Welcome one and all to the 12 day preview of Peak and Thrust! Over the next week and a half, we will explore how my eighth novel can bring you a more satisfying roll in the hay. Yes, by following these 12 steps you and your lover can experience more zing in the sack, more va-va-va-boom in that oft-shared shower, more “ooh” in your “ooh-la-la”…

Or this could all be some clever marketing scheme to “peak” (notice smart tie in, please) your interest in my upcoming release? Hmmm. Well, the truth of my motives I leave to you my dear friends. I can promise you that if you do follow along you will be entertained, enlightened and quite possibly emboldened in your day to day life.

How you might ask?  

With every step will come not only a preview of the name of one of Peak and Thrust’s chapters but also a teasing little excerpt to tickle your romantic bone… or your smut bone, whichever you bring to the party.

Along the way, my wry sense of humor will make frequent appearances as I give you all a behind the scenes “peek” at the writing of P&T.

More importantly, however, (at least I hope) are the tiny insights I’ll give you into life with a chronic mental illness.

Whenever you pick up a Chloe Stowe original, you get a little piece of me with it. It may not always be pretty and shiny, but I do hope it is always enlightening. Shining my little penlight into the often over-looked shadows of mental illness may be my reason for being here on this planet. I hope it is and I hope you will all share a little of your light with those still lost in their mind’s dark.

Then, of course, there’s the sex… or the step to better sex, I should say. (Sorry but the budget didn’t really allow for passing out condoms to all comers, so there will be no author sanctioned penetration here. However, please feel free to bring your own though to share with the rest of the group. The more condoms the merrier, I always say.)

Anyhow, there will be fun. There will be teasers. There will be uncut gems of hope. All I ask for in return is your patience with my sometimes royally screwed up mind. It may be a bumpy ride folks, but when we’ve got hot guys hungry for some loving bumping along with us then it’s all good, right?

Tomorrow Step One will arrive in your social media outlets and with it a look at the Prologue for my eighth original novel. Until then and to thoroughly whet your appetite for more I give you today the world premiere of the official (at least until my publisher changes it) back-cover blurb for Peak and Thrust


“Happily ever after’s” rarely came to men like these…

 
Joey Ballios was a cop. For ten years his life had been little more than long foot chases through the cold Detroit snow, piles of paperwork on perps who would never be caught, and forty hour shifts that were as thankless as they were heroic.

Laird Fox climbed mountains. His whole life had been dedicated to scaling the unreachable and bringing the unattainable into the novice’s reach. He was a mountain guide in Alaska, a man who spent his days taking strangers to the top of the world, fulfilling their dreams while ignoring his own.

The two men’s lives should never have touched, their worlds never have crossed.

But when three gunshots ring out in a sweltering summer night, some lives are cursed while others are saved…

Joey’s partner is dead, shot in a darkened house that bears a dangerous secret. Running from that night, Joey escapes to Alaska.

There he finds Laird, a man who offers him sweet, scorching sex, a fresh take on life and a heart as scarred and as neglected as Joey’s own.

For five weeks they live for and love each other. But when the long held secrets of the past won’t let Joey go, both men’s futures are put on the line.

Will they surrender to a litany of lies? Or will they rise above them and rescue each other?

 
Sometimes Fate is more than just a whisper in the hot Detroit wind, more than just a wish on a distant Alaskan star.

Sometimes Fate arrives on tragedy’s tail, a post-script that begins with “Once upon a time.”


I hope to see you all tomorrow for Step One. Please bring your friends and your condoms!

Until next time…

Thank you all for reading!

Chloe Stowe

 
Ahhh! Day Two breaks!

            Before we all surrender to the moment and weep, let’s recap a bit, shall we? 

            Day One (yesterday) brought the beginning of the “Twelve Days of Hard Wood, Soft Heart Teasing Your Toes Off Event.” Following a brief overview of what fans, friends and family (I’d like to say hello to my poodle who’s reading over my shoulder) could expect out of each day’s tease, the much anticipated synopsis of my seventh novel for Ravenous Romance was revealed.

In case you missed it, I magnanimously grant you time travel and you can head back to Day One right now. It’s ok. We’ll wait and maybe have some doughnuts while you zip yourself through the Chloe Stowe Wormhole.

A cautionary statement on travel in the CSW: Be careful how far you go back. My eighth grade poem which began with the lines, “There once was a boy / who had no joy / in going to school each day,” might damage brain cells. Just saying.

Now that everyone has rejoined us, shall we get down to business? Yes, I believe I see one hand raised out there in…I think… Kentucky, so Chapter One Tease is a go!...

 
Chapter One: Driven to Extinction

                “Saul Tidewater stood on the rooftop overlooking Las Vegas clinging to his heterosexuality by the skin of his teeth...” (page 1)


Once everyone get’s their breaths back, I’d like to point out that while my copy editor is still working fingers to the bone editing Hard Wood, Soft Heart there may in fact be some changes to the excerpts I’m sneaking to you. Take the page numbers with a grain of salt. They’re just there to give you some generalized marker as to where you are in the book. Wouldn’t want anyone getting lost.

In this case, however, I have it on good authority that this may very well be the opening line to the novel!  I know, I can hardly restrain myself either.

While Day Three percolates and steeps in my brain for tomorrow, I’d like to thank all of you for stopping by. I hope I was able to give you a smile and just maybe a giggle. Please, enjoy some hot chocolate before you go and, heck, grab another doughnut or two. This is all about indulgence anyhow. Why not have a little powdered sugar and sprinkles with our escapism? I won’t tell if you won’t. *smiles*

Until tomorrow…

Chloe Stowe