Almost Perfect by Jenna Jaxon

Before I let Jenna take over the blog, I just want everyone to go to Decadent Publishing, buy a One Night Stand book and I dare you to NOT love it.  This series is one of the best series that I have read, bar none.  You do not have to read the stories in order at all.  This series has something for everyone and I mean everyone.  ***sorry shameless plug and I was NOT compensated for it***  Bummer, I know.  :)

Just my thoughts, so without further introduction...Jenna Jaxon.  Who, by the way, is funnier than hell...

Movie Madness

First I want to thank you, Marika, for having me here today at Harlie Books.  This is going to be fun!

I always wonder when I read novels how much of the author appears in her characters?  I’ve learned some things about some of my favorite authors that I have later noticed in their characters.  And though I know not all stories or characters are autobiographical, I assume bits and pieces of the author can be found in their works.

That being said, I’ve found that I am no exception to that rule.  Not the easiest confession for a writer of erotic romance--people will of course jump to the conclusion that the steamiest bits were inspired by real life happenings.  My husband would certainly be happy if that were so!  But those scenes, beyond the very basics, are the stuff of my imagination.

However, I do have things in common with several of my heroines, including Pam Kimball from Almost Perfect.  As I wrote this story about a woman abandoned on a deserted (well, mostly deserted) island, I began to think about what I would do if stranded in such a predicament.  And my first thought turned to the movies I’ve loved for years about castaways.  And poof!  a character is born.  A large part of Pam revolves around her love of movies, so I decided to showcase that characteristic.  I wanted to show how her obsession with movies had been her downfall and how even the movies couldn’t teach her everything she needed to know about love and relationships. 

And the movies Pam references, I have to admit, are some of my favorites:  her ship is the yacht from Some Like It Hot, her island is reminiscent of the one Captain Jack Sparrow is marooned on in Pirates of the Caribbean, she figures out how to fish from Cary Grant in Father Goose.  And her and Roger’s sparring is sometimes quite similar to that of Anne Heche and Harrison Ford in Six Days Seven Nights.

Pam never reveals what her favorite movie is, but I’ll tell you mine.  My favorite romantic comedy isn’t in evidence in the story because it has nothing to do with the water or being stranded.  For totally inexplicable reasons, the one movie I will stop doing whatever I’m doing and sit down and watch is Notting Hill.  I love Hugh Grant in this movie.  I love the story.  I especially love the end where they come together during a press conference.  That, ladies, says romance to me. J

But let Pam tell you some of her favorites in this excerpt from Almost Perfect:

Okay, what’s the worst-case scenario? Level one answer on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? The ship doesn’t return tonight. What could she do to prepare for that eventuality? She shot a glance down the beach in the direction her ex had stalked. Nope. Not an option. Next.

She often watched disaster movies where people ended up marooned on desert islands, or as the last living things on earth. Surely she could draw on those as her resource for survival?

Ticking off a mental list of castaway-themed shows, she started with the obvious choice, Castaway. What would Tom Hanks do? First things first, of course. Food and water. Tom sipped water collected on leaves. A glance told her the bushes around her were dry. No water there. On to option number two. A stream? She could explore what little interior the island possessed. But if that proved a dead end, she’d have lost valuable light and time. Damn, this looked easier in Six Days, Seven Nights. Of course, there had been two of them…. No! No depending on Roger.

“So what else did Tom Hanks do?” Speaking aloud focused her attention on what she could do by herself. Gather food came to mind as the next option. Coconuts. She shaded her eyes and craned her neck back, peering up the tall tree next to her. Damn. Were there even any nuts up there? So what else was available? Crabs? Sighing, she hurried onto the beach in search of crustaceans.

She inched into the lapping surf, searching for movement. Reflection off the water made the task harder than expected. Wasn’t the Caribbean supposed to be teeming with fish? Now that’s something she’d had a lot of instruction in. Almost every marooned-on-an-island movie had a scene where the heroine learned to catch fish. Six Days. Father Goose. Blue Lagoon. All you needed was your hands and patience. She could do this.

Wading out further, she stopped just before the water hit her now dry shorts. “Not gonna have a damp crotch all night.” The words reminded her of exactly what she had hoped for. “At least not from wet shorts!” She headed back to shore to remove them and draped them next to her shirt. The bandeau was a different story. Still damp, even after several hours, and uncomfortable. Might dry better if not next to her skin anyway. “Screw it! Live dangerously.”

Standing as good as naked on the deserted beach, she smiled as the warm breeze caressed her bare body. The sense of being slightly naughty added to her delight in the sensual feel of the air as it dried her breasts. Her nipples peaked as the wind cooled them. She strutted down to the water’s edge to sink her toes in the sand, the salty tang in the air adding to the perfect moment.

“If you’re skinny dipping, you forgot to remove one very important piece of clothing.”

She whirled around. Roger stood on the beach behind her, a green bottle of Perrier in one hand. His gaze played up and down her naked torso and his salacious grin widened. “Mind if I join you?”

What’s your favorite romantic movie?  Bet you can’t name just one!  I’ve a dozen or more that I adore.  Share one of your favorites with me and Pam, and one lucky commenter will win a copy of Almost Perfect.

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Bio:

Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical  and contemporary romance who has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager.  A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise.  She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own writing.

Jenna lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets.  When not reading or writing, she indulges her passion for the theatre, working with local theatres as a director.  She often feels she is directing her characters on their own private stage. 

She has equated her writing to an addiction to chocolate because once she starts she just can’t stop.