An Unexpected Romance, and a Reality Show Gone Shockingly Wrong

With: Trish Jackson

Congratulations to the winners, "Colleen C." and "Bn100" of Trish's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

Even if you don’t watch television, reality shows are hard to avoid these days. Whether you hear a discussion on the radio about what happened in ‘Big Brother’ last night, the person who was voted out of ‘Survivor’ at the water cooler, or who had illicit sex on ‘Temptation Island’, you’re bound to find out about them somehow.

Why have they become so popular? That’s a good question, and it probably has many answers. One possibility may be that the participants are ordinary people like you or I, and we can identify with their hopes, fears and dreams. They send a message that anyone can become a celebrity, if only for a few weeks. If you’re anything like me, you also derive a certain underhanded enjoyment from the cunning secrets, the sneaky scheming, the deviousness, the heated verbal clashes, and the sly blindsides.

But what if things started to go horribly wrong?

The shows ‘Survivor’ and ‘Naked and Afraid’ inspired my newest contemporary romance, Virgo’sVice, which is the third book in my Zodiac Series, in which Lexie King  portrays the typical character traits of her star sign, Virgo, being practical, analytical, modest and conservative.

I was born and raised in Zimbabwe, Africa, and I love the African potential for sweeping vistas, vibrant sunsets and herds of animals galloping across the savannah grassland, and that’s why the reality show takes place there.

As a camera operator, Lexie has a good reason to work out of her comfort zone. She is determined to overcome her PTSD which was caused by prolonged sexual abuse by her aunt’s boyfriend when she was a child. She’s  nervous about the legendary monster that has driven all the former inhabitants out of the area, but imagine her horror when she finds out he is a competitor—the monster who destroyed her childhood.

Now all she wants is to get away—as far away as possible. But how? They're stranded one stop past nowhere in Africa, and it seems like the producer is playing some sort of game with their lives.

When traumatic and horrifying events start to happen, Lexie draws comfort from Jake, the producer's chocolate lab, and cowboy contestant Billy Murphy, who makes her laugh at the darkest of times, and heats up more than her heart with his touch. . .

Amazon

Excerpt:

“I’ll let you go if you promise you ain’t gonna attack me. You’re like some sort of hellcat and I’m scared you’re gonna bite me or kick me in the nuts or something if I give you half a chance.”

My jaw is still clenched tightly and I feel sick from Trip’s touch on my hair.

“Well?” Billy prompts. “I’m not complaining about holding you like this. It's kind of nice. I’ve been wanting to get closer to you all day, but I want to be sure before I let you go.”

“I won’t do anything,” I say with a snort.

~*~

Giveaway:

I’ll be giving away two copies of Virgo's Vice, and also, if you go to my website, www.trishjackson.com you’ll find a link to a free download of ‘Lexie’s Story’, the prologue to Virgo’s Vice. You can also watch the book trailer video at the same time. 

Bio:

A romantic at heart, Trish Jackson grew up in Zimbabwe, Africa, where her real life adventures sparked a desire to write contemporary thrillers with romantic elements. She loves people and animals. Her stories all carry an important message and bring awareness to various current social issues. She calls it ‘fiction with a conscience’.

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST Oct. 21st. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com with a subject title of JCR GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.