What a Duke Dares (48 page)

P.S.: Hope you like the surprise ending.

From the desk of Karina Halle

Dear Reader,

Morally ambiguous. Duplicitous. Dangerous.

Those words describe not only the cast of characters in my romantic suspense novel SINS & NEEDLES, book
one in the Artists Trilogy, but especially the heroine, Ms. Ellie Watt. Though sinfully sexy and utterly suspenseful, it is Ellie’s devious nature and con artist profession that makes SINS & NEEDLES one unique and wild ride.

When I first came up with the idea for SINS & NEEDLES, I wanted to write a book that not only touched on some personal issues of mine (physical scarring, bullying, justification), but dealt with a character little seen in modern literature—the antiheroine. Everywhere you look in books these days you see the bad boy, the criminal, the tattooed heartbreaker and ruthless killer. There are always men in these arguably more interesting roles. Where were all the bad girls? Sure, you could read about women in dubious professions, femme fatales, and cold-hearted killers. But when were they ever the main character? When were they ever a heroine you could also sympathize with?

Ellie Watt is definitely one of the most complex and interesting characters I have ever written, particularly as a heroine. On one hand she has all these terrible qualities; on the other she’s just a vulnerable, damaged person trying to survive the only way she knows how. You despise Ellie and yet you can’t help but root for her at the same time.

Her love interest, hot tattoo artist and ex-friend Camden McQueen, says it perfectly when he tells her this: “That is what I thought of you, Ellie. Heartless, reckless, selfish, and cruel… Beautiful, sad, wounded, and lost. A freak, a work of art, a liar, and a lover.”

Ellie is all those things, making her a walking contradiction but oh, so human. I think Ellie’s humanity is what makes her relatable and brings a sense of realism to a novel that’s got plenty of hot sex, car chases, gunplay,
murder, and cons. No matter what’s going on in the story, through all the many twists and turns, you understand her motives and her actions, no matter how skewed they may be.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a romance novel without a love interest. What makes SINS & NEEDLES different is that the love interest isn’t her foil—Camden McQueen isn’t necessarily a “good” man making a clean living. In fact, he may be as damaged as she is—but he does believe that Ellie can change, let go of her past, and find redemption.

That’s easier said than done, of course, for a criminal who has never known any better. And it’s hard to escape your past when it’s literally chasing you, as is the case with Javier Bernal, Ellie’s ex-lover whom she conned six years prior. Now a dangerous drug lord, Javier has been hunting Ellie down, wanting to exact revenge for her misdoings. But sometimes revenge comes in a vice and Javier’s appearance in the novel reminds Ellie that she can never escape who she really is, that she may not be redeemable.

For a book that’s set in the dry, brown desert of southern California, SINS & NEEDLES is painted in shades of gray. There is no real right and wrong in the novel, and the characters, including Ellie, aren’t just good or bad. They’re just human, just real, just trying to come to terms with their true selves while living in a world that just wants to screw them over.

I hope you enjoy the ride!

From the desk of Kristen Callihan

Dear Reader,

The first novels I read belonged to my parents. I was a latchkey kid, so while they were at work, I’d poach their paperbacks. Robert Ludlum, Danielle Steel, Jean M. Auel. I read these authors because my parents did. And it was quite the varied education. I developed a taste for action, adventure, sexy love stories, and historical settings.

But it wasn’t until I spent a summer at the beach during high school that I began to pick out books for myself. Of course, being completely ignorant of what I might actually want to read on my own, I helped myself to the beach house’s library. The first two books I chose were Mario Puzo’s
The Godfather
(yes, I actually read the book before seeing the movie) and Anne Rice’s
Interview with the Vampire
.

Those two books taught me about the antihero, that a character could do bad things, make the wrong decisions, and still be compelling. We might still want them to succeed. But why? Maybe because we share in their pain. Or maybe it’s because they care, passionately, whether it’s the desire for discovering the deeper meaning of life or saving the family business.

In EVERNIGHT, Will Thorne is a bit of an antihero. We meet him attempting to murder the heroine. And he makes no apologies for it, at least not at first. He is also a blood drinker, sensual, wicked, and in love with life and beauty.

Thinking on it now, I realize that the books I’ve read have, in some shape or form, made me into the author
I am today. So perhaps, instead of the old adage “You are what you eat,” it really ought to be: “You are what you read.”

From the desk of Laura Drake

Dear Reader,

Hard to believe that SWEET ON YOU is the third book in my Sweet on a Cowboy series set in the world of professional bull riding. The first two,
The Sweet Spot
and
Nothing Sweeter
, involved the life and loves of stock contractors—the ranchers who supply bucking bulls to the circuit. But I couldn’t go without writing the story of a bull rider, one of the crazy men who pit themselves against an animal many times stronger and with a much worse attitude.

To introduce you to Katya Smith, the heroine of SWEET ON YOU, I thought I’d share with you her list of life lessons:

1. Remember what your Gypsy grandmother said: Gifts sometimes come in strange wrappings.

2. The good-looking ones aren’t
always
assholes.

3. Cowboys aren’t the only ones who need a massage. Sometimes bulls do, too.

4. Don’t ever forget: You’re a soldier. And no one messes with the U.S. military.

5. A goat rodeo has nothing to do with men riding goats.

6. “Courage is being scared to death—and saddling up anyway.”—John Wayne

7. Cowgirl hats fit more than just cowgirls.

8. The decision of living in the present or going back to the past is easy once you decide which one you’re willing to die for.

I hope you enjoy Katya and Cam’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. And watch for the cameos by JB Denny and Bree and Max Jameson from the first two books!

From the desk of Anna Campbell

Dear Reader,

I love books about Mr. Cool, Calm, and Collected finding himself all at sea once he falls in love. Which means I’ve been champing at the bit to write Camden Rothermere’s story in WHAT A DUKE DARES.

The Duke of Sedgemoor is a man who is always in control. He never lets messy emotion get in the way of a rational decision. He’s the voice of wisdom. He’s the one
who sorts things out. He’s the one with his finger on the pulse.