Joining me today is the
fabulous author of so many amazing erotic historical romances, and the creator
of this fabulous series, the incomparable Jess Michaels.
Blurb for A MEASURE OF DECEIT:
Even Society’s
most scandalous writer couldn’t have predicted this.
The Ladies
Book of Pleasures, now credited with two marriages and countless other affairs
and liaisons, has Society all aflutter. The one person not benefitting from its
scandalous advice? The author herself.
From the safety of her anonymity, Lady Grace Hollis, Duchess of Jameswood, enjoys the blissful results of her handiwork—and pretends she does not miss the passionate proclivities she penned. But when her handsome editor begins making the rounds of Society parties, she wonders how long her secret will be safe.
Connor Sheridan wants—needs—to know the answer to the one burning question on everyone’s lips: the mystery writer’s identity. And it’s not just because their correspondence, delivered via untraceable couriers, has made him smile, frown, or imagine her engaged in erotic escapades—with him.
Other letters have begun landing on his desk, letters written by a decidedly unfriendly hand. And though it may threaten her reputation, the safest place for her could very well be his arms. Whether she likes it or not.
Warning: This book contains secret identities, dangerous liaisons, and a very sexy Scot.
From the safety of her anonymity, Lady Grace Hollis, Duchess of Jameswood, enjoys the blissful results of her handiwork—and pretends she does not miss the passionate proclivities she penned. But when her handsome editor begins making the rounds of Society parties, she wonders how long her secret will be safe.
Connor Sheridan wants—needs—to know the answer to the one burning question on everyone’s lips: the mystery writer’s identity. And it’s not just because their correspondence, delivered via untraceable couriers, has made him smile, frown, or imagine her engaged in erotic escapades—with him.
Other letters have begun landing on his desk, letters written by a decidedly unfriendly hand. And though it may threaten her reputation, the safest place for her could very well be his arms. Whether she likes it or not.
Warning: This book contains secret identities, dangerous liaisons, and a very sexy Scot.
* * * * *
Please join me in
welcoming back Jess Michaels, author of the newly released A MEASURE OF DECEIT,
book three in the Ladies Book of Pleasures series, to Unwrapping Romance
…
Amy: Welcome Jess,
it's an absolute delight to have you with us today, and I'd like to thank
you so very much for taking time out of your busy day to join us.
Congratulations on this amazing series and your most recent release, A MEASURE
OF DECEIT.
Jess: Thank you so much
for having me! I'm always thrilled to be here!
Amy: Perhaps you'd like
to tell us a little bit about yourself for those who don't know you yet.
Jess: I'm Jess Michaels
and I write erotic historical romance set in the Regency period. A Measure of
Deceit is my 48th release, most of them are erotic historical written under my
Jess Michaels name. I've also written under Jesse Petersen (zombie comedy) and
Jenna Petersen (regency era romance, but not as erotic). I live in Tucson with
my husband and our two old lady cats. I also enjoy reading, walking in the
gorgeous desert and hanging out with friends.
Amy: Jess, you began
your full time writing career in 1999 and since then, you've published dozens
of amazing stories. It's been an amazing journey for you. Perhaps you
could share with us what first inspired you to write, and what inspired you to
take your historical romances in the delightfully naughty direction we now
enjoy?
Jess: It really has been
a wonderful journey! I couldn't have imagined when I started out that I would
be writing full-time still, have written almost 50 books, and would fully
support my family with my writing income. I've always wanted to write and once
I started reading romance I got very into writing it. Over the years, I hope I
developed my own voice and style and eventually Avon wanted to buy my
historicals. When they were ready to launch Avon Red, their erotic romance
line, they knew I'd written a couple of novellas that were erotic under my Jess
Michaels name and they asked me to write them for them. So I got to write sexy
regencies and even sexier regencies. :-) But as time passed, I knew I couldn't
keep doing so many things. The sexier historicals were most interesting to me
by the time I was writing them for Samhain, so that's what I'm focused on at
this point. I doubt I'll write as Jenna again, but you never know for Jesse.
Amy: I hope you won’t
be giving up on Jenna completely, but Jesse’s stories are certainly a wonderful
diversion.
Your newest release, A
MEASURE OF DECEIT, is Lady Grace and Connor Sheridan's story. Connor, like the
readers, is determined to discover the identity of the author of the scandalous
Ladies Book of Pleasures. So what inspired your creation of the book and
the characters we meet in this amazing series? I love the bits of advice.
They are so good and still applicable.
Jess: Well, when I came
up with the idea for the Ladies Book of Pleasures, I knew that the third book
would revolve around the identity of The Lady (the author of the notorious
book). Connor is the editor of the book, but he's never known who she really
is. When she cuts off contact with him suddenly, he longs to find her and
encounters Grace. If you've read the other two books, you already know Grace to
be so strong and Connor is a great counterpoint to that. The advice was fun to
write, though sometimes I struggled to find something that would fit with the
chapter and the idea of the book.
Amy: The advice is some
which modern woman can easily use to capture or in most cases, keep their men
attentive.
Most writers are
prolific readers. As you mentioned, you love reading, so what authors have
influenced your writing?
Jess: I would like to be
more prolific but right now, I'm working about 80 hours a week, so I don't have
a lot of time for anything besides sleeping and eating. When I do read, I tend
to do it in jags of like five books in a week during vacation. I read all over
the map (at the point I'm writing this, I am about to start reading AS YOU WISH
by Cary Elwes). Influential writers: LM Montgomery, Julia Quinn, Teresa
Medeiros, Stephen King. :-)
Amy: That’s a very
eclectic reading list and from it, I can see where you’ve gained influence.
Great list.
Is there a story living
in your imagination, which you have yet to write but is itching to get out? If
so, is it different from anything else you've done so far or within the genres
you already excel at?
Jess: There are about
ten stories living in my imagination. Right now I'm all focused on Jess
Michaels’ erotic historical romance so that's what's bopping around in my head
mostly. Though I do have a thriller I would possibly pursue if I ever had
ten minutes to put together. Not likely in the next year or so.
Amy: A thriller!
Wonderful. Well, I personally hope you find the time to conjure that one for
us.
Usually I ask about a
favorite character but since you've visited us before, I thought I should ask
something new and different. So Jess, if you had not found your joy in writing,
what did you want to be when you grew up?
Jess: Ballerina and
baseball player is what kindergartener Jess wanted to do. Then writer was
pretty dominant for the rest of my childhood. I have a degree in psychology
though, and I probably would have pursued my plans to become a marriage and
family counselor. I'm pretty glad it worked out as it did, though. Now I doubt
I could do anything else.
Amy: I imagine that
degree in psychology will come in handy if you do decide to pursue the suspense
genre.
Jess, thank you so very
much for joining us today and for sharing A MEASURE OF DECEIT with us.
Congratulations on this amazing series, I hope any of my readers who haven't
dipped their toe into the amazing Ladies Book of Pleasures series will as soon
as possible. As for the rest of us, I'm sure my readers are as excited as I am
to see what comes next.
Jess: Thank you so much
for having me, it was a blast! I hope you'll all enjoy A MEASURE OF DECEIT as
much as I loved writing Grace and Connor's story!
Amy: Thank you, Jess,
for sharing all of your fabulous characters with us and I hope everyone who
hasn’t read the Ladies Book of Pleasures series will certainly give it a try. I
have no doubt that you all will fall in love with Jess’s characters and
adventures just as I, and so many others, have. Watch for her brand new Notorious Flynns series coming in January starting with THE OTHER DUKE,
releasing on January 13, 2015. I am very excited about it. It’s been an
absolute pleasure having Jess visit us and she’s always welcome back at
Unwrapping Romance just as her wonderful stories always are.
Happy Reading Everyone!
About the Author:
Jess Michaels began
writing full-time in 1999 after being encouraged by her husband to follow her dream.
In 2003, she sold her first novella, an erotic historical romance about an
Egyptian tomb and a very sexy curse. Since then she has published
nearly 50 novels and novellas under three different pen names with several
major publishers, small presses and via self-publishing. Her erotic historical
romances have been national bestsellers and won awards from booksellers and
readers.
She and her awesome
husband live in Tucson where she enjoys playing video games, exploring the
beautiful desert, reading and spending petting her two old lady cats.
To learn more about Jess
and her fabulous books, please visit her website and feel free to follow
her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
When you visit her website be sure to sign up for her newsletter, she’s always
got some fun giveaways happening along with keep you up-to-date about her
books.
A MEASURE OF DECEIT, a
Ladies Book of Pleasures novel by Jess Michaels, Samhain Publishing, available
now in ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.
***click on links above or cover below for purchasing information, remember even pennies per sale using my links helps keep this blog alive. Thank You.
