A quick heads up —

It’s one of my daughters’ birthday today (who told her she can turn 11? 😉 ) so I’m going to be out of the house most of the day. If your comments don’t post, don’t worry. Most likely WordPress will have them waiting for me to approve them when I get back. Have a great day everyone! 🙂

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How DANGEROUS SECRETS happened with Lisa Marie Rice

LOVE IS THE MOST DANGEROUS SECRET OF ALL…

Small-town librarian Charity Prewitt never dreamed she’d meet and fall in love with a man like Nicholas Ames. The handsome, rich, charming, sexy-as-hell millionaire blew into tiny Parker’s Ridge, Vermont, and immediately rocked her world. Powerful, sensual, the perfect man, Nick knows all the right words — and all the right spots to touch, sending her soaring to dizzying new heights of ecstatic abandon. Never before has prim and proper Charity leapt into bed with a perfect stranger — and now that she’s there with him, nothing is going to drag her away!

But Nick Ames is not who he claims to be. In truth, he is Nicholas Ireland — the one they call “Iceman.” A former Delta Force operator, now a high-level undercover agent, he will do whatever his government asks of him — lie, seduce, betray… even kill, if necessary — for the sake of the mission. And this time his mission is Charity Prewitt.

Suddenly one woman has broken down his chilly restraint and ignited his passions completely. And before the erotic dream turns into a nightmare, will Charity be able to melt the Iceman’s cold, cold heart?

Dear friends,

A writer’s mind is a wondrous and rather odd thing. We keep things in our heads over long periods of time — a scene, a snatch of dialogue, a situation — and lo and behold, there it is, embedded in your latest novel. The pretty simile would be that of a pearl, slowly accruing layers. but actually, it’s more like a magpie building a nest out of bits and bobs.

The writing of Dangerous Secrets (out July 1st) was definitely a bit like that. For years, I’ve had a definite scene in mind. A dangerous man, a soldier, watching from a hillside as someone is buried, watching a woman mourn. He is watching his own funeral. Then he comes back from the dead.

For some odd reason, I wanted to set most of the novel in Sorrento, Italy, of all places. For years, I had the file open, called Surprise in Sorrento (yes, it is cheesy). So in all the years I tried to sell to Harlequin, I wrote and rewrote and tied myself into knots because a) I had to drag my heroine all across the ocean so that b) her husband could reveal himself as alive.

But I didn’t sell to Harlequin, and my writing turned darker, more somber. As a category romance, the scenario might have worked on a light hearted plane, but outside the rarified world of category romance, a man must have the most impelling reason possible to do something like that. And the book that began bubbling in my head definitely could not take place in the amid the bougainville of Sorrento!

And I started writing erotic romance, which so far feels like such a good fit for me, because I can be as over the top romantic as I want without an editor calling it mushy because I also use swear words, so the fierce romanticism gets to slide right by them.

And I mulled the novel over and over…I’d been reading a lot about the Gulags in Soviet Russia, about the Russian mafia. We’re all obsessed with terrorism but to my mind international organized crime is scarier and more immediately dangerous to you.

I like my villains to be sane. There are plenty of sane sociopaths. they’re not nuts, they just cannot empathize, they want money and power and are perfectly willing to walk over you (or slit your throat) to get it, because you simply don’t exist. The drooling, crazed ritualistic serial killer has been overdone. How many serial killers can there possibly be in the world? But a man who will coolly kill for money and power — there are lots of those.

So my villain became this really interesting guy — a writer, a man of culture, who survived the Gulag. Anyone who has read even one article about the Gulag knows what this means. Hell is probably a ton of fun in comparison to what happened in the Soviet prison camps.

And … Vassily was born.

I needed a hero. He had to be a man arrowing straight for the bad guy and he stumbles badly because right in the middle of a deadly mission, he starts falling in love, and he stumbles, for the first time in his life.

Nick was born.

And then a heroine came to me, whole and complete. I love her. Charity Prewitt, librarian, spinster. But she is oh, so more. She is strong and gutsy and loyal the way good women are. She does what she thinks is right and is more than willing to pay the consequences.

Well, no more, because I’m hoping you’ll go out and buy the book. And I hope even more, that when you have bought the book and have read it, that you’ll like it. Dangerous Secrets came from a very deep place inside me and I just loved writing the characters, all of them, including the bad guy.

I’m 6 hours ahead of most of you, 9 hours for some of you but I’m willing to stay up and answer any questions, over this evening and of course over tomorrow, if our gracious hostess will allow that. *Ed: Like I would ever think of denying us the chance to talk to her! 🙂 Ask away, ladies!*

Ciao

Lisa Marie Rice
DANGEROUS SECRETS
‘Love is the most dangerous secret of all’
Out now by Avon Red!

***Up for grabs is a copy of DANGEROUS SECRETS so leave a comment, ladies!

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Talking Romance with Lucy Monroe

It’s Raining Romance…

At least it feels like it to me.  Not only do some of my favorite autobuy authors have releases this July, but I’ve got two books out myself.

Forbidden:  The Billionaire’s Virgin Princess

Sebastian Hawk is a master in business and in the bedroom. There is no place for emotion in his world.  Lina is a headstrong and reckless princess in need of protection and Sebastian is called in to provide round-the-clock security. Her provocative innocence is too enticing, and Sebastian loses his legendary self—control and beds her…only to discover she’s still a virgin…

And the mass market re-release of Ready
(the first in my Brava Mercenaries Trilogy)

They’re the good guys fighting the bad guys. They’ll get the job done—if the price is right and so is the cause. And what cause could be nobler than the heart’s desire? Rough and ready, tough and tender—when it comes to love and security, these hunks are definitely for hire…
As a writer, Lise Barton is used to coming up with wild scenarios for her characters, but the one that’s playing out for her right now is no fiction—it’s frighteningly real. Someone is stalking her, someone who knows where she lives and what she does. Someone who has even threatened her family—her brother, his wife, and their precious baby girl. Lise isn’t about to let someone hurt them, so she packs up and leaves Texas for the anonymity of Seattle. And then the threats start again…

Joshua Watt’s mission is simple: Go to Seattle and bring Lise home for Thanksgiving or he’ll never hear the end of it from his sister. It’s not like “Aunt Lise” to stay away from their adorable niece, and Joshua’s pretty sure he’s the reason for it. He’s spent months trying to forget the taste of her lips, the feel of her soft hair in his fingers. Yeah, okay, he wants her—badly—but family comes first. But the minute he sees the fear in Lise’s eyes, his survival instincts kick in. The former Army Ranger isn’t about to let some creep terrorize an innocent woman—not on his watch. He’s going to do what it takes to protect Lise and try to keep his personal feelings out of it.
Because if there’s one thing he’s learned, it’s that sex and work don’t mix. Not ever. So far…

Lots of readers prefer mass market over tradesize, so I’m truly thrilled to know that I’ve been given the chance to share this story with those readers.

I love romance and I write because the stories are always playing in my head, but I also write to touch readers and I truly hope both of these books will do so.  Each has its own themes and characters, but one thing stands true – love *can* overcome and it’s worth fighting for, even if you have to get sneaky as Princess Lina discovers – or downright stubborn as Lise shows.  These two heroines are a couple of my favorites and I hope you think so too.

So, tell me – who is the favorite romance heroine you’ve read or seen in a movie/tv?

As always, I’m happy to give away books – so I’ll draw a name from the comments listed to receive a copy of one of my other personal favorites – 3 Brides for 3 Bad Boys.

Hugs,
Lucy

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