Guest Post with Author Tori St. Claire and Giveaway

Meet Tori St. Claire, author of Explosive.

National Bestselling author Tori St. Claire grew up writing. Hobby quickly turned into passion, and when she discovered the world of romance as a teen, poems and short stories gave way to full length novels with sexy heroes and heroines waiting to be swept off their feet. She wrote her first romance novel at seventeen.

While that manuscript gathered dust-bunnies beneath the bed, she went on to establish herself as a contemporary, historical, and paranormal author under the pen name, Claire Ashgrove. Her writing, however, skirted a fine line between hot and steamy, and motivated by authors she admired, she pushed her boundaries and made the leap into erotica, using the darker side of human nature and on-the-edge suspense to drive grittier, sexier, stories.

Her erotic romantic suspense novels are searingly sensual experiences that unite passion with true emotion, and the all-consuming tie that binds -- love.

Places to find Tori:

| Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Claire Ashgrove Site |

Character Profile: Meet Jayce Honeycutt a.k.a. The Sandman

What was Jayce like as a teen?
Jayce grew up on the proverbial ‘wrong side of town’. His roots are very poor and he often ran with the wrong crowd, skirting the law on many occasions. He failed his junior year of high school, and was on-track to drop out…until he spied the smart rich girl, Alyssa Martin, having lunch on a bench.

What is most important to Jayce? 
In a job where lies and deceit prevail, loyalty is one of the most important things to him. But nothing is more important than family. While his play-by-the-rules older sister drives him nuts, he would move the world for his younger sister Jordan. And then of course there’s Alyssa, who he would die for in a heartbeat.

What does Jayce do for a living?
Most of that is classified. Only recently has he found the humor in the saying, “I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you.” But he’s given the okay to reveal he’s a bomb specialist within the Black Opals. What the Opals are, well…they don’t exist.

How does Jayce deal with conflict? 
Just like he handles explosives – one patient move at a time. Interpersonally, he will “take the fight to” whomever is opposing him, and he won’t mince words when he’s got a point to make. But at the heart of it all, when he really wants something—or someone—he won’t give up easily. Take Alyssa for example: he knows she wants him and he won’t quit until she’s his.

What is Jayce’s relationship with the other Black Opals?
Unlike many of the others, Jayce is used to working solo. He partners up for the first time when he returns to Boulder, more out of necessity than desire to do so. He respects Natalya Trubachev a great deal as well as Misha Petrovin. But ask him about Sasha Zablosky or Alexei Nikanova and he could teach sailors some new words.

How many languages does Jayce speak? 
Two. English and German, though he tries not to speak the latter if at all possible.

What’s Jayce’s favorite food?
After spending most of his life on the move, anything home made could drop him to his knees. But Alyssa’s spaghetti holds a special place in his heart. As to why…well, you’ll have to experience that one first-hand.

What is Jayce’s ideal date? 
Oh my…well, good food for starters, but he’s not one to spend time in the kitchen, so dinner out would be a must. After wrapping things up with a glass of wine or two, he prefers quiet nights at home, where he doesn’t have to keep a watchful eye on his surroundings.

What is his worst fear?
I’ll leave this one to the book. Suffice to say Jayce has to confront his worst nightmare, and until that moment, he never realized he harbored the fear.

Will we get to see Jayce in any other books in the series?
While Jayce has achieved what he wants, his story is far from over. You’ll absolutely see him again. This is one of my favorite things about writing in series – learning about the characters from previous books and what happens to them after they fall in love. So I try to incorporate them whenever possible. And as a teaser for all of you… Misha is making a return appearance very, very soon.

That’s it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek at the hero from Explosive. I assure you though, Jayce is far better experienced first-hand. Then again, he just might overwhelm you. If you’re up to the challenge, Explosive is available for only $2.99 digitally through October 1. So be sure to grab it while it’s cheap!

~Tori
www.toristclaire.com
www.claireashgrove.com

A man on the hunt…

Jayce Honeycutt never imagined returning to his hometown for a wedding would find him confronting the woman he intended to marry. Nor did he anticipate the passion they once knew would burn as hot and bright as ever. Only now Alyssa’s involved with Jayce’s former best friend, and Jayce can’t bring himself to interfere. When he learns Alyssa may be in danger, however, everything changes. As the threats against her life escalate, Jayce will stop at nothing to unveil the secrets she’s hiding. Even if it means risking his heart all over again.

A woman on the run…

Ten years ago, a brutal attack forced Alyssa Martin into a world of solitary darkness. She threw herself into her career, but now her work has led her back into the nightmare of her past and thrust her into a deadly game. When her roommate employs Jayce for her protection, memories compound. She’s never forgotten their shared desire, and her body still craves his masterful touch. Yet Jayce is determined to break down her protective walls, and confiding in him is more frightening than the shadows stalking her. But someone else is determined to control her. To survive, Alyssa must trust in Jayce and bare herself completely.

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance | Kobo |

Alyssa wandered down the hall and into her tidy office to check her email. Saturdays were prime opportunities for quiet time, and she’d made it habit long ago to manage her own books and financial records. Like clockwork, each Saturday she read her personal email, balanced her checkbook, logged her deductions for the week, and recorded the other business expenses. In that precise order. When she finished, she turned on the local home improvements show and added to the fantasy list in her head of things she’d like to do around the house when time allowed.

Today, there would be no home improvements show. She needed to work on the Anderson’s taxes. While she didn’t like taking work home with her as a general rule, given the recent chaos of her routine, it would be nice to sit down to some sort of normalcy when the coffee finished. She could regroup, refocus, and at least with black and white numbers, she maintained a degree of control. Nothing like this near-hysteria Jayce’s sudden unexpected arrival threw her into.

At the edge of her desk, her steps faltered, and she cocked her head to the disarray across her blotter. Instead of the neat piles that divided expenses into categories, her desk looked as if someone smeared a hand across the surface, mixing everything up. The center drawer was ajar, and her chair had been pushed against the wall, not shoved up to the desk as she always left it.

Unease snaked down her spine. The hair on the back of her neck lifted.

Rubbing at her arms to ward off a chill, she glanced around the room, unable to shake the nagging sensation someone was watching.

Knock it off. Maybe Brice was looking for something.

Even as she tried to make logical excuses, instinct objected. Brice never, never fooled around in her office. If he needed something from inside, he asked her to retrieve it. Just as she did with his office in the basement.

Her stomach wound into an uncomfortable knot. The echo of the slamming door she’d heard last night pounded through her head. She swallowed to stop the tightening of her throat as old panic stirred. She refused to give a burglar that power. Refused to be so easily intimidated. There was a logical explanation. There had to be.

Slowly, she moved around behind her desk, her gaze focused on the untidy mess. A splash of vivid color peeked from beneath an invoice for office supplies. She pushed the invoice aside, revealing a 5x7 photograph.

Alyssa froze as she stared down at the picture. Someone had snapped a still of the office across town the night it had been broken into. The splintered door stood open, illuminated only by the overhead entry light. Around the building, someone had graphically altered chilling red and orange flames that gave the illusion the photographer shot the picture through fire. The scene alone was enough to fill her veins with ice. But what sent her heart into triple-time was the solitary word crudely etched into the gloss finish—SNITCH.

Check out the Black Opals series:

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Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 3 signed copies of Explosive

To Enter: 

• Please leave a comment or question for Tori.
• For an extra entry, tweet this guest post and include @ClaireAshgrove in the tweet.
• Please leave your email address along with your comment to be entered. 
• Giveaway ends October 1st.

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to the Tori St. Claire for sponsoring this tour-wide giveaway!