cover reveal: torch (a take it off novel) by Cambria Hebert

Today we have the cover reveal for TORCH, part of the Take It Off series by Cambria Hebert.

Title: Torch
Series: Take It Off (A sexy series of stand alone novels all in the new adult contemporary genre)
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Author: Cambria Hebert
Published by Cambria Hebert
Release Date: August 23, 2013
Format: Ebook and Paperback

Cover design by Mae I Design.

About the book...

***This is a new adult contemporary novel and contains sexual content and graphic language. It is not intended for young adult readers.***

If you can’t take the heat… stay away from the flame.

Katie Parks has been on her own since the age of fifteen. All she’s ever wanted is a place to call her own—a life that is wholly hers that no one can take away. She thought she finally had it, but with the strike of a single match, everything she worked so hard for is reduced to a pile of smoking ash. And she almost is too. 

Now she’s being stalked by someone who’s decided it’s her time to die. The only thing standing in the path of her blazing death is sexy firefighter Holt Arkain. 

Katie’s body might be safe with Holt… but her heart is another story. 

As the danger heats up, sparks fly and the only thing Katie knows for sure is that her whole life is about to go up in flames.

HOT! Add the heat to your Goodreads goodies right here.

About the author...

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com 

“Like” her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cambria-Hebert/128278117253138 

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cambriahebert

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/cambriahebert/pins/

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5298677.Cambria_Hebert

Cambria’s website: http://www.cambriahebert.com 

Speak Easy Tour & GIVEAWAYS

Hello, darlings!

Melanie here. Today is very exciting for me because it is Speak Easy's official book birthday and the first day of the blog tour!

Book Description...

Temptation is everywhere.

It's July, 1923. By day twenty-year-old Tiny O’Mara works for her father’s smalltime bootlegging operation. By night she craves the roll-your-stockings-down lifestyle of a flapper, but with her mother gone, she’s usually stuck at home with two younger sisters—until her father is kidnapped by a mobster in Detroit's exploding organized crime scene, and it’s Tiny who has to come up with the ten-thousand-dollar ransom.

In one week.

Enzo DiFiore’s screen-idol looks and dangerous charm leave her breathless, even though he’s the son of the mobster holding her father hostage. But when the forbidden spark between them refuses to burn out, she tries to use their powerful attraction to buy more time.

And then there’s Joey Lupo, the irritatingly handsome pest from her childhood who’s got the street smarts Tiny needs to smuggle enough booze to make a quick ten grand. But he’s got his own agenda where gang rivalries are concerned, and despite his promise to protect her, Tiny isn’t sure she can trust Joey—or stop her growing feelings for him.

To save her father’s life, she’ll have to choose between them. But deciding whom to trust isn’t easy in a world where everyone wants something—be it booze, money, power, or sex—and no one cares what it takes to get it.

I even have purchase links for  Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

So for this stop on the tour, I thought I'd share some cool stuff about the book. Most of the other stops are doing reviews or excerpts--if you'd like the tour schedule, click here. You'll also get to see some of the swag in the grand prize pack! :)

10 Fun Facts about Speak Easy

1. The OʼMara family is entirely fictional, but during the early 1920s the Detroit area was full of smalltime bootleggers like Jack (Tinyʼs father) who brought carloads or boatloads of whisky and beer across the narrow waterway separating Michigan and Canada.

2. In the early days, theyʼd just cover up the bottles with a blanket--women and children were good to have in the car or boat because they made it less likely you would be stopped and searched.

3. Here are two photos from Detroit during Prohibition. How cool that someone labeled them with bootlegging terms!

4. The individual names of each gangster are ficticious, but River Gang and its “taxi service” were absolutely real, as were the police station murders and the peace pact Joey describes to Tiny.

5. I was inspired by this quote from the Ken Burnsʼs documentary Prohobition: “Itʼs not that sin is so terrible; itʼs that itʼs very attractive. Thatʼs why weʼre always tempted to do it.”

6. The headlines from the newspaper Tiny reads on the street are authentic (from the Detroit Free Press in the 1920s) as are the quotes in the article--only the names are changed.

7. The only person based on a real life figure is Raymond DiFiore; there was an actual guy in the Purple Gang who messed up words all the time. “Pishmission” was one of them! ;)

8. The meat sauce that Joey makes at Tinyʼs house is based on my Italian grandmotherʼs recipe. I will share it in a future blog post! Joey cooks more in the sequel as well...

9. I interviewed a guy in his 90s who told me how his father used to remake old Cadillac hearses for bootleggers...it gave me a great idea. Hereʼs an example of a 1920s hearse:

10. And finally, my favorite picture of all. Speak Easy is about temptation, and Tiny spends a good amount of time in the book trying to fight an attraction to bad boy Enzo DiFiore--for good reason. But she's not terribly successful, and nor would I be since in my mind Enzo looks like this:

Hi.

And now for the giveaways! Good luck!

US ONLY: One grand prize swag pack which includes: Valentine Vodka Swag, JewelNinjas Agatha Bracelet, Chrome Cocktail Shaker, MAC Lipstick, Great Gatsby Soundtrack or $10 iTunes gift card, Gatsby Style Flapper Headband, Signed Copy of Speak Easy, $25 Amazon Gift Card: Total Value: $150 USD

INTERNATIONAL: Eight (8) eCopies of Speak Easy: mobi or ePub only; value $3.99 USD

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Great Vagina Debacle

So as a New Adult author, I find myself writing some pretty steamy scenes.  Often these moments border on the erotic but I hold myself back, because at the heart of the book, the story is about college kids.  Since I was once a college kid, I thought I was prepared to write the smexy.  After all, I had a wealth of experience to draw from.

God, I hope my mom never reads this blog.

The problem I've encountered is what the hell to call the girl parts and boy parts.  Vagina and penis sounds too clinical.

"She extended her legs into a prone position and offered her vagina to his penis."

No one wants to read that.  Unless there's some type of medical student sex fetish site.  If there is, I don't want to know.  I'm still recovering from my accidental discovery of tentacle porn.

But I digress.

There's also cutesy names like va-jay-jay and bajingo and thingamadoodle.

"He pounded my bajingo with his thingamadoodle until I was whackadoo with pleasure."

And now we  know what Dr. Seuss wrote behind closed doors.

Then there's the vague, noncommittal terminologies like "down there" and "him/he."

"He pressed into me, entering me down there."

I think this is the closest to what I do, except less sucky.  Why?  Because despite my plethora of sexual experience, I can't really remember ever thinking of my vagina as anything specific.  I never called it a pussy or a bajingo or down below.  I do remember thinking (and saying) things like 'get inside me,' so I'm opting for the noncommittal at this stage of the game.  Of course, I'm sure there's a huge market for an adult version of Oh, the Places You'll Go.

(Remember that time I destroyed your childhood?  Yeah.  That just happened.)