#Interview with Jessica Lauryn of A Passionate Play

Lexi: Our guest today has a special place in our hearts. In one of her guest posts, years ago but we have good memories, she talked about her careful selection of the drinks she places in her characters hands. And, she had us at wine. So welcome back, Jessica Lauryn!

Thank you, Lexi!  I remember that post fondly – you had me at your blog’s name and all I could think about when I heard it was wine, and the ways in which it had subtly, and not-so-subtly found its way into my characters’ hands.  Reading Between The Wines has forever since had a special place for me as well, and I’m very excited to be here, chatting about my latest release, book 1 of The Rabourn Theater Series, A Passionate Play.


Lexi: I don’t know much about concussions but I’m guessing if you have a bad enough one to lose your memory you shouldn’t be drinking. Too bad for your heroine, Alicia Coleman, in A Passionate Play. Have you ever been hit hard on the head or had a concussion for that matter?

Yes, I imagine that alcohol would not be a good idea on the heels of a concussion, and hero Nick Lancaster agrees – he makes a special point of assuring Alicia that it’s sparkling cider he is pouring into her glass as the two of them are having dinner together the first night after Alicia’s accident.  I’ve never had a concussion myself but I am prone to sinus headaches and I have a great degree of sympathy for characters with pain in this particular part of the body—Alicia definitely takes the prize, but you’ll likely come across other characters in my stories who experience headaches from time to time, when they’re stressed-out or afraid.


Lexi: Maybe reading is too safe of an extra circular activity to get a concussion. But its a great way to take an emotional rollercoaster! I image that is a bit of what Alicia feels; not knowing who this guy is, if he is a protector or attacker, and why she is having interesting dreams about him. Does she have the dreams right away? 

Alicia experiences a number of dreams over the course of the story and they begin right from the start, only a few hours after her attack.  Her first dream is very fuzzy, but she sees the silhouette of two figures and realizes that there were two men present at the time when she was struck over the head. This begins a series of questions in her mind that she carries with her throughout A Passionate Play.  The man whose home Alicia wakes up in, Nick, provides her with a simple explanation about the whole thing but he appears to be holding a lot back and as she comes to know Nick better Alicia’s dreams intensify.  She dreams she is in bed with a handsome man and that the two of them are making love.  When she dreams of the man for the second time the details of her dream sharpen.  Nick is the man she is making love to and Alicia suspects that the scenario she envisions is not only a dream, but a memory.


Lexi: We know you put a lot of thought into the details of your characters. Were there any little things you agonized over in A Passionate Play?

Unlike with many of the professions I’ve given to characters, the theater is one avenue I’ve had no personal experience with. To make up for my lack of industry knowledge I did a lot of research in this area and I later learned, as luck would have it, that my editor did have experience working in a theater. Having her as a second pair of eyes gave me much peace of mind in this area! My other concern was Nick—he lies to Alicia when her life is in danger and I wanted to be sure that readers would forgive him for his misguided decisions, when all is said and done.  The backstory that I created for Nick explains the nightmare that is his past and I worked through this reveal to show that character is both well-meaning and deserving of sympathy.  


Lexi: I love reading and finding little real life things that make me laugh. It’s part of how you bring your characters to life and make them so memorable. For you, what is the one thing you will remember most about writing?

You and I are very similar in that sense!  I love adding humor to my stories and most of my heroes wind up a lightened version of the alpha male with a good heart and witty commentary.  I love to have my heroes go back and forth with an antagonistic foe and even with the heroine, engaging in a bit of full-blown, sharp-tongued banter.  There is no feeling greater than going back and rereading a story I wrote years, one I’ve read a thousand times for which the dialogue still makes me laugh. I live for those discoveries!


Lexi: Thank you so much for coming back to the blog, Jessica! It was fun having you. We wish you success and cheers to your release of A Passionate Play! We hope to see you back with book two of the Reborn Theater series!

Thank you, Lexi! I look forward to chatting with you all again soon!

A Passionate Play 

(The Rabourn Theater #1)

by Jessica Lauryn

ebook, 302 pages

Published October 18th 2016 by Siren BookStrand

ISBN139781682955604

On the heels of a major performance, theater actress Alicia Coleman is attacked in an alleyway. She is struck over the head with a pistol and the blow causes her to lose her memory. Injured and afraid, Alicia struggles to remember the details of her life. The only person who appears to know who she is, is the man she fears may also be her attacker.

In the midst of several failed attempts to escape, Alicia comes to know the man whose home she awoke in and realizes that the two of them share a complicated past. Though Nick refuses to tell her much beyond her first name, a series of dreams, in which she and he are sharing a lot more than the second story of a secluded mansion, cause Alicia to suspect the most outrageous of possibilities—that the man holding her prisoner may actually be her lover. Surrounding threats, including that of a midnight intruder, cause Alicia to realize that proving her theory true (or not) may be her only chance of keeping her attacker from coming after her a second time. 

AMAZON | B&N

About the Author:

An author of Contemporary Romantic Suspense, Jessica Lauryn is most intrigued by dark heroes, who have many demons to conquer...but little trouble enticing female companions into their beds! She feels that the best romances are those where the hero is already seducing the heroine from that first point of contact.

In Jessica's debut series, The Pinnacles of Power, five troubled bad boys: Ryan, Alec, Colin, Lucas and Jack must let go of the mistakes of their pasts as they battle the dangers surrounding an underground organization called Project Gemstone. Each man crosses paths with a strong heroine who has the ability to capture his heart and change the course of his life forever. Dangerous Secret kicks off the series in the mountainous town of North Conway.

Jessica is a proud member of Romance Writers of America and her local chapter, New Jersey Romance Writers. When she's not writing, she enjoys listening to as much 80's music as possible, shopping for the prettiest of antiques, and taking long walks in nature where she can daydream about anything romantic. Though she resides in New Jersey, her heart belongs to the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.

Sign up for Jessica's Newsletter for the latest releases and giveaways! http://eepurl.com/ck5-O9