Start the week with JM STEWART

Frustration sang through her. The only way to get rid of these unwanted feelings was to put them out there. Right? Though a small part of her hoped he’d deny it all, that he’d tell her they had been caught in some Twilight Zone moment.

The question was how to convince a stubborn man.

Like a flash of lightning, the answer presented itself. She bit her lip. God, could she do that?

She stiffened her spine. She had to, or she’d never get the answers she needed.

Before she lost the nerve, she closed the distance between them and pressed along his length. Every inch of her trembled, from nerves this time, and warning bells rang in her head, telling her she played in dangerous territory.

His body stiffened with his surprise. “Ceci, what—”

In one swift move, she snaked her hand around the back of his neck, lifted onto her toes, and seized his mouth, effectively silencing him. She kissed him hard, determined to get her answer.

A quiet, almost reluctant groan erupted from deep within his chest, and his large hands seized her shoulders. He wrenched his mouth from hers and set her away from him, holding her at arm’s length. His chest rose and fell at a rapid pace, matching the fierce pounding of her heart.

“Why did you do that?” he asked.

She shook her head, willed him to understand. “I had to know…”

He remained frozen in front of her, the muscle in his jaw beginning to tic. A fraction of a second later, his hands dropped from her shoulders and seized her waist, tugging her flush against him again. The same eyes that had searched hers in confusion only moments before took on a heated, wild look.
Every ounce of breath left her lungs.

“You want the truth, Ceci?” he asked, his frustrated tone mocking her. “You really want to know how I feel about you, what you do to me?”

He slid his hands down her back, slowly, then cupped her bottom and ground his hips against hers. The hard length of his arousal pressed into her belly, showing her exactly how she affected him.

A soft gasp escaped her as intense, undeniable desire snaked through her.

“I don’t know how to be any more honest than this.” He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers, whispering against her mouth. “You drive me crazy, Ceci. Every time you look at me, touch me. Do you have any idea how hard it was to lie in bed with you the other night? To hold you so close I could feel your heartbeat but not be able to touch you like this?”

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You just read an excerpt from:
Staking His Claim
by
JM Stewart
The Wild Rose Press
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Today, we’re here with published author, JM Stewart.
Linda Kage: Hi, JM! Tell us a little about you and what you write please.

JM: A little about me… I’m a stay-at-home mom of two boys, so I write full time. I live in the Great Northwest, the Seattle area to be exact (I don’t mind the rain so much). I’ve been writing for over ten years now, and I write contemporary romance.

Kage: Ten years! That sounds like me. What happened to the first book you ever wrote?

JM: hehe. It’s gotten lost over the years. Changing from one computer to a newer one, it somehow got lost. I went looking recently and found that it is no more. *sniff* Heh. It’s better off where nobody can see it. lol

Kage: What’s your backlist and coming soon bookshelf look like?

JM: So far I only have one book out. Just Staking His Claim. Though with any luck and god willing, many more will follow. It came out in June of this year from The Wild Rose Press. It’s a best friends story. What happens when two people who have known each other all their lives realize their feelings for each other have changed.

Here’s the blurb:

********************BLURB********************
Staking His Claim
by
JM Stewart
Kyle Morgan’s in love with his best friend. Unfortunately, he’s honor bound to keep a secret from her that not only prevents him from confessing his feelings, but also has the power to destroy their relationship.

Cecelia Anton has only ever wanted one thing—to find the answers to her mysterious past. But the search leads her into the arms of her best friend. While the attraction frightens her, she can’t deny the way he makes her feel.

The deep connection they share as friends only heightens the passion, forcing them to reevaluate their relationship. Are they willing to risk their lifelong friendship for the promise of love?

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Kage: What would the story be rated if it were a movie?

JM: Probably somewhere between PG-13 and R, depending. The movie ratings are a bit confusing these days. I see some that are rated R that don’t appear to have anything R-rated in them at all, and some that are rated PG 13 that ought to be R. So it’s hard to tell WHAT they’d rate my book as these days. But probably an R for explicit love scenes..

Kage: If you HAD to fit this story into a cliché, which one would it be?

JM: Best Friends. It sort of IS a cliché, in that it’s a storyline people have done over and over. I’ve just put own spin on it.

Kage: Best Friends falling in love can certainly be a cliché. But now I want to hear your spin. What makes this story so unique from every other best friend romance out there?

JM: I’d like to think the characters are what set this apart. I like to create unique characters and I put a lot of effort into making them jump-off-the-page real. I think I’m good at it, judging from the way people have reacted to them. You couldn’t take my characters and put them into a different story, because this is THEIR story, it belongs to them and them alone. It’s how I write. They tell me their story, I write it down. ;)

Kage: What was the easiest part to write?

JM: For me, the emotion and the characters. Emotion is just something I do well. I’m an emotional person. I find it very easy to empathize with people. As for the characters... I tend to see them as people. They’re real to me. Writing them that way has always been easy for me, because I treat them as if they are. Heh. And only to another writer does that NOT sound like a mental disorder. Lol

Kage: Gosh, I hope it's not a mental disorder, otherwise I'd need to be treated too! What do you like most about the main characters and what do you like least?

JM: Kyle is the all around good guy. He’s not an alpha. He’s a beta. He’s dependable, trustworthy, keeps his promises, and he’s not afraid to face his emotions, but he’s also not afraid to take charge when he needs to. I like him because he feels fear but does it anyway.

Cecelia is a lot like me. She’s soft around the edges, has a good heart, but she’s a bit wary of life. She’s got scars that run deep that have made her afraid to trust herself, afraid to trust change, of the repercussions that change will force on her. IOW, she has fears. I learned the most from her. I got to watch her face her fears and learn to jump into life anyway, which is also something I’m learning to do at the moment.

Kage: JM, Thank you so much for stopping by today and gracing us with your presence. Before we go, is there anything else you’d like to say to wrap things up?

JM: Just thanks for having me, and that I love to hear from my readers. My email is on my website and I welcome contact.

Now that JM has totally made us want to buy her work, she was kind enough to provide us with a buy link for Staking His Claim from: The Wild Rose Press

If you're still curious about JM Stewart, here are other places to find her on the web :

Website: http://jmstewart.webs.com/

Blog: http://jm-stewart.blogspot.com/

and Othe Places: Facebook, MySpace, Amazon Author Page, WPR Author Page.