Mansyur S - Benci

Love is of course the essence of romance novels. The creation of love, the ‘falling’ into it, is what makes the story important for me. I want to feel what the characters feel, and be swept away in the moment. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I’ve assembled a collection of important moments from some of my books [These are all Jennifer’s books, btw. I did a search and apparently, Bernadette’s characters don’t get quite as mushy. Her characters prefer to say things like, “Harder!” “Faster!” and “Now!!” But anyway...;)]



Love is in the air today and in the following scenes.

Bonfire of the Vampires:

“Abby....” Jake was back. The animal he’d become sank back into the darkness, sated for now. Fear contracted his chest as he brushed errant strands of damp hair from her face and skimmed her cold cheeks with his knuckles. “Abby?” Had he taken too much? He shook her and her eyelids fluttered. Her languid gaze turned to his.

“I love you, Jake.”

He gathered her in his arms and placed one hand between her breasts. Her heartbeat was slow and irregular. Her skin was sticky from the blood of his wounds. She looked like she’d been through a worse ordeal than he had, yet her lips curved in a seductive smile.

“Abby. I took too much. I’m sorry.” He cradled her and gathered the cool satin sheets around her body, cursing himself for only being able to produce the illusion of body heat.

“Let me sleep a while, Jake.” She sighed and clung to him even as she released her inner hold on him. He rained kisses on her closed eyelids and her pale lips. “I’ll be okay, Jake. I promise.”

“I love you, Abby,” he said. What was left of his heart contracted with the fierceness of it. He loved her too much to do this to her again. Whatever strength he had gained from this one fevered coupling would have to be enough to fight Gideon and win.

The Concubine’s Tale

The warriors that held them drew close together, and for the first time since he’d left her in the cave, Khanu felt Nayari’s fingers brush his arm. “I love you,” she whispered, her voice raw.

“I love you, my wife. We’ll be together on the other side of the sky. I promise you that.”

In Khanu’s ear, the warrior that held his arms tightly behind his back whispered barely audible words. “Forgive us, brother. Your sacrifice will be remembered by Pharaoh.”

Conjured in Flames

"What can I give you? Rodan--" Gillian reared back and took his face in her hands. "I don't know if I can give you a child." She studied his face for a moment, and he lost himself in her earnest brown eyes.

"I want you. Nothing more or less." He hesitated only a moment, hoping his words would sink through her incredibly thick feminine skull and into her obviously addled brain. He wondered if he should tell her that her ability to render him speechless was enough of a challenge for him. No woman had ever been able to do that. "I love you, Gillian. And I want you now."


Flight of the Valkyrie

She would hold on to every memory she had for as long as possible, and her last thoughts would be of Jordan.

His face loomed above her. Behind him she saw the brilliant sky of Talek. She felt warm sand under her and the weight of his body above.

“I love you,” he told her. She smiled and reached up to clasp her trembling arms around his neck. He pulled her into his embrace and cradled her against him, smoothing her damp hair away from her face.

“Don’t let me go,” she said. “I only have a little time left.…”

The Rebound Guy

She’d never felt as free or as sexy as she did with Eric. Was it because she knew him so well and trusted him to care about her feelings and her needs? She’d dated plenty of men, a few of whom she thought she loved, but none she’d ever trusted as much, or felt so certain with.

Though she’d spent the day wondering how to deal with their sudden intimacy, she’d never actually been afraid Eric wouldn’t call her, that he wouldn’t want to see her again. Deep down, she’d never really doubted her friendship with Eric could survive a night of passion.

One question tickled the back of her mind now, as he claimed her, his body taut above her: Would this ever be anything more?

She took him in and let him love her, and long after he fell asleep with his arms wrapped around her, she whispered the words, “I love you.”

The Soul Jar

He paled and his smoky eyes were stark. Silhouetted against the brilliant blue of Cairo’s night sky through the suite’s picture window, he was all sharp angles and long lines. Bree wanted to smooth those edges, to make it right by kissing him, but she didn’t dare give in yet. She needed to hear everything he had to say.

His chest swelled with a deep breath, and he took a step closer to her. “I’ve never loved anyone else the way I love you, Bree. Believe me when I say, I only wanted to protect you, but if I had it to do over again, I’d never let you go. I hope one day you’ll be able to forgive me.”

Bree concentrated all her strength on remaining on her own two feet and not falling into his arms. “I do. When I told you I didn’t hate you, I meant it. And even when I did hate you, I still loved you. I never stopped loving you.”


For more info on any of the books listed above, click on the titles!

Happy Valentine's Day!