Firsthand Research an Erotic Romance by Anna Denisch ➱ New Book Release Tour with Guest Post & Rafflecopter
Firsthand Research
by Anna Denisch
Genre: Erotic Romance
A
sweet and sensual friends-to-lovers erotic romance about finding
self-love, overcoming childhood traumas, and learning to go after the
future you want in this world.
They
say you should write what you know, but popular romance novelist
Alice has never had a problem writing about love when she herself has
always been single. Yet her newest writing venture, an erotic
romance, is proving to be more challenging than she expected.
Enter
Tony, the ‘playboy’ grandson of her publisher. After being kicked
out ‘for his own good’, Tony’s looking for a place to stay and
a job where he can prove himself. And what better use of his skills
is there than helping Alice as her erotica research assistance?
In
an exchange that works in both of their favors, Tony agrees to work
as Alice’s writing assistant and Alice agrees not to tell his
grandmother what he’s up to. But once Tony gets a real job at a
rival publishing firm, his grandmother’s response threatens their
newfound peace. If they want to preserve their futures, Tony and
Alice have to come to terms with their feelings, both for each other
and themselves.
A
true learning to love yourself story where
friends-turned-lovers-turned-romantic partners find their own peace
in a world that’s designed to tear them down.
Excerpt One:
“What about that
dress off to the side?” Tony asked. He craned his neck to see it better.
“Oh, no,” Alice
said. She stepped over, blocking Tony’s vision with her body. “I couldn’t. It,
er, it doesn’t fit.”
“Then why did you
bring it?”
Alice chuckled that
nervous chuckle of hers and turned around, closing herself back in the closet
as she changed once again. Tony checked his watch, glad they had started this
an hour before their reservation. She never answered his question.
“Alright, it’s
either this or I’m wearing jeans.”
Alice emerged
again. This time she sported a blue button up shirt laying gently over a pair
of tan pants that seemed to have a permanent wrinkle to them. Tony squinted,
looked at the pants, then looked at Alice.
“Jeans it is!” she
declared. She threw her hands in the air in defeat and turned back to the
closet.
Tony jumped up and
raced over, beating her to the door, holding it open. “C’mon,” he said, leaning
over her. “Just try it on.”
“It doesn’t fit,”
Alice insisted. She crossed her arms and challenged him. Tony never was one to
back down from a challenge.
Smiling at her,
Tony reached behind him and felt around for the dress in question. He pulled it
off the rack and held it up to her. So that was the real problem. The dress was
an off-white top, sheen in places where it didn’t count, with slits running
down the sides from the shoulders to the elbows, allowing the perfect peek of
skin to show through. It was attached with a small bow to the skirt of the
dress, a tan and white tartan style that rose to well above the knees. And with
a neckline that swooped down below the collarbone, Tony knew exactly why Alice
didn’t want to wear it.
“Doesn’t fit,”
Alice said again, her voice shy and uncertain.
Tony held the dress
closer to her, tilting his head. “Looks like it would fit to me.”
“Well, looks can be
deceiving.”
Alice snatched the
dress out of his hand and ducked under his arm, stepping into the closet. Tony
frowned and let her close the door. He wandered back to the bed and plopped
down, trying to imagine what Alice would look like in that dress. You’d be able
to see the delicious curve of her thighs, the smooth texture of her skin, the
delicate structure of her neck. She would look divine, especially with a
necklace, gold, draped around her, something like a jewel fitted right between
her breasts.
The door opened and
Alice started to say something, but just kind of squeaked a bit. Tony sat up,
his head spinning. Not because he had sat up too fast, but because the image he
had just made in his head was nothing compared to the reality of it standing
before him.
Alice was beautiful. The dress hugged her curves
in all the right places and left just enough to the imagination. It was,
obviously, something a little outside of her comfort zone, given the way she
was hunched over a bit, arms scrunched forward, fingers picking at the hem of
the skirt. But even in a non-confident pose like that, Alice was an image of
pure beauty.
“See?” she said,
not looking directly at him. “It...it doesn’t fit.”
“What are you
talking about?” Tony asked. He surprised himself with how easily he found he
could talk. “You look…” he struggled to find the right word, sputtering and
mumbling because no word had been invented that described it.
“Awful?” Alice
suggested. “Trying too hard? Not dressing for my body type?”
“Stunning,” Tony offered. It wasn’t the
perfect word, but he wanted her to stop saying such terrible things.
Alice frowned and
turned to look in the mirror that hung on the back of the closet door. “You’re
lying,” she said.
“I’m really not.”
Tony stood behind her, itching to reach out and touch, to place hands on hips,
run fingers over arms, press legs to legs. But he held his hands behind his
back and resisted the urge. He looked at Alice in the mirror as she did.
“You’re beautiful.”
“You’re just saying
that.” Alice relaxed a little, her shoulders no longer hunched, her head held a
little higher. With every bit of confidence, she looked even more amazing in
the dress.
“I’m telling the
truth,” Tony argued. Alice turned around to frown at him. He couldn’t hold it
back anymore, reaching out to gently cup her cheek. “You always look
beautiful.” He dropped his voice to a whisper, feeling an electric heat between
them, like the last time he had helped her pick out an outfit. “But in that…”
he let his gaze wander, drinking in the full sight of her. “...You’re the most
beautiful woman in the world.”
“Is that what you
tell all your dates? It’s a very good line.”
Tony’s attention
snapped back up. Alice was looking down at her feet. Tony had told a lot of men
and women a lot of things. But this one he meant. He moved his hand from
Alice’s cheek to her chin, lifting her head back up.
“This isn’t a
date,” he reminded her. Then he shrugged with a smile. “What reason would I
have to lie?”
Alice pouted a bit
and turned back to the mirror, studying herself. “You-you’re sure?” she asked.
“I... I look okay?”
“Better than okay.
Perfect. Amazing. Wonderful.”
Alice bit her lip
and hummed and hawed for a bit. “Well, I suppose...I suppose I could. I-I have been meaning to wear it
for a while now…”
“You are free to
wear whatever you want,” Tony said, stepping away. “But I meant what I said.”
He held his hands out to her. “Stunning.”
Excerpt
Tony was doing the exact same thing he would be doing if he was out in the living room. But, for some reason, doing it in his bedroom just made it not as fun. Perhaps it was the fact that he couldn’t leave his room. Something about not being able to do things made you want to do them even more.
It also apparently
made you really thirsty. So, Tony wandered out of his room to go get some water
from the kitchen.
“What are you
doing?” Alice hissed, hurrying down the hall to him.
“Getting some
water,” Tony said, gesturing to the glass in his hand. “At least I hope it’s
water.”
“You’re supposed to
stay in your room.”
“Only when Liam’s
here.”
“He is.”
Tony’s eyebrows
rose at the hiss, and then rose further at the sound of a door down the hallway
opening and closing. He probably should have realized the bathroom door had
been closed when he walked past it.
“Hide,” Alice said,
pushing at him.
“Where do you
expect me to go?” Tony asked.
“Here!” Alice
opened one of the tall pantry doors and shoved Tony inside. There wasn’t really
a lot of room, and parts of him refused to be crammed in there, even when he
crouched down to try and fit under some of the shelves.
Alice gasped and
turned, shutting the door on him, inside or not. He whimpered and bit his fist
as his foot, caught in the crossfires, throbbed in pain.
Through the slit
that the half-closed door left, Tony had a front row seat to half of the
kitchen, and half of Alice. And the half that was Alice was the really good
bit. And then the pain in his foot wasn’t the problem anymore.
Tony tried to shift
and adjust, get some pressure either on or off his groin for however long he
would be stuck in there.
“So,” Liam’s voice
said off screen. “Seems like you’re really settling in here.”
“Oh yes,” Alice
said. “It’s quite a lovely little place.”
“I have to say. I’m
a bit surprised you didn’t get frightened and call me.”
Tony rolled his
eyes. Mainly because Alice had gotten frightened. And had smacked Tony in the
face with a bat because of it.
“What can I say. I
guess I’m growing up.” Alice chuckled.
There was a small
moment of pause, giving Tony the time to listen to his own heartbeat as he
tried not to look at Alice’s butt.
“Wouldn’t you like
to sit down?” Liam asked.
“Ah, no.” Alice
chuckled again. “I’ve been sitting down all morning. Could use some stretching
actually.”
And then she did
start to stretch.
Oh, come on,
Tony thought, every part of his body excited by the show being put on before
him.
“You should try
yoga,” Liam said. “It’s good to take a break between writing. At least every
hour.”
Alice stepped to
the side, thankfully no longer stretching. She pushed one leg back against
Tony’s foot, either trying to hide it or shove it back in. And it certainly
wasn’t going to fit in at all. “I’ll be sure to give it a shot.”
“Good. It’s
important to keep your body active, especially since you sit at a desk all
day.”
“Yes, yes,” Alice
said, clearly annoyed. “So you’ve said before.”
“I just want to
make sure you’re staying healthy. Can’t have my baby sister getting sick.”
Tony’s leg spasmed,
his foot kicking out against Alice’s leg. She rebutted by shoving back against
it. He hissed as pain traveled up his calf.
“Is everything
alright?” Liam asked. Tony heard the chair squeak across the floor as Liam
stood up.
“Perfectly,” Alice
said.
“I thought I heard
something.” Liam stepped over, appearing in view through the crack.
Alice shook her
head, hair bouncing beautifully against her neck. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“Really?” Liam
shifted, trying to look past her, but she blocked him with a mirrored move. “It
sounded like a snake. Maybe I should take a look for you.”
“No! That, uh,”
Alice chuckled. “That’s alright. I, I bet you it was just…” she reached behind
her, hand slipping through the crack. She opened and closed it a few times.
Tony startled and looked over the shelves. He found a can of soda and popped it
open, handing it up to Alice. “...a can that opened on its own!”
Liam frowned,
taking the can from Alice, studying it. “You should get rid of the rest. If
one’s defective, they might all be. You could get hurt.”
“I’ll go to the
store tomorrow and get some new ones.”
“I could take you
now,” Liam offered. “Could fit a lot more in the car and wouldn’t have to carry
it all back up.”
Alice hesitated for
a second. “That sounds lovely. I’ll meet you out there, just have to grab my
bag.”
Liam nodded with a
wide smile and turned to leave. Alice waited until the main door closed, then
spun around, pulling Tony out.
“I’m so sorry, are
you okay?”
Tony groaned as he
stretched his limbs back out. “Yeah. I think you may have amputated my foot,
but other than that.”
“Just, keep that
elevated while we’re out, okay? I promise I’ll try to get him to leave soon.”
Tony shrugged. “Ah,
take your time. I won’t be going anywhere anyway.” He pointed to his foot,
laughing so she knew he wasn’t being serious.
She gave him an
apologetic smile. “I really am sorry. Please take good care of it, okay?”
Tony winked at her.
“You’re the boss.”
What are some of your pet peeves?
Okay, honestly my biggest pet peeve is modern adaptations of
Shakespeare plays that still use the old language. I just…I get it,
because the writing is like, half of the deal but like…if you’re gonna
modernize it, MODERNIZE IT
If you knew you'd die tomorrow, how would you spend your
last day?
I am a very stubborn and spiteful person who would 100% spend
my last day trying to prevent it from being my last day. (With the people I
love, of course, just in case).
Describe yourself in 5 words or less!
Stubborn, Spiteful, Storyteller (that’s the title of my
one-day forthcoming autobiography, ya know, once I hit it big and famous)
What inspired you to write this book?
This was a very personal project for me. I kind of wanted to
write the love story I always wanted to live, it just so happens that that
story is apparently a sexy version of a classic Hallmark Romance.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in
Firsthand Research?
Alice is 100% a self-reflection, not even gonna try and hide
that cause anyone who knows me will see it easily. Tony is a conglomerate of
all the guys I’ve had hard-core crushes on (both real and fictional). He’s the
mish-mash of real people that made the perfect love interest. I hope others
find him as loveable as I (and Alice) do. And I really hope he magically
becomes real (next book idea, perhaps?)
I also wouldn’t lie if I said that some of the side
characters weren’t based on some real people I know, both good and bad. Writing
is therapeutic, after all.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I mostly enjoyed being able to share it with my friends as I
was going about the process. Writing can be a very lonely venture, and it’s
hard for me to keep at it without that external validation (I’m working on it,
though). Having my little online community eagerly absorb each chapter, provide
valuable feedback, and keep urging me for more took out a large chunk of that
imposter syndrome.
Anna Denisch was born and raised just outside of Baltimore City, but she has never called it home. When not traveling around the world or daydreaming about dragons, she spends her time looking at books she wants to read without actually touching them. She received her M.F.A in Creative and Professional Writing from Western Connecticut State University and considers daily if she is just insane enough to take her family’s sometime suggestion of getting a PhD.
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I like the blurb. Sounds really good.
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