Seeing Red (46 page)
Authors: Susan Crandall
She squeezed his neck and kissed his cheek. “Good plan.”
“I want to fill that plantation house with our children.”
Her arms looped around his neck as she raised her brows. “Children?”
“Yeah. I was thinking maybe four or five—if it’s okay with you. A big family, with lots of noise.” He paused and glanced at the stars as if deciding. “Girls. I’ll teach them to ride. You can teach them to kick ass.”
“Four or five . . . If that’s the case, we’d better get started.”
Nate had come home. For the first time in his life, he would be surrounded by people who truly loved him. And it filled her heart to bursting that she could be the center of that love.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed SEEING RED as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you’re looking for another fast-paced, character-driven romantic suspense, may I suggest my previous novel PITCH BLACK (Grand Central Publishing, available now). Fasten your seatbelts and lock those doors—you may want to read this one with the lights on!
Journalist Madison Wade and her newly adopted teenage son, Ethan, have just moved from Philadelphia to sleepy Buckeye, Tennessee. They’re both out of their element, but Ethan needs a new start; Madison knows she must distance Ethan from the troubles of his life on the streets. Soon Ethan finds his first friend in shy and socially awkward Jordan, and Madison becomes engaged in a lively flirtation with the local sheriff, Gabe Wyatt, but then their lives are thrown out of orbit. A wilderness camping trip that Ethan takes with other teenage boys and Jordan’s step-father goes horribly awry when the boys come off the mountain without their chaperone.
When it becomes clear that the step-father’s death was no accident, all eyes fall on Ethan, the new kid with the troubled past. Even though he doesn’t want to believe Ethan is guilty, Gabe’s investigation offers evidence that leads straight to the boy. It’s clear to Madison that Ethan isn’t telling everything, but she can’t persuade him to confide in her.
Soon another of the boys from the trip disappears. Is Ethan the next target? Or is he the villain? As Gabe and Madison try to unearth the truth, it quickly becomes clear no one is safe.
Best wishes,
THE DISH
Where authors give you the inside scoop!
From the desk of Susan Crandall
Dear Reader,
Oh, how I love to write a twisted villain, preferring the play of psychological tension to physical gore. Villains are so complex, for who in this world is completely good or completely evil? Hollis Alexander in SEEING RED provided a wonderful opportunity to explore the depths of darkness that can lurk in the soul, the evil behind the mask of physical beauty and agreeability.
I always like to center my novels on what I call an “everyman” story, one that could happen to any of us (although we certainly hope it doesn’t). I like to make it personal, to delve into the emotions of my antagonist and my protagonist. Therefore, I rarely venture into the arena of irredeemable evil. Hollis Alexander is the exception. He’s bad and that’s all there is to it. He’s smart and uses mental manipulation to its fullest—this, to me, is the scariest kind of villain. And if I admit that I really enjoyed writing him, does that make you worry about my mental state?
Well, I did. I loved it, even though the idea of a
real
Hollis Alexander gives me chills and makes it diffi cult to sleep. Luckily, the idea of the real Nate Vances, our real-world heroes, makes me feel safe enough to turn out the lights and close my eyes.
Thanks for coming along with me on this journey. May our real-world heroes always be there when you need them.
Happy Reading!
From the desk of Kate Perry
Dear Reader,
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to have superpowers?
If someone gave me superpowers, I’d be stoked. Or would I? Gabe Sansouci, the sassy heroine in MARKED BY PASSION (on sale now), inherits an ancient Chinese scroll that does just that, only she finds out really quickly that having powers isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Don’t get me wrong—if someone tapped me with a magic wand and said I could fly, I’d so be soaring through the sky. But there are a few powers I’d turn down:
I Can’t Go for That, No Can Do:
Three Powers Kate Doesn’t Want
1. Causing earthquakes.
I’m just being practical with this one. Like Gabe, I live in San Francisco. If I made the earth tremble every time I got upset, there’d be chaos. San Francisco is beautiful; it’d be a shame if it lay at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
2. Reading minds.
Shudder. The idea of reading minds is so horrifying to me that I couldn’t bring myself to even torture Gabe with it. Imagine your Aunt Millie thinking about sex. I rest my case.
3. Killing by touch.
Gabe has the capacity to harm people through touch, but she also has the balancing ability to heal. Um, in theory.
Of course, Gabe’s not alone in this thing. With the help of Rhys Llewellyn, man of mystery and all-around hot guy, she’s sure to get a handle on her new powers. Eventually.
Hope you enjoy MARKED BY PASSION! And keep an eye out for CHOSEN BY DESIRE, the second book in the Guardians of Destiny series.
From the desk of Kelley St. John
Dear Reader,
One of the best parts of writing a novel with a multitude of passionate characters is learning that your readers want to know more of their story. That’s what makes it so much fun to give you the “what happened next” portion of their lives, because, as you very well know, those characters continue to live in your heart . . . and mine. Thankfully, you can revisit several of your favorites, since they tend to fi nd their way into my other books. For example, Lettie Campbell’s sister, Amy, from GOOD GIRLS DON’T, is one of Rissi Kincaid’s best friends in TO CATCH A CHEAT! And—you guessed it—if Amy’s there, then that means her sexy cowboy Landon is also along for the ride. So if you didn’t get enough of Amy and her sex toys or Landon and his famed massage oils in GOOD GIRLS DON’T, then you can have another delicious taste in TO CATCH A CHEAT!
And if you’re one of the many readers who sent the request (okay, the demand) for sexy-andsizzling Jeff Eubanks to get together with wild hellion Babette Robinson after meeting them in REAL WOMEN DON’T WEAR SIZE 2, I promise you that FLIRTING WITH TEMPTATION (on sale now) will give you exactly what you’ve been asking for—and then some!
Ever true to her impulsive nature, Babette is still changing jobs, addresses, and hair colors as often as possible. (And changing men just as frequently!) Even though she can’t fi nd a man who will stick, she’s finally found a job that will: Birmingham’s “Love Doctor,” where she heals love that’s gone wrong. Her business is—
until
Kitty Carelle hires Babette to get her back with her ex—none other than Jeff Eubanks.
Jeff believes that women—not men—are the ones who can’t commit, and he has the power to completely ruin Babette’s new career if he refuses to take Kitty back. So Babette is determined to make him see things her way, even if it means adhering to his ridiculous challenge of no fl irting for a week. She can do it. She can. In fact, she could do it rather easily, if the no-fl irting policy only applied to beach hunks who didn’t have the last name of Eubanks. Because Jeff is looking mighty good, and Babette has been a long, long time wanting . . . everything he’s tempting her with.
Have mercy, seven days never seemed so long!
Happy Reading!
