It seems like it’s been a very long time since I’ve had a regular, “full-length” Blaze out. My last one was my February Blind Date anthology, before that an Encounters (Another Wild Wedding Night) and the one before that a fairy tale novella. So it hasn’t been since February 2010, with Play With Me!
But the long wait is about to end!
TERMS OF SURRENDER, my new favorite Blaze, is coming out! It’s not in stores yet—it should be by the end of May. But you can get it right now directly from eharlequin, just click here. (There’s also a long excerpt of the opening scene!)
It’s funny, for a book that kicked my butt when I was writing it, I ended up really loving this one. Hero Danny Wilkes is a super-sexy fighter pilot, but he’s also my favorite kind of Leslie Kelly hero—a super-nice guy. He’s charming and kind and friendly.
The heroine in this equation really had to work hard to convince me she deserved him. She’s (get this!) a blogger. Oh and a writer. And she’s very snarky.
Hmm. Yeah, I suppose I did a little bit of channeling in this one.
Anyway, the reviews so far have been great. Romantic times gave it a 4 ½ saying “The latest in Kelly’s Uniformly Hot! series is a hip contemporary romance packed with great one-liners.”
I happen to think this book has one of the best covers I’ve ever seen on a Blaze…it’s certainly my favorite of any of mine. So hopefully readers will think the inside is worthy of the packaging!
Just to whet your appetite, here’s a never-before-seen-anywhere-else excerpt. It should give you a really good taste of what TERMS OF SURRENDER is all about.
Enjoy!
“So, family responsibilities, school for almost a decade. No time for fun?” he asked, skimming over her past as if realizing she didn’t want to say any more about it.
“Define fun.”
“Dating?”
“I don’t usually call dating fun.”
“Oooh, that sounds pessimistic.”
“Pragmatic. The last guy I dated couldn’t handle being with a woman with my I.Q.”
“You have a pretty high I.Q., huh?”
“Not especially, but he couldn’t even spell it!” She waved away any more questions, rolling her eyes. “I was stupid and lonely, so I broke my own number one dating rule.”
“Which is?”
“I never go out with soldiers.”
“Smart thinking,” he said with an exaggerated shudder. “So, how about sex?”
Sure. The word came to her tongue but didn’t fall off it.
“That’s fun,” she slowly replied. “At least, if I’m remembering correctly.”
His eyes darkened the tiniest bit, and his smile thinned, as if he regretted getting them into this intimate a conversation. But he didn’t immediately back them out of it.
“Yeah, so I hear.”
“Don’t tell me your memory’s fuzzy.”
“Probably more so than you’d imagine.”
Hmm.
“But from what I remember, oh yeah, I’d call it fun. Especially when it lasts for hours and you aren’t sure whether you’re alive or dead because it doesn’t seem possible that anything can feel so damn good,” he said, his voice unwavering. But it wasn’t throaty or seductive; he merely sounded very sure of what he was saying.
She breathed deeply, in and out, willing her heart to stop racing. Then she finally nodded. “Interesting,” she murmured, hearing the weakness of her voice.
So interesting her thighs were locking together reflexively under the table. Good thing she’d put those panties back on; otherwise she suspected the seam of her new slacks would be damp right now. Heaven knew the panties were.
“So should we talk about how fun theme parks are now?” he asked, those amber eyes twinkling.
She slowly shook her head.
“What do you want to do?”
She could tell the truth, just throw it out there on the table and see how he responded. They were waltzing around the subject like a couple on Dancing With The Stars. Besides, she’d already made the first move once today by asking him out. Why shouldn’t she take another shot?
Because asking somebody to lunch is a little different than asking him to rock your world and give you many, many orgasms.
“Ahem.” She cleared her throat, reaching for her water.
“Oh,” he said knowingly.
She swallowed, then eyed him over the glass. “Oh, what?”
“Oh. We now both have sex on the brain. I’m sorry, I’ve been thinking about nothing else but kissing you for hours, I guess I should’ve stuck with that.”
His voice was silky smooth, intimate. There was warmth in his eyes, but no humor. As if he, too, was ready to move past the light, friendly conversation they’d engaged in throughout lunch and get a whole lot more serious pretty damn quick.
“Kissing?” she murmured, fascinated by the idea.
He nodded once. Then, wordlessly, he leaned across the small table, touching his fingers to her chin to tilt her face up. The briefest of hesitations—to give her a chance to back up a little—then he moved his mouth to hers.
Mari’s heart flipped in her chest, she was aware of that much. Then nothing, except the feel of his warm lips against hers, the warmth of his breath flavored with the sweetness and lemon he’d had in his iced tea. It was soft and sweet, tender maybe a little tentative as they both acknowledged the importance of this moment.
A first kiss was a very important thing. It set a tone, lifted a bar. Mari had walked away from good-looking men who didn’t know how to kiss.
This man did. Oh, God, did he.
Not forcing her mouth open and thrusting his tongue down her throat, he instead nibbled lightly, seemed content with just the joining of their lips. A slow build. It was a quiet kiss…sexy in its very patience and innocence.
Frankly, it drove her crazy. Mari wanted more, so much more. Groaning, she parted her lips, sliding her tongue out to taste his, not giving a damn about where they were or who might see. She just needed more of him.
He gave her more, sliding his hand up to cup her cheek, tangling his fingers in her hair, tilting his head to deepen things. And then, he cooled down, going back to sweet and light, until he finally lifted his mouth from hers and pulled away.
Their stares locked, she heard her choppy breaths, and his, and knew he had been every bit as affected.
It had been a good first kiss. A very good start to whatever this was. “I want to go on your boat with you,” she admitted. “To…see the sunset.”
“We can just watch the sunset,” he said, his voice low and tight, as if the idea pained him. “No other expectations.”
“I know.” Then, emboldened by the need still swirling through her after that kiss, she added, “Or we can kiss again.”
He smiled. “That sounds like…fun.”
Leslie Kelly used to say she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but then she discovered Nancy Drew books. Being a flashlight-under-the-covers-nose-in-book reader throughout her childhood, she couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do as an adult than continue to lose herself in fictional stories. Her real life marriage of 20 years to the man of her dreams is a constant reinforcement that happily-ever-afters really can happen…and that they’re worth writing about. Living in Maryland, Leslie spends her non-writing time laughing a lot with the above-mentioned romance hero and their three daughters. Though an author of more than thirty sexy, contemporary comedies, she has recently branched out to write dark romantic suspense under the pseudonym Leslie Parrish.
Destiny
Dirty Little Secrets
Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
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Heading over to eHarlequin now to place my order. Yummy!
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I can’t wait for this book.
I had to turn on my desk fan!!!!!
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THat is an awesome cover!
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I saw it the other day and it’s in my cart to be purchased on Friday. I did a little happy dance that there was a Leslie Blaze book out :)
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Wow! What a way to start my morning, especially after morning cuddles from my sweetie husband. Can’t wait to read this!
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I loved the except – especially the line about her last date not being able to spell IQ! Thanks for the except!
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..all thoughts left my mind after looking at the cover! Would someone pass me a towel so I can wipe the drool from my chin?? Seriously – looking forward to reading this!
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Congratulations, Leslie
Cher
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Congrats. It has success written all over it.
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I just bought the ebook! Had to after reading the exerpt.
Tami B.
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Wow!!! Hot hot hot! Looks great–not just the cover but the story, too.
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Oh my! love that cover!
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love the uniformly hot series!!!!
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I would buy it because you wrote it!
Then I read “super-sexy fighter pilot”! Wow! I can’t wait to get this one. It is always nice to have something to look forward to. 
Everyone have a great day.
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Yummy cover.
Can’t wait to get my hands on it. 
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OMG! Note to self – do not read excerpts while at work. PHEW! I had to bite my fingernail so I wouldn’t grin too much. Gosh…the kiss….
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Ooh, so glad everyone’s enjoying this!
I honestly think if you’ve ever liked any of my Leslie Kelly books, you will really like this one. It’s very cute, if I do say so myself.
I really loved writing the Blog entries, and, in fact, cover a whole huge plot element with a series of the heroine’s blog. I like keeping things fresh and different in my books, and I think that worked really well in this one!
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Not cheating, just going to go buy it!
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Les, that cover is super yummy. It’s tres sexy!!!! Can’t wait to read this one. So happy to have another of your full length Blazes to read. I really wanted more of the story you wrote in the Antho with Janelle. Loved all the stories in there. Hmmm….heroine is blogger and writer, who’s snarky…can’t wait to see how much of you I see….lol.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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YEAH FOR A NEW BOOK! Loved the excerpt!
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Ty so much for the exclusive excerpt Leslie – loved it :)! Will definitely have to pick this up when it hits the shelves.
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Bother! I did a purchase from eHarlequin for ebooks last night and didn’t grab this title. Now that I’ve read the excerpt I’ve put it at the top of my list for the next round of purchases.
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