In Touch with SPLITTING KARMA Author LaShanta Charles

Taylor Williams didn't grow up with the loving parents, white picket fence, and a dog. She’s struggled to get where she is and knows that with all she's endured, life can only get better. At 28 years old, she hails as one of the country's top divorce lawyers and is ready to slow down and start a family with her husband. The only problem is he shuts her out and has treated her like everything but a wife since the night he came across her and his boss in a compromising situation. In spite of her innocence, she's determined to make it up to him.

Isaac Warren is bad business; the kind of bad business that requires focus and determination in order to stay alive. It’s also the kind that caused him to shut himself off from serious relationships after the brutal murder of his fiancée three years ago. Now his cold exterior keeps him at bay from everyone except those he considers family and right now that list doesn't have room for anything more than the occasional tryst and nothing more, especially not with the highly acclaimed lawyer he's accidentally stumbled upon.

*This novel is only recommended for readers 17 and older*

Splitting Karma: Kindle / Paperback

Lovely Lies: Amazon / AmazonUK / Barnes& Noble (Nook) (Women’s Fiction / Urban Romance, 4.6 stars, 114 reviews)

Lovely Lies 2: Amazon / AmazonUK / Barnes& Noble (Nook) (Women’s Fiction / Urban Romance, 4.5 stars, 61 reviews)

An Interview with LaShanta Charles

LaShanta Charles has drawn rave reviews for her ability to incorporate romance with a twist and air of mystery, making it a noteworthy work and earning her the award of “2013 Breakout Author of the Year.” Connect with LaShanta Charles: Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

When did you start writing, and was there a significant event that prompted you to do so?

I started writing while in high school, around the age of 15. I remember writing a “story” that literally never ended. I would pass it along to my classmates and friends for them to read and they would be enthralled and begging for more. I like to think that was my first following! I’ve had a beautiful relationship with writing since then.

What do you enjoy the most about writing?

I enjoy creation! I love when that tiny spark of embers becomes a full blown raging inferno of 80,000+ words. I love the struggle of developing complex characters. I love filling in blanks within my plots, answering questions enough to give you that “aha” moment, but not so much I give you every single detail and leave nothing to wonder. I love seeing a finished product, a work that I put my heart and soul into, knowing that someone somewhere will either love it or hate it and I’ll be fine either way.

What was the hardest part about writing your book?

The hardest part was editing. I wanted to make so many changes (I actually made quite a few); even after my book went to the editor I was still making more changes! Then to receive it back from the editor with critique and suggestions, it was like someone was deciding my newborn baby could only have blue eyes and not brown. It was by far the worst part of it all.

Where do you get the inspiration to write?

I draw inspiration from just about anything, literally. For example, I just saw someone eating an apple – my current heroine will undoubtedly love snacking on peeled apples. I’m inspired by my surroundings, which are constantly changing, therefore I change as well.

Who is your favorite author and why?

I honestly don’t have a favorite author! I know that’s a terrible answer, but there are just way too many for me to pick just one! I’ll read just about anything with a great plot.

What do you like to do when you are not writing? What is your ultimate luxury?

I’m super lazy, so anything that requires physical effort is a no-no! I love to read and I love to eat; and I love to do it all at home alone - no kids, no husband, just me, my food and my books. This can also be applied to different settings such as a beach, an airplane, etc.

Tell us something funny about yourself that not a lot of people know about?

Hmm, I sometimes eat a spoonful of flour…can’t believe I’m sharing this! I’m pretty sure there’s some logical explanation for it and I should probably mention it to my doctor, but nope, I’m good.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

I love interacting with readers, so feel free to contact me and let me know how you’re doing or what’s going on with you!

Excerpt from Splitting Karma

My eyes flew open as I quickly sat up in the bed. What was that noise, a door slamming? I scanned the dark bedroom and waited for another sound. The voice I heard shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did.

                 

“Where the hell is my dinner?” Aaron’s voice boomed through the house.

I scrambled from the bed, falling to the floor, my feet tangled in a mess of sheets and blankets. Ignoring the pain in my wrist and hip from my ungraceful fall, I slipped my robe on and practically ran down the flight of stairs.

“Taylor, get your ass down here! A good wife wouldn’t let her husband go hungry!”

I spotted him standing in front of the open refrigerator, his back to me. Without a word I made my way to the oven where his food was already fixed and waiting. I could feel his eyes on me, tracking my every movement as I slipped in front of him and grabbed a beer from the fridge. I refused to meet his eyes. Instead I stole a glance at the time on the microwave. It was a quarter past three. Working late again, huh? “I made you shrimp carbonara. I hope you like it,” I said as I placed the beer and food on the island in the center of the kitchen. Finally meeting his eyes, I pulled the stool out for him. He said nothing, simply stared at me. My heart pounded in my chest. Why wasn’t he responding? “I kept it warm for you,” I said as I closed the refrigerator and took his hand. Without protest, he let me guide him to his seat. I tried to give him a quick peck on his lips, but he turned his head away. A smirk played at the corner of his lip. My lips settled for his cheek and I stepped back. “How was your day?” I asked.

“I want to take a shower when I’m done eating,” he replied.

And just like that, I was dismissed. I took my time going upstairs, hoping he’d call me back. I could at least get a hug, right? I knew that would never happen, but that didn’t stop me from lingering on the stairs. The only sound that came from his direction was the fork as it scraped the plate and the occasional soft thud from him placing his beer bottle on the counter after he sipped. By the time he made it to our bedroom I had a fresh pair of boxers and pajama bottoms laid out for him and the shower was the perfect temperature. He undressed as he made his way past me in silence. I quickly scooped up the trail of clothes he left in his wake. While he showered I tossed his towel into the dryer, so that it’d be warm for him when he used it.

“Dinner was actually very good. I’m impressed,” he said when he finally emerged from the bathroom.

“Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.” I tried not to be, but I was mesmerized by his body. At 32 years old, he looked just as good as he did when we first met and he was only 25. His smooth, brown skin pulled tight against muscles that teased me with their presence. Not big and bulky, but just right for his 6’ 4” frame. His wavy hair was always kept cut low, cropped close to his head. Beautiful brown eyes stared back at me from behind dark lashes. If he’d smile - which I knew he wouldn’t - I’d see perfect teeth lined up behind those thick lips. He glanced at the boxers on the bed then smiled smugly as I gave them to him. I snapped my mouth shut, realizing he knew I was admiring him.

“Take that off,” he commanded.

I glanced down at the nightie I wore under my robe then back at him. My confusion allowed him a moment of amusement. With that same smug smile locked in place, he removed the towel that hung loosely from his waist.

“Your turn,” he challenged.

My heartbeat picked up its pace again as I hesitantly removed my clothes. He closed the gap between us and let his fingertips skim across my chest. I fought the urge to touch him, while silently begging him to touch me more. I hoped against all odds that this wasn’t as far as he would go. He hadn’t made love to me in months. He still blamed me for his embarrassment. He blamed me for his boss’s actions. My only crime was accompanying my husband to his firm’s annual charity banquet in the evening gown that he picked out for me. I looked beautiful in it. It gave me curves where I knew I had little to none. It gave me a confidence boost that I knew I didn’t even need. Well, at least not at that time. Right now a confidence boost would be greatly appreciated. When Aaron’s boss, Bryan, told me he wanted me to help him with some of the evening’s presentations, I was flattered and honored. I agreed to retrieve the notes for a speech he had forgotten in his office, but when I got there he cornered me and tried to kiss me. I’d never been in a situation like that, so I had no idea what to do. When I pushed him away and slapped him, he came back even stronger. My body froze in fear as his hands gripped every part of me that he could touch. When he tried to force his tongue into my mouth I bit him. He laughed and went for my neck. Over his shoulder I saw Aaron and the two other partners from the firm standing in the doorway. One of the other partners, Kaleb, asked what was going on. I tried to tell them he attacked me, but he assured them it was just an innocent hug. He said I’d had a little too much wine – I only had one glass and I didn’t even get to finish it - and he’d caught me when I tripped. A hug was my way of thanking him. Aaron hadn’t said a thing. He only stared at me, rage carefully concealed within his gaze. Of course he hadn’t said anything. He was up for a promotion to become a partner at the firm; his lifelong dream. He’d given Bryan and the others a tight smile before reaching for my hand and telling them he had to take his drunken wife home. That was six months ago…six long and lonely months.

“I can’t even make love to you anymore,” Aaron whispered as he slipped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer him, my body flush against his. The erection that should have been pressing against me was nowhere to be found. For Christ’s sake, we’re both naked!

“Aaron, please? You can.” My pleas fell on deaf ears. He let me go and slipped his boxers on.

“Wake me up at seven,” he said as he climbs into our bed.

“You know I didn’t betray you, Aaron.”

“Taylor, I’m going to sleep. I have a long day ahead of me.”

“Aaron, please? Just talk to me. I didn’t do anything wrong. You can’t keep shutting me out like this,” I pleaded. I was innocent. I was there for him. I was put into that situation because of him. I’m his wife. He was supposed to protect me. It didn’t matter if his career was on the line. His marriage should have been his priority. I should have been his main concern. Instead he blamed me. He told me I was lying; Bryan would never do anything like that. Instead of protecting me when I needed him, he turned his back on me and made me out to be the culprit. I didn’t think I would survive that. I still don’t think I will. “Aaron?” Silence was my companion.

The promotion decision wasn’t supposed to be made until two months later, but the partners announced Aaron as the recipient that following Monday. I pushed my feelings aside and became the supportive spouse; celebrations and lavish outings with my husband and the man who attacked me. Posing for pictures, being nice, and accepting keep quiet gifts like the perfect little wife. Aaron had shunned me since then. I made it my mission to get him to forgive me, but it still hadn’t happened. Six months is a long time to bear the burden of an act you didn’t commit. I put my nightie back on and climbed into bed. Although I longed for it, sleep abandoned me.

Splitting Karma: Kindle / Paperback

Get to Know Best-Selling Author Olivia Gaines

Olivia Gaines is the author of numerous bestselling novellas and books including Two Nights in Vegas, A Few More Nights, and have had several number one best sellers with The Blakemore Files including Being Mrs. Blakemore and Shopping with Mrs. Blakemore.

She lives in Augusta, GA with her husband, son and snotty cat, Katness Evermean.

Get to know OLIVIA GAINES, AUTHOR!
http://oliviagaines.com
Twitter: @Oliviagaines
Facebook: Olivia Gaines, Author

Olivia's latest project is the Davonshire Series: three consecutive novels.

This series is an interracial romance series which focuses more on how we connect to another and the things which make us fall in love. The series revolves around a set of siblings, the older brother, David, and his younger brother and sister, Wilfred and Wilhelmina.

Book Excerpt from Loving Words

Her idea was to slip downstairs to grab an apple and head back to her room. She looked at the robe on the bed and figured everyone would be asleep, so she did not bother to put it on. She tiptoed down the front stairs, making her way to the kitchen. The apples had been on the counter and she figured that because of the insane August heat, Conchetta had placed them in the fridge. She opened the sub-zero door and bent over inside to pull an apple from the crisper when she heard a yell, or rather a grunt, “What the hell are you doing?”

Startled, she turned and found Wilfred standing on the other side of the counter. She jumped, placing her hand to her chest. “Will, you scared the bejeezus out of me. What are you even doing up?”

“What are you doing out of your room improperly attired?” His face was turning red and he was getting very angry with her. Fear had frozen her in place and she was praying that he didn’t raise his hand to her or fire her.

It didn’t dawn on her that she was still standing inside the fridge door, unaware that her threadbare nightgown was translucent. Wilfred was able to see all of her feminine glory. He could not help but notice her full natural breasts. The coolness of the fridge had hardened the nipples, which strained against the worn material. The extra weight that had surrounded her waist when she arrived was now almost gone. There was definition in her abdomen, which was smooth with an outie belly button. Well-formed, generous hips that were uncovered by underwear revealed an all-natural woman which caused his body to react. There were no stupid patterns, landing strips, or a clean shaven area. It was full, untrimmed and calling his name. And those thighs. Thighs that could control a powerful animal with just a squeeze. I want to be squeezed. Squeeze me and control me, Elsie.

“Will, are you okay?” The look on his face was strained, causing Elsie a moment of concern.

“No, I am not okay! You were told to never leave your room unless you are fully clothed, and here you stand, in a see-through nightgown!”

Elsie realized she was still standing in the fridge and quickly stepped aside and closed the door. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think anyone was awake. I’m headed back to my room.”

“You’re sorry? Sorry?”

Elsie was taken aback by the intensity of his anger. “Boss, I said I was sorry.” She started towards the stairs. “It’s not that big of a deal. I won’t let it happen again.”

But to him it was a big deal and based on what was filling his pants, it was getting bigger by the moment.

“Dammit! It is a big deal! And you have no right to prance around this house in that and think it is ok!”

“Will, I didn’t think anyone was up. Gianni is asleep and it’s not as if you’re interested in any of this anyway,” she said as she turned to go towards the stairs, but he growled at her. Literally growled.

His eyes became extremely wide, but he remained standing where he was. Through tight lips, he spat out the words, “And how did you arrive at that conclusion?”

“Because you’re gay!” She had said it out loud and proud that she knew it. “I’m okay with that-- it’s your choice,” she said with confidence and feeling, showing him she accepted him as he was. The elephant in the room had just trumpeted and she put her hands on her hips and stood her ground in defense of her newfound power. Her power only lasted three seconds because he stepped out from behind the kitchen island and pointed to the largest erection Elsie had ever seen.

“Does this look like I’m f*cking gay?”

Her mouth dropped at the size of his need. She looked down at herself and realized he could actually see through her gown. She dropped the apple while attempting to cover her breasts as well as the total realization that she wasn’t wearing underwear. She picked up the apple and tried to cover there. She futilely attempted to throw her arms across her breast and dropped the apple again. When she bent over to pick up the fruit, she realized she had given him a bird’s eye view of her…”Oh Dear Jesus!” She couldn’t figure out where to place her hands or what to do next. Elsie turned to run.

Wilfred growled at her again, “Oh no, you don’t!”

She stopped, afraid of what would happen next. Elsie was breathing hard, trying to process what this man, clad only in a wife-beater and Spandex workout shorts, was planning as he moved towards her.

“What you have done, my dear Elsie, is totally unfair,” he took a step back and grabbed his cowboy hat from the rack by the door. Elsie was glued to the floor. Run, Elsie. Run. But her heart was thudding and her body was responding to what she had seen. Stay Elsie… stay.

“If I can’t get any sleep tonight, neither will you.”

He reached for the base of his wife-beater and slowly pulled it up over his head. As he raised the shirt, there was one ripped abdominal muscle after the other.

I am feeling so lightheaded.

The muscles seemed to make a stairway of bumps up to his pectoral muscles, which were covered in a light shimmer of smooth black hair that made a trail from his chest down into the waistband of his pants where that monster erection appeared to be throbbing.

Is it talking to me? Come here Elsie….

There were waves at his scalp and wavy black tresses that rested between his shoulder blades and flowed down to the middle of his back. Wilfred picked the hat up from the countertop and placed it on his head while turning his body to a forty-five-degree angle. He lowered his head and she could no longer see his eyes.

What in the world is he…

She inhaled and held her breath. “No… it… it can’t be.…”

He flashed a half smile. A smile that she had been staring at for nine years on the cover of his books. The smile that belonged to a character she had been in love with. A smile that belonged to her dark and mysterious book boyfriend. The man she surreptitiously imagined she was with when her ex Roscoe forced himself on her. Her book boyfriend was standing face-to-face with her and horribly aroused.

Wilfred was the swashbuckling captain of the Splendour, who defiled Honour upon a shipment of silk from the Orient. Captain Franc Niçoise was standing in the kitchen.

Fate was a nasty little bitch with sharp claws.

Wilfred had placed himself on the cover of every one of his books. It was his body that she had lusted over for years. A body that she was lusting over now. What had started as a bit of moisture was now dampness on her thighs. A wave of lust soared through her, forcing her to squeeze her thighs together to halt the rush of feelings that was filling her lady parts and oozing down her legs.

Wilfred took the hat off and tossed it back towards the rack where it landed perfectly in place. Slowly he walked towards her, his bare feet on the Mexican tile floor, leaving wet spots from the heat of him, coming so close to her she could feel the hotness radiating off his body. The erection of perfection was only mere inches from her body, but he did not touch her. Wilfred leaned down, exhaling on her cheek with one hand on either side of the wall, boxing her in.

If he is going to force himself on me, I am just going to have to suffer through his assault. Her breath was short, her bosom was heaving, and more moisture was running down her inner thighs.

He whispered in her ear, “Now you try getting some sleep tonight.” The smell of her readiness for him was like ambrosia that he wanted to drop to his knees in front of her luscious body and lick every ounce off those thighs. Those thighs that she would squeeze to control a powerful animal like me.

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