Jocelynn Drake's Blog: Announcements, page 24
November 27, 2015
Books on Sale
Let's just get down to the nitty-gritty. You need books. You have limited funds and you need as many books as possible with those limited funds. It get that. Trust me, I'm book shopping today too. Because it's Black Friday, I've got several books on sale. Let's run down the list.SHIVER
This is my first m/m contemporary romantic suspense written with Rinda Elliott and it has been getting killer reviews! (A big love you to readers!) Today only, Shiver is on sale - 25% off - for $3.74 on ebook. If you haven't picked it up yet, definitely give it a try. It comes with a sneak peek of the second book at the end. We are aiming to release the second book in early 2016.
If you've like to check out some free short stories for the series, click here.To get your discounted copy of SHIVER, go to:
All Romance Ebooks
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Apple’s iBookstore
Kobo
(As a side note, if you have never tried All Romance Ebooks, I suggest you check out the site. They are having a massive Black Friday sales - books are 25% off and much more! Also, check out OmniLit for more mainstream books. I'm quickly getting addicted to this site.)
Hidden London Series
I will admit that I've drifted away from my historical romance series written under the name Joy Douglass, but I'm hoping to get back to them later this year. In the meantime, I've discounted both Stolen Kisses at Midnight and What a Lady Treasures to $0.99 for the weekend. Both are currently available only for Kindle, but I'll be changing that later in 2016.
Dark Days Series
Have you met my vampires yet? They're dark and violent and just a little sexy. But mostly violent. I am happy to report that Nightwalker (Book 1) and Dayhunter (Book 2) are both on sale for $2.99 each. Do you know someone who loves vampires? This is a great gift. Get your friend or loved one started on this series for just a few bucks. You can also pick up the prequel novellas
Bound to Me
and
The Dead, the Damned and the Forgotten
for $1.99 and $0.99, respectively.Now is a good time to start on this series because I am aiming to release a spin-off book in 2016!!! Check in with Mira and Danaus, while following the adventures of a new nightwalker.
Asylum Tales
While not on sale, you can pick up a couple of novellas (Asylum Interviews: Bronx and Asylum Interviews: Trixie) for the Asylum Tales series for only $1.99. Learn how warlock-turned-tattoo-artist Gage meets his co-worker Bronx, a troll, and his girlfriend, Trixie. It's a great way to try out this urban fantasy series about warlocks, trolls, vampires, incubi, sirens, werewolves, and a whole lot more.
More Awesomeness for sale!!
So... as you know I've started writing books with Rinda Elliott. I think she is an amazing writer. If you've tried Shiver and loved it, you should definitely give some of her other books a try. I noticed that her YA series as well as her paranormal romance Raisonne Curse are currently on sale. Click here to check it all out!
But I got to admit that I fell in love with her Dani Worth books first. So much fun!
That is a killer list of books to start with! Go and buy books for yourself and those you love. Reading is a great way to recover from Black Friday.
November 17, 2015
From the Cutting Room Floor: A Deleted Scene
Not every scene works out how you think it should when you write it the first time. Sometimes you have to attack a scene again and again until it finally lays right on the page. This happened a few times when I was working on
Shiver
. Sometimes I didn't see the problem until Rinda pointed it out and others ... I saw it when I was done with the scene.
In the spirit of writing and NaNoWriMo, I thought I would share the original draft of one of the scenes from Shiver . I'll admit that I liked the scene when I was crafting it, but when I read over it the next day, I realized that Lucas's behavior was off and that the scene shouldn't involve Snow but rather Rowe. As a result, it needed a complete re-write.
As an author, you have to be willing to completely scrap a day's worth of work if you want to do the story justice. But not all of the scene was lost. A lot of the description and some of the dialogue was salvaged. And... there's something the Lucas says in the original scene ... just a little comment, but I'm saving that little something for later. It's a little part of his heart that I'm going to bring back later in either a book or a short story.
The important thing: All writing is worth your time. Even if never makes it to the final process, those words taught you something about storytelling or the characters or the plot or maybe a glimpse of a future project.
Enjoy this special snippet from Shiver .
With his arm against the window, Lucas leaned his forehead on his wrist. The glass was cool to the touch
as the brisk wind buffeted the building. The local weathermen were speculating that the city could see its first dusting of snow by Halloween. It was a sad thought considering the trees were still green on the hills surrounding Cincinnati.
But Lucas didn’t feel the cold or see the shivering green trees. The world was little more than a garish blur of noise and faded colors. He lived for the irregular visits from Rowe and Hollis, updating him on Andrei’s status. Between those visits, life dragged. Work failed after the first week to distract him from his fears.
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since that afternoon in Rowe’s office. Nothing happened for the first week. Andrei contacted his associates in the fights and Lucas returned to his normal routine with a new bodyguard hounding his steps. Lucas never spoke to him. Never looked at him.
One week ago, Andrei had his first fight and Lucas lost himself in a bottle of bourbon to get through the night. When he closed his eyes, all he saw was the long scar along Andrei’s knee from where he’d had ACL surgery. The injury slowed him down, made him just a little less mobile, made that knee just a little weaker. All Lucas could wonder was if that knee injury would be what made Andrei lose.
It was dawn when Rowe appeared to tell him Andrei had suffered only some minor injuries and had come through his first two fights victorious. But there would be more. The fights would keep coming until Andrei’s body finally gave out or the bastard haunting Lucas offered Andrei a job.
Heavy footsteps shuffled down the hall, approaching his study. Lucas turned back to the desk and picked up the 9mm sitting on a stack of papers. His finger rested on the safety and he drew in a slow breath, waiting. He started to lift the gun until Snow stepped into the open doorway. Flipping the safety back on, Lucas wordlessly put the gun back on the papers and sat behind the desk.
“You can’t do this, Lucas,” Snow said without preamble. “You look like shit.”
“Leave. I’ve got work to do,” Lucas replied in a dead voice. He knew he looked like hell warmed over. He was barely getting out of bed each morning and he hadn’t bothered to shave in days. He wasn’t eating much even when Ian brought him food.
“You can’t fucking shut me out!” Snow bellowed, slamming the door closed behind him. “We’ve been through too much shit.”
“Everything is fine.”
“Bullshit! You haven’t been to the office in a week.”
“It’s safer for everyone if I work from here.”
“You fired Candace.”
Lucas flinched. That he regretted. “She was belligerent.”
“For calling you on being a maniacal douchebag. She should have been given a medal for putting up with your shit!”
“Are you done?”
Snow slammed both of his palms down flat on the top of the desk and leaned close. “I haven’t seen you in two weeks.” His low words vibrated with pain and menace.
“You told me to stay out of the hospital.”
“You abandoned me for a guy you’ve known for less than a week,” Snow growled.
Lucas jumped back to his feet, his fists twisting in the collar of the soft navy button-down Snow was wearing, holding the man so close that their noses nearly bumped. “I have never abandoned you when you needed me. Never,” he snarled. “I have been there for you every time you’ve needed me through everything.”
Snow clenched the back of Lucas’s neck, lowering his head so that his forehead hit Lucas’s. “Then why do you refuse to let me be there for you?”
Lucas shuddered and he could feel cracks forming in the wall he had built around his emotions to keep them at bay so he could simply function each day. He longed to step back and let the wall fall, but he couldn’t. He had to keep holding the wall up, to hold himself together should something go wrong. He had to be the strong one. He had to be the one to hold the line and protect his friends… his family.
“You were the one who said I was the center,” Lucas replied in a low voice. “You said I held us all together.”
“But that doesn’t mean that you can’t let us be there for you.” Snow eased his grip enough to brush his lips across Lucas’s temple in a gentle kiss. “I love you. If you’re in pain, then so am I.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Snow released Lucas and stepped back so he could look at Lucas. He shook his head before flopping down in the chair in front of Lucas’s desk. “I just don’t understand why we’re in such pain.”
Lucas winced at his friend’s sharp words and eased back into his own chair. His eyes caught on the gun on the desk and he sighed as he put it in the top drawer. It was just an ugly reminder of how close to the edge he’d been hovering over the past week. Suicide had never crossed his mind, but he’d managed to formulate a number of suicidal plans focused on extracting Andrei from those fucking underground fights.
“Luc,” Snow said, jerking Lucas’s gaze back to him. He’d drifted off in thought and Snow had caught him. “What the fuck?”
“What?”
“Andrei?”
“What about him?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake! You’ve been a fucking mess.”
“The guy is risking his life for me. He’s risking getting beaten to a bloody pulp in those damn fights. Even without that, if this asshole discovers that he’s a fucking spy, he’s dead.” Lucas could feel the tension ramping back up in his frame with each word he spoke. His leg bounced with nervous energy and it was becoming a struggle to stay in his chair.
“That’s it?”
“That’s not enough? He’s risking his life.”
Snow shrugged. “It’s his job.
Lucas pushed back to his feet, pacing over to the windows. “It’s not his fucking job to do this.” He massaged the muscles in the back of his neck. His entire body was one tense muscle and he could only find relief when he was deep in a bottle of alcohol. But that next morning he woke hating himself, knowing that if he’d been needed, he would have been unable to help anyone.
Snow slid to the edge of his chair, narrowing his eyes on Lucas. The other man flinched under his friend’s gaze, confident that whatever he said next wasn’t going to be good.
“You’re in fucking love with him,” Snow gasped. “Holy shit.”
Lucas jerked at his words as if he’d been hit. “I am not. Where did you get that nonsense?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that you’re coming apart in front of me because he’s in danger.”
“I don’t have to be in love with him to not want him to be in danger,” Lucas sneered, relaxing a little as he mentally stepped on firmer, safer ground again. “If it was you, I’d be a mess.”
“Yes, but you love me,” Snow added with a smirk.
“Fuck you.”
Snow walked around the desk and shoved Lucas until he fell back into his chair. “Stay,” he commanded, pointing at Lucas before he walked around and picked up the chair in front of the desk. Snow set it down again behind the desk and sat in it. They were so close their knees were practically touching, but now Lucas couldn’t pace, he couldn’t escape. “Talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Lucas quickly said, struggling to hold Snow’s gaze.
“So you’re making yourself and everyone around you miserable for shits and giggles.”
“Snow.”
“Just talk.”
Those two words were softer, inviting. It was the same thing Lucas had said to Snow on so many occasions when the doctor was tied in emotional knots over work, or the few times in the man’s murky past when he’d attempted a relationship only to have it blow up in his face. The command beckoned just a flow of words with rhyme or reason. There didn’t have to be a beginning or end, or even a clear timeline. Just words tangling with emotions that Lucas couldn’t even put names to yet.
“I just keep thinking that there are things I need to know,” Lucas started slowly but there was a potent, desperate urgency to his voice. “Did you know he’s Romanian? His whole family. He speaks Romanian. He made it sound like he had a rough childhood and I keep thinking that I want to know what it was like. I want to know why he wants to hide that part of him. I want to know who is favorite author is. I want to know why he started fighting when it seems so at odds with his personality. I want to know how he always seems to know the right thing to say to Ian. Every day I think of more things that I need to know about him and every fucking day he has to fight I’m sure that I won’t have my chance to ask.”
Lucas looked up to see Snow reclining in his chair with an unreadable expression that didn’t set him at ease. His chest hurt. It seemed to hurt all the time now. He rubbed at the spot, ignoring the slight tremble in his fingers. He was exhausted, strung out from too little sleep, too little food, and too much alcohol. Snow’s eyes followed his hand as it moved over his sternum.
Taking a deep breath, Lucas slowly released it over his parted lips. “I just need him here. I need to see him safe. And then I can ask him my questions. Once I know these things, I’m sure I can let him go. I can move on.”
“Your chest hurt?” Snow asked, motioning with his chin toward Lucas’s hand.
“A little.”
“Heart fluttering?”
“Some.”
Snow leaned forward and took Lucas’s wrist, pressing his fingers against the pulse point. Lucas tried to relax under Snow’s touch. He didn’t want the man slipping into doctor mode, but he’d learned years ago that Snow was most comfortable when he was being a caretaker. It gave the man a sense of purpose and control. He also knew that Snow was much better at taking care of him than Lucas ever could.
“Trouble sleeping?”
“Naturally.”
“Chest tight? Having trouble breathing?”
“Occasionally.”
“Dizzy or light headed?”
“No.”
“Any nausea?”
“No.”
Snow released his hand and sat back in his chair, digging in his jeans pocket to pull out a small brown bottle. He put the bottle on the desk in front of Lucas. “One a night before bed. And lay off the alcohol.”
“What is it?”
“Low dose of clonazepam.”
Lucas picked up the bottle and look at the label, frowning. “Why does that sound familiar? What is it?”
“Klonopin.”
“You’re giving me a fucking anti-anxiety pill?” Lucas demanded, throwing the bottle back at Snow. “Wait! You came here with a script ready for me!”
Snow caught the pills and put them back on the desk. “Yeah, I’ve talked to Rowe and Ian. They said you’re a mess. Candace even stopped by the hospital to say that you’re a raging lunatic. And if you can believe it, Hollis has noticed that you’re unhinged. One pill each night will take the edge off. They’ll keep you from having panic attacks. Make you less of a fucking psycho.”
“Thanks,” Lucas mumbled, sliding down in his chair to glare at the little brown pill bottle. The worst part was that Snow was fucking right and there wasn’t a damn thing he could say to contradict the man. Was he going to take the pills? Fuck no. Well, probably not. Just seeing them was the wake-up call that he needed to pull his shit together. For more than a week, he’d let his fears get the better of him and he couldn’t let himself drown in those fears for another second.
With a sigh, Lucas looked over at his oldest friends, wondering not for the first time why the man put up with his shit over the years. “Do you think Candace will come back to me?”
In the spirit of writing and NaNoWriMo, I thought I would share the original draft of one of the scenes from Shiver . I'll admit that I liked the scene when I was crafting it, but when I read over it the next day, I realized that Lucas's behavior was off and that the scene shouldn't involve Snow but rather Rowe. As a result, it needed a complete re-write.
As an author, you have to be willing to completely scrap a day's worth of work if you want to do the story justice. But not all of the scene was lost. A lot of the description and some of the dialogue was salvaged. And... there's something the Lucas says in the original scene ... just a little comment, but I'm saving that little something for later. It's a little part of his heart that I'm going to bring back later in either a book or a short story.
The important thing: All writing is worth your time. Even if never makes it to the final process, those words taught you something about storytelling or the characters or the plot or maybe a glimpse of a future project.
Enjoy this special snippet from Shiver .
With his arm against the window, Lucas leaned his forehead on his wrist. The glass was cool to the touch
as the brisk wind buffeted the building. The local weathermen were speculating that the city could see its first dusting of snow by Halloween. It was a sad thought considering the trees were still green on the hills surrounding Cincinnati.But Lucas didn’t feel the cold or see the shivering green trees. The world was little more than a garish blur of noise and faded colors. He lived for the irregular visits from Rowe and Hollis, updating him on Andrei’s status. Between those visits, life dragged. Work failed after the first week to distract him from his fears.
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since that afternoon in Rowe’s office. Nothing happened for the first week. Andrei contacted his associates in the fights and Lucas returned to his normal routine with a new bodyguard hounding his steps. Lucas never spoke to him. Never looked at him.
One week ago, Andrei had his first fight and Lucas lost himself in a bottle of bourbon to get through the night. When he closed his eyes, all he saw was the long scar along Andrei’s knee from where he’d had ACL surgery. The injury slowed him down, made him just a little less mobile, made that knee just a little weaker. All Lucas could wonder was if that knee injury would be what made Andrei lose.
It was dawn when Rowe appeared to tell him Andrei had suffered only some minor injuries and had come through his first two fights victorious. But there would be more. The fights would keep coming until Andrei’s body finally gave out or the bastard haunting Lucas offered Andrei a job.
Heavy footsteps shuffled down the hall, approaching his study. Lucas turned back to the desk and picked up the 9mm sitting on a stack of papers. His finger rested on the safety and he drew in a slow breath, waiting. He started to lift the gun until Snow stepped into the open doorway. Flipping the safety back on, Lucas wordlessly put the gun back on the papers and sat behind the desk.
“You can’t do this, Lucas,” Snow said without preamble. “You look like shit.”
“Leave. I’ve got work to do,” Lucas replied in a dead voice. He knew he looked like hell warmed over. He was barely getting out of bed each morning and he hadn’t bothered to shave in days. He wasn’t eating much even when Ian brought him food.
“You can’t fucking shut me out!” Snow bellowed, slamming the door closed behind him. “We’ve been through too much shit.”
“Everything is fine.”
“Bullshit! You haven’t been to the office in a week.”
“It’s safer for everyone if I work from here.”
“You fired Candace.”
Lucas flinched. That he regretted. “She was belligerent.”
“For calling you on being a maniacal douchebag. She should have been given a medal for putting up with your shit!”
“Are you done?”
Snow slammed both of his palms down flat on the top of the desk and leaned close. “I haven’t seen you in two weeks.” His low words vibrated with pain and menace.
“You told me to stay out of the hospital.”
“You abandoned me for a guy you’ve known for less than a week,” Snow growled.
Lucas jumped back to his feet, his fists twisting in the collar of the soft navy button-down Snow was wearing, holding the man so close that their noses nearly bumped. “I have never abandoned you when you needed me. Never,” he snarled. “I have been there for you every time you’ve needed me through everything.”
Snow clenched the back of Lucas’s neck, lowering his head so that his forehead hit Lucas’s. “Then why do you refuse to let me be there for you?”
Lucas shuddered and he could feel cracks forming in the wall he had built around his emotions to keep them at bay so he could simply function each day. He longed to step back and let the wall fall, but he couldn’t. He had to keep holding the wall up, to hold himself together should something go wrong. He had to be the strong one. He had to be the one to hold the line and protect his friends… his family.
“You were the one who said I was the center,” Lucas replied in a low voice. “You said I held us all together.”
“But that doesn’t mean that you can’t let us be there for you.” Snow eased his grip enough to brush his lips across Lucas’s temple in a gentle kiss. “I love you. If you’re in pain, then so am I.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Snow released Lucas and stepped back so he could look at Lucas. He shook his head before flopping down in the chair in front of Lucas’s desk. “I just don’t understand why we’re in such pain.”
Lucas winced at his friend’s sharp words and eased back into his own chair. His eyes caught on the gun on the desk and he sighed as he put it in the top drawer. It was just an ugly reminder of how close to the edge he’d been hovering over the past week. Suicide had never crossed his mind, but he’d managed to formulate a number of suicidal plans focused on extracting Andrei from those fucking underground fights.
“Luc,” Snow said, jerking Lucas’s gaze back to him. He’d drifted off in thought and Snow had caught him. “What the fuck?”
“What?”
“Andrei?”
“What about him?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake! You’ve been a fucking mess.”
“The guy is risking his life for me. He’s risking getting beaten to a bloody pulp in those damn fights. Even without that, if this asshole discovers that he’s a fucking spy, he’s dead.” Lucas could feel the tension ramping back up in his frame with each word he spoke. His leg bounced with nervous energy and it was becoming a struggle to stay in his chair.
“That’s it?”
“That’s not enough? He’s risking his life.”
Snow shrugged. “It’s his job.
Lucas pushed back to his feet, pacing over to the windows. “It’s not his fucking job to do this.” He massaged the muscles in the back of his neck. His entire body was one tense muscle and he could only find relief when he was deep in a bottle of alcohol. But that next morning he woke hating himself, knowing that if he’d been needed, he would have been unable to help anyone.
Snow slid to the edge of his chair, narrowing his eyes on Lucas. The other man flinched under his friend’s gaze, confident that whatever he said next wasn’t going to be good.
“You’re in fucking love with him,” Snow gasped. “Holy shit.”
Lucas jerked at his words as if he’d been hit. “I am not. Where did you get that nonsense?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that you’re coming apart in front of me because he’s in danger.”
“I don’t have to be in love with him to not want him to be in danger,” Lucas sneered, relaxing a little as he mentally stepped on firmer, safer ground again. “If it was you, I’d be a mess.”
“Yes, but you love me,” Snow added with a smirk.
“Fuck you.”
Snow walked around the desk and shoved Lucas until he fell back into his chair. “Stay,” he commanded, pointing at Lucas before he walked around and picked up the chair in front of the desk. Snow set it down again behind the desk and sat in it. They were so close their knees were practically touching, but now Lucas couldn’t pace, he couldn’t escape. “Talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Lucas quickly said, struggling to hold Snow’s gaze.
“So you’re making yourself and everyone around you miserable for shits and giggles.”
“Snow.”
“Just talk.”
Those two words were softer, inviting. It was the same thing Lucas had said to Snow on so many occasions when the doctor was tied in emotional knots over work, or the few times in the man’s murky past when he’d attempted a relationship only to have it blow up in his face. The command beckoned just a flow of words with rhyme or reason. There didn’t have to be a beginning or end, or even a clear timeline. Just words tangling with emotions that Lucas couldn’t even put names to yet.
“I just keep thinking that there are things I need to know,” Lucas started slowly but there was a potent, desperate urgency to his voice. “Did you know he’s Romanian? His whole family. He speaks Romanian. He made it sound like he had a rough childhood and I keep thinking that I want to know what it was like. I want to know why he wants to hide that part of him. I want to know who is favorite author is. I want to know why he started fighting when it seems so at odds with his personality. I want to know how he always seems to know the right thing to say to Ian. Every day I think of more things that I need to know about him and every fucking day he has to fight I’m sure that I won’t have my chance to ask.”
Lucas looked up to see Snow reclining in his chair with an unreadable expression that didn’t set him at ease. His chest hurt. It seemed to hurt all the time now. He rubbed at the spot, ignoring the slight tremble in his fingers. He was exhausted, strung out from too little sleep, too little food, and too much alcohol. Snow’s eyes followed his hand as it moved over his sternum.
Taking a deep breath, Lucas slowly released it over his parted lips. “I just need him here. I need to see him safe. And then I can ask him my questions. Once I know these things, I’m sure I can let him go. I can move on.”
“Your chest hurt?” Snow asked, motioning with his chin toward Lucas’s hand.
“A little.”
“Heart fluttering?”
“Some.”
Snow leaned forward and took Lucas’s wrist, pressing his fingers against the pulse point. Lucas tried to relax under Snow’s touch. He didn’t want the man slipping into doctor mode, but he’d learned years ago that Snow was most comfortable when he was being a caretaker. It gave the man a sense of purpose and control. He also knew that Snow was much better at taking care of him than Lucas ever could.
“Trouble sleeping?”
“Naturally.”
“Chest tight? Having trouble breathing?”
“Occasionally.”
“Dizzy or light headed?”
“No.”
“Any nausea?”
“No.”
Snow released his hand and sat back in his chair, digging in his jeans pocket to pull out a small brown bottle. He put the bottle on the desk in front of Lucas. “One a night before bed. And lay off the alcohol.”
“What is it?”
“Low dose of clonazepam.”
Lucas picked up the bottle and look at the label, frowning. “Why does that sound familiar? What is it?”
“Klonopin.”
“You’re giving me a fucking anti-anxiety pill?” Lucas demanded, throwing the bottle back at Snow. “Wait! You came here with a script ready for me!”
Snow caught the pills and put them back on the desk. “Yeah, I’ve talked to Rowe and Ian. They said you’re a mess. Candace even stopped by the hospital to say that you’re a raging lunatic. And if you can believe it, Hollis has noticed that you’re unhinged. One pill each night will take the edge off. They’ll keep you from having panic attacks. Make you less of a fucking psycho.”
“Thanks,” Lucas mumbled, sliding down in his chair to glare at the little brown pill bottle. The worst part was that Snow was fucking right and there wasn’t a damn thing he could say to contradict the man. Was he going to take the pills? Fuck no. Well, probably not. Just seeing them was the wake-up call that he needed to pull his shit together. For more than a week, he’d let his fears get the better of him and he couldn’t let himself drown in those fears for another second.
With a sigh, Lucas looked over at his oldest friends, wondering not for the first time why the man put up with his shit over the years. “Do you think Candace will come back to me?”
November 10, 2015
Sneak Peek of Book 2
Curious about Book #2?
Rinda and I are new to self-publishing and when I asked her to give a sample of book two to put at the end of Shiver, she hurried one off and well, there's this problem with sharing a part of a work in progress...
Things change.
Just a couple days before SHIVER was due to release, Rinda made major changes to the snippet. So, we hurried to upload the new version and some readers got a version that is no longer a part of book two. My apologies!! So we're posting the correct version here and sharing the title of the second book in our Unbreakable Bonds series. This one features our very difficult Doctor Frost and the title has more than one meaning for him and his group of friends this time around. To see our inspiration for Snow, click here for a gorgeous close-up and here for something a little less safe for work. ;) And if you haven't tried Shiver yet, click here to order your own copy!
Hope you enjoy this glimpse into Snow's book!
SHATTER
Coming in 2016
Book 2 of the Unbreakable Bonds Series
By Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott
Read an exclusive excerpt now:
The bar gave new definition to the word “dive”.
Ashton “Snow” Frost sprawled in the most unrelentingly painful chair he’d ever sat in and tried not to look too closely at his dingy surroundings. Either the decorator had been into early seventies drug den or the place had been tucked into this corner of Covington since before he’d been born. Some nineties grunge band grumbled from a jukebox near the restrooms and the high number of college kids swilling beer at the long, battered bar and around the pool tables surprised him. And depressed him. He wouldn’t even be able to salvage his original plan to get laid tonight—the crowd too young for his tastes.
The entire evening wasn’t a bust, though. He watched his friends across the room, visible despite the crowd. They’d grabbed one of the pool tables and from the expression on Andrei’s face as he pressed the cue stick against his forehead, Melissa was kicking his ass. Lucas and Ian sat on bar stools on either side of a small pub table, both laughing. Probably because they all knew Rowe’s wife was a shark and it seemed nobody had told the Romanian. Snow couldn’t help but grin. Lucas and Ian didn’t blend despite the fact they were similarly dressed to everyone else in jeans and boots. Ian, despite his short stature, looked like he’d stepped off a runway in his untucked blue shirt and sharp, brown blazer. And Snow couldn’t believe Lucas wasn’t even cracking a hint of sweat in his cashmere sweater in this sweltering place.
Guess the owners didn’t feel the price of air conditioning a bar in December was worth it.
He shifted in his seat and glared at Rowan Ward, who sat next to him at the large table he’d reserved near the back of the bar. “You know what, Ward?”
Rowe turned green eyes his way and frowned as he pulled at the neckline of his black sweatshirt. Sweat darkened the red hair around his temples. “What?”
“I figured out what’s wrong with this bar. I’m not blind or deaf.”
Rowe smirked and wiped a drip of sweat rolling down his temple with a paper napkin. “It’s popular with some of my employees, so I thought we’d try it out. Come on now, doc. The place has ambiance—even you have to admit that.”
Snow shot him a glare. “It has wood paneling.”
“I always liked wood paneling. My granddad had this old hunting cabin in Colorado—paneling in every room. I think it gives a place a homey feel. I loved it there.” He picked up his mug of beer and took a huge swallow, then tilted his glass toward Snow. “And the brew’s cheap.”
“That’s because it’s shit beer.” Snow turned back to catch Andrei leaning over a pool table and chuckled when he saw Lucas watching as well, focus firmly locked on his former bodyguard’s ass.
Rowe had followed Snow’s gaze and shook his head. “It’s wild, isn’t it? Turned my straight employee gay. That’s some superpower Vallois has.”
“Doubt he was ever completely straight.” Snow slouched back, hooking his elbow over the back of the chair. “I walked in on them a couple of weeks ago and caught a bit of their action and there was nothing holding the Romanian back. Was fucking hot.” Snow waved one hand at Andrei as he straightened from his shot. “Look at him. I would have worked to turn the man fully to my side as well.” Lucas didn’t admit that he was exclusively sleeping with his ex-bodyguard, but it was obvious that’s what was going on. There was a lot more than just sex going on there.
Rowe nudged him. “You saw them?”
Snow heard something in his friend’s tone that made him look closer. “Is that something you’d like to see yourself?”
He shrugged. “I love women. Love my wife. You know that. But I’m not blind and those two are ridiculously gorgeous—so it had to be something to see.” He leaned closer so he could lower his voice. “Did you see who’s the top?”
Snow had been taking a drink of his beer and he sucked it in so fast, he choked. Clearing his throat, he set the mug down. “It’s not always one way or the other. You do get that, right?”
“No, I don’t actually. From things you and Lucas have said, I got the feeling it was one or the other. Come on, doc. Fill me in.”
“Fuck no. Rent some porn. I happen to know your wife loves gay porn. Like really loves gay porn. You do know she asked me to film something once, right? That time we were all out at that steakhouse and I picked up that blond waiter?”
“I remember. Unfortunately. You left us with the check and started making out with him before you were even out the door. What’s funny is you think I don’t already know about the porn and my wife.”
Snow lifted an eyebrow, intrigued. “You two watch it together?”
Green eyes rolled. “No way in hell am I giving you any wank material.”
“Too late.” Snow gave Rowe his most wicked, teasing grin.
“Right. You don’t like sex with women.”
“Oh Rowe, do we need a lesson on porn and watching versus action? I enjoy good, straight porn at times. When something is hot, it’s hot.”
“You’re telling me…” Rowe’s expression went serious. “You’re telling me, you could be with a woman?”
“No. I learned a long time ago that doesn’t work for me.” Snow had never found himself interested in anything beyond friendship with women. He liked everything about men. Liked their harder edges, their calloused hands, and masculine scents…their ability to take rough handling. He knew there were women out there who liked the latter, but he liked dick. Always had.
Snow toyed with a bottle cap, turning it over with the tips of his fingers. “What I’m telling you is that what we like to watch doesn’t always coincide with what we like to do. You watch gay porn with your wife but you don’t do guys, right?”
His friend’s nod was slow and contemplative. “I get it. I do. I think it’s just that I can’t imagine having a penis and not wanting to put it into a woman. That’s where everything goes fuzzy for me.”
“Fuzzy isn’t a bad place to be.”
“If you say so.” Rowe looked up and shoved out the chair next to him.
Snow followed his gaze to find Ian pushing through the crowd toward their table. It looked like the heat in this bar was getting to him as well because he peeled off the stylish jacket and draped it over his arm. His light brown hair was gelled into a style that looked messy and probably took him twenty minutes to get right. Everything about Ian always flowed together like it was effortless and knowing Ian, it mostly was. Snow had gone shopping with him once and Ian knew exactly what would go with what before he even took it off the rack. Hell, he let Ian pick out most of his suits. It certainly saved him the trouble of staying up to date on fashion. Not that he really cared about that. He just liked to know that he looked good.
“I don’t know why I thought dressing for December was a good idea,” Ian said as he sat next to Rowe. “But I’m still having a good time. This place is fun!”
Rowe turned a smug look Snow’s way. “Snow doesn’t agree. He’s a bar snob. Lucas and his fancy nightclubs have tainted his view of proper men places.”
Snow’s grin grew, stretching his mouth wide. “Proper men places? Do tell more.”
“You know,” Rowe said, closing his hands into fists for emphasis. “Man caves. Places where we don’t have to dress up. Where we aren’t on display or trying to pick someone up. Where we don’t have to smell nice for the ladies. We can hang out with other men in our natural slob states.”
Ian’s mouth fell open. “There are so many things wrong with that speech.”
Chuckling, Snow picked up a napkin to wipe the condensation from his beer off the table. “Ladies aren’t the only ones who dislike body odor. Just how does the world look with your head stuck so far up your ass? You’re the only man I know with a natural slob state—” He sucked back the laughter, cocked his head. “Wait, that’s not true anymore. I just remembered Banner.”
“The cop?” Rowe asked.
It didn’t escape Snow’s notice that Ian, who’d been looking over his shoulder instantly turned back to their conversation. Hollis Banner, an annoying local detective, had been wearing out his welcome more than usual lately and none of them were under any sort of misunderstanding as to why. The big, scruffy, hard-edged asshole was sniffing around Ian and it made Snow want to hurt things. It wasn’t that he had interest in Ian himself—no, their friendship was too solid for that—it was that nobody was good enough for him. Not with Snow knowing what the kid had endured as a teenager. The young chef brought out every protective instinct Snow had. Plus, they didn’t need law enforcement hanging around, not when they all had things to hide.
He wiped the napkin over another spot of condensation and when it stuck to the table top, he snatched his hand back, snarled and pointed. “Really Rowan? I prefer my real men caves to at least be clean.”
“This from a man who drops to his knees in men’s bathrooms all over town.”
“I thought you’d been paying more attention all these years.” Snow winked and Ian softly snorted a laugh. “I’m not the one usually on my knees.”
“Selfish bastard.” Rowe laughed, probably because he’d heard enough over their more than a decade-long friendship to know that was true. Snow sometimes marveled over how well Rowe took the frank talk among their group of four when he was the only straight man. Well, mostly straight. Snow had an inkling there was a little curiosity going on up in the scrambled mess of Rowe’s brain. And Lucas occasionally jumped the fence and slept with women, but Snow had always known that was more about what Lucas felt he should want, not what he truly liked.
The others came back to the table, fresh drinks in hand and the talk turned to Melissa’s prowess with hard balls. Snow half-listened, finding that despite Rowe’s poor taste in drinking establishments, the company relaxed him. He let his gaze roam the bar again, hoping to see someone old enough to be interesting and frowned when a shadowy figure stepped quickly out of sight. He narrowed his eyes, tried to see who it was because he had the distinct feeling the person had been watching them.
“What do you think, Snow?”
“Huh?” He turned to Ian, realizing he’d missed the subject entirely.
“Don’t you agree that grocery shopping together is like a commitment?” Ian waved his finger at Lucas and Andrei. “They go together now.”
Snow pursed his lips and took in the hint of red flushing Andrei’s neck. “Ian, it’s just food. We get that for you, it’s a religion, but it doesn’t work that way for the rest of us.”
“It should.” Ian stared at Lucas until the older man started to glare back. But Ian gave him that smile—the sweet one that could melt the coldest of hearts and Lucas’s expression softened. Ian touched Andrei’s arm. “This is serious, though? You two? I’m right, aren’t I?”
The poor Romanian looked poised for flight as he tried to resist Ian’s questions. He glanced at Lucas, cleared his throat. “We’re just having fun.”
“Are we?”
Everyone went quiet with Lucas’s tone. The man’s expression said so much about his feelings for the Romanian and Snow was sure he wasn’t the only shocked person at the table.
“Is that what we’re doing?” Lucas asked, voice low.
Andrei cocked his head, his dark eyes narrowing on Lucas. As usual, the heat between the two made Snow feel like he witnessed something infinitely private. Andrei had pulled his black, curly hair into a ponytail at his nape, so his curious expression was plain for all to see as he locked his stare on Lucas. “I thought so. Thought that’s what we agreed on. No strings. Are you saying you want more?”
Lucas suddenly grinned. He slowly reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out a single condom and held it up between two fingers.
“Prepared much?” Rowe asked, his mouth snapping shut when his wife reached across the table to smack his arm. “Hey now!” He rubbed his arm.
Lucas kept his gaze on Andrei as he flipped the condom over his shoulder. “That answer your question?”
The two men didn’t move as Snow held his breath, then Andrei abruptly lunged half out of his chair, grabbed Lucas’s jaw, and kissed him right there in front of everyone.
The feelings that tore through Snow confused him and made him feel faintly ashamed. He should be thrilled for his friend, happy that the man had found someone who made him feel like that. And he was. But some part of him felt cloudy with fear—fear that his world was about to shift. Snow had never seen his best friend like this and it caused a pang in his heart because it had been mostly the two of them since they’d been in elementary school. He took in Lucas’s relaxed slouch as he let a man kiss him in public, the way he reached up to smooth his thumb over the edge of the hand Andrei had on his face.
That tender gesture showed so very much about how things had changed. Snow looked away, not focusing on anything in particular. Lucas was rearranging his life around someone he obviously cared for and that selfish bastard part of Snow—the one Rowe had joked about—wasn’t sure how to handle it. He’d always wondered if he had anything of substance inside beyond his relationship with Lucas.
Seemed he’d be finding out.
Someone once again caught Snow’s eye—someone who quickly turned away when Snow’s gaze landed on him. But the light hit on a swarthy face that struck a chord of instant fury inside Snow. His gut twisted, his palms started sweating. He hoped he was wrong, but the clawing, black anger spilling into him told him he wasn’t.
“Uh oh, I’ve seen that look come over Snow’s face before.” Melissa stretched her neck to, obviously trying to see where Snow was looking. “Looks like Snow has zeroed in a possible target. Can anyone else see? Is he hot?”
Snow let them think what they wanted. He’d excused himself from the group many a time before and there was no way he wanted one member of their group to see who he thought that was. He had to get to the guy first. He stood, ignoring the piercing, questioning stare Lucas aimed at him, and grabbed his coat. “Sorry, but I have to leave. Early surgery tomorrow.”
“Yeah, right,” Rowe muttered, his smile showing he was in the least put out.
He paused long enough to let Melissa press a kiss to his cheek. “Have fun, sweetie,” she murmured with a dirty chuckle.
Snow strode fast toward the spot where that figure had disappeared and saw the man trying to dodge the crowd as he hurried toward the entrance. Snow caught glimpses of his black jacket as he moved. Right before the guy reached the door, he turned slightly and the light caught his face again.
Everything in Snow froze as he saw the long scar bisecting his left cheek. A scar Snow himself was responsible for inflicting. “Oh hell no,” he muttered as he pushed harder through the crowd and ran outside. His breath fogged instantly in the cold as he swung right and left, looking for a face he’d hoped never to see again.
If you haven't had a chance to read SHIVER yet, you can order the ebook now on from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple's iBookstore, Kobo, and All Romance ebooks. We will be releasing a print edition very soon.
November 5, 2015
Interviewing Lucas
When I’m working on a book or a series, it’s important for me to be able to step into the world. I like to walk around to get a feel for it all so I can make the story as real as possible for readers. I like to hear the dialogue in my head as if the characters were sitting next to me. I don’t know if it’s particularly sane, but I’ve written several books this way and it works for me.Today, I am sliding into the Unbreakable Bonds world to interview Lucas Vallois, millionaire investor and member of the Big 4. Think of this as a short story that crashes against the fourth wall…
An Afternoon with Lucas Vallois
Lucas had agreed to meet me, but it had to be in his office. It was a power play, plain and simple, but the man doesn’t understand that I’d been dealing with creatures for too many years. I let it go, smiling at his assistant Candace as she shows me into his massive office promptly at 2 p.m.
“Jocelynn, it’s good to see you again,” Lucas said, standing behind his imposing desk make of dark woods. It was like a throne and a barrier all in one. “I thought you were bringing Rinda with you.”
“Not this time.” I dropped my purse in one of the chairs before his desk and tossed my leather jacket across the back before flashing him my most wicked grin. “She’s busy playing with Snow. You’re stuck with me.”
“Should I be worried about Snow?”
“Snow’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.” Lucas continues to glare at me, which only bring a smirk to my lips. “I’m sure Rinda will be gentle with him.”
Lucas’s glare dissolves into a slow, lazy smile. Seeing that smile in person at last…I get it and I feel like I owe Andrei an apology. Damn that smile. “Will you be gentle with me?”
His words snap the spell and I laugh. Walking around the desk so that I am now standing in front of Lucas, I pat him lightly on the arm. “Hell no.”
I continue to stroll over to the large wall of windows looking toward the Great American Ballpark and the Ohio River. It really is a spectacular view. The hills of Kentucky are still painted with fall colors and the skies are a rare bright blue rather than the overcast gray that is common through the fall and winter.
“Why do it?” I asked, not turning back to look at him. I can hear the swish of fabric as he follows me over to the windows. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him beside me, one hand in his slacks’ pocket while the other is braced over his head against the window. The man really does look like a damn model.
“You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Why risk so much over a piece of land? You risked your life, your friends, Andrei… over a little swath of land. There are plenty of places around the Tristate that you could make a similar investment and the residents would have welcomed you.”
Lines cut deep furrows across Lucas’s brow and around his mouth at my question, but when he finally speaks, his voice is calm and even. “I didn’t get where I am by allowing people to bully me. I protect what it mine.”
“Yeah, but there were other ways to handle it. Legal ways.”
This time it’s Lucas’s turn to smirk. “I thought you were used to looking for other ways to solve problems.”
I wag my finger at him. “You don’t need to worry about the people who came before you and their way of solving problems.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s handled.”
“Things could have gone a lot worse. Andrei—”
“I know.” Lucas interrupts me and for the first time his voice is sharp enough to cut. He draws in a deep breath and holds it for a moment, closing his eyes when he slowly releases it. “I know. Things could have gone very badly. I’ve learned…”
“That’s all I needed to hear,” I whisper.
When Lucas opens his eyes, I see a glimpse of the fear that still haunts him when it comes to Andrei… and possibly even his other friends. His family. He’s got a reason to worry. Lucas made a decision and he made it out of fear, anger, and pain. That decision is going to have consequences that he’s not yet imagined. But now is not the time to discuss that.
I turn away from the window and walk over to the massive meeting table in the middle of his office, running my nails over the gleaming surface.
“What’s that smile for?” Lucas demands, sounding a little more composed.
A small chuckle escapes me. I hadn’t even realized I was smiling. “I was just thinking of what Andrei said about this table and you.” When I look up, there’s no missing the flush to his cheeks, wringing a loud cackle out of me. “Oh, the naughty things he’s got planned for you. I can’t wait!”
“This interview is done,” he declares, trying so hard to look grumpy but I can see the hints of a smile teasing the corners of his mouth. He forgets that he can’t hide a dam thing from me.
“Yeah, we’re done.” I walk over and scoop up my belongings. “I got what I needed.”
Lucas is there when I turn around, all hints of humor gone from his face. “Am I going to lose him?” Maybe I’ve underestimated him. Maybe he can sense there’s a price that still needs to be paid.
I swallow back a sigh. Pushing up on my tiptoes, I brush a kiss across this jaw. “That’s all up to you.”
Before he can ask me another question, I turn and walked toward his door. “Tell the boys I said hey. And remind Andrei that I’m coming for him next week.”
If you want to learn more about Lucas's world, you can read the first book, SHIVER, right now. You can order the ebook now on from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple's iBookstore, Kobo, and All Romance ebooks. We will be releasing a print edition very soon.
October 27, 2015
Release Day for Shiver
It's here! It's here! It's FINALLY here! It's release day for
Shiver
, the first book of the Unbreakable Bonds Series, and I don't think I've been more excited. (And I've had nine other books release.)This is the first book that I've ever written with another person. It's the first m/m romantic suspense I have ever written. It's the first book that I've written that I was able to set in my hometown.
I loved writing this book. It was so much fun brainstorming the plot, characters, motivations, and general insanity in this book. It was fun falling in love with the characters. I loved the incredibly random texts and messages that Rinda and I sent back and forth while working on the edits for this book.
If you've been on the fence on whether to get a copy of Shiver , you can read exclusive excerpt by clicking here, here, and here.
What Are the Reviewers Saying
I get it. There are so many books being released every week and we all check in with reviews a time or two to help us decide whether to pick up a book, put off a book, or just skip it. I'm happy to say that reviewers have been quite positive about Shiver !
"I love it when a new to you author leaves you wanting more! I really enjoyed this first book in the Unbreakable Bonds series and can’t wait to see where it goes next." 4.5 stars from the Prism Book Alliance for Shiver.
"Shiver was everything I hoped for and more. I didn't want to put it down. I loved these characters. It is an alpha-male hot mess (I mean that in the best possible ways). In m/f romance, a caveman mentality is a big turn off, but if you pair that up with another caveman alpha-male...fireworks!" 5 stars from I Smell Sheep for Shiver.
"I just flat out enjoyed this. The relationships, suspense, mystery, and hot smexy times...it all boils down to fun. I had fun while reading this and look forward to a continuation of the series." 4 stars from Gay Book Reviews for Shiver.
Book 2
Now you the fun don't stop with
Shiver
. Well, heck no! We're just getting warmed up. In the first book of the Unbreakable Bonds series follows Lucas and his fight to uncover the threat to his life as well as dilemma of whether to risk his heart on Andrei.Since finishing Shiver , Rinda and I haven't been resting. Nope. We are working on the second book. As a bonus when you get Shiver, we have included a sneak peek of Book 2. You not only learn the title of the second book, but who the book is going to be focused on.
It's gonna be so much fun!
But Wait...There's More
After you finish Shiver , we will be releasing a series of free short stories so you can continue to follow Lucas and the boys. So far, I've finished four short stories, including one Halloween-themed one that will be release this week. Keep checking back at this blog for more updates on the short stories and happenings.
And don't worry. I am working hard on the print edition. Let's just say the learning curve is a bit steep for this and I'm trying very hard to keep the price down.
But you can get the ebook now! To order Shiver , click here and start your adventure with the boys of Cincinnati.
Happy release day!
October 25, 2015
Jocelynn Is Being Evil
Are you evil, Jocelynn?
Why, yes. Yes I am.
In order to entice you to check out our new book Shiver, Rinda and I have been releasing short excerpt from the book. It just happens to be my day to post a short excerpt. There are so many fun and awesome scenes to choose from, but I decided that I needed a particularly yummy and slightly evil scene. (You know you love me for my evilness.)
Both men fell silent on the drive west out of downtown and across the tracks to Price Hill. Tension thickened in the car, but it was not due to any discomfort between them. Andrei knew he should say something as his hands flexed on the steering wheel. The sexy banter was now forgotten, pushed off to the side. This was a bad idea and he needed to make that clear.
Andrei parked the car under a dingy street light, but didn’t turn off the engine. Nothing felt good about this. The shadows in the area were heavy, crowding close to old homes fallen into disrepair and vacant buildings where business owners had given up. Trash and dead leaves clogged the gutters, while sidewalks were cracked and crumbling. Hope had abandoned this part of town years ago, leaving its occupants to trudge along like vacant-eyed zombies, beaten down by life and despair. It was all too familiar.
A muffled click jerked Andrei from his grim thoughts, drawing his gaze to Lucas to see him removing his seat belt and reaching for the door. Andrei moved faster, hitting the lock button so that a loud thunk echoed through the car.
“Where the hell are you going?” Andrei demanded before he could stop himself. The area had him too on edge to censor his words.
“Getting out. I want to show you something.”
“No.”
Lucas stared at him, his brow furrowed in confusion and what looked like shock. Hadn’t anyone ever said that word to him? Well, he was going to have to get used to it. There was no way in hell Andrei was letting the man out of the car when someone was desperate to do him harm.
“What?”
“I said no. We’re not getting out. In fact, I shouldn’t have even driven you here. We’re leaving. It’s not safe.” Andrei started to reach for the gear shift in the console between them and Lucas lurched forward, grabbing the key and pulling it free. The car fell silent with a shudder, leaving them wrapped in a deepening silence.
“We’re staying. Just for a few minutes.”
“Give me the key.”
Lucas smiled as he shoved the key in his right pocket. “Come get it.”
Andrei swore violently under his breath, gripping the steering wheel with both hands, before glaring over at his companion. Lucas was lounging back in his seat, the shadows caressing his features, making him look all the more enticing with that lazy grin on his lips. “Damn it! This isn’t some fucking game. Give me the key now.”
“Just slip your hand in my pocket and take it. Then we can leave.” The tip of Lucas’s tongue slid across his upper lip and Andrei couldn’t stop his gaze from following the motion before he finally closed his eyes and shook his head. This man was going to drive him insane.
“Be serious. You’ve been attacked once,” Andrei said evenly, forcing his voice to remain calm. He could appeal to the man’s common sense. “We’re in the area they’ve warned you away from. You think they’re not watching this place? We step foot out there and they’re going to try to kill you. I’m one person against an unknown number.”
“And I’m telling you that there’s no reason for them to protect this place. It’s nothing. There’s nothing to watch.” Lucas’s growing anger made him clearly enunciate each word. “Besides I’m not about to be run off from my property by a bunch a fucking hoods.” He flicked the latch, unlocking his door, but Andrei immediately hit the button again. “Andrei…” The growl rumbled through the car in warning. Lucas hit the latch again and Andrei punched the button.
Lucas started to move but Andrei was faster. Twisting his body, he slammed his left hand against Lucas’s door, holding his lean body mere inches above the other man’s, as he blocked his escape. “I fucking said no. You may be used to getting your way, Your Highness, but it’s my job to keep you alive. You’re not getting out of the car. So give me the damn key.”
Tension ratcheted up between them until Andrei could feel his skin tingling. Lucas’s lips parted and a harsh breath escaped him. Andrei made the mistake of looking at them and he nearly groaned. They were inches apart. Lucas tilted his chin up, closing the distance by a tiny amount. His mouth looked soft, so fucking soft. Andrei had never kissed a man before and now that he was so damn close to Lucas, it was all he could think about. He tried to imagine the feel, the taste, the sound he might make as their mouths met and he simply couldn’t.
Lucas ran his teeth over his bottom lip, tugging at it. He’d watched the man do that several times in the past when he was amused or thoughtful and now it was like he was fighting something and losing. Andrei didn’t care. He longed to pull that lip into his own mouth and suck on it.
You can read the other excerpts we’ve released this week here and here. Shiver will be out October 27. You can pre-order the book by click here.
Why, yes. Yes I am.
In order to entice you to check out our new book Shiver, Rinda and I have been releasing short excerpt from the book. It just happens to be my day to post a short excerpt. There are so many fun and awesome scenes to choose from, but I decided that I needed a particularly yummy and slightly evil scene. (You know you love me for my evilness.)
Jocelynn’s Slightly Evil Excerpt From Shiver
Both men fell silent on the drive west out of downtown and across the tracks to Price Hill. Tension thickened in the car, but it was not due to any discomfort between them. Andrei knew he should say something as his hands flexed on the steering wheel. The sexy banter was now forgotten, pushed off to the side. This was a bad idea and he needed to make that clear.Andrei parked the car under a dingy street light, but didn’t turn off the engine. Nothing felt good about this. The shadows in the area were heavy, crowding close to old homes fallen into disrepair and vacant buildings where business owners had given up. Trash and dead leaves clogged the gutters, while sidewalks were cracked and crumbling. Hope had abandoned this part of town years ago, leaving its occupants to trudge along like vacant-eyed zombies, beaten down by life and despair. It was all too familiar.
A muffled click jerked Andrei from his grim thoughts, drawing his gaze to Lucas to see him removing his seat belt and reaching for the door. Andrei moved faster, hitting the lock button so that a loud thunk echoed through the car.
“Where the hell are you going?” Andrei demanded before he could stop himself. The area had him too on edge to censor his words.
“Getting out. I want to show you something.”
“No.”
Lucas stared at him, his brow furrowed in confusion and what looked like shock. Hadn’t anyone ever said that word to him? Well, he was going to have to get used to it. There was no way in hell Andrei was letting the man out of the car when someone was desperate to do him harm.
“What?”
“I said no. We’re not getting out. In fact, I shouldn’t have even driven you here. We’re leaving. It’s not safe.” Andrei started to reach for the gear shift in the console between them and Lucas lurched forward, grabbing the key and pulling it free. The car fell silent with a shudder, leaving them wrapped in a deepening silence.
“We’re staying. Just for a few minutes.”
“Give me the key.”
Lucas smiled as he shoved the key in his right pocket. “Come get it.”
Andrei swore violently under his breath, gripping the steering wheel with both hands, before glaring over at his companion. Lucas was lounging back in his seat, the shadows caressing his features, making him look all the more enticing with that lazy grin on his lips. “Damn it! This isn’t some fucking game. Give me the key now.”
“Just slip your hand in my pocket and take it. Then we can leave.” The tip of Lucas’s tongue slid across his upper lip and Andrei couldn’t stop his gaze from following the motion before he finally closed his eyes and shook his head. This man was going to drive him insane.
“Be serious. You’ve been attacked once,” Andrei said evenly, forcing his voice to remain calm. He could appeal to the man’s common sense. “We’re in the area they’ve warned you away from. You think they’re not watching this place? We step foot out there and they’re going to try to kill you. I’m one person against an unknown number.”
“And I’m telling you that there’s no reason for them to protect this place. It’s nothing. There’s nothing to watch.” Lucas’s growing anger made him clearly enunciate each word. “Besides I’m not about to be run off from my property by a bunch a fucking hoods.” He flicked the latch, unlocking his door, but Andrei immediately hit the button again. “Andrei…” The growl rumbled through the car in warning. Lucas hit the latch again and Andrei punched the button.
Lucas started to move but Andrei was faster. Twisting his body, he slammed his left hand against Lucas’s door, holding his lean body mere inches above the other man’s, as he blocked his escape. “I fucking said no. You may be used to getting your way, Your Highness, but it’s my job to keep you alive. You’re not getting out of the car. So give me the damn key.”
Tension ratcheted up between them until Andrei could feel his skin tingling. Lucas’s lips parted and a harsh breath escaped him. Andrei made the mistake of looking at them and he nearly groaned. They were inches apart. Lucas tilted his chin up, closing the distance by a tiny amount. His mouth looked soft, so fucking soft. Andrei had never kissed a man before and now that he was so damn close to Lucas, it was all he could think about. He tried to imagine the feel, the taste, the sound he might make as their mouths met and he simply couldn’t.
Lucas ran his teeth over his bottom lip, tugging at it. He’d watched the man do that several times in the past when he was amused or thoughtful and now it was like he was fighting something and losing. Andrei didn’t care. He longed to pull that lip into his own mouth and suck on it.
You can read the other excerpts we’ve released this week here and here. Shiver will be out October 27. You can pre-order the book by click here.
October 20, 2015
Exclusive Excerpt from Shiver
SHIVER is one week away. ONE WEEK!
Rinda and I are extremely excited to share the Unbreakable Bonds world withy you. We'll be releasing fun snippets over the next couple of weeks, so check back often for fun glimpses of Lucas and Andrei! So...here is your first glimpse of Lucas and Andrei on that first awkward morning together. ;)
SHIVER excerpt- October 27th, 2015- Pre-order HERE
“I don’t know what to do with you, Mr. Hadeon.”
Andrei straightened, suddenly wary of the man and his surprising admission. Could he tell that Andrei was attracted to him? Had he stared too long? Laughed when he shouldn’t have? “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I am used to employees whom I give tasks and they leave to do them. They’re not just…always…there,” Lucas admitted, sounding more than a little uncomfortable. The grin Andrei had enjoyed just seconds earlier was now replaced with a frown.
“Until you are completely healed, I will stick close by. It’s easier to keep you safe.”
Lucas’s smile returned and he took a step closer to the island that separated them. “And exactly how close will you stick?”
Andrei licked his lips again, and there was no missing how Lucas’s heated gaze followed that small movement. Heat flushed his cheeks and he battled to keep his breathing even. His brain rushed to figure out an appropriate response to Lucas’s question. Sarcasm? Teasing? A serious shut-down that would likely piss off Rowe’s best friend or maybe just amuse the fuck out of him because Andrei had stupidly taken serious what Lucas likely didn’t mean.
“I will remain close to you in the event that I need to move you out of danger.” Andrei decided to ignore the sexual undertones of the question.
“You’d physically move me?” Lucas glanced down at his muscled body.
Andrei nodded, not trusting his voice as Lucas ran his teeth over his bottom lip, his smile growing wider.
“I’m surprised, Mr. Hadeon. I didn’t take you for the type who liked it rough.”
Andrei’s mind was suddenly flooded with the image of Lucas slammed against the refrigerator and pinned there with his own body as he ran his hands across his wide chest, exploring all that warm skin with his mouth. Breathless and shaken, he didn’t try to sort through the unexpected desire. Lucas was pure sexual temptation. With those sparkling eyes and sinful lips that seemed to promise so many dirty things without actually saying the words, Lucas was sex.
But he didn’t mean it. Flirting was probably like breathing for him. A man like that — rich, successful, talented — he was made to flirt with anyone standing in front of him because he could get away with it.
Andrei opened his mouth and then instantly shut it, catching the comment that nearly slipped out about how he had plenty of experience manhandling stubborn clients. What the fuck was he doing? Flirting back? He’d lost his mind. That’s all there was to it. The blood that had left his damned brain was all flowing to his dick.
Clearing his throat, Andrei tried again. “I don’t anticipate there being a problem. It’s my job to make sure you don’t come to harm.”
A low, evil chuckle rumbled from Lucas and Andrei had to remove his hands from the back pockets of his jeans as they started to grow tighter. He crossed his arms over his chest, both anticipating and dreading the other man’s next words.
“That is not what you were going to say,” he taunted.
“No.”
“Will you tell me?”
“No.”
Lucas shook his head, still grinning. “And I thought you might be more fun than this.”
Rinda and I are extremely excited to share the Unbreakable Bonds world withy you. We'll be releasing fun snippets over the next couple of weeks, so check back often for fun glimpses of Lucas and Andrei! So...here is your first glimpse of Lucas and Andrei on that first awkward morning together. ;)
SHIVER excerpt- October 27th, 2015- Pre-order HERE
“I don’t know what to do with you, Mr. Hadeon.”
Andrei straightened, suddenly wary of the man and his surprising admission. Could he tell that Andrei was attracted to him? Had he stared too long? Laughed when he shouldn’t have? “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I am used to employees whom I give tasks and they leave to do them. They’re not just…always…there,” Lucas admitted, sounding more than a little uncomfortable. The grin Andrei had enjoyed just seconds earlier was now replaced with a frown.
“Until you are completely healed, I will stick close by. It’s easier to keep you safe.”
Lucas’s smile returned and he took a step closer to the island that separated them. “And exactly how close will you stick?”
Andrei licked his lips again, and there was no missing how Lucas’s heated gaze followed that small movement. Heat flushed his cheeks and he battled to keep his breathing even. His brain rushed to figure out an appropriate response to Lucas’s question. Sarcasm? Teasing? A serious shut-down that would likely piss off Rowe’s best friend or maybe just amuse the fuck out of him because Andrei had stupidly taken serious what Lucas likely didn’t mean.
“I will remain close to you in the event that I need to move you out of danger.” Andrei decided to ignore the sexual undertones of the question.
“You’d physically move me?” Lucas glanced down at his muscled body.
Andrei nodded, not trusting his voice as Lucas ran his teeth over his bottom lip, his smile growing wider.
“I’m surprised, Mr. Hadeon. I didn’t take you for the type who liked it rough.”
Andrei’s mind was suddenly flooded with the image of Lucas slammed against the refrigerator and pinned there with his own body as he ran his hands across his wide chest, exploring all that warm skin with his mouth. Breathless and shaken, he didn’t try to sort through the unexpected desire. Lucas was pure sexual temptation. With those sparkling eyes and sinful lips that seemed to promise so many dirty things without actually saying the words, Lucas was sex.
But he didn’t mean it. Flirting was probably like breathing for him. A man like that — rich, successful, talented — he was made to flirt with anyone standing in front of him because he could get away with it.
Andrei opened his mouth and then instantly shut it, catching the comment that nearly slipped out about how he had plenty of experience manhandling stubborn clients. What the fuck was he doing? Flirting back? He’d lost his mind. That’s all there was to it. The blood that had left his damned brain was all flowing to his dick.
Clearing his throat, Andrei tried again. “I don’t anticipate there being a problem. It’s my job to make sure you don’t come to harm.”
A low, evil chuckle rumbled from Lucas and Andrei had to remove his hands from the back pockets of his jeans as they started to grow tighter. He crossed his arms over his chest, both anticipating and dreading the other man’s next words.
“That is not what you were going to say,” he taunted.
“No.”
“Will you tell me?”
“No.”
Lucas shook his head, still grinning. “And I thought you might be more fun than this.”
October 19, 2015
Time for a Drink
Writing and researching for Unbreakable Bonds has allowed me to wander through a wonderful world and dig around in bit of information that I never expected. The first book, Shiver, got its name for more than being just a delicious physical reaction, but it is also the name of one of Lucas's nightclubs in Cincinnati. (And I simply can't wait for you to visit Shiver.)But the boys in Unbreakable Bonds spend a considerable amount of time drinking, which got me wondering... if the boys of Unbreakable Bonds were drinks, what kind of drinks would they be?
Now before I begin, just know that these drinks are my suggestions and Rinda might have different ideas. (She can be quite possessive over Snow and Ian, not that I blame her at all.)
Lucas -- An Old Fashioned
Smooth and strong, there is something reserved, dignified, and ... well ... old fashioned about this drink. To me, it's very much a no-nonsense drink. And while there isn't much to An Old Fashioned, if you can find a true artisan behind the bar, there is a world of difference between an okay Old Fashioned and a great Old Fashioned. I'll admit that when I'm in the mood for some good Kentucky bourbon, this is my poison on choice.
For a non-alcoholic drink -- if that's just not your cup of tea -- I have to say that Lucas is hot earl grey tea with a splash of lemon. Again, simple and dignified.
Snow -- Sazerac
There is a decadence to Snow, Lucas's oldest and best friend in the world. He's a surgeon and a troubled man, and to escape the hard life he has lived and the pain that fills his work, he is happy to indulge in many pleasures of the flesh. I think the Sazerac is perfect for him, but for Snow, I have to say that it is made with an absinthe wash rather than the occasionally used Herbsaint, Pernod, or pastis. Sazerac is not a common drink, but it is made with rye whiskey, bitters, water, sugar, but before the final drink is placed in the glass, the drinking glass is coated with absinthe.
For a non-alcoholic drink, I think that Snow is probably Turkish coffee. Sharp, strong and bitter.
(Stay tuned. You'll be learning more about Snow very soon.)
Rowe -- Beer
I think Rowe screams beer to me because I can hear him whispering in my ear, I want a beer. Oh, if Lucas pulls out the 100-year-old whisky, Rowe is not going to turn him down. But Rowe is the type to kick back with a beer at the end of the day and flip on ESPN to catch up on the latest sports news. He's the kind of man who makes good money but still wishes for simple things -- a roof over his head, a TV to watch sports, good friends, and a cold beer.
I worry because that makes Rowe sound amazingly uncomplicated, and to most of the world he is. He also appears to be a man who has everything. Ever so dangerous when I've got a pen in my hand. But Rowe is a man who is very good at appearing simple, when below the surface, he is extremely complicated.
For a non-alcoholic beverage (and he's now rolling his eyes at me), I have to say he's a coke. Just give the man a coke and burger.
(Stay tuned. You'll be learning more about Rowe very soon.)
Ian -- French 75
Oh my dear, sweet Ian. You were raised with money and while you have lived a hard life at times, you can't escape your expensive tastes sometimes. Ian is the other close friend of Snow, Lucas, and Rowe. He's an amazing chef with a dark past. Ian loves fashion and great food. And it only seems fitting that he would be a French 75. I have to admit that I've never tried a French 75, but after stumbling across it, I am dying to. Made with gin, Champagne, lemon juice, sugar, and garnished with an elegant lemon peel curl while served in a Champagne flute, it seems a perfect match for him. More complicated than just champagne and yet still so elegant.
For a non-alcoholic beverage, Ian is a caramel macchiato with an extra shot of espresso.
(Stay tuned. You'll be learning more about Rowe very soon.)
Andrei -- Rumbucket
I have debated what drink is perfect for Andrei for days. He's not a simple vodka tonic and the kick of a Margarita is all wrong for him. And then I discovered a drink since living down in South Florida that I think he would laugh about. It's called the rumbucket -- though it might have other names in other places -- and it contains banana rum, coconut rum, pineapple rum, pineapple juice and a splash of cranberry juice. It's refreshing, sweet and absolutely delicious. And if you're not careful, it will totally knock you on your ass.
For a non-alcoholic beverage, Andrei is iced tea.
Don't forget that Shiver, the first book of the Unbreakable Bonds series is due out on October 27. (Less than two weeks away!) You can pre-order your copy now for Kindle, Nook, Kobo or Apple. We'll have more information about a print version very soon.
October 12, 2015
Exploring Cincinnati for Unbreakable Bonds
Why Cincinnati?
Well, the simple answer is because it’s home, but we both know that that answer isn’t enough.
I grew up in the Cincinnati area, which may or may not come as a shock to you. Technically, I’m a Kentucky girl, born and bred, but while living in the area, I was never more than thirty minutes from downtown Cincinnati. I know the tristate area better than any other. I can close my eyes and see the softly undulating hills thick with trees, the gentle curve of the Ohio River like a woman’s smile, secret and mysterious. I know her neighborhoods, her hidden nooks and stomping grounds visited only by locals.
Cincinnati is a beautiful, Midwestern city of moderate size. No, she’s not a New York, L.A., or Chicago. She can be slow to change, obstinate, and intolerant. But she can also be so very elegant in an understated, regal way. She has a deep reservoir of history but she doesn’t flaunt it like some showy cities.
I love the downtown skyline. Nestled in a river valley, there are spots around the region where you can come around a curve or top a rise and suddenly you are graced with the most spectacular view of downtown. The city is a hidden gem.
Cincinnati Offers More Reality
There comes a power in knowing a region like the back of your hand. When it comes to planning a scene, more often than not I can think of the perfect location around the tristate area that will fit my needs and IT’S REAL.
I love the idea of allowing characters that I’ve created walk around in a place that I know so well and love. I think part of the fun is that I know more than just the appearance of the place. I know the smell, the sounds and the vibe. There are little things that I just forget to add in when I creating a place from scratch, but I call so easily recall when I’m pulling up an actual memory.
Of course, that being said, this is still fiction. There are a few things that I’ve made up or changed to fit my own needs. But that’s ok because it allows Rinda and me to take you on a fantastic roller-coaster ride.
Top 10 Favorite Places in Cincinnati
[caption id="attachment_172" align="alignright" width="300"]
Krohn Conservatory[/caption]Krohn Conservatory – I have so many great childhood memories of this place. It beautiful and peaceful. I feel as if my visits to the city aren’t complete without a trip to the Conservatory.
Cincinnati Zoo and Botantical Garden – Cincinnati has one of the top ranked zoos in the country and it shows. It is gorgeous.
Mainstrasse Village – Do you need to grab a drink? This is my first choice of places to hit. This little neighborhood tucked just across the river in Northern Kentucky is a great place to meet friends for dinner and then grab a few drinks.
Riverbend – Your summer is not complete until a trip to Riverbend to catch a concert. So many bands have played Riverbend. Grab a patch of lawn and listen to someone rock out. I’ve caught Red Hot Chili Peppers and Raconteurs here.
Newport on the Levee – A relatively new development, this is across the river in Northern Kentucky. Grab a great dinner, pop by the AMC Theater for a movie or maybe you want to go to the killer Newport Aquarium. I can so easily see the characters of Unbreakable Bonds strolling along the river, enjoying the view of downtown after a nice dinner.
Eden Park – The perfect place for long walks or just stretching out in the sun while reading a book. I’ve spend a lot of time wandering around Eden Park, brainstorming books. Eden Park is home to Krohn, the Art Museum, and Playhouse in the Park.
Aronoff – A night at the theater. I’ve see musicians perform here, musicals, but I have to admit my favorite was always going to see the Cincinnati Ballet perform at Aronoff. A newer addition to the city, it is elegant without being overwhelmingly modern.
Fountain Square – The center of downtown, Fountain Square holds a massive fountain (not surprisingly) and gives you the perfect starting point when it comes to exploring. The Square is home to concerts, ice skating in the winter and other events.
Long drives through rural Kentucky – Sure, it probably not the type of place you had in mind, but it’s heaven to me. Rural Kentucky is filled with narrow, winding roads that soar up hills and dip down into valleys while either farms or woods stretch out on either side of you. When it comes to just breath-taking scenery, there isn’t much that can beat it and there aren’t many better ways to pass a lazy Saturday.
The swing at my parents’ house – Okay, another one that is harder to peg down and I wouldn’t show up without calling ahead. For as long as I can remember, my parents have had a swing. Sometimes it’s on the front porch and sometimes it’s on the deck at the back of the house. But it is the best place to sit when the weather is warm. It’s the best place in all of Cincinnati to catch up on the local gossip, talk about what’s on your mind, or just sit and watch the sun set while listening to the crickets and the frogs. And if the weather is nice, it’s unlikely that you’ll be sitting on the swing alone for long.
While I’ll admit that I love Cincinnati, I don’t see myself moving back anytime soon. My husband and I have conquered Wisconsin and now we’re enjoying South Florida (and that’s really hard to leave once you’ve experienced it in winter). There are too many interesting places around this country still to explore. But I will admit that I miss that swing and I’m aiming to give the boys of Unbreakable Bonds their own swing.
If you're ready to explore Cincinnati, check out Shiver , the first book of the Unbreakable Bonds series. It will be out on October 27. You can pre-order the ebook on Amazon now. Shiver can also be pre-ordered from Apple's iBookstore here, Barnes & Noble, and for Kobo here. More options coming soon.
September 28, 2015
Shiver Book Trailer Now Out!
We are just a month away from the release of the first book in our new romantic suspense series. You can now pre-order. ARCs will be trickling out to a few reviewer this week, so all those lovely nerves are starting to kick in. This is a normal part of the process, so don't worry, they're mostly good nerves. Ones that are riding on hope that SHIVER makes its way into a few hearts. Okay, a lot of hearts. We love our guys and want you to as well. ;)
To celebrate SHIVER going live for pre-order on Amazon, we're celebrating with a fun video. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/TMhig1clpXM
You can click this Amazon link to get your copy pre-ordered. SHIVER is also up on Goodreads and it won't be long before pre-orders are ready to go with other booksellers, too. For things to do while you wait this next month? See inspirations for our characters and settings on Tumblr. Learn all about Lucas and Andrei. See what music inspired their soundtrack. And more!
To celebrate SHIVER going live for pre-order on Amazon, we're celebrating with a fun video. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/TMhig1clpXM
You can click this Amazon link to get your copy pre-ordered. SHIVER is also up on Goodreads and it won't be long before pre-orders are ready to go with other booksellers, too. For things to do while you wait this next month? See inspirations for our characters and settings on Tumblr. Learn all about Lucas and Andrei. See what music inspired their soundtrack. And more!
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