JEZEBEL:
Heya, Avid Fans! Welcome to Cat and Muse, the only Internet talk-radio show run by a succubus-turned stripper. I’m your host, the former demon Jezebel, coming at you live from the sordid depths of Jackie Kessler’s website. Normally, the producer of Cat and Muse, the very lamentable Muse of Tragedy, Melpomene, would be here with me. But our cliche-speaking, pop-culture-referencing companion took one look at who the guest was supposed to be today, and she cashed in on her vacation days. All she’d say was “Gone, baby, gone.” You know, with the all-caps tone to her voice. And she was outta here like the proverbial bat out of hell.

Which is a terrific place to segue into introducing the next guest! Author Jaci Burton calls him a “steaming studmuffin incubus,” and online reviewer Mrs. Giggles says he’s “such an adorable bad boy with an ego to match the size of his, er, talent.” Publishers Weekly calls HOTTER THAN HELL “sexy and bold.” Romantic Times, in a 4.5-star top pick review, says “Kessler has outdone herself by giving readers a glorious book three of her deliciously sinful series, Hell on Earth. Daunuan’s sexy supernatural antics make sparks fly, and if you’re not careful you’ll singe your fingers as the pages speed by.” ParaNormalRomance selected HOTTER THAN HELL as one of its July 2008 staff picks, calling the book “not only heartfelt and engaging but one that is also a sensuous and adventurous tale” and goes on to say “Kessler clearly is staking her claim in the urban fantasy genre as an author that is here to stay–and we’re only too glad to have her.” And bestselling author Cheyenne McCray says “Jackie Kessler is firmly on my list of favorite authors. HOTTER THAN HELL is edgy and filled with hot temptation–in the form of an incubus so sexy, daring, and delicious that you’ll be offering him your own soul. Fast paced and clever, Kessler’s writing shines.”

Boy, my Dear Creator better watch it, or some demons of Pride are going to start eyeballing her the way a hooker does a freshly scrubbed lad straight off the bus from the Bible belt. Boys and girls, give a, say it with me, hotter than hot welcome to the incubus extraordinaire…Daunuan!

[APPLAUSE]

Heya, sweetie!

DAUN:
Babes. [GLANCES AROUND] Nice place you have here. Lots of space.

JEZ:
Thanks.

DAUN:
Where’s your other half?

JEZ:
Mel? She’s on paid time off.

DAUN:
[SMILES] Took one look at the guest list and hightailed it out of here, huh?

JEZ:
Can you blame her, after what happened back in England?

DAUN:
[BLINKS] Enlighten me.

JEZ:
You, Mel, the Black Plague…

DAUN:
Ahhh. [GRINS] Yeah, that Muse knows how to turn tragedy into foreplay…

JEZ:
Anyway. You look good. I like the tall, dark and handsome thing. Channeling Christian Bale?

DAUN:
I put the “dark” into the Dark Knight.

JEZ:
Actually, that would be Clairol. All righty. Let’s do this. [GLANCES AT CUE CARDS] So you finally get what’s coming to you in HOTTER THAN HELL.

DAUN:
If you mean lots of sex, you bet.

JEZ:
I meant you learning the hard way about what it means to love.

DAUN:
[SNORTS] As if. Demons don’t love.

JEZ:
Come on, now. You don’t have to toe the company line here. It’s me, sweetie.

DAUN:
[ARCHES BROW] And your gajillion viewers.

JEZ:
Ooh, you think we have a gajillion viewers? Sweet!

DAUN:
Focus, Jez. We were talking about me.

JEZ:
Right, your favorite subject.

DAUN:
Actually, that would be sex.

JEZ:
[SMIRKS] Daun, bad enough you think with the wrong head as a matter of course. But this conversation’s supposed to be about business. You know, promote your new book. Let’s not talk about sex.

DAUN:
So you mean you’re not going to ask me about who’s on top? Or my romantic fantasy? Babes, I’m hurt.

JEZ:
[ROLLS EYES] We really don’t have to go there.

DAUN:
Oh, but we should. First, my position on positions. For the record, I greatly enjoyed SUCCUBUS ON TOP.

JEZ:
Heh. Nice Richelle Mead plug. Our Dear Creator would be pleased.

DAUN:
Hey, Bastien’s my kind of incubus. And I’d do Georgina in a heartbeat.

JEZ:
You’d do anything in a heartbeat.

DAUN:
Well. Yeah. This is true. [SMILES] Want to know what my fantasy is?

JEZ:
No.

DAUN:
Why not? You star in it.

JEZ:
All the more reason to say no.

DAUN:
Chicken.

JEZ:
Am not.

DAUN:
Are too. You’re a big fat chicken.

JEZ:
Fat? Now you’re calling me fat?

DAUN:
Never. You’re juicy. You’re delicious. You’re finger…[RUBS FINGERS TOGETHER]

JEZ:
…

DAUN:
…licking… [FINGERS MOVE SLOWER]

JEZ:
[THROATY PURR] Ooh…

DAUN:
…good. [MAKES "COME HERE" GESTURE]

JEZ:
[SQUEALS] STOP THAT!!!

DAUN:
[INNOCENT SMILE] Stop what?

JEZ:
[CLEARS THROAT] In HOTTER THAN HELL, you’re supposed to seduce a woman meant for Heaven, even though she’s impervious to your devilish charm.

DAUN:
Wait, you were serious about being all business?

JEZ:
[GLARES] Yes.

DAUN:
Huh. I guess that’s refreshing. Okay, sure. Undivided attention. Go.

JEZ:
You’re too kind. Where was I?

DAUN:
Babbling about me learning about love.

JEZ:
Right. And then there’s the little matter of demons after that hot ass of yours.

DAUN:
Not in the way I prefer, either.

JEZ:
Of course not. What would you change about HOTTER THAN HELL?

DAUN:
Less fighting, more sex.

JEZ:
What a stretch. If you could make Jackie do anything, what would it be?

DAUN:
Less writing, more sex.

JEZ:
Okay, that’s just disturbing.

DAUN:
How so?

JEZ:
She’s our Creator. That sort of makes her our parent. Parents aren’t supposed to have sex.

DAUN:
Anyone ever tell the parents that?

JEZ:
HOTTER THAN HELL becomes a movie. Who plays you?

DAUN:
Christian Bale.

JEZ:
Really?

DAUN:
[SHRUGS] I’m in a mood. He nailed Batman.

JEZ:
Heh. “Nailed.” What about me? Who plays me?

DAUN:
Christina Ricci.

JEZ:
The gal who played Wednesday Addams?

DAUN:
And who was chained to a radiator in nearly nothing but her panties in Black Snake Moan.

JEZ:
[BRIGHTENS] Oh, right! Sounds good to me. Okay, last question. If you were forced to be good for a day, what would you do?

DAUN:
Probably slit my wrists out of boredom.

JEZ:
Heh.

DAUN:
We done? Can we have sex now?

JEZ:
Sweetie, you sure know how to charm the pants off a girl.

DAUN:
[GRINS] Actually, I do.

JEZ:
[SMILES] You’re such a cocky bastard.

DAUN:
Heh. You said “cocky.”

JEZ:
[BURSTS OUT LAUGHING]

DAUN:
[SMILES] Come on, babes. Let’s get out of here.

JEZ:
Hang on, let me wrap this up.

You can get our Dear Creator’s latest novel, HOTTER THAN HELL, at–

DAUN:
[DOES SOMETHING COMPLETELY UNMENTIONABLE]

JEZ:
[QUICKLY] For more info on where to get the book, check out the website, since you’re here already. [SOFTLY] Stop that, just wait a blessed minute!

DAUN:
Tick tick, Jez.

JEZ:
Until next time, remember, love your inner demon.

DAUN:
Heh. I’ll love your inner demon for you.

JEZ:
Ooh! [CUE CARDS GO FLYING; FADE TO BLACK, WITH MUCH SQUEALING AND MOANING]