First BOOK Friday-- Juniper Bell

It's First BOOK Friday!  For the next few months, we're going to highlight the first book from each of the Nine Naughties.  Sometimes people find us further down our backlist, sometimes readers think they're picking up our first book when really it's number 3 or so, sometimes our first book was so long ago even we've forgotten!  (just kidding... it's true that you never forget your first!).  So we thought it would be fun to revisit the books that started it all for each of us!


This month we're featuring the first book from Juniper Bell,  The Extremist.


A note from Juniper:

The day before I got “the call,” I drove my car 250 feet down a ravine. I skidded on black ice, veered into a snowbank, hit a tree, overturned, then went toboggan-ing down the hillside upside down. My husband and I were hanging by our seatbelts all the way down. Our crazy rollercoaster ride finally ended when the car slammed into snow packed under a fallen tree branch. My husband kept his cool much better than I did.  I couldn’t find my glasses, and kept babbling, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” He calmed me down and got us out through the back seat window, since the windshield was completely caved in. It happened to be a stretch of Alaska highway with no cell service. We grabbed as much stuff as we could carry, but sadly had to leave behind the leftover salmon that now littered the snow with fleshy specks of pink. It must have been flung forward at some point. We figured the squirrels would love us. We scrambled back up the icy ravine, then stood by the side of the highway, giddy with adrenaline, bleeding, shaken, and completely, deliriously happy. We actually whooped. “I guess the universe has more for us to do before we go,” my husband decided. “I guess so.”

The next day, I got an email that Liquid Silver wanted to buy my first book, The Extremist. Sometimes I think the crazy rollercoaster ride has never really stopped. 

Blurb:

Sex on the beach…just what the doctor ordered.

Lovely, shy Annie Swenson has a few phobias. Okay, more than a few. Crowds, heights, sun, public exposure.  When her therapist urges her to take a vacation, she picks a remote island in the Bahamas – the perfect solo hideaway.

So much for plans. Who knew she’d be the only single woman at the resort? Who knew her nemesis from college would be staying there?  Who knew she’d be desperate enough to introduce the gorgeous man behind her in the buffet line as her boyfriend?  

The sexy stranger goes along with her charade…for a price. Before she knows it, she’s playing his erotic, boundary-pushing games and loving it. How far will she go? How many of her inhibitions will she shatter? And who is this mysterious man known as “The Extremist”? After a vacation like this, Annie’s life will never be the same.

Reader Advisory: This novella contains explicit sex, light bondage, exhibitionism, a supremely hot Aussie, and, of course, sex on the beach. 

Excerpt:

A gorgeous, pink sand beach stretched from one side of the bay to the next, and Annie couldn’t see a single person on it. A few houses, along with several large estates, were scattered on the cliffs above. The scent of gardenia drifted over the waves from someone’s garden.

Martin went to the cooler that held their breakfast. “Hungry?” he asked Annie over his shoulder.

“Sure. I usually eat toast and a little yogurt for breakfast.”

“Change of menu, then,” he said, handing her a slice of papaya. “This is the tropics, you know. You can’t eat toast in the tropics.”

The papaya, tasting of lime and lushness, slid across her tongue. Martin watched her with his eyes darkening. “I can live with the outfit, with some slight adjustments.”

“What?” she said warily, through a mouthful of fruit.

He leaned forward and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt. Annie made no move to stop him. Another button went, then another, until the shirt was halfway unbuttoned and her bra exposed. “No bra, for starters.”

“What?”

“In fact, I don’t like this bra.” It was plain white cotton, like all her bras. “Do you have any scissors in that first aid kit of yours?”

“What are you talking about?” For the first time, she wondered if he was literally crazy. Was he going to cut her clothes to shreds? She was considering throwing herself overboard when he returned from her bag, scissors in hand.

“Shhh,” he said when she tried to object. “Don’t worry so much.” His eyes held a concentrated, relentless look that made her shrink back weakly against the side of the boat. Two short snips severed her bra straps. He reached around her back and unsnapped the fastener, then drew the bra away from her body. “Much better,” he breathed, letting one finger brush against her right nipple. When it stiffened eagerly he smiled. “You see? No one liked that bra.”

He drew the shirt off one shoulder, leaving one breast exposed and the other hidden. They’re so white they gleam.” He stroked his hand in a circle around the breast he’d bared.

“Much nicer. Now, I don’t mind your outfit so much. Your breasts are beautiful.”

Annie felt a deep quiver run through her body. Even though his hand was nowhere near her nipple, still it jumped to attention.

“You don’t understand. I need to protect my skin. I need SPF 100,” she said in a choked voice.

“So that’s your beauty secret. I like mineral oil myself. No worries.” He triumphantly held up her sunscreen and advanced toward her. She shrank back, mouth dry. “But you’d better take the whole shirt off then.” He eased it off her shoulders. Her hands flew to cover her breasts. “Now, now, that won’t do. You’re too beautiful to hide. Rest your arms along the side of the boat.”

With her arms stretched to either side, she gave her body to his touch. With slow, teasing motions, he spread the sunscreen over her pale skin. She felt the sun beating down on her head and saw the glints of gold it sparked in Martin’s hair. He began with her torso, tracing the bones of her rib cage and using a delicate touch just short of a tickle on her sensitive belly. It made her squirm slightly, with an embarrassed laugh.

“I like the way you move,” he murmured. He stood directly in front of her and ran his hand up her chest, between her breasts, ending with his hand circling her neck. Her head bent back against the side of the boat, and her eyes closed against the dazzling sunshine.

Add it to your library here!