Today is release day for my sexy romantic thriller, DEADLY PURSUIT. Finally! I started this book five years ago, and it’s languished on my computer ever since. At the time I started writing it, I’d just landed my first agent with my spy novel, OPERATION SHEBA, but she was having trouble selling that story. She wanted something sexier, grittier, and very fast-paced.
So I watched Miami Vice reruns, NCIS episodes, Bad Boys and Bad Boys II. Sexy, gritty, and fast paced? Check, check, and check. With all that inspiration under my writer’s hat, I sat at my computer and came up with a taskforce that spanned FBI, DEA, CIA, Immigration, and a few other secretive government organizations just to add to the fun.
What – or who – emerged were dark, strong heroes who’d seen some pretty gruesome things in life. Their female counterparts were tough-as-nails heroines who’d risen through the ranks, earning the respect of these men working side-by-side. Oh, and then there were the vicious criminals looking to take them all down.
But when I submitted Deadly Pursuit (original title Fire With Fire) to my agent, she wrinkled her nose. “There are too many dead bodies,” she said, reminding me the book was supposed to be a romance. “Too much action and not enough romance. Your hero is too dark and too reserved.”
Deflated, I stopped writing this first story in the Southern California Violent Crimes (SCVC) series, and started a second. I tried to figure out how not to cross too far over the sexy, gritty line and end up in the “too dark and deadly camp”, but a few chapters in, a dead body showed up. My hero’s past had a definite dark side. My heroine, in an attempt to rescue a lost women, went down in a plane in the jungle. Uh, oh. Too much darkness, too many dead bodies, too much action.
I gave up on the series, tucking it away, and shortly after, my agent sold OPERATION SHEBA. I went on to sell more books in the super agent series and start a new series. From then on, there were always more books in the pipeline and no time to go back to the SCVC series.
A friend and critique partner who’d read the opening chapters and loved them asked me repeatedly over the years if I was ever going to finish Cooper and Celina’s story. I looked at it a couple of times, made notes on how to complete it, and tucked it away again. Every story has a *time* I believe…when the market, readers, and the author are all primed and ready for it.
Recently, USA introduced a new TV series called Graceland with a similar concept as my SCVC series. I hit the USA Today Bestseller list in June and that opened up new opportunities. One opportunity was being invited to join a like-minded group of authors in a boxed set. Did I have a romantic suspense novel that would fit the bill? The timing seemed perfect to pull out Cooper and Celina, dead bodies and all.
So tell me readers, do you like your romance with a side of action or your action with a side of romance? What’s the perfect balance for you? Three commenters will receive free ecopies of Deadly Pursuit!
Here’s the blurb and a short excerpt to introduce Cooper and the SCVC team with their sexy, action-packed world to you. Enjoy!
USA Today Bestselling Author Misty Evans writes the award-winning Super Agent series as well as urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She likes her coffee black, her conspiracy theories juicy, and her wicked characters dressed in couture. When her muse lets her on the internet to play, she’s on Facebook and Twitter. Read more about her stories at www.readmistyevans.com.
Blurb:
Her sting operation put a ruthless criminal in prison.
One year ago, rookie FBI agent Celina Davenport pulled off the ultimate undercover operation…she seduced Emilio Londano – the dangerous leader of the San Diego Mafia – and destroyed his illegal empire.
Now he’s escaped and looking for revenge.
When Londano escapes a maximum security prison and begins picking off Celina’s friends and coworkers, everyone she knows becomes a target. Including DEA agent Cooper Harris, the man who once broke her heart and is now assigned to be her bodyguard.
How far will they go to stop him?
Cooper and Celina must risk their careers – and their hearts –to turn the table on their pursuer. But will their past, with its forbidden passions and impulsive choices, put them directly in his crosshairs?
Excerpt:
The dress Celina was wearing was Marc Jacobs, a gorgeous flesh-pink silk and gauze combination with a beaded halter that showed off every inch of her assets to full advantage. When she’d met Emilio at the door of her apartment, he’d been speechless for the first time since she’d met him. Speechless was good.
She hoped Cooper would be speechless when he saw her too.
The first part of her plan a success at the apartment, she’d kept the distaste off her face and smiled as Emilio twirled her around, ogling every inch of her body. It had worked. He did not have his security goon search her, either because he was so enthralled with the merchandise that his mind went blank, or he was sure she wasn’t anything other than a beautiful woman in a slip of a dress who would finally share his bed tonight.
His mistake. The microphone she wore was a cordless number she’d sewn behind the large jewel centered at the cusp of her cleavage. The transmitter, a small, square, plastic box, was tucked into the left cup of her bra. Off-balanced breasts would have been too noticeable in the dress, so she’d sewn a thick layer of Kleenex between the fabric and the lining of the other cup to even things out.
Which did a great job of hefting her boobs into outer space.
“Oh, look at the sky.” Celina tilted her head to look through the open moon roof. “Let’s stop at the boardwalk and go down to the beach.”
Emilio frowned before looking back at the road. “It’s late. Too late. Parking anywhere along here—” he waved his hand at the empty parking lane next to the concrete sidewalks “—will get my car towed. Let’s go back to my place.”
“Please,” Celina begged. She shifted her pleading eyes to his face and again brushed her boobilicious upper body against his. “A walk on the beach would be the perfect ending to this night.”
She scooted as close to him as the car seats allowed and mentally morphed him into her fantasy man before she ran her right hand around his stomach. Her fingers touched leather. Gun holster. One that held a mean Glock.
Nothing like reality to interrupt her fantasy.
Sliding her fingers under the gun, she gave him a small hug and resuscitated the image of Cooper. Sexy, serious. Beast in the urban slang so widely used in the surf shops and outdoor restaurants she frequented when not on duty. She’d started calling him that behind his back, and the other taskforce members had picked it up. Cooper hated it. She loved that he hated it. He was no beast. In fact, he was two hundred and thirty pounds of sexy. And she wanted to be his Beauty.
Probably a lot of women in the DEA, FBI, and CIA had their own particular fantasies about him. Women all over Southern Cal as well. Too bad for them, she played hard and never gave up. He’d be hers. And soon.
While Cooper and Emilio were at opposite ends of the spectrum, running her fantasy-man mental movie always worked when she had to deal with Emilio. That particular mind game was the only thing that had kept her seduction act even close to believable the past few weeks.
She placed a soft kiss on Emilio’s neck, still pretending he was Cooper. Which took a superior imagination. “One of your men could drive the car around for a few minutes while we walk the beach.” She nipped the lobe of his ear. “If you’re scared of getting towed.”
Emilio’s two bodyguards were behind them in a black SUV. They were characteristically big, bad and ugly. To arrest Emilio without endangering anyone, Celina had to ditch them and get him totally alone. If one bodyguard had to drive their vehicle and one had to drive the Porsche, she’d have Emilio all to herself.
The key to success. Easy on paper. Hard in reality.
Time for the big guns. Or boobs, in this case.
“The night is dark and the beach is unlit,” she said softly. Emilio leaned toward her and she teased his lips with hers as she spoke. “The rocky walls and concrete boardwalks will hide us. You don’t need your security detail.”
She switched her lips to his earlobe, and still envisioning Cooper, she whispered, “You’ll love this dress even more when it’s wet.”
That sealed it. Emilio’s hand came off the gear stick and grabbed her by the back of the head. He drew her to him, bringing his mouth down on hers even as he drove the car.
Forcing herself not to recoil, Celina shifted her imagination into high gear. It was Cooper whose tongue was now in her mouth. Cooper holding her captive while they sped down the road ten miles over the speed limit, playing a dangerous game of make-out roulette.
She forced herself to return Emilio’s ardor with her own.
I think romantic suspense is got to be very tough to write because the stories I enjoy the most are pretty evenly split between the two aspects. I like the dark types of stories because I feel that the romance gives you some hope to balance it out.
Hi Maureen.
I love the challenge of writing romantic suspense, and you’re right, it can be tough to work both the action and romance into a good balance for readers. Happy reading!
Hi Maureen.
I love the challenge of balancing the action and the romance, and you’re right…the darker the story, the more necessary the romance! Thanks for stopping by!
Misty – I love suspense, but definitely want some hot romance with it. I love Cindy Gerard and Christy Reese. Looking forward to reading Cooper and Celina!
Kelsey, I like Gerard, too, and especially Maya Banks’ KGI series. I hope you enjoy Deadly Pursuit, and thank you for coming by and saying hi!
I like more of an equal ratio of action and romance. Your novel sounds terrific.
Thanks for the giveaway.
Hi Janet. I’m so glad I have the opportunity to share Cooper and Celina with everyone. Good luck in the giveaway, and happy reading!
I like a happy medium. Equal action and romance. This book sounds awesome and that cover is gorgeous!
Thank you, Meg! I love the cover too. A friend is using it as wallpaper on her laptop. LOL.
I enjoy books with romance in it… whether it is a romance with action and suspense or an action and suspense with a bit of romance… really liking the sound of your book!
Hi Colleen. Have you read any books by Lisa Jackson? I always like all the action and just the hint of romance in her stand alones. And I love the DD Warren series. 🙂
I like two thirds action one third romance. Look forward to Deadly Pursuit!
Danyel, that’s a good mix of action and romance!
It really depends on my mood. I read a little bit of everything, except westerns. I like mysteries, action, suspense, thrillers, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. That being said, I’m not a big fan of pure romances. I need a little something else with romances, and in my opinion the best ones have something a little “dark” or some action or action with a little romance. Also, I’m a huge fan of Graceland, so I will definitely read these books.
Jackie, I’m the same way. I read across multiple genres and enjoy a little darkness in stories. I love Graceland!
I love just about anything that has romance in it. This sounds great. Can’t wait to read it. 🙂
Thanks, Melanie! Romance is the biggest fiction market out there!
I join the group that asks for an even distribution of
suspense and romance. ( Or as my Honey says,
“make it six of one and half-a-dozen of the other!”)
The perfect mix, Pat!
Sounds great. I like a combination of both. The perfect combination makes a story fly, and you become emersed in the characters and action.
Elizabeth, I love a story that takes me away from every day stuff, and “flies” like you said. 🙂
I loved the cover photo, a great looking guy with awesome tats gets my motor running every time.
Lin, I totally agree! I was so glad my cover artist caught the essence of the hero I had in mind for Cooper. I love the tat.
I like a happy medium but if I had to choose I like my romance with a side of action. I will choose a romance book over a action book any day but don’t want to read a book that is nothing but romance there has to be something else going on too. Likewise when I pick up an action book it has to have some romance in it to keep me interested.
Texas Book Lover, I usually like at least a sprinkle of romance with my action too. Even just a little sexual tension adds that layer of interest I enjoy.
I like reading both ways. Thanks for the awesome giveaway.
Thanks for coming by and commenting Victoria!
Thanks for coming by and commenting, Victoria!
I’d like more action I think, with a bit of romance on the side.
Hi Mary, I like more action in my stories too. 🙂
I think I lean a little more toward the action with a side of romance
a little of both
You just keep writing books like you want Misty, publishers are totally wrong that everyone wants a certain genre, and that is it. Keep writing outside the box, blur the lines, mix genres all you want, we love it.