Jerica MacMillan's Blog, page 6

Recommended Read: Nearly Departed in Deadwood by Ann Charles

 

 

The last recommended read for October is Nearly Departed in Deadwood by Ann Charles.

The blurb:

“The first time I came to Deadwood, I got shot in the ass.”–Violet Parker

Little girls are vanishing from Deadwood, South Dakota, and Violet Parker’s daughter could be next. She’s desperate to find the monster behind the abductions. But if she’s not careful, Violet just might end up as one of Deadwood’s dearly departed.

Why I like it

Violet Parker has recently moved herself and her fraternal twins in with her aunt in Deadwood.  She has fond memories of spending summer there as a child, and wants to give that to her kids.  She’s a single mom trying to make it in a new career as a real estate agent.

With only three weeks left to make a sale before losing her job, she lands a client wanting to sell a house and another wanting to buy a house. The problem is that the house she’s trying to sell is a run-down mess, rumored to be haunted, that won’t even be ready to show by her deadline, and her buyer has weird issues when she takes him to see potential properties.  She’s too desperate to turn him away, though.

Oh, and both clients are attractive men that like her.

This is a mashup that’s part paranormal, part mystery, part romance.  It’s funny and entertaining, and has a cast of characters that make it memorable and worth reading the rest of the series.

For some reason, one of the characters (Wolfgang Hessler) reminds me of the guy from the Gevalia coffee commercial.

Read the book and you’ll see why that’s ruined the guy for me for life.

 

Need more?  Check out Rebound Therapy, my debut novella.

And while you’re add it, head on over and like my page on Facebook.

*This post contains affiliate links.

 

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Cure for a Bad Day Now Available

Surprise!

I released a new short story today called “Cure for a Bad Day.”

Here’s the blurb:

Avery has had the worst day. To top it off, she’s missed her train stop to get home. A sexy stranger notices her and invites her out for drinks.

Is this just what she needs to get over her bad day?

And here’s a quick taste:

“He slowly lowered his head, and fitted his mouth to mine.  His lips were soft.  The kiss was tender and exploratory, making no demands, giving as much as getting.

He broke the kiss and my eyelids drifted open.  Sean’s face was still only inches above mine, just far enough away to be able to focus without going cross eyed.  His eyes examined mine, and whatever he saw there had him cupping my face in his hands, and kissing me again.”

It’s only available on Amazon.  You can read it free if you’re subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, or you can download your very own copy for free starting tomorrow, October 27-29.

Read it, love it, leave a review!

Need more?  Check out Rebound Therapy, my debut novella.

And while you’re add it, head on over and like my page on Facebook.

*This post contains affiliate links.

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Recommended Read: Into the Darkness by KF Breene

 

The next paranormal recommendation is Into the Darkness by K.F. Breene.

First, the blurb:

Sasha has grown up with one surety: she’s not normal.

She sees things in the darkness that no one else can see. Mysterious men cloaked in shadow, moving through the night. The problem is, pointing out invisible people is a fast track to a padded cell. Orphaned at age five, Sasha quickly learns an important survival tip: keep her mouth shut and stay out of the spotlight.

Until one night, everything changes. She and her boyfriend, Jared, find themselves stranded on the wrong side of town. Suddenly, the men she was convinced were hallucinations, are very real. And very dangerous.

 Sasha must embrace the things she tried so hard to hide, while resisting the person her body craves most. She has finally found her shadow men, and they will change her life forever.

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Why I Like It

 

The characters.  I really like the characters.  They’re witty and funny and strong when they need to be.  Sasha, the main character, is thrown into a crazy situation, full of dangerous men wielding glowing swords.  She is confronted with difficult situations, both from external and internal sources.

There’s a lot to the story, but it’s hard to talk about without giving away spoilers or reiterating what’s already been said in the blurb.  There’s magic, and another race that’s beautiful and hides in the shadows.  This is another book where vampire mythology is mentioned, but is turned on its head in many ways.  Are there beings who drink blood?  Yes.  Are they typical vampires?  Not even close.

This book is free, and it’s a great intro to K.F. Breene’s work.  The rest of the series is definitely worth getting.  She does a great job of creating believable characters, even in unbelievable situations.  If paranormal’s not your thing (though I think you should give this series a chance anyway), check out her contemporary romance series (there’s more than one).

Need something else to read?  Check out my book.

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#ScintillatingSunday – Rebound Therapy

 

Every Sunday romance authors post eight paragraphs of a sensual or emotionally charged scene.  To see more, click on the links at the bottom of the post.

Today’s excerpt is from my debut book Rebound Therapy.

 

 

Rebound Therapy

by

Jerica MacMillan

 

He returns his hands to my shirt and lifts it over my head, then glides his hands down my back to unhook my bra and slide it down my arms. His hands return to cup my breasts, his touch firm but gentle. I watch his hands, feeling their warmth, and seeing how my breasts just slightly spill over from his grip.

“You’re so beautiful,” Brian says. He kisses me deeply, while kneading my breasts and teasing my nipples. He starts kissing his way down my neck again, this time continuing past my collarbone. His mouth replaces his hand on my right breast. I arch back, giving him full access, and tangle my fingers in his hair.

He lays me back on the couch, continuing to lavish attention on my breasts, pausing to yank his shirt off over his head. His mouth is back on mine, insistent and demanding. He’s propping himself up on his right arm and his left hand feels like it’s everywhere. He’s stroking my body, fondling my breast, then skimming down over my belly to the button on my jeans. He unfastens my jeans one handed, then slides his hand inside.

He lets his fingers play over me, teasing and exploring. I gasp when he finally makes firm contact. He slides a finger inside, groaning into my mouth as he continues his explorations. One finger becomes two, and his thumb makes small circles around my clit. I arch into his hand, craving more contact, more friction.

“I need to see all of you,” he says. I almost whimper as he pulls away, but then he’s pulling off my jeans and my underwear. I help him by lifting my hips as he pulls them down and off. He’s kneeling between my thighs, then pulls my legs up and spreads me wide. I’ve never been so exposed before. Tom saw me naked plenty, but he never spread me open and devoured me with his eyes. I would feel embarrassed, except for the obvious desire and appreciation in Brian’s eyes.

Brian leans over me and kisses me again, then starts kissing and nipping a path down my neck, between my breasts, and over my belly. He plants an open mouth kiss at the top of my mound, sucking slightly, then using his tongue. He looks up and locks eyes with me before dragging his tongue up my core from bottom to top.

“Breathe, Jenna,” he tells me. I let out a shuddery breath. He’s playing with me, exploring my folds with his tongue, relishing my reactions to him. His attentions are deeply arousing, but nowhere close to taking me to the edge.

He licks me long and slow again, this time lingering at the top to do something really nice with his tongue. I moan and he pulls away to grin up at me. He doesn’t stop for long, though, returning with another long lick ending with whatever it was he did before. Then he latches on, and the suction feels marvelous. I’m not sure what else he’s doing with his tongue, but I like it. A lot. No one’s ever made me feel quite like this before. My hands are clutching at the couch cushions, but I don’t feel like it’s a strong enough anchor.

 

 

Buy now on Amazon.

Jenna Anderson is still stuck in her grief a year after her fiance died in a tragic accident.  All she does is go to work and spend time at home, her former spark gone.  Her best friend decides she needs a rebound guy to have some fun and start to live again.

Brian MacMallum is the hot owner of the wine bar where Amy takes Jenna.  He has a mischievous grin that he wields like a weapon to convince Jenna to give him a chance.

Will his love be enough to pull Jenna out of her grief so she can learn to live and love again?

The post #ScintillatingSunday – Rebound Therapy appeared first on Jerica MacMillan.

Recommended Read: The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox

 

Continuing with our paranormal romance recommendations for October, next up is The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox.

 

Official synopsis:

It’s never a good day when an ancient demon shows up on your toilet bowl. For Lizzie Brown, that’s just the beginning. Soon her hyperactive terrier starts talking, and her long-lost biker witch Grandma is hurling Smuckers jars filled with magic. Just when she thinks she’s seen it all, Lizzie learns she’s a demon slayer—and all hell is after her.

Of course, that’s not the only thing after her. Dimitri Kallinikos, a devastatingly handsome shape-shifting griffin, needs Lizzie to slay a demon of his own. But how do you talk a girl you’ve never met into going straight to the underworld? Lie. And if that doesn’t work how dangerous could a little seduction be…?

Why I Like It

Lizzie Brown is adopted and meets her biological grandmother for the first time on her 30th birthday.  When her biker grandma shows up, she shoves Lizzie in her bathroom and locks her in.

Not quite the reunion she was expecting.

It turns out that her grandma is a witch whose coven turned into a biker gang to avoid a demon that’s chasing them, and Lizzie is their Demon Slayer.  Her 30th birthday is when she comes into her powers.  She has to learn to fight demons on the fly, starting with the one who shows up on her toilet, then go on the run with her biker witch grandma and friends.

This book is really fun.  Lizzie’s dog, which she can now understand, is hilarious.  There’s drama, tension, humor, a sexy shape shifting griffin, and the exploration of having your quiet, orderly life shaken up.  Lizzie has to come to terms with parts of herself she’s never needed before, and learn to live with a little chaos.  Anyone who’s had life pull the rug out from under them can relate to Lizzie struggling to find her bearings in this new world she never knew existed.

This is the first book of a seven book series that has a few short stories and novellas thrown in, too.  And it’s permafree, which is nice.  I highly recommend reading it, and then proceeding to read all the others.  They’re the kind of books where you feel like the characters are your new friends, and you’re so sad to see them go when the books are done.  Fortunately, I’m pretty sure there are more books to come.

*post contains affiliate links.

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A Week of Milestones

This last week has been a milestone week in my life as a writer.

I published my first book, Rebound Therapy.  It’s a 23,000 word novella.  It’s free on Amazon October 11-13.  I’m so excited, and I hope you’ll give it a read and leave a review.

 

I found out Thursday that I made it to the semi final round of Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest that they’re running on Wattpad this year.  I was stunned when I saw my story on the list of the top 55 entries.  The next round is open for people to vote on the stories to narrow it to the top 25.  If you’d like to vote for my story, Summer Fling, click here.  You have to have an account, but it’s free and you can even login with your Facebook profile.  Click the little star at the bottom of the section, and you’ll have voted for me (and have my undying gratitude)!

 

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Recommended Read: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

 

 

October is Paranormal Romance Month

At least around here.  This month I’m going to be recommending some of my favorite paranormal romance novels (or series, as the case may be).

The first book is A Discovery of Witches, Book 1 in the All Souls Trilogy.

Here’s the official blurb.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

Favorite Things

I know there’s been a surge in vamp lit since Twilight came out (not that Anne Rice wasn’t doing her thing long before that), but I’ve sort of missed most of that.  I don’t know, but falling in love with an undead blood sucker doesn’t really appeal to me, personally.

I am a fan of things that take those tropes and mythologies and turn them on their ear, so to speak.  The world that Harkness creates is populated by humans, but also witches, vampires, and a particularly talented and eccentric group called daemons.  Daemons are not demons, but are wildly talented (and often unstable) individuals descended from humans.  Her vampires do consume blood, but not exclusively human blood, and they can still eat some foods and like to drink wine.  She does keep a certain amount of the vampire mythos, but also has her vampire characters get miffed and offended when people assume all the stories are true.

The witches are not wildly divergent from most other books where witches are heros rather than exclusively villains.  There’s spellcraft and herb lore.  The main character is a powerful witch who denies her ability and refuses to use it.

I can’t talk about all the things that I like without giving too much away.  Suffice to say, the whole trilogy is enjoyable and definitely worth reading.  It’s a fascinating blend of history, science, and the supernatural.  Once you read the first one, you have to read the rest of the trilogy – Shadow of Night and The Book of Life.

Have you read these books?  Did you like them?

* Please note: this post contains affiliate links.

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Why I Read Romance Novels

In recent years I’ve become a romance novel reader.  And I don’t just read the occasional romance, either.  No, these days romance novels make up the bulk of my reading list.

 

This wasn’t always the case.  For a long time I turned up my nose at romance as a genre.  I’d read women’s fiction and only occasionally read a romance as a guilty pleasure.  In the last few years, though, romance has become my preferred genre.  

 

When I Became a Regular Romance Reader

 

It’s really been since I had my daughter three years ago that romance began to dominate my reading list.  There are several factors that led to this:  it’s easier to read an ebook while nursing a newborn than a dead tree book, most of the free ebooks available for Kindle and iBooks are romance, and my ability to handle the themes present in a lot of literary and commercial fiction is much lower than it used to be.

 

A newborn baby requires frequent feedings.  It’s not uncommon for a young infant to nurse every hour or two most of the day.  And they take a while to eat, too.  So, as a new mother I spent lots of time sitting in my recliner and feeding the baby.  Which leaves lots and lots of time for reading.  An iPad or iPhone is light and can hold a multitude of books.  You don’t have to turn pages or figure out awkward ways to hold a book one handed and keep the pages open.  The iPad would prop up nicely on the arm of the recliner, and I only needed to swipe to turn the page.  

 

Because of the large amount of reading time available, it’s not really financially feasible to buy every book you read.  So, I ended up downloading lots of freebies on Kindle and iBooks.  Most of the free books available are romances, with a smattering of murder mysteries thrown in.  I do enjoy the occasional mystery, but don’t really want a steady diet of them.  And so, I found myself reading more and more romances.

 

Give Me My Happily Ever After

 

I have since discovered Overdrive through my library as a source of ebooks.  So, I could get more books that aren’t romances. But, other types of fiction don’t guarantee a happily ever after.  Literary and commercial fiction are often tragic.  I can’t handle tragedy well anymore, especially when it’s the death of a child or spouse.  A traumatic birth experience followed by the intense emotions of new motherhood made me extra sensitive to anything involving abuse or death of children.  It’s too much, and I can’t handle it.  A subsequent pregnancy and a new baby in the house has not dulled my emotional response.  

 

Romance novels do touch on grief and loss, but usually the character has already experienced that prior to the start of the story.  It’s the trope of the hero or heroine that thinks they’ll never love again because of their prior tragedy.  And in the romance story, they heal and love again.  It’s more uplifting and far less harrowing than commercial or literary fiction stories that, while some do have happy endings, are more emotionally fraught.

 

The other nice thing about reading romance is that much of it is fairly easy to digest.  The lighter fare of romance doesn’t mean the writing has to be bad, though.  I’m picky, and I want good writing and interesting characters.  If something is boring or poorly edited, I’m not going to bother with it for very long.  When I’m up at 2:00 am to feed a baby, I want something enjoyable and fun.  Freebie romances usually hit the spot.  And if it’s not entertaining or engaging enough to keep my attention through a midnight feed, I move on to something else.

 

I used to be slightly embarrassed of my romance reading habit.  Romance is often viewed as a lesser genre, and I even refer to it as brain candy myself at times.  But I’ve started to own the fact that I like romance novels.  They’re enjoyable and widely available.  The best ones draw you in and don’t let go until the story is finished.  If other people look down on romance as a genre, that’s their problem, not mine.    

 

When did you start reading romance novels?  What’s your favorite thing about the genre?

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