Please help me welcome our guest, Michal Scott to the blog today. Michal with a short Q&A and to share her book, Better To Marry Than To Burn. Better To Marry Than To Burn is an erotic historical romance. Welcome, Michal! I am excited to hear more about Better To Marry Than To Burn.
Better To Marry Than To Burn
By Michal Scott
Short Q&A with Michal Scott:
Q: Where is your favorite place to write?
A: I loved writing on the train going to work. I found the motion very soothing and conducive to concentration. You’d think that would be the opposite, but since I mine was the last stop, I could focus completely on what I was writing. Unfortunately I lost my favorite place to write when I moved to New Mexico, but I’m checking out the RailRunner as a possible substitute.
Q: Why do you write romance and why your genre?
AL Writing romance reinforces my theological belief that love is the most powerful force in the world. I write inspirational romance because I like writing stories that show people wrestling realistically with faith issues. I write gothic romance because I love stories that deal with good vs. evil. I write erotic romance because I love the passion that accompanies an erotic heat level.
Q: What are your working on now and when can we expect it?
A: I’m working on two historicals, one a novel book proposal entitled A Pearl of Great Price for an inspirational publisher and an erotic novella entitled The Bad Ones Aren’t As Bad for my present publisher, Wild Rose Press. If the submissions are accepted maybe they’ll appear at the end of this year or 2020.
Q: What would you do if you couldn’t write?
A: I’d probably be engaged full time in ministry where I pastoral care, lay leadership development, faith development and community organizing.
How do you spend your free time? – I go for long walks when the weather is good and try to read a book a day, mostly in a line I’d like to write for but also in a genre I don’t write or normally read to be more well-rounded. I also love watching documentaries because of my love of history and watching over and over again my favorite classic movies from the 30’s and 40’s.
About Better To Marry Than To Burn:
Wife Wanted: Marital relations as necessary. Love not required nor sought…
A bridal lottery seems the height of foolishness to ex-slave Caesar King, but his refusal to participate in the town council’s scheme places him in a bind. He has to get married to avoid paying a high residence fine or leave the Texas territory. After losing his wife in childbirth, Caesar isn’t ready for romance. A woman looking for a fresh start without any emotional strings is what he needs.
Queen Esther Payne, a freeborn black from Philadelphia, has been threatened by her family for her forward-thinking, independent ways. Her family insists she marry. Her escape comes in the form of an ad. If she must marry, it will be on her terms. But her first meeting with the sinfully hot farmer proves an exciting tussle of wills that stirs her physically, intellectually, and emotionally.
In the battle of sexual one-upmanship that ensues, both Caesar and Queen discover surrender can be as fulfilling as triumph.
- Amazon Buy Link: https://amzn.to/2FXHl5e
Excerpt from Better To Marry Than To Burn:
Caesar looked at Queen. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. She gasped then swallowed hard, unnerved by the sight. Her lips trembled.
Reverend Warren smiled at Queen then addressed Caesar. “You may kiss the bride.”
Kiss? Queen flinched. There’d be no kissing in this marriage. She’d promised to be his wife for two years with sex provided at agreed upon intervals. At the end of two years that requirement would end and she’d be free to live as she chose. She could go anywhere she pleased, especially with the respectability of missus before her name and Caesar’s promised severance. No. This coupling made them business partners. Business partners did not kiss.
She extended her hand to seal their arrangement. He returned the handshake but instead of releasing her, his too rough fingers imprisoned hers and pulled her to him. With his other hand he captured the back of her head and secured her mouth to his.
A squeal of surprise parted her lips. His thick tongue swept into the shelter of her mouth. The assault ambushed her with pleasure and vanquished her resistance.
Her hands rose, as if of their own volition, and pressed against his chest. The firm muscle beneath his shirt coaxed her hands to linger, to explore—however discretely—the muscle beneath her palms and fingertips.
Caesar broke off the kiss.
The embrace didn’t last more than a few seconds, but Queen swayed, robbed of reason and resentment.
Reverend Warren handed Caesar the marriage certificate and shook his hand. Queen stood, mouth gaping, startled by the confusion roiling through her mind, amazed by the moisture roiling in her sex.
With a simple kiss, this bull of a man had exhumed the sexual hunger she’d thought buried.
“Thanks for being available, Pastor.” Caesar shook the minister’s hand. “Mother Maybelle.” He hugged and kissed the older woman. Again, their affection stirred an unexpected sympathy in Queen’s chest. She sucked in a breath to dispel it.
He gripped Queen by the upper arm and hauled her back to the wagon.
“What’s the rush?” she asked.
He hoisted her up to the seat by her waist before she could object. She swallowed the gasp elicited by the press of possession in his grasp.
“Daylight’s burning,” he stated. “Don’t want to be caught out after dark.”
Queen eyed his lips, their fullness still remembered against her mouth. She shifted several times but found no relief from the pressure pulsing along her labia. Good Lord, how was she to make sense of so strong a physical reaction to this stranger? Had celibacy left her defenseless against physical contact from anyone?
Or was this physical attraction genuine?
About the Author:
Michal Scott is the penname of Rev. Anna Taylor Sweringen, a retired United Church of Christ and Presbyterian Church USA minister. A native New Yorker, Anna is a recent transplant to the Southwest. She is enjoying the great weather along with her husband of twenty-nine years and their two cats. Her first novel was a contemporary inspirational gothic romance, Through A Glass Darkly, published in 2008. Her love of history and romance came together in her first erotic novella with Wild Rose Press, One Breath Away, in 2016.
Anna has been a member of Romance Writers of America since 2003 and holds membership in six of their chapters. She also writes inspirational romance as Anna Taylor and gothic romance as Anna M. Taylor.
Author Social Links:
- Website: https://michalscott.webs.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mscottauthor1
Hi Maddison, Thanks for having me on your blog.
Anna / Michal – great post. I can’t wait to read this book – it’s been on my TBR pile and I need to get to it! My favorite place to write is a place with a view. When I go somewhere new and have a new view, it inspires me in different ways than when I am home in my usual spot at the kitchen table 🙂
My pleasure. come back soon.
Best of luck with your new book proposals!
Thanks, Jennifer. February is going to be a busy month for me.
Hi Madison.
I’d be glad to. I love finding new places to make new friends.