Twentysomething Kat Reid is loving life as an in-demand Hollywood makeup artist. She has absolutely no interest in rock ’n’ roll, but in order to pay the mortgage, she agrees to work on the set of a rock video for the world-famous rockers known as Bad Habit…which brings her face-to-face with Nico Nyx, lead singer of Bad Habit and Adonis in the flesh.
However, the fiercely independent Kat isn’t impressed by the hard-living, womanizing rock star. But when Nico’s model girlfriend shows up to the set drunk and Kat is tapped to replace her as the video’s sexy bride, her combustible chemistry with Nico suddenly threatens to consume the set. Nico feels it, too—and becomes determined to win Kat over, body and soul. Yet behind his rock god swagger, Nico hides a dark secret. Can he rock Kat’s world forever, or will he just break her heart?
I tried to pull away, but he pinned me to his side. “Nico,” I protested.
He shook his head, all hard eyes and hard jaw and hotness. “Not lettin’ you run away just ’cause you’re scared, darlin’. Not how it works when you’re with me.”
“I’m not with you!” It came out as a hiss. If it wouldn’t have ended up splashed across all the tabloids, I would have slapped him across the face, he was so infuriating.
“Not yet.” His voice was dark with promise. He sounded utterly certain, like it was a foregone conclusion that I would be his.
I would not be a foregone conclusion.
“Please help me up.”
My tone was cold. Judging by the look on his face, Nico didn’t like it.
“Kat—”
“Nico, no. Just no. Please stop it. I’m not a toy. You need to respect what I’m telling you. I’m flattered, but I’m not interested in anything except getting through today, and getting back to real life. Okay?”
He paused, gauging my tone. “Okay.”
Relief swept through me. Disappointment, too, but I ignored that. I shouldn’t have been too relieved, however, because Nico wasn’t done with me yet.
“I’ll let you up on one condition: prove you’re not attracted to me.”
I glared at him. “Would you prefer me to stab you with one of my heels, or gouge your eyes out with my fingernails?”
“Nah. A kiss will do the job.”
Was I on drugs? Had I even gotten out of bed this morning? Maybe this was all an elaborate dream, and right now I was snug in bed with the covers pulled over my head. I stared at Nico, at a loss for what to do.
My body had a few ideas, but my brain wasn’t on board with any of them.
“I don’t kiss strange men.”
“I’m not a stranger. We’ve been introduced.” His fingers curled over the curve of my hip. His head dipped toward mine.
Breathing was becoming difficult. My face felt so hot it burned. “I don’t kiss men with girlfriends.”
“We already covered that. She’s not my girlfriend. Next excuse?”
My hands were flattened against his bare chest as I tried to push him away. My voice came out small. “I don’t want to.”
Nico shook his head, his eyes hot. “Such a fuckin’ liar,” he whispered.
Before I could react, he lowered his mouth to mine.
What inspired your new Bad Habit series? What is it about?
I was a serious Van Halen fangirl when I was a teenager, and my best friend was a die-hard Zeppelin fan. We went to a million rock concerts together. Growing up in LA, one of the things to do on weekends was to go into Hollywood and hang out at all the famous rock clubs on Sunset strip, so I have tons of memories and experiences from that time. After I finished my paranormal Night Prowler series, I wanted to make a change to contemporary, and thought stories about a rock band would be a blast to write.
Please tell us more about members of the band?
Nico is the passionate, extroverted lead singer. He’s the hero of the first book in the series, Sweet As Sin. A.J. Edwards is the surly, tatted badboy drummer with a past even more screwed up than Nico’s. (If you read Sweet As Sin, you’ll know that’s pretty bad!) Then there’s Brody Scott, aka “Scotty,” the lead guitarist, who’s a bit of a fashion plate. Ethan and Chris are the keyboardist and bassist, respectively, but I don’t know too much about them yet because they haven’t told me.
What qualities does Nico have that make him a swoonworthy hero?
Nico is your typical alpha male, with a twist. He’s passionate and possessive, but not douchey, like so many alpha bad boys can be. He has a dirty mouth and loves to use it, but he’s very much into doing anything that will make Kat feel happy and protected. He loves to spoil her, and lets down his guard almost from the first moment they meet. He’s not one of those guys who sleeps with other girls to make Kat jealous, or acts wishy-washy about commitment. He’s all in, one hundred percent, from the get-go. He’s very intense, but he knows exactly what he wants, and will do anything to get it. And keep it.
What makes Nico and Kat perfect for each other?
They’re two damaged souls who are straight talking, no-bullshit kind of people. All the things that have happened to them in their pasts make them both very protective of and loyal to those they love. Both of them are mature beyond their years, both are sensitive and soulful, and both are willing to risk everything for love. They’re irresistible to one another.
What’s the most romantic thing Nico does for Kat?
Nico is a die-hard romantic, so he does a lot of over-the-top romantic things for Kat in the book. One of the most romantic is the mariachi band he flew in from Mexico to surprise Kat for her birthday. (They heard some mariachi music at a restaurant on their first date, and watched a movie together that had a mariachi song she loved, both of which he remembered.) She has a terrible story about why she hates her birthday, and Nico wanted to make her some better birthday memories. What comes along with the mariachis is a great surprise, and very Nico.
What’s your favourite scene in the book?
There’s too many to pick just one. But I love the scene when Nico first visits Kat at her house, and she asks him why he’s into her. Here’s a snippet:
“Can I ask you a serious question?”
He nodded.
I had to gather my courage for a second before I could ask him what was on my mind.
“Why me?”
I promise I wasn’t fishing for a compliment this time. I was just confused. This man could have any woman he wanted. Literally—any one. I thought I was better than average looking, but I certainly wasn’t a stunner. Especially in a town like L.A. where beautiful women practically grew on trees. I could be funny on occasion, and I’d been told by past boyfriends I had a quirky, adorable charm.
But I wasn’t on Nico’s level. I was boxing out of my class. If he was Mike Tyson, I was the guy who emptied the spit bucket. I just needed to understand.
“Could be those freckles. First girl I ever loved had freckles. I was six.” Nico regarded me very seriously, but I sensed the humor behind his tone. “Or it could be those Cleopatra eyes. Or that killer body. You got a woman’s body, classic hourglass curves made for a man’s hands.”
I blushed again, looking down.
Nico’s voice grew quiet. “Or it could be that when you look at me, I feel like I could fuckin’ fly.”
I looked up at him. Now he was deadly serious, staring at me with something like wonder.
“I don’t have a lot of real in my life, Kat. You’re real. Knew it when you stood up to me when I got mad at Avery. Protectin’ a girl you didn’t even know, puttin’ yourself out there for someone else. And not backin’ down an inch. I liked that. Liked it too that you didn’t let me push you around or intimidate you. You’d be surprised how old that shit gets, people bowin’ and scrapin’, thinkin’ they’re gonna get somethin’ outta you if they kiss your ass just right. And then you demanded I explain what the deal was with me and Avery before you’d even consider talkin’ to me about there bein’ anything between us. Which I loved, by the way. Shows you got class. And self-respect. To top it all off, you got two girlfriends who obviously love you and have your back, which means you’re a good friend. Which means you’re trustworthy. Which means fuckin’ everything to me.”
I let it all sink in, just breathing. I wasn’t sure if I trusted myself to speak.
“So that’s why I got you the necklace. That’s what we’re gonna have: trust. It’s important to me, and it’s important to you. All this other stuff . . . ” He squeezed me into a tight embrace, nuzzled his face into my neck, and inhaled deeply. “Is just a bonus.”
“Other stuff?” I sounded like Minnie Mouse I was so breathless.
He chuckled. “The way my dick gets hard just lookin’ at you. The way you get wet when I touch you.”
Oh, God. We were back to the dirty talk. And we were in my house. Alone.
Can you give us a sneak peek at the next book in the series?
The next book will star A.J. and Chloe, two characters that are introduced in Sweet As Sin. A.J. is the drummer for the band, and Chloe is one of Kat’s best friends. And the two of them can’t stand each other. But A.J. has some very good reasons why he wants to keep Chloe away. Honestly their book, Make Me Sin, is my favorite book I’ve ever written. It’s a pretty devastating read. I’ve never cried so much writing anything in my life! I can’t wait to hear what readers think of it.
Top 5 Most Swoon-Worthy Sweet As Sin Moments
Compiling a list of the five most swoon-worthy moments in my new novel, Sweet As Sin, was really hard. Like, really. In addition to being a badass, Nico is an incredible sweet-talker. (When he isn’t being an incredible dirty-talker, that is.) Here are the top five times he melted Kat’s heart.
Trying to convince Kat’s girlfriends she should give him a chance
“So since you’re her two best friends, and she’s not tellin’ me what she wants, I think we should all figure this out together.” His voice lowered. “Because I wanna get to know her. Because I think she’s beautiful, interestin’, and sexy as fuck, and that laugh of hers knocks me on my ass. And I think she wants me, too, only she’s afraid.” He paused to draw a breath. “So. Tell me what I need to do to make her mine.”
When he got her a thoughtful present because she hates her birthday
“Needed to make you some better birthday memories, sweetheart. Needed you to know I’m a man who’s gonna take care of your heart.”
When he’s a die-hard romantic
He stared deep into my eyes. The depth of emotion I saw there took my breath away. “What’s more romantic, Kat? Fallin’ in love because you don’t know any better…or fallin’ in love, knowin’ it’s gonna ruin you, knowin’ it’s gonna rip out your fuckin’ heart and smash you into a million little pieces, but doin’ it anyway because you’d rather pay the price and be ripped and smashed forever than never get a taste of it at all?”
When he’s feeling snuggly
“Sweetie,” I whispered, trying as gently as possible to remove myself from his arms. His response was to drag my naked body closer to his and silently bury his face between my breasts. I laughed softly. “No fair hiding in my cleavage.” His voice was muffled against my breasts and scratchy with sleep. “This is my favorite place in the world. Nothin’ bad ever happens here.”
The first time he declares his love
“What I am is yours. All yours, body and soul. And I can’t live without you. I don’t want to spend a single minute from this moment on without you. I sleep better with you. I feel better with you. Everything seems brighter when you’re around. I can’t imagine a future without you, and if that’s not me tellin’ you I love you, I don’t know what would be.”
J.T. Geissinger is an award-winning author of paranormal and contemporary romance featuring dark and twisted plots, kick-ass heroines, and alpha heroes whose hearts are even bigger than their muscles. An entrepreneur since she began hand-addressing envelopes for a local beauty pageant when she was 14, she has owned businesses as diverse as a temporary employment agency to a flower shop. It wasn't until hitting a significant birthday that she became motivated to realize her life-long dream of writing a novel.
Her debut novel, Shadow's Edge, was a #1 Amazon domestic and international bestseller, and won the Prism award for Best First Book. Her follow-up book, Edge of Oblivion, was a RITA© Award finalist for Best Paranormal Romance from the Romance Writers of America. Book 6 in the Night Prowler series, Into Darkness, won the Golden Quill award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy. Her work has also finaled in the Booksellers' Best, National Readers' Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.
Foodie, wine enthusiast, and nap connoisseur, she lives in California with her husband, on whom all her heroes are based.
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