If James Bond and Cleopatra Jones had a daughter, Adriana Kent would kick her ass.

Everything Adriana knows about being a top-notch, undercover agent she’s learned from her partner, Flint Morgan, in and out of the sheets. That is, until he’s caught between those same bed linens with another woman. Heartbroken, Adriana refuses to forgive him. But when ‘the other woman’ is found dead in Flint’s apartment, she steps up to prove his innocence–he might be a womanizer, but he’s no killer.

As Adriana closes in on a suspect, she’s kidnapped and sent overseas to a sadistic prince who collects women like priceless pieces of art. Now this tough as nails agent finds herself playing the helpless courtesan to a man hell-bent on breaking her spirit. Flint arrives in the nick of time, dressed as a harem girl, fighting off randy guards and surly camels to rescue Adriana so they can fly back to the states to find a way to exonerate him for murder.

Excerpt

Still dripping, she crept into her bedroom. She listened intently for the sound again. It came seconds later when something banged against the other side of her bedroom wall.

Tiptoeing to her nightstand, she picked up her Glock, her heart pounding in her ears.

She turned and made her way to the door. It was cracked a few inches, but the darkened room beyond made it impossible to see anything.

She flipped off the bedroom light, then eased the door open. Maybe she’d catch a glimpse of the intruder. She held her gun cocked and steady, ready to fire.

Like a cat, she pounced into the living room, her eyes darting frantically around the dimly lit area.

From behind, a hand clasped over her mouth, the other came down hard on her hands and knocked the gun to the floor. The towel that had been wrapped around her fell like freshly fallen snow about her feet. A steely arm snaked around her waist and drew her up hard against a solid, obviously male form.

Adriana struggled against his strength with little success. His iron grip had her pinned. Hot, sweet breath exhaled next to her ear, sending a prickle of apprehension down her backbone. Her heart raced painfully in her chest as warm, wet lips connected with her ear lobe. Adriana held her breath, terrified for the first time in her life. Was this guy going to rape her?

“You smell incredible,” a familiar male voice whispered, taking his hand away from her mouth.

“Flint,” she groaned. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I had to prove I hadn’t lost my touch. Besides, you didn’t give me a chance to thank you for the little diversion earlier this evening.” His teeth nibbled on the side of her neck.

“You came here and scared me half to death, just to say thank you?” Adriana couldn’t believe it. She might have shot him. Was he loco? Hell, she should shoot him now for being so cocky. How dare he sneak in to try and prove a point?

His hand slid up and connected with a breast, bringing her attention back to her predicament.

“You do have perfect breasts, baby.” Flint’s voice was husky as he caressed her with his palms.

Adriana couldn’t remember being so pissed, but she’d play along with his little seductive ploy, for a few minutes.

“So you do think they’re perfect?” Adriana tried to concentrate on the act, and not the incredible sensations his hands evoked in the pit of her stomach and nipples. Then the sensation moved lower.

“Is there anything else you like?” she asked, trying hard to ignore the pleasure of his touch, but it was getting harder by the second. It was Flint, after all, and she knew damned well what he could do to her body.

“I love your neck.” His tongue ran up her throat, sending little jolts of electricity firing through her. “I love your stomach,” he continued as his palms moved down to caress the flat surface, gently brushing her skin until Adriana thought she’d lose control. I love—” he said, moving his hand lower, “every inch of you.”

Adriana’s body came alive. She wanted him more than she ever had. Then, just as quickly, images of Lindsey in his bed hit her full force, and it was as though ice water flooded her veins.

Slowly, she turned and smiled temptingly at him. Without a second thought, she brought her knee up to his groin, buckling him over.

She’d never forget the look of shock and pain on his face as he went down. It was priceless, a vindication of what he’d done to her—right where it hurt the most.

“Oops. Sorry.” Adriana picked up her towel and wrapped it around her again. “My knee slipped.”

She watched him struggle to get up, not feeling an ounce of guilt for what she’d done.

“Jesus, Dray,” he hissed, through quick, uneven breaths. “Don’t you know you could damage a man forever doing that?”

Adriana opened her eyes wide with mock surprise. “Really? I didn’t know that.” She tried to keep a straight face, but failed. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time I feel a need to do it.”

Flint scowled at her as he eased himself upright, then turned and limped toward the door.

“Flint.” Adriana held out her hand. “I’ll take that key.”

With eyes now watering, he reached into his pocket, flinched, then pulled out a key ring and tossed it at her.

“Good night, Dray.” He opened the door and hobbled out, closing it quietly behind him.

“Yeah, good night to you, too.”

Adriana stared at the door for what seemed like an eternity. She almost regretted her decision to send him away. They could have spent the whole night making love. But at least now she knew he wouldn’t feel up to being amorous with anyone else either.

A satisfied grin crossed her face as she returned to her bath—now cold, which she hoped would ice the desire he’d stirred inside her.

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Swashwords.

Let me give you some background. In October, I released Connected (Twists of Fate #1), and here’s a brief description of the story: A rock group’s rhythm guitarist, Rhys Alexander, dies and finds himself bound inside the body of a woman he’s never met. Can she help him move on to the other side, or will he end up finding the love of his life…after his has already ended?

For a time, I had this for free on Wattpad (where I posted as I wrote it). And several readers asked me how in the world I came up with the concept. The short answer was ‘By taking the longest route possible.’ The more involved answer is this…

It all started with a song—Imagine that, huh?—which began with a synthesized-sounding guitar and a sinful, maniacal laugh that made my gut quiver. (Yes, I do realize this may be an issue I need to fully address later.) It was Disturbed’s “Inside The Fire”. Add a little Framing Hanley (with that oh-so-sexy voice), and Tavion, lead singer of the band Persevere, was born. And what kind of woman would knock a strapping rock star to his knees? Why, a best-selling author, of course.

So here I had two people who worked in the entertainment industry, but were worlds apart. What could possibly bring them together? The answer seemed so simple, really: Fate. Then my next though was “What if Fate was a living, sometimes-breathing, entity? What an interesting point-of-view that would be!” And it spiraled from there. I dug deep into the protag, Devan (the name of the girl in Disturbed’s song), and put pieces of me and my personality into the mix. Naturally, then I had to mock myself and my works along the way. (i.e., Suddenly Impending Reprisals became Devan’s masterpiece, and guess what…it made it all the way to the NYT Bestsellers list! Way to go, Devan!!)

Now, the question was ‘What inspired me to write Connected’, and so far, I’m telling you how I started writing Twisted (Book 2). Yeah, well, I’m getting there. (Remember how I said it was the longest route possible?)

So there I was, writing Twisted and having a hell of a time. And then the unthinkable happened (insert suspenseful music here)…I got writer’s block. I’m talking a stint of writer’s block that could only have originated from the deepest, most vile and sulfuric, bowels of Hell. And, man, was it stubborn! Over a year went by before I picked it up again, and even then it wasn’t because I came up with a grand master plan, or that my head was swimming with ideas. No. It was simply because I missed my characters. So I started to reread/revise/edit the 30K words I had written, hoping it would shake something loose. Enter: two new inspirations.

The first was the Demonica series by Larissa Ione. In the series, paired up mates can sense each other’s emotions and I got to wondering “What would that be like?”

The next piece of inspiration came from Avenged Sevenfold (A7X). I was studying up on rock bands for Twisted (and can A7X ever ROCK!!), and checking out the band members (*drool*) and it inspired a new character—Rhys.

From Ione and A7X blossomed Connected (finally!) where Rhys’ spirit was stuck inside Addison (my protag), and they could sense each other’s emotions.

But I had one problem. I absolutely REFUSED to walk away from Twisted again. Soooo…how could I use this? Well, first of all, Rhys couldn’t be a lead singer since that’s what Tavion is. And secondly, I wanted this to be a fast-hitting novella used to compliment Twisted’s story. What I needed was a supporting member of the band… Hello, Rhys, my luscious rhythm guitarist!

But then I had another problem. (Because I needed more, right?) I couldn’t picture Rhys in Tavion’s band, Persevere, which is a more mature, established group. No, he belonged with some just-making-it-big band that wasn’t afraid to play with the formula, to take chances, and was just enjoying the ride and what life had to offer. He belonged with the guys of Black Codex.

Then problem #3: How did Black Codex and Persevere tie in to each other? I mean, if Connected leads into Twisted, they have to know each other somehow, right? Well, as luck would have it, they’re all friends. (Who knew?!) Eh, okay, so actually two members from Black Codex are brothers and they grew up with a guy from Persevere, so, by association, they became friends. (It’s all in the details, right?)

All right. Now what? I didn’t want to introduce Fate (my sassy, capricious entity) in Connected even though he’s definitely hard at work behind the scenes. It would’ve been too distracting from the plot, and I had plenty to maneuver already! (Hello…dead rock star stuck in some chicks head!!) So what I did was plot Connected so it all occurs during the same timeframe as the first half of Twisted. Perfect! Then when people read Twisted, they’ll get all the behind-the-scenes-extras that were going on in Connected that either 1) I didn’t have time for, or 2) I couldn’t smoothly transition in.

At the end of my long-ass journey, not only did I have Connected, but I shook myself loose on Twisted…aaand came up with storylines for the other eight band members. (I’ll spare you the details on those. LOL) Thusly, the Twists of Fate series was born.

So, let me ask you again: Did you ever get a song stuck in your head…?

For more information on the Twists of Fate series: http://jolynpalliata.wordpress.com/romance/twists-of-fate-series/

Twists of Fate series Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Twists-of-Fate-Series/190217514383637

To purchase Connected (Twists of Fate #1): http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&ie=UTF8&field-author=Jolyn%20Palliata

If James Bond and Cleopatra Jones had a daughter, Adriana Kent would kick her ass.

Everything Adriana knows about being a top-notch, undercover agent she’s learned from her partner, Flint Morgan, in and out of the sheets. That is, until he’s caught between those same bed linens with another woman. Heartbroken, Adriana refuses to forgive him. But when ‘the other woman’ is found dead in Flint’s apartment, she steps up to prove his innocence–he might be a womanizer, but he’s no killer.

As Adriana closes in on a suspect, she’s kidnapped and sent overseas to a sadistic prince who collects women like priceless pieces of art. Now this tough as nails agent finds herself playing the helpless courtesan to a man hell-bent on breaking her spirit. Flint arrives in the nick of time, dressed as a harem girl, fighting off randy guards and surly camels to rescue Adriana so they can fly back to the states to find a way to exonerate him for murder.

Excerpt for Her Man Flint

“Are you going to lie there all day, or are we going to get the hell out of Dodge?”

The voice was unmistakable. “Adriana,” he growled.

“What? Were you expecting Lindsey ‘Silicone’ Warren, perhaps?” Adriana popped her head out from behind the huge rock in front of him for a brief second, glared, then ducked behind the boulder again. “Sorry to disappoint you, but that woman wouldn’t break a fake nail to save your arrogant ass.”

“Cute.” Flint eased up and clutched his side, putting pressure on the wound in hopes of easing the flow of blood between his fingers.

“You think she’d care one way or the other if you made it out of here alive?” Adriana continued. “Who do you think set you up anyway?”

“You did,” Flint tossed her way.

She jumped up again, her eyes spitting fire. “The hell I did. I stopped by Billy’s this morning. He asked me what I wanted when I called you yesterday.” With a seriousness Flint had never seen before, she shook her blonde head, her glare boring into him. “I never called you. He told me you were headed out here, and I knew you were in big trouble. Did you know your precious Lindsey dated Hartford?”

“What?” Flint’s mouth slacked in astonishment.

“Yeah, they were a hot item last summer.” Her gaze turned ice cold. “Apparently the relationship never ended. Why would you think I’d set you up anyway? Believe it or not, I did care for you at one time.”

Adriana abruptly looked up and aimed her rifle, firing at a man who’d popped his head over the ledge, then cursed like a sailor when she missed the mark. “Move your ass. I’m not going to be your back forever.”

She fired again, this time smiling with satisfaction when the man clutched at his shoulder.

“One down.”

Flint scrambled over to the boulder she used as a shield and pulled himself behind it, moving in close to her. Instantly, her womanly scent filled the air around him, a perfume he remembered all too well—a sweet, flowery fragrance with just a hint of musk. The stuff had always done strange things to his libido. Today was no exception. Even in danger and wounded, he found it difficult to ignore her wonderful essence. Hell, her in general.

“Why’d you come, Dray?” He slid to the ground, his back against the rock while he wiped sweat from his brow onto his shirtsleeve.

He glanced back at her with curiosity. Today, her long, ash-blonde hair was pulled away from her face, her perfect ivory complexion smudged with dirt that no way detracted from her beauty. Her attention was on their surroundings—no doubt trying to figure the best way to get them out of the mess he’d gotten them into.

He watched her intently, shocked to realize he’d missed her. “Why’d you save me?”

She turned to face him. “We’re partners. Isn’t that what partners do?”

“But what about—”

“Forget it. So our personal relationship didn’t work out—that doesn’t mean our professional association at the department can’t continue.”

Adriana turned away and fired again, this time at a man who’d started down the ravine after them. Her shot was off again.

Intense pain cut through Flint’s side as he shifted his body. “I owe you one.”

She returned her attention to him and grinned. “Do I get to choose payment?”

Before he could answer, she turned to the leather-clad man who was moving again. Taking aim, she fired, hitting the goon in the leg. The blast sent the assailant firing wildly in the air before tumbling down into the gorge.

“That’s two.” Her triumphant smile said she was pleased with herself.

“We were discussing payment. What’d you have in mind?” Flint’s grin turned to a grimace when another wave of pain sliced through him.

Adriana’s frown deepened as she studied the area. “Let’s get out of this alive, and then we’ll talk.” She pointed to his side. “How bad is it? You think you can run?”

Despite the blood soaking his shirt, he knew he could scramble if need be. “It’s nothing. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Let’s go.” Adriana raced for the next boulder about twenty feet away, Flint hot on her heels. On the way, she tried to sidestep sagebrush in her path, but instead hit it head-on and stumbled, rolling to the rocky ground and landed hard on her back.

Flint dove on top her as a barrage of bullets flew over them.

“Man, they really want you dead. Could you get off me?” She scowled and tried to push him away, her breath coming in quick, uneven gasps.

Flint stared at her flushed face, painfully aware of the soft yet firm breasts beneath him. Emotions he’d thought long dead stirred him to distraction.

“I’m sure the same thought crossed your mind a time or two.” He studied her face for a reaction, then lifted himself from her.

A hint of amusement danced in her eyes. “No, not dead. Castrated maybe.”

As she rose in preparation to run again, her meaning sunk in and caused Flint’s groin to twitch. “Oh, that hurt.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the ground as another bullet buzzed past them.

“Yes, I imagine it would for someone who thought with his dick instead of his brain.”

Flint couldn’t help but smile. She had such a foul, sexy mouth. He reached over and laced his fingers through a loose strand of hair, caressing its soft, silky texture. “Have I ever told you, Dray, that you have the prettiest blonde hair?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact you have. It was right around the time you were trying to get in my pants.” She glanced around. “We don’t have time for reminiscing, Flint. If you hadn’t noticed, people are trying to kill us.”

“Right. Well, it is nice,” he mumbled under his breath.

Adriana wiggled away and sat up. “Flatter me later.”

He chuckled, then grimaced when his amusement garnered him a kick in the shin.

Another round flew by and ricocheted off a nearby rock, sending them scurrying further behind the boulder protecting them, and reminded Flint that they weren’t forgotten by their attackers.

Hunching over her, he asked, “Where’s your car?”

“Over there.” Adriana pointed to a large formation and almost lost a finger when another slug zipped past.

She gasped and clutched at her hand, her eyes narrowing on him.

“Are you hurt?” Flint reached for her fingers, but she pulled away.

“If I lose even a hair on my head, Flint Morgan, you’ll pay.”

Like a snake, she slithered toward the large rock where her car was hidden. A well-timed storm cloud crossed over the sun and cast a shadow over the ravine, giving them the opportunity to make their move to the larger formation.

Flint crawled behind Adriana. He couldn’t help but admire her perfectly rounded bottom, clad in a pair of tan khakis. She really did have the best looking rear-end he’d ever seen in his life.

“Did I ask you to save my ass?” he asked, his mind now consumed by hers, rather than what he should be worried about—getting them out of this mess alive.

“No, but I couldn’t help but recall yours, and I didn’t want to see it get shot off. Now crawl faster before my ass is the one that ends up with lead in it.”

He smiled again. The women definitely had wit.

They made their way to a pile of enormous boulders, just a few feet from Adriana’s red Porsche when Flint heard the faint thrum of a helicopter in the distance.

Adriana cursed. “Who the hell’s coming now—guerilla fighters? What if they’re not the good guys, Flint? What are we going to do?”

“Just keep moving. We’ll do whatever we have to. You got any guns in your car?”

“Yeah, two. No extra ammo, though. Only what’s loaded in my Glock and .45.”

The chopper flew overhead and circled the compound before fanning out into what was clearly a search maneuver.

“Can you see any markings on the craft?” Flint squinted, trying to make out anything that would give him some idea whether it was friend or foe.

Her green eyes widened and in a soft voice she said, “I don’t think we’re going to make it out of here alive, Flint. I need to tell you something.”

“Oh? What’s that?” he asked, his attention still on the helicopter above them.

“I wanted you to know—”

“I think it’s Billy,” he interrupted, waving his hands to draw the pilot’s attention.

The craft flew over them once, then landed in an open field a short distance away.

“Run.” Flint grasped her arm and pulled her toward the aircraft, using a zigzag pattern to dodge stray bullets, while fighting the rush of intense whirlwind caused by the propeller blades.

When they reached the chopper, he shoved Adriana inside and jumped in behind her.

Instantly, they took off, hovering just long enough for them to see three men aiming their weapons up in the air.

“Get us the hell out of here, Billy. Before they shoot us down.” The ping of a bullet hit the side of the chopper and pounded home the importance of Flint’s words.

“Right away, boss. Glad to see you’re alive. I thought I was going to have to take you out in a body bag.”

The chopper pivoted forward and left the compound.

“You might have had to if Adriana hadn’t come along. Say Dray”…Flint glanced at the blood clotting on his shirt, then looked up to meet her gaze. “What were you trying to tell me back there?”

Adriana shook her head. “Nothing. It wasn’t important.”

She turned to stare out the window, leaving Flint to wonder what seemed so dire just seconds ago, yet now that they were safely on their way home, turned into nothing?

“Lynch. You got a phone call. She says it’s an emergency.” Zackary Kyle gave Lynch one of
those wry smiles that always preceded a punch line, then leaned his six foot,
two-inch frame against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms over his chest.
“She probably needs you to come over and fix her plumbing.”

“All right, smart-ass.” Lynch glared at his friend and fellow Z operative, sick to
death of the razzing he took on how he drew women like Zack did flies, a
joke that was wearing thin.

“Ya know.” Zack winked at him. “If she has a girlfriend, we could have a foursome.”

“That is secretly your biggest fantasy, isn’t it? Getting me in the same bed with you.”

So, yesterday I did something that I haven’t done in about a year. (Okay, get your mind out of the gutter.)

Anyway, I finished reading a book. I know, right. What do you mean you finished reading a book? I mean that is how long its been since I actually read a book all the way through. I know that’s bad but I couldn’t get through one.  I’ve been sort of ADD about reading. I got tired of them really fast but I thought I’d read something so totally different from what I’m used to reading and it worked. I read The Other Woman (A love story) John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette, & Me by Michael Bergin. First let me say that I so have alway been fascinated by John John. What a cutie-petutie he was. But this is Michael Bergin’s account of a relationship he had with Carolyn, one that apparently continued even after John and Carolyn were married. He had nothing but good to say about her even through she hid their relationship from the very beginning. The story kept me reading and I want to thank Michael for that. It was nice to read a book from beginning to end. So. I’ll give the book 5 Hearts, Cups, glasses of champagne or just two-thumbs up for my emjoyment level in reading it. It wasn’t a new release. It was published in 2004 but I liked it.

Have a great day!

Jerri

Here is the blurb I worked up with some help from a few friends.

If James Bond and Cleopatra Jones had a daughter, Adriana Kent would kick her ass.

Everything Adriana knows about being a top-notch, undercover agent she learned from her partner, Flint Morgan,
in and out of the sheets. That is, until he’s caught between those same sheets
with another woman. Heartbroken, Adriana refuses to forgive him. But when ‘the
other woman’ is found dead in Flint’s apartment, she steps in to prove his
innocence–he might be a womanizer but he’s no murderer. As she closes in on a suspect,
she’s kidnapped and packs her into an overseas crate as a present to a sadistic
prince who collects women like priceless pieces of art. Now, this tough as
nails agent finds herself playing the helpless Courtesan as she waits for her
ex to show up. Flint comes to her rescue, confesses his love, and the couple
fly back to the states to bring a killer to justice.

Here are my six sentences.

“We were discussing payment.  What’d you have
in mind?”  Flint’s grin turned to a
grimace when another wave of pain sliced through him.

Adriana’s frown deepened as she studied the area.
“Let’s get out of this alive, and then we’ll talk.” She pointed to his
side.  “How bad is it?  You think you can run?”

Too Hot Blurb

When it comes to her career, Josie Sharp sees things with perfect clarity, but her love life? Well, that’s completely out of focus. Coming off a rough breakup, she’s insecure and hesitant about men, especially ones as sexy as firefighter Marco Patelli. Although she may be wary of his intentions, she’d have to be a fool to pass up the chance to be with a man like him. And foolishness is not in her genes. Josie is nothing like the women Marco normally goes for, but something about the shy photographer’s vulnerability calls to his dominant side. As he helps Josie explore her sexuality, Marco realizes there is so much more to Josie than meets the eye. But when lies and insecurities collide, Marco is going to have to fight to prove to Josie that what they have goes so much deeper than sex.   Buy Link

Its been a crazy summer, hot, humid and busy.  5 weeks ago one of our feral cats we feed had kittens and proceeded to leave them. Two died but I managed to keep the one we named Mu-aka Moo(because he was white with black spots) alive, by trial and error let me tell you. First, I had no idea that it would be so much work. Kittens can’t do anything for themselves–including going potty. When he was three weeks old his fur started to fall out. Took him to our wonderful vet who told me to chuck the Hartz milk replacement we were using and get KMR and gave us some vitamins to give him daily. His fur is growing back nicely now thanks to Petag. Right now I’m tryin g to teach him how to use the litterbox–he doesn’t seem to be catching on yet. I also tried to get him to  drink his formula from a saucer–that didn’t work either. I’ll keep working on both. Here is my little bundle of energy.

For the past four hundred years, Jahi Wickes has made forged documents and credit cards for the female demons who seduce men into signing away their souls. While enjoying the parades at Mardi Gras, she’s ambushed by two angels. One is her former guardian angel, and the other is the Nephilim who’s tracking him.

Dagon has been chasing Vassago for three years. His first big break comes in the form of a cute, sexy demon. When he learns the real reason Vassago is hunting her, Dagon has more trouble than he bargained for. Not only was Vassago sent to guard souls in Purgatory after screwing up his assignment with Jahi, but the person who paid him to destroy her is one of her fellow demons.

 http://www.evernightpublishing.com/products/Hunted-by-Carolyn-Rosewood.html

Fifty years ago, Lilith, Queen of the Demons, took the fall for something she wanted no part in and it cost her the only man she ever loved.

Betrayed and cursed, Aamon wants nothing but his freedom. Unable to let him go, Lilith watches him constantly, selfishly lusting for the love she destroyed. No matter how long he’s forced to serve, he’ll never forgive her.

The two end up on a treacherous ride of depravity and burning desire. Only absolute forgiveness will be able bring them back from this perilous journey.

Read a full excerpt here!

Available now here!

Available now at Cobblestone Press

Romance Divas’ annual virtual conference features workshops, publisher spotlights, pitch-your-book opportunities, fabulous doorprize giveaways and more.

It’s FREE!

And nobody says you can’t wear fabulous shoes while you’re recharging your writer batteries from home.

LIKE the NGTCC on Facebook for future updates in 2012 and beyond.