Wednesday Women: Holly & Leo by Jae

It's been a while, but this October will be filled with new Wednesday Women blogs! This week, we'll hear from Holly & Leo, the leading ladies of Jae's new novel Perfect Rhythm. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wednesday Women: Holly & Leo from Perfect Rhythm by Jae

I believe that my readers know and appreciate me for my slow-burn romances. My characters don’t usually jump into bed with each other on page 2. They take the time to get to know each other, find out unexpected things about each other that make them view the other in a different light, and really build a relationship that will last “happily ever after.”

Holly Drummond and Leontyne “Leo” Blake, the leading ladies in my newest book, Perfect Rhythm, aren’t any different. It’s certainly not love at first sight between them. When Leo returns home to spend time with her ailing father, she meets his nurse, Holly, who seems to represent everything Leo left behind when she left her tiny hometown in Missouri to become a pop star. And Leo at first seems like a spoiled celebrity to Holly.

As Holly and Leo get to know each other better, and they realize how wrong that first impression was. Between trips to the local bakery, late-night conversations up on the roof, and a date at the vet’s office, they slowly fall in love.

But Holly is a little different from my usual main characters in that she is asexual—she’s romantically drawn to women, but the sexual attraction isn’t there for her. She has nothing against sex; she just doesn’t desire it. That’s why she has stayed away from the minefield of expectations that usually comes with relationships—until she meets Leo.

Together, they discover that it’s possible to find the perfect rhythm—and a happy ending—between two very different people.

So, in the end, Perfect Rhythm isn’t so different after all. If you like my other romance novels, I think you’ll love Leo and Holly’s story.

Here’s a short excerpt:

Holly lay with her eyes open, listening to Leo’s breathing. If one of them turned around in her sleep during the night, they’d practically be on top of each other.

“Holly?” Leo’s voice broke the silence. The mattress shifted as she rolled over, onto her other side. “C-can I…?” Her hand tentatively brushed Holly’s shoulder blade.

Instead of answering, Holly rolled onto her back and opened her arms.

Leo cuddled up immediately, one arm wrapped around Holly’s middle. She fit her face into the curve of Holly’s neck. Her hair fanned out across Holly’s shoulder and tickled her skin.

“Your heart is pounding,” Leo whispered into the darkness. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Besides, this is about making sure you are okay.” She tried to make out Leo’s features in the pale moonlight. “Are you?”

When Leo sighed, her breath washed over Holly’s neck, making her heart beat even faster. “I will be.” She shifted a little closer still, nestled their bodies together, and carefully settled her leg across Holly’s thighs.

As different as they were—Leo tall and slim, Holly curvy and shorter—they fit against each other perfectly. It was a completely new and yet strangely familiar feeling.

Leo hummed against her neck. “God, Holly. You have no idea how good this feels.”

“It feels really good to me too.”

“It does?” Leo asked quietly.

Holly nodded. “Oh yeah.”

“Good. I don’t want this to be just about what I need.”

Wow. How could she have ever thought Leo was a spoiled, egocentric superstar? She slid her fingers into Leo’s slightly wavy hair and started to caress her scalp.

Leo let out a sound that resembled a purr. Her eyes fell closed, her lashes fluttering like the wings of a butterfly against Holly’s skin.

Holly tightened her hold. She wanted to hug this moment close forever. How could anyone think that anything could be more intimate than this?

If you’d like to read more, Perfect Rhythm is available here:

Amazon

Apple iTunes

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Ylva Publishing

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Bio:

Jae is the author of sixteen award-winning lesbian romances. She lives in the sunniest city of Germany, near the French and Swiss borders. The writing bug bit her at the age of eleven.

She used to work as a psychologist but gave up her day job in 2013 to become a full-time writer and a part-time editor. As far as she’s concerned, it’s the best job in the world.

When she’s not writing, she is an avid reader of lesbian books, indulges her ice cream and office supply addictions, and watches way too many crime shows.

Wednesday Women: Amy Hamilton by JAE

Here we are with JAE and her leading lady today! Not only you get to know Amy, but you also have the chance to enter the giveaway: Leave a comment to this entry, with your contact info, and you might be the lucky winner of an ebook of Hidden Truths or Backwards to Oregon. Sounds good? What are you waiting for?

Thanks JAE and Amy for being in the Wednesday Women spotlight today!

Next week, meet Andi Lea in this space!

 ~ ~ ~

This is an interview with Amy Hamilton from Hidden Truths, an award-winning historical fiction novel set in Boston and in Oregon in 1868.

Hidden Truths is a sequel to Backwards to Oregon. The revised and expanded edition of Hidden Truths will be published on or slightly before January 24.

Here’s the blurb:

“Luke” Hamilton has been living as a husband and father for the past seventeen years. No one but her wife, Nora, knows she is not the man she appears to be. They have raised their daughters to become honest and hard-working young women, but even with their loving foundation, Amy and Nattie are hiding their own secrets.

Just as Luke sets out on a dangerous trip to Fort Boise, a newcomer arrives on the ranch—Rika Aaldenberg, who traveled to Oregon as a mail-order bride, hiding that she’s not the woman in the letters.

When hidden truths are revealed, will their lives and their family fall apart or will love keep them together?

(Graphic provided by author)

Can you tell us a bit about what kind of childhood you had? Where did you grow up?

Amy Hamilton: I don’t remember much about my early childhood, but I now know that I lived in a brothel in Independence, Missouri, until I was three. That’s where my mama met my papa. Oh, that sounds bad. I want everyone to know that she was always a perfect gentleman.

Later, I went west with Mama and Papa, traveling the Oregon Trail, and I have lived on our horse ranch a few miles south of Portland ever since.

Wait—did you just say “she” when you talked about your father?

Um, yes, I did. Sometimes it’s still hard to get my head around it, but my papa was actually born a girl. But only our family and two close friends know that, so please keep it to yourself or we might all be in trouble.

So like your parents, you are a woman loving another woman. How did you first meet Hendrika?

I first met her when she came to Oregon to marry Phin, our foreman. He advertised for a mail-order bride in one of the fancy papers back east, and Rika answered his ad—or at least we thought so at the time.

What did you think about Rika when you first met her? Was it love at first sight?

Oh, Lord, no. I was more focused on a horse I had just rescued, so I didn’t pay her much attention. I thought she was rather plain-looking. Now I can’t believe I could ever think something like that. Rika has the sweetest smile and the most charming Dutch accent, and when she looks at me, I could lose myself in her dark eyes.

Has Rika ever told you what she thought about you when you first met?

I reckon she wasn’t very impressed with me either. On my way to the stage depot to pick up Rika, I came across a few men who tried to break a mare, so I set out to help the poor animal by gentling her. By the time the stagecoach arrived, my dress was mud-spattered and ripped up to mid-thigh, revealing my drawers, and my bonnet was hanging off to one side. My hair must have looked as if a flock of birds had tried to nest in it.

Sounds as if you lead an interesting life. What's the scariest situation you've been in?

That’s hard. Lately, there were so many scary situations. If I had to pick one, it would probably be the time when Rika and I had to save the foal from the flooding river. Or maybe when we headed into a burning barn. Oh, wait, now I know. The scariest moment in my life must have been when I went after Rika and stopped the stagecoach she was in to tell her that I like her as more than a friend.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

If you had asked me that a year or two ago, I would have said my unnatural feelings toward women. But I’ve come to believe that there’s nothing unnatural about loving a woman as wonderful as Rika. The only thing I’d love to change about myself is my height. I’d like to be taller, like Papa and my sister, Nattie.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us? Any secrets to share?

For the time being, I have enough of secrets being revealed, so if you want to find out more about me and my family, you’ll have to read the book, Hidden Truths.

Website: www.jae-fiction.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaeAuthor

Link to the book page: http://www.ylva-publishing.com/ylva-verlag-e.kfr.--hidden-truths.html