What is Love? – Jess Michaels

Her mother’s madness and her father’s and brother’s irresponsibility have relegated Lady Portia to the life of a wallflower. The only shining light in her life is her best friend, Ava, who is suffering a rift with her own brother.

Portia’s quest to help takes her to the notorious Donville Masquerade in the hells, where—behind the safety of a mask—she witnesses shocking public acts of sin. And succumbs to the touch of Marquis Miles Weatherfield.

Unfortunately, they’re discovered. And now, tainted by scandal, she and Miles are destined for a marriage neither of them want. But Portia makes a bargain that raises even Miles’s eyebrows.

In return for saving her mother from the asylum, Portia will do anything Miles wants in bed. Shocked by his driving desire for Portia, Miles agrees. As they explore every wicked desire, every forbidden act that pleases them, they discover something that goes far deeper than flesh. But the lies that brought them together could be the very wedge that drives them apart.

Warning: This book contains wicked encounters, erotic voyeurism, lies, a brief threesome, and unexpected kindnesses.

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Hi everyone and a big thanks to Fatin/Mad for allowing me to come be a part of the Romance Reader at Heart Novel Thoughts Blog! It’s been about a year since the last time I stopped by here, so it’s nice to be back, especially since my visit today coincides with the release next Tuesday (November 19) of my next erotic historical romance, Pleasuring the Lady.

As a romance writer, I tend to think a lot about love. After all, it’s kind of the main part of my books. Because I write very sexy books, it’s really important that I also make sure I’m showing the characters falling in love, not just lust. So how do we ‘know’ love when we see it? What makes us love in the first place, the kind of love that will stand the test of time?

Back in the late 80s, the creators of Sesame Street decided that two of the main adult characters should get married. Luiz and Maria had, until this time, just been friends and obviously the idea of romantic love was a delicate topic to address with their target audience. The story goes that they asked kids how they would know that two people, two grown-ups, were in love and the answers were… well, kind of amazing.

They said they’d maybe save an animal together, fix something together, basically they thought if they saw Luiz and Maria doing things together, talking together, building a relationship… that would mean they were in love.

Smart kids.

The fact is that doing things together, sharing experiences and feelings on those experiences, is most definitely one of the ways we fall in love with each other. I know my husband of nearly 17 years and I often play, “remember when we” games and it definitely gives me butterflies about him (also he’s cute and a good kisser, which doesn’t hurt).

So when I begin to build a romantic relationship in any of my books, I guess in a way I go back to that idea of the shared experience bonding the hero and heroine. This is very much true in Pleasuring the Lady. My hero and heroine, Miles and Portia, are forced, fairly quickly, into a marriage. They’re sexually attracted to each other, but they have a great many issues that keep them from feeling like love will ever be in the cards.

But Miles wants insecure Portia to feel special after years in wallflower hell. And Portia feels saved by him and wants to provide something to thank him for that. They don’t realize it, but these are their acts of love. And between the hot sexiness, their talks and stolen moments are also the quiet path to a realization that their marriage could very well be real, could be amazing, could be worth fighting for, even if they started out fighting against it.

What are your favorite “acts of love” in a romance?

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For an excerpt and preorder links, visit www.authorjessmichaels.com. And for a chance to win a digital copy of Pleasuring the Lady, just leave a comment below. Good luck!