A Secret Celeb I Based a Male Lead on

This week at the SFF Seven, we’re talking about real life people (or celebrities) we’ve based characters on.

That phrasing makes me laugh a little because I’m pretty sure celebrities are still real life people. It puts me in mind of some of my ongoing themes of reminding readers that their favorite authors are still people who get sick and have life drama. But I digress.

I don’t know if I’ve talked about this openly, but in UNDER HIS TOUCH, the second Falling Under book (and this series is contemporary erotic romance, not SFF, fair warning), I totally based the male protagonist on a celebrity. I wanted a Brit man, one who was brooding and not conventionally handsome, full of smoldering sexiness. Guess who I based him on?

Neil Gaiman.

Yeah, yeah – I know. Only a book nerd like me would pick someone like that. I don’t think it’s at all obvious in the text to the reader, but he was the guy I envisioned when I wrote it. I even threw in a little Amanda Palmer easter egg, just for fun.

Ooh La La!

CceWMAjW0AAP3pbI found out by chance this morning that GOING UNDER released in French today! (I happened to see my name on Twitter in relation to it – Harlequin never tells us these things.) It’s the same title, SEXY GAMES, as the Italian translation. Love this sexy cover, too. Unlike the Italian version, I ought to be able to read this one. I checked the Harlequin Author Network (mainly to make sure this version was legit!) and it looks like UNDER HIS TOUCH will also release in French in May. C’est magnifique!

Sexy games Tome 1 Elle est son fantasme le plus absolu. Mais, pour la faire sienne, il va devoir découvrir son secret. « Je réaliserai tous tes fantasmes. Mais, d’abord, tu dois apprendre à me faire confiance. » Confiance ? Emily ne se fie à personne ! C’est la seule façon de garantir sa sécurité, et la raison pour laquelle elle a veillé à garder ses distances avec les habitants de la petite île brumeuse de la côte Est où elle a trouvé refuge sous une fausse identité. Pourtant, face à Fox Mullins, son nouveau – et très séduisant – voisin, elle sent un enivrant mélange de peur et d’excitation la gagner. Cet homme éveille en elle un désir primitif. Quelque chose de puissant, de sombre… et de libérateur. Car, elle le devine, si elle s’abandonne à lui, il lui permettra d’oublier – pour quelques heures du moins – le secret qui ne la quitte jamais… A propos de l’auteur :Il y a bien longtemps que Jeffe Kennedy a trouvé sa vocation : l’écriture sous toutes ses formes. Romans, essais, et même poésie, rien ne lui résiste. Mais, depuis quelques années, c’est la romance qui a sa préférence, et plus particulièrement la romance érotique. La recette de son succès ? Deux héros aux personnalités complexes, un amour impossible et un désir irrésistible – le tout saupoudré d’une pincée de BDSM.

Pincée de BDSM? Un désir irrésistible?? Oui, oui, oui!!

 

Hot Reviews and WordSwag How To

Under His Touch by Jeffe Kennedy Recommended Read!    Series: Falling Under     Summary: Amber Dolors knows better than to get involved with her boss. Devastatingly handsome in his sharp suits and sexy beyond belief, he possesses an air of command that fuels her darkest fantasies. But she's worked too hard to get this job, and keeping it will lead to a brilliant future. She won't cross that line—even if his way of giving orders and demanding her best performance gives her delicious warm shivers.A number of amazing reviews for Under His Touch came in over the weekend, so I’m doing a group post of them here.

Jennifer at Romance Novel News – who is @JenniferRNN on Twitter, tweeting live reads of smexy from fab to eye-bleeding (totally worth following her!) – gave the book such a lovely review. She says:

Under His Touch is one of the hottest books I’ve read of late. It also has a fantastic although angsty romance that made my heart happy. Alec is a bit of reluctant Dom, but one who falls fast and furiously. The age play scene could make some readers uncomfortable, but it fits Alec and Amber perfectly. This is one dirty book and I highly recommend it (as I do for all the books in this series).

Pansy Petal at the Jeep Diva, a first time reader of my books, said some amazing things in her review, like:

Amber had exuberance and was willing to go the extra mile to learn what Alec liked and wanted.  Alec had the maturity and experience to handle her, the way she wanted to be handled.  (And did he handle her! *sigh*)  I loved their roll play.  It was so hot!  All of it.

This is not the typical erotic office romance.  NOTHING happened in the office except professionalism and the job.  I had to respect that.  Outside of work however, once they got past the “this can’t work” thing, well . . . as I said, “HOT!”

To wrap up this trio, the Maldivian Book Reviewers, also first-time readers, called it a Great Read and said:

Alec is a hero that would drive most readers nuts, and all in a good way. His sexuality is one that is not all over the place, but yet the strength of it could be felt at the turn of every single page. Amber labeling his attire as suit porn was one I could definitely relate to. I couldn’t help but smile and fan myself a bit everytime Alec came into the picture. Yes ladies, he is that enchanting! And now imagine all that with a sexy British accent? Swoon!

Just love hearing the suit porn joy!

Finally, Angela Campbell asked me to visit her blog for her Marketing Monday feature. I’m talking about how to make WordSwag, so if you want to play, come on by!

It depends on how you parse ‘sexual interlude.’ Not to be Clintonesque about it. Many situations for me are sexually fraught while appearing to be nothing to anyone else. Watching you walk down the hall, for example. Or when you run barefoot onto the sidewalk and stop to pull on your heels, your hair falling over your face and your skirt riding up your lovely thighs. Very sexual.

Under His Touch In Your Hands!

It depends on how you parse ‘sexual interlude.’ Not to be Clintonesque about it. Many situations for me are sexually fraught while appearing to be nothing to anyone else. Watching you walk down the hall, for example. Or when you run barefoot onto the sidewalk and stop to pull on your heels, your hair falling over your face and your skirt riding up your lovely thighs. Very sexual.Release Day for Under His Touch!

“Kennedy’s novel has all the addictive tension and high-stakes passion that fans crave. Her main couple’s interactions are intense from the start, and she doesn’t shy away from either realistic details or dreamy fantasies. Best of all, she moves beyond their overwhelming physical passion to the emotions that drive them both, including the achingly real fears that threaten their happiness. As a result, this book is as touching as it is torrid. “

RT Magazine, 4 1/2 stars!

You can read excerpts here and here. 🙂

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1CGSziZ
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1wlzQo8
All Romance: http://bit.ly/1IYjivk
Carina Press: http://bit.ly/17YBAiN
Google: http://bit.ly/1KVjs8y
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1wlzYE5

Secret Tricks for Optimizing Research

B7RQx34IMAA_kTwTomorrow sees the release of Under His Touch, one of my contemporary erotic romances. The lovely ladies at That’s What I’m Talking About are hosting a Sunday Snippet from the book, if you care to check it out. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the book, when my very correct Brit hero just can’t quite stop himself from touching the heroine. A chaste caress, but oh, so fraught.

My favorite thing!

Okay, one of my favorite things…

This week’s topic at the Bordello is Research Tips and Tricks – stop by to find out my Super, Sekrit Method.

Tell me to stop. Don't you dare stop.

Tell Me to Stop…

B7Pird4CEAE8fM2UNDER HIS TOUCH comes out next Monday – yay!!!!

“…the core of the story is the development of a gripping and realistic relationship between two well-drawn characters.”

Publisher’s Weekly

“Kennedy’s novel has all the addictive tension and high-stakes passion that fans crave. Her main couple’s interactions are intense from the start, and she doesn’t shy away from either realistic details or dreamy fantasies. Best of all, she moves beyond their overwhelming physical passion to the emotions that drive them both, including the achingly real fears that threaten their happiness. As a result, this book is as touching as it is torrid. “

RT Magazine, 4 1/2 stars!

Preorder linkys:

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/under-his-touch-2

https://play.google.com/…/Jeffe_Kennedy_Under_His_Touch…

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-underhistouch…

http://ebooks.carinapress.com/…/en/ContentDetails.htm…

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/…/under-his…/1120159551…

http://www.amazon.com/Under-His-Touch…/dp/B00MTGFACQ