Hello everyone! Today I am so excited to welcome back the fabulous S.E. Jakes to Joyfully Jay. S.E. is here to talk to us more about her new release, Long Time Gone (which I so totally loved and think you all should rush right out and read). Â She is talking to us today about sex in books (of which LTG has lots with much hotness). Â She has also brought along multiple great giveaways, including one just for Joyfully Jay commenters. Â So please join me in giving S.E. a big welcome!
Thanks to Joyfully Jay for having me back again for my new Riptide book tour for LONG TIME GONE, the second book in the Hell or High Water Series.
In Catch A Ghost, you met Prophet and Tommy, operatives at EE, Ltd. In Long Time Gone, Prophet and Tommy are reunited, and, as I keep saying on social media sites, I think I’ve been forgiven for the ending of Catch A Ghost, yes?
There’s still a hell of a lot of story to tell, though, and I’m really glad I’m able to do so over the next two books. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. Today, we’re going to talk about sex. (Is that cheering I hear?)
I’ve talked about the importance of sex scenes before (and I’ve also wondered aloud to my readers as to why my sex scenes need the least editing, but that’s a story for another day.) It’s a rule of thumb in writing erotica that, if you can take the sex scenes out without hurting the story, you don’t have an erotic story but rather a story with sex shoved in.
I don’t consider the Hell or High Water series erotica per se, but I know that if you took out the scenes where Prophet and Tommy have sex, the story would suffer.  Scratch that—there couldn’t be a story, because those scenes aren’t just about sex – they’re an integral part of how the book(s) move forward and propel each installment to its natural conclusion. Because every single time those guys have sex, they are building a connection, whether they want to or not. Sex is their chosen language, so to speak, the way they communicate when they’ve failed to communicate with words. Or when they simply don’t want to.
So, for my books, those scenes are hot and they’re sweet and sometimes they’re rough and tumble and even uncomfortable because of the truths they reveal, but they always tell a part of the story. The story doesn’t stop when Prophet and Tommy have sex—rather, their relationship is moving. Evolving. And yes, even when there are alligators and duct tape involved.
Sex has always been an important part of my stories—always will be—because sex is (should be!) an important part of our lives. As important as love, whether or not they’re actually connected. And that is definitely a whole other story…(and I’m not insinuating ANYTHING about Prophet & Tommy with that last sentence – I swear! I promise you all an HEA at the end of the series 🙂
Talk to me about anything –Prophet and Tommy. Sex. Hot books you’d recommend to me (because I’m always looking for recs!). Comment below and you’ll automatically entered in the giveaway I’m doing specially for commenters on this blog—two $10.00 Amazon gift cards. You’ll also be entered into the bigger giveaway on my site – two $25.00 Amazon gift cards (and yes, you can win here and still be eligible for one of the bigger GCs).
About SE Jakes
SE Jakes writes m/m romance. She believes in happy endings and fighting for what you want in both fiction and real life. She lives in New York with her family and most days, she can be found happily writing (in bed). No really…
You can contact her the following ways:
- You can email her at authorsejakes@gmail.com
- You can post to her Facebook page: Facebook.com/SEJakes
- You can Tweet her: Twitter.com/authorsejakes
- You can post on her Goodreads Group: Ask SE Jakes
- You can follow her Tumblr page: sejakes.tumblr.com
Truth be told, the best way to contact her is by email or in blog comments. Â She spends most of her time writing but she loves to hear from readers!
About Long Time Gone
When a tornado meets a volcano, nothing is safe.
Soldier of fortune Prophet Drews always worked alone—until Tom Boudreaux became his partner. But when Tom walked away three months ago, ostensibly to keep Prophet safe, Prophet learned the true meaning of being alone. Everyone knows that Prophet, a Navy SEAL turned CIA spook turned mercenary, can look after himself. Which means he must’ve driven his lover away.
Even with half a world between them, Prophet can’t get the man out of his head. Maybe that’s why he’s in New Orleans in the middle of a hurricane, protecting Tom’s aunt. But the only looter around is Tom, bursting back into Prophet’s life. It turns out that Prophet’s been stuck in Tom’s head—and heart—too.
Their explosive reunion gets even hotter when Tom is arrested for murder. As they fight to clear his name, they delve deep into his past, finding enemies among everyone they meet. Staying alive in such a dangerous world is hard enough, but they soon discover that fighting to stay together is the most difficult thing they’ve ever done.
***
You can read and excerpt and purchase at Riptide Books.  Book 1 in the series, Catch A Ghost, is also available. And Dirty Deeds, an EE, Ltd novella will be available in January 2014)
Giveaway
As mentioned above, S.E. has brought lots of goodies for us today.  Comment below to be entered in both giveaways.  The first is just for commenters on Joyfully Jay —two $10.00 Amazon gift cards!  You’ll also be entered into the bigger tour wide giveaway – two $25.00 Amazon gift cards (and yes, you can win here and still be eligible for one of the bigger GCs). So be sure to leave a comment to enter by Sunday, November 3rd at 11:59 pm to enter.
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Â Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Of the hottest books I’ve read quite a lot of them are by this author – a definite favourite is Bound By Law 🙂
I’m also a big fan of Abigail Roux’s Ty & Zane books – love those two together 🙂
YAY for BBL 🙂  I was really surprised when Paulo showed up in BBH. I was like, who are you and what are you doing here?  Law’s already taken…
So you see how well he listened 🙂
I have read all of your books and enjoyed each one of them, but I have to say that I will be remembering Prophet and Tom’s reunion  scene for a very long time.  Wow!!!  Well done.  😀  Love this series and all the great characters you have created.  Can’t wait to read Dirty Deeds next.  🙂
Thanks, Lisa!!! Those reunion scenes are absolutely some of my favorite scenes ever.  I wanted those guys back together as badly as everyone else 🙂
I’m currently reading Long Time Gone, and boy is it HOT so far! 🙂  I’m also a big Ty and Zane fan. Probably one of the hottest books I’ve read lately is The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles. Loved that one! Other faves include Bad Boyfriend by K.A. Mitchell and Frat Boy and Toppy by Anne Tenino.
Hey Valerie!
Glad you’re enjoying LTG!!! Â I’m holding off on reading the C&R series until I’m done writing mine & then I’m totally glomming!!! Â I totally agree about the KA & Tenino. Â And Now I have to look into the KJ Charles book! Â
Good choices Valerie! I love them all but was definitely impressed by Magpie Lord. Just so different than your average story. I am so excited that it is going to be a series!
Thanks for a great post! I completely about sex scenes – they need to move plot/character development forward. I hate it when it feels like the scenes were just thrown in with no purpose. I’m looking forward to reading Long Time Gone.
Thanks Antonia!  I really feel strongly about it 🙂 Â
I just read Free Falling and Catch a Ghost in the last two weeks. Â Can’t wait to get my hands on Long Time Gone and glad to see Mal and Cillian getting their story. Â Â I have to agree that Ty & Zane are at the top of the hot sex meter for me probably because I’m so invested in them as a couple.
Hey Debra!
Glad you’re enjoying my guys 🙂  And yes, the investment you mention is SO key – you’ve watched their growth so you’re looking / noticing all the differences, etc. Â
I am still working my way through the Men of Honor series so that I can fully enjoy Prophet’s and Tommy’s story. I am currently reading Love Lessons, my first Heidi Cullinan book, and I know I’m late to the game on that but wow, the connection between the 2 characters is amazing. Thank you for the post and the giveaways!
Hi Allison!
Anything Heidi writes is a keeper ! Â
I really enjoy S E Jakes’ books and this new one looks  very enjoyable too.Â
Thanks Dianna! :):)
I’ve gotta try this series! There are tons of m/m books I love, but I keep going back to Damon Suede’s HOT HEAD (I’ve read it four times now, and it loses none of its touching, sweet, fearsomely sexy awesomeness), Eden Winters’ DIVERSION series (need to read #3), Clare London’s SAY A LITTLE PRAYER (sexy angel for the win!)…aggh, I’ll be here all day if I don’t stop, and I already feel guilty about not listing everything, sigh!
Hi Trix!
I love book recs so thanks!!!  You’ve added to my TBR 🙂
Bound by Law def. has one of the dirtiest and hottest sex scenes I have ever read! So beautiful and amazing.
Having currently read ‘Shock & Awe’ by Abigail Roux it’s just … whew! That’s some dirty and rough sex and I am a huge fan.
Generally, I love the sex scenes in M/M books and especially when they are part of the story and not just shoved in. Partly why I enjoy Prophet and Tommy so much – and why I am sure I am going to love Mal and Cillian. 😉
Hey Astrid!
Yeah, those three were really fun together 🙂  They just all ‘needed’ so much …
Dirty, rough sex is such a good thing :):)
My favorite of your books would by “Bound for Keeps”. I can’t tell you how many times I have read that one.
Looking forward to getting your new book this weekend.
Hey Diana!!!
BFK was almost book 1 in the series 🙂  I had a proposal for that and for BBH, but I went with BBH.  And looking back, it worked out for the best, I think, because then Prophet came in toward the end…I like when things work out like that!
I don’t think I can just choose one of your books SE Jakes I have read all the Men of Honor so far and Wow to choose one would be unfair to the others…… Thank you for the Chance to enter and I so need to win so I can buy both “Catch A Ghost” and “Long Time Gone”
angelalove@uwmail.com
I’ve read some books where the sex is just… sex. It always ends up feeling so blah, even when it’s kinda hot. Simply because there’s no real connection to the characters. It’s not important. So I’m glad to see that you really appreciate that as an author! I really need to pick up Catch a Ghost soon….
Hi S.E.! I started collecting your books ‘Men of Honor’ but didn’t start reading them wanting to make sure I had the entire series before doing so. Unfortunately, they are being sequestered in my laptop which Motherboard took a kamikaze dive and burned. I’ll have to wait until I can buy a harddrive reader to be able to retrieve everything in it. As for sex, to me, it is so important that the scenes are not just sex. If I want just that I’d watch porn. They need to have meaning, a deep connection between the two men performing it. Is too many sex scenes too much? It could be if they start becoming repetitive and boring.Â
I can’t wait to get my hands on your HoH series!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Rush
Thank you for your thoughtful blog post! I appreciate emotional depth in stories, and it’s great to know that I can find that in your work. It’s also fun to see all the stellar recommendations in the thread so far! Thanks for the chance to win!
I love, love, love this cover! Count me in please 🙂
penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com
Hot books, hmmm. I have a bad memory for character names, story lines etc, so that’s why I use tags. Go tags! lol. You’d have to look up on my GR list under my sex tags for a list of the books I thought were hot.
Awesome post! After your books and Abigail Roux’s Cut & Run series (formerly written with Madeleine Urban), I’d have to say Dirty Laundry by Heidi Cullinan was pretty hot. Sean Michael’s stories can be really hot as well. I’m sure I can think of a few more given some time.  🙂Â
I agree the covers are really great. I’m new to your works but have read really good reviews on them. Thanks for the contest.
I have never read anything by this author. I do have one though in my cyber pile.
It is a good story if sex moves along a storyline instead of thrown in there to fulfill a quota. It’s one of the reasons why I like your MOH books (and nothing to do with the hot, strong, vulnerable military men :))
I’m already looking forward to reading “A Long Time Gone”, and a GC to buy more(!) books would not be unwelcome 🙂
I would really like to read this series. Thanks for the giveaway.Â
I have so many favorite books I go back to just because I love the chemistry between the two MC’s. Some of my favorites are: A Matter of Time by Mary Calmes (no big sex scenes though), Change of Heart by Mary Calmes, Cut & Run Series by Abigail Roux (and now retired Madeleine Urban), Force of Law by Jez Morrow, The Trap by Indigo Wren and His Convenient Husband by J.L. Langley
I would unequivocally rec Damon Suede’s Hot Head, but I see you already got that one. I’m a slave to Alex Beecroft’s historicals, especially Captain’s Surrender. There’s something haunting about Connie Bailey’s Moonlight, Tiger, and Smoke. There are plenty more, but it’s like they say, three’s a charm, or less is more… oh, they say something that’s appropriate for now. Probably, “that’s all folks!” Thanks for sharing, S. E., and so glad to hear more about your series!