Hi all! Flirting in Traffic my Cerridwen press novel finally comes out next Thursday! So I’m giving away two free downloads of FLIRTING next Wednesday 3/4 to two commenters on my blog. The book will be for sale the following day, March 5, in e-book format: http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-6982-47-flirting-in-traffic.aspx

Flirting in Traffic features what most of us would call a ‘rebound relaltionship.’ You’ve probably heard it before: A rebound relationship will never work. The familiar wisdom preaches that “you’re just acting out all of your feelings in regard to a relationship failing–or possibly shoring up a wounded self esteem with another person.”

What do you think about love on the “rebound?”

As someone who regularly deals with people and emotional issues, I do believe there’s good reason for the standard wisdom. Caution is required when the heart is so vulnerable. However, I also believe that all is fair in the game of love and war. So much depends on the people involved, their maturity, and emotional readiness for an intimate relationship.

Sometimes–just like in Flirting in Traffic’s Esa’s and Finn’s case–the rebound relationship is the real one.

Natasha Holt reported in her article I’m a Boomerang Bride several instances of fated rebound relationships. Ms. Holt describes one story as follows. “Nia and her boyfriend Simon described their relationship as ‘comfortable’ but sadly, at just 23, the spark had gone, so when Nia contemplated their future together, she realised she needed more. Nia made the difficult decision to break up with Simon. Then, just three months after the split, she met Steve, 30. Within 18 months they were married and had a baby boy. Fast work.”

According to psychologist Professor Alex Gardner, boomerang marriages do have a genuine chance of success.

“As long as you’re willing to take the lessons you learnt from your past relationship into your next one, and be honest with yourself about what went wrong, you have a real chance of making it work,” says Professor Gardner. “People can know very quickly if someone is right for them. If it feels right, it probably is.”

What are your thoughts on the thrills and fears associated with rebound romances? After reading Flirting in Traffic I hope you’ll at least consider the possibilities. 🙂

They say your blog should be informative instead of just entertain. Since I’m promoting my book Flirting in Traffic, which includes a fast, fun car, I thought I’d pass on a bit of knowledge you may or may not have known about something we all do–fill up our gas tanks.

Quiz: According to the American Petroleum Institute, over one hundred fifty fires have been started at gas pumps by A) cell phones B) static electricity or C) smoking

The answer to this one is B, static electricity. Despite a lot of urban legend about cell phone use at the gas pump, a cell phone has never been responsible for a fire under those conditions. Although the American Petroleum Institute says there is not one confirmed instance of a cell phone causing a fire at a gas station, cell phone manufacturers and gas companies both warn against using cell phones while refueling. When Exxon began mailing out information and decals to its 8,500 service stations in the U.S. in 1999 it told CNN that the risk of explosion is “extremely unlikely.” However, they decided to err on the side of safety. So I suppose we should too, eh?

According to AutoMedia, static electricity is a very real fire hazard at the fuel pump. “Static electricity may occur when a person filling their tank leaves the nozzle, gets back in their vehicle and rubs against the seats. When they return to the pump after refueling is complete, the built up static may discharge at the fill point, causing a brief flash fire with gasoline refueling vapors. To guard against this hazard, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) offers gas pump safety tips:

1. Do not get back in the car while refueling. If you must get back in the car, always touch a metal part of the vehicle such as the door or other metal surface away from the gas fill point before returning to the refueling area. Touching metal reduces the build up of static electricity and minimizes the likelihood of fire. Women should be extremely careful since 75 percent of the victims of gas pump static electricity fires are women who have gone back into their cars to tend to children, or to get their purse.

2. Do not smoke, light matches or lighters while refueling.

3. Turn off the engine during refueling.

4. Do not over fill or top-off your vehicle tank which can cause gasoline spillage.”

So there you have it. Since I learned about this, I’ve been a bit miserable standing outside in Chicago winters while I’m refueling, but…yeah. I do it anyway.

Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment to win a brand new download of my book Flirting in Traffic next Friday–well in advance of its March 3 release.

Have fun, and be safe!

Congrats, Jane, and thanks to all of you for telling me your flirt-car.

Stop by again this weekend for my week 3 contest, in which I’ll finally give away a copy of Flirting in Traffic (yes, I finally got my copies.)

Hi All! Well, it’s time for the Week 2 Contest: Name Your Dream Car

Now, like my heroine Dr. Esa Ormond in FLIRTING IN TRAFFIC, I say I’m practical about cars. No, I’d never go out and spend a fortune on say…oh, the car featured in FLIRTING, a red Ferrari. But my story might change drastically if I found myself zipping down a highway with all that pent-up power ready to let loose at my command. Yep. I think I’d become just as much of a speed demon as Esa. 🙂

So, for my Week 2 Contest in preparation for FLIRTING IN TRAFFIC’S release on March 3 from Cerridwen Press, tell me: what’d be your dream flirt-car? Go ahead. Fantasize a little. One commenter will win a free download of Exorcising Sean’s Ghost next Friday!

And just for fun, here’s a little tease from FLIRTING.

FLIRTING IN TRAFFIC
by Beth Kery
Contemporary Romance Novel
Cerridwen Press: 3/3/9

“Traffic’s still pretty bad, huh?” he observed, an obvious attempt at breaking the weighty silence.

Esa exhaled tiredly as she shifted the car into drive. Even the word “traffic” seemed to drain her of energy nowadays.

“Uh uh,” Finn said sharply when she started to take the restricted ramp back onto the overpass so that they could merge onto the Dan Ryan. “Keep going on this road.”

Esa stared at him wide-eyed. “But it’s not even finished yet, is it?”

Finn’s eyes gleamed in the semi-darkness. “As of yesterday, one driving lane as well as the emergency lane are finished and cleared. We’ll open up the extra express lane come Monday but tonight…it’s wide open.”

Esa braked, bringing the car to an abrupt stop.

“You mean this road is clear sailing all the way into the city?” Esa asked, excitement making her voice tremble slightly.

“That’s my surprise to you.”

Esa just stared at him for a few seconds. Suddenly she laughed and pressed her foot to the accelerator. The thought struck her as they blew past the cars moving sluggishly in traffic to the right of them that Finn had just given her a gift. And even though she hadn’t known him for that long, it was the most intimate, exhilarating…wonderful gift she’d ever been given.

“I felt like I was flying,” Esa exclaimed ten minutes later as she came to a neat stop inside of Finn’s parking garage.

“That’s because we were.”

For the first time Esa realized he looked a little pale.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Was I going too fast?”

“Going fast was the whole point, I suppose.”

He looked a little surprised when she unsnapped her belt and leaned across the console to hug him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeated as she pressed feverish kisses against his neck and jaw.

“I guessed that driving fast and free on the Dan Ryan would be the equivalent of foreplay for you. I’m just glad the feeling is transferring to me,” he chuckled.

“Oh, it transferred to you all right,” Esa assured him with a soft growl as she bit at his earlobe. “You have no idea what you just unleashed.”

He grinned broadly but his hand on her jaw was firm as he gently pushed her back so that he could look into her eyes.

“I had an idea. But let’s get one thing straight, honey.”

“What?” Esa asked impatiently. Her nostrils flared to catch his delicious male scent. She couldn’t take her eyes off his firm lips. She noticed that they set into a determined line when she tried to crane over to kiss him. He fingers burrowed into her hair and tightened, restraining her.

“Here in the car you’re the boss. But up there my bedroom I’m in the driver’s seat. Understood?”
Heat simmered between her thighs. She squirmed restlessly in the seat but Finn quirked one eyebrow…waiting.

“Yes, all right,” she murmured, recognizing that he expected a verbal agreement.

He smiled. “Okay, let’s go.”

Amber Stamper! Congratulations, Amber, and thanks so to all of you for your fun flirting comments.
Be sure to Make a Comment on the Week 2 Flirting Contest, coming up….

Hi All! I have a really fun, sexy book coming out in e-book format on March 3 from Cerridwen Press called FLIRTING IN TRAFFIC. In the weeks before FIT’s release, I’ll give away one e-book per week! I’ll start with a free download of my contemporary erotic romance, COME TO ME FREELY on 3/13/9 to one commenter. Weekly contests will follow for the next four Fridays until FLIRTING releases, so check back often!

Did you know there’s actually a dating service called FLIRTING IN TRAFFIC? I first had the idea for my upcoming steamy romance when I saw a news article on AOL with the same title. A guy was giving tips on how to flirt in traffic. I got tickled by the article, and of course my overactive imagination starting buzzing with story ideas. I came up with a scenario involving an uptight physician being thrown into a flirting in traffic scheme by her sister, who is the publisher of a trendy singles magazine. Hot sex and romance follow, despite Dr. Esa Ormond’s doubts and dubiousness regarding the crazy scheme.

I found the following transcript from Channel 7 News in Boston about the topic of flirting in traffic. I thought you might find it as entertaining as I did.

Flirting in traffic
Producer:
Justin Solomon

You’ve tried the bars, gone online and even let your friends set you up on blind dates, all to no success. Well, now dating is picking up speed in an unlikely place. 7’s Sorboni Banerjee has more on how you can become a fast lane flirt.

A message that could put you in the fast lane to love.

*Snort*
That cracked me up when they called people traffic flirters.

Anyway, what do you say? Have you ever been a ‘traffic flirter’? Tell us about it, or just tell us what you think, and be sure to come back next Friday to see the winner of this week’s contest, plus comment to win next week’s prize!

Contemporary or Paranormal to Soothe the Foul Mood?

I know, I know. It’s a nauseatingly familiar question—what’s your favorite romance genre? But I want to ask it a bit differently, and narrow it down to just two genres. What’s your mood been for lately—real characters or those of the paranormal variety? Settings that you feel like you live in or could visit tomorrow, or the fantasy realms?

If you’re like me, you enjoy both genres depending upon your mood and circumstances. There are some things that are affecting us all presently, however: a bleak economic landscape, for one. In addition, a good portion of the United States and Canada has been hit by the bitterest, most grueling winter weather in people’s memories.

The publishing optimists proclaim that books thrive in such a climate. Times get tough, and people escape with a good book. I’m going to assume that’s true for the sake of argument for the moment. My question is, what would your chosen escape be during this bleak winter of 2009? I’d like to take a quick pulse of the romance community, a very informal and unscientific poll right here today.

Imagine that you just had a really rough day. It shouldn’t be hard. We all have them, right? Here in Chicago, mine have usually been associated with mountains of snow, treacherous driving conditions and mind-numbing traffic. I’m sure you can fill in the blank with your pet peeve. Anyway…you finally get home and have the opportunity to curl up next to your TBR pile.

Just off the top of your head, what do you pick out? I know so many factors go into your decision, but I’m just curious. Would a contemporary or paranormal do the trick? Has your answer changed from last year at this time?

What about for television shows and movies? Same conditions, what would you like to watch to settle your foul mood? A contemporary drama or comedy, or something of the paranormal/fantasy variety?

Carolyn Jean!

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and saying hello to Julie. 🙂