Anny's Books: Blog Tour TouchStone for giving by Sydney Jamesson

The Story of Us Trilogy Continues … Elizabeth Parker has been found … Like a falling star she has come down to earth, landing painfully on the debris of a broken dream. What she thought of as love now seems no more than a wish left unfulfilled. Her future lies in the hands of two powerfully possessive men; each desiring her to the point of insanity. Flawless media mogul Ayden Stone oversees her voyage of sexual awakening, introducing her to new experiences and a secret world behind locked doors, away from prying eyes. But … is he Prince Charming or merely the great pretender? With a fighter’s instinct, Dan Rizler continues to box clever; taking his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. He will have his Princess one way or another. Into this twisted triangle enters Elise Richards; a woman with a past and a passion for revenge: hell hath no fury like Miss. Richards. This is a modern fairy tale full of romance, secrets and suspense. Elizabeth Parker is about to be caught, held fast by the hand of Fate; but will she be caught out or caught up in an affair of the heart, body and soul? When nothing else matters … you have to do or die.

He concludes our moment of quiet serenity with a smile. “Let’s get you in this bath before it gets cold. Lift up.” I lean over him, resting my weight on his shoulders and he pulls down my panties. I have to resist the temptation to spread my legs; I’m saturated and sticking to the toilet seat, aching for his touch. From the way I’m breathing, it’s quite apparent, there’s no disguising it. He’s been listening to my body since day one and is fluent in the language of sexual arousal.

I have to speak. “You smell like you and sex, it’s a powerful aphrodisiac, Ayden.” He pretends not to have heard. Does he want me to beg? Because I will. There’s no shame in desire, not when the focus of my desire is standing naked before me and looking like this.

Once I am seated, he lifts up my legs in turn to inspect my feet. “The cuts were only superficial and they’re healing.” He glances back at me. “But you won’t be doing any dancing for a while.” I smile back, too busy looking at his perfect body to construct a sentence. “You gave me quite a scare. When Lester said you were bleeding, I thought you’d ruptured something, internally…”

I can’t remain silent any longer, I have to engage before he becomes morose again. “Or I could have started my period with the shock. I’m due this week.”

There, that’s made light of the ordeal.

He’s surprised. “Of course, there’s that, but that was unlikely to cross my mind under the circumstances.” He brushes back my hair. “When you’re up to it we’ll go somewhere, take a trip. Put it all behind us. Up!” He lifts me into the bubble bath, bottom first.

“Ouch! It’s hot.”

“Too hot?” He lifts me out.

“No, just right. Take it slowly. Don’t want to burn my derrière on top of everything else.” I watch him roll his eyes, making me laugh. The bubbles part and then come together to swallow me up until only my head is visible. “Aren’t you joining me?”

“Not today.” He looks anywhere but at me and, on his knees, busies himself applying expensive body wash to a flannel. “Hands.”

I lift up my right hand obediently. “What about your mistress? Won’t she feel neglected again if you go off somewhere with me?”

He’s nodding no. “Leave her to me – I can handle her. Hand.”

I swap hands. “The way you handle me?”

His broad smile tells me we’re in for some fun. “Oh, no, you’re much more trouble. You can be a very bad girl sometimes. Lean forward.”

My chin hits the bubbles. “Does that mean you still want to take me in hand?”

“Always.” He has opened the flannel and is skimming it against my bruised back with so much gentleness; it’s more like a whisper than a stroke.

“Tell me …”

“No, not now. Didn’t you get the email? I said I wanted to take care of you. Can’t you just sit back and let me?” He places his hand under my hairline and inches me backwards.

“I suppose so but just because I’m being good, doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about doing naughty things with you.”

“Beth.” He gives me a stern look. “You’re only making things worse for yourself. We’ve got plenty of time for that. I want you to get better and I won’t settle until that fucking arsehole is caught or killed.”

Killed …

TouchStone for giving: my Dream Cast …

Firstly, let me say thank you for inviting me to share my day dreams with you. Initially I thought this would be a difficult task but, in actual fact, it’s been more fun discussing this topic with my friends and my readers than I thought it would be. Everyone has their opinion, it seems. But, right now, only mine counts. Ha!

So, here goes …

the leading man has to be Henry Cavill for obvious reasons, not least of all for the fact that Ayden Stone is based on him; the way he looks, behaves and even speaks. If you’re a fan of Mr. C, then you’ll smile every time he raises a brow or massages that cute dimple in his chin or speaks with that boyish playfulness that touches your heart. If that wasn’t enough, then his smile will bowl you over and when he kisses, well …You’ll have to find that out for yourself.

Elizabeth Parker has been Mischa Barton from day one. She is naturally intelligent and beautiful in an understated kind of way. She has a quiet dignity about her and a wicked sense of humour that she has kept under wraps for years. Ayden affects her on so many levels: emotionally, psychologically and viscerally. As she declares on their first date,

I inhale deeply and breathe him in. "’I ... I’m nervous around you because you’re so handsome and I’m not used to being around men like you." I pause timidly, unsure of myself. “You’re very charismatic and the things you say to me and the way you look at me is intense." I’m losing my nerve. "Y ... you make me sweat and I imagine doing things with you, but I know I can’t have you, and that makes me think you’re being cruel by playing a game I have no hope of winning. That’s how I feel." There, I said it.

Another male character who makes his presence felt is Ayden’s sparring partner, in and out of the boxing ring, Jake Harrison. He and Ayden go way back and like Ayden he’s 32, handsome, ambitious and used to getting what he wants. He differs from Ayden in that he still has that playboy mentality, is flirtatious and happy to play the field. He is happy to remain in Ayden’s shadow, for now. Who better than Greg Vaughan? He’s just the right side of sexiness and savvy to pull it off.

The next member of this cast is Dan Rizler, a former boxer with a chip on his shoulder the size of Manhattan Island. He’s 39 and ruggedly handsome; made grotesque only by his depraved thoughts. He has an obsessive love for precious Miss Parker that is neurotic in nature and terrifying in the extreme. His tormented soul reaches out to her with merciless hands: he must have her. Who better than Gerard Butler to play the part of this ferocious fiend? He has the body for it, and could conjure up the craziness to portray him.

Then there’s Elise Richards. Hell Hath no fury like a woman scorned … they say. She is the proverbial biatch. She is 30, with blond hair and a fuller figure. She’s striking in a no frills kind of way and intensely driven by ambition and revenge. Wouldn’t Elisha Cuthbert be perfect, with a few extra pounds added for effect? She could play the crazy ex to a T.

No story would be complete without the loyal best friend. Charlie Miller, is just that. She is described as an, “urban firecracker,” who works hard and plays hard. She always makes an entrance and leaves a trail of destruction in her wake, much like a whirlwind. She is fiercely protective of Beth and less than enamoured by Ayden, who considers her a little brash for his taste. With fiery red hair she is a force of nature; all fire and no smoke. It has to be Emma Stone.

Last, but by no mean least, comes Alenka. She’s a striking auburn haired siren of almost six foot who spend more time on the catwalk than the sidewalk. She is strikingly beautiful and of eastern European descent which makes her exotic and alluring in every sense. She’s Beth’s counterpart and a former lover of Ayden’s. Her Theology Degree only serves to intensity her appeal: she has brains and beauty and is so self-assured Beth considers an act of violence, “She’s smiling so sweetly, I honestly think I may have to hit her over the head with a blunt instrument before I leave. Just to satisfy my need to knock that smug smile off her face.” It has to be Gisele Bundchen.

So, there you have it, my dream cast. Now all I have to do is contact a film agent … Ha!

So who’s Sydney Jamesson? Seldom does a writer appear out of the mist, fully formed and equipped to introduce the world to their ‘perfect’ prose. More often than not it has taken years and, in the case of Sydney Jamesson, decades to come to the point where she can say: “I’m ready. This is it, I’m done!” Now is that time. She has always scribbled things down; in her home is one enormous waste paper basket full of discarded phrases, opening lines and pieces of dialogue that have hit her like lightening in the middle of the night or whilst parked up at a set of traffic lights. She has worked in Insurance, Fashion and in advertising as a Copywriter and Commercial Journalist and loved every minute of it. For the past 15 years she has been an English Teacher. But, for as long as she can remember, she has lived with The Story of Us in her head. The fact Elizabeth Parker is an English teacher should come as no surprise: novelists write, initially, about what they know … Yet, she confesses, Elizabeth is not her but rather that young, sensitive and naïve woman we all were or still are. So that’s her, furiously typing away until the early hours, creating an epic tale that covers an 18 month period; taking three novels to unveil the intricacies of a 21st century fairy tale.