by Mlissa | Dec 25, 2012 | Holidays
Good Morning and Merry Christmas…
I want to say thank you to you for such a wonderful gift. Support. Friendship. Connection. You’ve bought and read my books, even if you didn’t like them afterward. You’ve sent encouragement my way and you’ve even sent criticism my way…both of which, have made me a better writer and a better person.
I don’t always write what the reader wants or expects and y’all let me know it. In the end though, it’s helped me grow and opened my mind and my eyes.
This year seems to have flown by and I am still wondering where it went. Holiday reading is something I enjoy so much and I haven’t even read a single book this season. It’s my hope that tonight I’ll have a chance to just sit and curl up with some words someone else wrote.
Words that I’ve written in holiday stories come in the form of a new M/M release, More Than This and an older but very fun story, Arrested Holiday.
Blurb:
Adam Sanchez makes good money, drives a vintage BMW, and is living up to the promise he made that he’d never be poor again. After two years without seeing his family for the holidays, he’s taking time off to give them a dream Christmas. At least, that was the plan.
But after taking a wrong turn off the interstate in search of the Blue Ridge Parkway, he finds himself skidding on a patch of ice and crashing into a big red barn. He wakes up sore, grumpy, and immediately attracted to his less than pleasant host who happens to be the spitting image of a young Elvis Presley.
Army veteran Josh Atkins doesn’t have time to babysit the idiot currently recovering on his family’s Christmas tree farm, but is left with little choice. That the man stirs something deep and primal in Josh can’t and doesn’t matter. It’s the busiest time of year and he’s needed at home.
As the two men begin to talk and share their stories, Josh’s hard-nosed stance softens. When he learns of Adam’s need to get to Asheville before Christmas, Josh is torn between letting him go and asking him to stay.
Maybe Josh can help Adam see that there’s more to happiness and freedom than a large bank account, and maybe Adam can teach Josh to see beyond the surface to the man he is beneath. And maybe, just maybe, they can show each other that there really is more than this.
Holiday ‘Holli’ James looks forward the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This is her one chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of her successful decorating business. The plan this year is a trip to New York City to see the sights and the lights.
The plan didn’t include a side trip to a small town jail in the middle of Pennsylvania. Nor did the plan include Officer Hunky.
However…
A single police officer, Michael is working the holidays — again. With no local family and no interest in accepting the pity invitations to Christmas dinner from his married friends, he’s content to work and earn extra cash. Besides, this year looks to be as uneventful as ever. Until he pulls Holli over for speeding, only to discover she’s wanted on charges of fraud.
Sexual tension spikes as Michael begins to investigate and discovers Holli isn’t who her record says she is. While they await answers, Michael is granted permission to remove Holli from the jail and place her under house arrest.
Only his idea of house arrest is much more personal than the law ever intended.
If you haven’t checked them out, I hope you’ll do so… Just click on the book covers and it’ll take you to the pages for purchase information!
Cooking is on my agenda for this early holiday morning and I’d best get to it. There’s also many ounces of coffee to look forward to, as well as the last few Christmas movies that are sitting on my DVR. I hope you and yours are enjoying the day with friends and family. Rest up and relax because we have a big year to start on in a few days…;-)
~lissa
by Mlissa | Feb 22, 2011 | Birthday Blog Party
Yes it is! It’s my birthday today and so you’re stuck with me on the blog. Y’all don’t mind, though, right? I mean, really? We’ve had some awesome people visiting, there are new followers, readers have found some new authors to try and there’s a lot more to come. Not to mention, we still have presents to give out at the end of the party!!!!! There will be physical presents as well as e-presents. I’ll be drawing names at random from those that have been commenting all month. It’s been a blast for me to sit here and read the posts and see the different ways people have celebrated their birthday’s. Everyone is so different with their quiet celebrations to their surprise parties to their yearly costume parties.
I fall more into the quiet celebration. Yes, I do want my birthday to be all about me. My kids don’t do school on my birthday or theirs or their father’s. He doesn’t work on mine or his if he can swing that one. I don’t know why I think it should be a whole day celebration or even a whole week celebration, but it should. So many of us do for so many others all year, this one time should be for us. Of course, I throw a month long bash on my blog, but as much as it might see that it’s for me, it’s more for my friends and my readers. And I love giving presents to people. I don’t spend the money for conferences (though with my husband traveling every month this year and in most cases during the weeks that cons are going on, that would be my reasoning this year for not going.) So, this is one of my ways of connecting with readers and authors and bloggers. I have a party.
This will be a blog post that I add to throughout the day. I believe I may make cupcakes here soon. I usually order a cake for my birthday each year and this year, I didn’t. I didn’t want to make my own, but I just might make some cupcakes. Chocolate with vanilla buttercream. My favorite. And I believe I’ll do it all from scratch. At the same time, a Dairy Queen hot fudge chocolate covered strawberry sundae is sounding pretty damn good. I mean, birthday calories don’t count, right? I’ll go back to walking my 3-5 miles a day tomorrow. And resume Weight Watcher’s tomorrow.
For now, here’s a picture of the birthday girl. And yes, you should feel special because I don’t generally put up a picture. I hate pictures, but it’s a special day…
And I haven’t gotten any presents, but for those still looking for what to get me, here are a couple of ideas…
I’ll be adding to this post today here and there, so, stay tuned… For now, though, LUNCH!
I’m back again. And lunch was delicious. My family and I are headed out to spend the evening together and will have a nice dinner in a little while at a wonderful place I’ve only been to once, but the food is heavenly. The cheesecake is DIVINE!
It’s called Firebird’s. I can’t find a good picture of the outside of the building, but this is the Firebar…
And here’s a pic of the cupcakes my friend’s daughter made for me. Out of 12 there are 4 left. Don’t look at me like that. If you’d gotten them, you’d have eaten them, too. Though, I did share with the baker, the boyfriend, the sister, the mother, the father, my daughter and my son…
My friend Eliza gave me the following book… OMG! I LOVE this series! I need to read the 3rd book in the series, Delicious, but our Border’s nor our Barnes and Noble ever had it when we went looking for it. I’ll be ordering it off of Amazon. And these are books that I want in print. I study them, much like I study Eden Bradley’s books. There are many, many, many books I read in eBook. I read mostly in eBook, but certain ones, like these, are ones I want in print.
Other books in this series are Wicked Ties, Decadent, and Delicious…
Cecile Smutty Hussy, whom all of you met yesterday in her fun and sexy costumes, sent me a birthday care package which arrived today. Check out the tea light candles that say Happy Birthday!
It’s been a wonderful birthday, y’all! I even managed few words on the next racing series book this morning and I started putting together the one after that in my head, so…
Headed out for some birthday shopping and dinner. I’ll be back a little later…
My birthday is over and I just want to say, thank you. I have received the most wonderful emails and messages and tweets and comments here from so many people and honestly, thank you doesn’t even seem to match the feeling I have. I appreciate each and every one of you that wished me well today…
~lissa
by Mlissa | Dec 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
I don’t know if it’s what was intended, but the theme for today reminds me of the Go-Go’s song, Vacation. I wasn’t a huge Go-Go’s fan, though I did like about 3 of their songs.
But today’s theme is right up my alley since I just had a book come out about this very thing. Vacation.
Now, I don’t take vacations. When I would have this year, my husband was always traveling on business. The places I would like to go and see and things I would like to do… would take more free time and available money than I had anyway, so… But, vacations are nice and the things that are becoming most popular given the economy, are Staycations. This would be fun to do and I might do it with my kids this coming year.
For the purpose of this post though, I am pulling from my new Loose Id release, Arrested Holiday.
The heroine, Holli is on vacation. Her one week a year and things don’t go so good at the beginning of it…
Snippet:
This was about as fucked a Christmas as she’d ever had. The concrete walls were like blocks of ice, and the floor wasn’t much better. The cot was hard, lumpy in a few places, and not really any warmer than the rest of her surroundings, even though Officer Hunky had brought her an extra blanket.
And he was…hunky.
Perhaps if she started thinking about him as Michael, the way he’d introduced himself a little while after he’d settled her in the cell, she wouldn’t be so frustratingly attracted to him. The more she watched him though… Nah, he was Officer Hunky. Michael might be his given name, but hunky was what fit him best in her sleep-deprived, decent food-deprived mind.
Damn, but she’d never seen a more perfect-looking man and generally speaking, perfect men didn’t appeal to her. Likewise, she didn’t appeal to them either, so it was never an issue, but this one…with his perfect white teeth, his perfect rock-hard body, his perfect dark voice, and his perfect heated gaze every time he looked at her…well hell, she couldn’t explain it.
Maybe he was just the right kind of perfect, her right kind of perfect. Maybe she was the only woman within a hundred miles and he was horny, but as she looked at him, watched him filling out what seemed to be an endless stack of paperwork, she doubted it.
His regret at having to arrest her was genuine, as was his apology that there wasn’t a decent place open for food in his little hole-in-the-wall town in the middle of Pennsylvania over the Christmas weekend. His touch had been warm and lingering, and the smile he’d fixed on her from time to time, the look he sent her way when he didn’t think she saw it…no, Officer Hunky, with his sheer, unadulterated male perfection, wanted her.
And that little bit of knowledge, however unlikely in the real world outside the police department jail, made being locked up at Christmas almost tolerable.
Almost.
“You okay?”
Holli slowly refocused. Crap. Heat flooded her cheeks. Had she been staring at him this whole time? “Yes, why?”
“You were staring.”
Was that a smile playing around his mouth? “Sorry. I was thinking.”
“About what?”
You and me, naked and rockin’ around the Christmas tree. “About how I’d like to get the hell out of here.” She glanced up at the clock on the wall. Over twenty-four hours since she’d been brought in. Her gut had told her she could make it to Harrisburg and then stop there for gas, but no, she’d had to pee and needed a snack, some caffeine, and now, well, she was in jail. Had she not been speeding down the little two-lane road trying to get back on the interstate, her license wouldn’t have been flagged on what they were finding out was a clerical error.
“I know. I’ve put in a call to the DA and explained the situation. Again. He owes me a favor, and unless he’s gone to his in-laws[JH1] [L2] , he should call me back soon.”
“You’re using your favor on me?” Dear Lord, that sounded so much dirtier than she’d intended. And judging by the smile on his face, he knew it too. Maybe when he’d frisked her earlier, she hadn’t imagined that his hands lingered a bit longer on her hips and thighs than they should have. The idea made her tingle all over. “I mean, shouldn’t you hold on to it for when you need something really big?”
“Yes, I am calling in my favor. This is something big. I’m not sure what you’d qualify as ‘really big,’ but things are kind of screwed up for you and it’s partly our fault. Our meaning the state of Pennsylvania. Over the holidays and on your vacation no less. Derek will have to get in touch with one of the judges about an idea I have for this whole fiasco, but I’d need someone to sign off on it.”
“What’s your idea?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to jinx it. Let’s just wait for the call to come in.”
She shrugged. Not like she was going anywhere. “Sure. Whatever.”
End Snippet
Don’t forget to check out the Vacation snippets from the following awesome authors:
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
TJ Michaels
Taige Crenshaw
Eliza Gayle
HelenKay Dimon
Lauren Dane
Sasha White
Jody Wallace
by Mlissa | Dec 10, 2010 | Loose Id, spanking
Yes, I had a new release this week from Loose Id. It’s part of their new Not Quite Christmas Collection. I’ve heard from some readers already that have enjoyed it, loved it, said it was hot, surprising, erotic, fun, unexpected, and naughty. What more could ya ask for, right?
I haven’t done a lot of promotion for it this week. Been sick. Came down with a sudden cold and it’s gotten worse by the hour. I can’t breathe, my ears are stopped up and hurting, my sinus’ are so painfully swollen, and I can’t stop coughing.
The writing has been a bit on the fuzzy side, but I’m working on it.
Next week I’ll be giving y’all a glimpse of my December 24th release from Ellora’s Cave, Ink Spots.
I hope all of you have had a great week and are getting ready for the upcoming holidays. We’ll be discussing wish lists and cookies and fudge and marshmallows and movies and all sorts of fun and yummy things when I’m feeling better.
And, check out my book, Arrested Holiday from Loose Id… complete with a naughty cop, spankings, handcuffs, hot chocolate, Yahtzee, grilled cheese sandwiches, snowball fights, and naps.
Blurb:
Holiday ‘Holli’ James looks forward the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This is her one chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of her successful decorating business. The plan this year is a trip to New York City to see the sights and the lights.
The plan didn’t include a side trip to a small town jail in the middle of Pennsylvania. Nor did the plan include Officer Hunky.
However…
A single police officer, Michael is working the holidays — again. With no local family and no interest in accepting the pity invitations to Christmas dinner from his married friends, he’s content to work and earn extra cash. Besides, this year looks to be as uneventful as ever. Until he pulls Holli over for speeding, only to discover she’s wanted on charges of fraud.
Sexual tension spikes as Michael begins to investigate and discovers Holli isn’t who her record says she is. While they await answers, Michael is granted permission to remove Holli from the jail and place her under house arrest.
Only his idea of house arrest is much more personal than the law ever intended.
Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: anal play/intercourse, bondage, spanking.
~lissa
by Mlissa | Nov 22, 2010 | Cover art, Loose Id
Howdy!
Now, during Snippet Saturday I promised new cover art and I am going to hold to that promise. I received it late Saturday afternoon and thought it might be a really good way to start off the week.
This is also the week when those of us here in the USA celebrate Thanksgiving and so I will be posting on Thursday the writerly/authorly things I am most thankful for.
For today, I am very very thankful for beautiful cover art from the Loose Id cover art department and artist Valerie Tibbs. So, without further ado…
This book should be available December 7th!
Now, the blurb is unofficial because it hasn’t gone through the final editing stage at Loose Id, but, it’s close enough…
Blurb:
Holiday ‘Holli’ James looks forward the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This is her one chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of the decorating business she owns and the plan this year is a trip to New York City to see the sights and the lights.
However, the original plan didn’t include a side trip to a small town jail in the middle of Pennsylvania. Nor did the plan include ‘Officer Hunky’. Talk about a sight worth seeing.
A single police officer, Michael is working the Christmas holidays again. With no local family and no interest in the pity invitations from his married friends to Christmas dinner, he’s content to work and earn extra cash. Besides, this year looks to be as uneventful as ever. Until, he pulls Holli over for speeding, only to discover she’s wanted on charges of fraud.
Sexual tension spikes as Michael begins to investigate and finds things aren’t adding up to Holli being who the computers say she is. While they await answers, Michael is granted permission to remove Holli from the jail and place her under house arrest.
Only, his idea of house arrest is much more personal than the law ever intended.
End Blurb…
I hope y’all will enjoy this story. It’s fun and rompy and yeah, contains a some naughty sex, the use of handcuffs, some light spanking, and a cop that can cook…
It’s back to writing for me… Have a great day!
~lissa
