Guest Author & Giveaway - Jennifer Lynne

Celebrating a special anniversary

Hello and Happy New Year! Thank you to Fierce Romance for having me here today.

When writing my December indie-release, Platinum Passion (Gods of Love #1), I researched wedding anniversary symbols and meanings and found that the earliest references date from the Middle Ages. A silver garland or wreath symbolizing the harmony needed to make a marriage work was given to the wife by the husband on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. On the fiftieth anniversary, a gold garland was given (though with shorter life spans back then this occurred less frequently than silver).

In the Victorian era, this practice became more widespread, and certain materials with specific symbolic meaning became associated with each passing year of marriage. Crystal, for example, became the celebration for fifteen years of marriage.

On a personal note, I remember my parents' fifteenth anniversary – their last together before my father passed away. I was twelve years old and had discovered that this was a "crystal" anniversary, so I saved my pocket money to buy them a pair of crystal goblets, which my mother still has to this day. I am glad that I was able to contribute to their celebration in that way.

Giveaway Question
I would love to hear whether you've ever celebrated a special event or anniversary, and if so, how? I'll be giving away a digital copy of Platinum Passion to one commenter on this post. Leave a comment between now and 18th January 2012, and go in the draw to win.

I hope I can tempt you with a taste of Platinum Passion, an erotic ménage romance novella that focuses on a long term marriage that has gone off track and needs a helping hand from Pothos, the ancient Greek god of sexual yearning. The twentieth wedding anniversary – the one celebrated by Jeannie and Jake in Platinum Passion – was traditionally associated with china, though in recent times the theme has changed to platinum.

Pothos, one of the erotes and an aspect of Eros, brings a platinum night of passion to Jeannie and Jake as a unique twentieth anniversary gift from the gods of love.

Platinum Passion Excerpt:
He tilted his head and studied her. “A good choice. I, too, enjoy the beach. So base, and raw, and elemental. Especially at night, with moonlight silvering the water.” He leaned forward and warm breath tickled the hair near her ear. “Close those gorgeous blue eyes, little one.”

She did as requested, and a moment of dizziness assailed her before she felt fingertips graze her cheek. “Okay to look, now,” he said.

She did so, and gasped when she saw where they were standing. The long, sandy curve of beach near Port Douglas in north eastern Australia was straight out of her imagination. The air felt balmy against her skin, despite the fact that it was the last night of winter. It had been a cold, wet evening in Melbourne, but here, in the warmth of the tropics, her flannel nightie was instantly too much.

She stared wide-eyed at their suddenly exotic setting. The full moon bathed everything in a flattering silver-blue sheen. She bent down and grabbed a handful of sand, wanting to feel the reality of it, letting the still-warm grains leach out between her fingers. The texture in her hands and between her bare toes recalled the delicious memory of her wedding night, Jake’s firm hands caressing her body in eager anticipation, his weight pressing her down into the small sandy depression beneath the palm trees, as their kisses mingled and youthful passion made them forget they were still in a public place, however dark and deserted it might be.

It was the only time they had ever made love on the beach, the night they had both given up their virginity, and it had made her cry with joy afterwards. Jake, she remembered, had caught her tears on the tip of his tongue and then kissed her with salt-flavored tenderness.

“How?” she stuttered. “It’s two thousand miles from Melbourne! Where, I might add, it was freezing.”

He laughed. “The power of the gods is immense. Tonight, this country shifts from winter into spring. And the influence of the erotes is strongest at the changing of the seasons. I plucked this location from your place of yearning. It called to me, that yearning of yours.”

“The influence of the…erotes?” She stumbled over the unfamiliar word. “Just who the heck are you?”

He raised his head proudly. “I am Pothos,” he said, and it was as if the statement vibrated the air around them. All of a sudden he seemed taller, stronger and more otherworldly. He looked like a god of old, shimmering with power, the golden skin alight with moonbeams and his face a study in supremacy as he stared at her down his nose. She felt a frisson of fear touch her heart in tandem with the mounting desire.

If I touch him now, will I self-combust?

Like a moth with a death wish, she stretched out her fingers anyway, ran them over his chest that did indeed feel like satin, and felt the charge of an electrical current coursing through her veins.

Her lips parted and she let out a gasp.

Power. So much power.

But then he shook his head and grinned, and the momentary spell was broken. She dropped her hand and surreptitiously rubbed her still-tingling fingertips.

“I am the one who has been sent to fulfill your fantasies, Jeannie. Yours and Jake’s. This is the night your marriage gets back its passion. Twenty years. It is worth celebrating, and tonight will be my platinum anniversary present to you both.”

He stepped forward and swept her into his muscular embrace, then bent his head so that his lips were only a whisker away from hers. “So”—his breath heated her mouth—“are you ready to begin our celebration of passion?”

Platinum Passion summary:

Three people. One erotic fantasy. And a twentieth wedding anniversary like no other.

Jeannie yearns for the return of passion in her marriage. Jake wants new excitement in the form of another man, in a way that won't upset the balance of his relationship with his wife. Pothos is one of the erotes and an aspect of Eros, the Olympian god of desire. This couple's distinctive yearning has called to him, and by the power of the erotes he intends to rekindle the flame of Jeannie and Jake's passion in a night of desire that could be the ultimate platinum anniversary gift.

And when the gods of love decide your marriage needs a boost, they never do it by halves.

Platinum Passion is the first in a series of stand-alone stories with the erotes as a common theme. The erotes are Pothos, god of sexual yearning, Himeros, god of sexual desire and Anteros, god of requited/unrequited love. All are the children of Aphrodite and aspects of the primal god of desire, Eros.

Platinum Passion (Gods of Love #1: Pothos) is available at:
Amazon | Smashwords | All Romance ebooks

About the author
Jen is a multi-published author who writes sensual and erotic romance from her home in Melbourne, Australia. She lives in hope that readers will continue to enjoy her novella-length tales of love and lust!

Find Jennifer on the web at:
Website/blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads