The first five sentences of... PEARLS OF PASSION
Sabrina licked her crimson lips, adjusted the low V of her
scarlet satin blouse a bit lower, the black mini a bit higher. She admired the
toned cut of her thigh muscles and the creamy swell of her breasts in the glass
as she pushed through the double doors of the county library on ice-pick,
black-patent stilettos. She could do this. If her heart was beating a bit too
fast and her breathing was a bit, well, breathy, that would just help set the
stage.
Mr. I’m-Too-Shy-To-Ask-You-Out was going to get a
Valentine’s Day surprise like no other.
Genre: Contempory Erotic Romance
Publisher: Indie
Available now!
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FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT CHANTILLY
Who was your first
love? Oooh, that's actually a tough question. My very first love was a
sweet, chubby little boy whose name I no longer remember, but my mother has him
circled on my Tiny Tot's (basically preschool) class picture. I was three. I
experienced a short dry spell in my love life after that, but the role of
personal hero was next filled by the charismatic Jimmy Alvarez in kindergarten.
He wooed me with rings from the gumball machine at a local pizza parlor and
Avon lipstick samples he liberated from his mother's vanity table.
I was, in a word, crazy about him.
My mother would say I was boy crazy, period. She's probably
right. I spent a fair amount of time in school ignoring math lessons in favor
of selecting my next victim. I mean boyfriend. I always paid attention during
story hour, however.
In all that time, and through all those boyfriends, I was
pretty lucky. There were only two young men who truly broke my heart. My first
serious boyfriend, Mike M., in high school, and a "much older" guy—by
four years! It seemed like a lot bigger difference when I was nineteen—who
promised to love me forever, named Jeff. He left me—on Christmas Day—for his
ex-girlfriend, a woman who had rammed his car with hers when he broke up with
her the first time.
Psycho.
I have to thank that nameless crazy girl, though, because
she cleared the way for me to meet the real love of my life, my husband, Mark,
who has been by my side for more than twenty years.
What was the first
romance you ever read? The first romance I ever read was The Proud Breed, by Celeste de Blasis,
which, if you've never read it, is an epic tale—probably more women's fiction
than straight romance, now that I think about it—which follows the heroine,
Tessa, throughout her entire life from the day she turns sixteen.
The book is around a thousand pages and quite spicy,
romantically. I was twelve and visiting my grandparents at their vacation cabin
outside a tiny little town in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. After the first
three or four days, I was bored out of my mind. I'm sure I was driving everyone
crazy, the way only a bored twelve-year-old can. I'd already shaved the
neighbor's golden retriever—without their permission—to free her of mats she'd
gotten from swimming in the lake. Poor Maggie. She looked like she'd lost a
fight with a lawn mower wielded by a maniacal chimpanzee.
Out of desperation, my grandma thrust The Proud Breed at me and firmly told me to, "Read!" All
she remembered about the book was that it was a history of California. She
thought it would be educational. Oh, boy, was she ever right about that! I
stuck my nose in that book and didn't surface again for days, though every once
in a while my mother or grandmother would want to know why I was blushing and
giggling.
I was captivated by the first sentence and all the way to
the end, through all the ups and downs of Tessa's life with her husband and
lover, Gavin, of the dark hair and deep blue eyes. Is it any wonder that
particular masculine combination is still my favorite? Lucky for my husband!
To this day, The Proud
Breed remains one of my all-time favorite books, and has been read and
reread many, many times.
Tell me about your
very first kiss? Since I started kissing boys—quite enthusiastically—at a
very, very young age, I'll fast-forward to a slightly more age-appropriate
answer. My first French kiss lesson, when I was fourteen. His name was Chad,
and while he didn't have dark hair—it was, in fact, a very beautiful and pale
rocker-dude flowing blond—he did have dark, soulful blue eyes.
We were hanging out at a mutual friend's house, a whole
bunch of us, and as usual I was the only girl. Aside from being boy crazy for
boyfriends, I mostly preferred the company of boys all around, even just as
friends. But I'd had my eye on Chad for something more than mere friendship for
a little while, and he'd been giving me the eye right back.
Somehow the topic of kissing came up. When I admitted I'd
never had a French kiss, Chad grabbed me by the hand and hauled me outside into
the bright sunshine where, in the shade of an ancient oak tree, he pulled me
around to face him. He placed his hands ever so gently on my cheeks, and very,
very slowly leaned in. He pressed his lips to mine, soft and sweet, and kissed
me exquisitely, for what felt like eons. I put my hands on his waist and held
on, because my world was already spinning.
Then he pulled back slightly and whispered, "Open your
mouth."
The words alone sent a zing straight down my
fourteen-year-old spine, but when he touched his tongue to mine, I quaked all
over. Such sensations!
We didn't date for very long, but I'll never forget that
first "grownup" kiss. I'll always be grateful I had such a wonderful,
tender teacher.
MORE ABOUT CHANTILLY:
Chantilly White was born and raised in southern California,
an only child who spent her days acting out favorite scenes from beloved
fairytales and reading everything she could get her hands on. Childhood
favorites were soon followed by romance novels from Celeste de Blasis, Kathleen
E. Woodiwiss, Johanna Lindsey, Jude Deveraux, Nora Roberts and many others.
Always a storyteller, Chantilly holds a degree in Creative
Writing/English Literature from the University of California at Riverside. Now
living in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, three kids and three crazy
cats, she is a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and several local and
online chapters. She serves as Membership Chair for the Evergreen RWA Chapter
in Everett, Washington.
Chantilly writes romance in a variety of subgenres. She is
currently trying her hand at shorter works, and spicing them up quite a lot.
She's finding the results. . . stimulating, and hopes her readers will happily
agree.
Pearls of Passion
and Pearls of Wisdom, both short
stories, are available now. Her third title, Pearls of Pleasure, a novella, will be available mid-September,
2012, to be followed in short order by Remember
Me and Captivated. Look for them
on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and anywhere e-books are sold.
To learn more about Chantilly, please visit her
website at www.ChantillyWhite.com
