Book Tour for Diablo Blanco Club Series by Qwillia Rain (Review & GIVEAWAY)

To start the week off on a steamy note Qwillia Rain is here with her BDSM series, the Diablo Blanco Club.  Keep reading to get a glimpse of each book released thus far along with my impressions of one of the installments, Under Control and learn even more by visiting the other blogs hosting this tour.  Ms. Rain also lets us know how the series came about and where it's going as well as giving away some wonderful swag and Amazon GCs!

Hmm, you’re probably not going to believe this, but I didn’t come up with the idea of the Diablo Blanco Club. The characters did. Seriously. They did. It’s kinda hard to explain where it came from, where it’s been, and where it’s going, but here goes…

In 1812, while running British blockades and acting as a privateer during the war with England, Cole Halsey stole—er, repatriated a young Englishwoman and claimed her for his wife. Margaretta was as independent and fiery as a hostage bride could be, but Cole was her perfect mate. A year later, with Margaretta pregnant with their first child, and the war making life dangerous for them both on the water and at his home in South Carolina, Cole…detained the ship of a Spanish nobleman, and in a game of dice, won the land grant the man had been given in the Spanish territory that would later become California.

Determined to build his own fleet of ships and open trade routes to the Far East, and before many Anglos began arriving, Cole built the first Halsey stronghold and the land he held claim to became San Diablo—the nickname he’d been given because of his white blond hair and devil’s temper when it came to keeping what belonged to him. His honest and fair treatment of others earned the respect of the natives. The work wasn’t easy, but Cole, Margaretta, and the ship’s crew carved out a thriving shipping business. The original homestead of the Halseys grew too small for the growing family, so Cole moved them to a larger home, dubbed Pirate’s Folly.

Halseys had been trained in the Dominant/submissive lifestyle for centuries. Because the crew and many of the local inhabitants who’d befriended and worked for Halsey were used to visiting the first home, Cole kept it as a gathering place, a social club you could say, that eventually became the Diablo Blanco Club. Having a Halsey run the DBC and the shipping business has always been part of the family heritage. While Cole and Margaretta remained in California until their deaths in the late 1860s, two of their grandsons traveled back to South Carolina to help the faltering shipping business of their Halsey cousins. One of the boys, Nicholas Halsey, died during the Civil War but the other grandson, Benjamin, is the line Bryce Halsey comes from.

One hundred and eighty years later, the last of the California Halseys, Isaiah, turned control of Halsey Shipping and the DBC over to Bryce and his best friend, Rick Bennett. After much negotiating and some heated arguments with his father, Bryce merged the companies into Halsey Unlimited, Inc.

So that’s where the club has been, and just so you know, I didn’t become aware of any of this until the Kringle Toys Christmas party while I was writing Santa’s Elf. The last thing I expected when I was playing with my naughty Santa and the Elf he was obsessed with was to have Mattie and Bryce waltz into the scene. When Dayton told Elf about the couple and their connection to the club I was stunned. I’d known there was something I was missing about Mattie and Bryce’s relationship—I’d been working with their story for nearly thirty years by that point—and I could never figure out what it was. And it just got more surprising the more I’ve worked with the different characters.

As for where the Diablo Blanco Club is going in the future…I can dream big and imagine getting a call from New York asking for the print rights, or maybe Hollywood will want to do a movie…but I’m not holding my breath. I’m enjoying the freedom of keeping the series and self-publishing it. There are at least four more books to be written, maybe more if new characters crop up. I do intend to write about Cole and Margaretta as well as Cole’s British cousin and the London club founded by the first of the Halsey line in the 13th Century, the Marquess of Bloodwell—a knight who survived the Holy Wars. Then there’s Maggie, Bryce and Mattie’s eldest daughter, who has some ideas for her grown up story as well as some children’s adventures.

I’ve discovered, I can try to make plans, but the characters will be the ones calling the shots. No matter what though, I’m gonna enjoy the ride and I hope the readers will too.

Thanks for letting me hang out with you today. Hope you have a great day and if anyone wants to talk about any of the Diablo Blanco Club books, ask away, I’m sure the characters would be more than happy to answer any questions. And me too.

Diablo Blanco Club: Rite of First Claim

What's a Dom to do when the submissive he wants runs from the feelings between them?
From the moment he met Lyssa Lawrence, Mike Halsey knew what he felt was love -- not lust. Convincing her has been an uphill battle even after the two steamy hours they'd shared at the Diablo Blanco Club four years earlier.
Lyssa Lawrence wished the man who claimed to love her wasn't so damned appealing. Eight years of denying the pull of her submissive nature almost went up in smoke four years ago, but she'd gathered the nerve to tell him 'no' when he asked for more. She'd have stayed away for good if her biological clock hadn't hiccuped, threatening her dreams of motherhood.
In the same way she'd strategized her success in fashion design, Lyssa worked out a plan to get the baby she wanted. The Diablo Blanco Club's annual Midnight Masquerade would provide a number of potential donors to choose from. What she hadn't bargained on was Mike's interference through an arcane Club rule.
When Mike invoked Rite of First Claim, Lyssa finally became his. Now, he has one month to prove that the role of his submissive was one she was born to play.

Diablo Blanco Club: Santa's Elf

After four years of unrequited love, and steamy fantasies, Elfina "Elf" Jeffries has just about given up on gaining her boss's attention. How was any self-respecting woman supposed to seduce a man who was oblivious to her cues? Then the first gift arrived...

Every Santa needs an Elf, and Dayton Kringle is no exception. His offer for a temporary affair, just long enough to get from Christmas Eve to New Year's, will satisfy a four-year craving.

His is a simple design:

One beautiful Elf

Twelve sexy gifts

A little spanking

Some light bondage

And ten days of no-strings sex make one very satisfied Santa. But when the ten days are up, will he be able to give up the Elf of his wildest Dominant dreams?

Diablo Blanco Club: Unfair Advantage

Eight years of waiting hadn't effected Dominant Bryce Halsey the way the last seven days had tested his control. Matie Lawrence, his perfect submissive, stood before him unaware of her potential, ready to be tutored in the lifestyle.

Battles will be won and lost between them, but the war for a Dominant's heart is a war Mattie is determined to win.

Diablo Blanco Club: Under Control

Vance was used to facing death and confronting terrorists in war, but when it comes to confessing his act of betrayal to the man he loves, Vance finds it impossible to keep his feelings Under Control.

EXCERPT:

The leader leaned down. “You wished to help him. Do so.”

“But—I—”

Despite her stammered response, Vance could see she knew exactly what the fucker expected of her.

The man smiled and tapped the tip of the knife, still damp with Vance’s blood against her lips. “Wrap these around this”—he tapped Vance’s cock—“and suck. When it is soft again, I will tell my man to stop hitting him.”

Vance willed his arousal to recede but it ignored him. He watched as she lifted her bound hands and wrapped her cold fingers around his shaft.

“Aimee, don’t.”

Deep blue eyes filled with tears blinked up at him. “It’s okay,” she whispered before her soft pink lips opened and tentatively swallowed the head of his cock.

Vance Justiss jolted awake, his dick swollen and throbbing. That recalcitrant shaft of flesh ached with the same burning thrum as his wounded left arm and leg. Sweat slicked his bare chest as he shoved aside the thin, scratchy hospital sheets and swung his legs off the bed, hissing at the pain that shot through his knee despite the immobilizing air cast covering his leg.

In the darkness he forced his breathing to slow. The antiseptic smell and quiet hum of machinery from nearby rooms cemented the reminder that he no longer occupied a ragged hut in the Iraqi desert but was bunking at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Last stop before heading home.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

Under Control is a quick read dealing with heavy issues.  For a Marine returning from a mission gone wrong, scarred both inside and out, grief and guilt weighs on him.  A promise made in a moment of great heartbreak gives him the push he needs to finally admit his feelings for the man who's been his only comfort for the last eight years.  It should be easy to say those three little words but unrelenting grief make it hard to admit what happened during that mission for fear that he'll be rejected and have nothing to live for.

Vance has always worried his strength would hurt someone someday so he's learned to keep himself under control through heavy BDSM play.  Since coming home though he constantly feels out of control as guilt keeps him from finding the calm that whipping used to give him.  He teeters on the brink of unending darkness and it's only his feelings for Ben that keep him going.  My heart ached for Vance and his misplaced grief.  He was put into a position of which there was no good way out.  His experience in the terrorist's camp was vividly detailed and gut-wrenching in its intensity.  This scene pulled no punches and cast a shadow over the entire story that didn't let up until the richly rewarding HEA.

Ben is a loyal and honorable man who is just what Vance needs to move past his grief.  He's a calming influence for the constantly on edge Vance and they truly are meant to be together.  While we get an in-depth look into who Vance is, the same can't be said for Ben.  What little we know of him is in relation to Vance and I miss not knowing more about such a likable character.  

What there IS a lot of is hot and intense sexual encounters!  These scenes take up a big part of the story and are the only times we see Vance with a smile and get to see the building connection between them.  From start to finish this is a gritty and heart-wrenching read that led to a heartwarming conclusion that has me wanting to read more books in this series.

My rating for this is a B+

*I received this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

Born in California but raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Qwillia Rain embraces fully the independent spirit of the West she grew up in, even if she currently resides in North Carolina.
Qwillia has worked at a diverse mix of jobs including casino change person, bill collector, book store and video store clerk, and computer teacher to Kindergarten through 8th graders, but writing has always been part of her life.
In 2007 her first book (recently revised and self-published) Santa's Elf, was published, opening a whole new world where she can play with her characters and get paid for it.

WEBSITE:  http://www.authorqwilliarain.com
FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/Qwillia
FAN PAGE:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Qwillia-Rain-Fan-Page/234065069968987
TWITTER:  @Qwillia
BLOG:  http://authorqwilliarain.blogspot.com

**********GIVEAWAY**********

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