Who Says You Can't Go Home?

Last year, I went to my high school reunion. (No, I'm not going to tell you which one.) I think it was my favorite of the reunions we've had, simply because it was so relaxed and casual. No expensive dinner-dance, no posturing and working to impress - we just hung out, shared stories, and enjoyed being together.

I know not all reunions are like that. I think we're lucky, in my class, that we genuinely like each other. I worked in the same school district years later, and even then staff would tell me that our class had a reputation for being nice. It's a good reputation to have, isn't it?

So when I sat down to write The Girls Most Likely To series, I had my classmates in mind - people who aren't perfect, but who care for and support each other. That's the tight bond that Kelsey, Bree and Tess share. And when it comes to breaking the "yearbook curse", they know they can depend on each other to be there throughout it all.

(And a note to my high school friends - don't worry, your secrets are safe with me!)

(With Abby and Guy, at the reunion...)

They're The Girls Most Likely To...

Ten years ago, Kelsey, Bree, and Tess were inseparable. Best friends forever, they'd spent their senior year on top of the world. But right after graduation, everything changed.

The yearbook curse hit them, and hit them hard.

Kelsey, voted Most Likely To Succeed, instead found herself trapped by circumstances in the one place she'd always dreamed of escaping—her hometown. Anne, one-half of Silverton High School's Cutest Couple, learned the hard way that young love doesn't always turn out the way you want it to. And Tess, Silverton’s Life of the Party, ends up stuck in the friend zone longer than she’d ever anticipated.

Now it's time for their class reunion. Kelsey knows catching up with classmates who'd found the success she never achieved is going to be torture, but she can't stay away—especially when the news spreads that her former lab partner and secret crush might be there as well. Tess couldn't miss it even if she wanted to—she's chairing the reunion committee, after all.  And Bree hopes that finally she'll learn why her high school sweetheart was able to remove himself from her life so completely, taking her heart with him.

One weekend. One hometown. One chance to break the yearbook curse, and finally prove they really are The Girls Most Likely To...

Book One, Most Likely To Succeed, comes out March 25. You can preorder it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Carina.

New Release: BEAUTIFUL OBSESSION

Hey, I just had a book come out! BEAUTIFUL OBSESSION is an Exotika release from Ellora's Cave. It's an M/F/M/M story with a touch of BDSM in it. This story has a naughty college setting, a threesome aiming to lure in a sexy graduate student, and some shocking secrets from the past. My editor was kind enough to say it has an F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby-esque quality to it. I consider that to be an amazing compliment, but I'll let you be the judge.


Here's the blurb and a short excerpt.
 

Jack Cartwright has put his wild sexual side firmly in the past so he can focus on his graduate studies. All he wants is to finish his thesis. But the appearance of three mysterious students in a neighboring suite throws his careful plans into chaos. Especially when he catches the three of them together…in bed.

Clare, Luc and Rob have a highly unusual relationship. Friends since childhood, the two boys rescued Clare from unimaginable horrors. They’ve been her protectors ever since, and something more. But Clare can’t stop thinking about the sexy, smoldering resident advisor down the hall, and what fierce urges might be hiding behind his controlled exterior.

Now Jack’s dark sexual needs threaten to derail his career as the irresistible threesome lures him into their secret erotic world. But when obsession takes hold, rules don’t stand a chance.

Reader Advisory: Contains m/m/f/m, anal play and other activities not usually associated with an Ivy League institution.

 EXCERPT

 

First glimpse

Adams House Dining Hall—Earlton University

A flash of clear gray shone in a sea of jeans and many shades of black—like the first wink of a star in a familiar night sky. Eyes. Gorgeous, mysterious eyes that sent a shaft of shocking lust straight to Jack’s groin. Squinting, he searched for those remarkable eyes again but the students had shifted position and that compelling moonbeam glance was gone.

Jack shook it off as a silly hallucination and joined the cafeteria line. He tuned out the din of “what’s your major, what’d you do over the summer” chatter. Delving back into the question of Spartan law that had come up during a stubborn chapter of his thesis, he barely noticed what food the server handed him. It wasn’t until he scanned the crowded tables to find a seat that he saw her again. Her face came into sudden, stunning focus, like a camera snap-zooming on the most interesting image in the room.

Those eyes. Secretive, misty-gray, one slightly more tilted than the other, as if an artist had deliberately included a flaw to distract from her oval-faced, Madonna-like perfection. Her hair was a dark spill down her back, with a careless pin holding it away from her face. She wore a white, sleeveless blouse that revealed arms that were slim to the point of thinness. Her pale skin stood out among the students sunburned from their summer breaks. Her lips were far too full for her mouth, almost embarrassingly generous and erotic. One corner of her mouth curled inward, as if it had a scar. She sat close to the guy beside her and looked nervously around the dining hall with its arched windows and wall sconces. Her friend was big, brawny, walnut-haired, silent. His fork looked as if it might break in his hand.

They must be new to Adams House. Sophomores or transfers from another house. Boyfriend and girlfriend, no doubt.

His cock surged. He fiddled with his tray as he ruthlessly willed away his erection. He’d gotten used to burying his sexual needs under research and grades and thesis chapters. His life was about graduate school now, not sex.

He forced himself to look away, spotted another graduate student waving him over, and brushed past the girl’s table. Damn if he was going to let a sexy student get to him. He knew better than that.

The Inane Scrawlings of Clare Gaston, AKA My Diary—September 15

Today Jack Cartwright walked past our table in the dining hall. I couldn’t take my eyes off his hands. I actually wanted to be the cafeteria tray. Ridiculous, but true! His hands would be on me, then maybe on my hips, maybe on my thighs. I wouldn’t mind if he carried me naked through the dining hall and ate off my body. I’d want him to. That’s how crazy this is making me, has been since I first laid eyes on him.

J has the best hands I’ve ever seen. The palms themselves are broad and strong as a stonemason’s—that tray looked like a postage stamp, I swear. But the fingers look sensitive. I bet he knows just what he’s doing. I want to know what he knows. I want to feel what he knows on my body. Through osmosis. Which rhymes with neurosis. And diagnosis.

My epic saga class is paying off. I’m getting good at thinking up rhymes.

         Diagnosis: obsession.

CLICK TO BUY  

Enjoy, and thanks for celebrating (a bit late) with me! 

Juniper 

Dark Obsession: Now in PRINT!

A few weeks ago Syd and Kate held down the fort, so to speak, while the rest of us were living it up at RT. Today I'm repaying the favor (in part, anyway *g*) by posting about Sydney's new print release.

Dark Obsession is the fourth book in the Shadow Destroyers series. If you take your paranormal romantic suspense red hot and fast-paced, this is the series for you! A kick-ass, demon slaying heroine. A lust-demon-initiated hero. What's not to like?

Scorching desire…fatal consequences.

Shadow Destroyers, Book 4

Demon slayer Rae McAvoy refuses to let anything stand between her and getting the job done. Especially her ex. Loving Parker nearly destroyed her, and if partnering with him one last time means he’ll be reassigned and out of her life for good, bring it on.

If Parker was the only threat to her heart, tracking down one rogue scientist would be a snap. Except the scientist in question is Rae’s father, and his experiments are hitting much too close to home.
Parker Walsh hasn’t forgotten the passion that once burned between them, and he’s determined to remind Rae every chance he gets. But giving in to more than just lust could mean surrendering to the darkness inside him—the same darkness that once drove her away.

Riding the edge of their rising desire pushes them to the breaking point, until an explosion of passion raises the stakes even higher. Especially when long-buried secrets force them to break the last links to their past—or else be consumed by an obsession so dark it could tear them apart for good.

Warning: Contains a fierce battle of wills between reunited lovers, explosive sexual tension, sarcasm, gritty demon-slaying violence, scorching sex and a love worth fighting for.

Excerpt:

It all came down to a towel.

Hundreds of hours logged in the training room until her muscles ached from exhaustion, dozens of injuries—some that had come close to killing her—countless demons tracked and slayed, and Rae McAvoy was about to be done-in by a white terry cloth towel.

More precisely, the white terry cloth draped precariously around her ex’s waist.

The second she stepped off the elevator and spotted Parker Walsh leaning against the wall next to her office, in nothing but a towel, she gave serious thought to turning around and hitting the close button on the elevator panel.

Need—hot and sharp and all kinds of trouble—buzzed through her veins. For about ten seconds, anyway, then she was back in control, striding down the hall toward him as though she couldn’t care less what he wore. Or didn’t wear, for that matter, even if she had to fight to keep her gaze locked on his face.

Telling herself not to look was a lot like not reaching for a weapon when she crossed paths with a Shadow Demon—it just wasn’t in her, not where Parker was concerned. She might be determined to keep things professional between them, but that didn’t make her blind.

Parker had a good five inches on her in height, not to mention the solid wall of muscle that was just inches away. Smooth, hot muscle she’d been thinking about running her fingers down for weeks. Years, if she counted the time between their rough breakup and his reassignment to her field office seven weeks ago.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t changed nearly enough over the years. He wore his dark brown hair in the same careless style—just long enough to run his fingers through when he was frustrated and still hide the scar on his forehead she’d given him when they’d met.

His smile still carried that playful, I-could-eat-you-up edge she’d found increasingly difficult to ignore lately. And those deep, earthy green eyes that promised night after night of long, hot—

No. No way was she going there today.

Parker’s size, his overwhelming nearness, ultimately meant nothing to her. She’d worked too hard to let anything like personal history get in the way of taking down the enemy. He might not be an emotion-hungry demon, but that didn’t make Parker her ally either.

Not when he’d broken her heart.

Parker’s grin widened as she approached, and after seven weeks of him shadowing her every step, tracking her every move, watching her every breath, both her patience and her willpower were wearing thin. That arrogant I-know-I’m-getting-to-you smile of his really had to go.

Today worked for her.

Giving him her best bored look, she opened her office door. “Funny, I don’t remember any memos about a change in acceptable dress code. Do you?”

She directed the last part to Drew Reid as he stepped into the hall at that exact moment.

Knowing Drew, his timing likely hadn’t been a coincidence. He carried the same gene she and Parker did, one that allowed a demon’s dakorum, its essence, to mutate their DNA, giving them the same abilities as the demon that attacked them. With his acutely heightened senses, thanks to the stealth demon that initiated him, he’d probably heard her the second she’d stepped off the elevator and wanted to watch the show.

She might have been annoyed at the reminder that the friction between her and Parker was the hottest gossip to hit the Shadow Destroyer water cooler scene, if she wasn’t so relieved she had an excuse to avoid looking at Parker’s solid chest.

Any excuse would do, even if it meant that whatever Drew witnessed would inevitably be passed along to the rest of her team. Seemed like the only thing Rae could count on these days were demons running loose on her home turf and her agents wasting time speculating on her sex life.

Hopefully the former would keep the other Destroyers—trained demon slayers whose DNA had also been mutated during a demon encounter—from dwelling on any new tidbit for long.

Drew rocked back on his heels, shooting a knowing look between her and Parker. Probably the same look she’d been firing his way a month ago when he’d gotten involved with another agent’s sister.

“Awkward,” Drew finally mumbled, then turned and strolled down the hall as though he wasn’t chomping at the bit to report the latest to the rest of the team the first chance he got.

As much as she wanted to glare after Drew and order him into her office—surely he’d screwed up something lately—she squared her shoulders and sailed straight past Parker.

Her fleeting hope that he’d go back to his office—or better yet, to the personal quarters down the hall that he’d made his temporary home—fizzled and died when he trailed after her. At least he left the door open. Knowing him, he did it to prove he didn’t need to box her in to intimidate her.

She slid behind the desk and accessed her e-mail to mask just how much he did. She’d long ago given up on figuring out why being outnumbered by demons with only chopsticks to defend herself didn’t feel half as threatening as being in the same room as Parker.

She slanted him a quick look, noticing his bare feet. God, even the man’s toes were sexy.

“There’s no hot water in my quarters, Rae.”

“So you didn’t get my e-mail about the scheduled maintenance work for the next week or two?” Longer if she could swing it.

“There’s hot water in the locker room.”

“Weird how all that plumbing stuff works.”

He flattened his palms on her desk. “Playing games won’t get you what you want.”

A rush of heat worked up from her toes, warming her stomach before she forced herself to ignore the distracting sensation. He’d need to do more than flex a few pheromones to get her to back off.

Since Parker had been initiated by a lust demon, his mutated DNA left him with a particular skill set that took “weak in the knees” to a whole new level. But today her intimate knowledge of how easily he attracted other people, even when he wasn’t trying—unlike now—left her with the advantage.

Expose someone to something long enough and they learned to build up a tolerance to it.

But since he deserved a little credit for the effort, she only arched a brow instead of rolling her eyes. “And what is it that you think I want?”

A seductive smile caught his mouth, reminding her of how she’d ended up in his bed to begin with. Judging by the flare of heat in his eyes, he knew exactly what she was thinking about. Hard not to when the man oozed raw, earthy sex from top to bottom and everywhere in between.

“If you’re not comfortable here, there’s always a hotel.” She refused to consider his relocation permanent. She’d been hanging on by a thread for the last few days. One tiny, stretched-taut thread. She needed him out from under her feet and wasn’t above cheating to do it.

“If you want to get rid of me you’re going to have to get a lot more creative.”

Rae shrugged. “Seeing as you’re due for reassignment any day now, what would be the point?” Aside from her personal satisfaction, of course.

His cocky grin widened, a sliver of menace creeping in. Without a word he turned and left the room, the flimsy towel doing nothing to detract from the rugged determination in each stride.

Damn it, he knew something.

Buy it Here

Old Sins, Long Shadows: New Release

There were times while I was writing this book when I wondered if it would ever see the light of day. You might think, after you've gotten a few books under your belt, that writing would become routine. Uh...no. That's not what happens. At least not all the time. Definitely not with this book.

True, I was a little preoccupied during some of that time. Let's see, there was the moving, the writing, the re-writing, the editing (all for other books, you understand) more re-writing, promoting, traveling, another move, not to mention a whole host of family related mini-crises...

So, yeah, maybe it's not such a surprise this took so long to finish. But I think the real issue here was my need to do justice to these characters. Sometimes characters work their way so deeply into your heart that it's almost paralyzing. There's the need to make their scenes as perfect as possible--to the point where you go over and over the same pages so many times you could recite them in your sleep. There's the fear that, no matter how much you fuss with it, you still won't be able to pull it off. There's the knowledge that, no matter what you do, there are always going to be people who just don't like it. Even people who loved the first book in the series--and, right after your characters, those are the last people you want to disappoint! 

Eventually, however, you reach this point where I am now. Old Sins, Long Shadows is finally off my hands, out the door and on its own. And while I rarely subscribe to the "books are authors' babies" theory, I have to admit my emotions are not altogether different than they were the morning my son went off to kindergarten for the very first time. Just like then, I suspect I'll be holding my breath for most of the day.

Living forever is hard, but loving forever? That’s damn near impossible.

Children of Night, Book 2

1856, New York City. Moments after Conrad Quintano drives his life-mate away, heartache and guilt descend around his heart like a pall. Convinced that Damian’s hatred is as permanent as the scars Conrad has inflicted on him, Conrad steels himself for an eternity of emotional torture.

Present day, San Francisco. For the sake of vampire twins Marc and Julie Fischer, Conrad and Damian present a united parental front. In reality, their truce is a sham. Conrad, weakened by his recent ordeal, struggles against the urge to bring his mate back to his bed. And Damian misinterprets Conrad’s explosive temper as proof their relationship is irreparably broken.

When an old enemy’s quest to create a dangerous new breed of vampire threatens the twins’ lives—and the precarious state of vampire peace—it’s imperative the estranged lovers put the past behind them. Or the shadows of the past will tear apart everything they hold dear.

Warning: This book may not be suitable for readers with an aversion to emotionally damaged vampire heroes. Caution is advised if you have experienced prior sensitivity to any of the following: costume parties, fencing lessons, interspecies, inter-generational or intra-gender dating, occasional mild violence, and/or recreational blood-drinking. 

Excerpt:  

Ah, there you are!” Damian swept into the kitchen, startling Conrad, who was seated at the table. “Good. I’ve been looking for you.”

Conrad fumbled the PVC blood bag he was holding, nearly dropping it. He bit back an oath and glanced up, scowling. Damian was dressed as though he’d just come from the gym, and all in black like a damn cliché. His dark hair was pulled away from his face and the scent of exertion still clung to his skin. Conrad’s fingers clenched more tightly around the bag in his hand. His heart pounded with a savage rhythm. Of all the people he could not bear to be this close to right now, with his hunger running rampant and his self-control at low ebb, Damian undoubtedly topped the list.

“What do you want?” he growled, frustrated by his inability to tame the simmering need that even now was urging him to grab Damian by the throat, slam him against the nearest surface, bury his fangs in his neck and his cock in his ass and reclaim what was his. He buried his fangs in the bag instead and felt his gut heave at the faint chemical taste.

It tasted wrong. It was always going to taste wrong. And it was never going to be enough to satisfy either his hunger or his thirst.

“I need to talk to you about something.” Seemingly oblivious to Conrad’s foul mood, Damian pulled out a chair and seated himself. He was close enough to Conrad they could have clasped hands on the tabletop had either of them been so inclined. Close enough that they might speak softly to each other and not be overheard. Entirely. Too. Close.

“Very well then. Talk.” Forcing himself not to recoil, Conrad swallowed another mouthful. Another tremor wracked his frame. He tried not to imagine the pitiful picture he must be presenting. He would survive it. His pride had taken worse hits than this over the centuries.

Damian made no answer. Conrad glanced impatiently at him. “Well?”

Damian waved a hand at the bags heaped on the table. “What are you doing here with all of this?”

It was so stupid a question Conrad refused to even dignify it with an answer. “Is that really what you came down here to talk to me about? I would have thought you’d have better things to do with your time.” He drained the pouch in his hand, tossed it aside and was reaching for another when Damian put out a hand to stop him.

“Espere,” he said. “Querido, wait.” His fingers closed on Conrad’s wrist and time stalled.

A low growl rose from Conrad’s throat as he stared, transfixed, at the hand on his arm. His control began to slip. Furious, he lifted his gaze to Damian’s face and the hand was hurriedly withdrawn, but Conrad’s skin still burned from the touch. With his eyes locked on Damian’s, daring him to try and interfere again, he picked up a new bag and deliberately sank his teeth into the plastic.

Damian’s nostrils flared. “Honestly, if this is all you’ve been eating, it’s no wonder you’ve yet to regain your full strength. You need fresh food, Conrad. Living food. Shall I find you some?”

Conrad sighed. He knew exactly what he needed and didn’t need, as well as what he could and could not have. He drained the second bag and reached for a third, forcing himself to speak calmly. “No, this is not all I’m eating. But, this early in the day… I fear I do not always find myself in the proper frame of mind to attempt anything else.”

He toyed with the unappetizing bag while he considered his options, coming quickly to the same conclusion he’d already drawn. There were none. By later this evening the edge of his hunger would be blunted. The worst of his venom would have been reabsorbed. He would have more choices. Until then, no matter how much he wished to feed from the living, he would not do it. He couldn’t take the chance of damaging one of the staff. That would only cause trouble, start rumors and end badly. As for attempting to take nourishment from one of his own… Appealing though the thought of it was, as an option it was even less acceptable.

His gaze following his thoughts, he cast a glance in Damian’s direction. His eyes cut to the scarf knotted at Damian’s throat. Anguish flared. Did Damian mean for it to serve as a constant reminder to him of the injuries it covered—injuries Conrad himself had inflicted—or was that just a happy accident?

He forced his gaze back to Damian’s face and inquired coldly, “You weren’t by any chance thinking of offering yourself for the purpose of slaking my thirst, were you?” As he’d expected, Damian’s face blanched. One hand crept protectively toward his neck. Conrad sneered, cruelly amused by the sudden increase in the tempo of Damian’s pulse. “No. Not such a pleasant thought, is it?”

Damian swallowed hard. He placed both hands on the table and deliberately folded them together. His face impassive, he met Conrad’s eyes with a steady gaze. “You still aren’t sleeping well, are you? Is it the nightmares again?”

Above all else, Conrad hated that Damian should know him so well. That he could so unerringly pinpoint the exact location of every weakness, every fault line, every flaw. “Yes.”

“What can I do to help?”

Conrad sighed. “You can tell me whatever it is you came here to talk to me about and then you can leave me to finish my meal in peace.”

Buy it Here 

Athlete romance heroes - yay or nay?

I’ve read the advice that romance writers should never write about heroes who are athletes. But I’ve broken rules before, and writing a romance with a hockey player hero was something I always wanted to do. So I did it!

Why shouldn’t we use athletes as heroes? I actually don’t know the reason behind it other than I always thought it was maybe because they were “overused” and people got tired of them. But actually, I haven’t read many romances where the hero is a professional athlete. Susan Elizabeth Phillips writes about great football players. One of my favourite Sandra Brown books, Play Dirty, is about a (former) NFL quarterback - OMG I loved Griff. I’ve read a few books about hockey players - a couple of Harlequins and a Rachel Gibson book. Erin McCarthy writes some great stories about NASCAR racers and Jill Shalvis has written about baseball players.

Today is release day for my book Breakaway, which features a professional hockey player hero. Lest you think that hockey players are big and ugly and have no teeth, behold:


Zach Parise (Can I just say a hockey player in a suit is sooooo hot)




Henrik Lundqvist



Jose Theodore



Mike Camalleri



Maxime Lapierre



Patrick Sharp

But of course, it’s not looks that make a hero, although big muscles and a sexy smile do help! Qualities of determination, passion, loyalty, dedication, sacrifice and courage are important for heroes too. And don’t professional athletes have all those? In Breakaway, Jase is a man who grew up with a lot of struggles that made him determined to succeed. He’s loyal to his team, dedicated to his sport and passionate about hockey. He’s brave enough to fight when he needs to, but smart enough to step away when fighting isn’t right. He’s not perfect—he’s afraid of commitment and responsibility outside the rink (at least, at first) and he’s a fun loving guy rather than serious. But a hero is also someone who’s brave enough to face his flaws and fears and who is willing to grow.

In Breakaway, Remi’s best friend isn’t thrilled that Remi is getting involved with a professional athlete. She’s thinking about the athletes who've been in the news lately—men who cheat on their wives. Men who are accused of rape or "sexting". Men who get drunk and crash their cars. Men who take performance enhancing drugs. Some of the qualities that make them so successful—single-minded determination and ambition —can also turn selfish. And when an athlete becomes a “star”, when he becomes wealthy, able to do whatever he wants, buy whatever he wants, maybe that can change him. Maybe he feels privileged, entitled, above the law.

Jase is successful and he has reporters and puck bunnies stalking him, and he’s definitely wealthy, but at his core he remains profoundly grateful for the talent he’s been given and determined to make the best of that by working hard at his profession. Yes, it’s a game, but even fun-loving Jase knows it’s a business and it’s serious. And when the chips are down—oh, sorry wrong game metaphor. How about, when the puck is dropped, Jase mans up and takes responsibility for his actions.

Any other athlete romance heroes you’ve fallen in love with?

For an excerpt from Breakaway visit my blog.
To win a copy of Breakaway, come like my Facebook page.
And if you join my newsletter group you can enter to win a copy - I give away one copy of every new release to one newsletter subscriber!


Click to join KellyJamiesonnewsletter

In the Dark --now in print

When you live forever, you're bound to make a few mistakes...

What can you say about a 1960s hippie chick who died? That she was as beautiful as Ali McGraw playing Jennifer Cavilleri. And possibly braver. That she loved Christmas and chocolate. And the Beatles. And a sexy, eleven hundred year old vampire she met while crashing a party. 

Or that I'm totally ripping off Erich Segal's Love Story with this opening. 

It's fitting, actually, because In the Dark (which was just released in print this week) really is a love story, as opposed to a romance. 

I know. That totally surprised the hell out of me as well. In fact, the book was finished before I realized what I'd done and, by then, with the rest of the series mostly planned out, it was too late to change it even if I'd wanted to. Which I didn't.

I will admit that the final scene between Conrad and Suzanne/Desert Rose was the most difficult I've ever written. I will admit to having become convinced, at one point, that I was channeling the ghost of Nick Spark's evil, dead, gay twin brother (a bitchy and totally fictitious [so far as I know] spirit whom I decided to call Dick). But what can I say? As my malicious muse kept insisting, you really can't write about vampires without writing about death. Besides,  this book opened the way for the sequel, which Samhain has just contracted, which is a romance  So I guess it all worked out after all.

So if you like vampires and tragic love stories with what Holly from Long and Short Reviews has termed "a different kind of happy ending," I hope you'll give it a try. 

Blurb: 1969 San Francisco. World-weary Conrad Quintano should have known better than to fall in love with a human—much less Suzanne Fischer, the barely legal, adventure-seeking hippie beauty known as Desert Rose. And the very last thing he should have agreed to do was to raise her babies and protect them with his life. But even twelve-hundred-year-old master vampires can find it hard to reject a deathbed request—especially when issues of love, guilt and blood are involved.

Present day. Raised in virtual isolation, twins Marc and Julie Fischer have always known they are vampires. But they never knew their parentage—or their unique status in the vampire world—until their “uncle” Damian comes to fetch them home. The family reunion, however, isn’t what they expect. They’re thrust into a world for which they’re totally unprepared. And the father they expected to see, Conrad, is missing.

How to find him…and whom to trust? Solving the mystery of betrayal and vampire family values will prove the Beatles had it right. All you need is love…and an occasional side of blood.

Warning: While reading this book you may experience any of the following, an increased desire to wear flowers in your hair, dress in tie-dye or nap during the day. Other symptoms may include an intolerance to sunlight, an aversion to garlic-flavored tofu and a pronounced urge to bake…or get baked.  

Excerpt:   “This is not what I had in mind for tonight, chérie,” [Conrad] protested but she was already pressing closer, going up on her toes. At the first brush of her lips on his, he was lost.

Mine, his body insisted again, even louder than before. Growling in satisfaction, he caged her in his arms and kissed her back voraciously. Knowing he would never get enough of the taste of her, knowing this would likely be the last night they would ever spend in each other’s arms, he decided to throw caution, common sense and all his scruples to the wind. He would make the most of their time together. He would make love to her as she had never been made love to before.

He’d picked her up and was headed for the bed when she stiffened suddenly, a muffled exclamation bursting from her lips.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling back to look at her.

She pointed over his shoulder. “I can see you. Look, there in the mirror. I thought vampires didn’t have reflections?”

Conrad shook his head. “Don’t believe everything you’ve heard about us, chérie. Very little of it is true.”

“Like what?” she asked as he deposited her on the bed. Curling up on her knees, she gazed at him curiously as he began to undress.

“Well, as you can see, I have yet to explode in sunlight, for one thing. I don’t die again each day at dawn. Crucifixes bother me not in the slightest, nor does holy water.”

“How about things like wooden stakes?” she inquired, bringing a teasing smile to his lips as he dropped his pants to the floor.

“I do not believe that I am the one who needs to worry about being impaled here tonight, mignonne.”

She blushed and dropped her gaze. “Stop it. I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” Climbing into bed beside her, he took her hand and wrapped it around his erection. “Very serious.”

Her fingers trembled as she tightened her hand on him and shyly stroked up and down the length of his shaft. “So, you’re saying things like that really don’t hurt you either?”

Sighing, he leaned into her and softly kissed her lips. “Yes, my curious one, I’m sure it would hurt to be stabbed through the heart, or to be set on fire, or any of the many other equally unpleasant things you can, no doubt, imagine. Many things can hurt me. For the most part, however, only something that destroys my heart, severs my head, or leaves me drained of blood would likely be fatal. Other than that…” He shrugged dismissively. He’d been wounded on numerous occasions over the course of his lifetime. To live at all was to know pain, in one form or another. But pain, like pleasure, was a transitory thing. One endured and moved on.

“Will you really live forever?” she asked as he drew her down beside him. “And never grow old?”

“Forever is a long time, chérie, and there are always accidents waiting to happen. I suspect that, sooner or later, something will occur to put an end to my life. But, it will not be tonight.” He rolled on top of her then, settling himself between her thighs, wrapping her legs around his hips. “Tonight we are both safe and the only ‘death’ either of us need worry about is la petite mort, the little death.”

“What’s that mean?” she asked, pushing at his shoulders until he’d raised his head. Her eyes were wide with dismay.

Conrad grinned wickedly, enchanted anew by her innocence. “Have you really never heard the term? Then relax, my sweet, and I will show you.”

Link to reviews:  http://pgforte.com/reviews_for_In_the_Dark.html

Link to buy book: http://samhainpublishing.com/print/in-the-dark-print

No Matter What in Print!

You know what's cool and dorky at the same time?


Me putting a print copy of No Matter What on my keeper shelf between Susan Elizabeth Phillip's Ain't She Sweet and Erin McCarthy's Date With the Other Side.


This is my first print book! I love, love, love e-books and honestly read electronically on my Kindle 90% of the time but... well, I have shelves and stacks of print books and okay, it's pretty neat to have one of my own!


It's also a little weird to talk about this book because for me it's actually been out for almost a year! :) It came out as an e-book in last November. But I love talking about it. This is a special book for a lot of reasons so I don't mind going on and on about it again!


Here's a little intro (or reminder?) for ya'!

Oh, and I'm giving away a copy!! All comments get entered-- include your e-mail-- and I'll choose a winner Saturday!


No Matter What
Erin Nicholas

The best doesn’t come cheap…and this time it could cost him his heart.

Adam Steele is good. Good at using his money to get his way. Money always works—until he realizes he can’t buy his daughter’s way out of her new wheelchair. Three private physical therapists later, he’s almost given up on Emily walking again. Then he meets Dr. Jaden Monroe. And his match.

Jaden doesn’t know the meaning of the word “quit”. But she knows a lot about “fired” after a public blowout with her ex jeopardizes the donation her hospital was counting on. Now the most tempting man she’s ever met has made her just the offer she needs to save the new children’s rehab wing—one million dollars to rehabilitate his daughter. In return she finds herself making Adam rash promises: that his daughter will walk in time to take the lead in the school play. And that he won’t entice her into his bed. No matter what.

But Jaden didn’t anticipate a teen whose injuries are more than physical. Or a man so passionate and devoted—and as tenacious as she is. As Adam wears down her defenses with kiss after kiss, the only thing harder than keeping her promise will be keeping a hold on her heart.

Warning: Contains heated arguments that erupt only slightly more often than hot kissing, a new perspective on kitchen appliances, and sizzling sex occurring everywhere BUT the bedroom (though they eventually make it there).

Excerpt:

“I didn’t realize I was under house arrest. I have things I have to do. And I did not ‘slip out’.”

“A million dollars is a lot to pay for an eight hour work day.” He lifted the coffee cup that she had not noticed until that moment.

She felt a wave of indignation wash over her but she held her expression stoically. “This is not exactly a typical business arrangement.”

A long silence followed her statement.

“You’re right.” His words took Jaden by surprise. “For instance, any other time I hire someone, I ask a lot of questions about them personally as well as professionally. I like to know about their families, their interests and hobbies. Their habits. I should have asked more questions about you. My primary concern at the time was that I hire the best therapist there was for Emily.”

“You did.”

“Yes, but I didn’t think beyond the therapy sessions. I didn’t fully consider all of the things you would mean to Emily besides being her therapist.”

Jaden frowned, wishing she could see his face more clearly. “What do you mean? And what did you mean by ‘their habits’?” She wasn’t sure why but she felt offended by the comment now that she replayed it in her head.

“I expect Emily will get very attached to you. You are a young, intelligent, successful woman and Emily will likely look up to you.”

“And that concerns you.”

“Frankly, yes.”

“Why?”

He came to his feet in one quick, fluid movement. “Because it’s one in the morning and you’re just getting home.”

Let him guess and assume about what you were doing. Make him a little crazy for a change.
“I don’t like that you’re assuming the worst about me. I have given you no reason not to trust me.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay, then, I have only one question for you. Where were you?”

She swallowed hard and tried to get a grip on the thoughts and responses that were stumbling over one another in their haste to make it to her mouth first.

“I was out, Adam. That’s all you need to know.” She added a flip of her hair to emphasize how casual she was about the whole thing.

“Jaden…” He took a deep breath and she saw him consciously work to unclench his fists. It struck her how personal her name sounded from his lips even when he was frustrated. That only increased her aggravation.

His voice slightly calmer, he spoke again. “It is important to me. At least tell me that you weren’t…”

“What? That I wasn’t… doing drugs? Drinking all night at the bars? That I’m not a call girl in the evenings when I’m not at the hospital? Smell my breath, Adam, if you don’t believe me. Diet cola was the strongest thing I had tonight.”

He came toward her quickly and she tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. He leaned in, braced his hands on the counter behind her on either side of her hips, and took a deep breath.

She held hers. Having him suddenly this close was overwhelming and she fought to remember what they had been talking about.

He reminded her quickly. “How about all of the above?” His voice was lower now, huskier, and his eyes studied hers closely. “How about reassuring me that you wouldn’t dream of doing any of those things?”

She didn’t like that he doubted her. She wanted to stomp and yell and demand that he believe in her. But, at the same time, this might just be perfect. She’d been off balance since meeting him. He shook her up, as much as she hated it. Clearly her conduct during off-duty hours interested him, and worried him. So, this might be her chance to turn the tables a bit. Not that getting a man like Adam off balance would be easy. But it would, very likely, be fun.

“I’ll tell you this much. Drugs and prostitution aren’t my thing.”

He pressed closer and she felt the edge of the counter against her low back. Perhaps it was her decision to try to overwhelm him for a change, but for the first time, when he got close to her, dropped his voice low and looked at her like he wanted to make all of her fantasies come true, she reveled in it.

She found the scent of his cologne and the warmth of the arm braced on the counter beside her appealing rather than aggressive. In fact, this close, she found that his blue eyes, swirling with emotion, were impossible to resist. He was a passionate man. He cared about his daughter, his household and stood firm in his convictions. It was his unflinching devotion that made her want to know more about him. For instance, what else stirred Adam Steele’s passions?

“So tell me, what is your kind of thing?”

The huskiness in his voice made her nerve endings dance.

She studied his full lips for a long moment before her eyes traced his strong jaw shadowed with dark stubble. Eventually, she moved up slowly to again meet the midnight blue eyes that seemed to pierce straight through to her soul.

“Arrogant millionaires evidently.”

As his lips met hers, she momentarily stopped disliking anything about him.


Another excerpt here or here
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!

Buy! (and it's on sale right now! :))

Double releases, double the fun

It’s release week for me and somehow I ended up with TWO releases on the same day – the ebook release of 2 Hot 2 Handle, and the print release of Friends With Benefits. Many of you may have already read Friends With Benefits so I’ll just say a few words about it – it’s a friends to lovers story, with a few little twists. When the unthinkable happens and Kerri and Mitch, best friends, end up sleeping together, instead of letting things get awkward and weird Kerri suggests to Mitch that they can be “friends with benefits”. That way, she can continue her quest for a husband and they can keep having hot sex. But it turns out that doesn’t really work for either of them…
Warning: This story contains a late-night booty call, hot hotel sex and naked yoga!

(And lots of bad lawyer jokes!)

Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews: Friends With Benefits by Kelly Jamieson -

5 CHERRIES!


Now! I’ve been bouncing in my seat with impatience waiting for the release of 2 Hot 2 Handle.

This is the third story in a sort of series - I didn’t intend it to be a series, that just kind of happened, and the stories all stand alone. In Love Me, we meet Gavin and Melina, and Melina gets a little carried away while trying to make Gavin jealous…with Abby. In Love Me More, when Melina needs to make it up to Gavin for something, she calls on Abby again to help make his ultimate fantasy come true.

When I wrote Love Me More, my biggest fear was that readers would not like the fact that Abby is being “used” by Gavin and Melina. But if you read the story, you’ll see that Melina does care about Abby - not in a polyamorous way, but Melina wouldn’t be able to do those things with someone she doesn’t care about at all.

And in 2 Hot 2 Handle, we learn that’s the way Abby likes things – she doesn’t want to get emotionally involved, and she doesn’t think she can commit, so she likes being the third in a threesome. Until she meets two men who make her look inside herself and face her biggest fears…

I'm so happy this story is finally out! And there's still time to win a copy of both these books by joining my newsletter and leaving a comment there - I'm drawing the winner tonight!

Click to join KellyJamiesonnewsletter