Romancing The Coast – Box set
Includes: Seeing Ronnie, Holding Cynthia, and Trusting Ingrid
by Libby Campbell
Three wilful, sassy women meet their matches when sexy alpha men decide it’s time someone taught them a little respect.
Blurb (the box set):
In the beautiful Pacific Northwest, three feisty women are living happy lives of financial independence and social autonomy.
None of them are aware of the storms gathering on the edges of their orderly worlds, about to challenge everything they thought they wanted from life.
The winds of change arrive in the shape of three sexy alpha men.
These men shun political correctness as they seek to challenge, conquer, protect, and possess the strong gorgeous women who intimidate mere mortals.
Blurb by book:
Seeing Ronnie:
Aloof and beautiful, society blogger Ronnie Flynn only agrees to go out with Del Franklin because he has an invitation to the biggest social event of the year. But it means spending a weekend with him on gorgeous Seguro Island. Before that weekend is over, Ronnie is in deeper than she ever imagined possible. Enthralled by her beauty and intelligence but less impressed with her snark, Del decides the only thing she needs to make her a good partner is a lesson in manners. That’s a lesson he’s happy to deliver, as often as she needs it.
Holding Cynthia:
Cynthia is about to move to the West Coast to be closer her daughter. As her plane touches down in her new city, she steels herself for the new life ahead. When she finds Antony, someone she thinks of as a dear friend, waiting at the arrivals gate, a wave of gratitude and desire floods through her.
She is tired and aching beyond all memory, so Antony takes charge. Very quickly, he realizes there is something wrong, very wrong, with Cynthia’s health. He insists that she see a doctor.
She says he is overprotective. He agrees. He is also determined to look after her if she won’t look after herself. A trip over his knee shakes Cynthia to the core. In spite of herself she likes – she wants – this loving correction.
Is Antony too much, too soon, or is he just what the doctor ordered?
Trusting Ingrid:
Ingrid Nickel doesn’t want to go into rehab. Again. She tried it once but it didn’t work.
When she meets Lachlan Morrison, the connection is electric. She sees a handsome man, directing and challenging, who won’t be intimidated by a powerful woman like her. He sees a woman whose bluster and sarcasm is a cover for something deep inside her that is badly broken.
The daughter of a grifter, Ingrid has grown up street-wise and lawless. Lachlan has rescued more than one creature whose bark was worse than its bite.
Will his stern, loving magic work on Ingrid?
Disclaimer: The Romancing the Coast boxset contains fantasy themes appropriate for mature readers only. Nothing in collection should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual sexual activity.
Mature, strong women don’t appeal to weak-willed men. Watch out ladies, the alpha men have got your numbers.
Excerpts (ages 18+):
Seeing Ronnie:
[Del catches Ronnie snooping at the house where they are attending the engagement party]
“Let’s put it this way, you can take a spanking and we’ll draw a line under this incident.” Del stepped closer to her. “Or I can march you downstairs, past all the guests, and we’ll show Simon how I just found you and what you had in your hand.”
Ronnie pictured all the gathered dignitaries: people of wealth and influence from all walks of life. Politicians, business people, artists, dancers, writers, musicians, all milling around downstairs. Everyone who was anyone for a hundred miles was at this party.
Her face burned at the thought of the public humiliation. She’d be ridiculed for months to come.
“Okay I’ll take the stupid spanking—on one condition.”
“Which is?”
“You can’t tell a soul.” Her voice came out wheedling, but his expression didn’t change. In the midst of her anger and bluster, another sensation simmered, a strange, tangled response to his threat, to the way he stood in front of her, his face stony and resolute.
Moistness dampened her panties and her nipples tightened.
Del seated himself at the end of the bed. “That’s fair enough. For now. If you behave for the rest of the day, you have my word that this will stay between the two of us. Now take off your hat, lift your skirt, and lie across my knees. You may leave your panties on. This time.”
“This time?” she snorted. “Like you really think this is ever going to happen again?” Ronnie’s face was so hot she was sure it would combust.
“The longer it takes you to present yourself, the worse this is going to be.” Del’s voice dropped to an ominous level.
She glanced around the room to make sure no one could see or hear what was about to take place. Without asking Del, she darted over to the French doors leading to the upstairs balcony and closed them, shutting out the murmur of laughter and conversation drifting up from the lawn below. She hoped fervently that she had also cut off any noise from the bedroom travelling the other way.
When she got back to where Del sat, her mouth dry and palms sweating, she fumbled her hat off and placed it on the chair by the fireplace. Her long red hair fell across her face, partly shielding the embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks.
“I’ve never been spanked before,” she said in a mouse-like voice and hated herself for her timidity. She stood before him, staring at her feet.
“Then you’re overdue, aren’t you?” Del took her hands in his. He brought one then the other to his lips before looking up at her and speaking again. “This will hurt but it won’t be anything you can’t bear. If it really gets to be too much, simply say safeword and I will stop. Then we will have to find another way for you to pay for your misbehavior. I think you’ll find that a spanking is the fastest and easiest way to atone. Do you agree?”
Ronnie nodded, biting her lip.
Holding Cynthia
[Antony is about to give Cynthia a massage after her bath. He knows she is unwell and wants her to take better care of herself.]
“Not yet,” he said. “Lie down on your stomach. I told you I’m a bit of a masseuse.” He threw back the covers. “You’re about to get the full Antony Jacobson treatment.”
She didn’t argue even though her sulky face said she wasn’t happy about being nude. Too bad, he liked her that way. She had a beautiful body. Not perfect like a younger woman’s, but one that satisfied the Japanese definition of beauty called wabi-sabi, an appreciation of life’s imperfections and impermanence. Cynthia was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen.
Pouring oil onto his palm, he rubbed his hands together to heat it. He started at the base of her spine, gently moving up toward her shoulders. “I’m just doing a bit of effleurage to warm and ease your muscles. I’m not going to do anything too dramatic today. I’m not skillful enough to give you what you really need. That’s okay because you’ll get more appointments with Tiffany [the massage therapist] and give me the dates and times so I can make sure I get you there.”
Cynthia’s face was turned sideways on the pillow. Her garbled reply was something like, “I don’t know if I have time for more appointments.”
He stopped massaging and with an oily hand smacked her right butt cheek. Hard.
“If you don’t have time for Tiffany, you’re going to collect a whole more of those from me, understood?”
Silence.
Slap.
“I said, understood?”
“Yes! I understand. You’re ruining a perfectly good massage.”
“No, you are by not answering me appropriately. Remember rule number one: look after yourself?” His hands trailed from her shoulders down to her waist. She said nothing. Antony stopped massaging
Cynthia said quickly, “Yes, I remember.”
“After watching you today, I’ve decided rule number one is look after yourself and engage in a program of aggressive self-care.”
“Aggressive self-care?” she said it like a question.
“By that I mean you should carve out at least one to two hours a day when you do nothing but look after yourself. That might be napping or going for a walk. It might just be reading a book. Find the things that you want to do, that keep you centered. Be sure to include exercise, massages when you need them and preparing proper meals, to make sure you’re getting a decent diet. Tu me comprends?”
She smiled at his use of the familiar noun-verb combination.
“Yes, I understand. I understand that your accent isn’t improving.”
Antony smiled too, before smacking each buttock cheek half a dozen times. She tried to put her hands back to stop him but he was too fast.
“This is just the beginning of some changes in your life that you may not like. But you will adapt to them or risk a lot more time over my knee. Laugh all you like but my rules are only going to get firmer.” He started massaging the tops of her thighs. “You up to the challenge?”
“Ha. I know I am, but what about you?” she teased.
“There’s nothing I’d rather do with my time.”
Trusting Ingrid
“So you can trust me, we should have a safe word.”
“Safe word?” her voice was almost inaudible.
“Yes, a word you can say to tell me that you’ve had enough. When you simply cannot stand another second of what I’m doing to you.”
“So I can stop the spanking whenever I want?”
“That’s not the intention, but of course you could. Just as you could stop the intimacy between us whenever you want. One won’t necessarily lead to the other, but any overuse of the safe word would undermine what the spankings are all about. If you use the safe word more than once, that would very likely end our relationship.” He hugged her a little tighter. “The safe word is only meant to be used in extreme circumstances. It’s an escape hatch. You wouldn’t use it any more than you’d call 911 because you couldn’t get a taxi on a wet day. The word will be there to help you, not carry you past some minor level of discomfort. I have years of spanking experience. Believe me, I have a fair idea of how much you’ll be able to bear.”
Ingrid digested what he was saying, wishing to hell that he’d just get on with it and stop making her think so much. She was thrumming from the mere idea of being over his knee. Didn’t he warn her that cock teasing would get her spanked? How was it fair that he could make her so horny and do nothing about it without consequences?
“What do you want to use as your safe word?”
“I have to choose one?” This was too damned hard already. She had to consent to the spanking. On top of that, she had to choose her own freaking safe word? Then she had to not use it in case that convinced him that she was trying to stop more than the spanking?
She wasn’t prepared for any of this, no more than she was prepared for the way he seemed to be taking over her life. “I don’t know. I can’t think of one just like that, like pulling ideas out of the
air.”
Lachlan chuckled. “You’re pretty defenseless already, aren’t you? Okay I’ll choose one for you. How about rescue.”
“Yes, that’s just fine. Thank you very much.”
Lachlan unwrapped his arms from around her, and taking her wrist, spun her to face him.
After what they’d just talked about, she couldn’t look him in the eye.
“You’re all shy now are you, lass?” For a second his voice took on the strong Scottish accent that frequently crept into Glyn’s speech.
Ingrid’s body vibrated in response. Let’s get the spanking over with, she thought. I can’t wait for the main feature.
Lachlan reached for her cardigan, pushing it off her shoulder. “It’s time for you to strip so we can start today’s session.”
“Strip?” She tried to wriggle away, but Lachlan caught her wrist in a tight grip. “Yes, strip. For one thing I want to feast my eyes on your gorgeous body. For another, being naked is a deeper form of submission. Laying yourself bare is an important ritual that says you accept what is coming.” Ingrid bristled, successfully wrenching away from him this time.
“All my clothes?”
She liked the word relationship. She wasn’t so fond of the word strip.
Lachlan stepped past her, closer to the fire. “Okay. It’s your first time. I think naked from the waist down will be enough. Then you will come over here.”
He pushed an ottoman in front of the hearth. “You will kneel in front of this, your bottom facing the fire, your upper body pressed into the top of it. Now you know the reason for the raised hearth; it delivers heat to upraised buttocks without scorching the lower legs or feet.”
“It was designed with that thought in mind?”
“Absolutely. Glyn and I discussed it at length.”
The image of Glyn and Lachlan analyzing the correct height to set a hearth, so a fire could pre-heat a woman’s bottom for a spanking, left Ingrid speechless. A faint mewing sound escaped her.
Lachlan smiled slightly. “Are you ready?”
Ingrid nodded, afraid to attempt words.
“Sit down, I’ll help you take off your boots.” His voice sounded kind, like a gentleman casually offering to help a lady remove her coat.
Ingrid slumped as Lachlan knelt at her feet. He unzipped the boots, loosened her boot stays, and with more tenderness than she’d have guessed possible, slid first one boot off and then the other. He laid them on the ground beside her.
Time slowed to a crawl for Ingrid. Shocked by how direct he was, how clearly his plans were laid out, she sat dumbfounded for a minute. Start with the easy things, she told herself and began to peel off a sock.
“Leave your socks on,” Lachlan said.
She looked at him quizzically.
“You don’t know? I’ll explain later.” Lachlan stood, moving away from her again. “Take off your jeans and panties. Now. Then assume the position. Don’t make me ask you twice.”
***
Just when these women decide they can live their lives happily without romantic love, three strong alphas come along and challenge everything they believe.
Don’t miss these other great books from Libby Campbell and Blushing Books:
The Simon in Charge series:
Simon Says (book 1)
Winning Sadie (book 2)
Sadie Says I Do (book 3)
Three-book box set – Simon in Charge
A Time For Will
Novellas in Christmas anthologies:
Prairie Promise – A Spanking Good New Year anthology
Love at Last Flight – 12 Naughty Days of Christmas anthology
Libby Campbell in her own words:
I’m in love with love. My romance stories feature strong, self-reliant women who challenge the powerful men who love them.
My books are set in the Pacific Northwest, a part of the world I know well and love deeply.
I’ve lived all over Canada, but the best decision of my life was when I moved to Australia to marry my leading man. After many years there, we moved back to the Pacific Northwest. We now live in a leafy neighborhood close to the sea.
My passions are reading and writing. I also love hiking, beachcombing, and an occasional night of dancing.
Connect with Libby Campbell:
Question time with Libby Campbell
Q: All the women in your books seem to be pretty well set up with careers and jobs when they meet their matches. Is this a coincidence?
When there is a real inequity between partners, especially where he is richer, taller, older, bigger etc, then he has the dominant advantage to start off with. I want my alphas to have more of a challenge, so I level the playing field.
I give her a lot of the status that might otherwise be part of his allure. If her life has a solid foundation, then he must work harder to impress and capture her.
Q Do you think a woman would fall in love with a man or submit to him just because he’s rich?
Probably not, but this quote from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes shaped my thinking on this subject (did I mention I love old movies?):
Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe): Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn't marry a girl just because she's pretty, but my goodness, doesn't it help?
I haven’t researched any of this but here my personal interpretation of TTWD:
Women are wired to look for protectors largely because of our biology. We are designed to bear children who are dependent for years. In primitive times, before childcare, telecommuting, and maternity leave, we needed someone to provide for us during that period, we needed a caveman to kill food and fight off enemies. Modern women may need help with mortgage payments and grocery bills ~ which is why wealth was, is, and always will be a drawcard.
Still, Western women are lucky. We can gain skills that allow us to make choices beyond simple survival. Enter my leading ladies who have the material side of their lives sorted, more or less.
They are strong and used to fending for themselves. But they need and crave something more. Something only a true alpha who is in touch with his primal hunter/fighter instinct may understand. Something dominant and thrilling that lifts them up from the ordinary.
The trick in these writing these roles is to capture the man’s power without it slipping into abuse and to show the woman’s submission without mindless capitulation.
Q Where did the ghosts come from in Seeing Ronnie?
The small city where I live isn’t that old. It was first settled in the mid-nineteenth century, but it is considered one of the most haunted spots in Canada. Ronnie’s ghosts are based on a story told to me by one of my most “show me, I’m from Missouri-type” friends.
He was working as auditor downtown and turned up early at a new location one day. As he entered the ground floor of two-storey office building, he heard voices and the sound of an old-fashioned industrial saw running somewhere close. That was odd, he thought, as he was in the middle of the city with no industry nearby.
As he walked up the stairs, he encountered a pocket of icy air, even though it was a hot July morning. The sound disappeared on the other side of the cold cell.
Later he learned the building was known to be haunted by the sawmillers who’d died on that spot a hundred years before.
Right after that, I started writing Ronnie and ghosts appeared almost the minute she stepped onto Seguro Island.
Q Is the dog Buddy in Holding Cynthia based on an actual beagle?
He is. Years ago, my husband and I had two beagles when we heard about a dog who had been surrendered to its breeders. We discussed whether or not to take him on. Very quickly we said yes.
What we didn’t know was that Buddy had been neglected most of his life. He’d been shut in a concrete backyard for ten years, never allowed in the house, and was rarely walked, socialized, or taken to the vet.
He had terrible health issues and his vet bills the first year ran over $5,000. Needless to say, we didn’t take a holiday that year. Or the next. Like all dogs, Buddy lived in the present, forgetting all the harsh years. His sweet disposition surfaced the day we brought him home. Once he overcame his fear of being punished for coming in the house, he soon joined the other dogs sleeping on the sofas, lounging by my desk, and cruising the kitchen in case we’d accidentally left the pantry door open.
Buddy’s appearance in Cynthia is a salute to his unsinkable spirit.
Q Does that mean the animals in Trusting Ingrid are based on real life too?
You noticed a trend, huh? I confess: I’m a mad keen animal lover. And yes, there is a second dog named Cotter in this story. It wasn’t until my third or fourth book that I started keeping a book bible, a spreadsheet of all characters’ names from all my stories. The fact that Cotter wriggled his way into two of my first books just shows how much I loved that boy.
In Ingrid, there is a dog called Lucy, after one that lives around the corner from me now. She’s the first blue Great Dane I’ve ever known and she’s a gentle beast. Also, the episode where the horses come thundering around over a hill and Ingrid worries about being stampeded is based on an incident at a friend’s property where eight of her horses charged us at once. They were simply after dinner and stopped running as soon as they got close.
However the animals in Ingrid are there not just to indulge my love of furry friends but to show Lachlan’s gentle side. He’s a man who likes a challenge and has both the kindness to rehabilitate and the sternness to insist that everyone in his world is well behaved. No one has ever demanded that of Ingrid so she needs a skillful, loving man who to help her shed her feral ways.
![Romancing the Coast Collection by [Campbell, Libby ]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41AMc7CZ54L.jpg)
