Love Letters Volume 3: Wicked Whispers

by Ginny Glass, Maggie Wells, Emily Cale, Christina Thacher

Overview

Verbal foreplay goes a long way in these four steamy stories in Love Letters Volume 3: Wicked Whispers.

I Is for Indecent by Christina Thacher
Annie Forrest doesn't think flirtatious Stefan Cox is seriously interested in her—until he starts describing what it will be like when they strip away their inhibitions and their clothes. But do they have anything in common besides their gift for dirty talk?

J Is for Jaded by Maggie Wells
Voice actress Julie Poplin secretly thinks about rocker-turned-sound-engineer Vaughan Hatch when she needs to make passion leap from the page while narrating a steamy audio book. But their recording session takes a seductive turn when she accidentally speaks Vaughan's name instead of the hero's…

K Is for Kick-Start by Ginny Glass
Author Sophie Maddox has a bad case of writer's block and a distractingly handsome editor clamoring for her newest sexy romance. She's tempted by Oliver's offer to use his place to write—and even more tempted to act out scenes when a typo reveals she's been using him as inspiration.

L Is for Lessons by Emily Cale
When Chloe turns to her friend Bethany for help earning some extra cash, she's shocked to discover that Bethany is a phone sex operator…and is intrigued by her offer to teach Chloe the ropes. But neither of them is prepared for the unexpected desire their lesson unleashes.

40,000 words

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426895623
Publisher:	Carina Press
Publication date:	06/17/2013
Series:	The Love Letters , #3
Sold by:	HARLEQUIN
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
File size:	237 KB

About the Author

By day, Margaret Ethridge is buried in spreadsheets. At night, Maggie Wells pens tales of people tangling up the sheets. The product of a charming rogue and a shameless flirt, you only have to scratch the surface of this mild-mannered married lady to find a naughty streak a mile wide. Maggie has a passion for college football, processed cheese foods, and happy endings. Not necessarily in that order.

Read an Excerpt

"Are these your wedding pictures?" Annie asked, lifting a gorgeous sculpted velvet album off the bookshelf.

Yolanda set the tea tray on the coffee table, then looked over. "Mmm-hmm."

"May I look?"

Yolanda laughed—a husky chuckle that sounded like it should come out of a six-foot-tall dominatrix, not the tiny woman passing Annie a plate of miniature tarts. "If you wish. Don and I hired an artiste, don't you know, so almost all the formal photos are backlit or shot from some crazy angle. Luckily, our friend Tony had his camera with him. Most of what's in there is by him."

Annie ignored her tea as she turned the pages. "I see what you mean," she murmured as she flipped quickly through arty shots so pretentious and blurry she recognized Yolanda only by the large expanse of white gown. Halfway along, the photos started to show sun-filled historic architecture and people who actually had faces.

"The venue is gorgeous," Annie said, turning the pages more slowly. "Where is this?"

"The Lyman Estate in Waltham. Don's family is all in the Boston area, and we loved the venue."

"Ooh..." Annie pointed to one guest. "Who's this?"

Yolanda leaned over to check. "Stefan Cox? He's Don's boss."

Seriously? An architect could look like that? Somehow it seemed too plebeian a profession for a man who'd apparently left Mount Olympus to join the wedding party. Curly black hair, eyes so light Annie couldn't stop staring at them, and a gorgeous skin tone. Tanned?

"I thought you got married on New Year's Eve," she said.

"We did. Why?"

"Don's boss looks so tanned."

Yolanda glanced at the photo. "Oh, no, that's his normal skin tone. Multiracial background, I think. Don says Stefan's parents are quite colorful in their own right. His mother's Italian-Swedish, I believe, and his father is English but with ancestors from the Caribbean."

Annie raced through the rest of the photos, looking for the luscious Stefan in all the group shots. She sighed as she closed the album.

"He's single," Yolanda said. Her knowing smile widened when Annie's eyebrows shot up.

"You're kidding. He's gorgeous."

Yolanda shrugged. "Gorgeous but picky, I gather. Don says Stefan won't date anyone in the office, won't date their clients, suppliers or pretty much anyone else. I think he'd like you, though," Yolanda said, giving Annie a once-over.

"Me?" She was pretty, but Stefan Cox was in a class by himself.

"You. He likes your work."

"How—I mean, when did he see my work?" She'd been one of Yolanda's jewelry designers for barely eight months. A few of Annie's pieces were on display at the store, but they weren't labeled as hers specifically.

"I wore your black keshi pearl earrings to the firm's Christmas party. Stefan remarked on them." Yolanda collected shortbread crumbs with the pad of her pinkie. "I explained that you'd graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and had your choice of employers. He wants to meet you."

Annie sipped her tea to mask her interest in meeting Stefan Cox. It wasn't like her to lust after a man based solely on his looks, but could it hurt to be introduced? Just to see if he was as stunning in person, of course.

"Okay, but it can't be an obvious hook-up," she said. "Maybe I can run into you guys someplace."

"Darling, absolutely not. I'll throw a dinner party." Yolanda looked smug, as though she'd already planned the menu and made out the seating chart.

Editorial Reviews

The “Love Letters” anthologies continue with novellas focusing on verbal foreplay. In Thacher’s “I Is for Indecent,” a jewelry designer meets a sexy business mogul whose interest in her designs and her natural curves draws her into his sexual fantasy fueled by words. An audiobook narrator accidentally names her sound engineer as the hero of the book during a private recording session, which leads to sound effects of a different kind in Maggie Wells’s “J Is for Jaded.” Ginny Glass’s “K Is for Kick-Start” features an author with writer’s block who discovers that the key to rejuvenating her sex scenes is to discuss them with her editor, the inspiration for those scenes. And in Emily Cale’s “L Is for Lessons,” a woman turns to her female best friend for help in learning the phone sex trade and is turned on by her teacher.

Verdict These erotic adventures focus on brief encounters and may not appeal to readers seeking a romance or relationship in the content. But for those wanting a quick read or a bit of titillation, these anthologies fill the bill. Recommended for libraries where the first two “Love Letters” anthologies—Obeying Desire (2013) and Duty To Please (2013)—are popular.—Melanie C. Duncan, Shurling Lib., Macon, GA
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