This entirely original, exclusive, free-to-you story has been brought to you by… me! Play on, playaz…

Please read chapters one and two, if you haven’t already.

After five years, Daisy Sawyer has finally come home. Not that she’s too happy about it. She had a great life in LA: rubbing elbows with celebrities, hopping from one exclusive bar to the other, and best of all, she didn’t have to answer to anyone. But when a drunken night of partying lands her in jail, the only person she can count on is her estranged brother, Alec, the leader of a powerful were-leopard clan. Forced to choose between a prison sentence or face the life she abandoned years ago, Daisy returns… but she doesn’t have to like it…

Christian LeBeau owes Alec Sawyer his life. He will do anything for the man, even babysit his bratty baby sister. But Christian never imagined that Daisy could grow up to be so beautiful… and forbidden in more ways than one. His mind tells him she is the one woman he can never have, but his body refuses to listen. All he has to do is take care of Daisy until Alec finds her a proper were-leopard to marry, then Chris could wash his hands of her and get on with his life… but fate seems to have other plans.

And now, I present to you… Chasing Daisy…

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… and The Stuff They Don’t Tell You When You Learn the Secret Handshake

Hi everyone! Dionne, thanks for having me back here at your blog. It’s one of my fav places (though I’m a shameless lurker) and I always like coming back to play.

Of course, this time around I’m quite useless. You see, right now I’m in the midst of Crazy Author Syndrome. Oh, you’ve never heard of this syndrome? Well, that’s because it’s one of the things they don’t tell you before you publish. And even when you do get “The Call” and they teach you the secret handshake and give you your little “Published Author” card, “they” still leave you in the dark about some things.

And this is one of them. Now, this will probably get me kicked out of the secret society, but I’m going to take the chance. Right around book release time (which for me was June 24, when LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN finally hit stores near me), most authors are attacked by Crazy Author Syndrome. What does this mean? Okay, this means that I from about June 17 – July 29 (when the August books from Avon are released) I completely lose my mind.

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This entirely original, exclusive, free-to-you story has been brought to you by… me! Play on, playaz…

Please read chapter one, if you haven’t already.

After five years, Daisy Sawyer has finally come home. Not that she’s too happy about it. She had a great life in LA: rubbing elbows with celebrities, hopping from one exclusive bar to the other, and best of all, she didn’t have to answer to anyone. But when a drunken night of partying lands her in jail, the only person she can count on is her estranged brother, Alec, the leader of a powerful were-leopard clan. Forced to choose between a prison sentence or face the life she abandoned years ago, Daisy returns… but she doesn’t have to like it…

Christian LeBeau owes Alec Sawyer his life. He will do anything for the man, even babysit his bratty baby sister. But Christian never imagined that Daisy could grow up to be so beautiful… and forbidden in more ways than one. His mind tells him she is the one woman he can never have, but his body refuses to listen. All he has to do is take care of Daisy until Alec finds her a proper were-leopard to marry… then Chris could wash his hands off her and get on with his life…

And now, I present to you… Chasing Daisy…

(more…)

Jackie Kessler is a good writer. All the time I was reading The Road to Hell, I was thinking I hope she writes something else soon. However, this particular book wasn’t for me.

It’s not hugely surprising that it didn’t appeal to me. I’m not much of an urban fantasy fan and I’m really not keen on the sort of dry, arch first person POV employed by the heroine, so it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Kessler to win me over. Having said that, I have no doubt that there are lots of urban fantasy fans out there who will love Jesse’s voice. (Bam, for one, liked the first book in this series.

Before I get onto the reasons why I didn’t like The Road to Hell, let me indulge myself with a couple of examples of Kessler’s rather gorgeous prose, like this bit of the prologue:

As I die now, feeling strong arms holding me tight, hearing a voice whisper it’s okay, my mind plays back the events that set me on the road to Hell, good intentions and all. Faces flash behind my closed eyes, almost too fast to follow - the incubus’s fang-filled grin, the Erinyes hissing with reptilian fury, the angel crying fat, salty tears. My love, my White Knight, a name on his lips that isn’t mine…

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