Luke Struthers, band manager or bad boy?

 

————–

Returning to the Speed series and looking at Bad Boys Of Romance, I’d like to introduce you to Luke Struthers – if you haven’t already met him.

Luke is Speed‘s indispensable band manager. He’s also Zachary Pace/Jonah Speed’s closest friend and Seth Pace/Jordan Speed’s sometimes lover.

Luke comes from bad blood. Real bad. And he has no doubt he’s just as bad as the mean bastard who fathered him. Which leaves him struggling with his feelings for Seth. Because much as Luke wants to be with him, he knows he’ll only be trouble.

Why don’t you decide if Luke’s a bad boy…

COLORS OF LOVE: The blurb

Their true colors are hidden…until one woman turns everything upside down.

Speed, Book 2

Seth Pace, guitarist of the rock band Speed, is a born dreamer, and nothing stands in his way of making those dreams a reality. Except when it comes to band manager Luke Struthers. He’s everything Seth wants in a partner, but even after five years of perfectly explosive sex, Luke refuses to commit.

After a childhood ravaged by abuse, Luke knows he’s a potential danger to anyone foolish enough to love him. Seth is safer without him, but Luke has no idea how to cut him loose painlessly. Until he spots Seth’s kind of woman—pretty, smart, friendly. The plan: seduce her into a sexy threesome, then leave the two alone to fall in love. Problem solved.

A night of excitement with the two hottest men on the planet? Yeah, baby! Yet Kaz’s inborn ability to read auras tells her something isn’t right. It’s obvious Seth and Luke are madly in love, but subtle clues in Luke’s aura signal he’s up to something. She’s not sure what, but if she doesn’t do something quick, the two men she’s quickly come to adore will wind up without the happily ever after they both deserve.

Warning: One man + one man + one woman = a whole lot of steamy two-way and three-way M/M & M/M/F sex, a hero or two to drool over, and a heroine who recognizes true love when she sees it.

COLORS OF LOVE: An Excerpt

“Don’t make this about me.”

“It’s always about you, Luke. It has been since I was fifteen years old.” Seth stood with a feline grace, his lean legs closing the distance between them in six loping strides, and poked Luke in the chest. “You’ve been my dream since the Christmas you came home from school with Zachary.”

Shit, the kid and his dreams. They might have been the birth of all things Speed, but for sure, they’d be the death of Luke. Seth spent his days lost in thought, lost in all the wonderful, magical possibilities of what could be. He imagined the ideal and then set about making it a reality. It was Seth who’d sat him, Nathan and Zachary down one evening and told them it was time to stop fucking around. Time to start dreaming big. To reach for the stars. Seth who’d described his vision for Speed and looked to his brothers and Luke to make it happen.

Luke pushed his hand away firmly, conscious that his chest tingled where Seth had poked it. “I was never your dream, kid. I was just a childhood fantasy. Your big brother’s friend. The one who understood you, appreciated your unique needs. The one you could identify with. That’s all.”

“Bullshit.” Seth’s hand was back on his chest, this time holding a handful of Luke’s shirt. “Fantasies aren’t real, but dreams can always be realized, no matter how big they are. And you were my biggest dream of all. You still are.”

He’d stepped closer, and the lemony tang of his aftershave slipped into Luke’s consciousness. Seth was barely old enough to shave. No reason he should be wearing the damn stuff. Especially not when the scent made Luke hard as a rock.

Goddamn it. He was no good for Seth. No good at all. Couldn’t Seth sense that about him? Luke would taint his dreams and sour his fantasies. He’d take all that was good about him and blacken it with his dark heart, his volatile moods and his rotten genes.

He had to let go, had to push Seth away before he hurt him emotionally and physically—just like his father had hurt his mother. And him.

“Step back, Seth. We’re not doing this now.”

Seth looked at him with heavy-lidded eyes. Eyes that brimmed with desire. “Not doing what, exactly?”

“Not doing the getting-naked thing. We’re talking song lyrics, that’s it.” It would help a whole hell of a lot if he actually believed what he’d just said. But he’d never stood a chance against that look of Seth’s.

He was far too pretty for his own good. With his perpetual unshaven cheeks and low-slung jeans—which covered a prime, male ass—he was, quite simply put, beautiful. And when the beautiful kid looked at Luke with his eyes at half-mast and his face an open book of intent, Luke knew he was in big trouble.

His cock stiffened, making him squirm in discomfort.

Seth read his reactions all too easily. His gaze dropped to Luke’s groin, and he smiled.

Fuck. “Okay, so apparently we’re not talking lyrics anymore.” Luke sighed. “Go to bed, Seth. It’s way past your bedtime, and you have a concert in less than…” He glanced over at the clock on the DVD player. “Eighteen hours.”

Seth’s hand dropped to Luke’s waist. He gripped his belt. “Go to bed with me, Lucas. We can realize my dreams together. We can write a whole new set of lyrics together.”

Luke tried to regulate his breathing, tried to steel himself against his persistent craving for Seth. He shook his head. “I can’t help you change the words. I can’t give you what you need. You know that.”

“That’s what you always say, and then you kiss me, and suddenly I have everything I’ve ever needed, ever wanted, pressed against my lips.” Seth looked so deeply into Luke’s eyes, it took a second for Luke to realize his fingers had moved again. Now both of his hands were on Luke’s stomach, exploring beneath his T-shirt, making their way upwards, finding his nipples.

Luke tried to keep his distance. Tried not to give in to Seth’s words or his scent or his proximity. Holy fuck, he tried. But…Jesus, Seth knew how sensitive his nipples were.

Shivers tore up his spine.

Maybe aggression would work better. It always had for his old man. A good backhand across the cheek or a fast jab to the stomach and his father got whatever he wanted. “Seth—”

Fuck! Not so easy to speak between gritted teeth. He gave up trying and shoved Seth instead. Shoved him hard.

Or he attempted to, anyway. But the second his hands found Seth, instead of shoving, they grabbed, tightening around his shoulders and hauling him closer.

————

Colors Of Love is available now from your favorite online bookstore: Samhain, Kindle or Nook

Now, don’t forget about the contest I’m running for The Bad Boys of Romance Blog hop:

1) A $10 gift voucher from Samhain Publishing

2) A $5 gift voucher from Samhain

3) A choice of one ebook from my backlist

To enter, leave your email address in the comments, and head on over here: a Rafflecopter giveaway (All email addresses will be added to my newsletter.)

AND… for the Grand Prize Rafflecopter, click here: a Rafflecopter giveaway To follow the tour click here:  Bad Boys of Romance Giveaway Hop

Jess

Zachary Pace/Jonah Speed…Bad boy of romance?

 

————–

As promised a few days ago, I’m posting a little excerpt from Rhythm Of My Heart, to let you decide whether Zachary Pace, AKA Jonah Speed – drummer of rock band Speed, is a bad boy or a good one.

Enjoy.

(I’m sorry. I still don’t have approval from Samhain to show off my stunning cover.)

Rhythm of my Heart: An Excerpt

She caught her hands above her head and stretched, extending every muscle from her calves to her fingers. Then she relaxed, falling back onto the mattress and letting the luxurious post-orgasmic lethargy flow through her.

Zachary returned, inspiring a ridiculously large smile from Eve.

“You look happy.” He returned her smile.

“I am, Zachary. Like really, really happy.”

He climbed onto the bed beside her, tugging her into his arms. “Ah, Tiny. Me too.” He ran his hand over her back. “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve never come that hard?” This said with a ragged breath.

Eve could identify. Not only had she just had the climax of a lifetime, she’d had it after two other spectacular orgasms. She felt wonderfully sated. “You have me wrapped around your little finger. I’d believe anything you told me now.”

“So long as you know I’m not just feeding you a line. Seriously, that was about the best sex I’ve ever had.”

She tried to play it cool. “You’ve obviously never had sex with an Australian before.”

Zachary stilled.

His hesitation took her by surprise. “Oh, Lord.” She pushed against his chest so she could get a look at his face. “You have had sex with an Aussie before?”

He cringed. “Well, uh, kinda.”

“Kinda?”

“Kinda…as in yeah.” He closed his eyes and fell back against the pillow. “I’ve had sex with a lot of people, Eve. From a lot of places. Some of them were from Australia.”

“Some of them?” she squeaked. “How many were there?” She stared at him, reminded all over again that it wasn’t just Zachary Pace she’d slept with. It was Jonah Speed too. The legendary Jonah Speed. The smolderingly sexy Jonah Speed.

Lost in the throes of spectacular sex, she’d forgotten that little detail.

Suddenly the sex didn’t seem quite so spectacular. Suddenly she didn’t feel quite as special and cherished as she had two minutes before.

Eve wished she hadn’t asked her last question. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Feeling naked and vulnerable, she sat up to look for her clothes but didn’t get very far. He grabbed her arms, pulling her back down so they once again lay face to face. Zachary cupped her cheek so gently, Eve forgot to shake his hand off. She forgot to breathe too.

“Eve.” He held her gaze. “I’ve slept with hundreds of women. I can’t hide from that, can’t pretend I haven’t. It’s part of who I am…or rather, who I was. And yeah, some of those people were Australian. But—” his voice softened, “—but I can promise you that before tonight I have never made love to an Australian.” His eyelids drooped sensually. “Never wanted to…until I met you.”

Something in her chest lurched. “Zachary…” She couldn’t finish. Didn’t know what to say.

“What we did together? That wasn’t just sex. Not by a long stretch of the imagination.”

And just like that, he put the spectacular back into their sex.

——-

Rhythm Of My Heart releases on the 8th of October.

Now, don’t forget about the contest I’m running for The Bad Boys of Romance Blog hop:

1) A $10 gift voucher from Samhain Publishing

2) A $5 gift voucher from Samhain

3) A choice of one ebook from my backlist

To enter, leave your email address in the comments, and head on over here: a Rafflecopter giveaway (All email addresses will be added to my newsletter.)

AND… for the Grand Prize Rafflecopter, click here: a Rafflecopter giveaway To follow the tour click here:  Bad Boys of Romance Giveaway Hop

Jess

Bad boys of romance giveaway hop

Oh you know you love them. Those “bad boys” of romance.

And now we’re celebrating them and all their naughty deliciousness.

Which “bad boy” revs your motor? Is he a hero? Villain? A secondary character?

 ”Bad Boys” of Romance Giveaway Hop hosted by herding cats & burning soup, Rantings of a Reading Addict and author Blue Remy!

———————–

Bad boys of romance, we all love ‘em, right? Oh hell, yeah. But I have a confession to make. I like the good boys too. The ones you take one look at (or read one chapter about) and know you’d be proud to introduce them to your mama.

Which brings me to my own heroes, the ones who fill the spaces in my mind and the pages of my stories. I have a few bad boys, but the thing about them is…they all tend to be good boys in the end.

Let’s look at my Speed heroes . (For those who don’t know, the Speed series revolves around a rock band made up of three brothers and their  indispensable band manager and friend). At heart, the brothers – Jamie, Jordan and Jonah – are good boys. They come from a decent family and have great respect and love for their grandmother. But these three found instant fame, becoming overnight sensations after posting their YouTube video on the net. Within a week, millions of people all over America wanted them. And once they’d recorded their first album they became international superstars.

And we all know international superstars get to pick and choose who they sleep with. They have hordes throwing themselves at their feet, begging for a piece of action, a touch, a kiss, a night… It’s pretty damn hard to refuse that kind of temptation. Could you?

Jonah Speed, the band’s sex-on-a-stick drummer, doesn’t try. He dives straight into temptation and sleeps with hundreds, possibly even thousands of women over  three years. Yeah, he’s bad – he doesn’t deny it. But he loves every second of it. Until it all blows up in his face. Until a scandal rocks his world, changing everything. And suddenly, the man who slept with a different woman every night gives it all up. The sex, the women, the temptation.

For six months he’s abstained, knowing it’s the right thing to do. He’s over the faceless minions and the meaningless sex. He’s happy with his self imposed restraint and has no intention of diving back into bed with the first woman who grabs his attention…until he meets Eve Andrews.

Rhythm Of The Night (Jonah Speed’s Book)

The Blurb

He rocks every woman’s world, but his heart beats only for her.

Speed, Book 3

Makeup artist Eve Andrews is an expert at blending into the background. Landing a job with the rock band Speed is the opportunity of a lifetime, and thankfully as close to the spotlight as she’ll ever get again—until the band’s sinfully sexy drummer turns his dazzling eyes on her.

After a scandal shook his world, Zachary Pace, a.k.a. “Jonah Speed”, has given up the one-night stands and easy lays. One look at Eve, and he senses his self-imposed abstinence is about to come to a screeching halt—but he’s confused. His grandmother foretold his destiny lies with a beautiful redhead, not a tiny, brown-haired pixie.

Under the heat of Zachary’s intense focus, Eve’s resistance melts away, but not the façade that hides her terrible secret. And when she accidentally catches a glimpse of his heart’s desire—his fated redhead—her instincts tell her to let him go…before he gets too close. Before he sees the real woman behind her mask, and her heart is left in the dust of his almost-certain retreat.

Warning: This is a Speed book, so you know there’s gonna be a small element of fantasy to it. And a big element of romance. Oh, yeah, and whole lot of sex. Sex hot enough to make you throb to the rhythm of a very sensual beat…

Rhythm Of My Heart releases in October from Samhain Publishing.

In a day or two I’ll post a little excerpt from the book to give you some insight into this bad boy drummer.

I’ll also be posting a couple of blogs about his brother’s Jamie and Jordan Speed. So keep checking back here this week.

The cover for Rhythm Of My Heart has not been finalized yet, so I’ll post the covers for the first two books in the series here instead:

See You In My Dreams (Jamie’s book) and Colors Of Love (Jordan’s book).

In celebration of the blog hop, I’m running a cool give away with these prizes:

1) A $10 gift voucher from Samhain Publishing

2) A $5 gift voucher from Samhain

3) A choice of one ebook from my backlist

To enter, leave your email address in the comments, and head on over here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

(All email addresses will be added to my newsletter.)

AND… for the Grand Prize Rafflecopter, click here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To follow the tour click here:  Bad Boys of Romance Giveaway Hop

Jess

The End Of The World Party has begun

It’s all happening over at International Heat.

Go, quick!

Read the blog, join the party, win a prize…or ten!

Get ready to party at International Heat

So, who wins a holiday to Bandicoot Cove?

Mai does!

By Random Number.org, Mai’s comment was drawn from all the entries Lex and I received. And just out of interest, you guys have the most amazing list of fantasy holidays and companions. I wanted to join along on every single one! Damn

Mai, we will be in contact with you soon to get your postal details from you.

To everyone else, thank you so much for celebrating the release of Tropical Desires and the up-coming release of the next three Bandicoot Cove books. We had so much fun reading your comments.
Mai Says:
June 21, 2012 at 2:30 pm e

1/ If you could go anywhere in the world on a holiday, where would you go? I’m not sucking up, but I really want to go to Australia

2/ who would you go with? I want Rafael Nadal, the tennis player, and Trey Songz, the singer

Oh my I would enjoy the hell out of those dicks..er, bodies

CONGRATS MAI!

Jess

Are you up to a tropical island holiday?

Quick. Tell us.

What is your most perfect, fantasy holiday? You know, the one that takes place in your mind. The one no one else knows about.

Where is it? Who is it with? What do you do there?

Well, Lexxie Couper and I would like to make that holiday a reality.

So, if you can’t afford the plane fare, we’re here to help…

See, we’re celebrating the release of Tropical Desires, the print anthology containing three scorching, smoldering, romantic stories all set on the tropical island resort of Bandicoot Cove

And how are we celebrating?

With prizes of course!

We want to give away one copy of the book PLUS ARCs of the THREE NEW (so new they haven’t even released yet) Bandicoot Cove books.

That’s right. One print book and three ebooks!

How do you win this amazing trip to tropical paradise?

Easy. Tell us the following in the comments section of the identical post on the International Heat blog:

1/ If you could go anywhere in the world on a holiday, where would you go?

2/ who would you go with?

Now here’s the twist for this question. Because all the stories in Tropical Desires are ménage books, you have to take TWO people with you on your fantasy trip. That’s right. Two.

Let your mind go wild. Indulge in the fantasy. And then tell us.

Hee hee hee.

If you want to know more about the books we’re offering, don’t be shy. Check them out here:

Tropical Desires at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Samhain Publishing

Afternoon Rhapsody at Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Sunset Heat at Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Moonlight Mirage at Amazon or Barnes & Noble

GOOD LUCK!

The contest will run for the next two days.

Please remember to leave your email address in the comments, so we can notify you if you are the winner. Otherwise keep watching the International Heat Blog. We’ll post your name there.

Jess

Three Of A Kind CONTEST WINNER

Okay, I know, I know, I’m a day late.

I promised to have a winner by Sunday, and now it’s already Monday. Still, I figure, better late than never.

First off, thanks to everyone who responded. And thank you for all the cool comments. (I just may have read them more than once.)

So, what I’ve done is taken all the names of commenters from my personal blog, International Heat and Down Under Divas and thrown them into a hat. Then I closed my eyes and picked one name.

And…the winner of the print copy of Three Of A Kind is:

MORAN!

CONGRATS

Moran, if you can please email me at

jess@jessdee.com

I can get that book in the post ASAP!

Jess

A sweet treat in the mail (and a contest)

Don’t you love opening the door to that special delivery?

Seeing a big box with your name on it?

A slight thrill runs up your spine, because you have no idea what’s in the box or who sent it to you, so the possibilities are endless.

Now, I can’t lie and say that’s exactly what happened to me a couple of days ago. Firstly, I didn’t open the door, my hubby did. Secondly, I wasn’t even in when the delivery came. I arrived home to find a box waiting for me. And thirdly, I had an inkling what it was. Okay…so I’d been obsessively waiting for the delivery for weeks! But that didn’t stop the excitement. Believe me, I fairly ripped into the box.

Here it is. A photo sequence of my experience:

1) I open the box with shaky hands

2) I pull the flaps apart to reveal the hidden treasure within.

Yes, it’s my author copies of Three Of A Kind, the print anthology of Raising The Stakes and Full House.

3) I reverently remove one and hold it in my hand:

4) I insert it ever so tenderly into its designated spot on my bookshelf:

And baby makes 8.

So, now I have 9 spare copies of Three Of A Kind sitting in my office. What to do…what to do…?

How about…I give one away?

Tell you what. Just let me know which your favorite novella from the Three Of A Kind trilogy was and why, and I’ll randomly pick a winner and send you a book.

No worries if you haven’t read the novellas yet. Just let me know which one you most want to read, and why.

Here are your choices:

Going All In, Raising The Stakes and Full House.

I’m gonna post this to Down Under Divas and to International Heat as well, and I’ll choose a winner on Sunday.

GOOD LUCK!

Three Of A Kind releases on the 5th of June, and is available now for pre-order at Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Jess

Massive E-book Giveaway

The very talented and very lovely Selena Illyria has organised a massive e-book giveaway.

The contest is up at The Romance Studio right now. You wanna go there and enter for your chance to win.

Curious to see what’s up for grabs?

Here’s a list:

Ebook list:

Cynnara Tregarth — Backlist choice (ebook) www.cynnara.com

Alice Gaines — Sinful Wager (ebook)http://alicegaines.blogspot.com/

Selena Illyria — Dragon New Year: Dragons at Midnight (ebook) www.selenaillyria.com

Cassandra Carr — Head Games (ebook) www.booksbycassandracarr.com

Mychael Black — Blood and Fire 1 (ebook) mychaelblack.wordpress.com

Diana Castilleja — Backlist Choice www.dianacastilleja.com

Belinda McBride — Voodoo You Love (ebook) www.belindamcbride.com

Anne Kane — Shifting Priorities – The Collection (ebook) www.annekane.com

Jess Dee — Winter Fire (ebook) http://www.jessdee.com/Jess_Dee/Home.html

Lexxie Couper — Suck and Blow (ebook) www.lexxiecouper.com

Tilly Greene — Konnichiwa Cowboy (ebook) www.tillygreene.com

Rhian Cahill — Truth or Dare — Party Games (ebook) www.rhiancahill.com

B.J. McCall — Wildander (ebook) www.bjmccall.com

Brannan Black –Reader Choice of Wolfman Collection (ebook) http://site.epicromances.com/Home.html

Megan Slayer — Fallen (ebook)

Nicole Austin — Good Vibrations (ebook) www.nicoleaustin.net

Missy Welsh — Reader Choice (ebook) www.missywelsh.com

Jade Buchanan — Broken Rules (ebook) www.jadebuchananbooks.com

Sharon Bidwell — All Washed Up (ebook) www.sharonbidwell.co.uk

Kayelle Allen — Alitus Tales of the Chosen (ebook) www.kayelleallen.com

Kate Hill — Frenzied (ebook) www.kate-hill.com

Lissa Matthews — Twisted Up (ebook) www.lissamatthews.com

Sophia Titheniel — Dance Wars (Collection) (ebook) www.sophiatitheniel.com

Koko Brown — Player’s Ultimatum — (ebook) www.kokobrown.net

Willa Okati — Best Man (ebook) http://www.willaokati.com/Willa_Okati/Home.html

Cat Johnson — Educating Ansley (ebook) www.catjohnson.net

Marie Treanor — Ariadne’s Thread (ebook) www.marietreanor.com

Eliza Gayle — Power Play (ebook) www.elizagayle.net

Jambrea Jones — Backlist www.jambrea.com

Sienna Mynx — Before Sunrise (print) http://siennamynx.com/

Christine Cody — Bloodlands (print) www.christinecody.net

Jessica Coulter Smith — Moonlight Savior (ebook) www.jessicacoultersmith.com

Josh Lanyon — Ice Capade (ebook) www.joshlanyon.com

Samantha Kane — Love’s Surrender (ebook) http://www.samanthakane.us/www.samanthakane.us/Welcome.html

Ashlyn Chase — Either (choice of ebook or print) http://www.ashlynchase.com

Jayne Rylon — Through My Window (ebook) www.jaynerylon.com

Lisa Renee Jones — The Vampire Wardens Trilogy (ebook) www.lisareneejones.com

Lex Valentine — Reader’s Choice www.lexvalentine.com

Elizabeth Jewell — Puck You http://elizabethjewell.kabeka.com

G Royale — Queen for a Day http://www.ggroyale.com

Gift Certificates:

Raine Delight — $10 Gift Certificate to ARe www.authorrainedelight.com

Diana DeRicci — $25 Amazon Gift Certificate www.dianadericci.com

Tara Lain — $10 Amazon Gift Certificate www.taralain.com

Jianne Carlo — $10 Amazon Gift Certificate www.jiannecarlo.com

Loose-Id — 5 $5 Gift Certificates www.loose-id.com

Tilly Greene $10 ARe Gift Certificate

Publishers:

Etopia Press — Reader’s Choice http://etopiapressblog.wordpress.com

MLR and PIP — Reader’s Choice http://www.mlrbooks.com/books.php http://www.passioninprint.com

Pink Petal Books — Reader’s Choice http://pinkpetalbooks.com

Other

JFay of Studio 3B — a sample of her Sinfully Delicious Cupcake Solid Perfume www.studio3bonline.com

——-

See? Massive.

Just CLICK HERE to enter.

GOOD LUCK!

Jess