JD: Let’s back up a step first. So,
the Taggarts are a hardworking Wyoming ranching family. But something’s … odd
about the four Taggart siblings. Come to find out, each sibling has unusual
“gifts” – or curses, depending on who you ask.
Baby sister, Shelby Taggart, learned
years ago that she should avoid getting too close to anyone, lest her weird
radar for detecting others’ feelings kick into gear. Emotional openness sounds
like a good thing in theory. In reality? No way, and not when her power gives
her the ability to know everything that her partner thinks about her, both good
and bad. Honesty is NOT the best policy. So when it comes to relationships,
yeah, count Shelby WAY out.
Eric Patterson is like a brother to
the Taggart siblings, practically growing up with them due to his own rough
childhood. He’s always found Shelby to be prickly and closed-off, so it hasn’t
been a problem staying in the friend zone. Until recently. Her near-death
experience triggered in Eric new feelings for Shelby that are definitely not
brotherly. He’s considering trying for a relationship with Shelby. But between
his control issues and her stubbornness, the sparks will heat up a frigid
Wyoming winter…or incinerate them both.
SC: The
Taggarts certainly seem like a family in tune with the paranormal. What about
you, Jillian? Do you believe in the paranormal and if so, do you have an
experience you can share?
JD: What an interesting question. Yes,
if we can define paranormal as something that is outside of normal
understanding and perception. You bet I believe in it!
My non-writing job is as a doctor. I
have an uncanny knack for kind of “showing up” in Labor and Delivery right
before all hell breaks loose. I can’t tell you how many times the nurses will
call me and I’m like, “I’m already on my way and will be there in about 30
seconds.”Oddly, this concept drove the beginning of my first book, Immortal Flame. I got to thinking about my weird timeliness and then wondered what it would be like if I could tell which patients would have a sudden emergency. In Immortal Flame, the main character, Dr. La Croix, can randomly tell which patients won’t make it, no matter what she does in their care. That subtle power became a link throughout all the books of the Hell to Pay series, and then spun off to the Hell’s Valley books Legacy of Lies and Legacy Lost (which we’re discussing today). Funny how those ideas take off!
SC: Well,
thanks for being a doctor. That can't be an easy job. I imagine that writing
lets a lot of your daily stress out. What titles are you working on now that you
can tell us about?
JD: I’m working on the 3rd and 4th
books in the Hell’s Valley series. The hope is that we can get them out late
summer and late fall/early winter. If you think things are crazy in my first
two books in the series…? Watch out – the ride gets wild before it’s all over!!
SC: Well
thanks for stopping by today. Your part is done here now, lol. Let's let the
readers take a look at your latest novel.
Legacy Lost
Hell’s Valley Series
Book Two
Jillian David
Genre: paranormal romance/western romance
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Date of Publication: 3/27/17
ISBN: 1507202326
ASIN: B06W2JZXSC
Number of pages: 250
Word Count: 66,700
Tagline: The melding of the contemporary western with paranormal elements—think Big Valley meets Alphas—makes for a compelling, fresh mix for Jillian David’s sophomore series.
Book Description:
Growing up as an honorary Taggart, Eric Patterson found the family he’d always wanted. Almost. He couldn’t ever manage to see the clan’s youngest and only daughter, stubborn spitfire Shelby, quite like a little sister. Suddenly, his long-suppressed feelings are determined to come to light.
Too bad Shelby’s cursed. Her double whammy psychic powers to read emotions and locate anyone anywhere have always made relationships impossible—and now they’ve begun to endanger her life. If she uses her echolocation skills again, it just might kill her.
But when a malevolent supernatural force invades the valley, threatening the Taggarts and their neighbors, the Brands, Eric and Shelby must contend with both their blossoming feelings and the increasing danger. Does Shelby dare risk using her powers one more time, sacrificing her own life to save Eric?
Excerpt:
Wait until Eric
found out she could read anyone’s emotions.
Not that she’d
ever tell him.
It was bad
enough he knew about her homing beacon skills.
A wave of
something else wafted over her filters. Warm, smoky caramel. The scent of Eric’s
concern and worry about her.
Great.
His light brown
brows drew together. “So, how’s your breathing? Really?” By the way he asked,
he damn well knew the answer.
“Fine.”
“Want to try
that answer again?” The curve of his sensual mouth pressed into a hard line as
he studied her. Did he seriously move into a wide alpha-dude stance? Not that
she was affected by him. No way. Her disgust stemmed from the fact that hard
muscled, denim-clad legs like those should be illegal to display without a
license.
“Sure.” She
suppressed a betraying wheeze. “How about it’s none of your business and let’s
get back to work?”
He barked what
passed for a laugh and moved not one inch. “You bet it’s my business.” He
extended a work-roughened hand toward her then dropped it. “I can’t believe
you’re on call for Search and Rescue in this condition.”
“In this
condition?” Virtual heat steamed from the top of her head. “Now you’re checking
on my condition?”
“I’m an EMT,
same as you. Someone should assess how you’re doing since you refused medical
treatment after the fire.”
“Don’t need to
assess anything. I’m fine.”
He rolled a
gloved hand into a fist and propped it on a central beam, leaning like he
wanted to shove down the entire structure. “Damn it, Shel, you’re going to get
yourself killed if you don’t take care of yourself. I’m one of the team leaders
on Search and Rescue. And I will pull you from a mission if you’re not
healthy.”
Irritation
crackled along her nerves. No way could she give in to the undertone of concern
in his voice. “That would be the last thing on earth that you did, getting in
my way of doing my job.”
His mouth barely
moved. “If it’s a medical call, I’ll do it.”
“This
conversation was getting too serious too quickly. And she couldn’t detect a
rock bottom for this uncomfortable chat. “So now you’re a medical expert?”
“As close as
we’re going to get right now.”
Spin the topic,
damn it. Change the subject. Now. “No way, dude. You’re not evaluating my
medical condition. Because then I’d have to make you wear the stupid nurse
costume and call you ‘ma’am.’”
He paused then
shook his head. With a glint in his dark blue eyes, he shot her a broad grin
that made her heart flop. “How about I wear the hat?”
“Well . . . ”
“And nothing
else.”
Today’s verbal
judo wasn’t working like it normally did. Her cheeks warmed up at the thought
of an exam by Eric. With him wearing only a nurse’s cap. That image cast her
childhood friend in a whole new and uncomfortable light. She broke eye contact.
Nope. Nothing would ever happen beyond friendship, and life was better for both
of them that way.
Because, with
her crappy gift to detect emotion, Shelby’s problem wasn’t intimacy, it was the
aftermath, the judgment, the inevitable disapproval, the garbage and static that
came along with even the nicest thoughts. Way too much closeness.
She and Eric
were friends. That’s the way it had been for years, and that’s how it would be
for years to come. Period.
“Fine, Nurse
Patterson.” She sniffed. “But I get to decide how to use the stethoscope and
blood pressure cuff.”
About the Author:
Jillian David lives near the end of the Earth with her nut of a husband and two bossy cats. To escape the sometimes-stressful world of the rural physician, she writes while on call and in her free time. She enjoys taking realistic settings and adding a twist of “what if.” Running or hiking on local trails often promotes plot development.
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