Restraining the Receptionist by Juniper Bell

NOTE:  Juniper's post was scheduled for yesterday, Saturday, June 11. However, through a blogger glitch--don't we just love those? LOL--it did not post, and therefore has been posted today. And oddly enough is showing the date as yesterday. Beats me! I'm just glad she's here and her new book looks smokin' hawt!!!!

I’m going through first-time jitters all over again. Trembling with nerves, torn between desire and shyness. Wondering if I’ll measure up…if it will hurt…if this will be my first and my last time…

See, while I’m no longer a virgin in most respects, I am when it comes to sequels. Restraining the Receptionist, out June 14, is my first. It’s a follow-up to my book, Training the Receptionist. I never particularly intended to write a sequel. But I actually got requests for one, which blew my mind to the point that I couldn’t … well, restrain myself.

I quickly discovered that writing a sequel is really weird. It’s like picking up dolls you abandoned in the toy box. Your characters are still piled there in the same position you left them, waiting for you to decide what to do with them. Last time I saw Dana, Ethan and Simon, a receptionist and her two sexy bosses, they’d finished a hot three-way and had made a deal to continue working/playing together.

Did they have any more stories left in them? Would their voices come back to me, particularly Dana’s, my first person narrator? Would the new story please the readers who had enjoyed the first one? Or (nooooo!!) would it disappoint them? These are questions I never worried about before. But with a sequel, they seem to go with the territory.

The good news is, Dana reappeared without missing a beat. And another character immediately grabbed my attention. Most of Training the Receptionist involved Simon’s relationship with Dana. Ethan was a shadowy figure who only appeared at the end. This time, he took center stage right away. He’s a very strong, very dominant character with some demons in his past. Dana has her hands full with him.

The story that unfurled surprised me, as they always do. The surprise here was how Ethan challenged Dana to discover even more about herself—about her spirit of adventure, and her capacity for trust and surrender. As I wrote, the enigmatic Ethan emerged from the shadows and revealed some of his complexities.

And that turned out to be the most fun part of writing a sequel—the chance to go deeper with characters I already knew and loved.

In a few days, Restraining the Receptionist will be out of my hands and into those of whoever wants to read it. And then I’ll find out how my first time went. Whether it was painful or orgasmically awesome. I already know it was good for me. My first time was way too much fun. I’m hooked.

If I smoked, I’d need a cigarette right now.  

How are sequels for you? Do you like reading them? Writing them? What’s the best part and the worst part of a sequel? I’ll choose one commenter to receive a download of the first book, Training the Receptionist. 

BLURB:

Every deal has a loophole.

…the Receptionist, Book 2

Dana Arthur’s new job with the firm of Cowell & Dirk is going well. Translation: the occasionally kinky ménage with her two bosses, Ethan and Simon, has been several months of politically incorrect bliss.

Except the relationship feels unbalanced. While Ethan is the undisputed master, the partners’ iron-clad agreement stipulates that Simon must be present as she performs her “duties”. And she senses there’s a subtle, powerful tug-of-war developing for more than just her body.

Simon had agreed to share the firm’s fiery, sensually daring receptionist…to a point. With Simon out of town, Ethan plans a feast of erotic temptations designed to have Dana begging him to break the deal. He didn’t realize his heart would be a casualty.

Once she surrenders to his wicked demands, Dana realizes there’s no going back. It’s time for a three-way renegotiation…this time, all or nothing. 

Product Warnings

NSFW!! Do Not Try This at Your Job. Contains highly inappropriate workplace behavior including m/f/m, m/m, bondage, creative use of office space and a high-stakes trip to Atlantic City.

Read an excerpt here. 

Check out Juniper’s website here.

Download a Free Read in the Receptionist series here.