Shifting Gears Out Today (Plus Contest!)

HOOORAY!!!  It’s the best day to be an author, the day your book is released into the world.  Today, Shifting Gears is out from Ellora’s Cave.  This book is related to Driven, my other release from the Cougar Challenge series.  I loved Mark so much after giving him a cameo in Driven that I knew he had to have his own story. The emails that flooded in from people asking what happens to him thrilled me.

So…  Some of you know that I base a lot of my books on places I travel to and this one is no exception.  It’s set in China, both Hong Kong and Guangzhou (mainland China).  I’ve sprinkled a few of my pics through the excerpt.  If you click them you can see larger versions.  All of them are things you’ll read about in the book, a mention here or there.  Here’s a sneak peak.

BLURB:  A standalone book in the Cougar Challenge series, this book picks up the story of Mark Rossi (introduced in Driven).  Books in the Cougar Challenge series do not have to be read in order to be enjoyed.

Mark envies his friend Sebastian and the Cougar who tamed him. For years he’s had his eye on a sexy, older, married woman. Despite his and Bastian’s sexual adventures, he refuses to poach outside his steamy fantasies.

Sloan travels with the race car drivers as the league’s publicist. Living abroad can be lonely, especially when touring somewhere like China—where beautiful landscapes surround them but language and cultural barriers are high. Until she meets Lynn, who shares her love of erotic romances. In Lynn, she gains more than a friend because sexy-as-sin navigator Mark is never far from the Cougar and her fiancé, making Sloan wonder if it’s time rejoin the dating scene after a nasty divorce.

When Lynn notices the chemistry between Mark and Sloan, she issues the Cougar Challenge. Sloan never imagined she might grant her younger lover the strength to explore the sexual tension that has been building between him and his friend since their Cougars entered their lives.

Four friends, two couples, one night none of them will forget.

Reader Advisory: Novel contains a f/m/m/f ménage.

EXCERPT:

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.

An Excerpt From: SHIFTING GEARS

Copyright © JAYNE RYLON, 2010

All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

Chapter One

“Oh my God!”

The woman on the corrugated aluminum bleacher several rows in front of Sloan turned with wide eyes when Sloan shouted. She caught Sloan’s stare on the sexy cover of her erotic romance novel and flipped it closed—cover side down—discretely.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” Sloan smiled. “I know how it is when you’re lost in a good book. And that book is fan-fucking-tastic! I love Mari Carr. Her stories are smoking hot. Especially the ménages. Yum.”

The woman grinned and nodded. “I’ve read almost all of hers. My reading group back in the US mailed me this one. It arrived last night and I’m halfway done already. I tried to ration it out—a chapter a day—but it’s impossible.”

“Thank God for ebook readers, huh? I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have access to all the new releases from this side of the globe.” Sloan stepped into the stands then picked her way down the incline, closer to the woman, careful not to slip in her three-inch heels.

At least she’d worn jeans to the race site today instead of her usual skirted suit. “I hear that. It can get lonely being a foreigner in a country where you don’t speak the language. Especially one as difficult to pick up as Mandarin or Cantonese. Reading keeps me from getting too homesick, though it leads to other… complications.”

When the woman laughed, her entire face brightened. Around Sloan’s age, close to forty, she seemed carefree and infectiously happy. “I know what you mean. Or, at least I used to. Now I have a young stud to keep me occupied when I get revved up. I’m engaged to Sebastian Fiori. The driver for—”

“Oh! Don’t worry, I know who he is. Sexy as sin and a four-time world champion rally car racer to boot. So you must be Lynn Madison, you bitch.”

The humongous diamond flashing on the woman’s finger had confirmed Sloan’s suspicions.

Talk of Bastian and the alluring cougar who’d tamed him had run rampant this season. Scores of young sex goddesses mourned their loss. Many had tried for years to snag him or his luscious navigator Mark Rossi, but none had succeeded in tempting either guy into more than a one-night stand.

Until Sebastian fell head over heels in love on first sight last season. Everyone agreed he’d never performed better. Lynn must be good for the man.

What was good for the driver was good for the sport.

And that was good for Sloan.

“It’s true.” Lynn sighed and her eyes took on a faraway look. “I’m the luckiest woman alive.”

“I’m Sloan Desai, by the way.” She held out her hand, but Lynn hugged her instead of shaking it.

“Sorry, but after two minutes I feel like I’ve known you forever. Have a seat.” Lynn gestured with the spine of her novel toward the racetrack, which snaked past the base of the stadium they sat in. “You know, Bastian’s mentioned you before. I think we might’ve even talked on the phone once when you scheduled some of his interviews. You’re the publicist for the league, right?”

“Yep. That’s me.” Sloan winked. “In charge of keeping the boys out of trouble with the media, managing their images and bringing fans in by the truckload.”

“Seems like you’re doing a great job. I heard the first couple days of the exhibition are sold out.”

“They are. Thanks.”

“So how do you like China so far?”

The event would take place in Guangdong province, about a half-hour outside Guangzhou, in a few weeks—a great chance for the teams to tune up or experiment in the off-season. The crews had arrived early to acclimate, which meant Sloan had to be on-site to defuse any…situations…that could cause trouble with the local hosts.

Full of testosterone and daring, the guys in the league sometimes crossed the line.

“I haven’t been able to do much sightseeing. I have to stick fairly close-by.” Sloan shrugged.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Lynn grimaced. “The teams do tend to get rowdy on occasion. Maybe you can take a day trip or two with me. I write travel guides for a living, so I like to check out as much as I can in the areas we visit. Sebastian gets nervous when I’m out on my own though. Especially in locations a little more exotic.”

“You don’t seem like the kind of woman to sit around and wait for a man simply to ease his mind. A woman after my own heart, by the way.”

“You’re right, I’m no shrinking violet.” Lynn grinned. “But I worry that if he’s worried, he’ll be distracted. The sport is dangerous enough as it is. Plus, I miss him if I stray too far.”

“I hope `him’ is me.” A deep growl sounded from behind their spot on the bench. Sitting side by side, neither woman had heard the soft soles of Sebastian’s racing sneakers on the concrete as he approached. “Or I’ll have to kick some ass and those days are supposed to be behind me.”

“Old man.”

Sloan swallowed hard at the jibe from the other guy who strode toward them—Mark Rossi. It was either that or moan aloud at his spectacular build. Thick muscles filled out his racing jumpsuit to perfection. She wished she’d seen him going instead of coming so she could check out his killer ass, but the bulge at his crotch and the humor in his warm eyes made for scrumptious consolation prizes.

She’d spied him from across the room at events she’d arranged, but usually she had a job to do while in attendance. Of course she’d found herself staring at promo shots of him on more occasions than she cared to admit, but never before had she been able to take her time and study his legendary features in person—bold cheekbones, olive skin and glossy, sandy hair.

And, shit, now she was staring.

Maybe her imagination played tricks on her, but it seemed as if he might be gawking in return.

CONTEST:  To be entered please leave an answer to the question below on the IH blog at http://internationalheat.wordpress.com where I’ve been blogging all week.  Visit all five pages from this week for more changes to win.

Both Driven and Shifting Gears feature rally race car drivers.  If there were a theme song for them, what would it be?

Remember, all five Ad-Lib contests are open until I wake up and figure out the winners sometime around 10AM on Saturday morning 😉  Feel free to add your entries to all of them up until then.  Happy Reading!

Shifting Gears, on sale here.

Jayne
www.jaynerylon.com

Fun stuff – Conests and a cover!

Star of ChristmasHappy Wednesday.  For the downhill slide to the weekend–oh, and release day (Shifting Gears, sequel to Driven, comes out on Friday!)–I have been playing naughty ad-libs over at the International Heat blog.  Stop by to win some awesome prizes.  All daily contests will be open until Saturday morning.  In addition, I’m part of a free eReader giveaway.  Please see www.samhellion.com for details!

But, my favorite fun for today has to be the new cover for Star of Christmas, which is the featured book of today’s ad-lib contest on the IH blog.  Check it out.  Ohhhh ahhh.

Morgan’s Surprise – New Cover! MMmmm

MorgansSurprise72LGAngie Waters is a cover Goddess.  Not only did she create the masterpiece gracing the front of Kate’s Crew (Powertools Book 1) but she’s also upped the game again with the cover to the next book in the series, Morgan’s Surprise.  I love that she found the same man for Joe!  Morgan’s Surprise (Powertools Book 2) will hit digital shelves on 1/25/11 followed by Kayla’s Gift (Powertools Book 3) sometime in May of 2011.  The final book in the series, Devon’s Pair will follow sometime after that. 🙂  I can’t wait to see what other fabulous artwork goes along with the stories.  Hope you enjoy both!

For a tasty birthday treat, add four men and stir.

Note to self: When confessing a crush on an ultra-hot construction worker to your best friend, make sure he’s not standing right behind you.

If Morgan thought spilling the beans on her lust for Joe would scare him off, she couldn’t have been more wrong. Following her birthday wish gone awry, the hunk is treating her to one surprise after another. From little things that make her smile to lavish, romantic dates, Joe is turning out to be the stuff of dreams

Joe’s attentions to the sexy pastry shop owner begin as lighthearted fun. Until he finds out about the past that, until now, has made her keep him at arm’s length. Determined to show her seeking pleasure is no crime, he sets out to fulfill her steamiest fantasies—with a little help from three of his best friends.

After a four-course birthday adventure, which presents Morgan as the sweetest imaginable dessert, she expects Joe to walk away. But now that Joe’s brought Morgan out of her shell, he’s hungry for something he never expected to crave—a forever kind of love.

Jayne
www.jaynerylon.com

Just read an AWESOME book (A contest too!)

Okay, so it’s no shocker that I adore Mari Carr.  In addition to being an awesome friend and a fantastic collaborator, she happens to be the author of some of my favorite books.  But, I have a dirty little secret which I shared with her last week.

Picture this…

Mari and I are roomies at Romanticon (she must be a little nuts since we roomed together at Lora Leigh’s RAW last month and she still came back for more).  It’s probably close to 2am and we’ve laughed our asses off, danced the night away and had a blast chatting with other authors and, of course, readers.  We finally make our way back to our room and Mari’s ahem a teensy bit wasted.  We’re crashed in our separate beds with the lights off, about to fall asleep, and we start talking about books.  Mari tells me she’s read every word I’ve ever written. It’s like the “I love you” moment.  You know, when one person drops the L-bomb and the other person chokes.

OKAY.  I admit it!  I’ve been busy lately and Mari writes about 1029340293840293841-02234819 books a year. Shameful.  I’m a horrible friend.  I’m behind on my finished product Mari Carr reading (informal critiques we post at our author group, International Heat, don’t count).

Now that conference season is over and my busy time has passed at my day job, I set out to rectify my gaff.  I bought a print copy of Sugar and Spice, Everything Nice at Romanticon (thanks for the well thought out signing Mari– she wrote “OMG” for the second time in one of the books I’ve bought from her.  sigh).  I woke up this morning intending to read one stinking chapter before doing chores.  What happened?  Damn straight, I opened the book and couldn’t put the @!$#ing thing down.

No joke, I’m not just saying this because anyone and their brother including Ms. Carr, the smartypants herself, can read this.  Though let’s face it, I hope you’re cracking up by now Maribear…  I LOVED Sugar and Spice.  We all know I have a sweet tooth so I adored Ryan Travers from word one.  But, honestly, it’s my favorite Mari Carr book so far and the best read I’ve had this year.  I can recommend the book without reservation.  Hell, it even helped me organize my house because I promised myself I’d let myself read the second novella in the book, Everything Nice, tonight if the daunting mission were accomplished.

Before I run away to snuggle up with my ridiculously signed copy of Sugar and Spice, Everything Nice I should also tell you I’m part of a contest through www.samhellion.com which you can win free ebooks from this week.  Check it out here:  http://samhellions.wordpress.com/

If you haven’t read Sugar and Spice, Everything Nice yet.  What are you waiting for???

Jayne
www.jaynerylon.com

Fantastic Review!

Through My Window by Jayne RylonI saw this amazing review by MA from Loving Venus Loving Mars for my latest release, Through My Window.  Check out the entire review at their site, but here are a few of my favorite snippets:

Rylon imbued her protagonist with remarkable depth and complexity.

This author’s writing is superlative and convincing with exquisite, well-timed pacing.”

Above all, this is an erotic fantasy about a night in the life of a successful prostitute. Neither Star nor Rylon allow sensuous storytelling to minimize the coarser realities of the business. Rylon relies heavily upon setting to this effect and strikes an impressive balance. I never forgot Star was a prostitute, but somehow her actions never came across as sordid or degrading, nor did I feel sorry for her. Star flies above the crasser details of the skin trade and invites the reader to look beyond them into that world’s beauty.”

The story’s overall tone is so erotic, the actual sex in the book flows seamlessly through the plot without competing with narrative, something all great erotica does. The erotic scenes themselves are well-written and unique, varied to suit the moods and preferences of Star’s different customers. Through My Window is a definite keeper. It reads a little like how an accomplished prostitute should perform (I think.) It’s a well-written fantasy, both revealing and mysterious, pure escapist entertainment for a reasonable price.”

StarOfChristmasThis makes my day!  I suppose I should also say that Star of Christmas, the next in the ongoing series of Star’s adventures is undergoing edits at the moment.  It will be released sometime this winter from Ellora’s Cave.  You can grab a sneak peek at the blurb on the book’s page here. Be sure to check back for a release date soon.

Jayne
www.jaynerylon.com

Great day, great news!

Ahhh, if only all days were as great as today 🙂

1.  The official contract for Star of Christmas-next in a series of short stories about Star, a sex worker in Amsterdam, from Through My Window-arrived in my inbox today!  In it we’ll get a peek into Star’s developing relationship with Rick when she’s asked to fill in at the last moment as the lead in the naughty Christmas pageant at his club.  Fittingly, I believe the book will be out sometime around Christmas tentatively. So it looks like I’ll have a new book every single month between September and March.  Woohoo!

IMG_20101004_1221292.  Night is Darkest got a FABULOUS 4 star review in the November issue of RT Book Reviews magazine!  Here are a few of my favorite parts (you can read the entire review here):  “This irresistibly sexy, character-driven tale will delight.  The main storyline is dedicated to an unfolding menage relationship between two strong males and a sexy, feisty female.  The suspense subplot will keep readers guessing until the final pages.  Love scenes are hot and plentiful and feature m/m and m/m/f interaction.

Suzanne and Jayne3.  Marcia James made my day when she sent me this picture of us with THE Suzanne Brockmann at the COFW Write from the Heart conference this weekend.  I had a fantastic time, learned oodles and am super motivated to write!

4.  I hopped on over to B&N during lunch today and saw Night is Darkest shelved in the New Romance section facing out.  So pretty, I had to share 🙂

5. Last but so very not least… Mari Carr has a new book out today that I can’t wait to read!  It’s called Do Over from Carina Press and it looks smoking hot.  I can’t wait to finish edits so I can dig into this one!

Sometimes once is not enough…

After twenty-five years of marriage, Faith Wainwright wonders what she’ll do next. Her kids have moved out and sometimes she feels so distant from her husband, Troy.

Right before their anniversary, Troy gives Faith an unexpected gift: a journey through their hometown to reenact all their “firsts”. Their first date. Their first kiss. And especially the first time they made love—only better.

Each stop on their tour becomes an opportunity for Faith and Troy to rediscover how explosive their passion could be. Now Faith knows exactly what she’s going to do—Troy, over and over again….

What more could you ask for in one day???

Jayne
www.jaynerylon.com

4.5 Stars for Driven

DrivenI’m pleased to announce Driven received a 4.5 star review from Just Erotic Romance Reviews.  You can check out the entire review by joining their newsletter here.  Below are a couple highlights from what they had to say:

Title: Driven: Cougar Challenge
Author: Jayne Rylon
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Reviewer: T.S. Peters
Rating: 4.5 Stars

“Driven is a stand-alone installment of the Cougars Challenge series. Normally we rate book on a ehh to a grab your toys and have fun scale.  But Driven is a you’ll need those spare “just in case” panties read. ‘Cause this book is H-O-T!”

“I found myself lost in Sebastian’s sweet but over-the-top gestures and shivering just imagining his sexy accented voice whispering in my ear.  Although he was supposed to be this uber hot and famous guy, he was still very down-to-earth and somewhat humble.  This made it very easy to relate to him.  Lynn is the same way. Readers get the chance to see her grow emotionally and come to terms with her own needs.  Like most working women, she found herself living in a repressed box.  As I read, I could easily see myself as part of the Temp the Cougars group. Cheering her on to cut loose and then share all the nasty details. ”

” The multiple scenes, exciting sexual situations and range of emotions kept the pace racing.  Some readers might object to the ménage scenes which take up a good portion of the book.  But I think that anyone looking for an easy read that makes your heart pound will enjoy Ms. Ryon’s Driven.”

You can buy Driven directly from Ellora’s Cave at a discounted rate as well as at Amazon, B&N or other third party retailers for list price.

The sequel to Driven, Shifting Gears, centers around Mark Rossi but heavily features Sebastian and Lynn so if you are looking for more, check out Shifting Gears coming October 29th!

Jayne
www.jaynerylon.com