Welcome to
the Complete Me blog
hop! Today, Julie has been gracious enough to stop by and tell us a little
about THE MAN HIMSELF! Yep, the one, the only, Damien Stark. That swoon-worthy,
sexy, hunk we all know and love. So, please welcome Julie.
*Waves* Hi
Julie! (See guys, isn’t she cute!) Thanks so much for sharing with us today!
And now….
Me and
Damien Stark
I’ve written a lot of books and a lot of heroes over the years, and though all of them have a place in my heart, I have to say that none of them have yet gotten under my skin the way that Damien Stark has.
There’s just something about that man … he’s sexy as hell, mysterious, has a hard and dangerous edge, and yet he is completely and utterly devoted to the woman he loves.
But so are a lot of men who live between the pages of books. So why does Damien sing for me (and for the readers who’ve written to tell me they swoon for him)?
I think it’s a combination of who Damien is and how he is perceived. And all of that ties in to the way that he’s portrayed on the page.
Let’s start with the easiest: Who is Damien Stark? Well, he’s one of the sexiest, most powerful men on the planet. He’s a former athlete, a celebrity in his own right. He’s smart and well-read. He knows how to seduce a woman. All great, right?
But The Perfect Dude does not a compelling story make. There needs to be storm clouds lurking behind those dual-colored eyes, and Damien definitely has the storms. And it’s those storms coupled with his power, his control, his whole damn persona, that make him so fascinating to Nikki. And that’s the real challenge: pulling the reader into her head so that the reader feels the same fascination and mystery that she does.
That’s the reason that I wrote the Stark Trilogy from Nikki’s point of view only. Meeting Damien through Nikki makes him that much more mysterious and, yes, dangerous. We’re never quite sure what he’s thinking until he reveals himself to Nikki and until she gets to the point where she understands him enough to interpret his signals.
The point of view gives the series a gothic quality that I love…and I hope readers do, too!!
XXOO
J
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Haven’t read the Stark
Trilogy yet? You are totally missing out! Check out the entire trilogy below.
Release Me (Book 1
in the Stark Trilogy)
By J. Kenner
Published by: Bantam
For fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and Bared
to You comes an erotic, emotionally charged romance between a powerful
man who’s never heard “no” and a fiery woman who says “yes” on her own terms.
He was the one man I couldn’t avoid. And the one man I couldn’t resist.
Damien Stark could have his way with any woman. He was sexy, confident, and
commanding: Anything he wanted, he got. And what he wanted was me.
Our attraction was unmistakable, almost beyond control, but as much as I ached
to be his, I feared the pressures of his demands. Submitting to Damien meant I
had to bare the darkest truth about my past—and risk breaking us apart.
But Damien was haunted, too. And as our passion came to obsess us both, his
secrets threatened to destroy him—and us—forever.
Release Me is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.
Claim Me (Book 2 in
the Stark Trilogy)
By J. Kenner
Published by: Bantam
For Damien, our obsession is a game. For me, it
is fiercely, blindingly, real.
Damien Stark’s need
is palpable—his need for pleasure, his need for control, his need for me.
Beautiful and brilliant yet tortured at his core, he is in every way my match.
I have agreed to be
his alone, and now I want him to be fully mine. I want us to possess each other
beyond the sweetest edge of our ecstasy, into the deepest desires of our souls.
To let the fire that burns between us consume us both.
But there are dark
places within Damien that not even our wildest passion can touch. I yearn to
know his secrets, yearn for him to surrender to me as I have surrendered to
him. But our troubled pasts will either bind us close . . . or shatter us
completely.
Claim Me is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.
Complete Me (Book 3
in the Stark Trilogy)
By J. Kenner
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
This sexy,
emotionally charged romance continues the story of Damien Stark, the powerful
multimillionaire who’s never had to take “no” for an answer, and Nikki
Fairchild, the Southern belle who only says “yes” on her own terms.
Our desire runs deep. But our secrets cut close. Beautiful, strong,
and commanding, Damien Stark fills a void in me that no other man can touch.
His fierce cravings push me beyond the brink of bliss—and unleash a wild
passion that utterly consumes us both.
Yet beneath his need for dominance, he carries the wounds of a painful past.
Haunted by a legacy of dark secrets and broken trust, he seeks release in our
shared ecstasy, the heat between us burning stronger each day.
Our attraction is undeniable, our obsession inevitable. Yet not even Damien can
run from his ghosts, or shield us from the dangers yet to come.
Complete Me is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.
And don’t forget the huge giveaway going on right now to celebrate the
release of Complete Me. Visit the post here.
And if you want more official bio-y stuff, read on!
Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations,” J.K. is also a two-time RITA finalist, the winner of Romantic Times‘ Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Contemporary Paranormal of 2001, the winner of the Reviewers International Organization’s award for best romantic suspense of 2004 and best paranormal of 2005, and the winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award for best mainstream book of 2005.
She writes a range of stories including sexy and quirky romances, young adult novels, chick lit suspense and paranormal mommy lit. Her foray into the latter, Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner, is in development as a feature film with 1492 Pictures. Her popular dark paranormal Shadow Keepers series originally issued as author J.K. Beck has been reissued as J. Kenner titles.
The first book in her current Stark Trilogy, Release Me, was a multi-week New York Times and USA Today bestseller. Book two, Claim Me, debuted at number two on the New York Times list and remained on that list and the USA Today list for multiple weeks. Book three, Complete Me, will be on sale July 30. The series has sold to over a dozen countries.
Julie lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.
