Just Right is in print!

Just Right, the first book in the Bradfords series, is out in print!! (And I got my print copies delivered on my birthday!)
All three books in this series came out in 2010 and I’ve had such a good time with them. Now having them coming out in print in 2011 will prolong the fun!

For today, I thought I’d share the usual blurb and an excerpt (and a giveaway!) but also thought maybe I could include some trivial tidbits that you wouldn’t otherwise know about this book.

• It’s first title was Letting Loose
• Originally Jessica (who is an ER nurse) was a police officer
• It got me my first 1st place contest win (in a synopsis contest of all things!)
• I have five deleted scenes between Mario and Sophie—two of the teens featured in the story. The scenes show their romantic relationship develop too. (The book was over 100,000 words long with those scenes )
• Derek Jeter, of the New York Yankees, was the inspiration (physically) for Ben
• When I wrote Just Right I had no idea it was the start of a series.
• I wrote a huge amount of Just Right on an Alphasmart when I was between computers
• In the book, there are quotes painted on the walls at the youth center where Jessica volunteers. One is from Mark Twain (Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest) and another is from Ralph Waldo Emerson (… to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.)—I had both of these quotes hanging in my locker in high school.

I really want to give a copy away today so how about this—everyone who posts a favorite quote in the comment section will get entered into a drawing for a copy! (I'll draw a winner on Wednesday! Don't forget to include your e-mail addy!)

And without further ado, the blurb and an excerpt (one of my favorite scenes) from Just Right. Thanks for reading everybody! Erin

Just Right, available now from Samhain

To save one good man, she’ll have to let her inner bad girl out to play…

ER nurse Jessica Bradford is a good girl. Okay, a reformed bad girl, but she’s done her late father proud. Now she’s one step away from landing Dr. Perfect, aka handsome, sexy, heroic Ben Torres—the hot fudge and cherry on top of her hard work scooping out a respectable life.

Ben learned the art of sacrifice from his missionary parents, but when a drunk driver he saved kills three people, he quits. To be precise, the fist he plants in the man’s face gets him suspended. And the first dish he wants on his newly empty plate is Jessica—preferably naked.

Jessica can’t believe the Ben she’s found drowning his sorrows in a bar is her knight in shining scrubs. And he won’t be pried loose until she bets 48 hours of her time in a game of pool. She loses. And the next morning she stands to lose much more.

The Chief of Staff’s recommendation for the promotion she’s been after rides on her ability to keep Ben out of trouble until things blow over.

Except “trouble” is all Ben wants. And despite herself, Jessica finds that she’s more than willing to go down with him…

Warning: Contains hot love in a store dressing room and in the front seat of a car—at the expense of a very nice strawberry patch, unfortunately—oh, and hooker boots. Can’t forget the hooker boots.

Excerpt

“I’m in.”

Ben turned to see Jessica standing next to Hank, shoes off, holding a pool cue.

“Do you know how?” Ben asked, smiling at the picture she presented. This wasn’t the type of place he’d ever pictured her in, but she seemed to be adjusting… almost getting comfortable. Interesting. Very interesting.

“As bad as you suck, I’m not sure it matters if I know how,” she said. “But yeah, I’ve played.”

“Well, by all means,” Ben said, gesturing at the table. “Show me what you’ve got.”

“I think we need to establish what the stakes are.” Jessica rubbed the little blue square of chalk over the end of her stick as she watched him.

He shrugged. “I’ve only got about fifty bucks left.”

Jessica moved into position to break. She leaned over the end of the table, her skirt riding up on the backs of her thighs, positioned the cue between her first two right-handed fingers and lined up her shot.

And he just might let her win if it kept her standing like that.

“If I win, you let me take you home, finally.” She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled knowingly when she caught him studying her posterior assets.

“Okay.” This pool game suddenly seemed like the best idea he’d had in a long time.

Jessica looked smug as she turned back to line up her shot again.

“Don’t you want to know what I want if I win?” Ben asked, blatantly taking in the view.

“Sure. What do you want?”

“The next forty-eight hours with you.”

She stared at him over her shoulder, then straightened and faced him. “What?”

“If I win, you spend the next forty-eight hours with me.”

“Just like that?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. You drive me home and then you stay.”

“I’ve… um. I’ve got… stuff… to do.”

“Call in sick.”

She didn’t hesitate. “I’m not sick.”

Ben shook his head. “And you won’t lie about something like that, right? It would be irresponsible.”

Jessica raised her eyebrows. “Of course it would be.”

Ben sighed. It was typical that the first woman he wanted to sleep with in far too long to remember was a good girl.

Ben rested a hip against the pool table and regarded Jessica. “So, what happens when you really want to spend the whole day in bed?”

~ ~ ~

That annoying little flippy-thing happened in Jessica’s stomach again. It had been a long time since she’d wanted to stay in bed for the reasons Ben was implying. But, yeah, he had a point. If that happened, what would she do?

She cleared her throat. “I could put the stuff off until later, I guess.”

“I want you to spend the whole day with me, Jess,” Ben said seriously. “Two days, actually. Forty-eight hours.” Then he shrugged. “I can probably find someone else that would be interested though. Since you’re too busy.”

Jessica frowned. Come to think of it, she did feel ill when she thought of Ben with any other woman.

“Fine. My stuff can wait.”

Ben straightened and looked at her for a moment before he asked, “But you won’t lie about being sick, right?”

“I’m not sick,” she repeated. “But I’ll take care of it.”

“I’m sure you will,” he said, almost to himself. But before she could ask him what he meant he said, “So, it’s an enthusiastic yes?”

“It’s a reluctant ‘fine’.”

He grinned. “Good enough.”

Jessica broke the triangle of balls apart with a resounding clack… and went on to sink five of her seven balls before even pausing to survey the table.

Ben was staring at the pocket into which yet another striped ball had just fallen when she turned to smile at him smugly. It was worth all the irritation to see that look on his face.

She walked around the edge of the table to position her next shot. As she pulled her cue back she was confident that she would only need one more shot after this. But as she started her forward motion, Ben leaned over.

“Look at this picture,” he said softly. “A long stick, hard balls, you bent over the table…”

She missed.

Jessica stared at the ball that had bounced off the edge of the table and rolled back toward her. Damn. That should have been an easy shot.

Ben laughed and came around the corner of the table. He nudged her aside with his hip against hers.

“Okay, big shot. Let’s see if you can win without me letting you.” She slid over only enough to let

him line up his shot and crossed her arms.

Ben lined up the shot and Jessica watched and heard the balls smack together, then the dull thud of them falling into the pockets: two balls in the same shot, in the two corner pockets on the opposite end of the table. It was a brilliant shot. The shot of someone who had played a lot. Not the shot of someone who had been losing money at the game. Not the shot of someone who had been drinking heavily.

He continued shooting until no solid balls were left on the green surface.

“Game over,” Ben announced as the eight ball was still rolling down the shoot. He tossed his pool cue onto the table and lifted the beer mug, finishing off the last half.

She was still staring at the table.

“Let’s go.” Ben took her hand and started toward the door without a word to any of the people he’d spent the better part of his night, and wallet, on.

“You could have done that all along, couldn’t you?” she asked, grabbing her purse off the sticky tabletop as they passed and then tripping along behind him.

He glanced back at the table. “Yeah, probably.”

“Why didn’t you? With those guys? Why drop all that money?” she asked as he pulled her out the door and into the parking lot.

He shrugged. “No motivation to win.”

Jessica suddenly realized that she might just have her hands full with Ben Torres. Still stunned over how he’d finished the pool game just as she’d been completely convinced he could barely walk a straight line, Jessica stopped at her car door and inserted the key to unlock it. She might have her hands too full with Ben Torres she amended. And not in a good way.

Buy here!

When things are Just Right

One of my favorite books to write is now available. Tuesday was the official release day for Just Right and I said something on Twitter about how release day for a new book is better than my birthday. And here’s why:

Release days happen more than once a year (so far for me anyway!)
Release days make me feel creative and appreciated (Birthdays… well, maybe appreciated… )
There was no cake to try to say no to, to eat anyway, and to then feel guilty about
No one asked me how old I was on Tuesday
Release days mean I give stuff to other people rather than getting stuff

For instance, I’m giving two copies of the book away right here, today!

Now here’s the best part. Yes, there’s an excerpt below. Yes, this the first book in a three-book series with details on my website. Yes, I’m having a contest on my website. BUT, to get entered into this drawing you don’t even have to work at it. All you have to do is say something nice about me, my writing, my books (okay, it's an ego thing--so what? :))… a simple “Erin, you are gorgeous, intelligent and talented!” or “I can’t live without reading everything you’ll ever write!” will suffice! LOL

I’ll draw from all comments posted by 10 p.m. CST!

Oh, and this excerpt is exclusive to this group/ never-before-seen (unless you’ve already bought the book and read it-- and if that's the case THANK YOU! :))!

Blurb:


To be a good bad boy you have to find just the right girl…
ER nurse Jessica Bradford is a good girl. Okay, more like a reformed bad girl. She’s determined to be the woman her late father wanted her to be. And she knows she should be with someone like Dr. Ben Torres-- in charge, dedicated, selfless. The tall, dark and handsome part is just a bonus.

So Jessica agrees to keep Ben out of trouble after he’s suspended from the hospital for punching a belligerent, drunk patient in the emergency room. She’ll get the needed recommendation from the Chief of Staff for the promotion she wants and she’ll have a great reason to spend more time with Dr. Perfect. But suddenly she’s got a problem. Outside of work Ben’s not so dependable, or perfect after all…and he’s even more tempting than before.

Ben’s done being everybody’s hero. What’s being a trauma surgeon ever gotten him but horrible hours and a bunch of responsibilities that make his life complicated? His sudden time off from the hospital is not only overdue, it’s a blessing. Which he intends to enjoy fully.

Jessica can’t believe Ben is acting more like a kid in a candy store than a man who’s about to throw his career away. Even more, she can’t believe that she still wants him like ice cream wants hot fudge. She tries her best to keep him out of trouble—except “trouble” is all Ben’s interested in.

And suddenly Jessica’s having trouble remembering why that’s a bad thing…

Excerpt:

“Pull over.”

She looked at him. “What?”

“I said, pull over,” Ben repeated, more firmly. “Now.”

“Ben, you’re being grumpy because I—”

“Jessica, pull the damn truck over right now!”

She took her annoyance out on the brake, bringing his truck to an abrupt stop.

“What are you—”

“Pull in there.”

He pointed ahead to a dirt alley about a hundred yards from the massive house that sat up a slight rise off to the right of where they were stopped.

Jessica followed his instructions, turning in and bumping along the narrow path for about twenty feet before stopping.

She shoved the gearshift into park and turned to face him. “I don’t know what you’re trying—”

“Turn off the lights.”

She did, angrily.

“Anything else?” she asked with fake sweetness.

“Yeah. Come here.” His command was soft, but very firm.

Her frown deepened. “Excuse me?”

Ben couldn’t have put to words exactly what he was feeling. Jealousy seemed to be the most logical, but that seemed too simple an explanation. This woman was important to him and he wanted to be important to her. He knew that John Shepard, no matter how much money he’d spent on her, hadn’t appreciated her. It didn’t sound like he’d even pleasured her. Which, strangely, made Ben happy and pissed him off at the same time. It wasn’t just the other guy. It was that Jessica had been cheated and she deserved the best. With him.

“I said come here.”

“Where?” she asked, looking less irritated and more wary now.

Ben spread his arms. “Right here. Now.”

She hesitated long enough for him to grow impatient. He reached out, looped his arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

Round eyes met his. Her skirt hiked up high as her legs spread to straddle to his. “What are you doing?”

“I can’t take you to Paris tonight and I can’t give you thousands of dollars to spend on shoes, but I sure as hell can give you an orgasm.”

He held the back of her head in one hand as he took her mouth with all of the frustration and jealousy and anger he felt. But most of the anger was on her behalf and he was a very smart man. He knew he was holding one of the sexiest, smartest, best women he’d ever met and he was going to savor every minute.

He gentled his mouth and kissed her until she was breathing hard and had the front of his shirt clenched in her fists.

“Did John-boy ever do you in a car?” he asked against her mouth.

She tried to shake her head, but Ben wouldn’t let her head move enough. “No,” she whispered.

“Up against the pyramids in Egypt?”

He felt her small smile against his lips. “No. It was always a bed, always dark, him always on top.”

Ben moved his hand to her thigh and moved it to cup her buttock. “That’s great. I don’t know how I’d top the pyramid thing.”

And the angry tension left her body all at once. She melted into him, moving her mouth against his, her tongue stroking across his bottom lip until he opened and took possession of her mouth.
She pulled back two minutes later. “It’s not a competition. With you it’s—”

“It’s going to be different in every way,” he interrupted. “It’s going to be everything it wasn’t with him.”

“It already is,” she said with a soft smile.

But that wasn’t good enough. Ben was pretty sure he was already one up with the dressing room stunt earlier, but he wasn’t finished. When he was done with her, she wouldn’t remember how to spell John Shepard.

“Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

She sat back in his lap. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve never told a man what you like, what you want, what will give you the most satisfaction. Tell me.” Just thinking about her telling him where she wanted to be touched was enough to make him hard. But more, the idea of giving her pleasure she’d never come close to made his heart pound.

She bit her bottom lip, watching his face and Ben wondered if she’d be too embarrassed to say her thoughts out loud. Or if she wouldn’t know what she wanted.

“Jessica, I can—”

“Lick my nipples.”

He almost swallowed his tongue. He watched, speechless as she stripped the tiny T-shirt off and arched her back, bringing her breasts to his face.

“You’ve got the best nipples I’ve ever seen,” Ben said gruffly, cupping one breast in his hand.

“Yeah, we might have to talk about your sexual past too, eventually. But right now I want that orgasm you promised me,” she said, letting her head fall back.

He lifted her breast, bringing her nipple to his lips where he obligingly licked. Again and again.

She went from holding her breath to breathing raggedly.

He moved to the other breast, but licked only once before sucking gently, then more firmly as she put her hand at the back of his head to urge him on.

“What else?” he asked, somehow.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be big into foreplay,” she said, breathlessly.

“Whatever you want.” Ben ran a thumb over one of her stiff nipples.

She moaned and wiggled on his lap. “Touch me…”

“Where?” he urged as she shifted.

“You know,” she whispered.

“Say it.”

“I’ll show you instead.”

Part of him wanted to hear it, but he certainly wasn’t complaining when she moved his hand between her legs, shifted her knee so he could better reach and then pressed him against her heat.

“There,” she purred as he slid a finger under the edge of the thong and inside of her. “Right there.”

How any man could have had her all to himself for ten months, every night, and not managed to take the time to fully enjoy her was beyond him. But he wasn’t complaining about being the first and only.

Or was he…

“Did you have an orgasm with Tim Hubert on his basement couch?” Ben asked, stroking in and out even as he spoke.

She shook her head. “No. Not until you.”

He’d wanted it. He’d assumed it for a few minutes. But hearing it, not until you, made him harder than he’d ever been in his life. He wanted to be her only everything.

“Hold on tight, darlin’,” he said, increasing the pressure and rhythm.

Learn more here!

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