Evan can't help but notice the exotically beautiful May. But despite his success, the dirty secrets of his past whisper that he'll never be good enough for her. When Evan sees her standing in his club ready to submit to his best friend, he gives in to the thing he wants most -- May as his sub. After their session, he knows one night will neever be enough. But loving May isn't easy for a man always ready to take charge. She might like to submit in the bedroom, but she doesn't like anyone telling her what to do outside of it.
When May insists she's not in any danger from the person seemingly obsessed with her, she ends up in the sights of a deranged stalker—with Evan possibly too far away to help. Warning: This book contains sexy Hawaiian settings, crazy relatives, and a submission scene that leaves the heroine breathless and the hero frustrated. There are toys, bondage, and love scenes so hot, you'll need ice water and a towel. Remember, it's a Harmless story, so you know there's nothing harmless about it.
Read an excerpt from A Little Harmless Obsession
Visit Melissa Schroeder's web site
About Melissa Schroeder
Born to an Air Force family at an Army hospital, Melissa has always been a little bit screwy. She was further warped by her years of watching Monty Python and her strange family. Her love of romance novels developed after accidentally picking up a Linda Howard book. After becoming hooked, she read close to 300 novels in one year, deciding that romance was her true calling instead of the literary short stories and suspenses she had been writing. After many attempts, she realized that romantic comedy, or at least romance with a comedic edge, was where she was destined to be. Influences in her writing come from Nora Roberts, Jenny Cruise, Susan Andersen, Amanda Quick, Jayne Anne Krentz, Julia Quinn, Christina Dodd, and Lori Foster. Since her first release in 2004, Melissa has had close to 30 short stories, novellas and novels released with seven different publishers in a variety of genres and time periods. Those releases included, The Hired Hand, a 2005 Eppie Finalist for Contemporary Romance and Tempting Prudence, a 2005 CAPA finalist for short erotic romance. Her contemporary, A Little Harmless Sex became an international best seller in June of 2005.
Since she was a military brat, she vowed never to marry military. Alas, fate always has her waywith mortals. Her husband is an Air Force major, and together they have their own military brats, two girls, and they live wherever the military sticks them. Which she is sure, will always involve heat and bugs only seen on the Animal Discovery Channel.In her spare time, she reads, complains about bugs, travels, cooks, reads some more, watches her DVD collections of Arrested Development and Seinfeld, and tries to convince her family that she truly is a delicate genius. She has yet to achieve her last goal.
You can learn more about her crazy life and all her books at Melissaschroeder.net.
Backlist
A Little Harmless Sex
A Little Harmless Pleasure
Grace Under Pressure
The Accidental Countess
Lessons in Seduction
The Seduction of Widow McEwan
The Hired Hand
Hands On Training
A Calculated Seduction
A Torrid Celebration
Telepathic Cravings
Seducing the Saint
Hunting Mila
Turning Paige
Operation Love
Cancer Anthology
Conquering India
A note from Melissa...
I am holding a Harmless September Contest on my Facebook Fan Page. From Sept 14-21, I will have daily prizes, excerpts and all kinds of harmless fun for everyone. New and current members will be eligible, and current members who get people to join my page will also get extra entries.
An Interview with Melissa Schroeder
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Melissa, thank you for talking with us at TRS BLUE! Please tell us about your featured book, A Little Harmless Obsession.MS: Holly, thanks for having me. A Little Harmless Obsession is the third book of the Harmless series. Readers have been waiting for Evan's story for several years. I get more emails about May and Evan than any of my other couples. May has been in love with Evan for years, but has tried to move on. But when her dip in the BDSM world ends up with Evan being her Dom, they both get more than the bargained for.
HH: May gives up her infatuation with Evan only to put herself in the position (no pun intended) to steal his heart. Only he's got issues. Where did you get the idea for this emotionally engaging story? MS: I am, and will always be, a character driven writer. When I first met Evan, he came off as such a jerk. I knew there had to be a reason. Chris, my hero from A Little Harmless Pleasure, was friends with him. So, when I spent some time with him, I discovered where his warped view of women came from. When your mother is horrible, and this woman was horrible beyond what most of us could take as adults, it is going to mess with your core beliefs. Evan believes there are two sets of women. Good and bad, and there is no gray area. May was perfect for him, because she really blurred that line he thought existed.
HH: What do you like best about May and how do you think readers will relate to her? MS: She's a modern woman. Strong, hard working, she has been running her family of men (father, grandfather and two brothers) since her mother died. She is young for her job as manager of a restaurant in Honolulu, but she thrives on it. Still, when she tries to keep it all together, but she let's her personal needs to fall to the wayside. Women tend to always put their needs last. Still, she believes in happily ever after, believes that there is at least one someone for every person out there.
HH: This is part of your very popular Harmless series of books. Will there be more? How did it start? MS: Yes, there will be more. I am about to turn in A Little Harmless Lie, which will be number four. Then, I have one more contracted, A Little Harmless Addiction. I do have plans for many more, at least three or four at the moment. And hopefully Samhain will want them:) At some point, I really want to do a menage, but I have yet to find the three people for that.
It all started with a title, A Little Harmless Sex, and a character...Anna. Anna says exactly what she wants, does what she wants, seems so strong. So, right off the bat I knew there was something there to discover. And, thanks to my editor at the time at Loose Id(the orginal publisher) Linda Kusiolek, it was published.
HH: What else do you have in store for lucky readers? MS: After a bit of a dry spell, I have a TON Of releases coming out. Along with my Harmless books, I have the third book in my historical series, Once Upon an Accident, The Spy Who Loved Her. I also have a futuristic, The Last Detail, coming from Samhain in late 2011 and an anthology with my friend Kally Jo Surbeck, Purgatory. From Siren Publishing I have Delilah's Downfall, Texas Temptations 2, and a holiday series entitled, Hawaiian Holidays. That will include Mele Kalikimaka, Baby, Sex on the Beach and hopefuly a Valentine's story. I am also working on a Victorian paranormal although I have no publisher yet.
HH: With the growing popularity of ebooks readers like Nook and Kindle, what do you see in the future for ebooks? MS: Growth! It is funny because I was told in 2004-2005, when I first got published, that ebooks would never be viable. For more than 10 years, the publishing industry has been stagnant. Harry Potter, Twilight, Left Behind, these series were the only real spikes that stood out. But, with ereader prices plummeting and the younger generation coming into buying power, I really believe we are at the beginning of an explosion. I have a 15 year-old, so I do understand the generation, the Twilight and Potter readers. They are voracious readers. They are our next generation of consumers and they want everything RIGHT NOW. I don't think that ebooks will replace the print books. They will hang around. But it is a 500 year old technology. And, the way that publishers have run, where massive amounts of unsold books are thrown into landfills, is wasteful. This is just the begining of it and I am excited to see what is around the corner.
HH: As an author, has ebook piracy had an impact on you?
MS: It hurts. Financially. Yeah, sure, there are a few people who would not buy my books, but I write books to make a living. I love what I do, but I do it and live off my paychecks. I have heard from more than one person that I shouldn't complain, that they aren't truly stealing money from me. But the truth is, they are. If someone showed up at your job and started taking a dollar out of each hour's wages, I have a feeling you would complain. But, because I am a writer, I am supposed to just take it.
I will say that bigger publishers could have done something about this before it got out of control. But, NY wasn't interested. They weren't making any money at the time, so they let it go. NOW, they are worried. Really hard to stop it now, although I think we need some stricter laws and better enforcement.
HH: What made you want to become an author in the first place?
MS: I think it was when I read To Kill a Mockingbird in the 8th grade. Harper Lee was so wonderful and paiting the picture of that story, of delving into the characters, and I wanted to do that. In college, I finally got the nerve and signed up for creative writing with Poet Laurete James Hoggard. I was horrible, because it was poetry, but when I tried short story, I realized that is what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, it took me another 8 years to find romance because I accidently picked up Linda Howard's All the Queen's Men.
HH: What is your happiest moment as an author to this point? MS: That is really hard. I have had some wonderful times as an author, especially since I have been blessed with the best readers. I think the highest praise I ever got was when a reader told me she read one of my books and it made her want to be a writer.
HH: Any big plans for the fall? MS: Writing, writing, writing. Plus, I am a band parent, so that takes a bit of my time. We are planning a few family trips, including Disney World. My husband has been notified he will probably be going to Iraq for a 365 in May, so we have decided to spend a lot of family time together before he leaves.
HH: Thank you!
top
|
