BooksChatter: ☀ Kiss Kill Love Him Still: Kiss Kill Love Him Still [1]

Thank you for joining us on the Release Day Party for Kiss Kill Love Him Still, a New Adult Mystery by Jamie Blair & Dawn Rae Miller (10 November 2015, Jamie Blair & Dawn Rae Miller, 183 pages).

This is the first book in the Kiss Kill Love Him Still series.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below. Read the first four chapters with Amazon Look Inside.

Author Jamie Blair & Dawn Rae Miller will be awarding one (1) ebook copy of Kiss Kill Love Him Still to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

Synopsis | Teasers | About the Author | Giveaway

Synopsis

Jackson Landis kept secrets. It’s how he got girls into bed, the grades he wanted, and a reputation for being the life of the party.

But now he’s dead, and no one knows how or why. Especially not the four girls whose secrets he protected. Secrets so scandalous they could cause each girl to lose something valuable. Secrets so dark, someone may have killed for them.

The four girls – a campus drug dealer, an overweight bookworm, a closeted lesbian, and a spoiled princess have one thing in common – they’re terrified the things Jackson knew may not have died with him. As Reggie, Haddie, Val, and Livie try to piece together her own role in Jackson’s death, each girl realizes Jackson had some not-so-pretty skeletons of his own.

Which makes a girl wonder, who really wanted Jackson Landis dead?

Teasers

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

REGGIE

Last night, I left Jackson Landis lying in a puddle of puke on his bathroom floor.
      The asshole was supposed to meet me here. He was the one who said, “Taco Bell on Park Street, 3: 00.” But that was before we partied. He probably forgot. Now I’m here waiting, and he’s nowhere to be found. Typical Jackson. Late as always.
      I whip out my phone and send him a text:
      WTF where r u?
      About a year ago, the dumbass sent me a text asking for weed. I’d never met him before. Thought he was a cop trying to bust me. He said he got my number from a mutual friend. That’s what narcs say. I blew him off.
      Then he showed up at my door with Marcus, my best friend who I’ve known my entire life. I said to Marcus, “Why didn’t you tell him our code word? I thought he was a cop.”
      Our code word is asparagus. When Marcus gives people my number, I get texts from strangers saying they fucking love asparagus. Telling me asparagus makes their piss stink. All kinds of weird shit. But I know they’re legit. Marcus wouldn’t sell me out.
      So I let him in that first night, and we got baked. I told Jackson he owed me fifty bucks for the weed he was taking with him, and he wanted to know if I wanted to trade. I asked him what he had that I might want. He licked his lips with a hazy, dirty look in his blue-gray eyes, and whispered, “Let me show you.”
      So we left Marcus watching reruns of “The Simpsons,” and I took Jackson to the back of the trailer into my bedroom. We kept the lights off. I grabbed a Molly from a small dish on top of my dresser and popped it in his mouth with a chaser of my tongue.
      Jackson Landis can fucking kiss. I could feel it in every nerve ending. It took my breath, leaving me panting for air… and more. Much, much more. All of him. His mouth. All over me.
      We were on my floor. My bed. The chair beside my bed. Against the wall. I think I blacked out at some point, but I remember enough to know I’d never had sex like that in my life.
      Molly and dirty sex. It’s our thing. It’s addictive. He’s addictive.
      Jackson Landis is my drug of choice.
      Where the fuck is he?
      I pace around my car in the back corner of the parking lot. It’s hot as shit for November, even in California.
      My phone rings. A surge of delicious anticipation courses through me, warming my blood to scorching. “Still trying to get the puke off your face, or what?” I say, answering. Jackson needs to be kept in line. I have to be cool. He can’t know I’ve actually got feelings for him.
      I hate that I have feelings for him. He’s such a douchey playboy.
      “It’s Marcus.”
      “Oh. I should’ve looked at the name. Sorry, man. What’s up?”
      “Have you been on campus at all today?”
      “Why do you sound so sketchy? No, I haven’t. I’m having a non-participation day. I slept until noon, smoked a little, took a--”
      “Reg, Jackson’s dead.”
      “— long shower. Wait, what? What do you mean, he’s dead?”
      My hand starts to tremble. I hold my phone tighter. My head spins. I reach behind me and lean against the side of my car. Dead? Jackson?
      “How much shit did you give him last night?” There’s an accusatory tone in Marcus’s voice.
      “This is not my fault.”
      “You told me you left him on the bathroom floor. Now he’s dead.”
      “Wait. Wait.” I close my eyes and hold my head in my hand. It’s about to fall off or explode. “How did you find out? What are they saying? That he overdosed?”
      “Nobody knows anything other than he’s dead. You were probably the last person to see him alive, Reg.”
      “Shit,” I whisper. “Shit, shit, shit!” I crack my palm against my car door with an echoing thud. “Did you tell anyone else? We have to keep this a secret.”
      “Nobody else knows you were there.” The initial shock is ebbing, leaving pain to flow bone deep. I sink to the ground beside my car, resting my forehead on my knees. “I was going to tell him how I feel,” I say, thickly.
      “You wouldn’t have. We both know it. He would’ve run as fast as he could.”
      I’m choking on the words I can’t say. Did I kill him? Did I kill Jackson Landis?

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Suspect Profile: Olivia “Livie” BarnesHeight: 5’1”
Weight: 105 lbs
Hair: Shoulder length, blond and wavy.
Eyes: Hazel
Demeanor: Agitated. Hysterical. Manipulative
Motivation for killing Jackson Landis: His chronic cheating, which she claims to have no knowledge of.

Livie: Are we done, Officer Ruiz? I have a full afternoon of shopping ahead of me.

Ruiz: “You’ve only been here for a half an hour. Shopping can wait.”
Livie: I had nothing to do with Jax’s death. Why would I? He was my boyfriend. He gave me everything I wanted.”
Ruiz: He wasn’t exactly faithful.
Livie: And you can prove that how? Have other girls told you that? Wouldn’t that make them suspects too? Why are you only torturing me?
Ruiz: I can’t discuss that with you, and we are not torturing you. We’re questioning you.
(Long pause)
Livie: Arrest me or let me go. I know my rights, and I have nothing left to say to you without my attorney.
Ruiz: Very well, you may go, but I’m sure we’ll be speaking again soon.

Livie: Whatever. 

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Suspect Profile: Haddie Eubanks
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 160 lbs
Hair: Long, light brown
Eyes: Light brown
Demeanor: Polite, eager to please
Motivation for killing Jackson Landis: She wrote his term paper in exchange for sex.


Officer McMichaels: Thank you for coming in today, Miss Eubanks.
Haddie: I’d do anything to help find the person who took Jackson’s life.
McMichaels: What was your relationship with Jackson Landis?
Haddie: We were friends. I work in the library and helped him write a paper. 
McMichaels: Nothing more? Did you harbor any deeper feelings for him?
Haddie: I’d be lying if I said Jackson wasn’t charming and very good-looking. Most any girl on campus would tell you that. 
McMichaels: But you never acted on your attraction?
Haddie: No. 
McMichaels: That ring you’re twisting on your finger, is that a purity ring? 
Haddie: Yes. I promised my father I’d stay a virgin until marriage. 
McMichaels: And if you don’t?
Haddie: I don’t get my trust fund when I graduate.
McMichaels: Is your father a controlling man, Haddie?
Haddie: He means well. He just wants the best for me.
McMichaels: Are you afraid of your dad?
Haddie: I have no reason to be afraid of him.
McMichaels: If you broke your promise of purity, what would he do?
Haddie: I told you—
McMichaels: What woould he do to the guy you slept with?
Haddie: What are you saying?
McMichaels: I’m saying, thanks for coming in. You’ve given me a lot to follow up on.

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Suspect Profile: Valerie “Val” Ortiz
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 125 lbs
Hair: Brunette. Long.
Eyes: Brown
Demeanor: Haughty. Fidgety. Can’t focus.
Motivation for killing Jackson Landis: He knew she was bi-sexual.

Officer Ruiz: Val, you need to answer my questions.
Val: Why? All they do is make me look like a criminal.
Ruiz: Are you?
Val: Isn’t that your job? To prove my guilt. Why would I help you with that?
Ruiz: This is getting us nowhere. The longer you stonewall, the longer we sit here.
Val: That’s fine. I have nowhere to go and nothing to do.
Ruiz: But you’re hands are shaking. You need a drink – something stiff, don’t you?
Val: I don’t need alcohol if that’s what you’re asking.
Ruiz: Were you drinking the night Jackson died?
Val: Yes.
Ruiz: Maybe that’s why you don’t remember anything? You had a black out? 
Val: It happens. 
Ruiz: Have you had anything to drink today?
Val: A few. But you can’t book me on that. I’m of legal age and didn’t drive anywhere. I’ve done nothing wrong.
Ruiz: Fine. I’m letting you go, but don’t leave town. We’re going to have to talk to you again - when you’re sober.
Val: Then I’ll see you never.

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Suspect Profile: Regina “Reggie” Walker
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 117 lbs
Hair: Long, dyed black
Eyes: Dark brown
Demeanor: Sarcastic, aloof
Motivation for killing Jackson Landis: He knew she was dealing drugs.

Officer McMichaels: Get your feet off the desk.
Regina: Just getting comfortable for this long, boring-ass questioning. How about a cup of coffee?
McMichaels: Did Jackson Landis buy from you?
Regina: Hell yes, how do you think I got my patch?
McMichaels: Your patch?
Regina: My cookie sales patch—wait, aren’t we talking about Girl Scouts? 
McMichaels: Laugh it up. You and I both know it’s only a matter of time before we bust you and throw you behind bars.
Regina: Whatever you say, Chief. 
McMichaels: Were you under the influence of drugs the night Jackson died?
Regina: High on life. As always.
McMichaels: And Jackson?
Regina: Isn’t that what autopsies are for?
McMichaels: Who do you work for?
Regina: Your dad.
McMichaels: We’re done here.
Regina: I didn’t realize we’d even started.

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Kiss Kill Love Him Still
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About the Author

Young adult author of the Kirkus-starred novel Leap Of Faith (Simon & Schuster 2013), and Lost To Me (2014), featured in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling anthology, Dirty Boys of Summer. Represented by Rebecca Friedman of RF Literary.

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Dawn is a Twitter and fashion addict whose favorite things in life are her family, gorgeous dresses, tea leaf salad, and French macarons. She splits her time between San Francisco and Northern Virginia, and is always up for a trip to Paris.

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