Music for At the Billionaire's Pleasure: Music that Inspired It.

So today I thought I'd post the song and video of the songs I thought were most apt for At the Billionaire's Pleasure. Music is hugely important to me. I can't write without it. So when I was writing the series these were the two songs I was listening to on repeat.

No. 1. I think this is a David song for me. I don't know why, it's just that when I hear it I automatically think of him.
Lana Del Rey, Born to Die












And No. 2. For me this song evokes more of the characters, Carrie and David. Probably Carrie more than David but it still counts ;)
Florence + the Machine, Cosmic Love

However, this third and final song that I've linked to is the epitome of what the big surprise is all about. I've mentioned this surprise on twitter and on Facebook and now I'm saying it here. I have a big surprise for all of you who enjoyed At the Billionaire's Pleasure. I'm hoping to get it up on the blog early next week or sooner if I can. But it's going to be a little work on my behalf but it's totally worth it. I'm so excited about it! So I will leave you  with the song that inspires the surprise :)
P.S. This song doesn't remind me of either David or Carrie but someone else ;)

Florence + the Machine, No light, No Light

                                                                         







                                                            

50 Shades of Grey, Me and Romance

So it's the one book everyone is talking about... 50 Shades of Grey. I don't particularly have an opinion on the books. I haven't read them yet. I have the first one it's sitting on my desk looking at me right now as I type this...

I know nearly everyone in the world now has an opinion on the books. It's turned into "Marmite" you love it or you hate it. I know a lot of writers enjoy bashing it and I find that to be a little disappointing. Yes everyone is entitled to an opinion but when you're a writer I think a little tact is called for before you call out another writer and tell them how terrible their work is.

But all of that is really beside the point. I admire E.L. James for what she has created. She has certainly done something right in my book to have legions of fans hanging on her every word and dying to know if she will write another book, or who will star in the movie.

For me I want to write love stories that people can fall in love with. I'm a huge fan of romance. I adore the Twilight books even though they have been slated too. But for me it is the love story. The can't eat, can't sleep without having him near feeling. It's about the "need" you feel deep in your soul that if this person went away you'd simply cease to exist. And I know how cliched it sounds but the feeling of complete and perfect happiness you have when he slips his hand into yours and squeezes it gently. That for me is what I love about these types of romances and books. It's the feelings I want to evoke in mine. That beautiful feeling of falling in love. The fear and excitement as you take that final step over the edge hoping and praying that he is there to catch you when you fall...

*Sigh* I'm having a ramble now :) I get a little lost sometimes in my own thoughts.

But coming back to my original idea. Love them or hate them 50 Shades has created something and the romantic in me is dying to find out what it is. On my search through the internet I came across a fan made trailer. I have developed a slight obsession with it now and I've watched it quite a bit. But I really like it. It gives me tingles when I watch it and I don't know why. So I want to share it with you...

Have a wonderful day,

Millie

Excerpt: Plus Size Model 4: Love Revealed

Just a quick taster of the beginning of Plus Size Model 4: Love Revealed to whet the appetite before I release it :) I'm hoping to have it out by the end of this week...

Plus Size Model 4: Love Revealed

The smell of sweat and blood mingling together drifted up Erica's nose. She coughed and a metallic taste flooded her mouth making her cringe. Slowly she opened her eyes and squinted hard at her surroundings. Wherever she was she certainly didn't recognise it.

She closed her eyes again and tried to reign in the pain that throbbed inside her head. To her it felt as though someone had hit her with a brick. Slowly a memory came back to her, the man on the path who had slapped her. His hand had certainly been large enough to qualify to be a brick.

She whimpered as she moved her head forward as she tried to pull her body into an upright position. Being slumped on the small chair was far from comfortable. She quickly realised that she was tied to the chair, the ropes were rough and bit into her soft skin with each wriggle she made.

"Jared..." She whimpered his name. Another memory slapped her in the face. The sight of him on the ground bleeding and unmoving as she screamed his name. Jared was strong but he was no match for a surprise attack from several burly guys intent on doing him harm.

Tears trailed down Erica's cheeks as her mind filled with panicked thoughts. What if she never saw him again? What if he was still lying there on the ground right now, hurt or bleeding... Or worse... The thought popped into her head and Erica immediately tried to dismiss it. He couldn't be dead. She would feel it... Or was that something that only happened in the movies?

Opening her eyes once more she stared at her surroundings. The dirty cement floor felt cold beneath her feet. And the smell of chemicals and dirt made her want to gag. If she was right then she guessed that she was in the back office of some sort of warehouse. The desk in the corner piled high with grubby stacks of paper confirmed her thoughts. That and the hammering coming from the main warehouse area...

The door opened and a tall man stepped through the opening. His face was covered in dirt and Erica could see the trails of sweat that glistened on his skin. He seemed surprised to see her awake and hurried over to her. He held a clear glass of water in his hand and Erica longed to taste it. Her mouth felt as though a family of furry animals had taken up residence in there.

"Please let me go." Erica pleaded, her voice was hoarse and cracked and made her cough.

The man crouched down beside her, the look he gave her seemed to be filled with pity but it was also quickly swallowed by something else. Fear trembled in Erica's gut making her shake. She had seen that look once before. It was the look Rick had given her before he had pounced on her...

He trailed one grubby finger down along her neck to where the strap of her dress hung broken and useless. "Pretty lady..." His voice was low as he uttered the words and slowly began to move his hand lower.

"Please don't." Erica pleaded as she wriggled in the chair to move away from him.

"If you want the water you'll stay quiet and let me play..." He taunted her by holding the glass up to her face and letting a few small drops trickle down onto her chin.

Although she was thirsty there was no way Erica was going to willingly allow this monster to touch her. Pulling away from him she turned her face and shrugged away his touch on her shoulder.

With a growl he grabbed her chin roughly and tilted her head back to look at him. "I can make things very difficult for you here or I can make them nice. It's your choice but I'll do what I want whether you agree or not..." He lowered his face towards Erica's and she spat at him.

He recoiled away from her and a look of pure anger crossed his grubby features. "You'll be sorry for that bitch. I hope you're a screamer." He drew back with his hand and slapped Erica full into the face.

Her head snapped back and pain exploded inside her cheek. The metallic taste flooded her mouth once more and she let out a strangled cry as the man grabbed at her.

The door burst open and another man exploded into the room. "The police are coming! The boss said the police are coming! We have to clear out."

The man who had hit Erica stood back from her and turned to the newcomer. "Are they here, or how far off are they?"

Erica let her head loll forward in an attempt to stop the pain from increasing. Even the light in the room was making her eyes ache. The new pain that was slowly spreading a burning pain down across her jaw and neck wasn't helping.

The sound of sirens filled the air and Erica's abuser turned his greedy eyes to her. "Help me get her up, we need to go."

The new guy shook his head and looked at Erica with sorrow. "No time. Boss said to kill her and get out."

The sound of sirens drew closer and Erica's heart thundered in her chest. How could she be so close to salvation and yet so far? It didn't make sense and it wasn't fair.

"What?" The other man sounded incredulous and shot Erica a look of desperation. "But it's a waste. Couldn't he have left her to us if that was the case?" With an angry sigh he stormed from the room. "Kill her." He threw his orders back over his shoulder to the other man still standing in the room.

A look of panic and fear crossed the newcomers face. "This isn't what I signed up for..." He grabbed a knife from the top of a barrel and slowly crossed the floor to where Erica sat. Pain was making her brain hazy and the more she tried to focus on the man approaching her the harder it became.

Bright flashes of orange exploded beyond the glass of the office window and Erica winced. She didn't want to die and she struggled against her bonds but it was useless, she was tied tight and there was no escaping them.

Her captor stood before her as the heat of the fire outside in the main warehouse began to filter into the small office. It made the beads of sweat on his face stand out even more.

"Please don't..." Erica pleaded. He eyes were beginning to sting with the smoke that drifted through the air.

"The smoke will get you anyway... I didn't sign up to kill people..." The look of fear on his face gave Erica hope. He flung the knife on the ground and ran from the room. His feet pounding over the hard cement.

At the Billionaire's Pleasure 5: Anything for Love is now LIVE!

I'm thrilled to announce that finally book 5 is Live and for sale on Amazon and Smashwords.

Carrie wakes to find herself in the hospital. Robert's attack failed but it has left her weakened. David has remained by her side throughout and it gives Carrie hope that his feelings might be as strong as her own.

When Robert pays her a surprise visit in the hospital, he promises to exact his revenge but this time it will be even more warped and twisted than before. Robert vows to take Carrie from David forever. He wants David to feel the crushing guilt of failure and loss. He wants David to know that there is nothing he can do to save his beloved.

David is distraught but Carrie refuses to believe that Robert will succeed. When David whisks her away to his parents' estate, she discovers that David has scars that run deep enough to score his very soul.

Will they be able to declare their love for one another? Or will Robert's twisted plan to take the one person that David truly loves come full circle? 

If you held the one you love in your arms, would you do anything to keep them safe? Would you do anything for love?

The climactic finale to the bestselling series.

Adult 18+

Excerpt: At the Billionaire's Pleasure 5: Anything for Love

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting part 5 in At the Billionaire's Pleasure series. Well I can tell you that I will be releasing it the end of this week. For some reason writing this part of the story has been really hard. I think I'm reluctant to let the characters go. Carrie and David have meant a great deal to me. I've loved writing about them, I'll be honest and say that I have on occasion dreamt about them. Maybe that sounds silly but it's true. They are very real to me. I think I've probably put parts of myself into the character of Carrie as I was writing her. So that now when it comes to writing difficult things I feel for her, I want to protect her. But the one thing that has made it easy is knowing deep down the characters are made for each other. And that no matter how difficult things might get or how much time passes they will find a way back to each other... And that is what I'm giving you here in this excerpt. Many worried I had killed Carrie. But I honestly couldn't break David's heart like that, I don't think it is something he could recover from. The guilt alone would be crippling.

So without further ado I present to you the opening scene from book 5 in which Carrie finds her way back to David.

At the Billionaire's Pleasure 5: Anything for Love

The sound of beeping slowly roused me. My eyes felt heavy as though they were weighed down with lead. The second I opened my eyes I instantly regretted it. Everything about the room was far too bright. The white walls and bedsheets seemed to create a glare that made the pounding in my head so much more pronounced.

Someone groaned. It wasn't until I felt a hand grip mine tightly that I realised it was me making the small, groaning, whimpering noises. I sounded pathetic, like a wounded animal.

I opened my eyes again and this time I tried to keep them open. I wanted to be awake... It was the reason I had fought so hard to survive in the first place. I wanted to be awake for the person gripping my hand so tightly I was sure it would be covered in bruises.

"David..." The word came out on a half choked hoarse sob.

His face came into view above me. The concern and anguish that filled his eyes hurt my heart. I didn't want to see him so upset. He shouldn't have been so worried... Part of me wondered why he would be so worried... It didn't make any sense...

He ran his free hand down against the side of my face, cupping my cheek. It was such a tender gesture that I couldn't stop the tears from trickling from my eyes. I opened my mouth again but my throat ached and the words refused to form properly. I was so confused...

I tried to sit up and the world spun in sickening circles. Bright white lights exploded behind my eyes making me wince and forcing me to give up my attempt to sit up straight.

"Don't move, I'll get a nurse." He moved to release his grip on my hand. Panic flooded through me. I wasn't sure why but the last thing I wanted was for David to leave my side.

With a strangled sob of fear I grabbed at his arm and jacket. My fingers digging into his hard forearm leaving me feeling reassured. He was real. He wasn't just one of my dreams. I'd had plenty of them. Terrifying dark dreams filled with terror and pain. David had been my anchor but he had always disappeared just when I needed him most. He couldn't save me if he was a dream. But here in the white room he was very real.

"It's alright, Carrie, I'm just going to get a nurse to look at you. You've been out for three days. They were worried about your head trauma."

"Don't leave me, please..." The words finally left my tongue. The feel of the scalding tears running down my face made me feel alive. Everything did. Pain was both a blessing and a curse.

The door opened up and David turned relieved eyes to whoever had entered. "Aaron, she's awake. Can you get the nurse?"

"Of course." Aaron's tired voice met my ears. I tried again to sit up. The pain this time was a little less and I managed to push my body into an upright position. David spent his time moving the pillows around trying to find an optimum position for them. Even though I was weak I could tell he was nervous about something... But what it was I didn't know.

"What happened?" I asked when he had finally finished fixing the pillows behind me. My voice sounded coarse, as though I had spent days singing and shouting at the top of my lungs.

"You were attacked..." David's voice trailed off as he caught sight of my confused expression.

Attacked. It didn't sound familiar. I knew something had happened. David's mention of the word nurse and the injury he had spoken of let me know I was in hospital. But why? I had no idea. All I was certain of was that I didn't want to be left on my own. And I certainly didn't want David to leave my side.

"You don't remember?" He asked, his expression once again filled with concern. I wanted to brush the look from his face and tell him that everything would be alright. But I didn't know how. If I couldn't remember being attacked then how could I reassure him that everything would be fine?

The door banged open and I jumped, it made my head ache even more. Sudden movements were no good.

"You shouldn't be sitting up, Miss Grant." The nurse's business-like tone made me smile. She turned on David. "How long has she been awake?"

"Just a few minutes. She has just woken up. She doesn't remember anything."

The nurse turned back to me. "Where do you have pain?"

"My head and my throat and neck." I tried to lift my hand but my body felt tired as though I had run a marathon.

"That's to be expected. I'll get you some more pain relief and then I need you to get some rest." She checked the machine beside the bed before once more leaving.

"You gave us all quite a scare, Carrie." Aaron's voice broke through my thoughts and I turned to look at him.

"I didn't mean to..."

He grinned and sat in the chair near the bed. "This one hasn't slept since it happened. I've been trying to tell him that he needs to rest but he wouldn't listen."

I glanced over at David as Aaron spoke. For the first time I noticed that it wasn't just concern that was etched into his features. He looked exhausted. Where normally his clothes were immaculate the ones he wore were crumpled and ruined. They looked as though he had slept in them and judging from the tiredness on his face he probably had.

"Where have you been sleeping?" I asked him.

"It doesn't matter..."

Aaron's voice cut across David's dismissal. "He's been sleeping here. On the sofa under the window. Refused to leave your side."

David shot Aaron a dirty look shutting him up. The other man shrugged and closed his eyes, settling back against the chair he sat in.

"Take no notice of Aaron. I just did what I had to do... This is my fault..."

"David, I'm a little hazy on what actually happened, but what I am sure of is that none of this was your fault. You didn't do this to me."

"I may as well have..."

I tried to shake my head but the movement caused me to whimper and close my eyes until the pain subsided. The nurse hurried back into the room, she pushed a small trolley in front of her. On it I could see several vials and small sealed packages. Seeing the look of pain on my face she began immediately ripping open little packages and pulled a small vial from the collection. I watched through a fog of pain as she prepped the needle and injected the clear fluid into the saline drip that was suspended above me.

"You need to rest."

"I don't really, I'm fine..." The moment the clear fluid passed down the line and into my arm I felt its effects. It washed over me, chasing the pain away in front of it like the crashing wave on the shore. Something tugged at my memory. Something about the beach and the water.

Without thinking I reached up and took David's hand. He jumped and looked at me startled. He was used to initiating the contact. The fact that I had took his hand in mine spoke volumes. It was like a reassurance, he knew I didn't blame him. I never could. This wasn't his fault...

The nurse watched me for a few minutes more. She checked the machines beside the bed before turning back to me. "Does that feel better?" She asked.

"Yeah..." My voice was groggy and drugged. "I don't want to sleep though... I want to be awake..." Panic threatened to grip me and I held onto David's hand a little tighter.

He pressed his hand to my forehead and smoothed my hair back. "Sssh, I'll still be here when you wake..."

I smiled weakly and nodded before closing my eyes and letting myself drift away on the haze of drugs. The sound of David's voice tugged at me, I tried to stay awake to hear what he had to say but it was coming from very far away.

"They haven't picked him up yet."

"They will, David. Relax. He won't be back. What he did to Carrie was the last ditch attempt of a very desperate man."

"But I'd feel so much better if they had him in custody... Not knowing where he is, Aaron... What if..."

"He won't. stop thinking like that. She's safe. Just be glad you got there on time..."

"Aaron, if he had succeeded I don't think I could ever forgive myself... It's made me wonder if Carrie wouldn't be better off without me in her life. If I had left her alone none of this would have happened. Life would be normal..."

I stirred then. David's words penetrating the haze that filled my head with cotton wool. I wanted him to know that I was glad he hadn't left me alone. That without him in my life I would be a shell.

"We shouldn't be discussing this in here. We should take it out into the hall..."

I tried to open my mouth to call David back. I didn't want to be left on my own. The sound of the door closing let me know I was alone. With a sigh I let the medication take me. Rest was the only way to get back on my feet. I needed to be better so I could show David just how much he meant to me. There was no way I was letting him go now that I had found him.

***