Happy Monday, folk! Today, my guest author is SJ Maylee with her debut novella, Taking Chances. Make her feel welcome. She is giving away a $10 gift card to one lucky person, so leave a comment to enter the prize draw.
Last week's winner of an ebook copy of Mated Forever by Michaela Rhua is Karen Roma. Congratulations! Contact me so I can send you the book.
Now over to SJ...
o
The Spark that
started the fire.
Lydia
and Jake’s story started for me like a spark. The start of a scene is all I had
in the beginning, one request from the hero. You’ll know when you read it. It’s
in the middle of TAKING CHANCES and everything thing shifts with this one line.
I remember the day this scene came to me. I stopped what I was doing and wrote
like a mad woman. It’s one of the hottest scenes I’ve ever written and I’m
immensely proud of it. In the days and week that followed I discovered who these
characters were and what led them to this one scene.
It’s
a thread I’m glad I pulled, because what has been unraveled entertains me
daily.
Taking Chances
(The Love Projects #1)
by: S.J. Maylee
Genre: Erotic Romance with D/s
Length: Novella
Published: August 23, 2013
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
TAKING CHANCES BLURB:
Lydia’s father walked away from her when she was eight. She’s struggled to not let him affect her, but fears she wasn’t loveable enough to make him stay. Jake wants to love one woman, but after scaring the last woman he met outside of the club, he doubts he has the right. She protects her heart by sticking with her fantasies, and he lives by a set of rules that excludes women who choose a vanilla lifestyle.
The two will be kept in a conference room working together until their special project is complete. If Lydia and Jake hold tight to their bland lives, they’ll always yearn for love that is out of reach. But together they can find common ground, passion, and a reason to take chances. Once they discover the grand possibilities of the love they desire, they find themselves in the very place they tried never to be again, facing unguaranteed love.
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18337826-taking-chances
TAKING CHANCES EXCERPT:
Lydia's
boss stared the team down. She squirmed in her seat and worked to contain her
fidget. The glower she recognized. Mr. Keller’s fiery gaze swept over every
person in the conference room. Praying he would skim right past her, she shrank
a smidge in her seat. The transition to their new product management database
had bombed. He wanted someone to blame.
The
team worked hard, and yet dozens of things had gone wrong, but no one deserved
to get chucked under the bus. Politics was never a strong suit for Lydia, and
neither was talking in front of a group. Who would enjoy sweating profusely and
forgetting all words except ah and um?
The
threat of humiliation fired through her, making her eager for a solution. If
she could figure out a way to shift the meeting away from the possibility of
someone getting fired, she’d relax. An idea rolled about in her head, but not
even a drop of courage lingered within her reach.
“Keller,
the policies and procedures need strength and substance if we’re going to move
forward as a team with our new system.” Jake pushed back from the table.
She
needed to add mind-reading to the list of Jake’s gifts. She’d had the exact
idea. It wasn’t the first time he offered a solution she’d been contemplating.
It often left her with the idea they’d get along well, which was ludicrous. Men
like Jake didn’t pay attention to a woman like Lydia. Hesitation was more her
style, and it certainly wasn’t Jake’s. As a department director, he made things
happen, and along the way he intimidated the heck out of her.
Of
course she’d never been alone in a room with Jake, never even had a casual
conversation. Fortunately, he never sought her out. Whenever Jake neared, her
pulse raced, and naughty ideas filled her mind. Her fascination with him had
started on her first day with the company over a year ago.
The
sidewalks had been a mess of snow and ice in front of their building that
morning. She’d picked style over practicality in shoes and was rewarded with a
slip and fall, flat on her butt. Jake had helped her up. He’d placed her purse
strap in one hand and held the other while he asked if she was okay.
Embarrassment might have flared through her, but his gaze had melted her, and
she hadn’t been able to think straight in his presence since.
He
made her aware of her body, the way it heated and awakened. It wasn’t the chiseled
cheek bones, or his tall lean body that had to be fit as a Navy Seal. Okay,
maybe in her fantasies it was heaven to grab onto his thick neck and shoulders.
When Jake was around, she either got lost in a fantasy or felt like a teenager
worrying about her hair being flat, smudged mascara, or worse things. What if
he saw her nipples hardening? Luckily for her they worked in two different
departments and didn’t find themselves with the need to talk to each other.
If
she could get to know him she wouldn’t suffer so much. Most people had issues,
and if she could find his she wouldn’t be so intimidated. She had a long
history of finding flaws in people. First with her dad, she had been eight when
he left. She led a lonely existence and wore it like an armor, and it stopped
her from being let down.
“I
think you’re onto something.” Boss man Keller usually agreed with Jake.
Disappointment
ticked at her ragged nerves. Once again someone else was getting credit for an
idea she couldn’t voice.
For
Keller to ever agree with her, she'd have to have the audacity to speak about
her own ideas. Until she had the guts to offer her own opinion there would be
no recognition, no advancement. Soon it would be time to go back to her
familiar little box, a place she usually thought of as comfortable, a place
made easy to hold onto her armor.
“I’d
like you to head the team on this.” Keller inclined his head toward Jake. “Pick
one of the technical writers from this table, lock yourselves in a room, and
get it done. I want a report tomorrow, my office, ten o’clock.” He stomped from
the room and took another opportunity to sneer at each of them.
The
room, without Keller’s presence, grew eerily quiet.
All
attention turned to Jake. He towered over them as they waited for the chosen partner
to be selected. Whispers bubbled up around her.
A
door slammed down the hall, probably Keller letting off some steam. She didn’t
want to think about Keller. She desperately wanted to fill her mind with one
idea, that she could be the technical writer Jake chose. He could choose her.
She
blocked out her surroundings, peeled back her protective layer and allowed
herself to feel. She bit her lower lip and sucked it into her mouth. She could
be locked in a room with Jake. Her mouth dried, and her heart pounded. She took
another look at Jake and drank in his dark features and the muscles she
imagined hidden under his blue collared shirt. A fantasy, starring the infamous
Jake, filled her imagination.
He sauntered around the
table and stopped at her chair. His hand took hold of hers, and he pulled her
into his strong arms. Once he settled her bottom on the table, he stepped in
between her thighs. As he devoured her mouth in eager kisses, he popped the
buttons on her blouse, unclasped her bra, and exposed her. Powerful hands
molded her breasts. She let her needy body fall to the table to give him access
to every inch of her.
“Lydia.”
The
fantasy was in full swing now. Jake shouted her name. Oh, her name sounded
sinful on his lips.
“Lydia!”
someone shouted.
Something
pushed her elbow, and it fell awkwardly from the table, releasing her from her
inner thoughts. Everyone at the table stared her way.
“Thanks
for rejoining us. Clear your calendar, and meet me back here in a half hour.”
Jake locked his gaze with hers.
“Yes,
Sir … I mean, okay, I’ll be here.”
She
couldn’t handle his powerful expression and dropped her stare to the table. It
was too intense, him standing there like an unyielding statue. Had she said
something wrong? Before an idea could enter her mind, he stormed from the room.
The rest of her department followed him like nothing tremendous happened. Just
like that, they went on with their day, talking about lunch plans and other
mundane things. Lydia, on the other hand, couldn’t move.
It
had been a split second, but his eyes had narrowed in on her and dimmed to a
shade darker than black. It was intimidating, but she desperately wanted to see
it again. She should slap herself or pinch her arm. She was at work. This
wasn’t a time for fantasies.
TAKING CHANCES BUY LINKS:
Evernight Publishing: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/taking-chances-by-s-j-maylee/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Chances-Love-Projects-ebook/dp/B00EPWDHP4
All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-takingchances-1269898-147.html
GIVEAWAY:
To celebrate her debut, SJ’s hosting a giveaway for a $10 Amazon Gift Card.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
S.J. MAYLEE BIO:
S. J. Maylee fell in love with storytelling at a young age and with it came a deep-seated desire for everyone to find their happily ever after. She’s finding the happy endings for her characters one steamy story at a time.
When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her caring for her garden, laughing with her two young sons, or dancing to her husband’s music. She’s a PMP (Project Management Professional), Nia instructor, and coffee addict.
As a writer she has a tendency to break hearts, but she always glues them back together.
Blog: http://SJMaylee.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SJMaylee @SJMaylee
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SJ-Maylee/339463696094996
Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/110475431453091174566/posts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7224328.S_J_Maylee
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sjmaylee/
Blog: http://SJMaylee.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SJMaylee @SJMaylee
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SJ-Maylee/339463696094996
Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/110475431453091174566/posts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7224328.S_J_Maylee
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sjmaylee/
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