Today, I’m interviewing Kate Patrick, my chapter-mate who is one of the few reasons I keep paying my dues. I love her. She was kind enough to prepare a blog post for your enjoyment while I’m gone. She has a new release with SirenBookStrand. AND, oh, yeah, I changed a couple of words in the excerpt (with Kate’s permission) to keep it PG13.
Interview with Kate Patrick
Memphis Heat
Jillian, thank you so much for inviting me to visit with you today to talk a bit about my second book, Memphis Heat. It is an erotic romance, and was released on September 26th at Siren BookStrand.
What is Memphis Heat about?
It is the story of Maeve and Steele who meet at a Memphis blues club, and uncharacteristically share a night of unbridled passion, expecting to never see one another again. Much to their surprise, they come face to face the next morning when they show up to tour a piece of commercial real estate they both want, but for very different reasons. She wants it for use as a non-profit facility meant to help single mothers and their children get a chance to improve their circumstances. He wants it for another one of his sports bars. The gloves go on, but their mutual attraction can’t be denied. They have some very sexy encounters in spite of being business rivals. The outcome means one has to lose, so they think the affair is over when they go their separate ways. Neither can forget the other, so they have to meet again to sort out their feelings. Of course they get their “Happily Ever After”, but it is an unexpected way it all comes together. I will leave that for the reader to find out.
I know you like music when you are writing. What music inspired you with Memphis Heat?
Being set in Memphis, it was jazz and blues music I really thought about. I love Anita Baker and Toni Braxton has a really sultry sound, too. Romantic jazz with the saxophone was great to listen to when writing this story as well.
What can readers expect from you in the future?
I have a third book due to be released on December 4th from BookStrand. It is called, Love Beyond the Curve. It’s going to be my first mainstream romance, and is unlike anything else I’ve written so far. It was so much fun to write, and I am hoping readers will love it as much as I did. I’m also currently working on a sequel to my first book, One Sizzling Summer. It is going to be Stephen and Maria’s story. Since they mix like oil and water, it should be interesting to write.
Thank you for stopping by today. I’m going to leave everyone with an excerpt from Memphis Heat. Good luck with it and your upcoming projects.
I wish you the best with all your many new releases, too, Jillian. Thank you for this invitation to drop by to share my work with your readers. Here’s the excerpt.
STORY EXCERPT
“Memphis Heat”
“Dance with me.”
The rich, deep voice cut into her thoughts like a hot knife through cold butter. Maeve Callahan’s eyes came to rest on a massive, open palm extended toward her where she was seated at a small table in the corner of her favorite blues club. Her eyes traveled up the seemingly endless length of arm, and came to rest on the most handsome face she had seen in a while. No, make that ever. Dark hair, vibrant blue eyes, a five o’clock shadow, and classic chiseled bone structure atop a tall, lean but muscular body, all added up to the perfect package in her opinion.
“Excuse me?”, she replied as she fixed her gaze on the slightly smiling eyes that looked down expectantly at her.
“Dance with me,” he repeated as he leaned closer and stopped short of invading her personal space.
“Is that an invitation or a command?” she asked with an arched brow as she pressed even closer, definitely invading his personal space.
“It’s whatever will result in getting you to take my hand and follow me onto that dance floor. I’ve watched you for a while and you seem to enjoy this music. I enjoy dancing with a woman that moves as beautifully as she looks. So…dance with me.”
She blushed at the mental image of how she must have looked as she nodded and swayed to the soothing tones the musicians had played all evening. “Well, you know what they say about flattery,” she laughed as she placed her hand in his, and followed him through the crush of dancers taking advantage of the slow, sultry tune that was now playing.
He looked back at her and said in a wicked tone, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
A little shiver went through her as he pulled her into his arms, holding her firmly against his long, lean tower of a body. She slid her hands up to rest on his broad, muscular shoulders. Even in killer black stilettos, she still had to look up to see his face. A very gorgeous face. He wasn’t a pretty boy, but possessed rugged good looks that shouted he was a man’s man, perfectly capable of handling himself in any given situation.
He slid a hand along her ribcage as they danced, setting off little bursts of fireworks that rippled from her head straight to her nether regions. She felt his hands come to rest on the curve of her lower back. He held her loosely as she began to move her hips to the sensuous rhythm of the music. She took a step closer into his embrace, as her hands skimmed over his shoulders to rest at his neck.
This slight adjustment brought her full breasts in direct contact with his rock hard torso, brushing against him as they danced to the hypnotic melody that seemed to lull them into a trance of seduction, oblivious to others. Her nipples hardened as he lightly stroked her spine. His touch created a sensation she was at a loss to ignore. Her fingers entwined in the hair at the nape of his neck, as she felt heat course through her body as a direct result of the sensuous way he boldly stroked the side of her breast with the pad of his thumb.
****
Steele Ottinger closed his eyes and reveled in the feel of her breasts barely grazing his chest while she swayed seductively in his arms. Sure, she had sat at her table looking all circumspect and guarded, but there was a hint of something else underneath that cool exterior. Something intense. Something sensuous. Something he would seek to discover before the night was over. He felt the familiar heaviness in his groin, revealing the effect she had on him as they danced. Strangely, he didn’t care if she became aware of his lust for her. That was why he had asked – no, she was right – commanded that she dance with him.
A throbbing **** proved he was a man on a mission. She completely mesmerized him as she seemingly became lost in an erotic response to the sounds that filled the room. Her hips thrust in perfect time with the beat, making him long to meet her with some thrusts of his own. He knew he possessed a natural rhythm and could provide her with a partner that would keep up with her no matter what the activity.
Now, at last he held her in his arms. She turned away from him and sensuously lifted the heavy mane of dark hair that flowed like a river down her back, exposing a long, slender neck for his admiration. He groaned inwardly as she glanced back, casting a provocative look his way. He wrapped an arm around her narrow waist, and pulled her up against his pulsing erection. He leaned down to nuzzle the velvet-like skin behind her dainty ear. The slight scrape of his smooth, straight teeth along the curve of her neck sent a tremor through her lithe form. He smiled at the realization that their dance appeared to have a heated effect on her as well.
The longer he held her, the more he wanted to know what it would be like to bury himself deep inside her. It would be one mind-blowing *** if judged by her fluid, graceful movements on the dance floor. She appeared to be an uninhibited spirit. Her ability to follow his lead in perfect sync made him think their “horizontal dance” would be an explosive coupling to say the least.
Jillian Chantal 