Friday Feature: Below the Belt by Sidney Halston

below belt tb

Thank you for having me here today! Hope y’all got your copy of BELOW THE BELT and are loving it as much as I loved writing it. Here are 3 of my favorite scenes from BELOW THE BELT (with a few teasers.) Enjoy…

  1. I really enjoyed writing the opening scene because you get a taste of the real Tony. He’s way too arrogant for his own good and isn’t willing to accept that perhaps he needs to party less and train more. This is also the first time Francesca and Tony interact in the book. You also get to see his accent come out since he’s so out of sorts. Here’s a snippet.

When Francesca walked into the locker room, she saw Slade sitting calmly and Tony pacing with a swollen eye. As soon as he saw her, he stalked away and yelled, “I don’t want to hear your shit right now, Francesca!” When he was angry, his accent became heavier and it sounded more like “chit” than “shit,” but he was obviously too upset to care.

“Whoa!” She put her hands up. “Relax. I just came in to see how you were doing.”

“How I’m doing?” He stopped and glared at her. He punched the wall of lockers again. “It was a fixed fight. I shoulda won. This is bullchit!”

  1. Another scene I love, which was the first scene I wrote and the inspiration for the book, is a scene where Francesca’s on a date. Here you get to see that Francesca is a black belt and isn’t someone you should mess with. Incidentally, this is something that actually happened in real life!   Let’s just say: don’t judge a book by its sexy stiletto-ed cover!

Thompson leaned back, and Francesca walked right between his parted legs. His hands wrapped around her waist. “I guess you changed your mind. Let me pay for this and we’ll get the hell outta here.” She felt his erection on her belly as she stood pressed up against him. She reached forward, crossed her arms, and grabbed his lapels. If anyone saw them, they’d have thought she was kissing his ear or his neck. It looked like a very intimate embrace.

She began to slowly uncross her arms, which brought the lapels tight around his neck, choking him. He looked at her, confused, his grin fading, but he still didn’t seem to get what she was doing. “I asked you to leave me alone. When a lady says to leave her alone, you leave her alone,” she said, squeezing tighter with each of the last three words. She pulled away from his ear to look into his face. It was red and his eyes watered as he struggled to breathe. Francesca gave one last tug and Thompson silently slid off his stool onto the floor, unconscious. When he woke up, he’d remember never to f*** with a woman again.

Francesca signaled to JL that she was leaving. She threw some money on the counter for her drink, stepped over the man on the floor, and took off.

Her daddy had taught her that a woman always had to be prepared.

  1. Another scene I loved was seeing Tony jealous. There were a few of these but this one in particular I loved! It may be my favorite scene in the entire book because even he realizes how ridiculous he’s being.

She looked at him as if he was crazy—and maybe he was. “You don’t want me to talk to him? Are you insane?”

“I hate you talking to the guys at the Academy, the waiters in restaurants, the guys who change your oil at the garage. Everyone with a c***. I hate them talking to you. That’s what you do to me! I don’t want you alone with any man. Ever. No one. Not a single f*****g man. I don’t care if he’s gay or not. They all want to f***k you. There, I said it.”

She had to laugh. “You know that’s crazy, right?”

“I know!” he yelled in frustration, his hands flailing over his head.

So there you go….my three favorite scenes. There’s a lot more but these were the three that stuck out. Can’t wait to hear from you. What are your favorite scenes from BELOW THE BELT?


below beltTitle: Below the Belt by Sidney Halston
Worth the Fight Series Book Three
Publisher: Loveswept
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 272 pages

Summary:

In Sidney Halston’s latest sizzling MMA romance, a former title contender turns the tables on his knockout trainer with a lesson in seduction.

Once one of the most sought-after names on the mixed martial arts circuit, Antonio “Scarface” Marino watched his career go down for the count as he chased skirts and made tabloid headlines. Now he’s finally making a comeback, and it’s all thanks to Francesca Silva, a Brazilian bombshell as tough as any of her fighters. But who’s the real Francesca: the trash-talking trainer who rides him hard, or the vulnerable woman who blushes at his touch?

Francesca went to the mat to sign Tony because she believes he still has the potential to bring big success to her gym—if she can keep his head in the cage and out of her personal life. After a short-lived marriage soured her on love, a one-night stand is all she can handle. Now Tony’s kisses are stirring up complicated feelings—especially when he agrees to face her ex in the ring. Francesca’s used to freezing guys out. But Tony’s tempting her to give in to the heat.

Add to Goodreads.

Purchase Links: Amazon * B&N * iTunes * Kobo


Author Bio

halstonSidney Halston lives her life with one simple rule: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain, or even simpler, “Just Do It” Nike.

And that’s exactly what she did. After working hard as an attorney, Sidney picked up a pen for the first time at thirty years old to begin her dream of writing. Having never written anything other than very exciting legal briefs, she found an outlet for her imaginative romantic side and wrote Seeing Red, among four other novels currently in the works, including the sequel to Seeing Red. That first pen stroke sealed the deal and she fell in love with writing.

Sidney lives in South Florida with her husband and children. She loves her family above all else, and reading follows a close second. When she’s not writing you can find her reading and reading and reading… She’s a reader first and a writer second.

When she’s not writing or reading her life is complete and utter chaos trying to balance family life with work, and writing (and reading). But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Author Links: Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads


Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the rest of the tour HERE.

4 Comments

Filed under Blog Tour, Contest, Friday Feature, Guest Blog

4 Responses to Friday Feature: Below the Belt by Sidney Halston

  1. sidney halston

    Thank you for hosting!

  2. Timitra

    Great cover

  3. Love this post! These scenes are too funny! Thank you for sharing and Thank you Kathy for hosting!

  4. Cindy DeGraaff

    Thanks for the blog stop and giveaways!