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What can you tell us about your new release, Sweet and Vicious?

Sweet and Vicious is a book I have been itching to write since Luck of the Devil, where the characters were first introduced. Antonio and his brother Vincent only played a minor part in that book, but they got stuck in my brain, demanding my attention. I've actually had the covers finished for both brothers for over a year! It is a sweet and dark romance, if that makes sense, thus the title!

What books are currently on your nightstand?

I tend not to read in the genre I am working on so right now it's To Best The Boys by Mary Weber and The Night Country, the sequel to the delicious Hazelwood by Melissa Albert. I recently finished the Cruel Prince series by Holly Black. I love girl power paranormal fantasy books!

What advice would you give your teenage self?

When I was a teenager I wrote my first romance novel. I did not finish it, however. I would tell her not to wait ten years to try again!

If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?

An hour? Probably doing all the admin stuff that slips when my creative juices are flowing, which is most of the time!

What makes your world go round? Why does it bring you joy?

It is going to sound cheesy, but other than my loved ones, it really is my readers. Even after almost six years, I am still thrilled that people want to read my books!

What scene in Sweet and Vicious was your favorite to write?

This book was different for me because the wedding scene came in the middle, not the end. That was because they had no choice but to wed! I love writing wedding scenes and this one was no exception!

Joanna Blake is the author of the new book Sweet and Vicious.

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By Tracey Jerald

Behind a podium, I had just finished delivering the words to an emotional speech at a retreat. There was a pregnant pause before the room of people gave me thunderous applause.
My speech was about how I endured bullying for the better part of high school and college, how I came out the other side the person I am, the woman I am, and the love I found through it all.
Above all, I tried to impart upon my audience how I managed to keep the core of my heart whole enough to move on from the daily brutality of bullying to find who I was as an individual. And later, to find love.
That was fourteen years ago this May.
Despite the words I used to encourage others to find bravery within themselves, I have to admit it was an emotional challenge to accept returning to my hometown for my ten-year high school reunion years before. The very last thing I would call it was easy.
Flashforward to last fall. I was approached by Kristen Proby to write in the Boudreaux Universe for Lady Boss Press. My mind immediately played off the word “Easy.” What were some of the things I knew in my heart – aside from love – which weren’t “easy” in my life?
And clear as day, my mind brought me back to the moment when I crossed over the threshold of my high school reunion in a little black dress and heels. My heart began to tremble when I remembered making that first nervous circle around the room.
And that’s how Kelsey Kennedy was born. If you took her at her at face value, you’d imagine she’s a woman who has it all – looks, success, and inner fortitude. What you might not see are the scars she lives with, that she battles every time she looks in a mirror, or worse yet, every time she closes her eyes.
Rierson “Ry” Perrault is someone Kelsey began to trust; he captured her teenage heart when she started tutoring him in creative writing. And in the end, he humiliated her publicly. It’s haunted him, despite the time and distance since the last time he laid eyes on her.
When you first meet Kelsey and Ry, they’ve both arrived at their fifteen-year high school reunion. Each of them is bracing to see the other yet neither of them is ready.
Kelsey is shocked when Ry doesn’t recognize her. But when he doesn’t, she realizes that may be in her favor. She decides to fulfill her girlish fantasies by giving herself one night with the boy she never really got out of her mind before walking away.
The emotional connection between Kelsey and Ry follows them both back to New Orleans, Louisiana which is where they each happen to live. They run into each other a short time later, and with the masks off, a whole new relationship begins.
In a city filled with pure temptation, where all emotions are amplified, the barriers between Kelsey and Ry seem to disappear.
And as their relationship progresses, the lines that separate sinners from saints blur as the truth of what really happened in high school between Kelsey and Ry emerges. It changes the perspective of both of their pasts and directly impacts their present.
When I was done talking fourteen-years ago, I never expected to turn that speech into a book. I never expected my life to take the twists and turns it did. Not all of it has been easy, but every moment of loving has been worth it.
Love is never supposed to be easy. But every moment since that first high school reunion I went to has been worth it.

Tracey Jerald is the author of the new book Easy Reunion.

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