Title: Psycho Romeo
Series: Ward Security Series #1
Author: Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliott
Publisher: Drake and Elliott Publishing, LLC
Release Date: October 27, 2017
Length: 81K
Genre: Romance, Thriller/Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Gay Literature, Gay fiction, bodyguards
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Synopsis
Geoffrey Ralse is known for being the life of the party. He loves the club scene, hanging with his friends, and flirting with whomever catches his eye. He certainly isn’t going to stop living his life just because some would-be stalker starts sending him threats.
But it all changes when Geoffrey is drugged and wakes up half naked in his own home with a new message from his stalker.
He needs help and there’s only one person he trusts…
Protective Agent Sven Larsen has been fighting Geoffrey’s flirtatious advances for months, even though he’s impossibly drawn to the man. There’s no way he can be around him twenty-four/seven and not finally crack. But one look at Geoffrey’s haunted eyes, and he knows there’s no way he’s letting Geoffrey walk out of Ward Security without him.
Even if it means breaking his own rules, he will keep Geoffrey
Two writers, One Book
We’re often asked how we write together and I’ve written several posts explaining how. Here’s a link to the most recent one. But what is it like to write with another author?
It’s many things! Fun, supportive, hilarious, crazy, frustrating but mostly wonderful. It’s the wildest thing because individually, we have very different styles, but when we work together, we somehow blend our voices. A lot of that is because we both do revisions and yeah, that’s where it can get tricky.
Writers can be fragile creatures, but they also have egos when it comes to their own personal vision of a character or story. She may see something happening in a completely different way than I do and vice versa. We’ve butted heads a bit here and there, but we have a strong friendship that we make sure always comes first.
We also have a sincere love for writing these books and often find we have the very same ideas for how they should go. It’s uncanny at times.
One thing that helps, is we do a lot of planning beforehand. We use actual homes and offices. We set up files with pictures of the rooms and often, we have blueprints for those places. Jocelynn has even put together a rough set for us a couple of times.
We also pick actual models to represent the characters so we have a similar vision while working. (We share those models on Tumblr and in our readersgroup on Facebook.) But even with this, we’ll have different ideas. For instance, I kept seeing Andrei with long, black wavy hair that bordered on curls, she sees only long black wavy hair. We never could find a Hollis we wanted after we both felt his face was so very close to Michael Fassbenders. The man is stunning from head to toe, but our Hollis was actually built bigger. So, we improvised.
We do in depth character write-ups and we plot. Most of the time, we have half the book plotted, then we find we need to take a step back and figure out what’s missing. That’s when we fix what’s off, deepen the suspense or romance, and that’s usually when that magical slide into a real book happens.
I normally get goose bumps. That’s how I know we got it.
We also have some of the funniest, and silliest, conversations. Here’s an example of one we had during Psycho Romeo!
Rinda Elliott: I stole one of your lines from the previous chapter and moved it to this section. I think it’s perfect here. What do you think?
Rinda Elliott: Long story. Sven glared down at Geoffrey as he peeked out from behind him to look at his car. Told you we should have taken mine.
Your SUV looked like it was snarling at me, Geoffrey grumbled.
Sven!Rowe snapped into the phone. Are you telling me that you let him talk you into taking a different vehicle? Geoffrey? Really?
Jocelynn Smith: What’s my line?
Rinda Elliott: The snarling SUV. You had described the SUV looking like it belonged to a drug lord and more. Then you had the snarling line. I thought it would be funny in this spot. But I’m cool moving it back, too. 😉
Jocelynn Smith: No I like it. I just couldn’t remember writing it. Of course I can’t remember what I did yesterday at the moment
Rinda Elliott: hahaha. You had Geoffrey thinking this in your section and I cracked up at the thought of him saying it out loud while stuck behind Sven in this scene. It worked, too. OMG, I’ve worked my ass off on this chapter tonight. It sucks less now. Hopefully.
Jocelynn Smith: Lol
Jocelynn Smith: I’m crashing. Long day
Rinda Elliott: Night. Night.
Jocelynn Smith: Awww sounds like you’re tucking me in to bed
Jocelynn Smith: Night!
Rinda Elliott: Wanna kiss?
Jocelynn Smith: Sure.
Jocelynn Smith: But I was gonna ask if I could cuddle between Lucas and Andrei.
Rinda Elliott: Yeah, that sounds way more fun. 😉
Jocelynn Smith: Lol
Thanks for joining us on this blog tour for Psycho Romeo!
Once again, Geoffrey had surprised him. That jump to his defense had been swift and hard. Sven watched anyone who came near them, but he also watched Geoffrey fume as he walked the wrong direction on Freedom Way. People strolled the sidewalks all around them. In the back of his mind, he stayed aware of the fact that they didn’t know for sure his stalker was a part of his group. It could be anyone.
Over a million followers on one site alone.
He shook his head and stayed close as he took in everything about their surroundings. Skyscrapers of downtown Cincinnati rose up behind them while the Great American Ballpark was on their left. There was the rush of traffic on nearly all sides, but Geoffrey appeared to be heading away from the biggest crowds of people and toward Ohio River rippling in the distance, winding between Ohio and Kentucky.
Sweat gathered on his back, under his arms, and at the back of his neck. Maybe it was time to cut the hair. He’d grown it in a challenge with his brothers—who could stand it the longest. His oldest brother still held out. But Sven could out-stubborn them all.
Mostly because he actually liked it. Low-maintenance hair—just needed a brush or something to keep it off his neck. Digging into his pocket, he found one of the thick hair ties he used and looped his hair into a messy knot at the back of his head. He glanced down to find Geoffrey watching his movements with fascination.
“I don’t know how you stand it. Mine drives me crazy when it gets past my ears.”
He eyed the light blond gelled hair brushed back off Geoffrey’s forehead. “It suits you.”
“Thanks.” Anger returned to his expression, tightening his lips and he stomped off again. He had his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans—probably to keep from throwing them about as he did when his emotions were high. And they were. It was obvious in his quick, hard steps, his tight expression, and the energy radiating from his body. Sven had never met someone with so much liveliness. So much fire. He’d often marveled over it during the classes at Ward, fascinated and drawn to all that brightness and vitality like Geoffrey had hooked him on a short fishing line.
He could hardly ever take his eyes off him.
And now that he’d seen the sexy, trim body under all those clothes, he was having trouble not watching for the flex of muscle underneath the slouchy blue T-shirt Geoffrey wore today. When he shrugged, it slipped off his shoulder and Sven wanted to lift him high, press his back into the nearest wall, and put his mouth on that tantalizing collarbone. Learn the taste and scent of his skin. And he wanted the laughter back. Amusement transformed him, making him all golden sunlight and joy. He’d throw his head back, revealing white teeth and when he let himself go like that, the trace of sadness he seemed to carry at all times disappeared.
Sven had the feeling Geoffrey’s loneliness ran deeper than his own, and he’d felt the ache of it for some time now. He didn’t enjoy bars or nightclubs and although he’d downloaded a hookup app onto his phone, he’d never seen anyone on it worth contacting. But he wasn’t one for anonymous sex, so he mostly went without. Hoping he’d eventually meet someone worth the effort it would take to build a real relationship.
His fierce attraction to Geoffrey made little sense. They couldn’t have been more opposite in personality, size, income bracket…pretty much everything.
Except for the loneliness.
Geoffrey had tons of people around him, yet none of them were true friends. Not any that he’d met today anyway. And every time his gaze had locked with Geoffrey’s, he’d seen something that had ripped the world right from under his feet.
Geoffrey knew. He was completely aware that they used him. For money, for notoriety, for another selfie on their social media accounts.
The absolute…fakeness of it all tightened his chest to the point of pain. Because he could see, in those blue eyes, that Geoffrey Ralse needed so much more.
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Rinda Elliott
Rinda loves unusual stories and credits growing up in a family of curious life-lovers who moved all over the country. Books and movies full of fantasy, science fiction and romance kept them amused, especially in some of the stranger places.
For years, she tried to separate her darker side with her humorous and romantic one. She published short fiction, but things really started happening when she gave in and mixed it up. When not lost in fiction, she loves making wine, collecting music, gaming and spending time with her husband and two children.
She is the author of the Beri O’Dell urban fantasy series, the YA Sister of Fate Trilogy with Harlequin Teen, and the paranormal romance Brothers Bernaux Trilogy. She also writes erotic fiction as Dani Worth.
She can be found at RindaElliott.com and her Dani Worth blog . She’s represented by Miriam Kriss at the Irene Goodman Agency.
Jocelynn Drake
Love comes in many varied forms. There is the love of family, love of country, and love of chocolate. But for Jocelynn Drake, one truly treasured love is the love of a good story. This former Kentucky girl spends the majority of her time lost in the strong embrace of a good book.
When she’s not hammering away at her keyboard, frowning at her monitor, or curled up with a book, she can usually be found cuddling with her cat Demona, walking her dog Max, or flinging curses at the TV while playing a video game. Outside of books, cats, and video games, she is completely enamored of Bruce Wayne, Ezio Auditore, travel, tattoos, explosions, fast cars, and Anthony Bourdain (but only when he’s feeling really cranky).
She is the author of the urban fantasy series: The Dark Days series and the Asylum Tales. She also occasionally writes as Joy Douglass when she’s in the mood for a little historical romance. She can be found at JocelynnDrake.com.
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Thanks for having us!
I have read all the books of the previous series and loved this one just as much, I was pleased that Geoffrey wasn’t just a twink but had brains, it took just one man to see past his mask to see the real Geoffrey, so glad it was Swen who saw he was a loving brother and had so much inside him that his (not friends) people who used him for his image and money, I really enjoyed the smart remarks between Sven and Geoffrey, so different in size but alike in all things that mattered, so thank you for another great read, just have to be patient for the next book. I get totally immersed when I start ready your books, just love them all.
What a wonderful thing to hear! Thank you for letting me know how much you enjoyed Psycho Romeo. 🙂