Tag: romance

Character Building: I Made This

LWL Widescreen (18)#open book

What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?

I may (or may not—I admit to nothing) base a character on someone I respect or despise, so I will have to be salty and sweet with the response to this week’s OpenBook blog hop post. Let’s start with the people I like.

Sweet

I’ve explained in a Black Glue Podcast interview how the Prophet Muhammad served as inspiration for the male characters featured in the Brothers in Law series.

I reflected on the Prophet (Muhammad’s) life and how he was as a husband … lover … someone out in the community and how he transitioned between those things. What he did when his women were mad at him, and what he did when his women were acting out. [The brothers in law] don’t act exactly like the Prophet, but there are characteristics each one of them has.

Simon is the one who keeps things at a level where it doesn’t get too bad. He doesn’t allow things to get to him as much.  Marcus is the alpha, alpha. He’s the leader. He expects things to happen the way he needs for them to happen because he’s progressing the nation. Adam is that inner reflection.

Continue reading “Character Building: I Made This” →

4

Sweet Love–Bitter Fruit Giveaway

Sweet Love–Bitter Fruit E-Book Giveaway!

CLOSED – Congratulations to the winner!

So, you pre-ordered Sweet Love, Bitter Fruit, the exciting and steamy second book in the Brothers in Law series? Enter for a chance to win the ebooks of My Way to You (book one) and Brothers in Law, the short story that introduces the six hot lawyers that become friends for life.

The winner will also recieve the ebook Shades of AMBW short story collection, which includes two Lyndell Williams’ short stories. If that is not enough, the winner will get one of my favorite romances, Her Justice by Nasheed Jaxson.

Winner: One winner selected at random.

Entry: Sign up for the Layla Writes Love Newsletter and more.

Click here to enter. Giveaway ends when one winner is selected. Winner must provide email within 24 hours of receiving a notification.

Requirements for participation:

  • 18+ years of age (or legal age)
  • valid email address

LWL Widescreen (6)

LAYLA WRITES LOVE (9)

0

A Baby-Making Impasse

LWL Widescreen (3)Sweet Love-Bitter Fruit is the second book in the Brothers in Law series. It is a steamy and exciting stand-alone book that tells the story of Marcus and Toni Kent, a successful Black New York couple struggling with infertility.

After multiple in vitro attempts, Marcus decides he can’t take seeing the woman he loves in so much pain, but Toni is still on board with the idea of more treatments. Will a baby-making impasse tear this dream couple apart?

Enjoy a sneak peek at this fantastic duo, who have to fight to keep life from crumbling their rock-solid union.

Sweet Love–Bitter Fruit

Available at

amazon-logo_black

Excerpt:

Click to Preorder“Hi”—Marcus hovered over the nurse panting—“my wife is very sick,” he said over the
sound of gurneys rushing behind him. He tightened his grip around Toni’s waist, his muscles burning as he strained to keep her from crumpling to the floor. He hefted her up further against his body, her head rolling against his chest. The emergency room sliding doors ground closed, drowning out her soft moan. “It’s gonna be okay, Sweetness.” He barely got the words out of his closed throat. They hadn’t been okay since the morning.

Toni had begun the day getting out of the bed and vomiting. He went for his run and returned to sounds of her retching over the toilet. She assured him it was a passing thing and insisted that he go to work. Her clammy skin and cold hands told him otherwise, but he Continue reading “A Baby-Making Impasse” →

1

LWL Interview: Aubree Pynn Keeps Her Keyboard Lit

LWL Author Interview (1)Aubreé  Pynn is a writing demon. She pumps out books that capture readers with dynamic characters and plots that make one flip page after page. She already has readers loving main characters Indigo and Taj in her latest book, Indigo Haze. Check out the blurb.

Indigo Haze: Thug Love is the Best Love by [Pynn, Aubreé]Indigo Haze: Thug Love is the Best Love

Available at

amazon-logo_black

Blurb:

Indigo Sims is fighting to break the curse of his environment and not be a product of the streets. Every time he pulls away, something goes array and sucks him back in. A natural-born leader and peacemaker, he gives himself two months to be free from the streets while saving every dollar he can to fulfill the promise he made to himself.

Taj Ali Adams has a bright future ahead of her and an undeniable light that everyone around her wants to protect, especially her older brother. With tragedy lingering around her, the light that shined so bright goes dim. Continue reading “LWL Interview: Aubree Pynn Keeps Her Keyboard Lit” →

0

BOOK REVIEW: Winter’s Beast

Review by Lyndell Williams
WINTER’S BEAST
By Twyla Turner
$9.99, 252 pp, paper
$3.99, 254 pp, Kindle (Free, KU)

Love and loyalty frequently clash in life and lead to a big ole mess of emotions. It is the same in the world of romance fiction. People are often conflicted between staying true to one person or following their love, desire, or lust for another.

In Winter’s Beast by Twyla Turner, the main character, Yury, a disfigured henchman for  Ivan, has to watch as his boss/savior sexually torments singer Winter. Ivan, obsessed with Winter’s beautiful voice and albino body, holds her captive and grooms her to become his sex slave and feature in his erotic club. This guy is all kinds of diabolical.

No, I’m not turned on. You are!

Winter initially resists Ivan, but he uses her sexual insecurities and inexperience to groom her into submission. While Ivan is preying on Winter, Yury tries to make life in captivity bearable while he falls in love with the beauty.

The world of kink simultaneously disgusts and enchants Winter, whose sensual history is dotted with sporadic moments of unfulfilling sex. She despises Ivan, but her body responds to his sexual abuse in a way that leaves her confused and titillated.

Yup, homeboy got her all kinds of messed up in the head. Continue reading “BOOK REVIEW: Winter’s Beast” →

0

#OpenBook – “Masculine Energy” and The Woman Writer

OPEN BOOK (5)#Open Book

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

I remember listening to a male lecturer talk about women, men, and gender relations. One thing that stuck with me was when he went on this diatribe about women who have a lot of what he called “masculine energy.” He waxed for what seemed like forever about how a woman who dares to have a lot of masculine energy is a problem because she will always be ready to challenge a man. He claimed that such women are too assertive and authoritative and proclaimed that he could tell when there is such a woman in his midst.

After I laughed my…head off, I cringed a little at the incendiary generalizations he made, that make life hell for women. I won’t go into an analysis of how his language dangerously allocated certain human behaviors like confidence, ambition, critical thinking, power, and resistance as masculine and categorized women embodying any of these characteristics as “manly” deviants straying from their feminine nature.

I won’t highlight how someone privileged by gender can be guilty of reinforcing oppression by demonizing those struggling against their subjugation, discrediting them as misfits. Really, men need to stop that nonsense, especially those disguising themselves as progressive but are actually just as chauvinistic as their fellow misogynists.

Continue reading “#OpenBook – “Masculine Energy” and The Woman Writer” →

7

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑