Headed to God's Country! Ooh! And My New Cover!

Ireland, here I come!

Yes! I'm going back to Ireland! God's Country! Eire!

Sigh.

I love Ireland. The history. The beauty of the land. The people. I first travelled there in 2007, and have been so eager to return ever since.



St. Patrick's Bridge

Why Ireland? I've had a grand passion for this country for years, and the blame can be placed squarely on Nora Roberts' shoulders. I fell in love with God's Country from her Born In series. How she described the beautiful land and people, the myths and history... She made me believe I could find my own Rogan or Murphy in this land of tragic lyrics, haunting music and never-say-die warriors. Well, I ended up finding my hero in Alabama, but still...



St. Finbarre's Cathedral

I leave for Cork City this July, and one of the things I'm looking forward to is carrying my notebook around and jotting down notes about pubs, landmarks, people and stories. I want to capture my impressions of the historical structures to the sounds and accents on Winthrop Street. Because when I return home, all of it will be applied to a new book set in my favorite country! A brooding Irishman with dark hair and blue eyes. A sexy brogue. Green, patchwork fields and rolling hills. A large bed and roaring fire as rain falls and mists outside. Yeah... I have no idea what the plot or character arc will be but it will have my sexy hero with an accent and a big bed!

But before I bow out to go dream about my trip and new hero, guess who has a new cover and release? ME! That's right! The second book in the Dark Judgment series, Bitten by Ecstasy, is coming out on June 21 2013!

Blurb:
A brutal attack left Bastien Sarris for dead. But a chance encounter with a mysterious female drags him back from the brink of death—and transforms the hippogryph healer into a monster he doesn’t recognize. Now a terrible hunger consumes him—one that is becoming impossible to satisfy. Desperate for a cure, he hunts the cruxim who cursed him to a hellish existence. But the petite warrior ignites a fierce desire that overwhelms the sweet call of blood.

For three hundred years, Sinéad lived and hunted as a cruxim—a winged vampire hunter. But one sacrificial act stripped her of immortality, leaving her human, vulnerable and unprepared for the reappearance of Bastien in her life. The hippogryph shifter is harder and colder than she remembers…and he triggers an onslaught of need that’s as powerful as it is unfamiliar. She craves his kiss, his touch. Yet even as she surrenders to this newfound passion, she faces a crucial decision—betray the man she’s come to love and regain her immortality—or save Bastien and condemn herself to a human life and death.

A Wonderful Birthday Gift!

I can FINALLY reveal the cover for my upcoming romantic suspence release from Entangled Publishing's Entangled Suspense line! You have no idea how I've been dy-ing to show it!

Secrets and Sins: Gabriel is the first book in a four-book series from Entangled Suspense, and I have to admit...I am in love with this book. It's a "first" for me in a couple of ways. It's my first book that isn't erotic. It's sensual, definitely, but less, uh, explicit than my previous books.
But the emotion, the tragic hero and strong, independent heroine and secondary characters I fell in love with maek up for the naughty words I had to dial back on. :D


Also, it's my first true, bona-fide romantic suspense. I've had books with suspense elements, but Gabriel has a strong suspense plot running alongside the beautiful, romance. I'm so excited about its release! And did I mention the release date is on my birthday? Yes! June 24th! What an awesome birthday gift! *hint! hint! nudge! nudge!*

Blurb
Twenty years ago, Leah Bannon’s beloved Uncle Richard vanished without a trace. Leah, now a private investigator, begins to suspect it was murder. When she reopens the cold case, Gabriel Devlin—-the man she loves but can never have—-inexplicably stands in her way.

Only four people know the truth about Richard’s mysterious disappearance—-Gabriel and three childhood friends...who have all sworn to take that secret to the grave. But a hidden enemy wants those shocking secrets brought to light...even if he has to kill to make it happen.

After experiencing an unimaginable loss two years ago, Gabriel refuses to put himself through the pain of loving someone who could be gone in an instant. But as he thwarts Leah’s investigation at every turn—-both to keep his friends’ pact, and to keep her safe from danger—-the sexy PI makes it impossible for him to protect his secrets. Or his heart...
 
Secrets and Sins: Gabriel is available for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Undying Destiny Cover Reveal!!

 

 

Kenric St. James is out for revenge. Over 300 years ago, an ancient female vampire turned him against his will and killed the woman he loved. He’s spent more than a century building an Enclave of warrior vampires who have sworn to defend humanity against his evil sire and her minions. But when Kenric finds a woman he finally burns to claim as his own again, Kenric knows loving her means giving his sire another target.

Emily Ross just wanted a fresh start. She’s a survivor, coming off the tail end of an abusive relationship, and craves time alone to learn who she is and to save the home that holds her heart. The last thing she needed was a controlling, alpha male calling all the shots.

Meeting Kenric might just have changed her mind, though. He is wrong for her in all the right ways. But in order to keep her heart from breaking, he first has to keep the hoards of evil vamps from stealing her very breath.

Title:  Undying Destiny

Author: Jessica Lee

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: June 2013

Imprint: Edge

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Author Information

 

Almost every author's bio states they've been writing since they learned how to read. It's what they've always wanted to do. Well, my journey wasn't so straight and narrow. I was a nurse for over twenty years and hold a bachelor's degree in science with a major in biology. So as you can see, my career path had originally gone in the opposite direction. I didn't discover my passion for the craft until after I'd had my son and decided to work part-time.

I've always loved to read but had never read a paranormal romance. Then one night at work on break, I began reading Karen Marie Moning's Spell of the Highlander. I couldn't believe what I'd been missing, and I immediately fell in love with the genre.

I wanted to write like that. I wanted to create worlds where others could find the same escape and fascination I did when I read my first sensual paranormal romance.

And I hope that's what I've accomplished in my work. Please dive in, hold on tight, and enjoy the adventure. Just be careful in the dark—you might find more than you expected waiting for you there. *wink*

Jessica Lee lives in the southeastern United States with her husband and son. She loves writing and can't wait for that quiet time each day when her son is in school, and she can get lost in another place and world with the fantastical, sexy creatures in her head.

She's a member of Romance Writers of America, Carolina Romance Writers.

Author Website

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Ideas, Ideas. Wherefore Art Thou, Ideas?

I've been busy plotting away today...okay plotting, yes. But "away"? Umm, not so much. It's slow going. To stir my creative pot, so to speak, I called one of my critique partners, Jessica Lee, and we started talking about story ideas and where they come from. For instance, the idea for the third book in her Ariel Estates series--which she just sold to her editor at Resplendence Publishing!!--came to her while she was eating a taco at Moe's. Apparently that "Welcome to Moe's!" really got those ideas in her head cooking--pun totally intended. The idea for Slave to Fashion by Debra Glass, my other critique partner, came to her while watching the fashion makeover show "What Not to Wear".

I've read where several authors have notebooks and notebooks full of ideas for future books. Can I just get one of those pages? Because my ideas are like my kids in school--smiley faces one day, straight faces the next. Totally unpredictable. And unfortunately, I can't bitch 'n complain to my imagination about "doing right". Stories come from the most unlikeliest places and at the oddest times. Like tonight, while trying to plot a romantic suspense, I had this really cool idea for a contemporary romance while watching The Voice. I started picturing this Jude/Tommy/night-and-day romance like on "Instant Star". Hey. Don't judge! It was a great show! Anyway, my heart started racing with excitement. And all because I saw Usher waltz with this contestant as he taught her to sing to the melody by dancing with her. I thought it was beautiful! And it had my love-o-meter chiming!

I don't think I can really beat out the Moe's restaurant for oddest times and places, but one of the weirdest places--or most inappropriate, depending which side of the fence you're on-- an idea came to me was during bible study. My pastor was teaching about the kinsman redeemer out of the book of Ruth. And suddenly...ding! If I'd been in a comic strip, I would've had a light bulb blinking over my head! What if Ruth was this Boudica-type heroine that followed Naomi back to her homeland and caught the eye of the king? That one's still in my "Story Idea" file waiting to be fleshed out but I thought it was so cool! Who knows when or if I'll write the story one day but I loved the idea... I did end up telling my pastor about it, and he wants me to make sure I spell his name right in the Acknowledgments...

My complete, undying adoration for Donnie Wahlburg inspired my second book, Love and Protect. One day I was going through my daughter's closet searching for a shoe that she "Couldn't find annyywheeere!" and found an old folder with all these pictures and articles I'd clipped out and saved from those old teen magazines. You remember them! Tiger Beat and Bop! God, I'm old... Anyway, I found this story I'd written when I was fourteen about him and me, how we met and fell in love. How he chose me over all those other groupies, I mean, girls. Sigh. It was awesome. And the idea for the rock star hero just formed...

Speaking of Love and Protect... *Cue Dolemite music here* It is available in print today at Ellora's Cave! Whoo-hoo!

Ex-DEA agent Erin Montgomery is reluctantly back on the job, posing as the sex-kitten groupie girlfriend of rock star Sean Ledger. She’ll be joining his band’s tour to try to catch an obsessed, dangerous fan. Tormented by nightmares of her failed last assignment, Erin’s not exactly eager to be drawn back into the fray. But once she meets Sean, all rocker, all man and dripping with raw sex appeal, she knows she’s right where she belongs.

Sean is reluctant to have someone investigating his crew, but when he meets Erin, his objections fly out the window. The beautiful, hard-bitten agent turns him on like no other woman ever has. Sean’s caught glimpses of the fiery passion lurking under Erin’s cool front and he’s determined to break through her hard exterior and make her his.

But Sean’s stalker is still at large and she’s made it clear that she’s willing to stop at nothing—even murder—to get him.
 
Check it out here!

My Next Big Thing!

Okay, see, what had happened was... Hee-hee! Anything that starts off like that is guar-oon-teed to be an excuse about sumthin'!! I was tagged by the hysterical Jennifer Echols in this Blog Hop thing where writers answer questions about themselves and then tag others to reveal all...hopefully something really embarrassing and blackmail worthy, but really who gets that lucky these days? Sigh. Well, here's the dirt on my next book, the first in a romantic suspense series with Entangled Publishing...expected to be released in June of this year... *Cough! Buy it! Cough!* That was subliminal in case you didn't catch it...

By the way, I don't have a cover so here's a menage--I mean, collage, COLLAGE!--of my recent covers! Hee-hee! My bad...



1). What is the working title of your next book?

 Secrets and Sins: Gabriel. The next one in the series? That's Malachim. Why the angel names, you ask? Well, June's a-coming! Why, yes, yes. I am a promo whore...

2). Where did the idea come from for the book?
From some serious brainstorming sessions with my critique partners, Jessica Lee and Debra Glass.

3). What genre does your book fall under?
It is romantic suspense. A deviation from the erotic genre my books usually fall under. And lemme tell you, it was a huuuge change!

4). What actors would you choose to play the parts of your characters in a movie rendition?
Oooh. I Paul Walker as Gabriel. And for Leah? Aishwarya Rai!

5). What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
A private detective's investigation into a twenty-year old disappearance threatens her relationship with the man she's been in love with since childhood and ensnares her in the diabolical game of a madman bent on revenge. Dang! That was a super long sentence!

6). Who is publishing your book?
Entangled Publishing, more specifically the Entangled Suspense line.

7). How long did it take you to write the first draft of the synopsis?
Which first draft? I originally wrote this book during NaNoWriMo. But then did two complete overhauls. Soooo MONTHS!

8). What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don't know! Uum... If a reader likes Cynthia Eden and Katie Reus' romantic suspense books, I think they'd give mine a whirl.

9). Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The alarmingly dwindling deadline. Hee-hee! Okay, seriously. Stand By Me and my favorite friends-to-lovers trope. I just can't get enough of that!!

10). What else about the book might pique the readers' interest?
The book has secrets galore, a tortured hero and a bromance between four friends....so does that make it a menage a quatre bromance? Hmm...

So here're my author peeps I'm tagging:

The brilliant Debra Glass, author of erotic historical romances!

The wonderfully talented Kerry Freeman, author of sexy m/m erotic romances!

The fantabulous Jessica Lee, author of beautiful paranormal romances!

The marvelous Paisley Smith, author of hot girl-on-girl erotic romances!

Check back with them to find out what they have going on!

A Beast of a Book!

Coming at ya on April 5th! The second book in the Breathlessly Ever After series, Bargain with the Beast! Ellora's Cave is re-releasing my fairy tale book based on the timeless classic, Beauty and the Beast. A scarred man. The woman who wantshim and hopes to heal him with her love. Le sigh.

“What will you have, Beauty?” said her father.

“Since you have the goodness to think of me,” answered she, “be so kind to bring me a rose, for as none grows hereabouts, they are a kind of rarity.”—Beauty and the Beast

 

 “Show me someone who says they don’t want anything from you and I’ll show you some real estate in the land of Wake the Fuck Up.”—Xavier St. James

In a last-ditch attempt to save her beloved community center, Gwendolyn Sinclair corners childhood friend Xavier St. James, brother of her dead fiancé…and the man who secretly owns her heart. Surely his wealth and contacts can save the run-down building from ruin. The arrangement he proposes confirms what she’s long suspected. He’s become a beast, and he offers a beast’s bargain, one that offends her pride even as it stirs her every desire and titillating fantasy—submit her body to his whim for seven days and the community center remains open.

Losing both his father and brother has left Xavier scarred in more ways than one, but forbidden lust overrules conscience when Gwendolyn appears, asking for help. He’s craved her for years. At last he’ll discover if the passion in her eyes blazes just as hot between the sheets. Her fiery surrender leaves him hungering for more, but their bargain is only for seven days and, ultimately, she could never truly love a beast.

A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Publisher’s Note: This story was previously published elsewhere in 2011 under the title Loving the Beast.

Nope. Not in My Book!

The release of my second fairy tale-based book in my Breathlessly Ever After series is eminent so that means I have to start thinking about the next one. What story do I tackle? What spin do I place on it? What genre? I've been kicking around ideas for the last couple of weeks and yeah, still stumped. The ideas are brewing but nothing's solidified into that perfect blend of characters, motivation, conflict and love. Y'know, like a good cup of coffee. Yet something did come out of my weeks-long ruminations. I know what I definitely DO NOT want in my book. Basing my books on classic, much loved tales, there are certain elements I have to include. Like in Bargain with the Beast, the hero had to be wounded both inside and out. And the heroine had to be able to look beneath his beastly appearance to the beautiful soul of the man.  In Stroke of Midnight, though the "evil" stepsister was the heroine, she was rejected by her family and for one night found magic in the arms of her prince. But...there are some things I refuse to incorporate. Why? Because they're just plain jacked up!

For instance...

Little Red Riding Hood - Besides the hood because it's just a tad bit too cliche-ish for me, there won't be any splitting of wolves' guts and people spilling out. Don't get it twisted, I don't mind a good disembowelment in a book but the only time my heroine is gonna be eaten is...well, you get the picture! In my story Red would kick ass and take names, not be taken down and saved by a passing woodsman. Unless she was taken down by the woodsman...

The Little Mermaid - Anyone within the sound of my voice or has 20/20 vision of their screen, please understand this...I detest Hans Christian Andersen's version. Like loathe. She gave up everything for the prince--her voice, her long lifespan, her heart and eventually, her life. Not to mention endured excruciating pain just to dance for that ingrate. And he was so blind to who stood right in front of him--the very woman he was holding out for!--that he broke her heart and married another woman. There won't be a stupid, short-sighted hero (with no redeemable qualities), a self-effacing heroine or a sacrificial suicide in my book. Damn, I wanted to punch that mermaid's face in... There's meek and then there's mealy-mouth... Grrr! Don't get me started!

Sleeping Beauty - None of that waking with a kiss stuff. I'm sorry. Halitosis, people! Nothing romantic about it! That's all I'm saying. After one night I've been known to have one helluva case of dragon breath! Now one hundred years?? Forget that--a week! Naw. If someone wakes from a coma, there will be breath mints running through their IV instead of saline.

Snow White - First, a huntsman almost takes her heart. Then a peddler woman laces her stay so tight she almost dies because her breath is cut off. After escaping that harrowing experience, another merchant woman comes by and pops a poisoned comb in her head, almost killing her...again. She's saved. Then another old woman comes by and offers her an apple. Which she bites and falls into a cryogenic state. Soooo which murder attempt should've been the tip off that an old woman was out to kill her? I mean, after the laces, I would've have 'ol girl's IQ tested. Therefore, no TSTL heroines in my book!

So two weeks later, I haven't come up with what my new book will be about. But I DEFINITELY know what it won't be about!