Yo ho yo ho: Calling all bloggers.

What a blast to meet those of you that I saw at the Romantic Times convention last week. (I'm still recovering. You?)

In the midst of all the craziness, it's completely sneaked up on me that I have a new book coming out a week from Tuesday!

My latest "seduced classic" is an erotic twist on Dumas' brilliant revenge story The Count of Monte Cristo. My count is tortured, sexy, and hell-bent on revenge....whew! Makes for some hawt scenes.

I loved the original book--all 1247 pages of it--and other than giving the story a happy ending and lots of sex, I pretty much followed the original storyline (unlike the deviations in my Phantom of the Opera book, Unmasqued).

I'm looking for a few bloggers who'd like to receive a free copy. All I ask in return is for you to read and blog about the book before May 15. If you're interested, email me at colette at colettegale dot com and I'll get one shipped off to you posthaste.

For those curious-minded folk, you can find out more info (and read an excerpt) on my site at colettegale.com. Here's the back cover blurb:

Edmond Dantés spent years imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Now free, he has returned to Paris in the guise of the powerful Count of Monte Cristo seeking vengeance on those who sent him to jail. But his plan also includes a different kind of revenge on the woman he has never forgotten, the lover he has made it his mission to possess.

Mércèdes Herrera was devastated when the man she loved disappeared. Trapped in a loveless marriage, her passions are reignited by Edmond's return. She alone sees through his disguise...but this harsh, angry man sends chills down her spine even as his very touch reminds her of the passion they once shared. She realizes soon enough that his plan to avenge himself on the men who incarcerated him also includes another sort of revenge...on her.

From the seaside town of Marseille, to the exotic caves of Monte Cristo Isle, unfolds an erotic battle of wills in the most electrifying game of love ever played between man and woman, between master and slave.

An O by any other name...

Well, Happy New Year to everyone!

Congrats to Celia for her RT Reviewers Choice nom! That's fantastic news, and I'll be at RT cheering you on!

I was in a restaurant over the holidays (eating, of course...oh, dear...eating, and eating and eating...)...anyway, there was an item on the menu (dessert, of course) that was described as orgasmic.

I sort of nodded. Yeah, it was chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Some (real) whipped cream. More chocolate. Mm-hm. Yes, I could see it being orgasmic.

Especially if one is suffering from PMS. (We all know how that works, don't we, Strumpets?)

Anyway, I was wondering what other treats could be considered "orgasmic"--ones that are of the food variety (and, yes, I know that food and sex are oft combined, but I'm talking about food-only. Treats.).

So, what's your favorite non-sex orgasm?

I'll take a good chocolate anyday...Godiva or Milka, with caramel. Or...oh, yes...the Great Wall of Chocolate from P.F.Chang's. Yu-ummmm.

And PS: here's the cover for my May release, Master: An Erotic Novel of the Count of Monte Cristo. Pretty, yes?


(Yes, I know there's a typo. They've fixed it; I just don't have the new version yet.)

Spice For Your Tea?

The name of our site got me to thinking about what it is we'd want to "spice" our tea with, should we be engaging in an evening of...well, let's not beat around the bush (heh!) here, gals...we're all adults.

...For an evening of lurid, luscious, non-stop sex! Er...at least for the characters in our books.

So I did a quick Google (doesn't that sound dirty? Or is my mind in the gutter? I'm going to Google you. Will you Google me? Can I watch while you Google me?)

Okay, sorry.

Anyway, I did a quick Google (*giggle*) for aphrodisiacs, and found a common Chinese drug, complete with its own advertising copy. Opium, apparently, is the most famous of Chinese aphrodisiacs, because, according to the Jin P'ing Mei,

Take but a speck of this, set it upon you, then
Rush like a whirlwind to the bridal chamber
The first engagement will leave you full of vigour;
The second, even stronger than before.
Though twelve exquisite beauties, all arrayed in scarlet, wait your onset
You may enjoy each one, according to your fancy ...
And so on and so forth ~
"Ten women in one night will be as one to you."

Sounds promising to me!

And then there is the direct translation of Jin Pi'ng Mei, which is a Chinese novel of explicit sexuality, aka, erotica. "The Plum in the Golden Vase."

That is erotic. Makes me want to quiver. How delicate and lovely that sounds!

So...fellow authors, is it oysters, chocolate, or opium for your heroes and heroines?

And as a reader, does it bother you if the characters in the book indulge in a bit of hashish before embarking on their orgies? (As they do in The Count of Monte Cristo!)

Do tell!