Hi,

I got my first review for Fighting the Undertow, available now from Loose Id, and it's super! (Now I can stop biting my nails, lol).
Here's a snippet:

"Eden Rivers has written an emotional journey of the heart and mind. The
characters are thoroughly developed and their relationships beautifully entwined. This is an emotional journey that will have the reader embroiled in the drama and crying with the pain the characters feel. This is definitely a must read novel and Eden Rivers is a must have
author. This is more than an erotic romance this is a journey of the soul."
--Sensual Reviews, Kimberley Spinney

I hope everyone who celebrates one of the winter holidays is having a warm, wonderful
holiday season!

Eden

www. edenrivers. com

Hi,

I found out last night that Nature's Pentacle is a finalist in the 2009 EPPIE competition, and I'm so happy I'm still bouncing off the walls!

Nature's Pentacle is the first book in my Pentacle Series, and is available from Loose Id. Here's the blurb:

After someone exposes their role in a forbidden, sexual rite to heal the parched earth, Matt and Lena are forced to flee vigilantes and a rogue witch. Drawn to each other despite Matt's ties to Kenji, the man who rescued him from a troubled past, they're swept into a ménage, and the three witches exchange magical traits in an explosion of power and passion.


As Matt and Lena face another pentacle rite, a violent kidnapping, and a magical duel, their attachment deepens--and so does Kenji's resentment at losing Matt. The addition of another witch to the group eases Kenji's jealousy, and sparks fly when the foursome mingles sex and magic on the kitchen floor, carrying them finally, to the love they never imagined they'd find.


And here's an R-rated excerpt:


As rain washed over her in a cool blanket, Lena had to admit this was better than sulking in the kitchen. Raising her hand, she spun a blue light globe, then set it in the center of a puddle, keeping it afloat with a mental command another trick she must have picked up from Matt. Someday, they'd have to sort out what each of them had gained when their powers mingled.


Pines created a horseshoe around a field of sweet-smelling herbs, raspberry patches, and tall grass. Matt's work, no doubt, coming to life again since their crazy attempt to seed the clouds succeeded beyond their wildest hopes.


"I can see lines of tension in your shoulders. Give yourself to the night. Let it all wash away." His bare feet padding on the stone patio, Matt moved close enough to touch her, but to his credit, resisted temptation.


Feeling lost, she let the rain plaster her hair to her back, raised her face, and called to the goddess. For a moment, she felt a rush of air and the brush of feathers against her cheek, but then the shadow of divinity vanished, leaving only the rain.


"She's left me.
"

Matt moved close and pulled her back against his chest.
"Your mother?"

"No. Not my mother. In every way that counts, she left me years ago.
"

Rather than asking her to explain, he lowered his face and touched his lips to the curve of her neck. "I can't call the goddess for you, little witch. She and I were never on great speaking terms. But I can ease your mind, if you let me." Stooping to pick up the soap, he turned her to face him. "Whoever else has left you, whatever you've lost, you should know I plan on sticking around.
"

"I told you I don't have relationships." Goddess, the last thing she wanted to do tonight was hurt Matt. All he was trying to do was ease her pain. "I can't.
"

"That's a discussion for another time. But lovers I recall you saying you don't have any objection to those." Lathering the soap in his palms, he brushed his hands down the length of her spine and left a trail of silken bubbles.


"Yes.
"

Whether weak or just weary, she couldn't say, but for whatever reason, she let him pull her into his arms and lather her back. She'd only hurt him more in the end. Best to pull away before he got too attached. But the Horned God himself couldn't have pried her from his arms tonight.


"When I watched you in the shower after you bathed me last night, I wanted more than anything to return the favor. Soap your skin. Massage shampoo into your hair. But I was afraid I'd scare you off." Shifting the focus of the rain bath, he moved his hands across her breasts, trailing the bar of soap over her tightening nipples.


A hint of night flowers drifted on the rain-driven wind, but when she nestled closer to Matt, she realized it was his own scent of orchards and pine forests. She should have been chilled, standing naked in the driving rain, but his naked chest scorched her back, sending warmth shooting through every inch of her body.


Closing her eyes, she abandoned herself to his fingers. With deft movements, he spread slick trails of soap across her chest, along the curve of her neck, down her arms and legs, and in crazy, dizzying circles over her belly and breasts. The brush of skin on skin, the scent of him, the gentleness of his touch as he dominated her senses everything else faded into the background.


Eden
www. edenrivers. com

Fighting the Undertow
By Eden Rivers
Paranormal Ménage
Length: Novel Plus

Now available from Loose Id 

Blurb: 

For Ian and Val, falling for each other is all too easy. But his sexy friends, her career goals, his writer's block, and a troubled spirit redefine the meaning of the words "complicated relationship." Val presses for information about Ian's brother's ghost, but meets a wall of silence. When she discovers that Ian's highly emotional, sexual connection with his friends was what held him together after his brother died, she's intrigued and frightened by the eroticism of their bond. Truly entering into his world will involve expanding her sexual experiences in ways she's never imagined.

For Ian, Val's willing to take that erotic journey. But when she uncovers secrets about his family, his brother's death, and the group's sexual history, she suspects she's in way over her head. Confused by her new hungers, she's overwhelmed by the searing passion of two emotionally charged ménages. Although the friends have become the family she always wanted, she's not sure whether she's ready to accept Ian's world of complex relationships and dark passions, or whether she and Ian have even a ghost of a chance at happiness.

R-rated Excerpt:

For Christ's sake, he hadn't been this nervous since his junior prom. As he lit the candles, Ian ran through a list of things that could go wrong. Maybe she'd ask what the hell was up with him and his friends, and since he was an honest guy, she'd run screaming from the house when he answered. There was always the chance for ordinary disasters, like dumping eggplant parmigiana in her lap while he served dinner. Or Abby and Tyler could get back early from their evening out and scare her off.

At least Jeremy and Nathan lived close enough to visit without sleeping over. Better yet, Abby and Tyler would be heading back to Boston when their vacation ended in a few days. After that, they'd just be around on weekends. Hell, he'd known Val one day, and already his loyalty to his friends was evaporating. These were the people who'd kept him sane when Lisa walked out, who'd been there for him when Kevin… He stopped that line of thought before it ended up somewhere dark and painful.

Before he could subject his attraction to Val to further scrutiny, he heard a confident rap on the door. "Come in." He slipped a bottle of wine into the ice bucket, wiped his hands on a dish towel, and went to meet her.

"Hey. Something smells good." Val gave him a quick hug.

"I hope you don't mind eating here." At her inquisitive glance toward the kitchen, he rushed to reassure her. "Tyler helped me with dinner, so it will be edible."

He continued talking as he busied himself in the kitchen. "Tyler and Abby are out for the evening, and Nathan and Jeremy drove home a while ago." Her shoulders relaxed. A good sign, she wanted to be alone with him. Or maybe a bad sign, she was wary of his friends.

Somehow, he managed to get dinner on the table without any disasters. Though entertaining a sexy woman felt sort of strange. He hadn't cooked for anyone other than his friends since Lisa left. As they talked, he reminded himself of his priorities. Write the damn book. No new attachments until I can think about Lisa without my gut twisting into a knot.

As for his attraction to Val, that could be a pleasant distraction. Just because he wanted to reach out and touch her face when her cheek dimpled with laughter didn't mean he had to get involved. She didn't want that any more than he did.

All of that seemed rational, until they finished dessert. The next thing he knew, his arms were wrapped around her waist, though he wasn't sure who'd initiated the embrace. As he explored her mouth with his tongue, sweet with dessert and tart with a hint of wine, the pounding of the ocean clouded his thoughts. He broke away long enough to close the windows. Then, before he could think of a good reason not to, he invited her upstairs.

"Ian, I…" If she'd been about to voice second thoughts, he drowned her words with another kiss. When they reached his room, she threw open the window, inviting in the crash of the waves.

Neither of them bothered to turn on a light. In the moonlight, she looked even sexier than she did with the waves playing at her skin.

"You're sure you want this?" Damn it, Winters, what if she says no?

"Mmm hmm. Just a formality, but my roommate would kill me if I didn't ask…"

"Yes, I've engaged in risky behaviors. Yes, I've always used a condom. Yes, I've been tested, and I'm fine." He held his breath, waiting to see if she'd ask for specifics. He'd tell her, but he didn't know if she was up to hearing the details yet.

"Me too. Well, except for the risky behaviors part." Val tugged at the clip that held her hair back from her face. As thick curls spread across her shoulders, she found his lips and nipped hard enough to elicit a grunt of surprise.

When she moved toward the bed, Ian was relieved not to have to navigate that particular transition. "Miss Vee?"

"Yes, Mr. Winters?" Laughing at the feigned formality, she tugged him down beside her, sinking into the down comforter.

"I was wondering something yesterday, and maybe you could help me come up with an answer." Teasing his hands over her shoulders and neck, he brought them to rest in the silky curls that spread out around her head on the pillow.

"Yes?"

"When we were walking on the beach, the wind blew your curls around your face and…" He paused to tug at a few tendrils of hair, shining reddish brown in the moonlight. "I wondered if you might be that wild, that free…"

"In bed?" Without embarrassment, she finished the question.

Ian nodded.

"With you, I think maybe I could be."

That was all he needed to know. She wouldn't run blushing if he forgot himself and took things too far. But she wasn't Lisa, either. Lisa had used him for the sex, for his friends, for the excitement of the forbidden. But he'd been so in love, he'd been blind to her motives, expecting nothing less than the honesty he'd offered her.

As Val slipped her fingers under his shirt, he pushed aside the past and focused his attention on her. What frightened him wasn't how much he wanted her -- though he couldn't remember the last time he'd been this hot and bothered for someone -- it was how much he wanted to be with her. To fall asleep with his head beside hers on the pillow, to see what those crazy, wonderful curls looked like in the morning…

"Ian?" She tugged his shirt over his head and paused with her fingers on the button above his fly.

Ian slid his hands under her shirt and unhooked her bra, and soon they sat naked in the moonlight. He leaned over and grabbed two silk scarves from a drawer in the bedside table. Val's shoulders tensed under his hands, but as he trailed the silk over her skin, she relaxed.

"Okay?"

"Yes." As the silk brushed across her nipples, she made a soft sound of approval.

His balls were making a concerted effort to crawl up under his skin, and he hadn't ached for anyone like this since high school, but he forced himself to go slow. Seeing as he wanted to avoid attachments, he shouldn't be so afraid of scaring her away. But he'd reason that out later. For now, their bodies told him what he needed to know. The way she arched into his embrace. The shivers of fire that raced across his skin when she touched him.

"No." He moved her hand away from his cock and eased her down onto the mattress. Not that he objected to the heat that followed the path of her fingertips along his dick. But he wanted this to last until morning. God help him, he wanted to pull her close and watch her sleep as the sun rose.

Val flinched as he draped a scarf across her eyes, but when he left it loose, she settled back onto the pillow and explored his body with her fingers. She stroked his hair while he sucked one nipple, then the next, and when he tried to sit up, she locked her hands behind his neck and guided his mouth to hers.

He could tell by the way she nipped at his neck and jaw, by the way she tried to shift to her side when he rested his weight on her, that she wanted to take control. And he had no doubt she could. In fact, he looked forward to the night it would happen. But he wanted something else tonight. She protested when he knotted the scarf at the back of her head, but didn't try to tug it away from her face.

"Okay?" A few heartbeats of silence greeted the question, and he soothed his hands along her arms as he waited.

"I think so."

Not wanting to spook her, he waited to see what she'd do next. Reaching out to find his face, she shifted onto her side and pressed her mouth to his. The heat of her kisses, the probing insistence of her tongue in his mouth, nearly pushed him beyond the thin shred of control he had left.

What is it about her?

I'm so excited--I found out that Broken Pentacle--available at Loose Id-- received a Night Owl Romance Reviewer Top Pick!!! I'm still doing a happy dance over that one. Here's a snippet from Samantha Ann's review:

"Sky's relationships with Alec and Zach and Alec's with Zach show us that all people may be at times misunderstood and end up doing the wrong things for the right reason. It is their ability to overcome the mistakes and move on in the right direction that shows a person's strength.

 

"Add into the mix some of the hottest romance and sex scenes found on the written page and readers will be panting and begging for more from this author." 

To read the full Night Owl Top Pick review click here

Blurb:

After a year spent recuperating from a rogue witch's attack, Sky agrees to draw Jaimis -- her former lover, torturer, and rapist -- out of hiding, determined to discover the identity of his followers before they subject others to the hell she suffered. With her magic shattered from the trauma, she needs to rediscover her sensual nature before she reclaims her gifts. Hesitant to trust, she didn't plan on bonding with one witch, let alone two. But if premonitions prove true, the key to healing and survival lies within a scorching ménage.

Alec blames himself for failing to protect Sky when the rogue witch left them close to death, and he'll do anything to see Jaimis dead. During interludes when they're not scrambling to stay one step ahead of death spells or human thugs, Alec strives to reawaken Sky's sexual nature, eager to help mend her broken magic. He entices her into sexy baths, making love under the pines, and erotic desserts in which he coats her with honey and fruit. But when Sky and Zach, their bodyguard and Alec's former lover, turn the tables and put Alec on the menu, he's ill equipped to let his guard down and accept their tantalizing ministrations.

As Alec struggles to overcome the violence and loss in his past, his deepening bond with Sky and renewed affection for Zach pull him into a web of conflicting loyalties and attachments. And yet to survive what lies ahead, the three of them must pull together in a tangle of bodies, hearts, and magic, combining power and passion.
 

Eden Rivers
Broken Pentacle
Length, Novel Plus
Multicultural Witch Paranormal Ménage
Available from Loose Id

Hi,

I received my first review for Broken Pentacle this week--5 Angels from Fallen Angel Reviews!!! I'm on cloud nine

Here's a snippet:

"Ms. Rivers delivers a villain so evil and demented while at the same time extremely intelligent, Jaimis is the ultimate bad guy, one with power beyond imagining. Broken Pentacle combines action, sex and a human connection that will leave you breathless and wanting more. Ms. Rivers certainly knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat and I'm more than looking forward to her next book, I'm waiting with bated breath."

Fallen Angels Reviews, Rachel C.
To read the full review click here

Otherwise, I'm hard at work on Pentacle of Storms, the third book in my Pentacle Series, which tells Serena's story. I hope everyone's having a fun and cozy autumn!

Hugs,

Eden

I'm doing the release day happy dance today, because Broken Pentacle, my multicultural witch paranormal ménage, is now available at Loose Id. This book continues my Pentacle Series, following Nature's Pentacle, and can be read as a stand alone.

Here's the blurb: A brutal attack left Sky wounded, body and spirit. Her body's recovered but her soul and her magic need healing before she can face her ex. The cure lies in sexual bonding with another witch. She's not expecting two.

Sky and Alec wrapped their way around my heart in a stranglehold because they'd been hurt, had made mistakes, and had such fierce determination to get things right this time. And Zach, oh wow, that sexy ex-cop, kick-ass-witch of a bodyguard with a hawk tattoo on his shoulder and attitude to spare brought so much passion to the triad of witches that he took my breath away.

Here's a taste of what's ahead when you pick up a copy of Broken Pentacle:

Alec moved from the chair to the end of the bed, careful not to crowd her but obviously seeking contact. With a shaky breath, Sky reached out and touched his hand. Although her shields held at full force, thoughts and images leaped across at the contact. Mostly she saw fragments from the time he'd spent convalescing in Sweden. Go figure. The senator managed to end up at a mountain resort, and she got a year with a bunch of goats in Mexico. Guess it was a fitting punishment.

When Alec winced, she knew he'd picked up that last bit. Whatever fragile connection stretched between them, her psychic abilities latched onto the link and refused to let go.

"Senator Kouklakis died -- I got a new identity to go with the Swedish vacation. Alec Brennan, eccentric drifter."

"You miss it? Political life?" Images of him wheeling and dealing on the Senate floor flooded her head. Of course he missed it. "Hey, I've got my shields up a mile high. Stay out of my head."

"Not trying to get in it. I'm shielded, too." He hesitated, then reached up to push a mass of wavy brown hair away from his face. "And I miss politics less than I thought. What's happening now, dealing with Jaimis, this is more important."

Sky watched in fascination as he worried strands of hair between his thumb and forefinger. With his hair wild around his shoulders, he looked fierce and untamed. Golden skin stretched across lean, runner's muscles, interrupted only by his jade green boxer shorts.

Those first few weeks they'd spent healing at Sorren's estate, Alec had clung to the trappings of civilization, wrapping himself in designer suits, regardless of his raw back and battered psyche. But gone were the two-hundred-dollar haircut, blond highlights, and butter-soft shoes that probably cost more than her house. Strike that -- her former house, long since consigned to ashes by a bunch of anti-witch vigilantes.

"The wild man image suits you." Despite herself, she inched closer, drawn by the musky male scent mingled with traces of soap and shampoo. She hesitated, then rested her palm over his wrist. A riot of heat rose from her belly and spread upward toward her breasts.

"I missed you, after Sorren moved us out of the country to safer ground." Something about him plucked an emotional chord deep inside her.

The man was almost old enough to be her father -- never mind the deceptive youthfulness characteristic of witches. Hell, she was closer in age to his son, Matt, than she was to Alec. And yet, the pull between them was unmistakable.

Feeling vulnerable in the face of emotions she couldn't understand, Sky wrapped the terrycloth robe tighter around her, a thin shield between her and disappointment. Alec regarded her, his clear, brown eyes flecked with amber, and when the silence stretched between them, she looked down at her legs crossed yoga-style on the blue bedspread.

"Your hair's longer. I like it that way, like a black waterfall down your back." Alec swallowed audibly. "You don't wear it long to hide -- I mean, you don't still have…"

The pain in his voice spurred her into action. "No. Here, see?" She untied the loosely knotted belt of her borrowed robe, let the folds of terrycloth drop around her waist, turned, and lifted her hair clear of her back. "The witch healers did their jobs well."

Bending forward, she let him study the unmarred expanse of skin. She shivered when he trailed his fingers along her spine and explored smooth flesh where she knew he remembered a mess of healing lacerations. Relaxing under his gentle exploration, she let her face rest on her arms and enjoyed the liquid fire that followed his touch along her skin.

"Only one lash was too deep to erase the scar." Never mind the million scars on the inside. She sat up and lifted the soft terrycloth clear of her left thigh, guiding Alec's hand over the crescent moon-shaped scar no longer than her thumb.

"Mine's here." Alec eased the boxers down on his right side, revealing a jagged scar a hand span long across his hip. "The rest healed clean."

Without thinking, Sky bent down and kissed the tip of the puckered flesh, then trailed a row of kisses along the length of the scar. Startled, she felt Alec claw his way into her head again, hungry and amazed at her casual acceptance of the ugly mark.

"What Jaimis did to us, the way he tied our fates together, it's like he was some sort of dark artist…" Alec's breath came in short gasps as Sky kissed her way along the length of the raised line of tissue again. "And after a point, he'd shed so much of our blood that it was like mixing paint, blending the colors until he left some of each of us with the other."

Fuck. Damned if she'd let him see her cry. "Those six weeks when we were too sick to travel, you could always think of something to make me laugh through the pain."

She left the rest unsaid. And you were the only one who could help me cry.

"That's what you want? To cry? Or to laugh?" Alec helped her sit up beside him, cradling her chin in his palm, and she leaned forward, seeking a kiss, a caress, anything to ease the thirst she had for him. "Because whatever we do here tonight, I need to understand what you need."

Happy reading!

Eden
www.edenrivers.com

I've heard from several authors over the years that they've either drawn ideas or entire book concepts from their dreams. This fascinates me. I dream in vivid color, and I remember my dreams in the morning. But I can't claim I've ever created a book out of my nighttime adventures.

Still, I believe there's much to be gained in jotting down fascinating bits, keeping a dream journal, or simply remembering a dream setting or an interesting person to slip into a story down the line. Dreamed emotions can be a fertile source for writing, as well.

My 15-year-old daughter shared a series of dreams this week which could have come right out of an urban fantasy by Charles de Lint. In one, she created a host of trolls who loved bicycles so much that they stole them from people's back yards. The writer in me delights in the image of blissful trolls pedaling down the street on their stolen rides.

In another, my daughter dreamed up a squirrel with fairy wings. "A flying squirrel," I gleefully commented. "No, the squirrel couldn't fly," she replied. "It just had beautiful fairy wings." Dreams seldom do what we'd expect. In that sense, they're not so different from book plots or the characters we create and set loose in our fictional worlds.

And people in dreams seldom behave as we'd expect. Even ourselves. My daughter was delighted with a dream in which hummingbirds and butterflies surrounded her, and said she'd never seen anything so beautiful. She remains mystified, however, as to why she caught one of the hummingbirds, popped it into her mouth, and ate it. Any dream analysts out there want to take a shot at that one?

Some of the most fascinating dreams are the darkest. I had a friend during my law school years who, while expecting, had repeating dreams in which she and her husband ate their newborn. My own dark dreams often involve flight and pursuit, with the adrenaline charged escape set in eerie warehouses, dark forests, or over a series of perilously steep staircases which end halfway down and drop into nothingness. Often I end up flying (no wings, just flying) to escape my pursuers.

And then, of course there was the memorable night horror in college, where I awoke screaming at the top of my lungs because I'd dreamed there was a portal to hell in my dorm room closet. I a) scared the living crap out of my roommate and her boyfriend and b) convinced them I might have a mild psychiatric disorder. Both of us heaved a sigh of relief at the end of the year when we were able to go our separate ways.

I'd love to see a survey that addressed whether avid readers and writers have more vivid and elaborate dreams. I'm guessing we do. What about all of you? Writers, have you ever included dream elements in your stories? Readers, do you ever dream about what you read? Any especially humorous or frightening dreams you want to share?

Sweet Dreams,
Eden
www.edenrivers.com

My Torrid Teasers Vol. 47 is now available from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. This volume includes two contemporary erotic short stories "The Ones We Love" and "Three Nights with Adam." Here are the blurbs.

 

Three Nights with Adam

Determined to keep their sex life red hot, Paige plans a birthday surprise for Adam—his hottest fantasy come to life.  But when she initiates a ménage with their friend, Lynne, she's unprepared for the emotional intensity of the experience.

The Ones We Love

Sarah struggles with her inhibitions as she prepares for a bacchanalian evening at her friends' beach house.  Within her close-knit circle of friends, the web of love and loyalties can get a bit—tangled.

 

And here's an R-rated excerpt from "The Ones We Love":

Sarah couldn't decide whether to blame Celia's chowder or the wine, but her body seemed determined to ignore her urge to stay alert and on guard. Her spine relaxed into a soft curve, and her limbs felt heavy and loose as she listened to the crashing waves. Curled beside her on the beach blanket, Jon fidgeted with a piece of driftwood, the heat of his body warm against her back. His musky, soapy scent mixed with the smell of salt spray, and she shivered at the reminder of the hot, damp smell of sex.

Nearby, their closest friends clustered around the remains of the bonfire. His sandy brown head dappled golden in the firelight, Ryan lay next to Celia with his hand snuggled under the waistband of her jeans. Celia's devilish half smile sent a shiver of apprehension, or maybe anticipation, down Sarah's spine. Ever since they'd roomed together during their first year of college, Sarah's raven-haired, irrepressible friend had dragged her into more adventures than she cared to count.

And if Celia didn't find a way to turn a quiet evening by the shore into something…memorable, Drew would. Sitting with his arm draped across Ethan's shoulders as he stared at the glowing embers, Drew was six-feet-two of trouble in an irresistible package. His dark hair curled under the collar of his shirt, and his full, sensual lips, moody blue eyes, and angular cheekbones were dappled with shadows in the firelight.

Sarah suspected Drew and Ethan were drawn to each other because Drew was as wild as Ethan was steady. Still, although Ethan kept his black hair clipped short and neat, and Drew wore his long and tousled, Ethan's preppy accountant look and wire-rimmed glasses couldn't hide the body of a former college athlete. And if the others initiated something wild, Sarah knew from experience Ethan would ditch his conservative image and play along.

Jon shifted and traced a finger along the curve of Sarah's breast before tangling his fingers in her chestnut curls. "Want another glass of wine?" His grin looked sexy in the firelight, and he reached up to push a thatch of blond hair away from his forehead.

"I think I've had too much already." When Drew suggested the spring evening on the beach, Sarah knew he had more than food and conversation in mind, and she wanted a clear head if things got out of hand.

As Jon traced his fingers down her spine, letting them rest at the small of her back, Sarah listened to the rhythmic churning of the waves. Hungry for something she couldn't bring herself to name, something more complicated than his body pressed naked and wet against hers, she stretched out against the curve of his chest, closed her eyes, and buried her hands in the cool sand.

When Ethan and Drew doused the dying fire with a bucket of sea water, Jon sat up and grabbed her around the ribs. "I think we've communed with nature enough for one night."

"But it's peaceful out here." Edgy about what might unfold once they were indoors, she hesitated to leave the beach.

Drew chuckled, a low, sexy sound. Sarah suspected he had her all figured out—knew what she wanted, but also understood her fears, and her irrational need to cling to her innocent, country girl image.

Celia rose, and brushed sand off of her shorts, her "I dare you" look easily identifiable in the moonlight. "C'mon, Sarah, I'll protect you from the big, bad wolves."

Feed her to them, more like it. But this was a familiar game, and Sarah—not to mention everyone else present—knew she'd join them. She just needed a little coaxing to soothe away her good-girl skittishness.

Jon kissed the nape of her neck and slipped his hand under her shirt to cup her breast. She reached up to touch his face, and felt along his hairline for the childhood scar from when he fell off his bike. Everything about him was familiar, soothing.

"I'm not sure I can do this tonight."

Not that there hadn't been dozens of nights like this over the years. And she loved these people more than she could say. But she felt like her stomach was full of June grasshoppers, and she wondered for the millionth time how a shy girl from Idaho had ended up with such a wild bunch.

And for the millionth time she answered herself. Years ago, on the night she'd looked across the crowded college party and spotted Jon, her mouth had gone dry and she'd known in an instant she'd do anything for him. Falling in love with his friends had been a simple extension of the love she offered him.

Enjoy!

Eden Rivers
www.edenrivers.com

Hi,

The review gods have been kind to me today  I just found out Nature's Pentacle got a Top Pick with Night Owl Romance.

Here's a link to the 5 heart, Top Pick review: Click Here for Review

And here's a snippet from Samantha Ann's Top Pick Night Owl Review:

Wow! This one started out on fire with a forbidden sexual rite and just continued building until reaching the end in a scorching conflagration!

Covens meet in secret all over the continent in hopes of ending the earth-parching drought. Matt and Lena are paired off in one coven and end up with an inexplicable connection to each other once the rite is completed.

The reader becomes quickly swept up in this story and cares for these well-developed characters. Once the coven is outed by one of the members, events and relationships move quickly and turn the story into a page-turning rush of intrigue and excitement.

I'm a very happy little author today  Thanks for sharing the excitement!

Eden
www.edenrivers.com

Hi,

Strange Sabbats, my paranormal erotic romance novella, is now available from Loose Id. Here's the blurb:

Aileen sacrificed her power for the sake of her marriage, only to see her husband die in a car crash. When childhood friend Jon appears on the scene for a Yule celebration, the sex is scorching. But jealousy gets in the way of true love, until Aileen's power returns--and so does Jon.

Aileen's brother, Bryan, still carries a torch for Jon, and fears revealing himself to humans. But when he includes his human friend Dallas in an erotic Beltane ritual, it's clear who holds the whip in that relationship.

Jon's Aunt Sylvie has the erotic relationship of a lifetime with Ty, a younger man--until she's offered a CEO position in New York. On the night of the summer harvest festival, Ty makes Sylvie's most wanton fantasy come true by inviting another woman into their bed.

For three witches related by blood and common circumstances, finding the men of their dreams is a supernatural ride through love, jealousy, kink with a touch of magic, and fierce, red hot witch sex.

Happy Reading!

Eden