Rebecca's Random Musings: Dakota Trace's Essential Master Book Tour

Blog Post for Rebecca Royce - 5/31

Happy Friday! I can’t believe it’s finally come. *winks* I hope everyone’s week has flown by fast as mine and all of you are looking forward to the weekend. But before I go any further, please allow me to introduce myself and thank my host for having me here today. My name is Dakota Trace and I have the pleasure of having a new book release today. As Rebecca has so generously allowed me to hijack her blog for the for the first stop of my Essential Master blog tour, I wanted to bring you something a bit different than the standard fare of blurb, excerpt and buy links. You see I did this once before and let my muse run the blog tour and the readers seemed to enjoy it, so I’ve decided to let the irrepressible Livvy loose once more, but with me along to contain some of her zanier moments.

With that being said, let’s introduce Ms. Livvy to you….

“I’m Dakota’s whip-wielding, corset-wearing, rule-breaking, kicking-her-in-the-butt muse.” Livvy saunters into the room dressed as usual in leather leggings, high-heeled boots, a fire-engine red corset with her long dark hair spilling over her shoulders. Dressed as she is, I’m surprised she doesn’t have a submissive trailing after her. But wait she does. It looks like she decided to bring along Zebadiah – the male submissive from Essential Master.

“Well, at least you followed directions for once. You brought Zeb with you.”

Livvy sticks out her tongue. Did I mention how childish my muse is at times? Choosing to ignore her, I turn my attention to Zebadiah. As usual he’s dressed in jeans and polo, every ounce of his clothing accenting his slender build. Not overtly tall like most of my heroes, he’s not much taller than myself, but I can see his strength in his blue eyes. He’s been through hell and come out better for it. However, I did feel a bit of guilt, since as his author I was the one who sent him there. Frankly I’m surprised he’d want to be in the same room with me.

“Of course, I did.” Livvy eyed the basket Zeb was carrying. “He has the goodies.”

“Which you’re lucky I have, Miss Livvy. If Master knew his favorite petit-a-fours were in this…” he lifted the basket up. “…I wouldn’t have made it out the door unmolested. That man has a sweet tooth like no one’s business.”

Livvy smirked. “Of course he does. Why do you think Steph has to hide them from him every time she picks them up from the store?”

Zeb’s face lit up with a smile at the mention of his Mistress. “She hasn’t since I moved in with them. I make them from scratch every Sunday.”

Here I probably should tell you that Zebadiah, my sexy submissive male is also is a chef – a pastry chef. What? Did you think that all he did everyday was run around serving Steph and Nicky? No, not my characters. They all have real jobs and Zeb runs his own bakery out of his grandfather’s former home. They serve the best pastries, breads and sweets in Napa Valley – or so Nicky assures me.

“Lucky…”

Whoa, time for an intervention. Livvy can have a mouth like a truck driver at times. “Language, Livvy.”

She turns towards me and pouts. “I was gonna say lady. Speaking of the lady, has she been giving it to you hard enough Zeb? Or do I need to take her aside and give her pointers?” She fingers the coiled whip at her hip.

Dear Lord! Zebadiah’s lightly tanned skin flushed.

“Livvy!”

“What?” She eyes me innocently. “I just want to make sure our Zeb is happy.”

“No sex talk. We’re supposed to be talking about…” I check my clipboard. “…Zeb’s fondness for cooking.”

Instead of taking me seriously, she just laughs. “I hear he’s really good at heating things up…in the bedroom, especially if he and Steph put their heads together…”

Biting my lip to keep from strangling her, I strive for patience, even as my cheeks flush. I knew exactly what she was talking about. Even if I’m the one who wrote the scene, to hear her brag about it was a bit embarrassing. “Oh for heaven’s sake, Livvy, get your mind out of the gutter.”

“Why? If I do yours won’t have any company.” She sassed, her hand on her hip.

Choosing to ignore her, I focused on the job at hand. Namely the give-away. “Okay, just ignore the kinky muse in the room. As I promised, every stop has a giveaway of one of the two books in the Doms of Napa Valley series. Today’s prize is the first book, Reluctant Master. So what do you have to do for a chance to win it? Easy, answer the question below in the comments section. The answer will be in the short excerpt which Rebecca will be posting with the blurb and cover art.” I look to Livvy. “Did you remember to bring the picture of the grand prize at least?” After my last tour, I learned my lesson. Never give the muse the actual prize. She’ll abscond with parts of it.

“Yep.” She reaches into her corset to tug out the picture I gave her. “Here it is.”

“That’s it. A wonderful basket full of goodies for your favorite night in. So after you give your answer in the comment be sure to click on the button on the rafflecopter entry form. It’ll enter you into the grand prize contest.”

Okay, I do believe that’s everything but the question and blurb information. I nod to Zebadiah, who sets the basket down. “The goodies in the basket are for you Ms. Rebecca to horde or share with your family. Your choice. And thanks again for having me and I will see you all tomorrow at Ellie Potts’s blog.”

Blurb:

Submissive Zebadiah Pellegrino maybe down, but he's not out yet. He knows there is a Dom or Domme for him - it's just a matter of finding him or her. But after an attack by a brutal Mistress, the owners of New Beginnings have been hovering like a pair of over protective hens. It's been over a year and he's ready to move on, but now he just has to convince them or leave New Beginnings.

New members, Dom Nicholaus Tarquinio and switch Stephanie McKeown have a unique D/s relationship and have been searching for some time for a third member, a submissive to complete their triad. But the trick is to find a man who not only appeals to Nicholaus's domination but isn't above allowing Stephanie to have her fun too.

When Zebadiah catches Stephanie's eye, she and Nicholaus approach the wounded sub, wondering if he's truly ready take what they have to offer him, or is Ethan right about Zebadiah not being ready? Only time will tell.

BUY HERE

EXCERPT:

Steph was washing her hands at the sink when she noticed Zeb's tiny Honda pull up between her and Nicky's SUVs. Her heart leapt with happiness. While they hadn't been expecting him, she was sure Nicky would be happy to see him once he surfaced from his office. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she sighed. Which gives me two hours to keep Sexy busy. Her womb quivered at the possibilities of having their sub at her tender mercy for such a time. But first, I have to get him to agree to it.

Moving with purpose, she met him on the porch before he had a chance to ring the bell or knock. A plan was brewing in her head, a pleasant surprise for Nicky when he took his late afternoon break.

"Hey, Sexy, I wasn't expecting to see you today. Is everything okay?" She couldn't resist the urge to touch him, and brushed her fingers over his shoulder.

He nodded. "Yep. I was missing you and Sir, so I thought I might bring a basket of goodies over." He lifted a tin-foil covered plate she hadn't noticed. "I was in a baking mood this morning, and wanted to get your opinion on some tweaks I made to one of my Gram’s recipes. I've been playing with a vegetarian line for my bakery. I thought you and Nicky might be willing to be my guinea pigs?"

Steph's heart melted. The fact that he'd brought his goodies all the way over for her and Nicky to test them when he had a house full of taste-testers, touched her. "Well, it depends. What's in it for me?"

"Ummm..." He seemed flabbergasted. "My undying thanks?"

"Relax, Sexy. I was thinking of a trade. Nicky and I will test your new creations if you help me set up a surprise for our Master."

His lips parted as her meaning seemed to sink in. "A sexual one, Ma'am?"

"Of course. Unless you don't feel comfortable with the idea of putting yourself in my hands until Master surfaces from his man-cave."