Lily McIntire is in the creepiest mansion in town. Alone. At night. Because she’s an idiot-and can’t ignore a dare from her cocky and infuriatingly hot co-worker, Marcus Black. But she’ll be damned if she’s going to give him the satisfaction of winning. Marcus has had a thing for Lily for ages, and he has no intention of losing this bet. His plan? Scare her out of the house, and into his arms. … his arms. Once there, scaring her turns into protecting her and soon after, into seducing her. And his plan is working…
Lily is having trouble relegating Marcus to the role of “asshat” as easily as before. He came to her rescue, and he’s actually funny. Charming. Sexy as sin on a stick. But Lily has a strict no-love-in-the-workplace rule, and even one night of the best sex ever won’t make her change her mind. So she’s calling everything off…
Surviving a night in the mansion might just be the easy part. Surviving Marcus’s increasingly convincing advances is going to take everything she has. Losing is not an option…
NOTE: This title was previously published November 2013 on Flaunt as a novella but has been significantly revised and lots of yummy new scenes added to give readers a full-length category romance full of humor and sizzle.
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“‘There are things happening here I don’t understand.’ The voice. The missing keys. The crash in the kitchen. And what had happened between them.”
The horror movie, haunted-house fan in me is so happy right now!
Marcus and Lily work together. They share the same job, they’re very competitive, and they’ve definitely noticed each other before, whether or not they want to admit it. He likes to flirt and he’s had his share of women. She’s had a (very) bad experience with an office romance in the past and so she’s not looking to do it again.
A dare and a bet get the ball rolling for them, and one night inside a haunted house may be everything they need to do something about the mutual attraction going on.
This is a sweet romance, but it’s also a lot of fun because of the constant competition and sexy-as-hell chemistry between them.
And I personally like to think the house – or the ghost? – was rooting for them as well when the lights mysteriously went out. Maybe? Who knows?…
Jessica Lemmon has done a really good job here proving scary haunted houses with things that go bump in the night can definitely turn into something sexy!
Lily McIntire likes to win, and isn’t one to run from a challenge, so when her cocky and arrogant co-worker/sworn enemy, Marcus Black, issues a dare she is all too eager to accept the dare and finally have the opportunity to put him in his place. Spending the night in a rumored haunted house sounds easy enough to Lily, especially when there’s a free trip to Hawaii on the line, but once she’s there and spooky things start happening she seriously starts to wonder what she has gotten herself into. Marcus has a little plan of his own and decides to up the anti a little bit, in hopes that Lily will get spooked and concede in defeat, but what happens when the after life intervenes and things don’t go quite according to plan…
This short, but oh so very entertaining story captivated my attention right from the start and had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. The story line was very engaging, suspenseful, and packed with plenty of sizzle. I got so caught up in this story that I ended up devouring it in one sitting, because I had to know who was going to win the bet! The plot was very creative and unlike anything else that I have read, it was definitely a refreshing change of pace for me. I would love to see Ms. Lemmon make a return to visit to the Willow Mansion and possibly turn this into a series!
As you sometimes find with shorter stories, things seem to be a bit rushed and not as detailed as you’d hope for, and sometimes leave you disappointed and hoping for a little more. However, I am happy to report that with this story that is NOT the case at all, I found it to be quite satisfying. The story line had a nice flow to it, and the character descriptions allowed me to get a good mental picture of each one of them. I really enjoyed this story and DEFINITELY think it’s one you should add to your reading list!
Jessica Lemmon has created a true literary treat for readers with this one, “I DARE YOU” to read it!