NEW RELEASE~COMING HOME By Priscilla Glenn

Coming Home

by Priscilla Glenn

An Adult Contemporary Romance

Release Date: January 21, 2014

Goodreads

Leah Marino hasn’t been on a date in two years. After discovering the man she loved had manipulated and deceived her, she refuses to even entertain the idea of a relationship. Instead, she focuses her attention on taking care of her family, a role she’s assumed since the death of her mother and the one place she knows her kindness won’t be taken advantage of again.

When a nostalgic trip back to her childhood home results in a chance encounter with Danny DeLuca, a smart-mouthed mechanic who’s as attractive as he is mysterious, Leah’s carefully cultivated walls begin to crumble. She finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Danny, despite his unreliable behavior and mixed signals.

But Danny has a secret…

One that could shake Leah’s already precarious foundation and bring her world crashing down around her. Suddenly, she’s faced with an incredibly difficult decision–is she willing to risk everything for the chance at finding the love she’s always wanted? Or are some obstacles just too big for the heart to overcome?

The sexy, throaty timbre of his voice still resonated in the room; it poured through her body, warming her veins and making her feel heavy and sedated, like drinking wine in front of the fireplace while a snowstorm raged outside.

It was sex and salvation and desire and serenity, stirring something primal and innately feminine in her.

Leah’s breathing became shallow as she continued to stare up at him, and he kept his eyes on hers, still swaying them gently to the music. It felt like a current was running just below the surface of her skin, making her hypersensitive to everything around her: his hand on her back, the soft sound of his breathing, the scent of his skin.

And that voice.

She wanted to hear it again. She wanted to fall asleep listening to it every night. She wanted him to wake her up with it every morning.

Leah took a step forward, closing the tiny distance between them and pressing her body against his, and he dropped his head slightly and exhaled. The warm rush of his breath danced over the side of her neck, causing goose bumps to prickle over her skin, and Leah turned her head slightly, breathing him in as they moved to the music.

She had wanted this for so long—to feel his body up against hers again. She’d imagined it so many times, but those daydreams were pitiful echoes of the reality.

All at once she realized she was trembling, and Leah tightened her arm around his back, trying to steady herself against him. She knew what she wanted, why she had asked him to come in, and now that he was right in front of her, she could feel the apprehension beginning to swirl with the growing desire in her belly.

Danny’s hand moved on her back, his fingertips teasing the sliver of exposed skin above the waist of her jeans.

“You’re shaking,” he whispered, slipping his hand up the back of her shirt and tracing soothing circles on her overheated skin. Leah’s eyes fell closed as she dropped her forehead to his shoulder. With every pass of his fingers, a tingling sensation rippled over her skin, making her feel almost dizzy.

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Creating Chemistry

By Priscilla Glenn

To be honest, I’ve never given much thought to creating chemistry; it’s usually something that develops naturally as my characters begin to reveal themselves. But this question got me thinking, and looking back on Back to You, Emancipating Andie, and Coming Home, there does seem to be a common thread in the chemistry I created between Michael and Lauren, Chase and Andie, and now Danny and Leah. So I'm going to try and break it down and hope I don't make it sound too clinical ;)

Most people associate chemistry with sexual tension, and that's part of it, but not all - at least not for me. If you have sexual tension in isolation, that's lust, not chemistry. Of course you want your characters to be attracted to each other. Of course you want them to flirt - to make each other squirm, in the good way. And the author can simply base that tension off of physical attraction, but in my opinion, the best kind of sexual tension has an emotional component too - which brings me to the next piece of the puzzle. 

Part of having chemistry is being emotionally invested in someone else. I think the characters have to connect on a level beyond physical attraction - either they share a common flaw or hurt like Leah and Danny, or they learn and grow because of each other like Andie and Chase, or they offer each other support and security, like Lauren and Michael. For me, to truly have chemistry, there needs to be something that transcends sexuality - the characters have to connect on a deeper level so you can feel and believe their relationship.

And then there's the cherry on top - humor and wit. Nothing stirs the pot and gets your blood flowing like a little sarcasm and snark, especially when it comes from someone you're already attracted to. In all of the relationships I create, there's a healthy dose of humor. It adds playfulness and fun, which can balance out the intensity of the emotional connection. Plus, a sense of humor is inherently attractive to most people, which then leads us right back to sexual tension.

So there you have it. If I had to break down how to create chemistry, I’d say it goes a little something like this:

sexual tension + emotional connection + humor/wit = great chemistry

Favorite Quotes

1.  “Being with him, talking to him, was the emotional equivalent of bungee jumping. There was the freedom, the adrenaline, the exhilaration of the fall, only to have it come to an abrupt halt, roughly yanking her back in the direction from which she came.” –Leah

Priscilla: I love the image this evokes of Leah’s internal battle. When she first meets Danny, there’s something so freeing about being with him—but his unpredictability brings those “free falls” to an abrupt halt, leaving her wanting more.

2.  “Believe me, if given the opportunity to rock your world, there isn’t a hangover in existence that would prevent me from getting the job done thoroughly.” –Danny

Priscilla: Danny, Danny, Danny—I love it when you’re in a playful mood. Leah once accused you of working out of a handbook entitled How to Reduce Leah to a Besotted, Quivering Pile of Easy, but I’m thinking you could probably do that to just about any woman, handbook or not.

3.  “So if something seems too hard, princess, before you throw in the towel, you should always ask yourself, ‘Will the reward be worth the suffering?’” –Mr. Marino (Leah’s father)

Priscilla: I loved writing Leah’s relationship with her father, and this is one of my favorite scenes involving them. Without giving too much away, this conversation is a turning point for Leah, and these words from her father come in to play later in the novel.

4.  “The night he found your bracelet, he had this little glint in his eye. Like Christmas morning. Even better than finding it was finding his excuse to call.” –Catherine (Gram)

Priscilla: This scene between Leah and Catherine is another one of my favorites. They’re both very vulnerable at this point in the novel, and Catherine gives Leah a little insight into Danny. Plus, Catherine has this way of being profound and wise while still managing to be adorable and completely endearing.

5. “It’s hard to watch someone you care about suffer. But when you love someone, you do it. You do it without question or reservation. You do it because there’s no other option—because the thought of being without them is a hundred times more excruciating than bearing their burden.” –Leah

Priscilla: I think this a sentiment a lot of people will be able to relate to, and I love this line because it demonstrates Leah’s assertiveness and strength. Plus, even though it’s a simple concept, there’s something almost poetic about the way she says it.

6. “It’s gonna be an expensive evening for you. First, all the drinks you’ll have to buy her, and then the next forty years’ worth of Valtrex prescriptions.” –Holly to Jake

Priscilla: Ninety percent of what comes out of Holly and Jake’s mouths is either hilarious or completely inappropriate (or both). I love them because they provide comic relief to the story, but at the same time, they are incredible friends to Leah and Danny and end up guiding them at crucial points in the plot.

Priscilla Glenn lives in New York with her husband and three children. She has been teaching English at the middle and high school levels for the past twelve years while moonlighting as a writer, mom, coach, student, and professional laundry-doer.

If you catch her when she’s feeling sophisticated, she’ll tell you her favorite things are great books and good wine. In the moments in between, she’ll admit her love for anything Ben and Jerry’s, UFC fights, and Robert Pattinson.

Glenn is the author of the contemporary romance novels Back to You, Emancipating Andie, and Coming Home.

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