Filling in for the wonderful J. Hali Steele...and It's Release Day!

Hi everyone! My name is Teirney, and I'm filling in for the wonderful J. Hali Steele this Friday morning. She graciously gave me her spot today as it is my big release day of Axel's Obsession, the second book in my Alpha Team series. So, I know, I'm late to my own party, but I have good reason. I'm sleep training my eight-month-old and it's not going over well. We didn't get to sleep until one a.m.-- Oh the long nights of teaching him to sleep in his crib.

Alright, now, to the fun stuff.

Let me tell you a little about the series first. Axel's Obsession is the second book, which means there was a first. Ivory's Addiction released in August of 09, following Ivory Black and Jax Morgan as they worked their way through a torrid love affair and dark mystery surrounding Ashley, Jax's biological niece.

When I started Axel's Obsession, I tried desperately to get him to follow in the footsteps of Jax and Ivory, but to my complete surprise, he decided he wanted to go home to Mississippi and dredge up the truth about a 200-year-old-curse! The obsession begins when he meets Jolene Victor, a Romani woman employed by his late grandmother and a temptress he can't stop thinking about. Here's the blurb:


Jolene Victor has lived her entire life haunted by the curse on her family. It has been foretold to bed a man will result in an obsession that can only end with her death. And she’s survived it—until now.

Enter Axel Danvers, a man plagued by his own past and guilt, returns home to claim Danvers Island as his own. One encounter with the mysterious Jolene draws Axel into the storm that’s been brewing for years. Someone else is watching, and he’s hungry for revenge. Can Axel put the past behind him? Can Jolene survive Axel’s obsession?


And to wet your appetite just a little more and maybe start you thinking about how these two ended up here, an excerpt:

Not wanting to hear anything else but Axel’s wife, Jolene pulled out her cards, shuffled the deck restlessly. “I’m tempted to look.”

“You know not to.”

True. She could read another’s fate, but not her own or that of her family members. It was tradition. With each new day and the different choices people made, their fates changed.

The last of her tea gone, she stood up, stretched. “I’m going to go for a walk. Think for a while.”

Her Grand Mama’s assent was buried in the kitchen cabin, a muffle Jolene barely heard. Outside, the familiar sounds of the island surrounded her. She wouldn’t go far, just enough to clear her head. Intrigue sat on her shoulders like a crouching tiger.

Lost in thought, a shift in trees made her snap around. Immediately she went into the fighter’s stance Axel taught her, but Jolene blocked her face with her fists and lowered her center of gravity.

“Good job. Quick reaction,” he said, his voice hard.

Axel. “Shit, you scared the hell out of me.”

“What are you doing out here at night by yourself?”

The cabin still in sight, she didn’t see how it could be so wrong. The anger that flowed from him beat at her with its strong fists. Instinctively, she backed away from him. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice thick with a mixture of happiness and sadness at the same time. He looked so beautiful, standing in the half-light of her front porch. “What are you doing here?”

His sweat pants and jogging shoes belied his easy, alert posture. The squared shoulders, tilt of his jaw as he scanned the area. “I wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

Jolene didn’t know how to deal with the tension between them. It felt so foreign, so wrong, to be angry with him. Or have him be angry with her. There seemed to be an invisible wall, and neither one of them could cross it.

“As you can see, I’m fine.” Her body ached for his. “I’ll make sure I’m up early tomorrow.”

Not able to withstand his cold shoulder anymore, Jolene ran her hands back through her loose curls. “How do we get past this?”

His bare chest captured her attention for the smallest of seconds, but long enough to make her want. She wished she’d never found that diary, but then again, it was coming all along. She just thought she’d have more time with him.

“I don’t know. You kept something important from me, and I can’t trust you. At least, not with . . .”

“Your heart?”

The strangled cry that left her throat sounded like someone else’s. She couldn’t fathom it came from her. Strong in her own right, Jolene never begged. It wasn’t a part of her makeup, and yet, he made her want to.

The shuttered look that fell of his granite face made Jolene shrivel up. He paced a few turns, faced the direction of his home. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

The distance between them growing with each step he took, Jolene couldn’t find the words to call him back. What would she say? Love me? Or would she just throw herself at him, give her body to him shamelessly as she did the other times? She deserved more than just a good fuck. And a bodyguard.

“Good night, Axel,” she whispered. Her words were carried to him on a soft wind tainted with jasmine.


Okay, I know it's not what you expected from an erotic romance novel, but, I have reason! I swear! When they asked for me to pick an excerpt that displayed the love growing between the characters but not give away my plot, I had a hard time. One, I kept seeing the key plot points pop up in every viable choice and when it came to the loves scenes, well, even though I wrote them and I love them, Axel has a dirty mouth, and I couldn't very well with good conscious put all those dirty words up.

So, with that. Let's get this contest started. I'll be here all day, so if you have any questions you want answered or just wanna say hello, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. All you have to do is comment to be entered in the contest, but please leave your email. Tomorrow morning, I'll will draw the winners name out of my proverbial hat.

The prize is a free PDF copy of Ivory's Addiction! If you have already read Ivory's Addiction, then I'll get with the winner offline over email to discuss what other options I could present you with as I know this book released well over a year ago.

Am I forgetting anything? Oh, yeah, let's celebrate!