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A new novel coming soon from Sugar and Spice Press: Strawberry Wine.
Laura and Caleb were teenage sweethearts. Then Laura disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a simple note.
Now she’s back, a street smart cop on the trail of an underground child sex slave operation right in the heart of New York City and she’s been sent to Caleb’s division to help bring down one of the most reprehensible men in the country. When the old lovers are partnered up, can they put their old hurts aside to do their jobs and save the children?
Remember my L/K fic Strawberry Wine? The one that caused all the drama? The one that those snobby cows said was soooo awful? Well, romance publisher Sugar and Spice Press has just been accepted for publication!
Like I said I would always do, it's been reworked and while the basic story is the same, I have obviously changed some things to make it work as an original novel.
The snobby cows used to mock this story mercilessly and say that the only way it would ever get published would be if I self published. Well please allow me a moment of pure Neener Neener! Seems those in the actual KNOW see it differently. So please, please, please do not believe that ANYTHING those fanfic bashers and mockers here on LJ have to say is of any value at all. It isn't. Despite the loudness of their rants and sense of superiority. They really have no clue what they are talking about. None. As the expression goes, they are quite literally talking out of their asses.
God it feels SO good to be able to gloat about this. I'm leaving this unlocked so the wuvly spies can see it!
http://www.amirapress.com/index.php?mai
Here's a wee steamy peek:
She had found him a month ago. He lay nearly frozen in the snow, wounded. She had known who he was. Everyone knew who he was. Sir Nikolas, one of the bravest knights in the king’s army. Delia always thought he was the handsomest. Thick blond hair, piercing blue eyes. Strong, hard muscles.
She’d seen him in numerous tournaments, and he always winked at her whenever he spotted her in the audience.
She had been on her way home from her work in her aunt’s seamstress shop when she’d come upon his unconscious body blocking her path. Horrified, she had pushed her horse to a run to get her father, and together, they brought Nikolas to the house where her mother, a medicine woman some thought of as a witch, tended to him.
For weeks he burned with fever, the wound festering and becoming infected. Delia sat by his side, helping her mother, praying that God would save him.
Finally, one morning, she awoke by his bedside to find his fever had broken. She had wept with relief.
Her parents had left her alone this day. They were confident her virtue wasn’t in any danger because poor Nikolas had yet to regain his energy. He was asleep when Delia walked in to his bedroom to change the dressing on his chest.
Delia liked when he was asleep because she could just stare at the beautiful muscles of his body without him knowing. A few times, she had run her fingers along the smooth tanned chest giddy over the unfamiliar territory of a man’s body. She’d even dared a few peeks "there" when her mother was out of the room.
It stood thick and hard sometimes, usually when she had run her fingers along his chest and even lower. Other times, it lay soft against his thigh. Thick and long, even when dormant.
She felt a strange tingling between her legs when she saw it and had to resist the urge to touch it. That was evil. A lady would never do that, but she found her fingers itching to hold the length in her hand, wondering what it would feel like. She knew this was what made babies. A man put it inside you, and you had a baby.
Delia saw the familiar bulge beneath the blanket as she tightened the bandages around his chest. He groaned when her fingers brushed his rib cage. She waited until she heard his breathing even out. Carefully she pushed the blanket down off his hips and looked at it. Thick again it stood amid a nest of fair curls.
Delia bit her lip. Who would know if she touched it, just once?
She was eighteen years old. Girls younger than her were already married and knew what baby-making was like. Surely you were allowed to touch it if you were married. Delia pushed aside the reminder that Sir Nikolas was not her husband. Would never be her husband. She was a blacksmith’s daughter. He was a knight in the king’s court. He would surely want someone of higher status than her. Still, what harm would it do to pretend he was her husband while he slept?
No one would have to know.
His member emanated soft warmth as Delia’s fingers inched toward it. At the first touch of her fingers at the base, she gasped. She glanced up quickly to make sure Nikolas was still asleep. Safe. She let her fingers curl around the base. The crisp hair tickled her knuckles. She ran her fingers slowly up along the steel-like length. Warm, hard and like tanned leather.
Nikolas groaned, and Delia jerked her fingers away in horror. She had hurt him! Oh God! What was she doing? She hadn’t realized it would hurt him.
When she looked up to his face, Nikolas had his eyes locked on hers.
"Touch me again, sweetheart," he begged and licked his dry lips.
Terrified, Delia fled from the room.
"From new writer, E. Jamie, is To Love A Knight, a historical short sure to have you watching for more from this talented new star." Laura Kitchell author of 'To Catch A Dream'
Check out the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdhiJBPh
http://authorspromotingauthors.blog
Here's the wee blurb:
It all started with a bet. Now Allie has to fulfill her partner Jimmy's every desire. Being Allie's partner on the force at the NYPD, Jimmy's greatest desire is for Allie to be his partner in life as well, and this by the book cop is not above getting down and dirty to convince her.
I so miss this show!
Here's a wee excerpt to whet your apetite!
“You got a minute?”
“I made time,” Sara said with a slow nod, her mouth dry.
“Thanks.”
She forced herself to focus on what she had to say to him. “I have something I need to say to you first.” She stepped behind her desk glad for the small measure of comfort it provided.
“Okay,” he said, taking the pale blue-cushioned seat across from her.
“I owe you an apology for what I did the night of Aaron’s accident.”
“No you don’t. You were right. It was my fault he left the house angry and crashed his car,” Connor reminded her.
“No more than it was mine,” Sara said firmly.
“Sara—”
“Connor, please, let me finish. What I said to you was unforgivable, not to mention untrue. I don’t hate you. I never could. If I hated you, we never would’ve gone through what we have this past year. I hurt you so, so badly,” Sara said, her eyes filling with tears. She lowered her head.
Connor stood up and pulled her to her feet.
“I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you,” she said.
He cupped her face with his hands. “I love you so much, Sara. I’ll love you going to my grave, again,” he added with a smirk making Sara laugh through her tears. Then he grew serious. “I’ve just recently learned what really loving you meant. When I came back and demanded that you leave Aaron, you were right when you called me a selfish bastard. I was. I wanted you back, and I didn’t care what that meant for you.”
Sara trembled and tried to get a hold of her emotions. She placed her hands over his and stroked the fair blond hair at his wrists. “I wanted to come back to you, Connor. I wanted everything to be the way it was, but it can’t be. I’ve grown up. I’m not the same woman you married. I have so many responsibilities to other people. I don’t just mean as Aaron’s wife but as Nathan’s mother. I created this family for him, something so wonderful for him. He adores you, Connor. Never doubt that.”
“You’re wrong when you say you’re not the woman I married. She’s still there, inside. I’ve seen her every time you’ve been pissed off at me lately, but you’re right when you say you’ve grown up. So have I finally. I saw what my selfishness was doing to you, and I remember a vow I made on our wedding night after we made love for the first time.”
“I don’t remember you saying anything.”
“I made it while you were sleeping. I was watching you. Your face was so soft, and you looked so beautiful my heart felt like it was gonna explode into a million pieces. I knew I had probably hurt you that first time, and I felt horrible about it. Then in your sleep, you turned and slipped your arm around my waist. You trusted me when I said I wouldn’t hurt you again. Even though I had meant physically at the time, feeling your arm come around me showed me you trusted me not to hurt your heart, too. I promised you I would never hurt you in any way. I broke that promise the day you married Aaron, and I walked away. I broke it again when I came back and made you choose. I put you through hell this past year, and I regret that more than you could ever imagine. I’m here to make it right. I’m promising never to bring you another day of pain. So I’m going to do the right thing.” He wiped the tears streaming off his face and handed her an envelope.
“What?” Sara asked.
“I’m leaving. Not sure to where yet. But I’m going to let you go.”
Sara’s breath was knocked out of her. She felt ill. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? She had made her choice, and it was Aaron so why did it feel like her very soul was being ripped from her body? Fresh tears fell from her eyes. She shook her head. “This is so wrong. This wasn’t supposed to be us. Never us.”
“No it wasn’t,” Connor agreed.
“This feels so wrong.” She began to tremble.
“I know, but it’s the right thing to do, for everybody, but especially for you. I never want to bring you any more pain.”
Sara wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. “I love you, Connor Nolan. With my heart and with my soul, I love you.” She pulled back, and he handed her an envelope containing what she learned was also a petition for joint custody of Nathan. “Of course,” she agreed, pulling up the sleeves of her white suit jacket and pulling open the middle slim drawer of her desk to look for a pen.
“I’m gonna be leaving town, so we’re going to have to work something out,” Connor said and blew his nose.
She nodded again, still in disbelief. “We were so beautiful, weren’t we?” Their love had been something so amazing. Had been? No. Was. Would always be. “I’ll go to my grave loving you, Connor.”
Connor smiled. “We’re even good at breaking up.” He grew serious again. “There’s one thing I want before we file those papers.”
“What?” Sara asked, bewildered.
“One night with you.”
http://booksbypickles.blogspot.com/2
It all started with a bet. Now Allie has to fulfill her partner Jimmy's every desire. Being Allie's partner on the force at the NYPD, Jimmy's greatest desire is for Allie to be his partner in life as well, and this by the book cop is not above getting down and dirty to convince her.
http://www.sugarandspicepress.net/i
Pick up your copy today and then head over to my website www.ejamie.net for a great contest to celebrate the new release!
I had always said that I wanted to work Strawberry Wine into an original fic and of course got the expected derogatory remarks that the only way I would ever be published would be if I self-published which if any of you have followed my career this past year and a half, you'll know that not only have I been published in short, novella and novel form by legitimate publishing companies, I've enjoyed a fulltime freelance career that has allowed me to live my dream of working from home.
So, about Strawberry Wine, after re-working it a bit, making it contemporary instead of sci-fi and bumping up the action for Harlequin's Intrigue line, I sent out a query to Harlequin last month and got a reply a few weeks later that they loved the plot and want to see the full manuscript!
Now I'm busy fleshing it out bit more before I send it off and this is not a gurantee that they will publish the final product but this is a huge vindication for me and should be for you writers that are true to the stories you want to tell and don't cater to the opnions of the snobby cows as well. My foot is in the door for a story that those who consider themselves the only ones who know what a 'good' fanfic is (as if there is a standard for such a thing) constantly trashed. So trust me, the snobby cows on LJ are no barometer on what 'good fanfic' is. Their sole purpose is to mock, not critque, not help. Write the story YOU want to write. Stick to YOUR passion and don't let the snobby cows here on LJ tell you they know better than you what good fiction is.
A snobby cow vs one of the biggest romance publishers in the world?
I think I'll trust Harlequin's opinion, thanks.
