Why Do We Hurt the Ones We Love?

by Jamie Lynn Miller

Many thanks to everyone at The Blogger Girls for having me here today – the second stop of my GRL 2014 blog tour! Keep reading to find out how you can win a FREE copy of my latest novel AND an Amazon gift card.

I’m Jamie Lynn Miller and I’d like to talk about my novella Memory’s Prisoner. My tagline says it all: “Men in uniform…and out”. Give me a cop, a fireman or a paramedic and I’ll write a story about them.

Why do we hurt the ones we love?

I’ve been asking myself that question since I was old enough to read my first Hardy Boys book. Joe was my favorite character and all of my favorite stories had him hurt or kidnapped or in some sort of danger. Eventually that carried over to TV shows, too, when I was a kid. Like “Emergency” – Roy was my favorite and if he was in peril, I loved it. Then there was “Starsky and Hutch”. If Hutch was suffering I was loving it. Whenever my “hero” was hurt or in jeopardy and his friend/partner was there to put him back together again I was in my happy place.

This continued on into my teens and young adulthood and I truly thought there was something wrong with me! Why did I like it when my favorite characters were in pain? I felt like I was in need of a 12 step program or something!

Then in my early twenties I discovered fanfic. More importantly, I discovered HURT/COMFORT fanfic. It was like the heavens opened up and a great light shined down upon me. I wasn’t strange for wanting my favorite characters to get shot or poisoned! There was a whole ton of people just like me! I can’t tell you what a relief it was 🙂 And that was the catalyst for me to actually start writing my own stories.

Now I embrace my love of hurt/comfort. It’s a running theme in my eBooks and Memory’s Prisoner is no exception. This time the hurt is both physical and emotional with Mitch and Joey needing to lean on each other to get through their injuries that have changed their lives, providing the comfort they both desperately need.

So here it is, Memory’s Prisoner, the story of Mitch and Joey and how they overcame the odds to find their way back to one another. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

About Memory’s Prisoner

Detectives Mitchell Reid and Joseph Valentino of the Chicago Police Department have finally moved from friends to lovers, partners on the job and off. Then an escaped bank robber with a thirst for vengeance shatters their world. The police tactical raid to recapture the convict goes horribly wrong, leaving Mitch severely wounded and Joey with a devastating head injury. They both survive, but Joey’s long-term coma and memory loss will change their lives – and love – forever.

Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Kobo & Barnes and Noble.

An Excerpt from Memory’s Prisoner

Mitch crouched at the corner of one crate, preparing to slip to the next closest one. The flash from a rifle’s muzzle inside the warehouse caught Mitch’s eye as it illuminated the gunman.

Doyle.

Their eyes locked and an evil, maniacal grin crossed the psychopath’s face. Mitch’s cover had been blown. A split second later he heard the ominous click of the triggering mechanism inside the crate he was leaning against and Mitch knew he had seconds to live.

Launching himself up and away from the crate, heedless of the gunfire surrounding him, Mitch desperately tried to put as much distance between himself and the bomb as he could. Four frantic strides were all he could manage.

The force of the explosion threw him off his feet and hurled him forward, wave after wave of intense heat and debris at his back, before he slammed down onto the dock. Excruciating pain like he’d never known raced through his battered body as he rolled across the wooden surface before coming to rest on his back. Dazed and winded, fighting unconsciousness, Mitch heard Tim frantically calling his name. His head lolled to the side as he tried to answer but his gaze caught sight of the torn, bloody mass of flesh that was his left leg.

“NO! MITCH!”

Joey’s cry of utter terror drew Mitch’s attention from his mangled body. He looked up to see his partner racing toward him, surrounded by Team Three, weapons blazing. Uncaring of the extreme danger he was in, Joey charged forward in a desperate rescue attempt, his fear for Mitch written all over his face.

Horrified, Mitch tried to call out, managing only a hoarse whisper. “No… get back….”

Two feet from Mitch it happened.

Another crate exploded, sending huge pieces of debris through the air. Unable to slow down or change course, Joey plowed directly through the explosion, his head suddenly snapping violently to the side as a large piece of wood impacted it.

“JOEY!”

The scream was torn from Mitch’s throat as he watched his partner’s expression change from one of terrified concern to one of total confusion as the wood hit its mark and his body crumpled like a rag doll.

The nightmare had begun.

About Jamie Lynn Miller

Jamie Lynn Miller has been writing fiction since childhood and decided to take the plunge and go pro in 2008, finding to her amazement that people truly enjoyed her love stories. She’s a romantic at heart, and her tales reflect the desire we all have to find “the one,” persevering through trials and heartache for that happy ending.

Jamie has a degree in fine arts and has spent the last twenty years working as a graphic designer, though she’d much rather be writing. She was born in Chicago and still lives there today with her husband and their two furry, four-footed children, er… cats.

If she’s not brainstorming story ideas, you can find Jamie at a sci-fi convention, in front of a furnace doing glass blowing, or on a mat twisted into a yoga pose.

You can find Jamie on her Website, on Facebook or email her at jamielynnmiller@live.com.

To win a free copy of Memory’s Prisoner AND a $10.00 Amazon gift card, leave a comment here (and your email address) with the answer to the following question: “What is the gunman’s name?”

Contest ends Wednesday, June 18th. Winner will be randomly selected on June 19th.

Good luck!

Check out TBG’s GRL Blog Tour Schedule