Today's the day!

I feel as though I've been waiting forever, but Necessary Madness is finally available! If you've been waiting as anxiously as I have, you can buy it here...

I want to thank everyone who has visited Beyond Romance over the past two weeks and helped me to celebrate the release and new blog. Here's a list of my daily winners. If you haven't yet sent me your postal mail address, please do so soon. Email to "lisabet [at] lisabetsarai.com". I'll be sending out your books early next week.

14 Dec   -  Estella
15 Dec   -  Tamsyn
16 Dec   -  Wendy
17 Dec   -  Judy
18 Dec   -  Sherry
19 Dec   -  Lindsey
20 Dec   -  Tracey
21 Dec   -  Anna
22 Dec   -  SiN
23 Dec   -  Ginger
24 Dec   -  Gayle
25 Dec   -  H
26 Dec   -  She
27 Dec   -  EdgesAngel23

(Don't be puzzled if you see your name picked for a date when you didn't comment. On the few days when there were no comments except from previous days' winners, I went back to an earlier day to select the winner.)

The winner of the Grand Prize is Kari Thomas. She wins a six-pack of my ebooks including Necessary Madness. Kari, please get in touch!

Meanwhile, you still have a chance to a copy of the new book. All you have to do is enter my monthly contest. See my newsletter for details! The contest is open until January 15th.

I hope that you'll continue to visit often and share your thoughts with me. I'll have lots of excerpts, interviews, articles and guest bloggers over the coming weeks and months. But it's no fun if you're not here!

To round off the day, I've included one more brief excerpt from Necessary Madness below.

Thanks again for your support.

Lisabet

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Delicious heat blossomed in the bare skin under the older man’s palm. Unshed tears made Kyle’s chest hurt. It has been so long since someone had touched him with any sort of tenderness or concern. “No one can help me,” he said. “Even the shrinks can’t make the pictures go away.”

"How long have you been having these—hallucinations?”

"Since I turned thirteen. The older I get, the worse they become.” Tears welled up, to his extreme embarrassment. He turned away, trying to hide them from his inquisitor. A gentle hand cupped his chin, bringing him back to meet Murphy’s sympathetic gaze. “I don’t know how much longer I can stand it.”

"You’re schizophrenic?”

"That’s the current diagnosis. But I don’t think so. The usual drugs don’t work. They deaden my emotions, but they don’t kill the visions. And when I’m not having a spell, I’m more or less sane.” He stopped, familiar guilt overwhelming him. Sane enough to search the papers, looking for, and eventually finding, accounts of the disasters his dreams prefigured. Disasters he could see but not prevent.

Kyle scanned Murphy’s face, trying to read his expression. Some struggle was going on inside the man. His lips were set in a grim line and his brows knotted into a scowl, but his eyes shone with excitement. He still clasped Kyle’s arm, his fingers tense now, digging into the flesh. Kyle placed his own pale hand on top of Murphy’s in a gesture of reassurance. The policeman started as if he’d been burnt.

Kyle felt the shock too, electricity sizzling between them. Murphy snatched his hand away, staring down at his shiny leather boots. When he looked back at Kyle, he seemed to have made a decision.

"I might not be able to do anything to help with your hallucinations, but I can give you a safe place to stay, at least until you recover.”

"I don’t know…” Kyle began. He didn’t want to get mixed up with this cop. The signals were too strong. The man’s sheer physicality unbalanced him. Already, he felt that queasy sensation that presaged his visions. Powerful emotion often triggered his crises.

"No arguments. I live alone. I’ve got plenty of room in my apartment.” The quiet authority in Murphy’s voice sent a delicious thrill up Kyle’s spine. He shivered. Murphy’s tone softened. “Seriously, Kyle, I don’t want to see you back on the streets. Stay at my place for a few days, a week. Give yourself a chance to heal.”

Murphy’s hand rested on Kyle’s thigh, stroking it through the sheet. He seemed unaware of what he was doing, but with every moment, Kyle felt his own resistance melt further.

“"Well, I…” All at once, the vision hit, knocking the breath out of him like a punch to the gut.

Terrible doubt. Scalding desire. He was naked, kneeling on a wooden floor. He could feel it bruising his knees, but he didn’t care. A nude man towered over him, corded thighs spread wide, gripping his swollen cock with blunt-fingered hands. Offering Kyle the veined column of flesh. Pressing it against Kyle’s lips.