the store manager babble about her new wedding and special occasions registry, and how Jake’s had contracted with local florists and photographers, yada yada, but nothing was exclusive. “Definitely, we’ll want to carry your truffles in the cafe,” Lauren said, pointing behind her at the dessert display case, “but an exclusive agreement to sell your wedding cakes through us would be wonderful. We’d make it worth your while. We’re getting so many queries now, and nobody wants to go all the way to the beach for a cake. Other cakes you make, you could sell here and elsewhere...”

“Sure.” She glanced back to face Lauren, then another quick peek. He was gone in that split-second. Good. A more distracted Tish might have eaten the truffle, the box, then signed away her secret recipes if Lauren had slipped a blank paper under her hand to sign. The truffles alone provided good income for her, and Tish didn’t want cake baking to cut into that. “I don’t bake many cakes as it is,” she told Lauren. “I should be able to handle what comes through the store.”

Cake eating, on the other hand, could prove to be disastrous if the wedding business boomed. Tish envisioned her kitchen sink, piled high with chocolate-smudged forks and plates, herself slumped to the floor in a diabetic coma, and shuddered.

“Excellent!” Lauren clasped her hands. “I have to tell you, the timing couldn’t be more perfect. My husband’s son is getting married in a month and we have everything done but the cake--”

“A month?” Tish exclaimed. Nothing like the cold hand of reality to kill an amorous mood. At best she figured she had a month to negotiate contracts and establish herself with the store before she actually had to deliver something. “You don’t waste time, do you?”

Lauren seemed less concerned with the looming deadline. She scratched rapidly into a checkbook with a ball-point pen. “It’s not a huge affair, about seventy-five people at best, all local. We don’t have anything after that until June, so there’s time to recover.” She ripped away the check and handed it to Tish. “How’s this for an advance?”

Tish tried not to let her eyes widen and bug out of her head like that of a cartoon character. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said, tucking the check into her purse. “I trust the bridge and groom have a design and flavor in mind?”

“The bridge and groom would be happy with a sheet cake from Winn-Dixie and a punch bowl full of Sprite and sherbet,” Lauren rolled her eyes. “They left everything to me, to their credit. They’d be ordering pizzas for the reception otherwise. Here you go.”

“Not a bad idea. Delivery in thirty minutes or your wedding’s free.” Tish took the detailed cake specifications and the purchase order for truffles. Assuming the cake would be a probationary assignment, she would not expect a contract until after she finished the job.

But Lauren surprised her again. “Jake has the contracts in the office. If you can wait a few minutes, we’ll print one out for you. There he is!”

Lauren leaped from her chair, gesticulating wildly. Tish shifted in her chair for a better view of the approaching store owner and froze at the sight of her mystery man close on his heels. She remained still, but her body responded against her will--her nipples poked against her thin top, and a warmth shot down her spine to her pussy, where it pooled into lava.

“Here she is,” Jake Marbury gestured to Lauren, and the man extended his hand over the table. Of course, he didn’t give fat Tish Richmond a cursory glance.

“I’m Vinnie Petrocelli,” he greeted Lauren. “My Uncle Dom sent me to drop these off.” He spoke softly, with an accent nowhere near Virginian. If Tish had to guess...New York, from some ethnic borough where children played in the geyser streams of open fire hydrants in the sticky summertime. He had the look of somebody new to small town Dareville, and as he bent over the table to give Lauren a large manila envelope Tish caught scents of bold aftershave and earthy tobacco.

Smoker, eh? Not that it mattered. Men like that simply didn’t ask her out to dinner, but only to move out of the way so they can pass and talk to the skinny blonde walking three paces ahead.

“Excellent!” It appeared to be a catchphrase for Lauren. “And since we’re all going to be working together, I’d like you both to meet Tish Richmond. She made these incredible truffles. You have to try them.”

Niceties and handshakes exchanged, Tish held Vinnie’s gaze and palm for only a few seconds, yet it felt years of acquaintance passed between them. The energy vibrating through his body into hers ignited a delicious sensation that tickled her insides. Would it be possible to orgasm from an indirect touch? Tish wasn’t about to humiliate herself by becoming the guinea pig for that experiment. She broke contact quickly and rose.

“I hope I’m not being too rude,” she focused on Lauren to stay calm, “but I have another delivery to make. You can just e-mail me the agreement and I’ll bring it back. My address is on the card.”

She managed a clean getaway, which Jake didn’t seem to mind since he insisted Lauren speak with Vinnie about his papers. As she retreated, Tish wondered about Vinnie, and how he and “Uncle Dom” figured into Lauren’s wedding planner business.

Behind her, Lauren implored both men again to sample Tish’s bon-bons. “Tell me this isn’t the most delicious thing you’ve ever tasted,” she challenged.

Curiosity got the better of Tish and she turned back in time to see Vinnie licking chocolate from his fingers and lips, holding a crescent-shaped bite of truffle in the other hand.

“It’s pretty damn close,” he said, nodding with a smile.

He looked right at Tish as he said it.

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Hungry yet? Be sure to stop by http://www.leighellwood.blogspot.com/ Books in September for seconds! If you would like to win a free copy of Delicious, please leave a comment and when the book is release I'll give away one download!

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Disclaimer: The views expressed by the guest blogger do not necessarily reflect those of The Deadly Vixens.