Hiya peeps, we have Jaime Samms stopping by today with the cover to her upcoming release Like You’ve Never Been Hurt, the second book in her Dance, Love, Live series. Jaime chats briefly about her inspiration, she’s letting us have a peek at a great excerpt and there is also a fantastic giveaway so enjoy the stunning cover, check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~  

Like You’ve Never Been Hurt

Jaime Samms

About to lose the only thing he ever loved, Adam Pittaluga is at a crossroads in a dancing career that has hardly begun. He has always wanted to be a ballet dancer, but now that it’s impossible, he turns to Peridot for comfort. Peridot has been rebuilding his life after losing his ability to dance professionally, his marriage, and very nearly his daughter. He has a lot of reasons to be leery of starting something new, especially with a man as young as Adam.

Adam and Peridot have to believe that starting again can lead to love and success and that sometimes, the strength needed to love like you’ve never been hurt can be borrowed from unexpected places for a while. But ultimately, they must find it inside themselves to be each other’s happy ending.

Jaime Samms & Excerpt

Hello! I am so pleased to be here today. This series of books is so close to my heart, what with my own kid being a dancer and all. I am thrilled with seeing them come to life, and seeing the cover manifest my vision of my dancers. Just like anything to do with dance–or writing for that matter–the journey wasn’t easy, but the result well worth the trip.

Dance is one of the most beautiful things the human body can do, and I absolutely love watching it. I’ve had an amazing time translating that vision to words, and–I hope–managed to get into the hearts and souls of the men I’ve written about as well as this beautiful image.

Excerpt

“Feel the music, people. Get into it. Again!” He motioned to the drummer in the corner, who began the slow buildup of beat once more.

Adam twisted his way from the crouch he started in up to standing, imagining pulling himself off the floor with handfuls of air as he went. He spun on the toes of his left foot to face upstage and reached high for something just out of reach.

“Stop!” Cobalt’s annoyance rang and bounced off the walls. The drummer’s snares vibrated into the silence. “Adam. Alone.”

Heat flushed up from Adam’s chest, but he scurried to his opening position to wait. The beat began. He counted and initiated his slow, agonizing ascent to standing, then spun and—

“Heel!” Cobalt snapped. “Turn on your heel. Stop dancing like you’ve got pink slippers on your feet. You need to set your weight back on your heels. Loosen your limbs.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.”

Cobalt clapped and waved to the drummer. “Again!”

Adam set his jaw and closed his eyes as the music began again. It was a constant battle to make his body feel the beat of urban drums and vocals. His muscles wanted to pull in tight and controlled. There was safety in the rigidity of holding his torso and neck just so, of lifting his ribcage and using every muscle in his body to achieve the very last bit of height his frame was capable of.

Now he had to unlearn it all or risk Cobalt kicking him out of the performance altogether. And he’d worked so hard to get his body ready to dance again. He wouldn’t lose it now. He couldn’t.

Bass thrumming shivered through the floor. The soles of Adam’s feet vibrated with the insistence of the sound. The pulse rode up through his calves and into his thighs as he lifted himself. He stretched upward, gripping ropes of air to haul himself upright.

Vocals began to hum and weave through the drumming, lodging like snagged wisps of cobweb in his chest as the other dancers gave voice to the primal sounds. He turned, a slow rotation of his body, until he faced upstage. The hum became a whine, and as the words wound out of the vocalist, he curled in on himself, closing the sound out as he wrapped his arms over his head.

It was dance that wasn’t dance, exactly. It was music manipulating his body, but the meaning was lost on him. He couldn’t find the place inside where the music connected to his body. He felt empty. Abandoned in the center of the dance.

Cobalt’s heavy sigh as the dance wound to its close proved Adam hadn’t fooled his instructor one bit.

About the series: To dance is to put one’s heart and soul on display for the world to see and judge. Conrad, Peridot, and Cobalt always knew this. For years, this small group of men has danced in and out of the spotlight and one another’s lives. Now, settling in one place, one studio, they all have to find a place on the stage—or behind the scenes—and find the even greater strength to once more dance like no one is watching. To love like they’ve never been hurt before. But most of all, to live their lives like they have found their heaven, both in the music and in the eyes of those who love them.

About Jaime

Jaime has been writing for various publishers since the fall of 2008, although she’s been writing for herself far longer. Often asked why men—what’s so fascinating about writing stories about men falling in love—she’s never come up with a clear answer. Just that these are the stories that she loves to read, so it seemed to make sense if she was going to write, they would also be the stories she wrote.
These days, you can find plenty of free reading on her website. She also writes for Freya’s Bower, Dreamspinner Press, Totally Bound, and now, Riptide Publishing.

Spare time, when it can be found rolled into a ball at the back of the dryer or cavorting with the dust bunnies in the corners, is spent crocheting, drawing, gardening (weather permitting, of course, since she is Canadian!), or watching movies. She has a day job, as well, which she loves, and two kids, but thankfully, also a wonderful husband who shoulders more than his fair share of household and child-care responsibilities.

She graduated some time ago from college with a fine arts diploma, and a major in textile arts, which basically qualifies her to draw pictures and create things with string and fabric. One always needs an official slip of paper to fall back on after all . . .
Connect with Jamie:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads

Giveaway!

Win a ecopy of Like No One Is Watching!

For anyone who wants to read this, but hasn’t read the first book yet, Here’s your chance. Tell me a fun dance experience you had. Anything from ballet to zumba, from your toddler’s first boogie to your own clubbing days. Share in the comments, and I will pick one of these stories (randomly) to win a copy of the first book in this series, Like No One is Watching. We’ll pick the name at noon on Tuesday March 15. ~Jaime~