Love by Design

A Soldier can be programmed for war, but what about love?

Zeke Andrews and his band of soldiers volunteered to be experimented on by the government to help protect the world from an invading force of aliens.

Is there more to the programs implants than he thought?

 An overwhelming urge fills his soul when he meets an intriguing woman.

Could it be science or love? Cassandra Dawson could have the answers. Is Zeke man enough to find them?

EXCERPT: By reading any further, you are stating that you are 18 years of age, or over. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site. Copyright © Jambrea Jo Jones 2010

All Rights Reserved, Total-E-Ntwined Limited, T/A Total-E-Bound.

Excerpt From: Love by Design

 From the Journal of Dr. Rae Roett July 22, 2015

We made contact today. It’s only a matter of time before the aliens land on Earth. They call themselves the Raxioni and our correspondence indicates they are peaceful beings. When we sent out the feeler months ago, we didn’t think anyone would be listening. Bob and I were shocked when first contact was made and we discovered they spoke English. They seem as anxious to meet us as we are to meet them. I just wish there was a way to do more research on these beings. We have so many questions but, so far, not a lot of answers.

The contingency plan is in place in case things don’t go as expected. The research itself is light years ahead of its time, and the chance to experiment alone is worth the risk.

It’s been years in the making, but the time is finally here. We just needed an excuse to start, and what better reason than an alien race landing on our planet. The Sentry project is a go, and my colleagues have been interviewing candidates for months. We have a great batch of test subjects we’d like to have ready to go before the alien’s touchdown. The soldiers will never know the real reason we are starting this programme. For all they are concerned, they are doing it for their country. Uncle Sam is backing us, and what they don’t know won’t really hurt them. It will benefit them in the long run.

Our Plan B will be implemented, as well, because you can’t be too safe. It makes me a little nervous, but I want my daughters protected. I scheduled their procedure for tomorrow to hurry along the process. The other scientists will bring their children in as well. I can’t wait until the beings land. I hope they will be more forthcoming in the months ahead.

September 15, 2015

Things did not go as expected with the Raxioni. The situation started out peaceful enough, but some idiot soldier shot at them in a panic, and now, they have attacked Earth in full force. The Sentries are a go. We are calling them The Sentries of the Earth or SE for short. I’m just glad we’ve had them in training for a while. Most of the planet thinks the Sentries were formed because of the attack; we will continue to let them believe that. We always feared an attack would happen. Who knew it would be because of our own soldiers? The Raxioni will not listen to reason and plan to wipe out the humans to settle on our planet. We’ll never know if that was their plan all along, but at this point, I don’t care.

My daughters underwent their experiment, and everything appears to be normal. We won’t know more until we activate the chip. Cassandra seems resentful and unsure of what is really happening, but I will not risk their lives. This is for their own good.

We are in hiding now with the Sentries. We are trying to protect the human race, and nothing will get in the way.

Aside: One of the experiments that is working well is the tattoo warning system. I am shocked and amazed at the new discovery. It’s not science but magic. Once the Raxioni started to fight, the magic users approached the government to help. They call themselves Mages. Most of the group was sceptical at first, but I have an open mind and love what they are showing us. The hope is that we will win this fight. I want a chance to study these Mages once the war is over. They are fascinating creatures. Why didn’t we know about them before now? What else could be out there?

For now, each scientist is assigned a Mage to help experiment with the soldiers. I don’t care what it takes, my family will be safe, and if magic will do it, so be it. We weren’t sure how well it would stand up, but we have discovered magic does exist and with science to help we should have the threat taken care of soon.

Buy Here

There are a couple contest going on to win a copy. You can go to My Blog or Maria’s Blog.

Also, TA Chase has a new book out as well. You can check it out at Total e-Bound. Woot! Congrats release day buddy! 

Mari’s Winners!

 I want to thank everyone for participating in my Meet the Heat week. I had a blast reading all the comments. I spent the morning doing edits on my next book with Samhain, Happy Hour. It comes out on Oct. 5 and I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek of it…

Blurb:

For six years, widow Grace Wright’s days have been filled as a single working mother. Now, with her daughter graduating, her nest is yawning before her, wide and empty. And so is the upcoming weekend. Invited out by her coworkers, she decides it’s time to turn that corner and get on with her life.

Jamie’s had his eye on Grace for years, but it never seemed the right time to approach her. Tonight, something’s different. The sexual signals she’s giving off are unmistakable—and he’s not the only man in the bar who’s noticed. His best friend, Trey, is breaking a sweat just looking at the delectable English teacher.

The two men make her the offer of a lifetime, and Grace doesn’t hesitate. For one night, Jamie and Trey indulge her every desire, every fantasy, every naughty craving. In the morning Trey is gone with the wind, but Jamie his holding on to every moment as if he never wants to let go. Leaving her wondering if another chance at forever is too much to ask…

Excerpt:

“I hope you’re driving tonight, Trey. I think maybe Jamie is a little drunk.”

Jamie reached down and pulled her chair roughly toward his until Grace was sitting between his outstretched legs. “You had to go there, didn’t you? You couldn’t help yourself. It’s easier to make a joke than admit to yourself that there’s a guy sitting at this table who wants to fuck himself to death inside you.”

Jamie saw Trey move his chair closer to Grace and as he looked away from her astonished face, he saw his friend’s hands resting on Grace’s waist.

“Two guys,” Trey added. “There are two guys who want you, Gracie.”

Grace looked from him to Trey and he could see her mind fighting to process what they were saying. “This is a joke.” The words were weak, almost a question. Hell, he thought they sounded like a plea.

He shook his head. “I’ve wanted you for years, Grace.”

Trey bent forward and as Jamie watched, his friend pressed a soft kiss to the side of her neck. Grace’s eyes drifted shut and he grasped her hands when they began to shake. “Open your eyes and look at me,” Jamie said.

She opened them, looked at him, her gaze full of questions and if he wasn’t mistaken, lust. “How long has it been?” Jamie whispered.

“Too long,” she replied breathlessly.

He suspected—hell, he knew—she hadn’t been with anyone since her husband’s death. They were good enough friends she would have told him if there’d been another man since then.

“Come home with us,” Jamie said.

AND…without further ado…the winners of my Meet the Heat week are Kathrin and Becky. I’ll email you both shortly to see which of my backlist ebooks you’d like.

Where we live…

Today is the last day in the Meet the Heat summer celebration.

**Apologies to everyone who got the very sparse, one sentence start of this blog post. Started it a couple nights ago with the intention of finishing it later, then I forgot all about it. Oops. **

So…I’ll finish it now. What I WANTED to say was there are lots of places where you can find the International Heat gang. We all have our own websites and the links are posted in the sidebar of this blog. The main place we ‘frequent’ is the Heat Wave yahoo group. If you haven’t joined Heat Wave, I’d like to issue you a personal invitation. This is a fantastically fun place with a lot of diehard readers who like to talk about books. We also share recipes, jokes, racy pics (oh yeah), and even moral support when needed.

Jambrea is heading up a HW Fit day on Fridays where members share their successes (or lack thereof) in our attempts to lose weight and exercise.

On release days, we share ‘exclusive’ excerpts of the books and quite often, we post snippets from our works in progress. We even hold Heat Wave only contests from time to time. It’s a great place and I hope you’ll consider stopping by and checking it out.

OH! and for those of you commenters who graciously ignored my inept attempt at blogging and cleverly commented on my heading, I live in Virginia. I’ll announce the two winners in the contest first thing tomorrow morning.

My Favorite Things

Thought we’d play a game today. Quite simple and remember…for every blog post you comment on this week, you will have your name thrown in the hat to win. Two winners will receive their choice of ebook from my backlist. So…today’s blog is sort of a ‘get to know you’ post. I’ll ask ten questions and answer them. In your comments, I’d like to hear your answers to the same ten questions.

1. Favorite book – To Kill a Mockingbird

2. Favorite song – Sometimes When We Touch by Dan Hill

3. Favorite dinner – Steak slothered in A-1, french fries slothered in salt and ketchup, zucchini and squash sauteed in butter and topped with melted parmesan cheese.

4. Favorite movie – Overboard

5. Favorite sexual position – Doggy style.

6. Favorite non-alcoholic drink – Diet Dr. Pepper or Unsweetened iced tea

7. Favorite TV show – Glee

8. Favorite singer – Nanci Griffith

9. Favorite fictional characters – Hermoine, Ron and Harry Potter!

10. Favorite alcoholic drink – Miller Lite…or White Zinfandel…or Patron tequila shots. Okay–now it’s your turn.

Friday Eve Snippet

This week’s snippet is from my upcoming release at Ellora’s Cave, Saturday Night Special. It comes out on Sept. 24 and this is book six in the Wild Irish series and Riley’s story. Have to admit I really couldn’t wait to write this one. Like to call it a cross between The Hangover and I Love Lucy!

Saturday’s child works hard for a living…

What do you get when you cross a gold-digging stripper, a down-on-her-luck hooker, an estranged husband, his knocked-up wife, a Wayne Newton lookalike taxi driver and one beleaguered Baltimore cop?

A typical night in the life of Riley Collins—Vegas style.

Riley’s always been the wildest of the Collins clan, but even she bites off more than she can chew during an impromptu trip to Sin City. Once again, it’s Aaron Young to the rescue. No surprise; Aaron’s been watching Riley’s ass forever—and he’s wanted to spank it for even longer. Tracking her down, Aaron finally gets his wish—after he drags a drunken Riley to a chapel and makes it legit, of course.

 To say she’s shocked is putting it mildly. But Riley warms to Aaron’s seduction quicker than you can say “all-you-can-eat buffet!” Who knew her mild-mannered best friend was so hot in the sack? Of course, thanks to Riley’s penchant for picking up strays, the newlyweds will have to sneak in some honeymoon boom-boom whenever they can. But they’ll manage…

Excerpt:

He sighed heavily. One question was tormenting him. “What are you doing in Vegas, Riley?”

“Gambling.”

“Very funny.” He grimaced, not amused by her joke.

“I’m having fun, Aaron. You know, that thing you’ve never quite mastered?”

He sucked in a deep breath and counted to ten. Riley constantly teased him about being a stick in the mud. He knew it was said in good fun, but this time her words felt more like an insult than a joke. Sometimes it sucked being regarded as the boring, responsible one among their group of friends.

Need a ride home from the bar? Call Aaron. Got a flat tire? Aaron will have a jack…and a spare. Moving? Aaron will lug all your shit down three flights of stairs and supply the truck to haul it.

A growl rose up in his chest. He was pissed off at Riley for thinking him so dull he wouldn’t do anything as spontaneous as taking a weekend trip to Vegas.

“You seriously call hopping on a plane and flying to Vegas with Trevor Blankenship ‘fun’? I call it fucking dangerous.”

“Bullshit. I haven’t done anything even remotely dangerous…yet. I called Keira and told her where I was and I didn’t come alone. I came with a friend.” Riley threw another dollar in the machine.

“You didn’t call Keira until after you were already here.”

“And like the good sister she is, she called you to come save the day. Right?”

“She was worried about you, Riley.”

“I’m a big girl, sugar. A fact my family and you seem content to ignore.”

“I’m not forgetting you’re an adult. I’m just not overlooking the fact you’re completely drunk in a strange town with Trevor and a hooker as your chaperones.”

Riley’s gaze traveled from the slot machine to Aaron. “I told Trev she was a hooker, but he wouldn’t believe me.” She took a long drink before setting the cup down and hitting the Spin button again.

“What are you drinking?” He picked up her glass and drained it. Alcohol suddenly seemed like a very good idea. He waved over the waitress and grabbed his own drink.

“Tasted like something with rum to me,” she said. “You better take it easy on that. I’m already wasted. If you keep pounding those down, who’ll get us home?”

He shrugged and took another swig. Now that he was here, he wasn’t in any big hurry to leave. “It takes a lot to get me drunk.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you should consider taking up the hobby. Drunk seems to be the best way to live in dreary Baltimore nowadays.” Her tone was sullen, belligerent, and he wondered at her words.

“Since when is Baltimore dreary? You love the city.”

She sobered up a bit and he was struck by the hint of sadness in her eyes. When he thought back on it, he realized the same look had been there often the past few months. Why hadn’t he noticed it sooner?

“So I guess now I don’t love the city. Dammit, I just can’t do it anymore, Aaron.”

“Do what?”

“My life. I can’t wake up in the same bedroom I’ve lived in since birth one more morning. I can’t cook meals in that damn pub day in and day out anymore and I’m sick to death of partying with the same losers every Saturday night.”

Her voice was filled with resentment, frustration, and he listened as the last detail—and he suspected the most important one—fell from her lips.

“I’m the last Collins kid at home. I’m it. The spinster sister,” she added.

He burst into laughter. He knew she was being serious, but her words were so insanely funny he couldn’t hold back his instinctive response.

Her eyes narrowed angrily. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” he said with a chuckle, “calling yourself a spinster. Two things I never thought I’d hear together in the same sentence. Riley Collins, the spinster.” Repeating the words caused him to laugh again and some of the irritation he’d been harboring since leaving BWI that morning dissipated. Actually, simply finding her safe and sound had dispelled most of it.

“It’s not funny. I’ve watched both my sisters find true love. They’re living their happily ever afters while I’m still stuck at home alone with Pop.”

“Happily ever afters? True love?” Aaron repeated. “Sounds pretty romantic for you, Riley. How much have you had to drink?”

“Ha ha. I’ve had too much and I’m gonna have more, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll still be fed up and lonely tomorrow.”

Aaron looked at her dark brown eyes and felt a hope he’d never experienced stir inside him. “You said you never wanted to get married. You said it would cut in to your fun time, your independence. You’ve sworn off the entire institution since we were three.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Well, I changed my mind.”

Aaron considered her words for a moment, and then gave in to the grin building in his chest. “Good.”

“Good?”

He nodded, grasping her by the waist to set her on her feet. “Very good. Come on.”