After a few years of no travel beyond my daily commute to work, I went to New York in May with my best-friend. New York is an amazing city and boy did we have a blast! I can’t tell you how much I needed that break.
The heroine in my paranormal romance, Hunter of the Heart, also needed a break, maybe more than I did because poor Tricia had never even been out of the country before. She said ‘screw it’ to all the well-meaning doubters in her life and went on a cruise, alone, that she and her recent ex-boyfriend were supposed to go on.
Tricia was looking for a little excitement, maybe a little space to find herself. She got that and a whole lot more when she met the hero, Nathan, onboard.
Okay, maybe not the space thing. Nathan pretty-much did not let her out of his sight once she got on his radar.
He’s everything her ex isn’t, protective (maybe a little too protective), smoking hot, and, oh yeah, a werewolf! Once she convinces herself, that, nope, she isn’t crazy (but maybe he is) Tricia decides to fight for this second chance at love for both of them. But she’s fighting the ghost of his dead wife/mate and an evil shifter who’s out for both their heads.
My New York trip wasn’t anywhere near as exciting as Tricia and Nathan’s cruise, but how about you, any hairy travel experiences you’d like to share in comments? To celebrate the Sept 12 print release of Hunter of the Heart, I’ll be giving away 1 copy (your choice of print or ebook) today!
(Contest runs through Wednesday. Winner will be posted Thursday.)
Here’s an excerpt from Hunter of the Heart:
“You should get cleaned up. Wash the blood off,” she said.
Tessa gaze slid down his abdomen and settled briefly where the sheets draped over his hips. Her hand trembled beneath his.
“Would you like to help?”
Her thoughts were so easy to read, she was imagining herself in the shower with him, soap in hand, and touching him. Everywhere.
More heated images flew around in her head, multiplying exponentially. His hands, wet and firm, returning the favor. His mouth, greedy and hot, on her body kissing the need away. Him, inside of her. Filling her. Moving hard and fast—
Tessa squeezed her eyes shut. “No.”
“No?” Nate couldn’t hide his amusement.
“No.”
Silence.
But his scrutiny was like a lover’s touch—soft, persistent, demanding.
“And stop looking at me like that!”
“Like what?”
She opened her eyes. “Like….that. I don’t like it.”
Nate laughed; what a little liar she was. Even now there were some very intriguing thoughts flitting through her head.
He smiled as one particular image stood out crystal clear: so she liked that did she? He could accommodate her. It would be his pleasure.
“And I don’t like the way you’re looking at me now either. You’re practically drooling.”
Nate grinned wider in response, gave her a little flash of the canines and felt the tiny thrill in her response; his senses to explore her reactions more, the rush of blood through her veins, the increased pulsing of her heart, and the faint scent of her arousal. Intoxicating.
“Do you like this better?” He leaned closer, his lips almost touching hers, but he delayed the moment by turning his head slightly aside. A predator by nature, he understood all about the hunt; about timing and how it could sharpen the appetite and make the feast to come all the sweeter.
“You’re a woman of many dislikes Tessa,” he whispered against her ear. “I’ll have to work hard at discovering what delights you.”
She jumped up as if scalded by his open desire. Definitely afraid of her own. “Make that a cold shower. I think it’s time for me to leave.”
Like some ancient god rising from the mist, Nate rose from the bed. He gave no sign he cared the sheets fell away leaving him naked. “I can’t let you do that.”
Tessa backed up and his expression hardened, turning him into a stranger.
What was she thinking? He was a stranger. And she was alone with him. Could she fight him off? Stupid! A little too late to be thinking about stuff like that now, wasn’t it?
Nate’s expression became even more remote, his anger nipping at her senses. Tessa pressed her hands to her skull—wanting him out of her head.
“I’d never force you. I wouldn’t need to.” He kept the connection between them open, even as she fought to shut it down. “I told you I would come to you, Tessa. When you asked,” he said with supreme confidence, as if it was simply a matter of time.
“Well don’t hold your breath for that invite. And you can’t keep me in here.” She turned towards the door.
“Actually I don’t have to keep you. You want to stay.”
“Wrong. Do not pass go; do not collect $200.” She grabbed the knob.
“You want to stay, because someone out there wants you even more than I do,” Nate continued. “He’s had a taste of you. Inhaled you scent…”
She started trembling, her palms suddenly damp as her grip slackened.
“And the only thing standing between the Pithcus and your delectable self…is me.”
Hunter of the Heart is available at Amazon, Samhain Publishing, Barnes&Noble!
Born in Gloucester England, Vanessa Jaye arrived in Canada 3 years later via a short 3 month stint in Jamaica. She now resides in Toronto with her handsome teenaged son, and a well-endowed mortgage. Her days are spent in the exciting cardiac-arresting world of credit reviews and loans underwriting, and her evenings spinning tales and regaining her sanity. An avid reader across all genres, Vanessa writes contemporary romances and dark paranormal/fantasy romance, both subgenres with a healthy dose of emotion, eroticism and humor.
Website
- http://www.vanessajaye.com/
Twitter
- http://twitter.com/VanessaJaye
Nice to meet you Vanessa! Your story looks terrific! Where did the inspiration for it come from?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager my family went to St. Thomas for vacation. The trip there was great, the stay was Amazing and so much fun, the trip home OMG! A storm hit as we got on the plane grounding us for hours until they finally decided we would be there until the next morning. As we left the plane, I slipped from the rain, tearing the ligament between my thumb and forefinger! UGH! Not the best way to end a perfect vacation, but at least it happened at the end!
Stephanie
DragonStar1974 )AT( aol.com
Love shifter stories, and that excerpt got me hooked. Actually pretty lucky with our adventures. Worst time was when the big storm hit back east and we ended up stranded for 3 days. One day at the airport sleeping, then two days with friends of friends who heard about out troubles.
ReplyDeletecaity_mack at yahoo dot com
Hi Stephanie! I replied earlier on my phone but it looks like it disappeared into the ether. :-P
ReplyDeleteOuch, ouch, ouch! on that injury. I guess if you wanted to look for a silver lining, at least it happened at the end of your vacation rather than the begining! (ps, always wanted to visit St. Thomas, heard it's beautiful).
Thanks for dropping by and commenting, Stephanie. :)
Jaye
Cathy, thank goodness you had friends who could help out. I've done my share of long layovers in airport lounges. Not fun. I can never get enough of werewolves! I think, in part, it's that whole Beauty and the Beast trope (another fav).
ReplyDeleteJaye
When we were in New York my friend decided she wanted a knock-off designer bag. We ended up in some isolated/deserted storage unit off Canal St. Not our smartest moment. Then the guy thought *we* were under cover cops, because I started taking sneaky pics with my iphone trying to email them back home to my son in case anything happened to us, so the cops would have leads. =;O. Felt like I'd stepped into an episode of L&O. lol.
ReplyDeleteSo, yeah, I'll NEVER do that again. lol. I'll stick to the sales at Saks & Macy's.
This book sounds like it will be GREAT READING!!
ReplyDeleteMy last cruise to Hawaii we had a guy jump overboard, was rescued thank goodness and we had to turn back to Oahu for a guy who became very ill and he was taken off the ship out in the water by the coast guard. Other than that it was a great cruise! LOL
Big thanks to Vanessa Jaye for being my guest this week! Congratulations on the release of Hunter of the Heart in print. I love the book's warning: "Contains a smoldering, sex-on-a-stick werewolf hero afraid to love again and a seriously annoyed heroine who can't figure out how she ended up as an appetizer on what feels like a raw-foods reality horror show. Includes graphic violence, explicit language, smoking-hot sex, squeeze-your-heart emotions and humor."
ReplyDeleteI love werewolf books and the excerpt from this one sounds great. I hope I read a copy of it but if not, I guess I'll have to go without lunch one day so I can buy it. Thanks for the chance to read part of it. And if I should be the lucky winner just email me at codys1mom4@aol.com and let me know.
ReplyDeleteLove shifters and this sounds really interesting for me. Don't travel much anymore, but have had a few escapdes in my times on the road. Like the time, senior year in college (I was a non-traditional student, in my 40's) and we drove to Savannah for a convention of Sigma Tau Delta. When we hit Nashville we were too tired to go on so we stopped at this motel just off the main highway. After getting our room, we headed back to the car to move to park outside our room, when the desk clerk yelled out to us "just drive down the sidewalk to the next driveway and pull in" Not the street, mind you, the sidewalk - we got into our room and cracked up, and the dirver said it could only happen in the south.
ReplyDeletenancyg5997 at gmail.com
Congrats on the new release. I love shifters. This book sounds fantastic. Can't wait to read it. Thanks for the great excerpt. Unfortunately, no hairy travel experiences.
ReplyDeletee.balinski(at)att(dot)net
@Ddmac58 - Jumped overboard? Yikes! That's an awfully long way down. Thank goodness they rescued him.
ReplyDelete@Linda - Thank you for dropping by. Glad you enjoyed the excerpt. I pick the winner tomorrow -- good luck!
Mary, sorry for coming by so late, had an extra long day at work today, but thank you soo much for having me here as a guest!
ReplyDeleteI love that 3-D cube dohickey you have in your sidebar. So. Cool. :)
Hey Vanessa! Thanks, that creation is courtesy of the awesome BlackRaven Cafe. An ad on their site, plus you get to keep it after :) http://www.theblackraveneroticcafe.com/paid_services.php
DeleteGotta love the edj, lol. Thanks for being a great guest! I'm been so happy to have you visit!
@Nancy - that's hysterical. I read that part of your post twice because I thought I wasn't reading it correctly. lol. Thanks for commenting my fellow werewolf lover.
ReplyDelete@Joanne - I was almost going to say 'sorry you don't have any travel horror stories', but that doesn't quite right, does it? lol. Thanks for coming by!
Oy, thankfully not too many hairy travel experiences! The hardest was our own fault--as we were packing for DH's brother's destination wedding, I recall thinking, "Ah, we never need the Tylenol--I'll just leave it home." Of course, DS2 developed a fever while we were on this charming little island off the coast of South Korea (a popular honeymoon destination ;)), and we couldn't find a place that sold anything that would help. He was a completely miserable little two year old stuffed into a tuxedo... I just kept reminding myself that little ones suffered through fevers and illnesses for hundreds of years without chemical relief, and of course, that too did pass. :) Our brother-in-law and sister-in-law now have an almost two-year-old themselves, and our little guy is now a happy older cousin, none worse for the wear ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy congrats to you on the print release! How exciting!
My apologies, ladies! I posted last night, replied to fichen1 and Mary, thank everyone for commenting and announced the winner (as picked by my son), but it looks like my post went awol. :-(
ReplyDeleteI've been finding the captcha a little tricky to get passed (I'm not a robot, honest!!) and should have double-checked that my post actually made it through. Really sorry folks may have been left hanging.
::EncoreDrumroll:: Stephanie is the winner!! (Congrats, again, Stephanie!)I've already been in contact with Stephanie and will send her book out on Monday.
@finchen1 - no matter how crazy the little ones make us when they're all over the place, talking a mile a minute, the second they're sick or in discomfort it squeezing our hearts a bit. So glad it was nothing serious.
@Mary - thanks again (again. lol) for having me here!!
::crossing fingers:: this post goes live.
Vanessa! You've been great! Grr on all the posting issues. Thanks for letting me know--I'm checking the settings now :) Hope you had a great weekend! Come back any time, I loved having you here!
DeleteYaay, I got through!(after 4 tries. lol) I'm partly posting this as a safety. If any posts disappear,hopefully it'll be this one, and not the one above. :P
ReplyDeleteMary, I'll be back, as a reader/lurker on you lovely blog! Have a great weekend!
LOL! Thanks, Vanessa--so true! Hope you're enjoying your print release! (Special shelf in your house? ;))
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Stephanie!