Take Me Away by Tina Donahue

Title: Take Me Away

Author: Tina Donahue

Author Website

Release Date: May 6, 2011

Publisher: Ellora’s Cave

Buy Link

Genre: Contemporary/Erotic/Romance

Blurb:

Take Me Away

She’s everything he escaped…and all that he desires

Three years ago, Kyle turned his back on a pro-football career and being the target of tabloids or gold-digging groupies. Craving privacy, he gets it at his roadhouse in Northern California until Lexi Sands invades his life. Indulged and surely phony, she’s exactly what Kyle fled.

An actress since childhood, Lexi’s fresh out of an anger management program, court-ordered when she lashed out at a badgering paparazzo. Weary of the press’s harsh scrutiny, she sees Kyle’s secluded cabin as the ideal place to hide out and him as a damn-near perfect alpha male. Deliciously virile. Protective. Principled. She offers him serious cash to let her stay for two weeks, assuring there will be no complications or touching.

Yeah, right. Passion flares, along with tenderness. Kyle recognizes how lonely Lexi really is, while she’s falling hard. Through intimate days and impassioned nights, they explore their most shameless needs, until a cruel betrayal exposes their growing love, forcing a choice neither anticipated.

Welcome to Sizzling Releases, Tina. I’m so pleased you could join me today. What is your Sizzling Release?

Hi, Rie – thanks for having me! My Sizzling Release is Take Me Away, my latest erotic contemporary romance released today – May 6.

What is Take Me Away all about?

The price of fame and that it’s not always what it turns out to be, not when you have paparazzi and crazed groupies running after you…and very often judging you. It’s about Kyle, an ex pro-football player, who got out of the madness. And Lexi, an actress, who’s been in since she was a kid. Their worlds are so different, and yet so much the same. It’s a moving love story – and a very HOT tale of a man and a woman who want to find a little sanity in this world…who want someone they can rely upon.

That sounds wonderful. How did you come up with the idea?

I was watching the news one night and a piece about Lindsay Lohan came on. She’d just been sentenced to rehab. I found myself feeling bad for her. She’d been in the biz since she was a child with her parents and hangers-on wanting everything they could get from her without considering her needs. I started thinking of what it must be like to live in a world like that – where you couldn’t trust anyone. A world where paparazzi are always catching you at your worst moments and plastering those pictures all over the tabloids.

As a multi-published author, what advice do you have for those just beginning their writing career?

Keep at it no matter how many rejections you have. You will sell eventually if you learn your craft. Don’t try to write in the most currently popular genre (eg: paranormal, erotic, whatever). Write what you like to read.

Tell the readers about your backlist.

It’s growing!  J  I have 19 titles out now. From most recent to those in the past, they are:

Unending Desire (erotic paranormal coming in October)

Take Me Away (released today!)

The Yearning (Bestselling paranormal – my first in that genre!)

Sensual Stranger (Book of the Year 2010 – erotic category)

In His Arms (SIX 5 Star Reviews – 4 Stars Romantic Times)

Lush Velvet Nights (Golden Nib Award – 2011 EPIC Finalist)

Deep, Dark Delicious (2011 EPIC FINALIST – 4 Stars Romantic Times)

Adored (RWA award-winning – 4 Stars Romantic Times – 2011 EPIC FINALIST)

Bad Boys with Red Roses (anthology)

Close to Perfect (single title)

Take My Breath Away (single title)

Wicked Women on Top (anthology)

Irish Eyes (anthology)

O’Toole’s Promise (historical)

Just One Kiss (historical)

Force of Nature (romantic comedy)

My Man (romantic comedy)

Once in a Blue Moon (romantic comedy)

Take A Chance (romantic comedy)

Lady Love (romantic comedy)

Wow! What a list you have. What are you working on now?

My third erotic paranormal. This one is REALLY hot.  J

Do you have an evil day job, and if you do, how do you find time to write?

Oh yes I do have an EDJ. I write early in the morning before I have to go to work. I write at night when I’m through with work. And I write on the weekends.

Is there something in particular that sparks you to write something new?

Something I’ve seen on the news or when I read something in a new genre (to me), I often think I’d like to try my hand at it.

What does your family and friends think about you being a published author?

They take it in their stride.

It’s May-do you celebrate Cinco De Mayo?

Absolutely. Living in California, it’s more or less required.

Dos Equis or Corona?  

Dos Equis

Speaking of Cinco De Mayo, have you ever been to Mexico? 

I’ve been to Mexico many, many times. Love to shop there and love the good eats.

Thank you so much for being here. Is there anything else you’d like the readers to know?

I’m hoping to have another contemporary erotic romance out later this year.

And before we go, can we get a juicy excerpt from Take Me Away?

Sure – be happy to!

Excerpt:

Kyle stared at her naked thigh. Her skirt was so short the damn thing practically exposed her ass. From his vantage point, he could see she wasn’t wearing regular panties. Whether she had on a thong was debatable.

His mouth went dry. He pulled in a deep breath, which rewarded him with her alluring rose scent.

I won’t be in your way at all, she’d said. I’ll amuse myself outside.

With those words, he’d pictured the creek behind his cabin. Lexi shedding her clothes and boots on the bank. Sunlight caressing her nudity. The water swirling around her sleek thighs, dampening her bush, licking her cunt. Beads of moisture clinging to the soft swells of her breasts, dripping off the tips of her nipples.

A groan of pleasure and frustration bubbled up. Kyle fought it, remaining silent, not daring to ask what in the fuck she was doing. Adjusting her sock? Removing a rock that had somehow gotten into her boot and was hurting her foot?

His guesses weren’t close to correct.

She pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills. The kind Kyle used to carry around during his pro football days. Paying in cash left no identifying receipts that paparazzi or the tabloids would later use to concoct an outrageous story about him.

Like the one in which they speculated on how large his cock was. The article began with a photo of his credit card receipt from a local drugstore, showing his purchase of Trojan Magnums, condoms for well-endowed guys. Just in case anyone failed to catch the Magnum name or his, the tabloid had circled both in red. They’d also interviewed several of his ex-girlfriends who gushed about his size then went on to complain that he wasn’t all that satisfying in bed.

To this day, Kyle still winced whenever he thought about it.

Lexi peeled thirty bills from her stash, then put the remainder back inside her boot. Lowering her foot, she offered him the cash.

The muscles in his arms tensed. He ordered himself to tell her no. He didn’t need the complication of a woman living at his place, even if it was only for a week or two. He definitely didn’t want a reminder of the kind of life he’d used to lead. The photos of him in the hall were bad enough, put there by Pete who was prouder of those days than Kyle had ever been.

Pete had wanted those pictures to grace the bar area. Repeatedly, Kyle told him to forget about it. Kickoff’s would make it on its own, not on his previous celebrity.

Lexi’s hand remained outstretched. In an even voice, she asked, “Have you changed your mind? Do you want five thousand now?”

Gaze jumping to hers, Kyle saw the vulnerability in her eyes that she couldn’t quite mask. He heard the caution behind her words. No different from his when he hadn’t been certain if a stranger really liked the way he played or was flattering him because there was an ulterior motive.

He cleared his throat and used his gentlest tone. “There are lots of places around here where you could rent a room for a few weeks.”