First BOOK Friday-- Kelly Jamieson

For the past year we've been having fun with First Line Friday, where we share the first lines from books by the Naughty Nine and some from our writing friends and have readers vote on their favorite without knowing who wrote which line.

Now we're trying something new on the third Friday of every month:  First BOOK Friday!  We're going to highlight the first book from each of the Nine Naughties.  Sometimes people find us further down our backlist, sometimes readers think they're picking up our first book when really it's number 3 or so, sometimes our first book was so long ago even we've forgotten!  (just kidding... it's true that you never forget your first!).  So we thought it would be fun to revisit the books that started it all for each of us!

This week we're featuring the first book by Kelly Jamieson, Love Me.


A Note from Kelly:

I’d been writing and submitting manuscripts to various digital publishers and getting rejected, and I decided I was going to try writing something hotter, something really erotic, and this story popped into my head and I wrote it really fast and easy. I sent it to my critique partner and she said, this is the one, you have a winner. So I sent it to Samhain and waited...and then they had a call for submissions for ménage stories, which I thought this one would be perfect for. So I emailed Angela James, at that time she was at Samhain, and asked if I could move my manuscript to that ménage anthology call for submissions. She emailed me back and said we could,  but an editor was about to contact me...and then I got the email offering a contract!

 Love Me

How far does she have to go to get his attention? Another girl's arms?

Melina Wenham is worried and frustrated. Lately, her boyfriend of six months seems to have lost interest in her. Yes, she knows he's stressed about his big project at work, but jeez, it seems like he'd rather go solo than have sex with her. Sexy lingerie, a Brazilian...nothing seems to get his attention.

Gavin's frustrated too. He's under enough pressure at work, without feeling more from Melina every time he gets home.

Another night, another party, and Gavin is off talking to the boys. Feeling ignored yet again, Melina confides her troubles to an acquaintance, Abby, who suggests shaking him up by flirting with another guy. Hmm. Not a bad idea, except there are no flirt-worthy guys at this party.

Then Abby suggests a different tack—flirt with her.

Could a little girl-on-girl tango be the match that reignites romance with Gavin? There's only one way to find out...

Warning: Hot girl on girl scene!

EXCERPT:

Gavin stared in stunned incredulity at the two women on the bed.

Melina was laying there with Kylie's cousin, both of them naked from the waist up, jean-clad legs twined around each other, kissing like crazy in a heated clinch. Holy fucking shit. Melina and Abby wrenched apart at his words and stared back at him.

His cock hardened painfully in his jeans and he almost put a hand down to it. "Jesus," he muttered. He shook his head, but couldn't drag his eyes away from the scene on the bed.

Melina's long blonde hair was mussed and her eye makeup was smudged under her big eyes, round with apprehension. Abby's hair, too, was just-out-of-bed tousled, both their lips shiny and swollen. He almost groaned aloud.

He should be pissed off, he supposed. After all, Melina was cheating on him. With another woman. But he was so fucking turned on he could have drilled wood with his dick.

"Gavin," Melina said. Uh, yeah, that was him. Her eyes flicked nervously to Abby. "Um..."

Nobody seemed to know what to say and the silence in the room dragged on painfully. Then Gavin became aware of voices in the hall and he shoved the bedroom door shut behind him, plunging them back into darkness. His eyes had to adjust to the dim lighting and he took a step toward the bed.

"Melina, what are you doing?" he asked again, his voice gritty like sand. What a goddamn stupid question that was. It was pretty clear what she was doing.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, moving out of Abby's embrace, and strangely, covering her breasts with her arms. Christ, they lived together. He'd seen her gorgeous tits a million times. He watched her swallow hard, lick her lips.

"This is all my fault," Abby said, sitting up, but not making any move to cover her chest.

Gavin tried, he really did, but he couldn't stop his eyes from flicking over her torso. In the back of his mind, "small but nice" registered vaguely. He jerked his eyes back to Melina's face.

"It's kind of a funny story."

He lifted a brow and looked at Abby, forcing himself to look no lower than her chin. "Oh yeah?" If she'd been a guy, he'd be hauling her ass off that bed and shoving his fist into her nose. He blinked, waited.

Abby grinned. "Melina and I were talking and she was telling me how she's been feeling lately and I had the idea that she should try to make you a little jealous. Just to...you know...make you realize what a hot, gorgeous chick she is."

He blinked again. "I know what a hot, gorgeous chick she is," he protested. Wait a minute.

He looked at Melina. "You were trying to make me jealous?" Both brows shot up.

She nodded, looking embarrassed, miserable, absolutely adorable and utterly fuckable. He adjusted his stance to accommodate the hard-on growing in his pants. "There were no guys around to flirt with."

"So I volunteered," Abby said cheerfully.

"Hold on," Gavin ground out. "This is not flirting." He threw a hand out toward them. "This is way past flirting."

"Things got a little...uh...carried way," Melina said in a small voice.

Gavin gave his head a shake in an attempt to clear it. It didn't work. "I..." He stopped. "You...Melina."

"I know." She pulled her bottom lip in. "I'm sorry."

"Hey," Abby said softly. "You know what, Mel?" She glanced sideways at Gavin. "I don't think Gavin's mad. I think he's turned on."

He scowled and willed his hard-on to go away. It didn't. Melina stared at him, Abby smiled.

"So?" he growled.

"So," Abby said, tipping her head. "Why don't you join us?"

His eyes almost fell out of his head. "You must be joking."

She shook her head, still smiling, eyes sparkling. "Melina was being very um...brave and...adventurous. Maybe you should, too."

Pick up your copy here! 

#ThursdayThirteen: Potent Quotables

 
Egos, us? Never...
Today, we're offering up more of our favorite lines from our own works--this time, we invited some friends to tag along! Thanks for joining us Pauline, Lacie, Leah, and Shelli!

1. PG Forte: "He grabbed for the soap—as if hopelessly fucked was a feeling that could ever be scrubbed away." --Brennan in the shower, contemplating his relationship with Julie (Ashes of the Day) 

2. Meg Benjamin: He put his hands on her shoulders, staring down into her eyes. “I’m about two seconds away from doing you here against the door, and I don’t want our first time to be like that. Come upstairs with me.” His voice rasped against her like something she could touch. –Danny, the first time he makes love to Biddy (Medium Well)
 
3. Pauline Allan: He turned to stand, then stopped. He leaned against the door so she could hear him. “Tell me your safe word.” –Adam to Lily, who is locked behind the door of a garden shed (Gilded Lily)
 
4. Kelly Jamieson: "Now just leave me alone for a while," he said to her, his voice thick. "Geez, woman." – Josh, after he and Devon have “reunited”…several times…enthusiastically. (Jilted)
 
5. Juniper Bell: “Do you know what obsession is about, Merriman? It’s about the details. All these tiny little details that burn themselves into your brain until there’s no more fucking room for anything else. They left around ten thirty. I lost track of them in Earlton Yard.” (Beautiful Obsession)
 
6. Leah Braemel: D.C. didn’t need him here—he could work out of the Atlanta office, no problem.
Atlanta. Where there were no spitfires with bitable asses to tempt him. Maybe then he could avoid future cases of blue balls he’d constantly been dealing with lately. –Sam Watson thinking about his heroine Rosalinda Ramos (Personal Protection)

7. Sydney Somers: “Are you actually going to open the door or are you waiting for a ref to blow a whistle first?” --Hayley, the heroine of Busted, to Jackson (Busted)

8. Lacie J. Archer: "Right, that'd be bad ... Especially since we still have quite the audience, and voyeurism is a pricey add-on to my base rate." –Dane, the escort (Rock 'n Roll Seraphim)

9. Kate Davies: “Because…” She floundered for an answer, gaze darting around the cluttered office. “It wouldn’t be appropriate.”
He snorted a laugh. “God, I hope not.”
Tess stared at him, her brow furrowed. “Excuse me?”
“I can’t think of anything more depressing than an appropriate kiss. I want deep, hot, dirty kisses with you. And so much more.” –Tess and Jeremy, first kiss (Life of the Party)

10. Kinsey Holley: "What, now? Taran, you idiot, once you stick your tongue down my throat and grab my ass, you don’t get to play big brother any more. We’re not that kind of rednecks." –Lark, the heroine (Kiss and Kin)

11. Shelli Stevens: “Are you high? Because we’ve got a history—a pretty complex one where I made it clear I wanted nothing to do with you. And beyond that, I’m not for sale, dammit.” –Sarah Rawlings, heroine (Good Girl Gone Plaid)

12. Erin Nicholas: “Learning to have orgasms with you would be like learning to play chopsticks with Beethoven. She couldn’t find a man with more expertise.” (Just Like That)

13. Skylar Kade: He nipped her forefinger, zinging arousal to all her naughty bits, then stole her breath when he kissed her nose, her cheek. “Do you get a freckle every time you sass a Dom?”

An indelicate snort escaped her. “Sure. The freckles are a little-known Dominant Warning System saying ‘steer clear of the angry redhead!’” –Master Keilor and his soon-to-be-submissive, Tovia (Heat Up the Night)

Happy Mother's Day Holy Crap School's Almost Out

I had a great RT but I slept through much of it because I got my bronchitis crap while I was there. I came home sick and grumpy and tired and whiny. Then I got to feeling better and wham! it's Mother's Day (which should be a day to relax and do nothing but in my family, it's not really) and then wham! end of school parties and tests and turning in all the crap she should've turned in already and then wham! summer associates start work at my firm and then wham! I realize I have every summer week mapped out for Diva except for the week of June 3.

Would anyone like a very intelligent and able bodied 11 year old girl for three or four days? She can do chores and she's an excellent baby sitter.

(Note: Last night she got three academic awards, one of which was for scoring the highest out of all fifth graders (in her school) in the national science competition. She's currently got a low D in science because she still hasn't turned in several assignments. She also got a math award. She's currently got a high C in math because she still hasn't turned in several assignments. She's an awesome test taker. Completing projects, not so great. Can't imagine where she got that.)

Anyway - at least I never have to cook for Mother's Day - Vickie always handles that. I just get to help with dishes and hang out with kids, which is not a bad way to spend a beautiful day. And because I have nothing else of interest to blog about, here are some pictures of our Mother's Day. Hope yours (if you celebrate it) was great, too.

Vickie the Blunt, Monsters Nos. 4 and 6, and glitter tattoos. Lots of glitter.
Lots and lots of glitter. Still rubbing it off Diva.

Nos. 4 and 6 with tattoos.
No. 6 is going through that "I won't smile for your picture
because I'm missing my front teeth" thing.
 

Probably because when she does smile,
we call her the Vampire Hamster. (Earlier pic, different event.)

The World's Greatest Aunt, after several hours
supervising the waterslide. She's great at
stuff like that. (I prefer to drink wine and take pictures.) 

Monster No. 7's tattoos. Please note that no one
ever taught her to pose that way.

No. 4 with her tattoos. She'd never pose like 7 did. Then
again, 7 likes to sit next to boys, while 4 likes to beat them up.



The World's Greatest Aunt got one big pic of all the kids. My nephews (nos. 2 and 3) weren't able to attend.  No. 7 missed them terribly.

A good chunk of the Nine, plus some visitors.

 
Somehow I didn't get pictures of No. 8 (who is no. 7's twin) or no. 1, the Diva. And I didn't even try to take pictures of the boys because No. 9 wouldn't be still long enough and No. 5 was running around holding balloons over his crotch and making lewd gestures all day. And he's not in middle school yet.

It was a fun Sunday. I didn't get any words written, but I got more anecdotes for the story I'm writing. There's gonna be a lot of kids in it, an I won't have to make up any of the funny stuff.





Leading a double life

Sometimes I get weary of the double life I lead. There is the real me, who goes to work every day to earn the money that supports my family. I have a job with 12 people reporting to me and those people are counting on me to be there and help them. I have friends at work with whom I go for coffee and lunch — but I’m living a lie. Because all those people at work have no idea that I live a double life.

They have no idea that when I go home I spend evenings and weekends at the computer, writing stories, conducting all the “business” of writing, chatting to on-line friends. I’m sure they think I must be the most boring person in the world when they ask how my weekend was and I say, “It was okay”, because I can’t tell them I finished another manuscript or I heard back from my editor, or I had the most hilarious conversation with my blog partners.

I decided it was best to keep the two lives separate, for a variety of reasons. I enjoy my job (especially the seven weeks of paid vacation and every other Friday off, LOL!) and I try to do a good job. But sometimes it’s hard not to drift off into daydreams of story ideas while sitting in endless meetings. Sometimes it’s hard to resist peeking at my BlackBerry during the work day. Sometimes it’s hard not to be able to share my good news (I sold another book! I got a great review! I got an amazing royalty cheque this month!) with coworkers.

So far I have managed to keep the two lives mostly separate, but a while back someone told me that there are people at work who know about my writing. I don’t know how they knew, but the person who told me admitted that he’d Googled me to find out more. I told him I figured nobody would know my pen name so even if people found out, they wouldn’t be able to easily find out much more than that, but apparently I was wrong. At that point I decided I should tell my boss, just so it wasn’t a surprise to her if it got to be common knowledge

But weirdly, nothing more was ever said. Nobody has ever said another word to me and I have no idea if the whole company knows and just doesn’t want to say anything, or only a few people know and kept it to themselves.

Coming back from the RT Booklovers Convention reminded me again how hard this is. The convention was great – it’s awesome to see my NNN blog mates and friends, to renew friendships with other authors, to meet new people, both authors and readers, agents and editors. I felt like a rock star after the book signing! Then I had to come home and go to work and deal with the mundane business stuff I deal with all the time and not tell anyone how amazing the convention was.

Maybe some day someone will say something. Or some day maybe I’ll have to “come out of the closet” if I want to promote a book. I both want that to happen and am terrified of it. It would make life simpler in some ways, but perhaps more complicated in others. It would allow me to share all the ups and downs of my writing but would attract attention that I’m not always comfortable with.

So for now I will continue to lead the lives of two people, even though in my heart I’m really just one.

Friday Book Club - Erotic Romance Edition

Hello Friday!

The weekend is almost here and I don't know about you guys, but I'm planning on shooing the herd outside to play and taking advantage of a quiet house to catch up on a little reading time.

Last month we chatted about contemporary romance and I may have dropped a shameless plug about the Promise Harbor Wedding series. I'm totally not doing that this time :) We mentioned authors like Julie James, Carla Neggers and J. Lynn last month and some favorite storylines.



This month we're turning up the heat and setting the pages on fire with Erotic Romance! Pick your pleasure and tell us what storylines you love best about erotic romance. Are you a closet menage fan? Love it when the restraints come out? Do you reread the smokin' sex scenes?


So what erotic romance have you read lately? Who are your favorite ER authors and books? And we cannot forget the heroes. What do you love best about erotic romance heroes? Themes you love? Hate? Did you read Fifty Shades of Gray? What did you think?

Leave a comment and be entered to win a winner's choice backlist ebook from one of the Naughty Nine. Contest closes Sunday, May 12th.

May Reading Challenge - Reader's Choice

The Nine Take RT 2013!

We're had having SUCH a blast at RT 2013. Here's a look at the trouble we got into and brace yourselves....RT New Orleans is coming.

Beautiful Bylines!

Last week, seven of the nine Naughties went to the RT Convention in Kansas City. I, unfortunately, wasn't able to be there.

But my RT Magazine article was.

I was pretty excited when I heard that my reunion romances article was going to be included in the June issue of RT Book Reviews magazine. That's one of the issues given out to attendees of the convention.

And there's my article, on pages 26-27.

I love writing non-fiction when I get the chance. Over the years, I've written a travel column in the local paper, a relationship series in a regional family magazine, various articles on child rearing and marriage, some "Chicken Soup"-style essays, and of course all the academic writing I'm required to do for my day job.

But this was the first article I've published in a national magazine.

The fact that it was a romance magazine was a definite bonus. I got to write about something I love, with the amazing assistance of some of the smartest, most helpful readers and writers in the genre.

If you were at RT, you got a copy. If not, it's on newsstands now! 

And thanks to the people who so generously agreed to be interviewed for this article. Check them out below!

Authors

Margaret Mallory

Jennifer Bernard

Erin Nicholas

Jami Davenport

Chantilly White

Stacy Gail

Meg Benjamin

Kelly Jamieson

PG Forte

Readers/Bloggers

Dawn from Daydreaming Book Review 

Francesca from Under the Covers Book Blog

Mandi Schreiner from Smexy Books

Taryn Cellucci from My Secret Romance Book Reviews

Nix from Scorching Book Reviews

Ginny McNeil