Aphrodite's Charms

Still tossing around the idea of a sequel to Aphrodite's Charms. Since a reader asked about what happens next for Diana and Spyros, I've been asking myself that same question. What does happen?

Excerpt from Aphrodite's Charms:

A warm breeze met them as they stepped out onto the enormous stone terrace. Her heels clicked against the ancient stones as he led her to the ornate, wide carved stone railing. They leaned against it, comfortable on the conspicuous sturdiness of the railing. There was no question of safety on the terrace; it looked, even in the darkness, as if it had withstood the endless caresses of thousands of days and nights already and would withstand more for many lifetimes to come.

“Look at that sky,” breathed Diana, dropping her head back so that her face tilted up to meet the expanse of black above them. Dotted with glittering stars, it looked like a child’s painting of the night sky—total blackness with an excess of white stars. “So beautiful.”

His voice was tender, low and slow. “Yes, very beautiful.”

“I don’t recall any other sky looking quite the way it does here,” she said, not taking her eyes from the stars above them. “I remember the last time I was here; I fell in love with the sky on the very first night.”

“With your husband,” Spyros said. “You were here last with your husband, weren’t you?”

“Oh, so that’s one of the things that your investigation revealed? Parts of my personal life?” she asked as she dropped her eyes to meet his. “Is that all you’ve got to ‘show’ me—things I am already aware of about myself? Painfully aware of, in some cases?” Even to her own ears her voice sounded angry, cutting through the sounds of the night like a hot knife through ice cream. Diana turned, walking toward the glass doors, her heels sounding like gunshots on the tiles. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to the inn now.”

Spyros reached out and grabbed her, spinning her around so rapidly that her body collided with his. He steadied her with his hands on her shoulders as she glared up at him.

“Let me go! Do you understand? Take your hands off of me!”

“This I cannot do,” he said, his voice quiet in comparison to hers. “I did not mean to intrude on your private pain, Diana. I only wanted to...to—”

Her body lay against his intimately. She could feel every strong, muscular plane of him, feel his thighs pressed against hers and feel the thudding of his heart against her breasts. His breath, hot and scented with the sweet wine, fell against her cheek. She felt him, too, in a more intimate spot. His prominent masculine bulge was against her hip and she felt him pressing against her more firmly with each movement she made.

From Coffee Time Romance:"Diana Boldt is a newly widowed woman who is still in love with her husband. It was so incredibly special and they shared such a deep love for one another that she never thought she would find another man that could appeal to her on that level.

Spyros Petronikos has arranged to meet with Diana for a business deal, but he quickly changes his mind to include her on a much more personal level if she will just let him into her heart.

Diana’s visit to the same exotic island that she and her husband shared their love leaves her feeling very alone. She is haunted by her past and her ghost lover, too afraid to reach out and touch what is right in front of her. When she finally does, and opens her heart, fate seems to intervene cruelly ripping them apart.

I lost myself in this entrancing story, set in an exotic and lush background, it sweeps you up from the first page. The relationship was realistic and developed at a nice pace. The secondary characters are as well developed as the primary characters The sex scenes are hot and the emotions run high. Kate Burns is a very gifted storyteller. If you want a romance that will touch your heart, I suggest you read Aphrodite’s Charms." -- Missy, Reviewer for Coffee Times Romance