Prince Hafiz's Only Vice

Prince Hafiz’s Only Vice

by Susanna Carr

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

What a royal wants…

Prince Hafiz devotes his days to his people and his nights to indulging his desires with his stunning American mistress, Lacey Maxwell. But duty requires him to marry a "suitable" bride.

In her deepest secret fantasies, Lacey naively hopes to one day wear Hafiz's ring, until her dreams are shattered and he chooses someone else.

Faced with the reality of a passionless union, Hafiz realizes the years spent with Lacey have done nothing to slake his hunger for her. Instead he's determined to turn his only vice into a virtue for the sake of his country…and each other!

EXCERPT:

"I will miss you, Hafiz," she said brokenly as her throat closed up. The tears she thought couldn’t happen beaded on her eyelashes.

Hafiz let out a shuddering breath. He swept his fingertip against the corner of her eye, taking her tears with him. The moisture clung to his knuckle, and he rubbed it into his skin with his thumb, silently sharing her agony.

The image took a chink out of her hard-earned resolve. Lacey wrapped her arms around her stomach before she crumbled altogether. "I had so many questions to ask you, and now I can't remember what they were." All except for one that danced on her tongue. "Did you ever love me?"

Silence throbbed in the air.

Lacey blinked at the question that had tumbled from her mouth. Of all the things to ask, her mind screamed.

Hafiz went unnaturally still.

"I don't know why I asked." She shrugged as her pain intensified. "Please, don't answer that."

The words were ripped from deep within her. She desperately wanted to know the answer. She never questioned it before, but she had been living in a fantasy.

Lacey had always felt Hafiz loved her. It was in his touch, in his eyes, and in his smile. But he never said the words, even when she chanted her declaration of love in the height of ecstasy.

It was too late to find out. If he didn't love her, she would never recover. If he did love her, then she would never let go. Even if he was married, even if he kept her hidden. And she couldn't let that happen.

A Word From the Author

In my latest romance novel, PRINCE HAFIZ'S ONLY VICE, the hero is unable to be with the woman he loves because he must enter an arranged marriage. When Elaine invited me to write a guest post here on her blog, she had asked if I thought arranged marriages work.

The short answer is yes.

While attending college, I worked at the foreign student office and got to know a lot of undergrads and grad students who were from other countries, religions and cultures. Many of them were either in or getting ready to enter arranged marriages. It was their way of life and the only thing they found strange was the bewilderment Americans had about a marriage process that had been around for centuries.

That didn't mean these men and women approached the life-changing moment with nonchalance. Far from it! Some would break out into hives at the mention of a wedding while others were eager to reach this point of their lives. A few went through an arduous task to find a spouse that sent them around the world. However, I had one friend (who had broken up from a decade-long love match) agree to marry his bride after meeting her for just an hour.

Over the years I discovered that an arranged marriage had just as much of a chance to be successful as a love match. A lot of it came down to the betrothed understanding what they wanted in life. If someone wasn't ready to marry, or was marrying while having feelings for another, they were going to have a very difficult time. But if the man and woman had shared goals, clearly defined expectations and respect for each other, they could build a foundation for a strong relationship. As long as they were willing to work and make this relationship a priority, whether it was created out of love or by matchmakers, they could find the greatest partner to share their lives. Although there was no guarantee, a deep love or friendship could develop between husband and wife after the marriage.

Of course, it doesn't always work that way. I know of the couple who defied cultural expectations and family demands to have a love match only to break up. There is a man and wife I've known since they were introduced. They reluctantly married and, twenty-five years later, continued to be married with great reluctance. And the man who decided on his bride within the hour? Still together in one of the strongest marriages I have witnessed.

So, yes, I think an arranged marriage has the same chance for success as a love match if the couple is willing to put the work into the relationship.

 Author Info

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Susanna Carr is an award-winning author known for her contemporary romances. Readers throughout the world find Susanna's stories a delightful escape that has often helped them through difficult times. Reviewers frequently describe her work as "fun", "sexy" and "a must read." When she isn't writing or spending time with her family in the Pacific Northwest, Susanna enjoys reading romance and connecting with readers online.

Website: susannacarr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Susanna-Carr/242944799620

Twitter: twitter.com/susannacarr

Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/22371.Susanna_Carr

Buy links:

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Hafizs-Only-Royal-Ruthless-ebook/dp/B00JZFS08U/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prince-hafizs-only-vice-susanna-carr/1119221410?ean=9780373132850

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Susanna_Carr_Prince_Hafiz_s_Only_Vice?id=jGB0AwAAQBAJ

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/prince-hafiz-s-only-vice

Susanna will be awarding a $50 gift certificate to one lucky winner via rafflecopter. Use the link below to enter. You can find her tour schedule at http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/07/virtual-book-tour-prince-hafizs-only.html

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Second Chance Bride

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Trish will be awarding a $20 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. Remember, the more you comment, the better your chances to win.

Scarlett Buck has always been flaky in comparison to her sensible twin sister Tara, so nobody is really surprised when Scarlett spends all her money on a one way ticket to Australia to be with the man she’s met on the Net. But she hasn’t reckoned on the guy already being married, or her mom getting sick, and now she needs money for a flight home to Marietta, MT—quick. Signing on with Bella's Belles in Kalgoorlie isn't be the proudest moment in her life but it will get her home fast. After all, it's just sex.

Or is it?

Mitch Bannister's ex is about to marry his best friend, and he could really do with a cold beer and a hot woman. But the cowgirl he takes a shine to at Bella's is surprisingly skittish, and in the end he leaves without hooking up.

Later, when Mitch spies the cowgirl in the local pub begging for a job, he shrinks into the shadows--he's not looking for complications, and something tells him that Scarlett Buck is a whole handful of them. But soon it's clear she's not just trouble, she's in trouble, and like it or not, he's not about to turn his back on this stray from the States. Especially if she can do him a favor in return. After all, it's just a helping hand.

Or is it?

Now enjoy an excerpt:

They had Chinese food in a restaurant nearby, honey shrimp—except they were called prawns here—and crispy duck with fried rice washed down with an almost local Margaret River white wine. The food was small-town Chinese restaurant good, and Mitch talked about his fly-in fly-out job at the mines, about the fourteen day shifts filled with twelve hour work days and big meals in the mess and maybe a swim before bed and then getting up the next day to do it all over again. Scarlett listened and crunched shrimp tails between her teeth and sucked honey off her fingers and thought that maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea that she’d come to Australia after all, or she would never have known about any of this kind of lifestyle.

Or more importantly, that otherwise she would never have met Mitch. Maybe she should send Travis a thank-you postcard from Broome? She was halfway tempted.

And Mitch watched a woman who could follow his every word and ask questions while eating with gusto and relish and who wasn’t afraid to get her fingers dirty in the process. And he liked it. A lot.

When she licked her fingers clean, he wished she’d offered them to him first.

And then he smacked his lustful thoughts down hard. He was trying to help her out. Offer her a solution to her problems, so that whatever was bothering her would disappear.

At least, that had been his intention.

Now that she was coming with him to Broome he wasn’t so sure of his motives. She was fun. A breath of fresh air into his highly regulated existence. A temporary cowgirl for a short-term problem.

And while sex wasn’t part of their deal, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t welcome it if it happened. He wasn’t looking for commitment but where was the risk? She was going home in a few days. And they were going to be sharing a villa after all. Sure, it was a big villa. Loads of space for two.

Loads and loads of space.

And one really big bed.

USA Today Bestselling Author, Trish Morey has written thirty romances for the internationally bestselling Harlequin Presents line and her stories have been published in more than 25 languages in 40 countries worldwide, including being published in Manga comic book form in Japan, and as Trish Moreyova in the Czech Republic. Trish was awarded Romance Writers of Australia’s Romantic Book of the Year Award (the Ruby) for short, sexy romance In 2006 and again in 2009, as well as being a finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA Awards in 2012.

A qualified Chartered Accountant by trade, Trish was employed as financial manager at a major business school prior to her first sale.

Trish lives with her husband, 4 daughters and assorted menagerie in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.

Author links:
Website: http://www.trishmorey.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trish.morey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoreyTrish

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Trish-Morey/e/B001H6WU8G/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1396183952&sr=8-2-ent

BN Author Page: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/trish-morey

Tule Publishing page: http://tulepublishing.com/product/second-chance-bride/