Shelly Bell: Rust City Book Con Featured Author

Welcome to your early-bird peek at some of the fantastic authors who are already signed up for the conference. Today I'm showcasing the spectacular
Shelly Bell

Hi Shelly! Tell us a little about your work.

Hi Nicola! I currently write the erotic suspense Benediction series for Avon Publishing. Known for its spine-tingling suspense, explicit love scenes and thrilling plot twists, the series centers around members of a BDSM sex club. Books include the White Collared serial, Red Handed, Blue Blooded, and the forthcoming Black Listed. I'm looking forward to the 2017 release of my Forbidden Lovers series, published with Grand Central Forever. When I'm not writing, working as a corporate attorney, or taking care of my family, I'm reading romance.

It sounds like you probably have LOTS of free time, right?  Whoa, I'm tired just reading that list. I recently downloaded the first Benediction title (it's sale-priced at the moment!) and I'm looking forward to checking it out.  I want to mention too, that you have a dedicated following among the ladies who read for the Avon Addict program. Ok, Shelly, let's talk about RustCity!

1. Fill in the blank: "I used to be really good at sleep , but these days I'm pretty rusty."  Yeah, with that list, I can see how sleep is the first thing to go...

2. Eminem or Aretha? Explain.

Although I do like a good Eminem song, my respect goes to Aretha. She is the Queen of Soul after all! I've grew up listening to her music. To me, she's more than an entertainer. She's a legend.
I see what you did there.  And I completely approve.

3. Choose One:
a) Vernors
b) Faygo
c) I'm confused. And not from around here.

4. What are you looking forward to most at the RustCity conference? Meeting readers! I love talking with those who love to read as much as I do. There's nothing like a good book to bring people together. I really love that about the small cons!

5. Which is NOT an actual community in Michigan? (no googling!)
a) Bad Axe
b) Mullet Lake
c)  Alpha
d) Hero
e) Colon
f) Kalamazoo
(The correct answer is "Hero." I got very tickled at some of the names, especially when I saw that "Alpha" was one!)

6. Your latest work of fiction features a wealthy industrialist and an R&B singer. What's the first sentence?  Tendrils of smoke curled around her neck like a boa constrictor.     

OK, I really like that. I think I got a little chill.

Optional: What's it about? Unaware of past sins that tie them together, a female industrialist and a male singer fall in love when they're targeted by the same killer.

7. And finally, would you like to participate in the Alpha Heroes Five Words Fiction Game?  Yes please! 

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee, I'm very excited about this! You get to kick off the contemporary category (present day, no paranormal elements).  Your challenge words are: benediction, alpha, rust, spreadsheet, and groove.

Perched on a bar stool, Maddie Jacobs brought the straw up to her crimson stained lips and said a silent benediction that Jenna’s lessons in seduction would work. After spending the past hour tossing her hair over her shoulder, sipping on straws to draw attention to her mouth, and touching strangers’ biceps while laughing at their terrible jokes, she’d give it another ten minutes before calling her plan a dismal failure.

Hunter had better take the bait.

Just because she’d lost sixty pounds, dyed her hair from a lackluster rust brown to a shiny onyx, and chemically smoothed her frizzy curls, didn’t mean he’d find her attractive.

Her friend Jenna kicked her shin, excitement sparkling in her eyes. “This is it, Maddie. He’s coming over.”

Old tapes of cruel taunts played in her mind. Hunter Allen may not have teased her like his friends had, but as the alpha of their high school class, he’d held the power in his hands to get them to stop. Instead he’d stood by and impassively watched as if she meant nothing to him. As if they hadn’t kissed behind the stage’s curtains after the sophomore play. As if they hadn’t lost their virginity with each other two nights later in her twin bed.

She hadn’t seen him since she’d moved across the country to attend Julliard four years ago. Living on her own in New York City and achieving academic success had given her the confidence she’d always lacked. By walking, eliminating junk food, and logging her weight loss on a spreadsheet to keep herself honest, she’d shed the extra pounds she’d carried by the end of her second year of drama school.

He’d never recognize her.

But she’d recognize him anywhere.

Flipping her hair over her shoulder again, she caught his approach in the corner of her eye. He boasted the same cocky strut he’d used walking the halls of North High. As if he didn’t have a care in the world. His corn silk blond hair was a bit longer in the back and a bit of day old scruff aligned the naturally tan skin of his jaw. The scar in the form of a groove on his right cheek was new, but somehow it managed to add an alluring ruggedness to his otherwise all-American good looks. And that wasn’t the only new thing about Hunter. Lord, he’d filled out his lanky frame with defined muscles she could see through his cerulean t-shirt. A shirt which brought out the blue of his eyes.

What a great start! I can't wait to see where this goes! 

Shelly, thank you so for much for hanging out here at Alpha Heroes.  I heard a rumor that you have a few extra copies of the brand spankin' new Benediction novel, Blue Blooded (there IS spanking, right??)

You'll have to read it to find out, won't you?!   I can't wait to meet everyone at the con!

Shelly is so spectacular, in fact, she has offered to give one Alpha Heroes reader a signed paper copy of Blue Blooded!  Open internationally.  I will choose one winner at random from comments.  To enter, leave a comment below, and for a double entry in the contest, write me ONE SENTENCE using all five of the challenge words: benediction, alpha, rust, spreadsheet, and groove.   Check back next Thursday for results.  If you leave your email, I promise to contact you.  If you'd rather not, then it's up to you to check and contact me!

If you don't want to wait to win, check out more from Shelly at the following links:

website  |  facebook  |  twitter    

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I mean, you ARE coming, right?? 

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