Behind the story: Lisa Marie Perry and Cheris Hodges take you inside Blissful Summer
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Two exotic locations. Two couples about to
discover the thrill of rekindled passion.
Make You Mine Again by Cheris Hodges
Supermodel Jansen Douglas is living her dream.
Now a wedding in Paris is about to reunite her with the high school
sweetheart she left behind. But Atlanta CEO Bradley Stephens won't let their
stormy past stand in the way of reclaiming his first and only love.
Unraveled by Lisa Marie Perry
Ona Tracy's plans to seduce her high school
crush unravel when the reunion trip she books turns out to be an
erotic-themed cruise to the Bahamas! Rather than abandon ship, she recruits
blond-haired, silver-eyed Riker Ewan to be her hookup, unaware that the
hot-bodied ex-marine isn't who he seems to be…
The authors dish on what was the inspiration
for these stories:
Lisa Marie Perry:
Q1: How did you come up with your main couples?
I knew from the start that I wanted to write an
interracial couple who experience an instant attraction and connection. Ona
is African American and Riker is Caucasian. In the past I've written
interracial couples whose conflict has zero to do with racial and cultural
details, but I wanted to give Ona and Riker a different journey. Ona is a
quirky multitalented performer--and a liar. Riker is a Boston-bred ex-Marine
and current blue-collar bartender--and also a liar. They end up aboard an
erotic-themed cruise, each harboring secret agendas, and when they meet, lust
binds them both and doesn't let go until their every vulnerability is exposed
and every inhibition released.
Q2: What was the best part about writing your
story?
Writing Ona and Riker's lust-at-first-sight
romance was by far the best and most fun part of this experience. They are so
sexy and dirty together and they do--and say--things that I absolutely would
not.
Q3: Pick a favorite scene from your story and
give the readers some background on what you did to create it?
Easy--Ona and Riker's first kiss! It's sensual
and dramatic and exhilarating--at least to me. ;-) Enjoy.
Q4: How can readers get in contact with you?
I love hearing from
readers. Visit me at www.perrytalebooks.com and also on Twitter
(@PerryOrdinary).
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Cheris
Hodges
Q1: How did you come up with your main couples?
I love to see people who used to be in love discover that
they still love each other. So, with Jansen and Bradley, I wanted to bring them
together with each one of them thinking they didn’t have a chance. And a hero
who thinks he has a chance to steal his one true love from another man is so
much fun to create.
Q2: What was the best part about writing your story?
I love Paris. I haven’t been yet, but I’ve done enough
research on the city to feel as if I belong there. And Paris was the perfect
setting to rekindle romance. So, aside from the romance between Jansen and
Bradley, researching Paris was SO MUCH FUN!
Q3: Pick a favorite scene from your story and give the
readers some background on what you did to create it?
One of my favorite scenes in Make You Mine Again, has
to be when Bradley tries to pretend seeing a picture of Jansen with her
“fiance” doesn’t bother him. I tried to think of a certain ex of mine and I
hope this would be his reaction when I showed up in a major publication on the
arms of a fine famous man. I actually asked him how he would feel about. That
clown laughed.
Q4: How can readers get in contact with you?
I’m all over the Internet. Readers can visit my website: www.cherishodges.net,
follow me on Twitter @cherishodges, follow my blog: www.cherishodges.blogspot.com and
they can also get insight on Blissful Summer at www.blissfulsummerromance.wordpress.com
UNRAVELED
Lisa Marie Perry
excerpt (first kiss)
Exchanging the glasses for contact lenses, and trading the
sweats for a black mesh bikini top with a bow and matching bottoms, Ona swept
up her swim tote and joined Regan.
“That is not
a bikini,” Regan accused. “It’s sheer.”
“Not
completely. The bow hides the nipples and the bottoms are solid at the crotch
and booty crack.”
Scoffing,
Regan insisted, “I’m only considering your welfare.”
“You said
that before.”
“Last night
you were on Nicholas’s lap and now you’re going to be lounging around a pool
wearing that in front of him? It’s an attention-getter.”
An
attention-getter … Perfect.
They’d
gotten no farther than halfway down the hall before Cole Stanwyck nudged
between them, securing his arms around their waists. “The two hottest women
onboard. I would’ve been the king of PAAC if I had the pair of you keeping my
arms full. Where are you headed?”
Ever the
composed, cool one, Regan gave her deep gold curls a toss. “Cole, juvenile
come-ons don’t affect me.”
“That hurts,
Regan. Stilts, make it up to me.”
Hesitant to
linger in his company, Ona at last said, “We’re going to the lower deck.”
The walk was
uneventful, meaning Cole didn’t try to stick his hand between her legs, as he’d
tried to when they were seniors at PAAC. Ona hadn’t realized she was sweating
until the three of them arrived at the deck. What further concerned her was
that she might’ve panicked had Regan Waltz not been there to protect her in a
strange, accidental way.
“If you’re
going to be sitting on anybody’s lap, let it be mine,” Cole said as he escorted
Ona and Regan to the doors where two crewmembers stood by to offer assistance.
“Nicholas didn’t book you for the entire trip, did he?”
Regan
snapped, “Ona has someone, Cole, and it’s not Nicholas. She has someone else
and they’re having plenty of sex. So can you please stop the bullshit?”
Ona and Cole
froze as Regan untangled herself from his hold and started to stalk out on the
pool deck ahead of them.
“Regan,
wait,” Ona tried, craning her neck to see the woman through the people cutting
across her line of vision.
Regan paused
to accept a rolled cool towel and a bowl of fruit from a row of pool
refreshment staff. “The only reason I’m not going to a champagne pool right now
is because Rajon asked everyone to show up here,” she hollered to the pair.
“I’m only doing this because I respect that man more than I’ll ever respect
you, Cole.”
“Repressed
bitch,” he sneered at Regan’s back.
Ona pushed
against him. “Let me go. I will not listen to you call her that.”
“You don’t
like her, and she sure as hell doesn’t like you.”
“That’s
true. I’m not going to deny it. But I didn’t come to this deck to make
alliances. I came to catch up with the group. Some of us want this to be a
positive experience.”
Cole
snatched his arm from her waist, and because she’d been struggling against him,
she stumbled at the abrupt freedom. He made no move to steady her—not that she
would’ve let him, anyway. “I’m positive you’ve been experiencing Nicholas
Callaghan.”
“Think what
you want,” she said, scanning the deck and finding roughly half of the group.
“If you’re
with somebody, where is he?” Cole persisted.
Ona felt
sweaty again, uncomfortably hot, but a cool towel or fruit or concoctions from
the pool deck’s snazzy bar wouldn’t be of any relief. Stress sawed at her
nerves, and she wanted to get away. “He’s …”
“Where,
Ona?”
“He’s—”
Ona’s gaze swung across the deck, and he was there. Not a made-up sex man or a
man she could have a genuine relationship with, but Riker Ewan. One hand
gripped a safety railing, the other held his phone, and taut muscles bulged
across his arms and back. A gray T-shirt and athletic shorts today, and his dog
tags were out, dangling from a simple silver chain. Sunglasses concealed his eyes,
but she recognized him clearly. Her body had sensed his. “He’s there, on the
phone.”
“I don’t
believe you.” Cole said it calmly, as though he almost enjoyed cornering her
and forcing her to face her own lies. “Admit you lied and I won’t have you
embarrass yourself in front of the club.”
“Not that I
owe you any explanation, Cole,” she served back, “but I’m not available and my
marine probably won’t appreciate that I’ve had to tell you so many times. You
need to leave me alone.”
For effect,
she crossed the deck to Riker and took his phone from his hand. Disconnecting
the call, she whispered solemnly, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Riker, but I need
your help.”
A frown
immediately creased his face. “It’s yours. What’s wrong?”
“You told me
you’re at my service. If you meant what you said yesterday about pretending to
be with me, kiss me.” Ona wrapped an arm around his shoulders, because she
would start trembling if she didn’t hold on to something solid. So many men in
her life had assumed that just because she was tall, seemed strong, she never
needed support. Would Riker give her that?
“Are you
sure about this, Ona?”
“Kiss me,”
she said again. “Make it good. Make it so nothing and no one else on this deck
exists.”
“Put my
phone in my pocket,” he said calmly in her ear, his lip moving over the shell.
“My hands are going to be on you and I’m not gonna take them off until we’re
done here. And he’s going to envy me. He’s going to want to have this chance
with you.”
Ona nodded
because it was true, technically. To be further technical, it was Cole who’d
envy Riker and who’d want this chance with her. She didn’t know what Nicholas
wanted.
Riker took
her in stages. Large hands grasped her hips, preparing her. Eyes that were
simultaneously blue as ice and gray as smoke perused her. Beautiful, warm,
hungry mouth claimed hers with a sudden force that had her head snapping back
and her legs collapsing.
His teeth
captured her lips one at a time, and his tongue tasted her. To have his
strength wrapped around her … To have his firm mouth open to hers …
No one had
ever said a kiss could void all sensation but arousal. It was a lesson she had
to learn for herself as he held her and grinded. Moving against her like this,
he spoke to her, admitted his desire and coaxed her to admit hers.
It didn’t
feel like a first kiss. It was absent of expectation and curiosity and
nervousness. There was just addictive pleasure.
Make You Mine Again
By Cheris Hodges
“I messed that up. I guess you’re
going to get your happily ever after with that guy. Congratulations, Jansen.
But how does he feel knowing you ditched him to find me?”
“I didn’t come to find you. I see you still think the
sun doesn’t rise until it hits your ass. You haven’t changed at all, have you?”
“Oh. I’ve changed. And so have you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re even more beautiful than I remember.”
A heated blush filled her cheeks, crept down her neck
and finally settled between her thighs. “It’s the make up and…”
“No, Jansen, it’s you. You’ve always been gorgeous.
Maybe I wasn’t ready to share you with the world. I should’ve been more
supportive of what you wanted rather than thinking you should have hidden your
light.”
She shot him a blank look. “You wanted everything your
way, how did that work out for you?”
“I should probably thank you,” he said.
“Thank me?”
He nodded and took a sip of his drink, trying and
failing not to look at her cleavage. “I realized that day that I can’t expect
my woman to do everything I want her do. And though I thought the center meant
as much to you as it did to me, I shouldn’t have made that assumption for you.
I still believe with your brain, you could’ve done something more with your
life. You could’ve been on the front line teaching these young girls the value
of their lives.”
She wondered if he even realized how saying that three
years ago would’ve changed their lives. But right now, he sounded like a
pompous jerk. Jansen rolled her eyes. “A little too late,” she said.
“Better late than never. I’m also thankful for your
generosity,” he said. “The donations that you make every year help us further
our cause of helping families and victims of domestic violence.”
“I loved your parents and what they stood for, I’m
glad that I can help their legacy continue.”
“You could’ve done a lot more if you stayed on the
staff…”
“You’re really going to start that again?”
“No,” he said as he eased closer to her chair. “I’m
going to start this.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her slow,
deliberate and passionate. He slipped his hands between her thighs and a soft
moan escaped her throat. Jansen trembled with anticipation, with longing.
Inside, Bradley beamed knowing she still belonged to him. Still clamored for
his touch as much as he yearned for her.
Breaking the kiss, he looked into Jansen’s eyes.
“Do you love him?”
“What?” she asked, blinking rapidly.
“Well, do you?”
“Are you serious? You’re jealous of tabloid headlines?”
“No, I’m just wondering what kind of man allows the
woman he’s supposed to marry to walk the streets of Paris alone. If you were my woman, I would never allow
that to happen.”
Jansen rose to her feet and glared at him. “Yeah, you’re
the same as you’ve always been. Still want to be in control of everything. All
men don’t think like you, thank God. Why don’t we just call it a life? There’s
nothing else we need to say to one another.”
Bradley stood up and closed the space between them. “There’s
plenty to say,” he said. “I’ve never stopped loving you and—” He stroked her
arm. “I can feel how much you want me, Jansen. So, forgive me if I don’t
celebrate your engagement. And I’m not going to watch you marry a man that you
may like, but don’t love.”
“I am…” Bradley silenced her with a kiss that made her
knees quiver. His tongue filled her mouth, reminding her that no one could kiss
like Bradley, no one could find the way to her soul with a kiss. No one but
Bradley. And when he pulled her against his hard body, she felt the throbbing
of all of his muscles and melted against him. She wanted to peel her dress off
and let him have his way with her. She wanted to go back to the days when she
and Bradley woke up entwined in each other’s arms and the previous night’s
passion became that morning’s desire.
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