trueromance

Kate Douglas - known for her sexy Chanku shapeshifters in the popular erotic paranormal series, Wolf Tales, but her newest series from Kensington, The DemonSlayers, takes her out of the realm of erotic shapeshifters and into a world populated by demons, mythological warriors, and the humans brave enough to join them in the ages old battle of good versus evil.
www.katedouglas.com

Tag line: It’s the ultimate battle of good versus evil—the demon’s the good guy, and he’s got just one week to save the world, or all hell breaks loose.

My thanks to Borders Books for giving me this great opportunity to post. This is a really exciting week for me as my very first mass market paranormal, DemonFire, the first in my new DemonSlayers series, is just out. I got to thinking about the dynamics of coming up with a new series, of changing genres, and the process that we, as authors, go through in order to create a story. And ya know what? It’s not nearly as mysterious as it sounds.

I’ve been busy with my Wolf Tales series for Kensington Aphrodisia now since the first book debuted in January 2006, but last year I realized I was ready for something else as well. My agent, Jessica Faust, and I were brainstorming new ideas—

Jessica: Demons are popular. Got any ideas for a demon story? Something big!

Me: Not really. Big? Good versus evil…that’s big. (laughing…what a stupid idea!)

Jessica: I like it! Send me a proposal…

And thus the DemonSlayers series was born. I imagine all books begin, at some point, with the author asking that simple question: What if…? Okay…good versus evil? What if the balance between good and evil were reaching a tipping point—in Evil’s favor? What if demons were streaming into our world unchecked? What if the only one who could stop them was another demon? And what if the one woman with the power to save that good demon’s life didn’t believe in demonkind at all?

Once I began asking myself that blasted “what if” question, I couldn’t stop. Ideas kept popping into my head and before long I knew these characters—Dax, a demon too good for hell, booted out of Abyss and hired by the good folk of Eden to save Earth from demonkind. He’s got a human body—an avatar, of sorts—that’s only good for one week, and all of his demon powers are stored within a tattoo of a serpent that snakes from his thigh to his heart. Unfortunately, he’s cursed by demonfire as he enters Earth’s dimension, and the curse turns his powers against him.

Then there’s Eddy Marks, a pragmatic newspaper reporter. She believes in things she can see and feel and understand, but the naked man she finds injured and bleeding—and impossibly under attack by a garden gnome wielding a pitchfork in her potting shed—knocks all her preconceptions out the window. Her biggest surprise comes when she learns she has the power to control Dax’s horrible demon curse.

Eddy’s got a foster dog—Bumper—a cross between a pit bull and a standard poodle, described as looking like a pit bull in a Shirley Temple wig, and Dax has Willow, a tiny will o’ the wisp who feeds him energy and helps him understand his human body. There’s Ed Marks, Eddy’s dad, who believes in all things paranormal, including Lemurians, the mythological warriors who supposedly live deep within the extinct volcano of Mt. Shasta that looms over the town of Evergreen.

So, what if Lemuria really exists? It must, because Alton of Artigos, the six foot, eight inch Lemurian warrior is every bit as real to me as either Dax or Eddy…or Bumper or Willow or Ed Marks. This is a good thing, because it takes every single one of them to battle the demons descending on the tiny town of Evergreen.

As Dax’s week flies by at breakneck speed, as he battles the demon curse tattooed across his torso and Eddy fights falling in love with a man with the lifespan of a moth, the demon king grows stronger and the threat to all mankind more ominous. The battle of good versus evil reaches an unimaginable climax on the slopes of Mount Shasta, but it’s a wild ride to the finish with unexpected results.

What’s next for the DemonSlayers? Book 2, HellFire, will be out in September 2010, when the Lemurian warrior, Alton of Artigos, teams up with Eddy’s best friend Ginny Jones to fight a new demon invasion near the town of Sedona, Arizona. In the ultimate battle of good versus evil, it often takes the strangest of comrades—and lovers—to even the odds.

For a first chapter excerpt of DemonFire (and one of HellFire!) go to www.kensingtonbooks.com/demonslayers.

And let me know, because I really am curious, if you’ve followed authors who’ve switched genres. A lot of us are doing it—for me, the change isn’t so drastic as I’m merely going from erotic paranormal to sexy paranormal, but what about the BIG switches—from contemporary to historical, for instance, or contemporary to paranormal? And what about those authors who write across the spectrum? Lately it seems that we’re just all over the board. I love reading old authors in new genres, but what about you?

GIVEAWAY: I’ll be giving away five copies of DemonFire, or if the winner already has the book, they can exchange it for a copy of one of my Wolf Tales or Sexy Beast books.

Karen Harper: DOWN RIVER (Mira Books) Feb. 2010

Setting: Alaska and Florida–a strange combination!
Subgenre: romantic suspense
Hero: wilderness lodge owner & kayaker Mitch Braxton
Heroine: Ft. Lauderdale lawyer, Lisa Vaughn

One sentence summary: Former fiances with a bad breakup behind them, Mitch and Lisa face a raging river, the Alaska wilds, a killer–and their own passionate past.

Scene you like most and would never cut: The scene where Florida girl Lisa finds the courage to cross a whitewater river and admits she loves Alaska and Mitch.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: “I’d just love winters in Alaska.”

Your hero, is he a boxer or brief kind of guy: When he was a lawyer, briefs, of course. Now in Alaska, boxers–they fit better under wet suits.

Ancillary character you had the most fun with: Christine Tanaka, an Inuit woman who has her own difficult past and her own love story.

Your heroine’s favorite hobby: beach volleyball

Your hero’s favorite hobby: whitewater kayaking

What you think readers will like best about this book: The nonstop adventure and danger in a gorgeous wilderness area of Alaska.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: More Amish heroines

What’s next: An romantic suspense Amish trilogy.

Question of the Day: Lisa and Mitch face the problem of two vastly different careers, locations and lifestyles. Can such problems be worked out for love? Is it the woman who is often pressured to make the big changes, and is that fair?

GIVEAWAY: 2 copies of DOWN RIVER autographed book

**************************************************************************************************

Exclusive Deleted Scene from DOWN RIVER -
A Romantic-Suspense
by Karen Harper

DOWN RIVER begins a year after Mitch and Lisa’s broken engagement. In the novel, they both refer to their break-up scene, but it does not appear in the novel. So I’ve written that scene exclusively for the True Romance Blog. I hope it adds to your understanding of the characters and their painful past when they are thrust together in the wilds of Alaska and the wilds of their own broken hearts. Also, please visit my webstie at www.karenharperauthor.com

Lisa knew the minute Mitch came in the door that something was wrong. They had only been engaged for three months, but she’d studied him covertly long before that, in the office and in the courtroom, on the beach, on his boat and in his arms. Still, she calmly—attorney demeanor just before a hostile witness testified—handed him a goblet of white wine and lifted her own to give his a quick clink. He barely pecked a kiss on her mouth when she was used to so much more.
“Hard day?” she asked. Then, almost afraid to hear he’d been harassed or stalked again because of the money laundering case they were both working on for Carlisle, Bonner and Associates, she added, “Wait ‘til you hear about the state senate hearing I volunteered both of us to testify for. Bright lights! Publicity for the firm and for our future as Litigator Mitchell Braxton and Litigator Lisa Vaughn-Braxton.”
“Not a bad idea, a small law firm with two partners instead of our behemoth one,” he said, frowning, but he surely couldn’t mean that. He’d never leave Carlisle, Bonner and Associates where he was the most powerful partner, the rain-maker and golden boy. He opened the sliding glass door to step out onto her twelfth-floor, open-air lanai. It was August in Ft. Lauderdale, hot and humid even up this high. The AC-cooled air whooshed out behind them as she joined him and he slid the door shut.
Her condo faced the city rather than the preferred blue-green Atlantic where the cruise ships went in and out. No way, after her family tragedy she’d want a view with ships or water even though she could well afford it.
“More trouble on our case?” she asked. “Graham isn’t going to really take us off it, is he? The fact we’ve been wire-tapped and stalked means we’re really onto something.“
Mitch slumped in a patio chair. Ordinarily, she’d just sit in his lap without an invitation, because they were usually great at communicating without a word. But not today. It scared her when she knew something was wrong; it scared her that he’d sat so close to the edge of the lanai and was looking into the distance—downward, until he snapped his dark gaze back to her.
“Sweetheart, there’s no easy way to say this, but—“
Her knees almost buckled. He was going to break up with her? But they’d been so happy, so perfectly, passionately happy. She couldn’t lose him—she couldn’t lose anyone else she loved!
“I got a call today from the lawyer who represents my uncle’s estate in Alaska,” he went on. “When he died, he left me the wilderness lodge in the Talkeetnas I’ve always been raving about and wanted you to see.”
“That’s great, Mitch, about the lodge. We can visit there in the summer, use it as a write-off—“
“I can’t do that,” he said rising and leaning against the lanai glass door as if he had to prop himself up. The sky was reflected behind him; he seemed to be flying. The wind mussed his hair, and she had the worst feeling he was now going to muss up—ruin—the great thing they’d had going, the wedding plans, their new condo half-decorated, her joy at soon being a wife and someday a working mom.
“Lisa, sweetheart—I hope you understand. I may be successful, but I’m so stressed I’m getting distracted—careless—when people’s futures are in my hands. I’m scared I’ll not only ruin someone else’s life, but my own—maybe yours down the line. Carelessness can lead to self-destruction.”
“Don’t say it that way! Not after what happened to my mother and Jani!”
“Sorry—I didn’t mean that. I don’t want to hurt you. I want us to stay together, but it can’t be here.”
“Here? Where we’ve both built good lives, great careers? You don’t mean that.”
“Please, just hear me out. Sometimes I don’t give a damn about things I need to care for, to control. Half the time, all I’ve worked for seems pointless.”
“Including a future with me?” She was nearly shouting. “Our love, our plans, both professional and personal? Mitch we can have everything, that is, if it’s here and not at some remote wild-river lodge in the mountains of Alaska. That’s what you’re leading up to, isn’t it?”
She’d lost control, and it angered her that Mitch Braxton, attorney extraordinaire was so deadly calm. But she knew him all too well. Once he made up his mind, his rational, analytical, male mind…
“Lisa, I want to—need to—move to Alaska. I know you’d love it if you’d just come with me and give it a try. We’ll get married here, then go. You could hang up an attorney shingle in nearby Talkeetna.”
“How could you be so self-centered? You’ve been thinking of this for days, haven’t you—weeks without a hint this was coming?”
“Because I knew you’d lose it and I didn’t want to lose you.”
“You proposed to me under false pretenses!”
“Just listen, will you?” He set his untouched wine down on the table and came toward her. She was so furious that she almost threw her wine in his face, but she snapped her goblet’s slender stem, which dug into her palm. Pain arced; blood flowed. Somehow that helped the other, deeper pain.
Mitch swore under his breath and pulled out his handkerchief.
“Never mind!” she insisted, making a circle around him. “I don’t even feel a thing after this—this betrayal.”
His big hands on her shoulders turned her to him; he held her wrist and wrapped her palm. “I’m going to run you into the ER,” he insisted.
“Don’t bother. Don’t bother with me anymore—again. Mitch, I can’t go to Alaska. You know I’m a Florida girl, and I’ve worked long and hard, as you have, to get where I am.”
“So I come second to your career?”
“Counselor, you don’t have a leg to stand on. I obviously come third or last to your new career of lodge owner, whitewater kayaker, dog sled musher or whatever. It’s always the little woman who has to change her life for her man, isn’t it?” she demanded and pushed past him to open the sliding door with her good hand.
“No. I said we could compromise and practice law there. Lisa, it’s such clean, good living. And…”
“And it isn’t here where we were building a life together. Oh, let’s just pull up stakes,” her voice came mocking now, “and move as far across the country as we possible can. Actually, dear Lisa, I’ve always had this in mind and thought I could get you so enamored of my lovemaking and promises that—“
“Don’t make it worse or harder!”
“It couldn’t possible be worse or harder!” she shouted back and opened the door to the hall for him. If he didn’t go out it, she would have to.
The man actually had tears in his eyes. That stunned and scared her, but was it just another ploy to get her to give in to him and this crazy wilds-of-Alaska scheme? The only moose and bears she wanted to see were in the zoo. The only salmon she hoped to eat came from four-star Las Olas or South Beach restaurants.
Mitch opened his mouth to say more, the great lawyer who could convince a jury of just about anything, the amazing combination of GQ model and rugged Olympic athlete who could convince her to trust him with her very life when she had always been so cautious trusting others.
“I hope we can discuss this later when you have time to reconsider,” he said so calmly she wanted to scream.
“Me again? Of course, when I have time to reconsider, not you.”
“Goodnight, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”
She could tell he wanted to hold or kiss her, but he went out into the hall. Had this really happened, or was it a nightmare and she’d soon wake up?
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow,” he tried again. “And are you sure I can’t take you to the ER?”
“They don’t fix broken hearts,” she said and closed—quietly, calmly—the door on him before collapsing on the couch, choked with sobs. No way was she ever going to wilderness Alaska, not even to live with Mitch, though she was not certain she could ever live without him.

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Setting: 1860s Dakota Territory, Book II in my Men of Defiance series
Subgenre: Western historical
Hero: Julian McCaid
Heroine: Audrey Sheridan

One sentence summary:
Eastern financier, Julian McCaid, has trouble in spades at his sheep ranch in the Dakota Territory, and his problems are compounded when Audrey Sheridan, the extraordinary frontier woman he held for one unforgettable dance, gets mixed up with the town’s outlaws.

Scene you like most and would never cut:
One of the things that surprised me in this book was Julian’s phobic-like aversion to children. Of course, the woman he falls in love with happens to be the mother of 8 foster children! When he takes an impromptu trip up to visit his friends, Sager and Rachel, he meets their infant son. It hits him that the thing he wants most of all is the very thing he fears the most–a child of his own, for he knows any child of his would be conceived in hatred.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:
Audrey lives in a tiny two-room house with her brother and her 8 foster children. The last thing she’s likely to do is surrender to a night, or a week, or a summer of passion, despite Julian’s seductive persuasion.

What celebrity is your hero like:
Julian is the spitting image of a young Clint Walker (http://www.clintwalker.com/cart.php?function=0&itemid=65). Oh yeah.

What celebrity is your heroine like:
I struggled with Audrey. I truly do need a visual in order to channel my characters’ personalities. I went to lunch one day with folks from the office, and there was Audrey waiting on our table, dark blonde hair, sage green eyes, dimples and all. From there, it was a piece of cake!

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
Audrey is a laundress and foster mother. She wants to become a seamstress, and Julian has offered to set up her up in business. But she hasn’t yet met a man who can give without taking…or has she?

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:
Julian is heavily engaged in his family’s shipping empire, his own investments, and his sheep ranch at Hell’s Gulch that’s sitting right in the middle of prime cow country. And he’s also looking for a wife…

What you think readers will like best about this book:
My books always seem to be about the characters’ finding home. Sometimes it’s staring them right in the face. Sometimes it takes a long journey and a major transformation to find it. There’s a calm satisfaction, a rightfulness, when they discover where it is that they belong. I hope readers will finish this story having a warm fuzzy that maybe, just maybe, life is okay.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
From the first book in my Men of Defiance series, RACHEL AND THE HIRED GUN, I’ve gotten many requests for the stories of Sager’s brothers, Logan and Blue Thunder. I have one planned for Logan, but Blue Thunder hasn’t told me his yet.

What’s next:
Two more books in the Men of Defiance series! Next up is Leah and Jace’s story in LEAH AND THE AVENGER, due out May 2011. Jace is a vigilante hired to run the criminal elements out of Defiance, and Leah is the violence hating, man-fearing, violet-eyed tomboy he falls in love with. Following that is the story of Jace’s friend in AGNES AND THE TALL STRANGER due out in May 2012. I’m really having fun with these westerns!
I’m also hard at work with my partners on RomCon 2010 (www.romconinc.com)–the new romance readers convention being held in Denver, Colorado July 9-11, 2010. Readers won’t want to miss the interactive sessions, dinners, balls, booksigning, games and challenges with some amazing prizes–including a $2500 grand prize to be awarded to a reader guest. Plus readers will have the opportunity to let authors and publishers know just exactly what it is they’re wanting more of (or less of!) in their romance fiction!
Thanks for having me on today, Sue! It’s exciting getting to visit with your readers!

Question of the Day:
There’s some debate on the net about authors ending a story with the main characters’ having a baby or becoming pregnant. What’s your take on that–love it or hate it?

GIVEAWAY: 3 copies of AUDREY AND THE MAVERICK to three random commenters!

Congratulations to all you lucky ladies & thanks for blogging at yet another week of Borders True Romance Blog. I must say, we’ve developed quite a fun group here & I look forward to our group growing even more so please pass around our address & have your friends stop by for a chat . . . & maybe they’ll become a winner too! www.bordersblog.com/trueromance & don’t forget to email me with your snail mail address at sgrimsha@bordersgroupinc.com.

Ok, & (drum roll), the winners . . . are:

Sunday w/Lucy Monroe: Gigi

Wednesday w/Deidre Knight: Carol Luciano

Thursday for Triva — congrats to all - you were great - chose 3 random winners: SueA; Jane C & Carrie

Just a reminder, Borders Romance Buy 4 Get 5th FREE is happening now so stop by www.borders.com or our stores & get your savings!

Now, what’s happening this week????

Sunday: Linda Thomas-Sundstrom & giveaway!

Monday: Nicole Jordan & giveaway!

Tuesday: Hope Tarr

Wednesday: Jeaniene Frost - awesome video & giveaway!

Thursday: BookMatchmaker . . . she’s baaaaaaaaaaack

Friday: I’m not telling — really — you just have to come by & see. But, 3 giveaways from Avon!

Saturday: Elaine Levine & giveaway

& I didn’t forget — those of you that are taking on the challenge of blogging, please contact me sgrimsha@bordersgroupinc.com so we can get you listed! All commenters from this post are welcome!

Don’t forget to stop on by & bring your friends!

Happy Romance,
SueG

It’s back! I know we all had fun the last time we did a trivia post so thought it was about time we brought it back. Answer what you can & you may be chosen to receive an assortment of books — one winner today so good luck to all.

1- She writes books with heroes that are Poseidon Warriors?

2- She writes YA & Romance . . . she’s an Oklahoma girl?

3- This author offers scholarships for women, hint, she likes cowboys? Also, a an animal lover?

4- Residing in Michigan, this author writes successfully under two pen names: one is historical; the other for paranormal?

5- 42 of her books have debuted at #1?

6- This author was grew up in Wales?

7- This author was born in Sri Lanka & now lives in Australia?

8- Prior being a NYT Best Selling author she worked in Health Care in Boston? Chief of Staff no less!

9- She is a Shamanic witch considered an elder of the Pagan community?

10- She spent seven years in advertising, had a successful catering business, and managed a construction company before she decided writing books was more fun?

I think this is a pretty tough one so I may break down & give out more random prizes — let’s see how you do — Happy Romance!

Video’s brought to you by Reader’s Entertainment Group - CEO Sheila Clover English:

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COS Productions is a specialty company. We do book video. We not only endeavor to create quality, entertaining book video, but we are constantly looking for innovative ways to bring in new readers. COS is about the publishing industry, not just about a book, a client or a video. If what we do brings in new readers the publishing industry will benefit. If the publishing industry benefits then we have more work. COS has a symbiotic relationship with the industry we serve which makes COS Productions a good investment on many levels.

Originally created by an aspiring author and an amateur production company, COS Productions has grown to encompass an entire network of experienced, professional productions partners. These partners have won awards, created commercials for high profile companies and created music videos for well known celebrities.

COS Productions is a great blend of the publishing industry and production industry. Our script writers are published or aspiring authors, our customer service providers are individuals with experience in the publishing industry and our production partners are trained to create video that inspires readers to buy books, yet entertains the public enough to create an atmosphere that says “Books are entertainment.”

Question for you, as a reader, do you enjoy viewing booktrailers? Do they help you in your purchasing decisions? What do you like about them & what don’t you like about them — comment below!

Happy Romance,
SueG

Don’t forget, Borders Buy 4 Romance titles & get 5th FREE starts today!

Check out Jill’s Exclusive - click here

Strip Tease
She told herself not to stare, but he truly had the most
glorious physique. His back was all sleek, smooth, bronzed
flesh, sinew rippling as he moved— “Hey!” she said as his
pants dropped. He kicked free and kept walking, in nothing
but black knit boxers. “What are you doing?” she
squeaked, even as her gaze soaked up the fact that he had
a tan line, and that the waistband of his boxers had slipped
past it, revealing a tantalizing strip of paler, smooth, tight
skin. “We’re not doing this, Wade O’Riley. Do you hear
me? This is all pretend, remember?”
“I remember. The question is, do you?” He sent her a
cheeky grin over his shoulder.
Praise for Jill Shalvis and Her Romances
“Witty, fun, and sexy—the perfect romance!”
—New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster
“Humor, intrigue, and scintillating sex. Jill Shalvis is a
total original.”
—New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Forster
“Fast-paced and deliciously fun . . . Jill Shalvis sweeps you
away.” —USA Today bestselling author Cherry Adair
“A fun, sexy story of the redemptive powers of love . . .
Red-hot!” —New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross

Dear Reader,

There’s nothing more wildly sexy and appealing than a professional athlete, someone willing to put life and limb on the line for the win, someone so used to doing whatever it takes to save the game, that they don’t realize that they themselves need saving.

I love torturing my heroes with love. Not sure what that says about me, but there’s something about a watching a guy suffer before getting his happily ever after. Slow Heat begins with a big, bad sexy-as-hell major league baseball catcher for the Santa Barbara Heat. Wade O’Riley is a walk on the wild side, and doesn’t see a problem with that. Unfortunately for him, management does.

When the Powers-That-Be decide Wade needs a public make-over, they task the Heat’s publicist with pretending to be his girlfriend at a celebrity wedding. They figure this will ward off both women and trouble. Problem – putting Sam and Wade together any amount of time equals trouble all on its own. Trouble, and a crazy sexual heat neither can seem to resist to save their lives . . .

Wade doesn’t have a problem with what’s happening between them. He might be the Good Time Guy, but he knows a good thing when it hits him. Sam, however, isn’t as easy to convince. She’s known Wade for a long time, and has never seen him stick. Care. Open his heart.

And since hers has been open to him since that one long ago night they’d shared, she’s doubly cautious. But risking when it comes to love is what it’s all about, and before their story is over, each will have to risk far more than they bargained for, including their hearts and souls.

As always, I’d love to hear what you think. You can find me on the web, along with my daily blog about my own adventures at http://www.jillshalvis.com.

Oh, and be sure to look for Double Play, featuring Pace’s and Holly’s story, out now as well!

Happy Reading!
Jill Shalvis

Jill is giving away 10 FREE books - comment below - tell us why you deserve to win

Chapter 1
Confucius say: “Baseball wrong—man with four balls cannot walk.”
~Author Unknown
She’d read somewhere that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, but Samantha McNead knew better than that—in certain men the stomach was aiming just a bit too high.
Wade O’Riley was one of them.
The best defensive catcher in major league baseball, he had women lining up to meet him wherever he went. And it wasn’t home cooking that they wanted to give him either.
Not that Wade seemed to mind. Nope, even with all the constraints that went with the new big, fat, multimillion dollar contract he’d just signed for Santa Barbara’s expansion team The Heat, the guy seemed oblivious to pressure. Laid-back and easygoing, he took everything as it came, with a grain of salt and a slow, knowing smile that let everyone in on the joke.
Because life was one big funny to Wade.
Sam appreciated that, she just didn’t live it the way he did. Didn’t know how. As the publicist for the Heat, as one of the few females in a man’s world, her life tended to be more work than fun lately. Hence her mission today.
The limo pulled up in front of Wade’s big, cottage-style beach house, perched on a bluff over the ocean. From the backseat she could see the waves froth and pitch.
Much like her stomach.
In the work aspect of her life, she was extremely comfortable. That was a given. She’d been raised by men: her father, her uncle, her brother, and her cousins were all tough, implacable, unforgiving alpha males. Failure had never been an option, which translated to being very good at whatever she tackled. Unfortunately for her more womanly parts, all she’d tackled lately was the job.
A job she loved with all her heart, but sometimes she yearned for more. Maybe one of these days a man would sweep her off her feet and then into bed, but it wouldn’t be today, and it wouldn’t be with the guy she’d been tasked with babysitting.
The Heat had played last night. It was the first week of April, and it’d been an exhibition game, a prelude to their season opener on Sunday. They’d played the Padres, and it’d turned out to be surprisingly down and dirty. Wade had hit a homer in the second inning, then been harshly walked in the third when the pitcher had hit him in the thigh with a throwaway pitch. The game had gone two extra innings, until past midnight, when the Heat had finally won on Wade’s double, so Sam expected him to be exhausted and probably sore as hell. Maybe she’d even have to pull him out of bed.
The thought brought concern, and a secret tingle to those womanly parts she’d been neglecting.
Nice to know they still worked.
As she reached for the limo door handle, Wade’s front door opened, and six feet of rugged, lean muscled male stepped out in Levi’s and an untucked blue and white striped button-down. A gust of wind molded his clothes against the body that tended to make Sam’s tongue stick to the roof of her mouth.
Wade stopped to slide on his sunglasses, the picture of a California surfer, all easygoing, laid-back charm.
He’d been a rock star in another life, Sam was convinced, and she purposely let out a breath and leaned back, reminding herself he was just a guy. A flawed guy at that, though certainly none of his flaws happened to be showing at the moment.
He moved across the lawn in an unhurried, sexy stride, all scruffy gorgeousness, and opened the limo door, letting in the chilly April afternoon air. With one hand on the roof, the other on the door, he bent down, peering in through his Prada sunglasses, merely arching a brow when he saw her.
Couldn’t blame him. They weren’t exactly on speaking terms.
His sun-kissed light brown hair was either styled messy today on purpose, or he hadn’t bothered with a comb. His face sported at least a day-old beard so she was going with the no comb theory. He should have looked sloppy and unkempt but nothing about him ever looked anything less than God’s gift. She’d seen him in uniform, in designer suits, in workout gear, in all sorts of things including absolutely nothing, and he always looked perfect.
Especially in the nothing.
“Hey,” he said in that low, slightly raspy voice of his, the one that never failed to immediately put her back up.
And/or turn her on.
“Hey yourself.” He hadn’t limped, and he sure as hell didn’t look exhausted. The opposite, she thought a little breathlessly as his deceptively lazy gaze raked her in from head to toe. Deceptively, because behind that beach bum front of his lay a sharp-as-hell wit.
Given their . . . tense relationship at the moment, she didn’t smile.
And though he usually smiled at anything female, neither did he.
“Are you okay after last night’s game?” she asked.
“Always. How about you, Princess?
She’d asked him a million times not to call her that. It drove her crazy, which was of course why he did it. “I’m fine. We need to talk.”
“Sorry,” he said with mock regret. “But we don’t talk. We fight. And I’m not in the mood.”
He hadn’t been “in the mood” since what she called The Mishap.
The Mishap Never To Be Talked About.
Except . . . except Wade got along with the entire world, and she had to admit it was disturbing that they didn’t. Couldn’t. But there was nothing to be done about that now.
Nothing.
She had a job to do. They had a job to do. “I realize you probably don’t want to go over the plan,” she said, feeling at a disadvantage sitting while Wade still stood. “But I really think we should.”
“I know the plan,” he said. “One of the corporations endorsing the Heat has a new, conservative CEO who has high family values, and is upset with our PR troubles—”
“Your PR troubles,” she corrected.
He let out a tight breath and bowed his head in agreement. “And you, the Skiper, the owners—hell everyone but me—believes that the world cares about one more ridiculous baseball scandal involving some woman claiming I’ve gotten her pregnant.”
“You can’t blame people for believing it; you do have a bit of a playboy reputation.”
“I never slept with Tia.”
“She produced pictures of you and her on the beach by your house.”
He just looked at her.
“See,” she pointed out. “This is why we have to talk about it.”
“Look, I get what the powers-that-be want from me. From us. We pretend to be a couple in the eyes of the press so I look like a good boy, and our endorsements won’t be pulled. How hard can it be?”
“I don’t know,” she replied cautiously. “How hard?”
His eyes heated. And a matching heat seared through her belly at the inadvertent double entrendre. “You know what I mean, Wade. The plan—”
“The plan is that I have to behave. And you’re supposed to make me.” He paused. “Though I am looking forward to the make me part.”
Oh, God. “You know what? This isn’t going to work.” She was fun, dammit. Even lighthearted at times. Why the hell he made her sound so uptight and stuffy, she had no idea.
Wait. She did have an idea. An exact idea.
She’d slept him.
Once.
On the one single night in her entire life when she’d had too much to drink. Except there’d been no sleeping involved. To make matters worse, it’d been one of the most erotic, sensual nights of her life. “Listen, I realize we’ve had our differences, but—”
“Differences?” He laughed, then shook his head, still amused.
“Fine, so differences doesn’t quite cut it. We have to get a move on.” A friend of his was getting married. A close friend who just happened to be a big-time Hollywood producer, and Wade was one of the groomsmen. The wedding was an entire weekend extravaganza, where there was sure to be tons of press. If he attracted any of it—and just by being Wade, he most definitely would—he needed to attract good press.
By the end of the two-hour trip to the famed Orange County, specifically Laguna Beach, they needed to be in sync and looking like lovers. Willing to do her part, she practiced a smile on him, the smile that usually got her exactly what she wanted, which in this case was Wade’s cooperation. Thing was, he didn’t often feel the need to cooperate. “You getting in?”
He looked at her for a long beat, all big and built and completely inscrutable, during which time she held her breath. For as kick-back as he was, he was also tough as steel. He had to be. Catchers were known for their courage and toughness, having what was arguably the hardest position in baseball. And Wade was the best catcher behind the plate, period. He had to command the respect of all the players, make the calls on the field, have good sequences in those calls, and the ability to change it up and keep the hitters off balance. All of which meant he had to be smart, sharp, and strong in both mind and body.
Wade was all of those things and more, and clearly one of those things was decisive. He tossed his overnight bag into the limo and followed it in, dropping down next to her even though he could have had the opposite seat all to himself. Leaning back, he stretched out his long, long legs and looked around. “So. We have any food in here?”
“No. Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
He was always starving. Probably because he burned God knew how many calories a day between his five-mile runs, weight training, and the game itself. “We can stop and get something to go. Rosa’s?” she asked, naming the closest café. Look at that, she was getting the hang of taking care of him already.
“DQ is good.”
She’d never met a grown man with such a love for fast food before. But whatever he wanted, she’d get. It would make him happy, and a happy Wade was a hopefully compliant one. With a nod from her, the driver started the engine and they began their trek, heading through town toward Dairy Queen.
Santa Barbara was a colorful blend of the Spanish history of California and beach living. Wade was looking out the window, taking it in, giving her his profile as they turned onto Highway 1, heading south. The sparkling Pacific was on their right, the green, craggily Santa Ynez peaks on their left, both breathtaking.
They stopped at Dairy Queen and quickly got back on the road. Wade was quiet as he ate, watching as they left the affluent homes and ranches, heading into the outlying county and the less privileged areas. She knew he’d been underprivileged himself. Despite his many faults, he was surprisingly humble and quick to laugh at himself, and often joked he’d grown up so far from the proverbial train tracks that he hadn’t even been able to see the tracks.
And her?
Well, she’d grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth and everyone knew it. It was certainly all Wade knew about her, because it’d been the only thing she’d ever let him see. He had no idea that the two of them had a hell of a lot more in common that he’d ever guess.
He polished off two burgers and went to work on his fries. “So . . .” His green eyes were relaxed but assessing as they met hers. “When were you going to tell me they want us to do this boyfriend/girlfriend thing for a whole month?”
“You heard?” she asked in surprise. She’d been asked to talk him into it.
“I work with a bunch of women, Sam. They tell all.”
“You work with a group of professional athletes, male.”
“Who gossip more than a bunch of teenage girls after cheerleading practice. Pace heard it from Henry, who overheard Gage talking to you.”
Pace being Wade’s best friend and the Heat’s pitcher. Henry was their shortstop. Gage, their team manager. And yes, the supposedly professional clubhouse really was similar in nature to a high school locker room.
Sprawled out, relaxed, Wade watched her with a half smile, looking far too appealing. She took a careful breath. “A month shows stability. It’s more impressive than just a weekend wedding fling.”
“So you’re okay with being joined at the hip for a month?”
“If you are.”
He considered this. “Are there benefits?”
“No.”
He sighed. “So much for fun.”
“Hey, I’m fun.” He didn’t say a word, which burned. “I am! And I just realized, there are benefits.”
He cocked his head.
“Well . . . I can be a pretty convincing bitch when I want to be.”
“Noooo,” he said with feigned shock. “But how exactly is that a benefit?”
“I can scare away all the crazy women that chase you around, thereby giving you a break. And in return, you can relax knowing you won’t have to take care of me like your usual fan-girl, clingy type who bores you within the span of one date.”
He arched a brow.
“Just calling ’em like I see ’em.”
He didn’t say anything to that as he finished his fries, then tossed all the trash into the bag and set it aside. He rubbed a hand over his jaw and said another entire boatload of nothing.
“It’s just a role, Wade. And it could have been worse. We could have lost the endorsement entirely, or they could have traded you.”
“They’re that desperate for good press?” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Hey, baseball isn’t exactly showing its best foot to the public lately. We need this. The Heat needs this.”
“And your father’s okay with it?” he asked carefully.
With good reason. Her father was one of the owners of the Heat. Her uncle owned their sister team, the South Carolina Charleston Bucks. The McNead brothers were famous for getting their way, or more accurately, infamous.
And they were baseball royalty.
Or had been until Samantha’s brother Jeremy—her PR equivalent at the Bucks—had stepped over the ethics line, the moral line, and several other lines as well, and brought the wrath of the press down on the McNeads. It hadn’t gone over well, and damage control was required. Gee, guess who was in charge of damage control? “Yes,” she said quietly. “My father thinks it’s a good idea.”
“So they’re willing to pimp out their princess when it suits them.”
Ouch. But the answer was yes, a McNead was expected to stick to the pack. She’d known that by the time she could talk in full sentences. “It’s just an illusion.”
“It’s an entire month.”
The reminder made her stomach quiver. An entire month of being his girlfriend. “We’re grown-ups.”
“Really?” His stark green gaze was more genuine curiosity than sarcasm. “Because we’ve not spent more than two minutes together without snarling at each other.”
God. So true.
“Well, except for the elevator,” he said.
Also true, and her stomach executed a double gainer with a twist as the memory flew back, hot and sexy, resurrected by nothing more than the sound of his voice and the sudden sleepy look in his eyes.
It’d happened last season. The Heat had just lost, bad. The press had been ruthless, and her father had been pissed at her for somehow not being Super Woman. She’d been in desperate need of some alone time.
What she’d gotten instead was stuck in an elevator on the way to her hotel room with Wade and a couple little bottles of airplane Scotch, and her pity party for one had turned into a naked party for two. The erotic, alcohol-tinged memories came to her in slow-mo and as always, always, sent her spinning between total and complete humiliation and an even more devastating aching hunger and desire.
If she could just erase from her memory banks the picture of Wade taking her straight to heaven in under five minutes she would, but the pictures in her brain only seemed to only strengthen with time instead of lessen. She darted a quick glance at their driver, who was currently sipping a seventy-two-ounce DQ soda and rocking his head to the radio as he beat the steering wheel like a drum. “I don’t want to discuss that night.”
Wade shrugged. No skin off his nose. Hell, he’d probably had lots of nights like that since. She concentrated on the view. Not a hardship. Santa Barbara wasn’t called the American Riviera for nothing, and she watched as they passed four-thousand-foot peaks covered in unique and beautiful chaparral and sandstone outcrops. “So we’re good?” she asked quietly.
Wade smiled. It was his professional smile, the one that could melt a woman’s panties at fifty paces and make men wish that they had half his athletic prowess, and it was a charmer. She knew its potency, braced herself for it, and still felt her panties begin to melt. “What the hell.” He stretched out even further, his leg sliding to hers. “We’re good. Girlfriend.”
“Fake girlfriend,” she corrected, shoving him over, telling herself she was absolutely not noticing the heat of him, the feel of his rock hard thigh . . .
He stretched some more, straightening his arms above him, briefly exposing a flash of washboard abs between the hem of his shirt and the waistband of his jeans. Jeans that were faded at all the stress points. He had some very fine stress points . . .
She saw more men in a day than the average woman dreamed of. Many of those men—if she was in the clubhouse before a game—in various stages of nakedness, leaving her utterly immune to tantalizing glimpses of male skin.
Which didn’t explain why her mouth went dry.
“Maybe we should kiss on it,” Wade suggested. “Seal the deal.”
Her tummy quivered, a fact she firmly ignored. “What? No!”
“Spoil sport.”
He’d probably have fallen over if she’d said yes, which she absolutely wouldn’t do. Even if he was the kiss master.
Which he was . . .
His leg was touching hers again. He was hogging the backseat, albeit unintentionally. He was a big guy and he needed space. He also smelled good. He looked good, too, which really didn’t seem fair at all. But he was here, not pitching a diva fit, and she owed him for that. “Thank you,” she said. “For agreeing to this.”
“You’re welcome.”
Well, that seemed surprisingly genuine, and she had to wonder if maybe she’d anticipated trouble with him simply because of their past. Maybe . . . maybe deep down he really was a good guy.
It was possible.
Maybe they could laugh about this, her having to keep up the pretense of being his lover, when they’d already done the deed.
That could possibly be fun. Maybe.
Sort of.
And maybe they could even become friends. It would be nice—
“You packing any Scotch today?” he asked, looking around the limo. “Should I be bracing myself for you to tear my clothes off again?”
With a sigh, she leaned back and closed her eyes. She could safely check both fun and friends off the list.

DRIVE TIME
Hank Phillippi Ryan

Setting: Boston and New England—a major market television station, a prestigious private school, and some dark and dangerous places only an undercover reporter would be brave enough to visit
Subgenre: mystery/suspense
Hero: Ah..Don’t want to give that away!
Heroine: Charlotte McNally—smart, savvy, sassy and sexier than she admits. A top-notch TV reporter who’s worried about being replaced by someone younger. What happens when you’re married to your job in television—and the camera doesn’t love you anymore? Will Charlie wind up a media old maid?

One sentence summary: Reporter Charlotte McNally’s latest scoop—an expose of a dangerous and diabolical scam complete with high-speed chases and hidden camera footage is ratings gold—but when ugly phone calls and deadly extortion threats put her darling fiancé in jeopardy, Charlie must untangle too many secrets, and decide if it’s ever safe to tell.

Scene you like most and would never cut: One of the things I love to do in my books is take a very ordinary commonplace occurrence—one that’s happened to all of us—and twist it into something completely different. So let me ask you—what do you think really happens to your car in valet parking? Read DRIVE TIME and you may be doing your own parking from now on!
In one of my favorite scenes, set in a dingy and deserted parking garage, Charlie goes one-on-one to outwit a deadly killer. And I’ll give you the scoop–she does it with only what she finds in her coat pocket. Since writing that scene, every time I go into a parking garage, it gives me the creeps!

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: Charlie’s glamorous, smart, hilariously funny, and devotedly focused on getting her next big story. She’s classy and tough and stylish—Murphy Brown meets Diane Sawyer. Charlie would never cheat. She tries never to be mean to anyone—unless they’re a sleazy bad guy who’s in the target of her camera and her relentless questioning. And even though she’s always stylish and camera-ready—when she goes undercover, her disguises require her to wear some pretty outrageous getups.

Your hero, is he a boxer or brief kind of guy: Ah—don’t want to give that away. But think: Jeremy Northam. Gregory Peck in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Harrison Ford in WORKING GIRL. Gabriel Byrne. Colin Firth. You get the picture. And at the exact moment when Charlie finds out first-hand whether it’s boxers or briefs—well, it’s almost instantly irrelevant! (Because he’s not wearing them anymore.)

Ancillary character you had the most fun with: Well, any of us who have dated a person with a child from an earlier marriage—you know how tough it can be to win them over! Charlie’s been devoted to her job for her entire career and the idea that she might soon be a step-mother is more than daunting. So 9-year-old Penny is a challenge … especially since her mother is still very much in the picture.

It was fascinating to mine the relationship between little Penny—who I think is hilarious and a real stitch!—and grown-up Charlie, who can handle the toughest of journalism assignments—but who’s sometimes baffled by a little girl. (And of course, how to handle the passion of a new love when there’s a pre-teen in the next room!)

Your heroine’s favorite hobby: I must admit, Charlie has no hobbies. As a TV reporter, she’s on call 24/7—and that doesn’t leave much time for fun. And although she’s a great cook and loves her cat, Botox, she’s all about breaking the big story. And, suddenly, she’s also got to juggle planning a wedding. If she can get a free moment. (Just ask her mother. Charlie’s not quite on schedule with the wedding thing!)

Your hero’s favorite hobby: He’s a prize-winning skier. And an accomplished sailboat racer.

What you think readers will like best about this book: DRIVE TIME is exciting. A thrilling page-turner with non-stop action, and with the kind of passion only someone with real life experience can enjoy. Charlie McNally is a successful and independent career woman–who may finally, after all these years, realize that true love is not out of the question.

Plus, after my thirty years as a television reporter—and I’m still on the air at the NBC affiliate in Boston—I’ve wired myself with hidden cameras, confronted corrupt politicians, chased down criminals, and have 26 Emmys for my reporting. In my Charlotte McNally books, I can bring you the inside scoop on what it’s really like to be a TV journalist—the high-stress, high-stakes and often not-so glam world of reporting. And, if you’re lucky, the joy of being able to catch the bad guys and bring some justice to the world.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: You know who that is? Charlotte McNally—married lady! It’s all about the juggling, as all of us with a job and families know. Charlie’s been on her own all these years, but how will she manage with a new husband and instant daughter? I can’t wait to explore that balance.

What’s next: You’ll be the first to know, I promise! I’m starting an incredibly exciting new project which I hope to make public soon. And what’s next for Charlie McNally? Again, you’ll be the first to know. Will she actually get married or will something happen to stop it? And just when Charlie begins to think she may have everything she’s dreamed of—what might happen to make it all go wrong?

Hank’s turn to ask a question: Thanks, Borders readers, for sharing Charlie’s adventures and her personal quandaries.
Do you balance job and personal life? Do you have time for both? Do you feel pulled in several directions, and try to make it all work? How do you handle it—and what do you wish could change? Charlie is considering embarking on a whole new life which will require giving equal time to her love life and her job. What’s your advice for Charlie? Is it possible?

And PRIZES! I’ll send an autographed copy of one of the first three Charlie McNally books (the Agatha-winning PRIME TIME, FACE TIME or AIR TIME) to ten lucky commenters!

(Yes, it’s a series—but they are all stand-alone novels that can be read in any order!)

Can’t wait to hear what you think! And come visit me at my website http://www.HankPhillippiRyan.com for some behind-the-scenes photos (Nora Roberts, Lee Child, Brenda Novak, Sue Grafton!) and lots of fun. Plus you’ll find my schedule—I’d love to chat with you in person!

Thanks again to all of you for blogging with us on Borders True Romance Blog . . . now . . . (drum roll) . . . the winners are:

Sunday-for Sabrina Jeffries - peggy

Monday - for BookMatchmaker - these lucky winners get to write their own post for BTRB - Laura; Helen L; Armenia; Donna Marie Rogers; Lisa G; Karen H; Kelly Peterson; Tiffany M; Cranky Otter; Debra

Wednesday - Allison Brennan’s winners - Heather C; Sue A; Barbara Elness

Thursday - Linda Lael Miller chooses - Debra; Mariska; Laura (PA) ; Leslie; Maureen

Saturday - Madeline Hunter’s winner is Deborah Brent

Please contact SueG, sgrimsha@bordersgroupinc.com with your address; Monday winners, email me & we’ll set up a post date CONGRATS TO ALL!

What’s up for this week???

Sunday with Heather Graham!

Monday - Editor Deb Werksman talks about Laura Kinsale

Tuesday - Jill Myles

Wednesday - Hank Phillippi Ryan

Thursday - Contest ?? What Contest???

Friday - Romance Junkies do book reviews for Borders True Romance Blog!

Saturday - Elpmaxe ( I think I’ve spelled that right?) & something special from Jill Shalvis!

Whew — what a great week with giveaways & excerpts galore!

Please join us & tell your friends — www.bordersblog.com/trueromance — we love to hear from you!

Until tomorrow, Happy Romance!
SueG

Scoundrel’s Kiss by Carrie Lofty

Setting: Kingdom of Castile (modern-day Spain)
Subgenre: Medieval historical romance
Hero: Gavriel de Marqueda
Heroine: Ada of Keyworth

One sentence summary:
In medieval Spain, a hunted warrior monk saves the troubled English translator he’s going to protect, but she plans to seduce her way to freedom, jeopardizing his vows of obedience, nonviolence, and chastity.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:

Initially, she wouldn’t be caught dead apologizing. She’s radically stubborn and has cut ties everyone who’s ever cared for her. But after she matures and learns that being beholden to others is not necessarily a bad thing, she finds a reserve of inner strength and peace that she won’t ever give up again.

Scene in the book moved you the most as you wrote it, or made you the most happy? (This is the same as the scene I most like and would never cut):

Ada is accused of a crime and is sentenced to trial by combat. To stand up for her and take her place in the combat arena, Gavriel claims that he’s her husband. It’s a bizarre marriage proposal because he’s trying to save her life–but he also means it. And she knows it.

Gavriel stared at the judge. “I claim the right because she is my wife.”

Ada gasped.

Glancing at his bailiff, Judge Natalez seemed to maintain his bearing by force of will alone. “What proof do you have?”

With no other choice to save Ada from the vindictive judge, Gavriel set aside caution. She eased hurts that had been so much a part of him, like bones and blood and breath. That she caused a deeper pain at the thought of her suffering loosened the worry in his chest. This was right.

“What proof is needed?” Gavriel asked. “We’re both Christian, having lived on the edge of the reconquista frontier where neither banns nor priest are required.” He found Ada’s blue eyes and did not look away. Swords and men in armor separated them, but he spoke to her in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “You need only my word. And hers.”

She looked at him as if the crowd, the judge, the verdict—none of it mattered. Only him. Only the words he had said in an effort to save her life. But he knew better. And by the way a smile began to change her face—first the light in her eyes, then the gentle curve of her lip—she did, too. He had made the claim of their marriage because he wanted it.

Tell them. Tell them we are married.

The words pounded inside his forehead. Noise from the throng of onlookers faded, or else he had ceased to hear them. He only waited for Ada’s reply to his most unconventional proposal.

Natalez’s rumbling voice cut between them. “What say you?”

Ada turned to the hundreds of people in the courtyard. Considering the injustice of the judge’s ruling, appealing to him would do little good. “Yes,” she said. “He is my husband.”

Applause and laughter jumped from the crowd. Dressed in green, her hair whipping free in the morning breeze, Ada tossed Gavriel a carefree smile. He drank in her vigor, her beauty. Tingling warmth flooded his veins when she blushed. He would not take his eyes off her, but he knew if he closed them now, images of his future would be filled with her. Them. Together. If he proved strong enough.

This is Ada. And this is me in love with her.

Have you learned or found any bizarre facts while doing research?

Most of the bizarre facts stemmed from the culture war that the Christian Kings were conducting against the Moorish tribes to the south. Marriages could be consummated without a priest, without witnesses, and without posting a banns. Mistresses to noblemen claimed legitimate status, as did their children, and these women could eventually go on to marry without any social fallout. Children born to slaves could be acknowledged as legitimate heirs as long as they’d been baptized. All of this was to promote Christianity in the frontier regions. Eventually, as the Moors became less of a threat, these concessions were revoked and social practices were brought in line with the Catholic Church. The two crimes most severely prohibited were those who carried on sexual relations with Muslims, and women who arranged affairs between married women and single suitors. These practices threatened the hard-won Christian stability and were punishable by death.

Ancillary character you had the most fun with:

Fernán Garza. He’s a feckless fourth son who hates being a monk and provides many of the comedic elements. But, to my surprise, he played a significant part in the story and revealed an emotional subplot that proved quite noble.

What is one thing in your history that has influenced your writing, whether it’s a character, your work habits, or your favorite plot conflict?

My favorite characters are, by far, those in need of redemption. Redemption doesn’t necessarily have to be in atonement for a crime, but perhaps, such as in Ada’s case, being redeemed of childish mistakes, immaturity, or the unwillingness to take responsibility for one’s actions. I love characters who start out self-centered and immature, because they really have to work toward earning their happy ending as fully-functioning grownups!

Your hero’s favorite hobby: I can’t say. But it’s a nasty hobby and Ada helps cure him of it. He has as many dark secrets as she does…

What you think readers will like best about this book: Gavriel. He’s a big, gruff, plain-spoken, angst-ridden hottie. Fernán will probably go over well too, the silly goof. And I hope readers also come to respect Ada and her struggle. She goes on a very difficult, very personal journey.

For the readers:

What do you think of characters in need of redemption? Do you prefer characters who start out fairly well grounded and self-aware, or those who need a heavy dose of personal growth as they search for their happy ending?

Giveaway: five copies