Yesterday, I received a ninja strike from the lovely owner of Novel Thoughts – just a gentle reminder I had to send through a blog ASAP. (And yes, my ears are ringing, and I’m still seeing stars from the strike.) But, being the responsible adult I am, and with only the best intentions, I sat down at my computer, opened a blank document to write and thought…Damn it! I have to know what happens to Tohr and No’one. And that was the last I looked at my computer for the next six hours.
See, the other day, I finally gave in to my better judgment, and downloaded JR Ward’s new book, Lover Reborn. I’d been fighting the impulse, because the e-book is being sold for an obscene amount of money, and I’m of the strict opinion that there is no need to overcharge for ebooks. However, I had been waiting for this book for a while. Okay, for a year, but who’s counting? And after days of defying temptation, I relented. I downloaded the damn thing.
Opening it was a joy. There I was again, back in the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Damn, I’d missed them.
I encountered my first problem on page one. Paragraph one. I couldn’t get into the book. Couldn’t get the first paragraph to stick. I just wasn’t getting it. I reread it so many times, forcing myself to understand it’s meaning. And so it went for the first few chapters. Struggling to read, struggling to throw myself back in the brothers’ world.
So disenchanted was I, I even mentioned it on Facebook, commenting that I couldn’t get into the book. The overwhelming response? “Give it another chance. You won’t regret it!” So I did. I forced myself back to the book, opened up and continued reading. And hours later, when my son dared to ask about lunch, I almost snapped his head off for disturbing me. See, something had happened. At some point, soon after the Facebook discussion, I got sucked straight into that story. I became a part of it. All at once I was living the story, I was in the mansion, I was watching everything as it happened, and I could not put my iPad down.
Sleep finally wrenched the book from my hands, but the minute I woke up the next day, all I could think about was what was going to happen. So instead of writing my next book (which yes, I am on deadline for) and instead of drawing up this blog, I sat on my bed, ignored poor Mr 7 who was home sick, and read and read and read. I read until there were no more words to read, and then I continued sitting on my bed, mulling over the story for ages.
In a nutshell, I loved it. Quite obsessively so. And that got me thinking about all the other books I loved obsessively. The ones I could not put down. The ones that made me block out the world and ignore my family and my life, and read and read and read. There’ve been lots. To mention a few: Harry Potter—especially book 7. Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. Poison Study by Maria Snyder. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Stephenie Meyer’s books. All of them. (And may I just add here, some of the Twilight books I didn’t even like. But the reading and the story were so compelling, I devoured them! And The Host, which I hadn’t expected to like, blew me away – right into that don’t-talk-don’t-disturb-me-don’t-even-breathe-until-I’m-finished-the-book place.)
For me, that is the ultimate sign of a wonderful a book. When a story can sweep you away from your life and throw you into a different world. When you become so caught up in the pages of that book, nothing else matters. When an author can envelope you in his or her world so completely, it almost comes as a shock when you lift your head, and find, hey, you’re in your house, not the character’s.
I won’t kid myself and say I could ever write a book like that. But if just for a few minutes a reader got carried away and found herself falling into the world of one of my stories, I would be a very, very happy author.
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Oh, talking about one of my stories…Office Affair released at Samhain last week.
If you’re interested in finding out a bit more about it, read on:
OFFICE AFFAIR: The Blurb
All work and no play? Not for this girl. Not anymore.
Melissa Sparks has had enough. Enough of being an overachiever, enough of having no social life, enough of being lonely. Just this once she wants a change. Something different. Something that looks very much like her business associate, Ben Cowley.
Ben is all alone in the deserted offices of Preston Elks. He’s gorgeous, he’s single and he’s been her secret fantasy for the last two years. It’s a split-second decision, but there’s no going back.
When Ben looks up from his desk, the last thing he expects to see is his too-serious, straight-laced colleague stripping naked. It’s been a year since his last relationship ended, and though he’s still picking up the pieces, Melissa throws his carefully balanced world off its axis. So does her offer: a brief affair, no strings attached.
Right about the time he realizes a simple affair will never be enough, she’s back in professional mode—and clearly as distant as ever. Now it’s up to him to show her that what they have is no fluke…and he’ll do whatever it takes to convince her. Even if it means inviting another man into their bed.
Warning: This book contains a man haunted by his past decisions, a woman determined to succeed, sex hot enough to steam up every office window on the block, and a voyeur who gets off watching those windows steam up.
Office Affair is available now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Samhain Publishing.
Happy reading.
Jess
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To read an excerpt, visit www.jessdee.com. And for a chance to win a book from Jess Dee’s digital backlist (excluding Office Affair), leave a comment below. Good luck!
Buy Links:
Honorary Mention of Book Sluts 'R' Us Blogger Awards by 
Great blogpost! I am also holding out for the paperback edition of Lover Reborn, but it is not easy to wait! I recently (this week!) got sucked into the Edge series by Ilona Andrews. I totally neglected my poor boyfriend and my bedtimes, I had to finish the book.
The more I read, the less it happens that I get so totally sucked in a goood book.Does a reader become jaded? Guessing what will happen too much? I don’t know, but when I do get sucked in it makes me very happy.
good luck with the new release Jess! (don’t enter me in the contest though).
My husband doesn’t understand how I can be so sucked into a good book and I can’t explain it to him, but I’ve always been that way. Give me a good book and I’m happy. It’s as simple as that. None of my friends have ever understood it either, which is why I’m so happy to have found so many people online who understand my addiction (and sometimes are even worse than I am LOL).
That was a great post. I can’t explain to a non-reader how I get sucked into a book and forget about everything and everyone. They just don’t understand. You just have to finish that paragraph, that page, that chapter, hell, that book. It takes another reader to understand and I know you do and it makes me happy to know that there are so many people like me out there.
Congrats on the new release and it sounds like a really hot read.
My daughter understand and she is 8. She too gets caught up in a book and at times she will say ‘let me finish this page’ before putting it down. She like me love a good book. I find myself losing a lot of sleep when I have a good book on hand.
Great post and your book sounds steamy
I love getting sucked into a book. Any book that takes my attention away from household chores and life around me is an amazing read and that’s what I look for. I read for relaxation. My life can sometimes be chaotic and getting lost in a good story is what calms me 
My husband can always tell when I’m into a good book. Dinner is late, laundry is piled and dishes are overflowing from the sink. Chores will always be waiting, but my sanity is more importan lol Give me a good book and life is great 
This book sounds really hot. I would love to read it. Please enter me in contest.
I’ve found myself in the same predicament… can’t do anything until that awesome book is read from cover to cover. There are some authors I refuse to start reading because I know that I won’t be able to do anything else until the book is read so I wait for the weekend or a time I know that nothing and no one is going to disturb me:)
Congrats on your latest, Jess!
I don’t think non-readers will ever understand the need to read, forsaking even sleep to finish a new, great story. I will often stay up till I can’t hold my eyes open anymore, sleep for just a couple of hours and get back up to read some more, lol. Besides, books are a great way to help pass the time when you have insomnia.
I have not read JD Ward… I love being drawn into a book… letting the story take me away… letting the emotions and the actions of the characters pull me in… I have found myself numerous times staying up late wanting to get to the end.
That’s why I love to read romance books! I get sucked into the story so much that I can forget everything around me. It’s harder for me these days to get that excited about a book. In my early romance reading days I felt like that with nearly every novel I read.
not entering in the contest… just wanted to say I loved your post, lol
No one really understands the love of reading like another avid reader. I can get so engrossed in a book that I tune out everything around me. All the weekends i will read until I’m finished, and I must say I have so engrossed in a book that I’ve called out the next day.
I have had a few books that have just drawn me in and kept me captive until I was finished. So I can totally understand
I love it when a took drives me to distraction. Although, it always seems to happen when I am already double and triple booked. I have to wait for Lover Reborn until it’s in paperback or there is a price drop on ebook. But, I will have plenty of great stuff to read while I wait!!! Thanks for the giveaway. It will go a long way toward buying more great stuff to read.
I can see I picked the right readership for this blog. It definitely takes a romance reader to understand another romance reader’s obsession/compulsion/utter love and adoration for a book.
And yep, I’ve also stayed up all night finishing a book, and neglected the washing, cooking, cleaning, kids…
Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone at 3am, just finishing that one last paragraph…page…chapter…damn, just finishing the book…
Jess
Hot! Steamy! I’m there!
Thanks for the chance to win.
Jess, YOU are the writer of those all-consuming, immersive stories.
Those stories that come to mind again and again even after you’ve finished them? The ones you can’t stand to put down even though kids are hollering or you need sleep? The ones you hate to see end? Yep–yours
Congrats on Office Affair! It’s a great one!
It is great to find that book that completely sucks you in and won’t let you go until you have finished or have fallen asleep while reading it!
Congrats on the release of Office Affiar!
Very nice post. The book sounds good.