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Up Close and Personal

Rock Joanne (EN)

Look what people are saying about

Joa

“Sizzling chemistry with a splash of seductively intense suspense—fabulous Joa

—RITA® Award wi

“Filled with a complicated plot, as well as excellent, unexpected characters, and stirred with steaming-hot sex, Don’t Look Back is the kind of wonderful mix readers would expect from Joa

—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“Filled with adventure, spicy sex, and a smidgen of danger, Up All Night is romance at it’s best.”

—Romance Reviews Today

“Rock’s snappy style of writing is perfect for a sexy, sassy contemporary romance.”

—Booklist on The Pleasure Trip

“Strong, attractive characters with serious heat…”

—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on Silk Confessions

“Joa

—Romance Junkies on Don’t Look Back

Dear Reader,

As a Blaze writer, I think about sexual situations a lot. It’s part of my job, and let’s face it, that’s pretty fun! But when it came time to write Jessica’s story, I discovered a character who didn’t always have fun thinking about sexual situations. Because of a difficult past, sex had become problematic for her.

But because I’m a Blaze writer, I needed to help her out of that dark corner, and that’s where Rocco Easton comes in. I loved writing about this hero whose career was stolen out from underneath him yet he still found a way to cha

I hope you’ll enjoy Jessica’s journey to new healing and her path to reclaiming her sensuality.

Happy reading!

Joa

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Joa

TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON

AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After testing out careers in public relations, teaching, acting and journalism, Joa

Books by Joa

HARLEQUIN BLAZE

108—GIRL’S GUIDE TO HUNTING & KISSING*

135—GIRL GONE WILD*

139—DATE WITH A DIVA*

171—SILK CONFESSIONS**

182—HIS WICKED WAYS**

240—UP ALL NIGHT†

256—HIDDEN OBSESSION††

305—DON’T LOOK BACK‡

311—JUST ONE LOOK‡

363—A BLAZING LITTLE CHRISTMAS “His for the Holidays”

381—GETTING LUCKY

HARLEQUIN HISTORICAL

749—THE BETROTHAL “Highland Handfast”

758—MY LADY’S FAVOR

769—THE LAIRD’S LADY

812—THE KNIGHT’S COURTSHIP

890—A KNIGHT MOST WICKED

To Renee Halverson, whose dedication to writing

has always been an inspiration. Thank you for being such a wonderful friend!

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

JESSICA WINSLOW NEEDED to arouse a room full of women.

Right here. Right now.

She took deep breaths in her small suite at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, an accommodation with no view of the spectacular oceanfront outside. She’d booked this spot as a prep space for the retreat weekend she was leading—her biggest business coup yet. Eight women had bought into the extravagant “Better in Bed” workshop offered by Jess’s fledgling company. Who knew there would be so much interest in reclaiming your sensuality among wealthy, successful women who—seemingly—had the world at their collective feet?

“Do you need anything else, Ms. Winslow?”

A sleekly ta

“Everyone has drinks next door?” She hoped this first session of the weekend would be made a smidge easier by plying her guests with alcohol.

Hell, her discussion of erotic massage might be easier if she downed the alcohol. She’d wanted to kick off the retreat with a bang, but pla

“They’ve all been served and there is a small bar set up for refills like we discussed.” The woman tapped her fuchsia-pink manicured fingernail down the itemized list on her clipboard. “Would you like me to bring you a glass of chardo

Jessica winced. Was her tension that obvious? There was no reason for the attack of nerves, since she knew her material backward and forward. Well, no reason except that setting her business venture apart from her family’s million-and-one get-rich-quick schemes depended on the good word of mouth generated by the attendees of this workshop.

After being raised well below the poverty line by parents who skirted the law, the truant officer and even Social Services, Jessica craved the stability of her own business. And the fact that she was targeting well-to-do women was no coincidence. She drank up the sweet scent of security inherent in their money, even as she made certain she had something of value to offer in return. Her business, Up Close and Personal, was no get-rich-quick scam but a labor of love that spiraled out of her need to pass on the benefits of self-help training she’d received since escaping her past, her birth family and, later, her foster family.

The wealthy women in the ocean-view suites across the hall could make or break Jessica’s new career with whatever they chose to share about this weekend at their respective country clubs come Monday morning.

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