The Joys of a New Series, by Jess Michaels

Hello and thanks so much to Melissa for having me here today! If you don’t know who I am my name is Jess Michaels and I write historical erotic romance. I’ve published or contracted 19 short stories, novellas and novels for Red Sage Publishing, Avon, self-publishing and Samhain Publishing. Phew! It’s a lot of books, actually and many of them in series (The Albright Sisters series and The Mistress Matchmaker series are my most popular). 

But on July 2, just a week from today, I’ll have a new book out. It’s called TAKEN BY THE DUKE and is the first book in a new series, “The Pleasure Wars”. Think of Romeo and Juliet, but in the Regency period and with tons of sex. Oh and, spoiler alert, no one kills themselves. So… don’t worry.

It’s always wondrous and weird and scary for an author to have a new series out. Why?

Well, it’s wondrous because it’s the beginning of a whole new universe in a way! By the time a first book in a series is out, I’ve finished the second and have started on the third. I’m immersed and in love with the characters and so ready to share their stories. There’s all the promise in the world with a new series, both in how readers will feel about it and how it will perform (which authors all think about and hope about even if they pretend they don’t).

It’s weird because publishing is always a little weird. You wait and wait and wait, then suddenly there’s a book out and it’s like a child who you hope will flourish when it goes out into the world all alone. Except you’ve got a webcam in its dorm room, so… yeah.

And it’s scary because even though you can peek on that “webcam”, there’s not a lot you can do to help the book. Oh, I do appearances on blogs like this one, I post on Facebook and send out newsletters, but ultimately by the time a book comes out I’ve pretty much done what I can and I have to set it free. I hope readers will love it. I hope people will buy it and that they’ll be excited for the next book and the next one.

A new series is filled with opportunity. And I’m so excited to see this next venture be let loose upon the world.

Preorder from Amazon here

An eye for an eye, a sin for a sin…

The Pleasure Wars, Book 1
Amid all the lies and scandals that fuel Society’s gossip mill, one truth has stood out: House Rothcastle and House Windbury have always hated each other.
Lady Ava Windbury prays the feud will someday end, to no avail. One dreadful night, her brother accidentally causes the death of Christian Rothcastle’s sister, a tragedy that leaves both men maimed.
Consumed by grief, Christian makes a grim decision. He will kidnap Lady Ava so that her family will feel the pain of loss as keenly as he feels the loss of his own sister. But once he has Ava in his clutches, desire takes unexpected hold. Even more surprising, she willingly surrenders to his every sexual whim—after haggling over the terms of giving up her virginity.
Too late, he realizes she is using her body for peace, not war. But just as their affair of revenges turns into an affair of the heart, the past rears its ugly head to take matters into its own hands…

Warning: This book contains scenes of erotic seduction, sexual revenge and the healing power of love.