May 10, 2015

Sunday Smooch with Anna Campbell!

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!



Today we have a smooch from Anna Campbell but first 


... the two winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is ... Laney4


Can you please contact Louisa George at louisageorgeauthor (at) gmail (dot) com to receive your copy of Tempted by Her Italian Surgeon.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Anna Campbell's latest release, A SCOUNDREL BY MOONLIGHT



Anything can happen in the moonlight... 

Justice. That's all Nell Trim wants - for her sister and for the countless other young women the Marquess of Leath has ruined with his wildly seductive ways. Now she has a bold plan to take him down... as long as she can resist the scoundrel's temptations herself.

From the moment Nell meets James Fairbrother, the air positively sizzles. Yet for all his size and power, there's something amazingly tender in his touch. Could he really be such a depraved rogue? The only way to find out is to beat the devil at his own game... one tempting kiss at a time.


Scene set-up


Humbly born Nell Trim blames the Marquess of Leath for her beloved half-sister’s death – and she knows just how to ruin him. With her dying words, Dorothy mentions a diary that lists Leath’s conquests. Publication of this diary will destroy the marquess’s lifelong political ambitions and turn him into a social pariah.  Nell takes a position in Leath’s household as first a housemaid, then as his mother’s companion. Unfortunately for her, James Fairbrother isn’t the monster she expected, but an irresistibly attractive man. Desperate to escape this wicked temptation, Nell takes the risk of looking for the diary in Leath’s bedroom. When Leath catches her in the act, she tries to distract him with a kiss – but things don’t go quite the way she imagined they would.

If you'd like to read another excerpt from A SCOUNDREL BY MOONLIGHT, click here!

Smooch  -

For a long moment, Leath watched Nell with an unreadable expression. His hands dug into her shoulders and she feared that he was about to shove her out the door. She was bizarrely reluctant to go.

His hold softened in a way she couldn’t describe. Her skin tightened with anticipation. Slowly his lips skimmed across hers in a caress as different from her all-out assault as satin from iron.

The kiss lasted only a second, yet flooded her with such longing that her knees buckled. She leaned back against the door.

He still looked uncompromising. His features were all hard planes: strong bones, jutting nose, adamantine jaw.

Yet his lips…His lips had been softer than a feather.

She snatched a jagged breath and struggled to speak, but before she could, he gave her another of those sweet kisses. Did he linger this time? Taste her as delicately as he’d sample a fine claret?

Her breath caught as he raised his head and regarded her with familiar concentration. To steady herself, she hooked her hands around his neck. “That was…”

Lovely? Wrong? Frightening? Beguiling?

Heaven help her. Heaven condemn her. She’d started this. Now she’d opened the gates to destruction on a level she’d never contemplated.

One thumb trailed down her jaw, leaving a tingling wake. His lips quirked in a faint smile that set her heart cartwheeling. The huskiness in his voice stroked across her nerves like silk. His clean, male scent surrounded her, too familiar in a man who should be a stranger. “You’re not usually lost for words, Miss Trim.”

She’d never been kissed before. She’d always imagined that whoever the lucky fellow was, he’d use her Christian name. Still, something about the way his lordship said “Miss Trim” made her shiver with excitement. And God forgive her, lately when she’d imagined kisses, the man kissing her had been Lord Leath.

Nell felt as if she toppled over a cliff. She should flee, forsake her quest for vengeance, forget that however unacceptable the attraction, she found this man so appealing. She should scuttle back to Mearsall and her dear, kind stepfather, and her dull existence, and be grateful that dullness promised safety.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she said shakily.

“You kissed me first.”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

She wasn’t surprised when he laughed. Even she thought that she sounded absurd.

“You seem new to the activity. I merely offered an alternative technique.”

She thought she’d blushed before, but this critique set her cheeks on fire. “I don’t go around kissing random men, my lord. I refuse to apologize for my inexperience.”

“I’m glad.” He caught her loosely by the waist. She was overwhelmingly conscious of those large hands holding her.

“For my inexperience?”

“That you made an exception to your rule.”

“I suppose you’re used to women throwing themselves at you,” she mumbled, knowing she made a fool of herself. A man like Leath probably couldn’t step outside without tripping over eager young ladies wanting to kiss him. Wanting more.

The idea of him doing more to her sent Nell’s heart hurtling into her ribs.

He smiled. That gentle curve of his beautifully cut lips set her pulses rocketing. “If only life was so exciting for a politically minded marquess.”

 
 * * * * *





For a chance to win a copy of A SCOUNDREL BY MOONLIGHT, Anna asks:  For both Leath and Nell, this kiss is a guilty pleasure. What’s your guilty pleasure?


A SCOUNDREL BY MOONLIGHT is available from:
Amazon
Book Depository
Booktopia


Release dates: 28th April 2015 Hachette Grand Central North America (Australia, New Zealand and the UK to be advised).


Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Amy Andrews will be posted!


Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

58 comments:

  1. Chocolate :D
    I enjoyed reading this excerpt,and the cover is wonderful :)

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    1. Thanks so much, Bube. Yes, that cover is quite spectacular, isn't it?

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    2. Hi, Bube! Isn't that cover gorgeous! Chocolate is an excellent guilty pleasure - it's one of mine, too!

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  2. Oh Wow Anna :)

    What can I say Yummo

    My guilty pleasure would have to be eating Tim Tams and reading a good book and yes ignoring the housework that needs to be done :)

    Have Fun
    Helen

    Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mothers :)

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    1. I agree on ignoring housework. I can easily do that :-)

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    2. Happy Mother's Day, Helen! Hope you and the family have a wonderful day. Actually I could have guessed your guilty pleasure - with maybe Hugh Jackman waving a peacock feather fan over your head to keep you cool!

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    3. Ignoring the housework! Helen, you're a woman after my own heart! I have a tea towel to prove it! ;)

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  3. I'm going to say my guilty pleasure is White Chocolate.

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    1. Pam, how interesting! I'm not a fan of white chocolate at all - whereas if you offer me a potato chip, I'm yours for life. That would definitely count as my food guilty pleasure.

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    2. hey, Pam! Another chocolate fan! My fave is dark and slightly bitter.

      Mmm, though Anna's potato chips are right up there too!

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    3. Hi Sharon, I will take either Chocolate or White Chocolate. Right now I'm making some Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls for my mother in law.

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    4. Anna, I do like chips but they are easier for me to pass up :-)

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    5. I Googled chocolate peanut butter balls, Pam! They look like a delish treat!

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    6. Ooh, Pam, I've gone crazy over the Lindt peanut butter chocolates. Your peanut butter chocolates sound right up my alley.

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    7. Anna, I will PM you on Facebook. They are easy to make and I will only make 1/2 the recipe at a time. Extra chocolate I've been buying mixed nuts and putting in the extra and then pouring out on waxed paper and once cooled break apart. No wonder I am gaining weight :-)

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    8. Sharon are really good and again like I told Anna so easy to make.

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  4. Anna, what a premise, AND what a kiss. Sigh.
    Guilty pleasure? Make that pleasures - wine and chocolate.

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    1. Thanks so much, Sue. The first kiss scene in Scoundrel is actually one of my faves in the book! So glad you enjoyed it. Wine and chocolate? Great choices!

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  5. My guilty pleasure is ice cream cake and reading. Love this series!

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    1. Hi Sheryl! Ice cream anything works for me - and definitely reading too. Thanks for saying you're enjoying the series!

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  6. Waving to you, Anna, and welcome to the LoveCats with that gorgeous Smooch! I'm with Sheryl - the Sons of Sin is a fab series. And I adored this book - I'm totally smitten with the Marquess of Leath.

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    1. Sharon, doing the happy dance because you liked my scoundrel! Yeah, I had a bit of a crush on him too by the time I was done. He takes a lot of big steps during the book, doesn't he? Thank you for hosting me today. Always excited to be an honorary Love Cat for the day!

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  7. Fabulous smooch, Anna! Loving the heat between Nell and Leath. :-)

    Guilty pleasure? Oh, I have so many we'd be here all day if I started naming them. But this weekend it's gorgeous cheese (a creamy camembert and a nice smooth havarti to be precise...and the nutty gouda is singing a siren song too).

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    1. Ooh, Michelle, I LOVE cheese and you've picked some of my faves. I've recently gone back to gouda. For some reason I hadn't bought it in years and then I got some for a cheese plate and thought, "What have I been missing?" Thanks so much for saying you like the smooch - I love this chance to focus on a kiss in the story. The first kiss is often one of my fave scenes either as writer or reader!

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    2. Oh, you're making my mouth water with your cheese descriptions, Michelle!

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    3. So much talk of food, must be around everyone's dinner time.

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  8. Delicious excerpt, Anna! Books and chocolate are my not-too-guilty pleasures! Together, they are even more of a treat ;)

    --Fedora

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    1. Fedora, I think "not-to-guilty pleasures" is a great way of thinking!

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    2. Fedora, books and chocolate are a great choice! And as you say, nothing to feel TOO guilty about. So glad you enjoyed the excerpt! Thank you for swinging by!

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  9. What a fabulous smooch! My pleasures are dark chocolate with dried mango. Any kind of sugary dried fruit- pineapple, raisins, especially.

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    1. Laura, so glad you enjoyed the smooch! I don't think I've ever had dried mango - definitely like the fresh variety!

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    2. Mmm, dried mango with dark chocolate sounds like a lovely treat, Laura!

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  10. Great smooch, Anna!
    My guilty pleasure if lying in bed all day with a book (or2!) If it happens to be raining, even better!

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    1. Alison, now you're talking! I've had a really busy time lately so I've had a book day today. Just a luscious way to spend a few hours. Thanks for saying you like the smooch!

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    2. That's a wonderful pleasure indeed, Amy!

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  11. Hi, Sharon! Hi, Anna!

    Oh, what a fabulous smooch, Anna. Congrats on the release of your Scoundrel! I can't wait to read what happens next.

    I have a few guilty pleasures, but number one on my list is sleeping in on Sundays. It's such a luxury, as I'm sure you, a fellow early birdy, would know!

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    1. Oh, Vanessa, it truly is lovely to luxuriate in a nice long lie-in! Especially with a good book! Thanks for saying you enjoyed the smooch!

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    2. Waving to you, Vanessa! I hear what you're saying about the luxuriation of a nice lie-in... though I really am an early bird so in lots of ways it's more of a treat to have a decadently early night with a good book! Especially on these chilly evenings!

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  12. So lovely to have you here Anna, and what a fabulous smooch! Can't wait to read your latest!!

    Hmmm, guilty pleasure! For me that cheesecake. Just love it!

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    1. Hi Jen! Thanks for saying you enjoyed the smooch. Yanno, I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake! Clearly we need to live close to one another so you can eat all the cheesecake and I can eat all the chips!

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    2. Mmmm, I don't mind a nice cheesecake, Jen. My M-I-L makes a very nice chocolate one.

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  13. A lovely smooch thank you.

    I don't have any guilty pleasures in that I have no guilt whatsoever when I indulge.

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    1. Ha, great answer, Mary! And such a sane one! Thanks so much for saying you enjoyed the smooch.

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    2. Mary, that's such a very sensible approach to treating yourself! If you're going to do it, enjoy it!

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  14. My guilty pleasures are the desserts, especially the chocolate, ice cream, strawberries, and a good book to read ..... maybe eating chocolate !!! :)

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    1. Franca, I love desserts! They're a heavenly invention. Paired with a good book, you can't do any better!

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    2. Chocolate! Franca, we definitely have a chocolate treat bias on this list!

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  15. I have a terrible sweet tooth, so the dessert tray!

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    1. Linda, you've got a few friends here today. The dessert tray is going to get a workout!

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    2. Anna and Linda, there'll be a queue at the dessert tray judging by the comments here!

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  16. I love that cover, the purple is beautiful. And my guilty pleasure would be reading when I should be doing something else.

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    1. Grandma, I know that particular guilty pleasure - it's one I often succumb to! Like Helen, I'd much rather read than do housework! Isn't that cover pretty?

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    2. Yes, yes to ignoring the housework (and other things) in favour of a good book, Grandma and Anna!

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  17. Hi Anna - Lovely cover - I lose every time on Facebook. Maybe my luck will change here. Loved your excerpt too.

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