author watch: shelli stevens

I've read two stories by Shelli Stevens. She's written many others, and I very much enjoy her writing! Here's the quick blurbs of the two titles (with embedded link to the author's excerpt):

Tempting Adam
Christy Wallace may be a respectable Seattle Spanish teacher, but she’s got a sultry side. She lets it come out to play during the summer, when she moonlights as a Salsa dancing instructor.
Sexy, cowboy Adam wants more time with her than just a fleeting cup of coffee, but she makes it clear that if he wants her, he’ll have to sign up for dance class. Amazingly enough, he does. And Christy finds herself falling for a charming country hick with hands as fast as his feet.
Adam’s no hick, though. He’s the owner of Adam’s Apples, the fastest-growing cider business in eastern Washington. To his own surprise, one night with her has him thinking in terms of forever. That is, until he walks into a restaurant for a family lunch—and finds Christy on the arm of his brother.

Trust and Dare
One weekend. His rules. Inhibitions left at the door.
Angry that yet another military man has done her family wrong, Abby Cook plots sweet revenge. But when her plan goes awry, she discovers that she’s targeted the wrong military man.
Mason Tyler is not used to being disobeyed. Yet the curvy blonde has rejected his advances at every turn. When he catches her in the middle of a very destructive—not to mention illegal—prank, he offers her a deal. A deal that will keep her out of jail. And let him exact a little revenge of his own.
One weekend in his bed…no inhibitions, no refusals. But when the weekend is up, will Mason be ready to let Abby go?

I find the heroines delightfully sassy, and the heroes just plain... delicious! Shelli's characters are very regular and appealing people - with insecurities and cute quirks I think most readers can identify with. There's lots of sexiness and sweetness mixed into a great read.

Shelli's latest title is part of an anthology with Kate Douglas and Anitra Lynn McLeod. In Shelli's story His to Reclaim, Gemma and Hunter are shapeshifters, and the heat level starts right off at a high setting:

Five years ago Gemma gave her heart and soul to a fellow werejaguar only to have him disappear. Now Hunter has come back and kidnapped her on her wedding day in order to make her his again, and he will tempt, tease and taunt her body to the heights of hedonistic pleasure to get exactly what he wants…

“Gemma!” The shrill scream pierced through the woods, filtering past the aged walls of the log cabin. “Oh my God! I can’t believe this. Gemma!”
The sound of feet pounding down the path mingled with the alarmed whimpers and short breaths of the approaching woman.
Gemma’s fingers clenched around the brush in her hand, her pulse quickening as she turned to face the door. Was it too much to hope that it was nothing more than the caterer having encountered a problem?
The door flung open, smashing into the wall. Her younger cousin Megan stepped into the room, eyes wild with panic.
“He’s really coming.”
They were just three words, but they were enough. The brush dropped from Gemma’s hand, and her body went numb with shock.
This was really happening…. No! The room spun and she gripped the vanity table to keep from falling to her knees. No. Was he insane?
“There’s no time.” Megan closed the door, hands shaking. “Shift and then run. Run fast. It’s the only way you can possibly escape him.”
“How far away is he?” Gemma’s voice came out remarkably calm as she fumbled to undo the buttons on her wedding dress.
The cold fear began to subside, and a hot burn of rage blazed through her. How dare he? After five years, how dare he?
Megan grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the door. “A mile. Maybe. And he’s not alone, Gemma. He’s brought friends. You must hurry! There’s no time to change out of your dress. Run, and I’ll find Jeffrey and tell him what’s happened.”
“My dress will be ruined during transition—”
Crash!
The door broke in half, and splinters of wood shot into the interior of the cabin like tiny missiles.
Heart in her throat, Gemma retreated, her body trembling as she stared at the man who now filled the doorway.
The man who’d just made good on the appallingly dark promise he’d made just days ago in an e-mail. She’d been half convinced it was a joke—someone toying with her heart—and had told Megan as much.
But it wasn’t a joke. The proof was standing in front of her eyes. Maybe a couple of years ago she would have wished for this, but not now. Dammit, not now!
Sweat clung to the hard muscles of Hunter’s nude body—it was clear he’d just shifted back to human form. A familiar heat crept through her body, and she hardened her jaw, refusing to acknowledge it. The same way she’d refused to acknowledge it for the last five years.
It was hard not to, though, with his dark hair and tan body. He was tall and broad, a mass of muscles and ridges.Her gaze dropped, and her cheeks burned hot. She swallowed hard, unable to tear her gaze from his hard thighs and the thick cock that rested between them.
The blood raged through her veins, and she closed her eyes to count to ten. When she opened them again, her gaze was firmly back to his face, unwilling to let her eyes shift any lower than his shoulders this time, for that would be a guaranteed diversion from finding a way out of this situation.
Unfortunately, five years had done nothing but enhance Hunter’s raw sex appeal.
His eyes, burning like dark blue crystals, met hers. And like the devil come to collect his due, he advanced into the room, his face a mask of fierce determination.
Oh, God. She needed to act. Now. Swallowing against the thickness in her throat, Gemma glanced around the room, looking for anything that might be used as a weapon. She grabbed the chair from her vanity table and lifted it above her head with a grunt.
Hunter lunged forward and knocked it from her grasp, sending it crashing to the ground behind her. Before she could draw in a startled breath, he’d circled her wrists with one of his massive hands and pulled her body firmly against the rock hard wall of his chest.
“No!” She growled and lifted her knee to tag him in the groin, but he blocked the shot.
Instead, he pulled her tighter against him and forced his thigh between hers. His thick cock brushed her hip and she stilled, barely able to breathe as her heart slammed against her ribcage.
His soft laugh feathered warmth against her cheek. “You should have listened to your cousin, angel.” He leaned forward and said softly against her ear, “You should have run.”

Yum!