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Hey all! I’m so excited to share with you my third book of the Come Together series! I got a lot of questions from readers of Text Me and Faithful to a Fault about whether Brice and Mary Ellen would ever get their own happy ever after. Well, the answer is YES! Of course they do! I couldn’t leave these two loves hanging out on a ledge with no relief in sight. I know it took awhile (sorry!) but it’s finally here, so y’all can catch up and see how things turn out for this awesome duo.

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He’s a lucky SOB, but Brice Winston’s life wasn’t always so easy. His struggle to survive at an early age turned him into a man who needs control–both in and out of the bedroom. Always careful of the women he chose to tangle in the sheets with, his need for dominance was never called into question. But he’s never let himself imagine a future with the one spitfire of a woman he’s always wanted.

 

Mary Ellen Hall has wanted Brice since she knew what boys were good for. And she’s confident he desires her, too. But he’s not making any moves, so it’s up to her to seduce him. Even as he responds to her body, his heart holds back. Mary Ellen isn’t about to accept any man by half measures.

 

Brice is forced to make a choice: his hard-won control or the woman who pushes him out of his comfort zone.

 

Read an excerpt here.

 

Buy Now: Ellora’s Cave

Comfort Zone is the story of Brice and Mary Ellen, my third book in the Come Together series. In this scene, Mary Ellen has decided she can’t take the overflowing sexual tension between them any longer. She and Brice have been dancing around each other like two cats in heat for years, and she’s ready to put up or shut up.

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But is he?

 

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The sound of the lock was louder than a gunshot in Brice’s head. He looked back, found Mary Ellen leaning against the closed door. And for once, instead of the overly-confident smirk she wore—her public face, he mentally called it—her expression was hesitant. Uncertain. As if she was second guessing her decision.

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And she sure as hell should be.

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Trying to stay calm, he stood. “There’s no earring, is there?”

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She had the good grace to blush in the harsh overhead light. “It’s in my purse.”

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He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. God get him out of the closet before he did something monumentally stupid. Like strangle her. Or kiss her. Or both.

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Mary Ellen screwed her eyes tightly shut, and he watched while her lips moved in silent count. Those lips. The ones that haunted him. That he was dying to taste. To watch them for a sweet little “O” as she came around him. That he wanted to see wrapped around his cock as he had her on her knees in front of him. Falling under, submitting, letting him lead her in pleasure. Plenty of room for that in the closet, right?

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No. No, dammit, no.

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“Brice?”

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“Don’t say it.”

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“We need to solve this. For good. Now.”

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“Solve what?” Ignorance was always a blissful place to be, right? Even if it was complete bullshit.

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Her expression softened. “You know exactly what, you jerk. This thing. The attraction.”

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“What attraction?”

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More like what bullshit. Christ, the tiny room was electrified with it. Years. Years he’d avoided being in tight spots like this with her. Alone. Tempted beyond all reason. And now she was dangling a carrot right in front of his face.

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She took a step forward. “Brice. It’s my last try. You know I want you. I’ve wanted you since before you even knew I existed.”

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“I always knew you existed.” The words were out before he could stop them.

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Her smile grew and she took another step forward. “See? That’s progress. I know you want me too. Why can’t we give this a try?”

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Too many fucking reasons to count. He took a step back and bumped up against the back of the closet. That only seemed to amuse Mary Ellen more. She took one last step forward, her breasts almost brushing against his chest.

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“Why are you backing away? It’s just me, Brice. Mary Ellen.”

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“That’s exactly why. You’re you, and I’m me.” And didn’t that explain it all. He took a good grip on her tiny shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “We don’t mesh in any way.”

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She gave him a tiny smile, then pushed one of his wrists until his fingers brushed down her shoulder, taking the tiny strap of her dress with it. He watched, as if completely helpless to stop it, as his fingers traced down to her elbow, moving the neckline of her dress until one breast was almost free.

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And he broke.

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Comfort Zone is available summer 2012. Check the Coming Soon page for more information!

hey all, over on my group blog, Passionate Reads, we’ve got a free Kindle up for grabs! There’s a scavenger hunt involved, and one author will be featured each day, and…well, just head on over to the blog to find out! Day One starts HERE!

Well, nothing. It’s July. So I guess we could say the 4th of July. But that’s not what Bing was trying to say. Christmas was the “fill in the blank” word of the day. Yeah, I know, we just said it was July. But I’m working on a Christmas short, and so I’ve got carols on the mind. And on my iTunes! haha That’s the thing with me…I’m really not a huge music person. I’m just not. But when I’m trying to write something so out of the season, like this Christmas short, I was finding I really lacked the necessary…excitement. And so I had to start getting the Christmas spirit running through my veins. What a better way to do so than to crank up the iTunes and play my Glee Christmas CD? Or how about Straight No Chaser.

On the 13th I’ll be blogging at Passionate Reads about music and what role (if any) it plays in my writing. Make sure to stop by, cause I’ll be giving away an iTunes gift card! Also, that’s smack dab in the middle of our Kindle give-away. So you’re gonna want to head over there for that as well. Really, you don’t want to miss it.

Silver bells…

Once again, I decided to get into the baking mode. I decided to tackle another water-related animal, this time goldfish. So, without further discussion, the video of me creating Koi pond goldfish cupcakes is below. (Note: If you cannot see the video that is embedded in this blog post, please head HERE to see the video in youtube.)

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And if you would like to see my original attempt at making gourmet cupcakes, you can follow THIS LINK to see my duck cupcakes.

I am pleased to announce that my editor has accepted my fifth book with Ellora’s Cave. This one is titled Comfort Zone, and it’s the story of Brice and Mary Ellen, who were first introduced in Text Me, and had small cameos in Faithful to a Fault. Yes, I know. More than a few of you are thinking “Finally!” And really, I agree with you! It just took so long to get these two and their story straight. Expectations were there, and I didn’t want to let myself, readers, or Brice and Mary Ellen down. So I took my time and hopefully, you’ll agree that I got it right.

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No idea on a release date yet, sorry to say. Maybe sometime in September? I guess we’ll find out soon enough. But there’s my fun news for the week. I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend, and it carries over into your Monday.

Hubs is back from Morocco! I bet I know what you’re thinking. Morocco, huh? Sounds like a kick-ass vacation. Sun, beach, shopping… Well, sort of. He did have a few days of relaxation. But the main reason he was there was for training. Each year, the Reserve units take a (roughly) 2-week training mission. This year, theirs was in Morocco. Now, he’s not a reservist, he’s active duty. But he obviously had to go along with them to keep things running. He was gone a lot longer than 2 weeks though. Boo. But he is back now, and he brought goodies with him!

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First up is a watch for me. I’m so freaking lazy, I have needed a watch for years. But I keep forgetting to look, or anything. So he picked up a watch for me, and it was perfect. Great size, right colors. He’s a good guy.

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Next up is a tea set for his parents. This is only the teapot from the set. It also came with a huge serving platter. And a set of eight unbelievably cute cups. These aren’t teacups like we have here. They’re more like…juice glasses? They have hand painted designs all over them. Too cute. But they were already wrapped and packaged, so I didn’t get a photo of the glasses. But they match the teapot, and here that is.

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And lastly, a very precious wooden box. This is extremely interesting. It’s called a magic box. Now when Hubs told me he bought our two year old

a magic box, I had horrid images of her trying to saw the dog in half. But that’s really not what it is. It’s about the size of a jewelry box. And it does have a compartment where you can put things in there to hide them. But it’s hidden. You can’t just pick it up and lift the lid. Look more closely. Many of those groves in the box are actually movable. You first have to slide one piece of wood away, then another. And the second won’t move until you get the first right. And so on and so forth. You have to find the key, and then keep going until you can find the keyhole. Then, and only then, will the box open. It’s actually very cool. Completely inappropriate for her at age two. But later on in life, I have these images of her storing a small diary in there, or any number of little treasures.

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So there we go. Hubs has some good taste, I think. And we’re very glad that he’s home, safe, after a long training session. Hope everyone had a good weekend, and have a happy Monday!

Yes, that’s right. I’m being naughty again and sharing some man flesh. Go ahead. Tell me how disgusted you are with me. I’ll wait. *crickets* Right. That’s what I thought. But while I have your attention, I just thought I’d mention that…ahem…Whipped Cream Reviews gave Text Me a very lovely review. Some of my favorite quotes included:

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“KJ Reed not only describes sex well, but is also able to create an aura of sweet innocent romance between Ariel and her anonymous texter friend.”

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“The story hooks for its funny moments, its coincidences, its sweetness, and the very realistic confusion that texting messages can create.”

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Aww. Thanks, Bittersweet from Whipped Cream. That was a lovely, thoughtful review. I appreciate you taking the time to check my book out. Hopefully you also find Trav’s sister’s story in Faithful to a Fault. And for those who are still curious, YES! I’m hopefully going to be giving you Brice and Mary Ellen’s story soon. Very, very soon. If all goes well.

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Now, on to the goodies. I like to think he was just asked if he was a boxers guy or a briefs man. And he was going to give us visual confirmation of his undergarment of choice. (Am I the only one sitting here, hoping that he’s actually more of a Commando Man??)

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And for my next act of man flesh sharage, how about him? He looks a little cold. You know, coincidentally, I’ve heard the fastest way to heat yourself up is to share body heat. I’m just saying…

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Have a great Friday everyone! Enjoy your weekend, and remember…hot man flesh is not to be wasted.

On Saturday at the Lori Foster Reader & Author Get Together, I had the chance to sit in on a chat with Sue Grimshaw. Sue was previously the buyer for Borders, but has since relocated and now works for Random House. She would define her position as a “category specialist,” more specifically working with the newest project coming from Random House…a digital-first imprint. This imprint will be launching in the summer of 2011. If you want to find them, check out their Facebook Page or on their Website. (Note from KJ: The Romance At Random site is not actually active as of this blog post, June 9th, 2011. But it directs you to the random house home page. Check back later to see when the webpage goes live.) If you would like to find Sue Grimshaw herself, you can follow her on her Twitter feed.

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Sue first spoke a little bit about the new digital line. She explains that it is digital first, not digital only. As far as print, they aren’t jumping in there quite yet. But it’s absolutely an option. They are hoping to release 1 – 2 books per month to start with. They don’t want to over-extend themselves from the get go. If the level of submissions rise and they can keep up and they are able to put out more, they might. But I don’t believe, from hearing her speak, that they would go too high. They still want to be very selective on what they take out. There will be no editors assigned specifically to edit the digital imprint. Editors already hired would be the ones to take on new works.

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Right now, they are taking only completed works. (Of course, if your book is the first of a trilogy, they don’t need all three books complete. But Book One should be.) They will accept works from 30,000-90,000 words. So from a good-sized novella to a full length book. They prefer trilogies, as many publishers tend to. Sue made a personal comment (Sue’s opinion only) that the longer a series goes on, the more thin the world seems to get. Mostly because you tend to already know everything about the world by book 6 or so, and so it’s not a new discovery with each book. However, she does still like some long-going series, so there’s always a way to do it “right.” They will be taking all sub-genres of romance (contemporary, western, paranormal, historical, etc.) Also, they will not be taking YA or erotic romance/erotica. Yet. She says she doesn’t think it will be all that long before they will also take YA and erotic/a. But right now, they don’t want to spread themselves too thin.

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What are they looking for, as far as story-wise? Alpha males, she mentioned. Definitely want the alpha. Lots of emotion (not angst, emotion) and tight relationships. Strong females, and always always always want that HEA (happily ever after). It’s romance. So they need to know the hero and heroine are walking away hand in hand when all is said and done.

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The more business-oriented parts that she talked about included the fact that there would be advances. The royalties are going to be the same as print. (No percentage was given, and I don’t know what their boilerplate contracts look like. So the number is lost on me.) Their price point for ebooks and print will be different, as she said it’s odd to have an ebook the same (or more!) as a print book. And they will have normal distribution, all third party.

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On a more general note, she mentioned that the way publishing is going, having all your eggs in one basket is definitely a risk. And she sees nothing wrong with writing for more than one publisher. Most readers go for the author name, not the publisher. So if you have a Jane Doe book coming out from X publisher, readers aren’t going to turn away from a Jane Doe book at Y publisher. They’ll promote for each other. No harm done there. She also cautioned against using too many pen names. Things get fragmented, and people want to find the author, not have to work so hard at remembering “Okay, in this genre Jane Doe writes as this, but if it’s that genre, she writes as that…”

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Overall, just on a personal note from myself, I found Sue to be wonderful. She’s funny, engaging, nice, and unbelievably knowledgeable about the publishing industry, and the romance genre in particular. She’s also aware of her short-comings, such as they are, saying “They knew when they (Random House) got me, they’d have to train me. This is definitely not the job I’m used to.” Very down to earth, lovely woman. I enjoyed my hour of listening to her speak.

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I hope this was helpful to anyone who might have wanted to sit in on the Sue Grimshaw talk but was caught up elsewhere. Or maybe even people who weren’t able to attend the conference at all. Let me know what you think!

On Saturday morning at the Lori Foster Reader Author Get Together, I attended a workshop held by Jenn Stark. It was about promotion for authors, what works and what doesn’t? It was based off of her own previous knowledge as well as a survey she passed out the night before. The survey had 205 responses. 103 of those identified themselves as readers. 27 said they were authors, and 75 said they were both readers and authors. Though, to be honest, I think most authors are likely readers as well…

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The top three things that readers (pure readers, not authors) identified with helping them buy books were (in order top to bottom) were: contests, free books, newsletter/email promo, and excerpts online or picked up at a signing.

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For authors (both straight authors and reader/authors): excerpts, free books, and blogs.

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If you added them all together, you would have gotten number one as excerpts. Number two as contests, and the third top reason people bought books was Newsletters.

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This was honestly a little shocking to me. I was under the impression that giving away books doesn’t actually help people buy more of your work. (Though I still do it, just because I like having fun that way!) I wasn’t shocked that writers picked the excerpt first.

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What doesn’t work? For readers, they said: virtual book signings, special features online (such as “behind the book” things and spin-off areas on the site) and direct mail (such as mailing post cards, bookmarks, etc.).

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None of that was a huge surprise to me, I suppose. Your typical reader isn’t going to be aware of virtual book signings or other virtual promo past your blog and website. And while post cards and bookmarks are fun to look at, I don’t know how long they last in anybody’s home before they get lost or destroyed.

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So with all that said…how do readers find new authors? As in, they’ve never read the author before, so they have no idea what to expect, but they’ll give it a try. For everyone, the number one way, overwhelmingly, was to have the book or author recommended from a friend that you trust. Someone you know, such as a friend, or someone online that you have trusted before because you know you have similar taste.

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What doesn’t work to find new authors? Advertisements by the author and the author holding workshops or seminars.

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Other things that people wrote into the comment boxes and that kept appearing over and over included: Amazon recommendations (“If you like this book, then you might like…”), Goodreads, brick & mortar bookstores with their “coming soon” promo, cover blurbs/cover quotes written by authors you already know, and “buzz.”

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Buzz is a big one we see more and more these days as the internet grows and we get things fast. Things can explode on Twitter at the speed of light. A recent buzz that I recall was The Iron Duke. That book was everywhere, everyone was talking about it, and you couldn’t ignore the name. I don’t really read the genre, and even I was looking it up to see more about it because I’d heard so much.

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We also talked about how to handle bad press. There was mention of a certain self-published author who behaved badly due to a sort of negative review, and the entire thing was all over the internet within an hour. If that. It exploded. Not in a good, buzz-worthy way.

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That was the Promo: What works and what doesn’t? workshop. I hope you come back tomorrow to see what I learned from Sue Grimshaw, who used to be the buyer for Borders but now works for Random House. She was extremely knowledgeable and sweet and lovely. So pop back by tomorrow to find out what she had to say!