Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome 1st time guest Melissa Stevens to the blog.

Melissa, can you please share with us a little about yourself

Hmm, I assume you don’t want the standard bio? Let’s see…

I was born and raised in a tiny town in southeastern Arizona. I married young and I now have 3 not so small children (they’re all in school now.) I spend most of the day while they’re at school, and a lot of the evenings too working on my writing.

I’m a part of a local writing group, and I do a lot of things for them. My pet ‘cause’ is American Soldiers

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Not really, I’ve always been creative but I never settled on any one thing I wanted to do. When I was about 15 my best friend’s dream was to be just like Garth Brooks. He had jobs lined out for everyone in his family, as well as me. I didn’t like what he chose for me, so I told him I’d just wait and write the tell all book and earn my money that way. He didn’t end up famous, (though he still plays in the same band he was in then) but I ended up writing, most of the time it’s all fiction, though now and then I’ll write something true to life.

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?

Typical day… I get up at 5:45 and get the kids off to school and Hubster off to work. While doing that I do all my ‘playing’ online. Facebook, etc. at 8, once everyone’s gone, I get serious. What exactly that means depends on what stage I’m at. Sometimes it’s solid writing, sometimes It’s reading and revising. Once in a while it’s working on formatting. I work until it’s time to pick up the kids from school, stopping now and then to answer emails or respond to something on my Facebook page. Then depending on the scheduled evening activity, I often keep working through sports practice as well. Once the kids are in bed, if Hubster is home (he sometimes has to work nights or is away from home) we watch TV and relax a little, if he’s not home, I work until I’m tired enough to sleep.

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

I love the rush of finishing something, I also love the rush when someone, especially a family member tells me they really loved something I wrote. The most challenging part is working through issues I didn’t realize I had, until it was time for the character to deal with them.

Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?

My latest is Robin’s Nest. It’s a stand-alone erotic romance, as in, it’s not part of either of my series, and I have no plans to make it a series of its own.

It’s the tale of Samantha, who goes by Sam, everything’s moving along fine in her life until she’s in a car accident that puts her in a coma for a week. Her best friend, Robin, never left her side. Soon after she awakens to find him there, she realizes that her feelings for him are more than friendship, but is she willing to risk what they already have for something more?

How did you come with the idea for this story?

Honestly? I don’t remember. I wrote this one about four years ago, it was my first novel length story and I wrote it in under 30 days. I’ve revised and rewritten it so many times. I honestly don’t remember what gave me the idea to begin with.

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

Currently I’m working on the first full length book in my White Mountain Chanat series. I started it with an erotic short story, Escape, and I’d planned for this one (still untitled) to be longer but along the same lines. My characters had other plans, they’ve informed me that while it will be steamy, it’s gonna take a while to get there, neither of them is willing to fall into bed and let the story play out amongst the sex.

Who are some of your favorite authors? 

There are a lot of them, Dean Koontz, Laurell K. Hamilton, Lora Leigh, Jennifer Ashley are the ones that lead the list.

Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style? 

Of course. I love the sudden twists and turns that Koontz has always had, I always tried to figure it out before he told me. I love the strong, kick ass Anita Blake from Hamilton, I wanna be Anita when I grow up, if only so I can keep Nathaniel. Lora Leigh has some of the hottest erotica I’ve ever read, and that’s saying something. I love Ashley’s relatable characters. Most of them seem like anyone you might meet next door (except for the fact they’re shifters.)

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

Nauti Enchantress by Lora Leigh will be out in a couple of months, I’m eager for that one.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Don’t forget to check out my website and all of my books, Robin’s Nest is just my latest.

After a car accident puts her in a coma, Samantha awakens to find her best friend, Robin, never left her side.  While she recovers, Sam realizes there’s more between them than just friendship, but she’s afraid. What if it doesn’t work out between them, and it ruins their friendship.

Sam’s brush with death gives her a renewed understanding of how short life really is. Deciding the possible benefits are worth the risk, she faces the challenges from her over-protective family head on and leaps into life with both feet. When more challenges come their way, can Sam and Robin handle them together?

Excerpt:

As I drew closer, I saw Robin push himself off the side of the truck and stand to his full height of 6’1″. He opened his pickup door and reached for something inside. I pulled the Jeep off the highway, and watched as he locked and closed the door then crossed the highway and rounded the Jeep to the passenger side. Robin isn’t a particularly large guy. Yeah, he’s tall, but he’s lean, like the basketball player he’d been in high school. I leaned across the seat and lifted the lock on the door to let him in.

“So, what’s the problem this time?” I asked as he climbed inside and closed the door.

“Damned rotor again,” he replied, tossing his baseball cap with his keys inside onto the dash. He ran his hand through his shaggy blond hair. It stayed back for maybe three seconds before falling on either side of his face again, framing his deep green eyes.

I waited while he buckled his seatbelt, then checked for cars before pulling back onto the highway. Only going far enough to make a U-turn without hitting his truck, before heading back into town.

“I thought you kept an extra one in the glove box for when this happens?” I asked.

“I do, but I used my last one a couple of months ago and I forgot to get more on my next trip to Safford, then I just spaced it.” He ran his hand through his hair again, only to have it fall right back where it started. “Of course, it was about time for Murphy’s Law to smack me upside the head again, so here we are.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you about ready to give up on that antique or are you gonna buy another case of rotors for it?” Ribbing Robin about his stubbornly keeping the old pickup, despite its oddities, was an old habit between the two of us. Though we dig at each other and bicker once in a while, I don’t think we’ve had more than two or three real fights in our entire friendship.

“So it eats rotors. So what? They’re cheap. The frame, body, and motor are all in good condition. Why junk a good machine for one small, and relatively inexpensive, inconvenience?” He easily fell right back into the old game.

“It’s broken down, and left you stranded along the side of the road, how many times now?”

“A few,” he admitted, “but I can usually repair the problem in less than fifteen minutes and be back on my way. It’s my own fault I ended up stranded tonight. Besides, if you’d been busy I would have found someone else, or eventually, someone would have come along and given me a ride into town.”

He’s right, someone would have come along. It was barely eight o’clock, and not quite dark yet. However, this wasn’t the most used road out of town and he might have had to wait a couple of hours before someone came along.

“What were you doing out here?” I glanced at him before looking back at the road.

“I was on my way back from a meeting in Lordsburg.”

“That sounds fun.” My tone was dry. I didn’t know what the meeting was for, but if had been something he had enjoyed, he would have shared more about it.

“Any leads on a new job?”

“Not yet.” I shrugged. “I’ll find something, I’m sure. The question is, how long until I do?”

“If you need something to make ends meet, I can put you to work. It’s long hours and muddy as hell, but it’s work.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks. I’ve got a while before I have to worry, though. I have a good chunk in savings and since I don’t have a house payment or rent, it will go a lot farther.”

“That’s true.”

I reminded him that I’d pick him up at eight the next morning as I dropped him off in his driveway. I waited until he made it to the door before turning around and heading home.

Pulling out onto the highway my mind raced ahead. My thoughts were already back at the house. It was only eight thirty, I still had plenty of the evening left. I could settle back onto the sofa, but the thought of a hot bath was even more enticing.

Suddenly, I was drawn back to what I was doing by bright lights directed at my face. I shook my head and barely had time to register the vehicle that was supposed to be in the left lane, it was in mine instead. I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t avoid it. The last thought that went through my mind was “How badly is this gonna hurt?” then everything went black.