LOVERS ROCK WEEK (Day 1): Hosted by Jasmine Haynes

UPDATE: The winner of YOURS FOR THE NIGHT by Jasmine Haynes is Cecile. Please email you physcial addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.

Note from TPTB: This week we have invited five fabulous authors to guest blog about some of their favorite lovers of all time, fictional or real, in honor of the upcoming Valentine's holiday. Each author will be giving away a signed copy of one of their books, so make sure you check back throughout the week!

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There are so many examples of famous lovers, both real and fictional, Scarlett and Rhett, Maid Marian and Robin Hood, Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, Bonnie and Clyde, Tracy and Hepburn, Bacall and Bogart, Ned and Matty. Ned and Matty, you ask? Who the heck are they? Just about my favorite pair of fictional lovers. Perhaps it was the steamy nature of the movie. I’d never seen anything quite like it, albeit I was mucho younger at the time with it being the early 80s and all. It was completely...hot. I remember an eye-popping scene where Ned throws a chair through a window to get at Matty, her in that sexy red skirt. It was shocking and...hot. Or maybe I already mentioned that. Got it figured out yet? Still don’t know? Think of it as a film noir reminiscent of the 1940s classics like The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity? Heh, in making sure I get all my dates correct, I see that the remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice with Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson was actually the same year as my fave, 1981, and talk about another steamy scene, whoa! However, I have to admit I still prefer the original version with Lana Turner. But I’m getting off topic here! Ned and Matty, William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. No matter the wonderful movies I’ve seen her in since, Kathleen Turner will always be Matty Walker in Body Heat. Did you guess correctly?

Now I wouldn’t exactly call Ned and Matty hero and heroine. They aren’t the nicest people. There’s a core of badness in each of them. First of all, Matty’s married to Edmund! Not to mention that perhaps Edmund stands in the way of what she wants. And how best to deal with a husband who’s in the way when divorce won’t work? Maybe a little murder. They were great characters, and I always find not-so-nice characters fascinating. They’re dark and luscious and drag me into a great story with intense emotions. Maybe that’s why I love these kinds of lovers, that intensity of emotion between them. Somehow, I keep rooting for them even though I know it’s probably going to end badly for them. I think of Ann Stuart’s and Linda Howard’s assassins, especially Death Angel. The assassin with a heart of gold.

Which makes me think of another phrase, the hooker with a heart of gold. And that brings me to my own series, Courtesans Tales. My heroines are just that. But please, we prefer to call them courtesans, LOL. I wanted to explore all the reasons a woman might choose to become a courtesan. The good, the bad, and the ugly, so to speak, yet still classy and elegant with romance and a happy ending, even if it might not always be traditional. Tackling characters who are doing something a little outside the mainstream, why they would choose to do it, well, that all fascinates me as much as Matty and Ned. YOURS FOR THE NIGHT is the first book in my series, and to give you a taste, I’m offering an autographed copy to one lucky winner from those who post a comment on the blog. Book 2, HERS FOR THE EVENING, will be out in May, and the third, MINE UNTIL MORNING will arrive in stores in December. In LACED WITH DESIRE, out this month in time for Valentines and also featuring stories by Jaci Burton, Joey Hill, and Denise Rossetti, my story, “La Petite Mort,” visits with one of the characters featured in Courtesans Tales. Please try out an excerpt here.

So, I’d love to hear who your favorite bad-to-the-bone lovers are? Don’t forget to post a comment to be entered in my drawing for YOURS FOR THE NIGHT! The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon.

Jasmine Haynes (also writing as JB Skully and Jennifer Skully)!

www.jasminehaynes.com

http://jasminehaynes.blogspot.com/