Montlake Press | July 14, 2015 | New Adult Romance
Bad Habit, book 1
★★★★
SOURCE: XPRESSO BOOK TOURS
Twentysomething Kat Reid is loving life as an in-demand Hollywood makeup artist. She has absolutely no interest in rock ’n’ roll, but in order to pay the mortgage, she agrees to work on the set of a rock video for the world-famous rockers known as Bad Habit…which brings her face-to-face with Nico Nyx, lead singer of Bad Habit and Adonis in the flesh.
However, the fiercely independent Kat isn’t impressed by the hard-living, womanizing rock star. But when Nico’s model girlfriend shows up to the set drunk and Kat is tapped to replace her as the video’s sexy bride, her combustible chemistry with Nico suddenly threatens to consume the set. Nico feels it, too—and becomes determined to win Kat over, body and soul. Yet behind his rock god swagger, Nico hides a dark secret. Can he rock Kat’s world forever, or will he just break her heart?
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{ about j.t. geissinger } .
J.T. Geissinger is an award-winning author of paranormal and contemporary romance featuring dark and twisted plots, kick-ass heroines, and alpha heroes whose hearts are even bigger than their muscles. An entrepreneur since she began hand-addressing envelopes for a local beauty pageant when she was 14, she has owned businesses as diverse as a temporary employment agency to a flower shop. It wasn't until hitting a significant birthday that she became motivated to realize her life-long dream of writing a novel.
Her debut novel, Shadow's Edge, was a #1 Amazon domestic and international bestseller, and won the Prism award for Best First Book. Her follow-up book, Edge of Oblivion, was a RITA© Award finalist for Best Paranormal Romance from the Romance Writers of America. Book 6 in the Night Prowler series, Into Darkness, won the Golden Quill award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy. Her work has also finaled in the Booksellers' Best, National Readers' Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.
Foodie, wine enthusiast, and nap connoisseur, she lives in California with her husband, on whom all her heroes are based.
To receive notification of new releases, contests, and giveaways, sign up for her newsletter at www.jtgeissinger.com
{ excerpt } .
“Can I ask you a serious question?”
He nodded.
I had to gather my courage for a second before I could ask him what was on my mind.
“Why me?”
I promise I wasn’t fishing for a compliment this time. I was just confused. This man could have any woman he wanted. Literally—any one. I thought I was better than average looking, but I certainly wasn’t a stunner. Especially in a town like L.A. where beautiful women practically grew on trees. I could be funny on occasion, and I’d been told by past boyfriends I had a quirky, adorable charm.
But I wasn’t on Nico’s level. I was boxing out of my class. If he was Mike Tyson, I was the guy who emptied the spit bucket. I just needed to understand.
“Could be those freckles. First girl I ever loved had freckles. I was six.” Nico regarded me very seriously, but I sensed the humor behind his tone. “Or it could be those Cleopatra eyes. Or that killer body. You got a woman’s body, classic hourglass curves made for a man’s hands.”
I blushed again, looking down.
Nico’s voice grew quiet. “Or it could be that when you look at me, I feel like I could fuckin’ fly.”
I looked up at him. Now he was deadly serious, staring at me with something like wonder.
“I don’t have a lot of real in my life, Kat. You’re real. Knew it when you stood up to me when I got mad at Avery. Protectin’ a girl you didn’t even know, puttin’ yourself out there for someone else. And not backin’ down an inch. I liked that. Liked it too that you didn’t let me push you around or intimidate you. You’d be surprised how old that shit gets, people bowin’ and scrapin’, thinkin’ they’re gonna get somethin’ outta you if they kiss your ass just right. And then you demanded I explain what the deal was with me and Avery before you’d even consider talkin’ to me about there bein’ anything between us. Which I loved, by the way. Shows you got class. And self-respect. To top it all off, you got two girlfriends who obviously love you and have your back, which means you’re a good friend. Which means you’re trustworthy. Which means fuckin’ everything to me.”
I let it all sink in, just breathing. I wasn’t sure if I trusted myself to speak.
“So that’s why I got you the necklace. That’s what we’re gonna have: trust. It’s important to me, and it’s important to you. All this other stuff . . . ” He squeezed me into a tight embrace, nuzzled his face into my neck, and inhaled deeply. “Is just a bonus.”
“Other stuff?” I sounded like Minnie Mouse I was so breathless.
He chuckled. “The way my dick gets hard just lookin’ at you. The way you get wet when I touch you.”
Oh, God. We were back to the dirty talk. And we were in my house. Alone.
{ playlist } .
"I never listen to music while writing because I need to concentrate, but I do become obsessed with certain songs while I’m writing certain books. I’ll listen to them over and over in the car or on my iphone, picturing the characters, thinking about scenes, letting my imagination go crazy, then write all those ideas down. So music definitely inspires my writing. Here are a few of the songs I was obsessed with while writing Sweet As Sin. (Links open Amazon Music window.)"
{ guest post } .
Top 5 Most Swoon-Worthy Sweet As Sin Moments
Compiling a list of the five most swoon-worthy moments in my new novel, Sweet As Sin, was really hard. Like, really. In addition to being a badass, Nico is an incredible sweet-talker. (When he isn’t being an incredible dirty-talker, that is.) Here are the top five times he melted Kat’s heart.
- Trying to convince Kat’s girlfriends she should give him a chance
“So since you’re her two best friends, and she’s not tellin’ me what she wants, I think we should all figure this out together.” His voice lowered. “Because I wanna get to know her. Because I think she’s beautiful, interestin’, and sexy as fuck, and that laugh of hers knocks me on my ass. And I think she wants me, too, only she’s afraid.” He paused to draw a breath. “So. Tell me what I need to do to make her mine.”
- When he got her a thoughtful present because she hates her birthday
“Needed to make you some better birthday memories, sweetheart. Needed you to know I’m a man who’s gonna take care of your heart.”
- When he’s a die-hard romantic
He stared deep into my eyes. The depth of emotion I saw there took my breath away. “What’s more romantic, Kat? Fallin’ in love because you don’t know any better…or fallin’ in love, knowin’ it’s gonna ruin you, knowin’ it’s gonna rip out your fuckin’ heart and smash you into a million little pieces, but doin’ it anyway because you’d rather pay the price and be ripped and smashed forever than never get a taste of it at all?”
- When he’s feeling snuggly
“Sweetie,” I whispered, trying as gently as possible to remove myself from his arms. His response was to drag my naked body closer to his and silently bury his face between my breasts. I laughed softly. “No fair hiding in my cleavage.” His voice was muffled against my breasts and scratchy with sleep. “This is my favorite place in the world. Nothin’ bad ever happens here.”
- The first time he declares his love
“What I am is yours. All yours, body and soul. And I can’t live without you. I don’t want to spend a single minute from this moment on without you. I sleep better with you. I feel better with you. Everything seems brighter when you’re around. I can’t imagine a future without you, and if that’s not me tellin’ you I love you, I don’t know what would be.”
{ review } .
Who doesn't love a brooding musical bad boy? That's exactly who you get when you see Nico for the first time -- or, if you're Kat, you get a ton of good chills and time freezes when you lock eyes with him and then... Then you're reminded that he's in an off-again on-again relationship with the super skinny, currently stoned out of her mind, model who is sleeping in near your makeup and hair chair.
Kat is a makeup and hair artist and her current gig is for the band Bad Habit and their music video. When she sees the model near her things, Kat and her best friend talk crap about her -- as most girls will do when they feel insecure. But in a surprising move that showcases Kat and her personality in spades, she stands up for the girl when Nico comes stomping over. Who cares that she finds the man attractive and that the tabloids say they broke up last week and are apparently totally back together right now? Who cares that she's gorgeous? You stands up for your fellow ladies.
One of the things I like about Kat is her ability to make friends. Nearly immediately, she befriends Bad Habit's stylist, Kenji, an eccentric guy who you can't help but fall in love with. And, thank you, Kenji, he helps give us, the reader, a feel for what Kat looks like -- he accurately points out that she's a beautiful mix of Irish and Japanese heritages.
I, of course, wanted to see what this mix would look like, so I promptly Googled this -- and my first result, in case you want to see? MARIE DIGBY. Now, this isn't the place to get too much into my Marie Digby spiel (if you know anything about how she came to be and you know the deeper story, you'd be on the right track) but the girl is gorgeous and has a gorgeous voice...
But anywho, I digress.
So Kat is pretty. That's where I was. Nico, who was supposed to 'marry' his girlfriend in the music video but she's so out of commission at the moment, throws a bomb on Kat and has her stand in as the bride -- something Kat wants nothing to do with. Nico, though, has fallen quickly for the spunky Kat and wants to get to know her, however he can.
...and that is how the relationship begins.
Of course, there's the whole 'he has a girlfriend' thing, but that's quickly fixed -- without toes being stepped on, of course. There's family drama and band drama and some pretty decent dramatic twists, too. The big bombshell of the story though? Left me a tad confused, but my confusion was quickly righted (thank goodness for that). There was probably more drama than the book called for, but it kept me interested -- and in a month of either completely loving a book or completely hating-it-because-I-could-get-past-page-one-and-even-skimming-does-nothing-for-me... it was welcome.
I have to add, though -- I think the next book will be super exciting! While it hasn't been announced, one can only assume who will be next, and the fight in the two people I think will be next? There will be fireworks.
Kat is a makeup and hair artist and her current gig is for the band Bad Habit and their music video. When she sees the model near her things, Kat and her best friend talk crap about her -- as most girls will do when they feel insecure. But in a surprising move that showcases Kat and her personality in spades, she stands up for the girl when Nico comes stomping over. Who cares that she finds the man attractive and that the tabloids say they broke up last week and are apparently totally back together right now? Who cares that she's gorgeous? You stands up for your fellow ladies.
One of the things I like about Kat is her ability to make friends. Nearly immediately, she befriends Bad Habit's stylist, Kenji, an eccentric guy who you can't help but fall in love with. And, thank you, Kenji, he helps give us, the reader, a feel for what Kat looks like -- he accurately points out that she's a beautiful mix of Irish and Japanese heritages.
I, of course, wanted to see what this mix would look like, so I promptly Googled this -- and my first result, in case you want to see? MARIE DIGBY. Now, this isn't the place to get too much into my Marie Digby spiel (if you know anything about how she came to be and you know the deeper story, you'd be on the right track) but the girl is gorgeous and has a gorgeous voice...
So Kat is pretty. That's where I was. Nico, who was supposed to 'marry' his girlfriend in the music video but she's so out of commission at the moment, throws a bomb on Kat and has her stand in as the bride -- something Kat wants nothing to do with. Nico, though, has fallen quickly for the spunky Kat and wants to get to know her, however he can.
...and that is how the relationship begins.
Of course, there's the whole 'he has a girlfriend' thing, but that's quickly fixed -- without toes being stepped on, of course. There's family drama and band drama and some pretty decent dramatic twists, too. The big bombshell of the story though? Left me a tad confused, but my confusion was quickly righted (thank goodness for that). There was probably more drama than the book called for, but it kept me interested -- and in a month of either completely loving a book or completely hating-it-because-I-could-get-past-page-one-and-even-skimming-does-nothing-for-me... it was welcome.
I have to add, though -- I think the next book will be super exciting! While it hasn't been announced, one can only assume who will be next, and the fight in the two people I think will be next? There will be fireworks.
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