Control's Cover is Here!!!!!! Also, there is a giveaway going on in celebration of the cover. Enter to win!!

 Go check out www.facebook.com/mswillisbooks to enter the giveaway!!!

Also Control can be found Goodreads and add it to your TBR list.  There are several reviews and they are all Five Star!!!!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17912005-control

Status Update

Just met with the cover artist and we will have covers soon!  Plus, there will be an added *extra* surprise that I will reveal as we get closer!!

Status Update - Control

We are getting close and I anticipate Control will be published within the next three to four weeks.  Advanced Reading Copies will be available next week for book bloggers or reviewers interested in discovering more about Paige and Daemon.

If interested, please email me a request at mswillisbooks@gmail.com.  Include in your email, your name, contact information, website or blog name, and formatting preferences.

Any assistance in getting the word out about this upcoming series is appreciated.

Third and Final Preview of Control!!!

            When we reached the back room, Daemon opened the door and motioned for me to walk through.  I walked straight to the other end of the room, taking the position that I had the other night.  Daemon closed the door and locked it and then blocked it when he continued standing in front of it.

            I spoke first.  “Well, here we are…in a locked room…together.  Feels familiar, although, I’m not a raging lunatic tonight so there’s really no need for the lock and barricade.”

            He let out a low chuckle and my knees started giving out beneath me.  What is up with this guy and how is he doing this to me?

            Daemon looked amazing as usual.  He had on a dark blue t-shirt that brought out the crystal blue of his eyes and his dark jeans hung off his hips, yet still perfectly hugged his bottom.  His hair was stylishly messy and he had his usual five o’clock shadow peppered along his jaw. I imagined what that stubble would feel like scraping across my skin and had to stop the mental imagery before I lost it. He was slowly stalking towards me when he finally responded. “Yes, it does feel familiar.  However, I never know what you are going to do next, so the lock is just added security.”  He stopped when he was a few feet in front of me.  “Why are you here, Damsel?”

            I flinched at his use of that word but I played it off and acted like a professional.  I cleared my throat. “I’m here for the same reason everyone is I guess; music, alcohol, dancing.  You know, fun with the boyfriend and all.”

            By the time I was done spewing out that pathetic excuse he had walked closer and was standing directly in front of me. I could feel the heat coming off his body and I had to look up to meet his darkened eyes.  He looked like a predator and I froze. We stood there staring at each other for what felt like minutes and my heart felt like it was going to come through my chest.  He reached his hand up to my face and starting tracing the outline of my bottom lip.  I couldn’t tell what he was thinking by the strange expression he had on his face.  He leaned over slowly and replaced his finger with his mouth.  His kiss was feather light but sensual.  My traitorous body trembled again and he softly laughed and ran his hand over the goose bumps that broke out on my arms. He pulled back to look me in the eyes and I continued my statue impression while he backed up to put a small amount of space between us.

            “There you go using that 'boyfriend' word again.   Somehow, I don’t think you are being very forthcoming with me, Damsel.  Care to guess why I think that?”

            I looked up at him and in an attempt to appear angry, I narrowed my eyes at him. “I have no idea why you would think that, Daemon.”  I angled my head to the side. “I will tell you though, that if you attempt any more funny business like you did just a second ago, you’ll be lucky if you don’t walk out of here with two black eyes.”

            Daemon’s eyes got wide and he suppressed a grin. “Can’t wait.”

            I was suddenly under the impression that Daemon wasn’t believing my cover.  He continued. “Although I’m thoroughly enjoying this back and forth that we are having currently, I believe I brought you back here to answer a question, which I very much would like to do.”

            I was confused for a second but then remembered what I had asked him while sitting at the table.  I started to chastise myself for having opened up that line of questioning.

            “You wanted to know what I meant by saying ‘if you were my girl’.”   He moved closer to me again and tilted my head up by placing his finger underneath my chin.  “If I had you, Paige, I would not only be with you, but I would own you, I would control you, and I would, in all ways, possess you.”

            A shocked laugh burst from my lips.  “You would own me and control me? What kind of crap line is that?!  I mean, do women really fall for that shit?”  My laughter continued bubbling out. “I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, Daemon, but I believe you have me mistaken for the slutty redhead you were with the other night.”

            His eyebrows shot up at that comment and he chuckled.  “No.  I don’t have you mistaken for anyone, Damsel.  I know exactly who I’m talking to at this moment.”

            I crossed my arms over my chest and glared up at him. “Well, then it’s obvious you’ve suffered an unfortunate head injury and have forgotten what I told you about myself.  NOBODY owns me or controls me or dictates my life in any way.  Besides, I don’t even know anything about you.  For instance, what is your last name?”

            He gave me a knowing look and answered. “Pierce.”

            My head shot up in shock at how easily he had given up that information.  He smiled and then continued explaining his statement.

            “I think you may be misunderstanding what I am saying.  I wouldn’t dictate your life and you’d be free to do whatever you like, but when you are in my bed, you will do as I say when I say it. Thus, the control.  And if you were in my bed, I’m not sure I could stand it if any other man touched you again after that.  Thus, I would own you from that moment forward.”

            I didn’t understand why he was telling me this.  Even though I now had the information that I needed and I should be walking back out to the club, my curiosity got the best of me and I couldn’t help but question him further. This was just too good to not fully discuss.  “So, if I’m understanding you correctly, if I were to sleep with you, you would own me or control me, just like the rest of your lady friends?”

            He eyed me for a minute before responding. “No.  Not like my other lady friends.  I couldn't care less what they say or do once I’ve had my night with them.  I just know that with you, it would be a different story altogether and I think it’s only fair that I warn you ahead of time.”

            His eyes were the deepest blue that I had ever seen in him.  His jaw worked over itself and it made his face appear even more masculine.  He crossed his arms over his chest and I wanted nothing more than to reach out and run my hands over the definition of his arms.  I tucked my hands behind myself to keep them from reaching out on their own accord.

            I couldn’t help it that my voice was husky when I responded.  “I guess it’s a good thing that I’m spoken for.  I suspect we’d have a few issues if we ever attempted being anything more than we already are.  I’m not one of your women waiting around to be tamed and I don’t enjoy being told what to do, or pain, or crazy bondage shit, or whatever the hell else it is you are implying that you would like to do to me.”  I started moving forward to indicate I was leaving when he grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at him again.  His look was intense as he searched my eyes.

            “Once again, Paige, you are mistaking what I’m saying.”  He bent down to whisper against my ear.  My breath hitched at his closeness and I tensed up in an attempt to control my body’s reaction to him.  “I would never hurt you.  I would never do anything to you that you haven’t asked for.  There is no crazy bondage shit; no whips, no chains, nothing like that.  What I want to do to you doesn’t require props or toys or anything else.  Just me and you.  But I would control you and I know that you would like it.”

            The tension within me was more than I could handle and I started feeling woozy. Damn my traitorous self and this annoying swooning. I shook it off.

            I spoke slowly so as not to give away what he was doing to me. “I can guarantee you, Daemon Pierce, that you can set whatever it is you are suggesting aside.  I’m not the type of girl you think I am.”  I looked up into his face in challenge and he released me.  I started to walk past him and he called out to me again.

            “Whatever you say, Damsel. But I’ve felt how you react to me and I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.  Enjoy your evening with your boyfriend.”

            I didn’t look back at him as I walked to the door, unlocked it and then let myself back out into the club.

Status Update

Looks like Control will also be available through Smashwords and Kobo Books, as well as Kindle, Nook and Amazon!!  Also, I've got one more teaser preview I will post at some point today.

Thank you for all the support, it means a lot!!

Second Preview of Control: Introducing Annie, Alex and David!

            David turned to look at me and his face was a mixture of disgust and apprehension.  I raised my eyebrows at him in question and he used his head to indicate in the direction of the living room.  I heard Alex introducing himself to Annie’s boyfriend and Annie giggled again.  Alex came into the kitchen to join David and me.

            Using his thumb to point back in the direction of the living room, Alex asked, “What the hell is that?”

            David turned to Alex with a scorned look.  “That is Annie’s new boyfriend Chris.  He’s a 36 year old loser who works at the local flea market as a janitor.  He’s not going to be able to work for the next four to six weeks because of his injury and he’s already convinced Annie that she should loan him some money to help with his bills.  Annie thinks he’s gorgeous and believes she is in love with him.  They’ve know each other for a little over twenty-four hours and he’s convinced her to give him four thousand dollars!  Have I done a good job in explaining what that is?”

            Alex’s eyebrows shot up and I dropped my face into my palm and groaned.  I began shaking my head in silent protest.  I looked back up at David and he looked like he was about to explode.  I turned to Alex to ask his opinion.

            “So, is he a bad looking guy?”

            David let out an insulted gasp. “Well, if any man in this room should be judging the beauty contest, it should be me.  He’s not a bad looking guy, it’s just that his personality is obnoxious and he is an obvious mooch.  Poor Annie is completely smitten with this guy and she has no clue that he’s using her.  I mean, what kind of person asks another person to borrow money within twenty-four hours of meeting them?”

            I thought that over for a moment and then voiced my guess. “A bank customer?”

            Alex laughed and David gave him a pointed glare. “Oh sure, chuckle it up chuckles, but while you’re busy finding this amusing, we’ve got a serious problem in there. What are we going to do about this?!”

            I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed out a breath. “Unfortunately, Annie is a grown woman.  If she wants to give her money to some guy, the only thing we can do is suggest against it.  She’s ultimately the one who will make that decision and there’s nothing we can do to prevent her from making that mistake.”

            David shot his head towards me. “Nothing you can do?  Are you kidding me?!  We can lock her in her room, take shifts watching her, deny her outside communication and internet access, and install a two way key lock and not give her the key.  There’s plenty we can do.  My question is, just how far are we willing to go to keep her from doing this?”

            Alex patted David on the back. “How will Annie go to work if we have her locked up?”

            David put his finger to his mouth to think about what Alex said and then responded. “I’ll tell them she’s ill.  I’ll take over her cases until she comes to her senses and then she can have them back when she gets over this idiot.” He gave Alex a thumbs up. “Good attention to detail.” He turned to me. “Paige you should take some notes from Alex’s good thinking.  It might help you out in that investigation career of yours.”

            I uncrossed my arms and pushed myself up from the counter.  “I guess I need to go in there to see what we are dealing with.  Maybe if I can find enough issues with the way he looks I can appeal to Annie’s superficial side.”

            David pointed to the living room.  “Go.”

            I sighed and turned toward the living room. “No problem.  I’ll just go in there and take control of this situation.”

            I took a few steps towards the room when I heard a low moan and a high pitched sigh.

            Ew.

            I turned around.  “Um, no.  I’m not going in there.”

            Alex tried to suppress a grin while David acted like he was dry-heaving over the sink; well, at least I think he was acting.  I walked back over to where they were standing and hopped up to sit on the counter.  “Guess we’ll be here for a while.”

            David finished hacking up his hairball, looked up from the sink and stamped his foot.  “Oh no, I am not getting stuck in the kitchen while she gets her dirty going on the living room couch!”  David marched into the living room and cleared his throat loudly. “Excuse me!  Could you two possibly stop licking, and tugging and touching all over the community seating area?  There are other people here, although I can understand how it would be difficult to know that with your eyes closed and your tongues shoved down each other’s throats.”  David crossed his arms and   forcefully nodded his head. “Now have some decorum people and stop pretending like you are horny teenagers in the living room.”

Plot Summary - Control

The plot description is done! For those of you who are wondering what Control is all about read below:

Paige Stone lived anything but a normal childhood. Having been raised around an abused women's shelter operated by her parents, Paige was a constant witness to the tragedy and heartache suffered by women at the hands of the men they trusted. Out of refusal to ever allow that to happen to her,... Paige built walls around her heart at a young age. Those walls were only fortified when tragedy struck on her sixth birthday and took from her the only friend and love she knew. Now at 22 years old, and working as a private investigator, Paige is driven by a deep need for strength, independence and a stubborn refusal to accept help from another person. Surrounding herself with her three best friends, Paige never assumed that the autonomy she had worked so hard to build could be challenged.

That was, until Paige met Daemon Pierce.

Mysterious, strong-willed, and breathtakingly beautiful, Daemon seemed to instantly know Paige better than she knew herself. Paige is disgusted by Daemon's reputation as a womanizer, but becomes intrigued when she is unable to discover his background. Paige's curiosity about Daemon proves to be her downfall as she is swept up in his charming and arrogant pursuit to possess her in every possible way.

For the first time in her life, Paige will struggle for control while Daemon slowly dismantles the walls she has built around herself. Only time will tell who will be victorious in their battle of wills as Daemon teaches Paige the weaknesses within herself that she never knew existed. Paige stays one step ahead in her struggle against Daemon's controlling ways, but when tragedy strikes her life a second time, she has to choose; will she put her life in danger, or will she finally accept a helping hand?

***Content Warning - This is a new adult fiction with mature themes. It contains graphic sexual situations, mature language and explicit description of sexual violence.***

Sneak Preview - Control

Just when I was starting to give up hope, an amazing set of arms wrapped around me and I was suddenly being hoisted up onto the speaker.  I was placed down and one of those arms stretched out in front of me to keep me from falling forward.  I took a second to catch my breath and turned to thank whoever grabbed me.  As soon as I caught sight of his clear blue eyes, my breath hitched and I was momentarily stunned silent.  I continued my exploration of the person beside me and discovered a chiseled square jaw lightly sprinkled with five o’clock shadow.  His face was framed with messy dark brown hair.  My gaze slowly wandered downward and found the most masculine pair of broad shoulders a girl could ever ask for.  His t-shirt was pulled tight over his chest and biceps and his mid-section dipped down into a perfect ‘V’.  His dark blue jeans perfectly accentuated his muscular legs which hung over the edge of the speaker.  I looked back up into those eyes and he smiled the most jaw dropping smile revealing two dimples on either side of his mouth.

He leaned over to speak closer to my ear.  “Sorry to manhandle you without permission, but you looked like you could use some help down there.”  His voice was a deep enough timbre that it wasn’t difficult for me to hear him over the music.  I continued staring at his sculpted mouth like an idiot and then shook my head to free myself from his spell.  I could feel my face getting hot from looking at him.

“Uh, yeah, thanks for that.  It normally doesn’t get that bad down there and I wasn’t expecting to get trapped.”  I smiled at him and then turned my attention back to the stage.  The band was starting in on their second song and the crowd calmed for a moment before picking it back up with the increasing tempo of the song.

He leaned over to me again.  “No problem beautiful, I’m always happy to assist a fair damsel in her time of distress.”  Even though his lips were brushing over my ear, causing tremors, and his hot breath rolling down my neck was doing wonderful things for my body, I was suddenly annoyed.

I shouted over the music at him.  “Please don’t say that.”

“What?” He looked at me and his confusion at what I had said was clearly written in his expression.

“Don’t call me a damsel in distress.  It’s degrading and I don’t appreciate being classified by use of a demeaning stereotype.”  I turned my attention back to the stage for a second time and we sat watching the show without speaking.  I was distinctly aware of his shoulder and thigh pressing into my side and I was disturbed by how his body heat was affecting me.  His cologne weaved a trail straight over to my face and I breathed it in deeply before realizing what I was doing.  After a blissful half hour of music immersion, the band finished their set and I discovered that I had started leaning into him.  I also realized how thirsty I was and was thankful that I could go get something to drink.  The problem with being stuck on a speaker is that it doesn’t often present the opportunity to refresh your beverage.

The crowd below us started to disperse from the pit and he jumped down from the speaker.  I scooted my butt as far to the front as I could and looked down preparing to jump.  It was at that moment I remembered I hated heights and I quickly determined that I was in the middle of an unfortunate predicament.    

I looked to my right and left hoping that someone had the foresight to install a ladder on the sides of the speaker.  When it became clear that I was out of luck in that department, I looked down into the eyes of my newest acquaintance.  He had a smug look on his face as he watched me attempt to get down.  He reached up his hands to offer assistance and chuckled.

“From where I’m standing, ‘damsel in distress’ might be an adequate category for you.  This is the second time I’ve had to come to your rescue in the last hour.”

What the…!

This guy was really starting to piss me off.  Who the hell does he think he is anyway?!  If it wasn’t for him coming to my rescue in the first place, I wouldn’t be in this situation.  I slapped his hand away and scowled down at him.

“No thanks on that rescue attempt.  I can get down perfectly fine by myself.  Just step back so I don’t land on top of you.”

His eyes darkened and then quickly filled with humor. His voice lowered an octave when he replied, “Oh, the threat of you on top of me is supposed to make me move? Because, I can promise you damsel, I’m not feeling real motivated to budge even an inch.”

I flashed him my best menacing stare.  “I’ll tell you this one more time, Do. Not. Call. Me. Damsel.”  I pointed my finger in his face to drive my message home.  It must have worked because he removed his outstretched hand.  He stepped back from where he had been standing and held his arms out to his sides in defeat.

That’s right, mister, fear the ninja.

I turned my body around, determined to shimmy down the side of the speaker and then drop the last foot to the ground.  I got my lower body safely over the edge, but my shirt caught on the corner and I was stuck there with my bottom in perfect view of Mr. Arrogant standing behind me. 

“This is a delightful view.  I almost wish I had a camera.  Are you sure I can’t help?”

My air huffed out from annoyance before I freed my shirt and started shimmying over.   I finally dropped to the floor and looked over my shoulder to find my acquaintance openly staring at my assets.  His eyes wove a slow path up my body and stopped suddenly on the dragonfly tattoo on my shoulder.  His eyes widened and he looked up to my face, grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to face him.

“What is your name?!”

I was shocked by his sudden intensity and I couldn’t process what he had just asked me.  I stared into his eyes but didn’t say a word.  He continued to hold me by the shoulders and was searching my face and body as if trying to memorize me.  He looked back up at me and slightly shook me out of frustration.

“Your name.  What is it?”

I shook away my stupor once again and jerked my shoulders out of his grasp.  I took a step back and looked up at him in challenge.  “Why the hell would I want to tell YOU my name?!  Thanks for the earlier assistance, but you can forget that you know me now.” I turned to walk away and he called out to me again.

“That’s fine if you don’t want to tell me your name.  I’ll take your refusal as a clear indication that you wish for me to continue calling you damsel.”

My jaw dropped and I turned back around.  “If you really think I’m dumb enough to fall for that crappy manipulation tactic, then I should be upfront and honest with you now.  You are clearly confused about the type of woman that I am.  I am not the type that needs rescuing and I am not the type that swoons over a beautiful face and a deep rumbly voice...”  He grinned at that and I quickly realized my error.  Refusing to acknowledge that I just called him beautiful, I continued, “…and it is pathetic for any person, male or female, to refuse information about themselves in order to continue some type of crappy pet name.”

Those dimples of his popped out and his eyes smiled right along with his mouth.  “I’ll make a pact with you; you tell me your name, and I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night.”

I considered his offer.  If he was telling the truth, I could end this aggravating encounter now just by giving him my name.  On the other hand, if he was lying, than at least he might stop calling me damsel. There really was no down side to this situation.  I decided to play hard ball anyway.

“I’m not enough of an imbecile to believe that you mean that.  How do I know you will stick to that agreement?”

He looked at me with a matter of fact expression and seemed to be considering my question.  After a moment of intense introspection he formulated his response.  “You don’t.”

Well, there you have it.

 

Defeatedly, I muttered, “Paige.  My name is Paige.”