It's ALIIIIIIIVE! It's Complicated is now available on Amazon

It's Complicated is LIVE on Amazon: http://amzn.to/131Km6D  $.99 for a limited time! 130K words to sink in to.

Hot make-out session? Check. With the dreamy obstetrician? Check. While her best friend is in labor? Um...

It's Complicated.

Josie Mendham never meant to have her own (radically different) set of gasps and moans a few doors down from where her best friend, Laura, was giving birth. And stealing away with the obstetrician who was consulting on Laura's case certainly wasn't part of any birth plan.

When Dr. Alex Derjian watched the foursome enter the labor ward he did a doubletake: two dads? That defied biology as he knew it. Even more intriguing was the woman with the birthing mother and the fathers: Josie, the nurse he'd been watching from afar for months. One elevator kiss led to an on-call room soiree and soon he was breaking every romantic rule in his playbook.

Finding his way into her pants wouldn't be hard.

But into her heart? That would be a challenge.

It's Complicated is the much-awaited novel that combines the stories of Laura, Mike, Dylan, Josie, and Madge from the Her Two Billionaires series with Darla, Trevor and Joe from the USA Today Bestseller Random Acts of Crazy, with Alex and Josie at the center of it all.

Romantic Comedy meets New Adult romance in this 130,000 word/450 page novel that asks whether people can get out of their own way and learn that love isn't easy...but it's always worth it.

TWO MORE DAYS! Josie meets Trevor and Joe in It's Complicated

And here's how Josie meets Trevor and Joe as Darla settles in as Josie's roommate in Cambridge in the book It's Complicated, available 7/31:

Her ears perked up before she even realized that someone was near. As the realization set in, slowly she turned her head to find a strange man standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the hallway, as if a blonde surfer model had appeared out of thin air. In the seconds that her mind registered his presence, she took him in. Tall, at least as tall as Alex, with blonde, shaggy hair and eyes so bright blue they rivaled Mike’s. His shoulders were broad and his chest was sculpted, the skin a little goosefleshed around his pecs, as it narrowed impossibly into curves of a six-pack that went down to a thicker thatch of hair at the waistband of impossibly painted-on boxer briefs, made of a darker, smoky blue. Perhaps she took too long to assess the perfection of this body in front of her because it the man, and Josie, who cleared his throat. He dipped his head and slid his arms into a shirt, ending her reflexively lascivious appraisal before it even occurred to her that strange shirtless men surprising her in her own kitchen should maybe make her feel threatened, not intrigued. Less than a second into that thought, she figured out who he was. Another sip of coffee bought her manners, and her racing heart, a second to compose themselves.

“You must be Trevor,” she said quietly, pinching her lips together to hide the smile that tried to creep out, involuntarily sultry and flirtatious. She couldn’t believe this was coming out of her. Dear God, no wonder Darla had fallen for him. Josie would have fucked him in a rest area, too, even an Ohio rest area. He was too young for her, she told herself. Old enough, of course, but still, she felt a little dirty thinking about him this way. A flash of guilt that Alex was outside running in front of her house while she was drooling over this hot, local rock star. Without even having properly introduced herself.

He crossed the kitchen with two steps and sat down next to her, the movement so fluid and confident that it made all sorts of parts of her perk up, not just her ears. Suddenly she didn’t need the coffee to be fully awake. Long athlete’s legs stretched out, nearly brushing against her calf, as he crossed his feet at the ankles and didn’t seem to care that he sat before her in his underwear and a tight cotton t-shirt.

“I’m Trevor, yeah,” he said, leaning forward and shaking her hand. That same hand then went and raked the top of his hair. “Man, Darla didn’t tell you we were staying over?”

We? Josie thought. “No, uh, but it’s fine, you know, hey.” She held her palm up and leaned back, unconsciously shifting her shoulders back and pushing out whatever she had that passed for breasts. The guy was hypnotic; he had an instant effect on her that she found a bit dizzying. She wanted to reach out and just stroke one index finger down the ski slope of his perfect ab muscles, but held back, knowing that it would be rude. It would be rude, right? she thought, the temptation so great that she cursed herself on the inside. Down girl, down, she almost muttered aloud.

“Oh, it’s fine…uh, hey, help yourself to some coffee,” she said, gesturing to the Keurig, holding herself back from jumping up. She wasn’t going to wait on some guy. The only guys she did wait on were the ones she, herself, had just romped in bed with. Alex, the last man to sit in his underwear in her apartment, was the only one who had recently qualified.

Trevor stood, opened the cupboard above the coffee machine, and emitted a low whistle. “Have enough coffee mugs?” The cabinet looked like a Gay Pride Parade banner, every color of the rainbow represented in Darla’s coffee mugs. In fact, she’d organized them in ROY G BIV color order. Darla had teased Josie about her OCD nature, but it had been more of a challenge to see whether Cathy’s “winnings” really were enough to make a rainbow.

Turned out they were.

“I think we could use a few more,” Josie muttered snarkily.

Trevor plucked an orange mug emblazoned with a logo for some information archive service, made himself a cup of coffee, and then, when he came back to sit down, said, “You okay?” The words were clipped, no empathy in them, just a politeness that she had found ingrained in a lot of the students she had met at work.

“I’m fine,” she said, giving back the qualified, neatly controlled, upper-middle-class answer. Giggling poured down the hall from the other room, and then the very sharp, unmistakable sound of a hand smacking against flesh. Trevor had the decency to blush slightly and stop making eye contact with Josie. “You don’t have to be embarrassed,” she said, “it’s not you in there.”

He frowned. “You’re right, it’s not me in there. It should be.” He stood and wandered back down the hallway to Darla’s bedroom, coffee mug in hand.

A long whoosh of held breath poured out of her, her body tingling, her clit on fire. You have got to be fucking kidding me, she thought. Pinned between Alex on the outside, and Trevor Connor of all people, and probably Joe Ross, on the other side, she found herself in a vice of arousal, completely unable to touch anyone right now, except herself. Thank god for battery-operated boyfriends. She had a drawer full of them, and would probably use them later to try to exorcise this raging case of frustration. Better living through plastics. Another slap, and then Darla screamed, “Put it on a different setting, that one’s too fast!”

Note to self, Josie thought, add earplugs to shopping list. Click. Someone, probably Trevor, had the decency to close the bedroom door. All Josie heard now was muffled sounds of pleasure. A level of pleasure, she assumed, that she herself would only be able to mimic with a rabbit and a few Sylvia Day novels. Even at that, it would be a poor, pathetic second to what Darla was having right now. If only she had enough courage to run out and grab Alex and fuck him in the middle of the baseball field. She knew he’d like it. No, she didn’t. How could she assume that anymore?

With a shaking hand, she made another cup of coffee, and sat down to listen to it gurgle. It sounded like the death rattle of her own sex life. A door opened, feet padded down the hall, and then a door closed. She heard the unmistakable sound of a shower starting. Her next shower would be a cold shower, dammit.

And then…chest. Blonde hair, perfect, smooth tan skin, and in strolled Trevor to open the refrigerator door, bend down, and give her a glorious view of a muscled ass hard as a marble countertop. She could think of plenty of other tasty things that could be done with that…

“Hey, Josie, whatcha doin’?” Darla walked up behind her and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder.

“Nothin’,” Josie said, reaching up to wipe an imaginary bit of drool off the corner of her mouth. It turned out it wasn’t so imaginary. What the hell was she doing? These were Darla’s guys, it wasn’t like they were in competition—she wasn’t interested in them, not beyond the surface level of ogling them. The guy she really wanted was outside, running past her house. Or maybe he’d gone home by now. She wasn’t sure, and while she wasn’t above stalking him in that plausibly less-creepy, “go out of your way to find a path past his apartment building” kind of way, she wasn’t going to go outside right now, or sit at the window, to find out. She wouldn’t do anything that would make him think that she was going to bend, even if it meant she felt like breaking.

Darla wore an overstretched Spongebob Squarepants shirt, and that was it. It barely came to the top of her thighs, and Josie turned away when Darla did exactly what Trevor did, bending into the fridge to pick up a plate of fruit. Not quickly enough, though, to miss the bright red slap mark on Darla’s thigh, and Josie just closed her eyes and shook her head. They’re adults, they’re adults, they’re adults, she said over and over in her head, trying to will away the pictures popping through her mind. Maybe this was what Laura meant when she kept saying “TMI,” or maybe it was just Josie.

The three of them sat together, plowing through the cheese and fruit that Darla and Trevor had pulled out. No one seemed to need to make small talk, which Josie didn’t mind. When the coffeemaker gasped its last steamy, full-throated sound, she grabbed her cup, and walked over to the side window, staring out into the alley, simply to have something to do with herself that didn’t involved possibly eating Trevor with her eyes.

Footsteps in the hallway again, and then she turned, as if in slow motion, to find herself staring at the equivalent of a Men’s Vogue cover model. This must be Joe Ross, and my my, was he everything that Darla had described—and more—damp and 3D right in front of her. He held a towel around his hips. A rather small towel, Josie noted, for you could see the indent of his muscle bending into his hip, that kind of carved look, tapering down to a bulge that made her marvel at his body as a form of art. If it had just been the muscled dimpling of his skin against flesh, she would have been impressed.

But what took the breath out of her lungs and made the air dance a little in front of her eyes, was the teasing, taunting sensual combination of body, and face, and skin, and damp scent, and everything. Her eyes met his and he was startled, stepping back and clinging to the towel in his left hand, holding his only semblance of privacy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know anyone else was here,” he said, again with that cultivated politeness that no man from her hometown was capable of.

“That’s okay, I’m…uh, Josie,” she said, holding one hand up in a wave.

“I’m Joe,” he said. He started to reach out to shake her hand with his right, open hand, and as he walked forward the towel slipped just enough for her to know that Joe dressed to the right.

“Oh…uh…sorry,” he said, pulling back. “I think it would be better to introduce myself when I’m a little more presentable.”

Drop the towel and you’ll be more than presentable, she thought, and then froze, hoping that this was not one of those times where the words had actually come out of her mouth. No one was looking at her with an expression of horror, so it seemed safe to assume that the lascivious thought had stayed firmly in place in her mind. Goddammit, she had expected to have her house invaded by Darla, and had known, in theory, that the two guys would at least sometimes come with the package. Darla had warned her that they didn’t have their own place lined up yet for starting law school in late August, and Josie had figured that the occasional overnight would be no big deal. Now, she realized, she needed to have a giant bowl of buttered popcorn, a side of Skittles, and a big old Diet Coke for breakfast every morning, so she could properly enjoy the show. Was that bad of her, to think that way? Who cared; it was her apartment. This was better than Netflix.

And waaaay better than Downton Abbey.

“Why don’t we go out on the porch and have our breakfast?” Darla said, walking out of the kitchen, her ass filling out her shirt in a way that Josie could never fill anything. Within what felt like seconds Darla was back, wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, fluffing her hair and making herself a quick cup of coffee. She chose a lovely gray mug with a chimney sweep’s logo on it. “C’mon, let’s go out on the porch and sit and enjoy the weather.”

“It’s late July in Boston. There is no enjoyable weather unless you like to drink the air,” Josie said.

Trevor snorted, but stood and followed Darla. As they made their way through the living room, the cat backed up into the windowsill and forced Josie’s eyes to follow. Alex ran past. Dammit!

“Nice form,” Trevor muttered.

“Thanks,” Darla chirped.

“I meant that guy,” he said, pointing to Alex. “He’s got good form for a runner. I used to run cross country.”

They settled into cheap plastic chairs Darla had trash-picked in the weeks she’d been living here. The streets of Cambridge on trash night had swiftly become Darla’s version of Target. There was nothing she couldn’t find when determined. Josie had to admit that the chairs were a nice touch. The neighbors used them, too, with Darla’s hearty blessing. Neighbors who had ignored Josie for years were suddenly friendlier. Everyone seemed to know Darla.

Of course they did.

“Hey there!” Darla shouted, waving wildly at Alex as Josie shrank. A hand went up and waved backwards, as Alex had already passed.

“Stop it!” she hissed at Darla.

“Why? You know him?”

Joe saved her from answering that question, taking a seat between her and Darla. Dressed in loose basketball shorts, a shiny green color with white piping, the edge of his boxer briefs peeked out over the waistband, right under his navel. As he slouched, the tanned skin of his belly didn’t roll or pucker. It clung to the little sculpted peaks of muscle in his six pack.

Make that eight pack.

She forced herself to break her gaze, knowing she’d look like a fool if caught staring at Joe. Turning her head, she saw Alex’s form turn the corner to the left and pass out of sight, his powerful legs propelling him away from her.

This was killing her.

Something had to give.

Baby 1: Adults: 0. Excerpt from It's Complicated

And another excerpt from It's Complicated: 7 days and counting!

The cabin looked like a baby bomb had exploded in it. Burp rags covered the back of every chair or couch. A hamper full of laundry was next to a spot on the couch with an end table littered with large, empty glasses and plates that held what appeared to have once been pizza. A few empty salad containers littered the area. Breast pads were stacked neatly next to the table.

And then there was the giant pile of laundry on the floor.

That moved.

“Jesus Christ!” Josie shouted, jumping back. A leg stuck out from under a pile of towels. The leg was attached to an underwear-covered ass and a naked chest.

Dylan was sound asleep in a pile of clothes in the middle of the room, snoring lightly. His arm curled under his head like a pillow.

Josie pointed. “What’s that?”

“Dylan.”

“Not who. What?”

“He’s tired,” Laura whined. “We all are. Mike’s probably out there asleep in his Jeep.”

Josie shot Laura a what the fuck look. “His Jeep? Are you guys fighting?”

“No!” Laura wailed, pacing back and forth with the baby in her arms. Cherubic and serene, she was so sweet looking. The rosy-pink skin and a smattering of baby acne on her nose reminded Josie of how tiny and new the baby really was. A breathy snort came from the baby, whose mouth puckered and suckled in the air.

“Then why is he in his Jeep?”

“He pretends he’s going for a run but every time he does that I look out there and he’s asleep in the front seat.”

“Um…why?”

Laura pointed at Dylan, who was now spooning with a nursing pillow and a beach towel.

“Same reason as that. We’re completely wiped.”

Josie reached for the baby and Laura transferred her as if handing over a live grenade. “Don’t wake her. I just got her to sleep.” The handoff successful, Josie marveled at how lightweight the baby was. Wrapped in a pink fleece blanket and wearing a jumper with characters from an Eric Carle book, she was a piece of perfection in a sub-ten-pound body.

“Thank you! Hang on,” Laura said as she dashed out of the room. The distant sounds of a toilet flushing and running water were followed by Laura’s reappearance. Josie wandered into the kitchen and searched for the coffeemaker. The countertop was covered with what looked like every dish in the house, two nursing bras, more burp cloths, and about nineteen coffee mugs, all containing anywhere from one to two inches of coffee.

But no coffeemaker.

Deciding to grab a cup of milk instead, she opened the refrigerator to find—

The coffeemaker.

What the hell? The baby wiggled in her arms, making Josie freeze in place. How could someone so placid and sweet cause her three friends to fall apart like this? Something more must be going on. No one falls apart this fast from just having a little baby, right?

“Oh! You found it. Dylan said he couldn’t remember where he put it this morning.” Acting like it was no big deal that someone had shoved an entire ten-cup coffeemaker next to a bag of fennel in the fridge, Laura hauled it out, shoved a clean spot into the detritus on the counter, and plugged the machine in. Josie gingerly picked up trash from the counter and began throwing it away, trying to help.

“Don’t you guys have a cleaning service?” Josie asked.

“Louisa’s sick,” Laura said. “Of all the weeks.” With ruthless efficiency, Laura had coffee brewing in under ninety seconds, and turned to Josie, stretching her arms up in the air, giving Josie a front-and-center view of her right breast.

“Uh, Laura….” she said, pointing. The nursing shirt Laura wore had some sort of vertical slit, like crotchless undies, and as she lifted her arms to the ceiling it became evident Laura wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Oh.” Laura reached under the neckline of her shirt and did something that made a clicking sound. “My nursing bra was unclasped. Sorry for the peep show.”

“I’ve seen worse.”

“I know you have. You were at the birth.”

They smiled at each other and Josie leaned down to huff the baby’s head. How could she cause such chaos?

“And speaking of the birth,” Laura added, “how’s Dr. Perfect?”

Carrying the smile a bit longer, Josie shrugged. “We had coffee. And a few hot kisses in the alley. I’m thinking about surprising him tonight with Thai and episode five of Downton Abbey.”

Laura pretended to golf clap, miming it to avoid waking Jillian. “Well played. I know you’re scared shitless, but you’re doing the right thing.”

“Speaking of the right thing, I need to bounce something off you.”

Laura made herself a cup of coffee and gestured for Josie to go on.

“I already spoke with my boss about this, but I think Alex’s grandpa isn’t getting the meds in our research trial. I can’t be sure, and I would never go into the records and look. It’s a hunch.”

“Did you say anything yet to Alex?”

“No. But I feel like I should.”

“Of course you should! Wouldn’t you want to know if you were Alex?”

“Yes.”

“So what’s the problem?”

Josie sighed. The baby gurgled and smiled, a crooked grin that made Josie and Laura say “awwwwwww” in unison.

And then the unmistakeable sound of more gurgling, except this came from the diaper.

“Last time she made that sound she shat all the way up to her hair,” Laura said, staying in her position across the kitchen, drinking her coffee.

A spreading warmth coated Josie’s palm, the one that supported Jillian’s ass. “C’mon. You can’t say things like that and then just leave me holding her.”

“Here,” said a deep voice. They both turned to find Dylan standing there, rubbing his eyes. He wore blue boxer briefs, and Josie noted that they were just like Alex’s while trying not to check out Dylan’s bulge. Like she needed that image in her head.

She already knew too much about his body. Too, too much.

“Thank you for wearing underpants,” she said as she handed the poopy baby over to one of her dads.

“You’re in my house. You’re lucky I’m wearing them,” he grunted, turning away. “And save me some coffee!” he called back, cooing at the baby, who was now staring at him in absolute fascination as Laura and Josie watched his butt until he turned a corner and entered one of the back rooms.

“You’re only allowed to stare because I say it’s okay,” Laura said, finishing her coffee. She looked at the counter and said, “Damn. This is really awful.”

“I’ll help. And his ass reminded me of Alex’s, so I was just reminiscing.”

“Why get nostalgic when you can go home and make new memories?” Laura opened the dishwasher and began loading coffee mugs.

“Because if I tell Alex about his grandpa, he might get…squirrelly. Families often don’t want to hear the truth about decline, and Ed might be in a permanent downward spiral. It’s…complicated.”

Laura’s sympathetic smile helped take the edge off her fear. “If you don’t say anything you’ll regret it. Maybe there’s something people are missing. Alex is a doctor. He’s not your average patient’s family member.”

“True.”

Laura waved her hand at the mess. “Why am I cleaning? I have ten precious moments without Velcro Baby attached to me and I’m doing dishes? Ugh.”

“I know. Let’s go to a strip club and get a lap dance. Better use of our time.”

Mike walked in the front door, stretching his calves as if he just finished a run. “Man, it’s gorgeous outside.”

“Yeah, the Jeep has the best weather ever!” Josie shot back.

A sheepish look on his face showed he knew he’d been busted. “I, uh…”

Laura walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “It’s okay, hon. We know you were sleeping in the Jeep. You’ve been doing it for the past week.”

“You’ve been what?” Dylan bellowed, entering the room with the baby on his shoulder.

“Subject change—are you going to work for Menage Match?” Mike asked Josie.

Three sets of eyes zeroed in on her.

“No pressure,” she mumbled.

“No. Pressure,” Laura insisted. “Pressure most definitely there. Do it,” she hissed. Dylan rocked in place, mercifully having thrown on some sweatpants. Mike stood over them all, those blue eyes calm but exhausted.

“You’re serious?” Josie asked, incredulous. “I thought Laura was just out of her mind with being 158 weeks pregnant!”

“We’re serious,” the three said together.

8 days until It's Complicated

WARNING: This book does NOT end in a cliffhanger. It is NOT too short (450 pages). It has a Happily Ever After ending. No secret billionaires or naked rock stars.

And no one kisses a chicken. Pinky promise.

From USA Today Bestselling Author Julia Kent:

Hot make-out session? Check. With the dreamy OB? Check. While her best friend is in labor? Um...

It's Complicated.

Josie Mendham never meant to have her own (radically different) set of gasps and moans a few doors down from where her best friend, Laura, was giving birth. And stealing away with the obstetrician who was consulting on Laura's case certainly wasn't part of any birth plan.

When Dr. Alex Derjian watched the foursome enter the labor ward he did a doubletake: two dads? That defied biology as he knew it. Even more intriguing was the woman with the birthing mother and the fathers: Josie, the nurse he'd been watching from afar for months. One elevator kiss led to an on-call room soiree and soon he was breaking every romantic rule in his playbook.

Finding his way into her pants wouldn't be hard.

But into her heart? That would be a challenge.

It's Complicated is the much-awaited, Book 5-ish novel that combines the stories of Laura, Mike, Dylan, Josie, and Madge from the Her Two Billionaires series with Darla, Trevor and Joe from the USA Today Bestseller Random Acts of Crazy, with Alex and Josie at the center of it all.

Romantic Comedy meets New Adult romance in this 130,000 word/450 page novel that asks whether people can get out of their own way and learn that love isn't easy...but it's always worth it.

The Author as Fangirl

I'm sitting here in the Atlanta, Georgia Marriott Marquis writing this blog post while some of the biggest authors in romance get ready for the "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing. Every year the Romance Writers of America national convention offers this opportunity for readers to buy books and have them signed by their favorite authors, with proceeds going to literacy organizations.

As a fangirl, I'm thrilled to be so close to people I admire (Eloisa James, I'm looking at you). As an author, I hope to be in that room one day!

What's most exciting about coming to the national RWA conference isn't that I get to spend six days meeting people like Sara Fawkes (oh, yes I do -- aren't you jealous?), or trying to find Bella Andre in the bar and chat her up (no, it's not stalking...really...), but that for these six days everyone in the conference hotel is abuzz about my favorite topic: romance! the publishing industry is constantly changing, and it's reflected in the workshops: self-publishing is HOT.

New Adult is RED HOT. I love writing about hot men...and now, it turns out, I enjoy writing in a hot genre, too! a little birdie told me that one of the books nominated for an award here has a menage element to it, so that pleases me as well. ;)

More than 2,000 professionals are here to talk shop and network about the business of romance. And thank goodness -- it keeps the industry going. The stories get published (self or traditionally) and readers get more of what they want from writers who treasure their craft.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the "Goody room," where I hear there's chocolate!

Random Acts of Crazy Blog Tour!

I'm randomly crazy all over the place! Check out all the places I'll be:

Tour Schedule

JULY 15 - Refreshingly Riki *Interview 

In Between *Blurb & Excerpt (blogger's choice)

Kindred Dreamheart *Guest Post

Book Freak *Review & Favorite Quotes

YA Books of Witchcraft and Wizardry *Blurb & Quotes
Kassie's Book Thoughts *Blurb

JULY 16 - Whatever You Can Still Betray *Guest Post

Bookish Randomness *Interview

Oops! I Read A Book Again *Review

LeBookSquirrel *Blurb & Excerpt (blogger's choice)

Writer of Wrongs *Guest Post

JULY 17 - The Book Town *Interview

Books Keep Me Sane *Review

What's Hot? *Guest Post

A Dream Within A Dream *Blurb & Excerpt (blogger's choice)

Book Boyfriend Reviews *Review & Excerpt (blogger's choice)

JULY 18 - Coffee, Books and Me *Review & Favorite Quote

No Bent Spines *Review

Nothing Better Than a Book *Guest Post

Waves of Fiction *Review

JULY 19 - Leisure Reads *Guest Post

The Little Pink Book Boutique *Review & Excerpt (blogger's choice)

We Fancy Books *Interview

Bookmark Blog *Review

Reading to Stay Alive *Review

 

 

And join the giveaway here: Itching for Books

Random Acts of Crazy on sale! Bookbub's $.99 deal of the day!

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to help spread the word.

Random Acts of Crazy is a $.99 Bookbub deal today (regular price $2.99-3.99) and I'd love for more readers to find it, especially because I'm 15,000 words into the next in the Random series, Random Acts of Trust!

If you don't know what Bookbub is, it's a service for readers that features special books in various genres, always at 50% off or more (and often FREE). It's hard to get books accepted by Bookbub (they're quite picky!), so I feel honored they chose to feature Random Acts of Crazy.

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Get Suspiciously Obedient AND Maliciously Obedient for $.99 each

Right now, for a limited time, you can get these two books for just $.99. Both are full-length novels (246 pages/68,000 words).

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Happy reading!

Laura chides Josie for blowing off Alex -- from It's Complicated

Josie's tried three times to reach Laura -- no luck. After a tough conversation with her boss, and blowing off Alex, she finally reaches her:

Easy part over, she went back to her desk and worried a koosh ball to death with her left hand, sucking down her fourth coffee of the day. Was it worth calling Laura? Three set of messages and texts went unanswered. This was getting ridiculous. She was ready to hop in the car and drive out to Mike's cabin if for no other reason than to make sure her best friend was still alive and not being devoured by her cats.

Then again, Laura had Dylan, Mike and the baby. If anyone was going to die alone and become cat food, it was her. Even Crackhead would come out of hiding for a piece of Josie's thigh.

Ever the optimist (not really), she grabbed her phone and punched Laura's number.

Miracle of miracles, her friend answered. “Hello?”

“It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiive!”

The baby screamed right into the phone.“I didn't need that kind of proof!” Josie said, her ear ringing. She held the phone a few inches from her head. “Laura? You there?”

“Yeah. Colic. Jillian's been a horrible mess for days.” A pang of guilt shot through Josie. Whoops. That explained the silence.

“I'm just glad to reach you,” Josie admitted. “I'm sorry you're having a tough time with the baby.”

Burp! A belch worthy of a trucker came through the phone. “Oh, thank God,” Laura exclaimed.

“Was that you or the baby?”

“Ha ha. Now she's happy and on my shoulder. Whew.”

“You measure your life in burps?”

“Yes. And milk letdown and naps and puke-covered shoulders and what color comes out of me today as the bleeding fades.” Three weeks post-birth and she still bled? Josie made a pained face but said nothing.

“Nothing but glamor for you and your two billionaires.”

Laura snorted. “I see nothing's changed with you, Josie. Or has it? How's Dr. Perfect?”

“Dr. Who?”

“No. That's a television series.”

Silence.

“Oh, no,” Laura groaned. “What have you done now?”

“I – ”

“He was perfect for you!”

“Well...”

“You slept with him and then blew him off, didn't you? You always do this, Josie. Why?”

“I didn't call for a lecture.”

“Too bad.”

A rainbow-haired troll stared at Josie from across her crowded desk, as if to condemn her stupidity with Alex even more. “You weren't exactly around to talk to about it, Laura.”

“Don't use me as an excuse!” Laura huffed. Geez, when did Laura get so tough?

“OK. Fine. I pulled away. He wanted me to meet his mother.”

“Oh.” Laura's anger drained fast, the syllable more contrite. That was like it. “I see.”

And this is why she missed Laura so much. Because Laura got it. Instantly. She didn't have to explain herself in depth, or fumble for the right words, or try to go down some analytical path to get to a conclusion. Shorthand between best friends was such a damn relief.

“Yeah.”

“What's his mom like?”

“She's a clinical psychologist.”

A sputtering sound came through the phone, like a spit take. Then laughter. “Oh, Josie, you've got to admit that's some awesome karma.”

“I know, right? Can you imagine the moms meeting? Marlene could show her how to get a guy to buy her a top-shelf martini without having to give him a blowjob and Alex's mom could use the DSM-V and a necklace of garlic to keep my mom at bay.”

A sigh came through the phone. “But you know that's not a good enough reason to throw away what could be the best relationship of your life.”

Yes, it is, she thought. “Yes, it is,” she blurted out.

“When are you going to separate yourself from your mom?”

Slap. “WHAT?”

“You are not your mother.” Laura said the words slowly, with a resigned tone. “She treated you horribly after the accident. She lives with brain damage and has no real conscience. You were her scapegoat for years. That doesn't mean you get to hide behind all that and use it to keep yourself from real love, Josie.”

“I'm not!”

“Yes, you are.”

“But...no...it's that Alex just – ” Fuck. Laura was right.

“Do you like him?”

“Yes.”

“The sex is good?”

Josie made an unintelligible sound of groaning delight.

“Is he kind and respectful?”

“Yes.”

“Does he make you laugh?” Josie could hear the smile in Laura's voice as the trap began to work. She was caught.

Sigh. “Yes.”

“Has he pursued you even as you try to blow him off?”

“How did you know?”

“I didn't. But now I like him even more.”

“His grandfather is one of my Alzheimer's trial patients.”

“No way! So did he know you when he saw you at the hospital at the birth?” Josie felt like someone hit her between the eyes with a cannonball. Wait – what? Had Alex known who she was before?

“I never asked him that question,” she answered slowly. A dawning insight opened up before her. Alex had brought Ed to his appointment and had known damn well who Josie was – must have known, in fact – the day she brought Laura to the hospital for Jillian's birth.

What did that mean?

“Maybe your hooking up wasn't a simple coincidence.”

“I highly doubt he triggered your labor from afar, Laura,” Josie replied dryly.

Laura laughed. “No, not that. Just...maybe you two clicked because Alex already knew who you were and was interested.”

This was why she missed Laura so much. Putting all this together was beyond her daily life ability these days. An extra perspective – no, Laura's perspective – gave her a better grasp of the messy pieces of her emotional chaos.

“I'm meeting him for coffee in the morning, so I'll ask him then.”

“You're giving him a break?”

“I'm letting him buy me a latte.”

Laura snorted. “You let me buy you lattes and you don't sleep with me.”

“You have more than enough bed partners, Laura.”

“Tell me about it. You try fitting four people in a bed.”

“Four? You have a new guy?”

The two laughed, Josie relaxing for the first time in weeks. It felt so good to talk and reconnect. And then –

Waaaa! “Baby's up. Gotta go,” Laura said over the fracas. “Let's talk soon!”

“Ok. I'll – ”

Click.

She worried the troll doll's hair into Pippi Longstocking-like braids. So Alex remembered her from Ed's appointments.

Hmmmm. Coffee tomorrow morning was suddenly more interesting.

Suspiciously Obedient is LIVE on Amazon, B&N and Smashwords

Get Suspiciously Obedient on Amazon, B&N and Smashwords for just $.99 for a limited time!

From USA Today Bestselling Author Julia Kent comes the second book in her "Obedient" trilogy:

AFTER A BILLION PEOPLE WATCH YOU MAKE LOVE, WHERE DO YOU HIDE?

A fake persona with very real emotions...

As "Matt Jones," CEO playboy Michael Bournham has just stumbled into his wildest dream and worst nightmare while playing a middle-management employee role for a reality television stunt. Getting caught making love with his administrative assistant, Lydia Charles, on camera let unscrupulous Hollywood producers blackmail him before launching the video on YouTube, TMZ and Gawker. Fired from his job and ridiculed on social media, Mike needs to hit "reboot" on his life. Hiding Lydia away in Iceland with a made-up job, he sends his best friend Jeremy to watch over her. Meanwhile, he disguises himself once more and books a cabin at Lydia's family's campground in Maine, to immerse himself in her world.

A best friend with deeper intentions...

After more than a decade of world travel and hedonistic fun, dot-com millionaire Jeremy wants more out of his friendship with Mike, but more than that – he wants Lydia. Struck by her beauty and essence, he follows Mike's order and obeys, courting her with a friendship that quickly becomes a deeper bond, charged by Lydia's fantasies about him – and Mike. Unable to resist, he becomes her confidante, helping her to come to grips with her impulsive decisions and to find her way back home to Maine.

A woman torn by desire...

Lydia accepts the move to Iceland to become the Director of Communications for European Operations not realizing it's a sham position Michael Bournham created to help hide her from the firestorm of the viral sex tape. Living in a new country should be fun, but side glances and whispers from her new Icelandic employees dig at her. Ignored by her new boss at Bournham Industries, Lydia's disenchantment with her bold move is softened only by Jeremy's appearance. Wild and loose, he fills a void in her life – and soon fills her bed.

When she decides there's no place like home, the new couple embarks for her family's campground – and Jeremy's suspicious obedience will be revealed.

 

Haven't read the first book? Get BOTH Suspiciously Obedient and the first in the trilogy, Maliciously Obedient, for $.99 each for a limited time on Amazon, B&N and Smashwords!

Regular price $3.99.

As a thank you to my fabulous readers, I'm pricing this at just $.99 so you can grab it now at 75% off. Please spread the word, write a review, and tell your reader friends!

Stay tuned for another email for Apple, All Romance eBooks, Bokstrand and Kobo information.

Thank you and happy 4th of July for those in the U.S. and Americans celebrating abroad!

Julia

HUGE giveaway, including Kindle Fire! Insatiable Reads Tour (which includes Suspiciously Obedient)

Enter to win a Kindle Fire and SO MANY MORE prizes in the Insatiable Reads Giveaway.

Suspiciously Obedient is part of the tour, so check it out and hopefully WIN!

Uploading Suspiciously Obedient today!

FINALLY! I'm uploading Suspiciously Obedient to:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Apple (it may take 1-3 weeks, though, to go through -- Apple's fault)
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
Bookstrand

today! The actual moment readers can click and GET the book varies depending on how long the retailer takes to approve the book Amazon usually takes 12 hours. B&N can take 12 or 48 hours -- you never know.

Stay tuned, though, for an email from me if you're on my New Releases email list -- you'll know exactly when the books are available. And if you're not on my New Releases email list, join here: NEW RELEASES EMAIL LIST.

Here's we go -- thanks for joining me on the fun ride!