First Impressions: Guest Post by Ashe Barker

I have Ashe Barker here with her hot new release, First Impressions!

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Hi Natasha, and thank you so much for inviting me over today to chat a bit about First Impressions. This will be my second release with Baronet Press, and I’m loving working with them again. Here’s the super-sexy cover they made for me.

First Impressions is a story about jumping to the wrong conclusions, about making hasty assumptions and being proved wrong. With the benefit of hindsight – always a wonderful thing – I thought it might be interesting to find out what George makes of Aidan now. I tracked her down and fired a few questions at her. Here goes:

Me: Hi George, and thank you for agreeing to chat to me today. How’s the business going?

George: Great, I’m really busy, but loving every minute. I’m working on a loft conversion right now, and I’ll need to get back to work soon.

Me: Right, let’s crack on then. Tell me, when you first met Aidan, what did you think of him?

George: I thought he was early! I hadn’t expected him back for ages, so I was a bit floored when he marched in that first day and caught me breastfeeding Lily in his kitchen. He took it well though, he was very kind in fact, even made me a cup of coffee. I also thought he was sexy, rich, and way out of my league.

Me: What was the most surprising thing you found out about Aidan, when you got to know him better?

George: Well, it turns out I was right about the sexy and rich bit, but the playroom in the attic came as something of a shock. I’d never seen so many whips and canes in one place. And the St. Andrews cross…

Me: Quite. You were surprised, but not especially shocked I think. Would that be right?

George: Yes, I suppose so. It was a pleasant surprise really. Once I got over my nerves and decided to trust Aidan to know what he was doing we’ve had a lot of fun in his attic.

Me: The readers can find out all about that in the book. So tell us, were there any other pleasant surprises?

George: Yes, I loved the way Aidan took to Lily, my baby. She was only a few months old back then and he was always so good with her, playing with her, looking after her to give me a break when he really didn’t need to. It was as though he wanted to get to know her too. We were both special to him and I loved it when he made me feel that way. He’s such a softie at heart.

Me: Even in the attic?

George: Especially then. He’s a hard Dom with a soft centre.

Me: My favourite sort. So, what’s next for you and Aidan?

George: I don’t know what’s around the corner for us, but we’re both enjoying our happy ever after. I guess I have you to thank for that.

Me: You’re welcome. Thanks for chatting to me. I’ll let you get back to that loft conversion now.

Here’s the blurb for First Impressions

First Impressions can be deceptive.

Aidan Blake needs a plumber. Fast. His boiler is dead, his creaky old house crumbling around him. When his elderly neighbour recommends a local trader, George Mahon, Aidan jumps at the prospect of hot water and warm radiators.

But George, short for Georgina, is not exactly what he had in mind. He was expecting something else entirely. A man for one thing, not the gorgeous single mother he finds in his house at the end of a long day of work.

Aidan turns out to be full of surprises too. Who would have imagined the smartly dressed businessman would have a BDSM playroom in his attic and a collection of whips and canes that makes George’s head spin. And her bottom clench, though that’s another matter entirely. What does a girl have to do to get to play with those toys?

Just ask, it would seem. As they enter into a professional and personal agreement which soon blossoms into a sultry, kinky relationship, George continues to be surprised by Aidan's kindness and generosity, not to mention his skill with a spanking paddle.

First impressions aside, the two begin to build something together. And while they peel back the layers to discover their hidden depths, the old house yields up the mysteries of its own secret past. They soon realise that at first glance, nothing is ever quite as it seems.

And an excerpt…

It was late morning the following day when a firm knocking at his back door brought Aidan downstairs from his office. He was not surprised to find George on his doorstep, Lily balanced on her hip and her bulky holdall in her other hand. Instinctively Aidan reached for the bag and carried it inside.

George followed him in.

“I can manage. Really.”

“I expect you can. Even so… Do you have some figures for me?” He put the bag on the table then headed over to the worktop and flicked the switch on his kettle. He’d been working since before eight o’clock so was due a break about now.

“I do.” George leaned over to unzip her bag, managing to hang on to the baby as she did so.

“Here, let me.” Aidan crossed the room to take Lily from her, then cradled the baby in one arm and hitched his hip on the edge of the table to watch George fumbling in the bag for her calculations. He noted that she appeared much more nervous this morning than she had yesterday.


This was a good sign. He suspected she had been giving the finer points of his premises a great deal of thought, and not just from a professional perspective. Which was fair enough because he had certainly been thinking about her.

“My mum’s working this morning, at the library in Alnwick. So I had to bring Lily with me. I’m sorry.” She straightened to lay her papers out on the table. “I’ll get a proper arrangement made for when I actually start the job.”

“No problem.” He smiled down at the angelic little face peering up at him with undisguised curiosity. “It’s nice to see Lily again and I appreciate that you need to keep her fairly near. I thought Mrs Mathers was going to babysit.”

“She will. I spoke to her on the phone last night and she’s just waiting for me to say when I need her. She’s been so kind.” She hesitated, then went on. “I won’t be doing … that… again. And I’m sorry about before.”

“That?”

“Feeding Lily when I’m supposed to be working.”

“Poor Lily.”

“No, it’s all right really. She’s on solids now. And bottles. So…”

“Ah.” Aidan wondered if Lily’s change of diet was a disappointment rather than a benefit, but felt on balance it was the latter. Apart from anything else, it meant that the next time George unbuttoned her clothing in his house it would be for a different reason entirely. He was distracted from that delightful fantasy by the baby suddenly starting to cry.

“Shall I take her?” George held out her arms.

“No, it’s okay. You sort out your papers and tell me what the final tally is.” He sat on a chair and turned Lily to lie lengthways along his knees, then proceeded to squeeze and tug at the tiny toes encased in her fluffy white socks. The baby stopped crying instantly and instead bestowed on him a gummy smile. Aidan grinned back at her, then turned to a rather bemused George. “So, how much is it all going to cost me?”

About the Author

I’ve been an avid reader of fiction for many years, erotic and other genres. I still love reading, the hotter the better. But now I have a good excuse for my guilty pleasure – research.

I tend to draw on my own experience to lend colour, detail and realism to my plots and characters. An incident here, a chance remark there, a bizarre event or quirky character, any of these can spark a story idea.

When not writing – which is not very often these days - my time is divided between my role as resident taxi driver for my teenage daughter, and caring for a couple of dogs, two tortoises. And a very grumpy cockatiel.

I have twenty seven (at the last count) titles on general release with publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, and I have several more in the pipeline. All my books feature BDSM. I write explicit stories, always hot, but they offer far more than just sizzling sex. I like to read about complex characters, and compelling plots, so that’s what I write too. Strong, demanding Doms are a given, often paired with new submissives who have a lot to learn.

I have a pile of story ideas still to work through, and keep thinking of new ones at the most unlikely moments, so you can expect to see a lot more from me.

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