What would you do if your mysterious captor was the star of your nightly dreams?
On the heels of a major performance, theater actress Alicia Coleman is attacked in an alleyway. She is struck over the head with a pistol and the blow causes her to lose her memory. Injured and afraid, Alicia struggles to remember the details of her life. The only person who appears to know who she is, is her presumed attacker, a man, for whom, she feels a deep, inexplicable attraction.
In the midst of several attempts to escape, Alicia comes to know the man whose home she awoke in and realizes the two of them share a complicated past. Though Nick refuses to tell her much beyond her first name, a series of dreams in which he and she are sharing a lot more than the second story of a secluded mansion cause Alicia to suspect the most outrageous of possibilities, that the man holding her prisoner may actually be her lover. Proving her theory true may be her only chance of keeping her attacker from coming after her a second time.
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Reviews
“Jessica Lauryn has a powerful capacity for creating suspense. An amazing amount of attention to details enhances every scene. A Passionate Play is extremely unpredictable with well-developed characters.” – Stephanie Chapman, Readers’ Favorite, 5 Stars!
“A Passionate Play held my interest from the very first page. Jessica Lauryn showcases great imagery for the reader.” – BookPage, 5 Stars!
“An interesting, suspenseful mystery. Jessica Lauryn is a writer to watch!” – Becky Condit, Mrs. Condit & Friends Read Books
“A rocky, suspenseful romance that ends in a very satisfying way.” – Eileen Dandashi, BookTalk With Eileen
“Good mystery elements to this book, which kept me turning the pages.” – Tina Brunelle, Redz World Reviews
“I really think A Passionate Play would be a great novel for a book club to read and have discussions about.” – Long and Short Reviews
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Enjoy An Excerpt from A Passionate Play with Jessica Lauryn
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Read An Excerpt
“I mentioned to you that we’re in Mohegan Lake,” he said some time later, “in Westchester County, New York. Does the name of the town, the county, or the state sound at all familiar to you?”
“Not really.” Alicia racked her brain. “Should they?”
Nick shrugged. “Only if you think they should. So, you really don’t remember anything about your life, your friends, or your career before waking up in this house?”
“My career?” Alicia dropped her empty glass onto the table. Having felt a sensation comparable to an electric shock when he’d said the word career, she asked, “What is it I do, exactly? Am I a lawyer? Do I perform surgeries alongside of a team of brain surgeons?”
“Something like that,” Nick answered with a secretive smile.
Furious that he refused to tell her whatever he knew about her life, Alicia said, “You must be holding out on me because you’re familiar with my work and the knowledge of my success makes you feel completely emasculated.”
“I never said—”
“Understandable. Considering that you appear to spend the majority of your time hiding out in the woods, collecting the latest additions from Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn.”
Failing to offer anything in the way of a response, Nick grunted.
“I may not remember what I do for a living but there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m capable of doing a lot of interesting things.”
“Are you now?” Her companion gave her a thoughtful glance. He got to his feet and extended his hand. “How about sharing a dance with me?”
Alicia’s face became as hot as the candle flames. Looking from Nick’s open palm to the empty room around them, she swallowed and said, “There’s no music.”
“Well, I think we can do something about that.” Nick wandered across the floor to the area behind the curio cabinet. A stereo stood there, which Alicia hadn’t noticed before. He pressed a button, causing the room to fill with soft, romantic music.
Nick extended his hand once more as he came toward her. His smile was cool but also insistent and it contained a hint of danger. Dark brown eyes looked into hers, willing her to trust, to comply with her mysterious yet compelling desires.
Allowing herself to operate on instinct, Alicia slipped her hand into Nick’s. His warmth surrounded her, filling her with a hint of anticipation as he urged her gently forward. Nick led her into the middle of the floor. Placing one large hand against her waist, he brought her beside his powerful, broad frame.
As her partner drew her closer still, Alicia felt chills, yet at the same time she began to let go of the tension she was holding. She was encased in a blanket of heat, and as that blanket spun her around and brought her back against its softness she was taken into a realm of comfort and dreams. Dancing with her captor felt right to her and in a strange way, safe. Nick had gone out of his way to make her happy tonight and she got the feeling that wasn’t something he did every day. Letting her eyes fall closed, she inched beside him and when he didn’t resist, she rested her head against the cushion of his shoulder.
They began to move, and Alicia swayed in unison with her partner as though they had danced together a thousand times before. In her mind she was in the arms of a stranger, but her body reacted as though he was anything but, as though he were someone whom she knew intimately. Nick’s eyes, his scent, the very feel of him seemed familiar to her. His hand slid from her hip to the small of her back. She ought to be telling him he was getting too close. Except she didn’t want him to back away—it felt good, being close to him like this.
Nick’s arms enveloped her, and Alicia became aware that he didn’t only smell of pinewood but of something darker, something she couldn’t quite define. She sensed a degree of rebelliousness in this man and for some strange reason the idea of that intrigued her. Strength seemed to emanate from every part of him and she wondered what it would be like to taste that strength. Filled with the strongest desire to do just that, she settled her hand against the back of his neck and tilted his head so she could just about feel what she wanted to so desperately.
“Kiss me,” she insisted, lifting her chin.