Amanda Brice’s 2013 Summer Reading List for Tweens & Teens

Posted on June 7, 2019October 29, 2018 by adminrachelgrant

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from June 2013.

Summer vacation is looming in my house. That big blank spot on the calendar, which I am woefully unprepared for. I have two kids, 13 and 10, girl and boy. Both voracious readers with very different tastes. Five more days of school, then we enter the abyss.

In a panic, I turned again to my friend, the brilliant author Amanda Brice for help. My daughter has read and loved all of Amanda’s Dani Spevak mysteries, and while I really wanted Amanda to write a few dozen more of the dance-world set mysteries before next Tuesday, that wasn’t really feasible, so instead she compiled this list of mysteries for Tweens and Teens.

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Thank you to Rachel and the rest of the Kill & Thrill ladies for hosting me today. I had so much fun making summer reading suggestions last year, I’m delighted to make this an annual tradition. Here’s to great summer reading for years to come!

Now that school is out (or will be shortly), moms and dads across the country are faced with the task of what to do with their kids for the next 2 months or so. I can’t help you with summer camps or childcare of occupying their every waking hour, but in keeping with the suspense theme of this blog, I can help provide you with a list of awesome YA and middle grade mysteries!

These books are in no particularly order, so please don’t try to interpret it as a ranking of preference. But they are just some of my faves, and I hope they’ll come your kids’ faves, too.

For the Tweens:

Chomp by Carl Hiassen

Wahoo Cray lives in a zoo. His father is an animal wrangler, so he’s grown up with all manner of gators, snakes, parrots, rats, monkeys, snappers, and more in his backyard. The critters he can handle. His father is the unpredictable one.

When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called “Expedition Survival!”, Wahoo figures he’ll have to do a bit of wrangling himself—to keep his dad from killing Derek Badger, the show’s boneheaded star, before the shoot is over. But the job keeps getting more complicated. Derek Badger seems to actually believe his PR and insists on using wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo’s acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who’s sporting a shiner courtesy of her old man and needs a place to hide out.

They’ve only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna’s dad shows up with a gun . . .

It’s anyone’s guess who will actually survive “Expedition Survival”. . . .

The 39 Clues Book 1: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

The first book in this groundbreaking multimedia series sends readers around the world on the hunt for the 39 Clues. Written by #1 NYT bestseller Rick Riordan, and backed by $100,000 in prizes!

Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her decendants an impossible decision: “You have a choice – one million dollars or a clue.”

Grace is the last matriarch of the Cahills, the world’s most powerful family. Everyone from Napoleon to Houdini is related to the Cahills, yet the source of the family power is lost. 39 Clues hidden around the world will reveal the family’s secret, but no one has been able to assemble them. Now the clues race is on, and young Amy and Dan must decide what’s important: hunting clues or uncovering what REALLY happened to their parents.

NOTE: Each of the books in this series is written by a different famous author: Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Margaret Peterson Haddix, David Baldacci, Clifford Riley, etc.

Last Shot by John Feinstein

Steven Thomas is one of two lucky winners of the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Association’s contest for aspiring journalists. His prize? A trip to New Orleans and a coveted press pass for the Final Four. It’s a basketball junkie’s dream come true!

But the games going on behind the scenes between the coaches, the players, the media, the money-men, and the fans turn out to be even more fiercely competitive than those on the court. Steven and his fellow winner, Susan Carol Anderson, are nosing around the Superdome and overhear what sounds like a threat to throw the championship game. Now they have just 48 hours to figure out who is blackmailing one of MSU’s star players . . . and why.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow’s nest, being the ship’s eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there’d been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt’s always wanted; convinced he’s lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist’s granddaughter that he realizes that the man’s ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.

In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.

Nancy Clancy: Super Sleuth by Jane O’Connor

Kids who grew up with Jane O’Connor’s Fancy Nancy picture books can spend some quality time with their BFF: Nancy Clancy is now starring in her novels!

Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth is the first in a series of delightful middle-grade mysteries. Sassy Fancy Nancy is now a detective. When one of her classmate’s most special possessions disappears from school, it’s up to Nancy to save the day. With the help of her friend Bree, she follows the clues to an unexpected source.

Fans of Nancy Drew’s Clue Crew will be happy to see a new Nancy join the ranks of super sleuths.

Gone by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what’s happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else…

For the Teens:

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun.

When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called “a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel” in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.

Paper Towns by John Green

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q.

Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers. (Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery.)

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

protect the diamonds

survive the clubs

dig deep through the spades

feel the hearts

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He’s pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That’s when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That’s when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

A 2005 Michael L. Printz Honor Book and recipient of five starred reviews, I Am the Messenger is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists, and love by the author of the extraordinary international bestseller The Book Thief.

Investigating the Hottie by Juli Alexander

Peterson. Amanda Peterson. When my life suddenly turns into the Princess Diaries meets Mission Impossible, can I do in a week what I haven’t managed to do in all my fifteen years—reel in a hottie?

When Amanda spends a week with her aunt, Christie, she learns that her aunt is a spy. Christie admits that Amanda has security clearance and has already started her training. When her aunt asks her to investigate a teenage hacker, Amanda thinks that spending time with a nerd should be doable despite her social ineptitude. Unfortunately for Amanda, the hacker is a hottie.

Also Known As by Robin Benway

Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She’ll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school’s security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

Demons of the Rich and Famous by Tawny Stokes

Supernatural possession is the new “disease” and teen exorcist Caden Butcher is the cure…

Caden Butcher, known as the whiz-kid exorcist to the stars, loves the Hollywood limelight. Or at least that’s what he wants people to believe so he can earn enough cash from his high profile exorcisms to take care of his ailing father. The problem is, not everyone’s happy with Caden’s star status, particularly Remy Martin, a high ranking member of the International Order of Exorcists, who suspects the truth, that these Hollywood exorcisms are staged with the help of Caden’s demon BFF, Dan.

So when a real exorcism goes bad and a nasty demon jumps bodies, the crap hits the supernatural fan. The Order strips Caden of his exorcism license right before he discovers the unleashed demon is one he knows well, very well. This demon is hell bent on destroying Caden’s life and everyone else who gets in his way. Now with the help of his demon buddy, and Caden’s girlfriend Aspen Spencer, a necromancer in training, Caden must defy the Order, track down the rogue demon and send him back to hell before it’s too late.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?

Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could–from the criminal’s point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo’s Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret–could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

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Thank you, Amanda, for putting together such a great list! Now it’s time for me to add my own recommendation:

Pas De Death by Amanda Brice

pas de deux: (NOUN: pl. pas de deux)
1. A dance for two, especially a dance in ballet consisting of an entrée and adagio, a variation for each dancer, and a coda.
2. A close relationship between two people or things, as during an activity.

pas de death (NOUN: yeah … totally made up)
1. A dance of death.
2. When Dani Spevak stumbles over a dead body and gets into another crazy situation.

Aspiring ballerina Dani Spevak is back home for the summer, recovering from an injury. What was supposed to be a simple day trip into New York City to visit her friends at the Manhattan Ballet Conservatory turns deadly when Dani discovers that the world of professional dance can be cutthroat — literally.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw7xvIGhlSg?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]

Amanda Brice’s Recommended Summer Reads for Teens and Tweens

Posted on June 5, 2019October 25, 2018 by adminrachelgrant

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from June 2012.

As the mother of a twelve-year-old voracious reader, I can’t keep up with my daughter’s need for books. Thankfully, I have friends who are wonderful Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction authors whom I rely on to recommend books. Thanks to my friends, my daughter and teenaged nieces think I’m a genius for selecting books.

My daughter adores Amanda Brice’s Dani Spevak middle grade mysteries. After reading the first book, Code Name: Dancer she couldn’t wait for the sequel. The short story in Eternal Spring helped to tide her over as she waited for Pointe of No Return to be released in Kindle format. Now she’s devoured Pointe, and is ready for more.

Summer starts in my house tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. and I need help keeping my kid in books for the next ten weeks. Thankfully, Amanda Brice has come to my rescue.

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First I want to say thank you to Rachel and the rest of the Kiss & Thrill ladies for hosting me today. It’s an awesome blog and it’s so much fun to be here to discuss reading suggestions for your tweens and teens.

Now that school is out (or will be shortly), moms and dads across the country are faced with the task of what to do with their kids for the next 2 months or so. I can’t help you with summer camps or childcare or occupying their every waking hour, but in keeping with the suspense theme of this website, I can help provide you with a list of awesome YA and middle grade mysteries.

These books are in no particular order, so don’t try to interpret it as a ranking of preference. But they’re some of my faves – both classic and modern, and I hope they’ll become your kids’ faves, too.

For the tweens:

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

When an eccentric millionaire dies mysteriously, sixteen very unlikely people are gathered together for the reading of the will…and what a will it is!

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere she wants to run to somewhere–to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and preferably elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing that her younger brother, Jamie, has money and thus can help her with the serious cash flow problem she invites him along.

Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie, find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at an auction for a bargain price of $250. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn’t it? Claudia is determined to find out. This quest leads Claudia to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself.

Alex Rider: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

When his guardian dies in suspicious circumstances, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider finds his world turned upside down. Forcibly recruited into MI6, Alex has to take part in grueling SAS training exercises. Then, armed with his own special set of secret gadgets, he’s off on his first mission to Cornwall, where Middle-Eastern multi-billionaire Herod Sayle is producing his state-of-the-art Stormbreaker computers. Sayle has offered to give one free to every school in the country – but there’s more to the gift than meets the eye.

Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics by John Feinstein

Bestselling sportswriter and Edgar Award winner John Feinstein is back with another sports mystery featuring Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson—this one set at the summer Olympics in London. In this book, Susan Carol isn’t a reporter—she’s an Olympian, competing as a swimmer at her first Olympic games. Stevie is both proud and envious of her athletic prowess. And he’s worried by the agents and sponsors and media all wanting to get up close and personal with Susan Carol. But the more disturbing question becomes—how far might they go to ensure that America’s newest Olympic darling wins gold?

Hot Ticket by Tracy Marchini

Hot tickets could be awarded for doing something cool, saying something funny, or sometimes even just wearing something the ticket dispenser liked. All authentic hot tickets were two inch by six inch rectangles made from this orange cardboard material, with “HOT TICKET” written in big bold letters at the top. Hot tickets first started becoming popular about a month after school started. Then there was this rash of copycat tickets on regular paper, but people just tossed those in the trash. Everybody could figure out it was one of their friends that made it anyway. But an authentic ticket – that was something you kept.

Some people had their lockers decorated in hot and shame tickets. Some people kept their hot tickets at home to prevent theft.

If I got a hot ticket, I would definitely keep it taped on the inside door of my locker. Right now my locker only had a locker mirror, a picture of Lucy and I from my birthday party at Six Flags and these annoying cat stickers from the person who had my locker before me.

Fifth grade did not prepare me for this at all.

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk — and a lot about the law. He dreams of a life in the courtroom. But he finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much — maybe too much — he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth. The stakes are high, but Theo won’t stop until justice is served.

For the teens:

Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

First I find out that my boyfriend is cheating on me. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And now he’s depending on me to clear his name. Seriously?

As much as I wouldn’t mind watching him squirm, I know that he’s innocent. So I’m brushing off my previously untapped detective skills and getting down to business. But I keep tripping over dead bodies and I’m still no closer to figuring out who did it. And what’s worse: all signs seem to point to me as the killer’s next victim.

I really need to pick a better boyfriend next time.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker – his classmate and crush – who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and learns the truth about himself-a truth he never wanted to face.

Thirteen Reasons Why is the gripping, addictive international bestseller that has changed lives the world over. It’s an unrelenting modern classic.

The Twin’s Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Lucy Sexton is stunned when her mother’s identical twin sister shows up at the family’s front door one day. Separated at birth, the two women have had dramatically different upbringings, and Lucy’s mother, Aliese, will do anything to make it up to Helen-including taking Helen into their home and turning her into a lady that all of society will admire. Aunt Helen’s transformation is remarkable. But is it just Lucy’s imagination, or does Helen seem to enjoy being mistaken for Lucy’s mother? Then, on New Year’s Day, Lucy is horrified to find her aunt and mother tied to chairs in the parlor. One of them has been brutally murdered-but which twin has died? Surely her daughter will know…

Filled with shocking twists and turns, The Twin’s Daughter is an engrossing gothic novel of betrayals and secrets that will keep readers guessing until the end.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own–scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.

Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help. For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in history–or at least her family’s (very crooked) history.

Revenge of the Homecoming Queen by Stephanie Hale

I, the flawless Aspen Brooks, was born to be Homecoming Queen. I’ve prepped for it like some kids do the SAT. So can someone please tell me why the crown was given to my evil nemesis?

As if that wasn’t bad enough, somebody seems out to get me. Locker vandalism, a slashed tire, and horrendous lipstick graffiti are just a few of the ways someone is trying to get under my blemish-free skin. (And I’m not even going to mention how the biggest geek in school kissed me, and I didn’t hate it.)

But things start getting serious when girls begin disappearing. I can’t be worrying about tiaras or crushing on a geek when the detective on the case is completely clueless. I have to save the day, all while looking fabulous.

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world…and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer…and becoming his prey herself.

Kings & Queens by Courtney Vail

Seventeen-year-old Majesty Alistair wants police to look further into her father’s fatal car wreck, hopes the baseball team she manages can reclaim the state crown, aches for Derek…or, no…maybe Alec…maybe. And she mostly wishes to retract the hateful words she said to her dad right before slamming the door in his face, only to never see him again.

All her desires get sidelined, though, when she overhears two fellow students planning a church massacre. She doubts cops will follow up on her tip since they’re sick of her coming around with notions of possible crimes-in-the-works. And it’s not like she cries wolf. Not really. They’d be freaked too, but they’re not the ones suffering from bloody dreams that hint at disaster like some crazy, street guy forecasting the Apocalypse.

So, she does what any habitual winner with zero cred would do…try to I.D. the nutjobs before they act. But, when their agenda turns out to be far bigger than she ever assumed, and even friends start looking suspect, the truth and her actions threaten to haunt her forever, especially since she’s left with blood on her hands, the blood of someone she loves.

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Thank you, Amanda for these wonderful recommendations! This is bound to keep my daughter busy for a few weeks at least. ?

A KaT Fight Ensues over Laura K. Curtis

Posted on January 3, 2019October 29, 2018 by adminrachelgrant

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from April 2015.

In the 3-1/2 years since Kiss and Thrill launched, the 9 of us who banded together to create the blog have become family—we exchange emails about business, craft, and plotting. We cheer each other on and talk about our families, our struggles, and our successes. I’d be a wreck without my KaT sisters. But our deep and supportive bond only goes so far when one of the KaTs invites an author I adore to the blog. Then it’s time to bring out the claws…

It wasn’t pretty, but I won. But then, I’m not afraid to fight dirty, while Carey and Manda are too nice to resort to blackmail and bribery.

What did I win? The chance to put Laura K. Curtis in the Inside the Actors Studio hot seat!

I devoured Laura’s debut novel, TWISTED, and just neglected my family for the weekend (and a holiday one at that) because I couldn’t put down her latest release, ECHOES.

ECHOES has everything I love in romantic suspense–a hot, hard-edged, former military hero, and a smart, strong, determined heroine who must work together to unravel a complicated, intense mystery. The romance is sexy and fun and moves at a pace that is true to the characters and situation.

ECHOES is set on St. Martin/Sint Maarten, an island I visited for an archaeological project many years ago, which made the book that much more fun for me to read, but you don’t have to have visited the French West Indies to enjoy the lush setting.

It is my absolute joy to be the one who introduces our Kiss and Thrill readers to Laura by subjecting her to the Inside the Actors Studio Questionnaire:

What is your favorite word? Sussurant.

What is your least favorite word? Moist.

What turns you on? Intelligence combined with humor.

What turns you off? Prejudice of any kind.

What sound or noise do you love? The sound of waves on the beach.

What sound or noise do you hate? The sound of an animal in pain.

What is your favorite curse word? Fuck in all its glorious forms.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I’ve had a number of professions over the years, from teacher, to bartender, to record saleswoman, to glass bead maker. I loved them all for different reasons. I’m not sure what else I’d like to do for a career. There are a number of hobbies I wish I had time to pursue, but not for careers. I guess if I had a chance to go to culinary school, I’d like to be a professional baker.

What profession would you not like to do? Sanitation worker. I have a touch of OCD and that would really not work for me.

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? “Fuck.” Or, if I can’t have that, “Here, go play with all the dogs you’ve had over the years.”

I laughed out loud at the last answer. We share an affinity for the same curse word, and I think I want to steal Laura’s response if I’m ever subjected to the quiz again.

Thank you so much, Laura, for joining us today!

Echoes

Who is she?

A single photo of herself as an infant on a beach, taken before the date on her birth certificate, throws everything Calliope Pearson knows about herself into question. Hoping to find answers, she takes advantage of her job as a travel writer to make a reservation at the Caribbean island resort in the picture.

Resort security chief Mac Brody distrusts Callie on sight. After all, she looks exactly like his deceitful missing wife, Nikki, who owns half the resort. But when Nikki’s found dead, Mac’s facing murder charges, and he’s sure that Callie must hold the key to proving his innocence.

The deeper Callie and Mac dive into the mystery of her past, the more bodies surface. And they’ll have to learn to trust each other, or become victims of a dark danger neither could’ve imagined….

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

Laura K. Curtis has always done everything backwards. As a child, she was extremely serious, so now that she’s chronologically an adult, she feels perfectly justified in acting the fool. She started teaching at age fifteen, then decided to go back to school herself at thirty. And she wrote her first book in first grade. It was released in (notebook) paperback to rave reviews and she’s been trying to achieve the same level of acclaim ever since. She lives in Westchester County, New York, with her husband and a pack of wild Irish Terriers, which has taught her how easily love can coexist with the desire to kill.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Lena Diaz admits to stalking Teresa Medeiros!

Posted on December 28, 2018October 29, 2018 by adminrachelgrant

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from March 2012.

Does tweeting “I love GOODNIGHT TWEETHEART by Teresa Medeiros” over and over count as stalking? Maybe. Read on for more details about Lena Diaz, her new release SIMON SAYS DIE, and her stalking problem.

Today is an exciting day for us here at Kiss and Thrill, because SIMON SAYS DIE, by our very own Lena Diaz, is being released today in ebook (you can also order it in paperback if you prefer, but you have to order online).

I am super lucky to be the Kiss and Thrill team member who gets to interview Lena, because it meant I got to read an advance copy. Gwen, Krista, Carey, and the rest of the Kiss and Thrill team can suck it…I got to read Lena’s book first!

There is so much to love about this book. Pierce, who was kicked in the heart by Madison but still drops everything to help her when he realizes she is in danger. Madison, who doesn’t know whom to trust or what to believe. She reacted in fear by pushing away the one person she cares about the most.

SIMON SAYS DIE is a reunion story with two strong-willed protagonists who have to find their way past old hurts. It’s also an intense suspense with a scary killer who is a master manipulator.

Rachel: I usually start out by thanking my guest for joining us, but since you are one of us, instead I’ll say, I hope you don’t mind being in the hot seat.

Lena: Rachel, can I just take a second and congratulate you again on being a 2012 Golden Heart® finalist? I’m so thrilled for you!

Now, back to this post. Thank you so much for your kind words about Simon Says Die. I’m so glad you liked it! And I don’t mind being in the hot seat. It’s an honor to be interviewed by you. And if you ask really hard or embarrassing questions, hey, I’m willing to return the favor and interview you some time. (Insert evil laugh here.)

Rachel: Thanks Lena – it’s an honor to be a finalist and I’m thrilled our own Sharon and Diana also finaled in the same category, but today is about YOU! ?

This is your second book, and Pierce and Madison both appeared in HE KILLS ME, HE KILLS ME NOT. Were you burning to tell Pierce and Madison’s story from the start, or did those characters jump out in the writing process and demand their own book?

Lena: First, let me emphasize that even though these books have some shared characters, you do NOT have to read the first one to understand and enjoy the second one. They each stand alone, by design. With that being said, the idea of writing Pierce and Madison’s story didn’t occur to me until the end of HKMHKMN (can I pick long titles or what?) The scene is where Pierce is speaking to Amanda, and Madison comes up in the conversation. It was literally while I was writing that scene that I started thinking that maybe Pierce and Madison should have their own story. Then my agent mentioned it, and I decided that must mean I really should write their book. I was halfway through writing SSD when HKMHKMN came out. Immediately readers began asking me when Pierce and Madison’s book would come out. Thankfully, I was able to tell them there would indeed be a book featuring those two characters. I think I may have had a mutiny on my hands if I hadn’t written this book!

As I write this blog post, there have been several reviews already on SSD (really good reviews, yay!) A couple of those reviews mention Pierce’s brothers, introduced in SSD, and that they should have their own books. I never really planned on writing more books for the brothers, although I do have a novella (basically a short story) idea for one brother and another character from SSD and may write that sometime. We’ll see. It depends on reader reaction and what next big idea strikes me I suppose.

Rachel: I wondered if you were planning sequels for Pierce’s brothers too! You realize you’re never going to get to write outside of this series unless you stop introducing yummy characters.

Okay, moving on to some of my favorite questions, what published author (any genre) turns you into a total fangirl? Is there a particular book or is this based on their entire body of work?

Lena: I’m a total fangirl of so many authors. It’s embarrassing, but for some reason when I actually meet ‘big’ name authors who are my idols, my hands start to shake, my face flushes, and my brain takes a vacation. I have actually forgotten my own name when speaking to one of my author-idols. Why? I think it’s because the characters and stories those people created mean so much to me. When I read a book that I love, the people in that story stick in my mind and become family to me. I mean, seriously – you are never going to convince me that those sexy, Dark Hunters Sherrilyn Kenyon writes about aren’t real.

When some friends and I were at the Atlanta Romance Writers conference and we invited some other attendees to sit with us for dinner, I was totally okay and acted like a normal person. Really, I did. Until I found out one of those people at dinner with us was Susan Carroll, the author of The Bridefinder, one of my most favorite books ever. God bless her that she didn’t run or call the police when I literally jumped to my feet and let out a little squeal of surprise when I realized who she was.

For me, it’s all about the characters, the stories. I go nuts for authors because their stories mean so much to me – just ask Teresa Medeiros. As you said in the title of this blog post, I’m practically her stalker. I tweet about her book Goodnight Tweetheart all the time. I love that book so much that I just can’t help it. But, hey, did you notice she just became a 2012 RITA® finalist for that book??? Obviously I’m not the only stalker…I mean…fan of that book! (Congrats on the final, Teresa!)

I’m also a fan of Julie Garwood, Linda Howard, Brenda Novak, Karen Rose, Roxanne St. Claire…and on, and on, and on. I’ve met all of the women I just named, many times in some cases. I admire these women because I love their books, they’ve made such an incredible mark on our industry, and they are classy. They always treat their readers with respect, no matter how crazy I…er…I mean…the readers…act.

Rachel: I think turning into a blithering idiot when you meet an author is pretty awesome praise. The only thing better might be fan fiction, which brings me to my next question, have you ever written fan fiction, and if so, what work was it based on? If you haven’t, what would you be tempted to write fan fiction about?

Lena: Yep, that’s me. Blithering-idiot. Gee, thanks Rachel (grin). I’ve never read any fan-fiction and am not that familiar with it. I’ve heard some people really enjoy it, and that some authors have even had their start by writing fan-fiction. I can certainly understand the appeal of wanting your favorite characters to live on and continue to have more stories. And if someone liked my world-building and characters so much that they wanted to continue writing more stories for my characters, that’s kind of cool. It tells me my stories had a big impact on those people and touched them emotionally. And, really, there can be no bigger compliment to an author than that.

Rachel: Tell us one guilty pleasure.

Lena: Grey’s Anatomy. It’s killing my productivity right now. My daughter put it on TV on Netflix a few weeks ago and got me totally hooked. I had to go back and start watching the entire series – we’re talking like seven or eight seasons. I’m literally stuck in the middle of a Grey’s Anatomy marathon/illness right now. I’ve quit struggling against it because I’ve finally realized the only cure is to just give in and watch the entire series. Hopefully I’ll finish in a few days. Then I can move on!

Rachel: A TV marathon sounds like fun! I’m sure you can justify it as research, right? There, no more guilt. ?

What is the strangest weapon you’ve used to kill off a character, either on or off-scene?

Lena: Ha! Thanks for the no-guilt card. I’ll play that card. ? Hmm. Strangest weapon I’ve used to kill a character? Probably something I used in Simon Says Die, but I can’t tell you what that is because it would be a spoiler. In my first book, He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not, the weapon was an ordinary knife. Nothing strange about that, really. What was strange was the three-day ritual the killer had, and his use of roses and thorns. But again, I don’t want any spoilers so I can’t go into that either. Let’s just suffice it to say that I don’t focus a lot on the murders in my books. I focus on suspense – that ever-present feeling of danger, of wondering what’s going to happen next. The murders usually happen off-page, and if they are on-page it’s very brief – no horror stuff in my books. Again, it’s all about suspense. Whether you know who the villain is or not, the point is to keep you on the edge of your seat wondering how the hero and heroine will overcome the bad guy, and how they will overcome whatever is keeping them apart and find true love that will last a lifetime.

Rachel: I love edge-of-your-seat reads and SIMON SAYS DIE delivers! What do you want to tell us about this book?

Lena: Thanks! Edge-of-your-seat is a huge compliment. Both of my books are psychological thrillers that focus on the suspense element, but SIMON SAYS DIE is a bit more twisty. There are so many secrets between the characters, and enough surprises that the reader will (I hope) question what they think they know as they read the book. Neither of my books are mysteries, but I try to make readers wonder what’s the truth and what’s a lie. My goal is to keep the tension high and make them wonder how the characters can possibly survive and how they will ever overcome all the terrible things life throws at them and somehow end up in a happy, committed relationship.

While I loved writing this story, I’ll admit it was rather difficult to write Madison’s scenes. She has an incredibly strong, independent personality and is quite snarky at times. Keeping her sympathetic but true to character without her coming off as unlikeable was a balancing act. Hopefully I succeeded in showing her motivation, why she acts the way she does, so the readers will empathize with her.

This story also has more humor than my first one. I don’t write comedies, not at all. But Madison’s act-first-think-later personality gets her into some crazy situations. There are some places in the novel where I laughed out loud writing it. Hopefully my readers will enjoy those scenes as well. Okay, now for the official back cover blurb below.

~~~~~~~~

Simon says: I’m watching.

Madison McKinley knows someone is stalking her. The police tell her she’s imagining things, and they’re too busy trying to find the “Simon Says” killer to investigate. But day by day, hour by hour, Madison’s terror grows stronger, and not even the return of FBI Special Agent Pierce Buchanan into her life can calm her fears. Besides, how can she ask Pierce for his help after the way she ended things between them?

Simon says: I’m coming.

Pierce still wants Madison’s love, and his drive to protect her is more powerful than ever. He believes she’s in danger, even if the cops don’t. Finally, as more people start dying and the evidence mounts, the police turn their attention to Madison—as a suspect. Was Pierce a fool to trust her again, or are they both caught in a complex game that neither will survive?

Simon says: Die.

~~~~~~~~

Diana Miller’s DANGEROUS AFFAIRS Gets Rachel in Hot Water

Posted on December 26, 2018October 29, 2018 by adminrachelgrant

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from November 2012.

I’m a bath person. I love that first moment of sinking into a tub—the slow immersion in a bath just a hint too hot and then riding the temperature down to perfect. This is how I felt as I sank into DANGEROUS AFFAIRS by Diana Miller. This book seduced me with liquid warmth, but it didn’t disappoint with water that cooled too fast. Every time I thought the romantic tension might ease, Diana deftly tossed in a new obstacle. And whenever it seemed events in the story could spiral out of control—possibly overheating—again, Diana’s firm grasp of craft guided the story and maintained tension, conflict, and suspense at the perfect temperature.

It’s been a while since a book immersed me so perfectly, so I’m thrilled to share it with our readers. In honor of this, today I’m creating my own personal rating system and giving DANGEROUS AFFAIRS highest marks: five bathtubs.

With great excitement I welcome Diana Miller to Kiss and Thrill!

DM: I’m thrilled to be here! And as another bath person, I can’t think of a greater honor than getting a five bathtub review! Thanks so much.

RG: Have you ever written fan fiction, and if so, what work was it based on? If you haven’t, what would you be tempted to write fan fiction about?

DM: I’ve never written fan fiction, but I’ve always wanted to write a romantic suspense novel featuring Nancy Drew. Growing up I was obsessed with those books (actually I wanted to be her).

In my book Nancy would be in her early thirties. She broke up with long-time boyfriend (and college football star) Ned Nickerson a dozen years ago, when she discovered he cheated on her with a dippy cheerleader. He claimed he did it because was feeling unappreciated and needed someone who focused more on him than on mysteries and also wasn’t so blasted self-sufficient. Knowing he could lose Nancy, however, made Ned realize how much he loved her. He apologized and even resorted to groveling, but Nancy refused to forgive him, and their romance fizzled.

Shortly thereafter Nancy’s BFF Bess got a job, got married, and had twins. Her other BFF George either decided to become a doctor or came out as a lesbian and left River Falls to marry the girl of her dreams in Massachusetts. Nancy realized that life as a socialite, even one who spent some of her free time helping people by solving mysteries, wasn’t really fulfilling. So, following in her father’s footsteps, she decided to go to school and become a lawyer. She took over her dad’s practice in River Heights and now solves legal puzzles, which isn’t quite as exciting as solving mysteries, but is a whole lot safer.

Then out of the blue, someone tries to kill Nancy. She, her dad, and the local cops assume it must be one of the hundreds of villains Nancy helped put away during her stint as a girl detective. However, they have no idea which villain since dozens of them have finished their sentences and been released from jail. Enter former boyfriend Ned Nickerson, who’s involved either because he’s now an FBI agent or because he’s a former Navy SEAL turned PI who for some reason Nancy’s father hired to protect her. Ned now has to deal with a more mature Nancy who he finds hotter than ever, but who’s even more self-sufficient and doesn’t want his help or protection—and who still hasn’t forgiven him for cheating on her!

RG: This sounds fantastic—certain to be a five bathtubs book! Let me know if you need a beta reader. ?

Next question: Facebook or Twitter?

DM: Facebook. No contest. Facebook is simple to use and easy to read. I love seeing all my friends’ family and vacation photos and funny posts (and Mary Strand’s weekly Hugh Jackman photos make Mondays more bearable).

Twitter, on the other hand, freaks me out. Partly it’s because I haven’t taken the time to figure it out, so it seems really complicated to me. But my biggest issue with it—and the reason I haven’t bothered figuring it out–is that tweets have to be short and concise. I used to be a lawyer and expounded for a living. I have trouble keeping a query letter to one page or limiting a synopsis to five pages. How am I supposed to say anything worthwhile in under 140 characters?

RG: LOL—I’m just the opposite. Facebook terrifies me. I think I’m the last person left who doesn’t have a FB page, but I love Twitter.

Okay, What is the strangest weapon you’ve used to kill off a character, either on or off-scene?

DM: I’m pretty boring when it comes to killing people—I’m not good at writing violence (I’m one of those people who closes her eyes and plugs her ears during violent movie scenes). Although I have been trying to work out the logistics of stabbing someone with an icicle, one the murderer either knocks off a roof just as the victim passes under it or actually uses like a sword. I’m talking about one of those big, heavy icicles with lethal points. Those things are scary and look like they could easily drill through someone’s skull or chest. And if I set that book in Minnesota (as I did DANGEROUS AFFAIRS), the villain certainly wouldn’t have trouble finding one. Unfortunately, we have five months of winter–and even more unfortunately, it’s going to start any day!

RG: Your heroine in DANGEROUS AFFAIRS is a soap opera actress. I loved the fact that while the TV genre got a little well-deserved ribbing, it was still treated with respect. As someone who spent my adolescence addicted to soaps, I appreciated the balance. I don’t watch soaps any more—I don’t have the time!—but I know if I allowed myself to turn on the TV during the day I’d quickly get hooked again. So my question for you—and for our readers—is have you ever been hooked on a soap, and if so which one(s)? Is it a habit you’ve broken or an indulgence you still enjoy?

DM: I’ve been hooked on DAYS OF OUR LIVES and GENERAL HOSPITAL since I was in junior high. Back before VCR’s, I lived for school vacation days so I could catch up on them, and I have to confess to skipping class with friends a couple times to watch a favorite hero/heroine’s wedding. Like you, I don’t have time to watch much anymore. But I still read their fan sites every week so I can keep up with what’s going on!

~ ~ ~

DANGEROUS AFFAIRS

When soap opera star Abby Langford leaves Los Angeles for her Minnesota hometown, she’s hoping to give her nine-year-old daughter the peaceful childhood she never knew. But instead of tranquility, Abby finds an old knife hidden behind a wall of her new house. Then the nightmares start: a blood-soaked victim and a killer’s arm slicing through the air, again and again.
Abby wonders if she’s having the nervous breakdown the tabloids claim she already had, especially when sexy, skeptical police chief Josh Kincaid questions her story. When menacing hate mail arrives, Josh’s professional concern for Abby soon evolves into an intense attraction, and the feeling is mutual. But as Abby’s visions grow more graphic and gripping, so does her fear.

Somewhere in the shadows of Abby’s memory lies the key to a very present danger. But she’ll have to stay alive long enough to find it…

Join My Class Action Lawsuit Against Debut Author Joan Swan

Posted on December 24, 2018October 29, 2018 by adminrachelgrant

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from March 2012.

It’s happened to all of us, right? You innocently pick up a book, start to read, and get caught up in the story. You can’t put it down. It gets late. You have to be up early the next day. You keep reading anyway. Finally, in desperation, you turn off the light, even though you are wide-awake.

You must sleep.

But you can’t.

You find yourself worrying how Teague and Alyssa (example names chosen at random) are possibly going to get their happily ever after. I mean, the situation is impossible. He’s an escaped convict. There is no way he can elude the net that is closing in on him. And she…she still doesn’t trust him. After all, he did kidnap her…

Finally, sleep comes. But what are the dreams about? Teague and Alyssa. Their impossible situation. The hot, intense attraction they can’t ignore…

I (ahem, I mean, you) should have just stayed up and finished the book like you wanted to do in the first place. Morning comes, and you want to call in sick to work. You have reading to do. Doctor appointment? Reschedule it. Teague and Alyssa are in trouble. They need you to read their story.

After finding myself in a situation shockingly similar to the one described above, it occurred to me, the book I was reading, FEVER by Joan Swan, should come with a warning label.

Without a warning label, I didn’t know what I was getting into. Joan Swan, I demand restitution. Or at least rest.

For this reason, I have decided to spearhead a class action lawsuit against Joan for her lack of warning labels. How can you join the class action?

1) Read FEVER.

2) Suffer at the hands of Joan, who mercilessly builds sexual tension while at the same time making the situation go from bad to worse for Teague and Alyssa.

3) Behave irresponsibly due to need to finish book.

4) Document behaviors in #3 above. Oh, wait. This part is impossible, because you will be too obsessed with the need to finish the book. This might be where the class action falls apart. In fact, what am I doing writing this, when I could be finishing FEVER?

Forget the class action. I’ve got a book to read. Someone call my son’s teacher and tell her I’m not available to help out in the classroom today, okay?

[Rachel tries to post this and call it a day, but the ladies at Kiss and Thrill drag her back to the computer, reminding her of her responsibilities.]

Rachel: What, I still have to interview her? I’m busy. I’ve got a book to read.

Kiss & Thrill: You didn’t even mention that Joan is giving away a copy of FEVER to one lucky commenter. Or link to the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Books-A-million. Or link to her website .

Rachel: But if I post those things, then she’ll get more victims. More hapless, unwarned readers like me.

Kiss & Thrill: Readers will thank you. Now get to the interview.

Rachel: [sighing heavily] Okay, but I’d much rather be reading. Joan, I’d say I’m happy to have you join us today, but I think you know how I feel.

Joan: Thanks for having me. I think.

Rachel: What published author—in any genre—turns you into a total fangirl? Is there a particular book or is this based on their entire body of work?

Joan: Oh, definitely Suzanne Brockmann. I become a bumbling idiot, and I’d have to say for Suzanne it’s her body of work.

But there are so many others that would get me all starry eyed, like Harlan Coben, Sandra Brown, Cindy Gerard, Tami Hoag, Victoria Dahl, Tess Gerritsen, Dean Koontz…and on and on…

Rachel: [Warming to Joan] You’ve named several of my favorite authors—who come to think of it, don’t have warning labels on their books either…

On a similar subject, have you ever written fan fiction, and if so, what work was it based on? If you haven’t, what would you be tempted to write fan fiction about?

Joan: I haven’t written fan fiction. In fact, I’ve never even read fan fiction, but I’ve heard of it, so I know what it is. If I were to write fan fiction, I’d probably write something very similar to what I write now, because…well…I love what I write – romantic suspense and romantic thrillers with paranormal elements.

Rachel: Tell us one guilty pleasure.

Joan: Disappearing into a movie theatre for a matinee with a gigantic diet coke and a box of Red Vines. I haven’t done a double feature since I was a kid, but I dream of it often.

Rachel: Ohhh, a double feature! I haven’t been to one of those in ages. Sounds like heaven. I’m going to add that to my to do list, right after I finish FEVER and get caught up on life.

What is the strangest weapon you’ve used to kill off a character, either on or off-scene?

Joan: Strange is…well…an opinion. Some would consider a curse the strangest. Others would consider burning alive the strangest. Really, it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

Rachel: I vote for the curse. Can you tell us about your upcoming release?

Joan: Why thanks for asking, Rachel!! ?

Rachel: The Kiss and Thrill team made me. I know you are just going to use this opportunity to lure me into your trap.

Joan: [entirely unremorseful] I have two releases coming up that I’m pretty excited about.

I’m releasing my first Indie, Intimate Enemies, in April. This is a two-time Golden Heart finalist and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with readers!

Blaze, book two in the Phoenix Rising series, releases from Kensington September 25^th. This book is a high-octane, reunion story with a tortured set of hero and heroine who have stolen my heart. I LOVE this book!

Rachel: Ooohh, is this Luke’s story? I can’t wait to read it. I’ll have to make sure I have nothing planned for September 25^th and 26^th, because I know I’m not going to be able to sleep until it’s done.

Joan, thank you so much for joining us today! Now can I get back to reading FEVER?

Kiss & Thrill: No Rachel, you have one more thing to do.

Rachel: Oh yeah. Now that Joan has answered her questions, it’s our readers’ turn. Which do you think is the stranger weapon, a curse or being burned alive? Leave your answer in the comments section for a chance to win a copy of FEVER, and be sure to check back on Thursday to find out who the winner is. Trust me, you want to read this book!

~~~~~~~~~~~

FEVER

Dr. Alyssa Foster will admit to a bad boy fetish…

But when she finds herself face to face with a convicted murderer with determination for freedom and an eye on her as his get out of jail free card, Alyssa knows she’s in deep trouble…. Not just because Teague Creek is a prisoner desperate for freedom, but because his every touch makes her desperate for more.

A man with a life sentence has nothing to lose…

Teague Creek has one shot at freedom, but his plan to escape with a hostage develops a fatal flaw: Alyssa. On the run from both the law and deadly undercover operatives who know of his strange abilities, he needs to avoid trouble, but every heated kiss tells him the fire between them could be just as devastating as the flames that changed him forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Joan Swan is a triple RWA® Golden Heart finalist and writes sexy romantic suspense with a paranormal twist. Her debut novel with Kensington Brava, FEVER, released February 28, 2012. Her second novel, BLAZE, follows in October, 2012.

In her day job, she works as a sonographer for one of the top ten medical facilities in the nation and lives on the California central coast in beautiful wine country with her husband and two daughters.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Kat Martin talks about AGAINST THE ODDS and mining for stories

Posted on December 20, 2018October 29, 2018 by adminrachelgrant

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from December 2012.

I’ve been a Kat Martin fan since I first picked up NOTHING BUT VELVET in 1997. Her historicals always had a well-crafted suspense element, which must have made it natural for her to switch to writing contemporary romantic suspense. If you’ve never read one of her suspense novels, you are in for a sexy, fun, thrilling treat! As a long-time fan, I’m delighted to host Kat on the blog today.

Kat is giving an autographed copy of AGAINST THE ODDS to only lucky commenter.

MINING FOR STORIES

by Kat Martin

All year long I am searching for a new and interesting story. Each year, they seem more elusive. Tomorrow, AGAINST THE ODDS, the seventh book in my Against Series that started with AGAINST THE WIND, will be released. As I began to conceive the story, I knew that Alex Justice and Sabrina Eckhart would be thrown together in a tale of greed and murder, but I wasn’t exactly certain how the story would play out.

Or who would be the villain!

I first met Sabrina and Alex in AGAINST THE SUN, where they showed up as friends of Jake Cantrell and Sage Dumont, the woman Jake was hired to protect.

I liked Alex and Sabrina right away, but it wasn’t until SUN was well underway that I realized Sabrina and Alex just had to have their own book. I wasn’t sure how I was going to put them together, but little by little, a plot began to unfold in my head.

Even half way through, I was still finding my way, trying to figure out who the real bad guy was.

I was particularly happy to be able to write both Alex Justice and Ben Slocum’s stories (Ben’s is AGAINST THE EDGE, book eight of the Against series), since I fell in love with them as I was writing AGAINST THE SUN.

As AGAINST THE ODDS begins, Sabrina receives an inheritance from her uncle–an abandoned silver mine in the West Texas desert. Running out of money, Rina is determined to find the mine and make it productive, even if it means putting up with the cocky jet jockey she is determined to dislike but finds ridiculously attractive.

G.Q. handsome and obscenely wealthy, Alex is a private investigator and an ex-Navy pilot. Alex is just the man she needs to fly her safely into the desert in search of her late uncle’s property. It’s a sexy tale of survival, murder, betrayal, and intrigue that kept me writing long after I should have been done for the day.

I hope you’ll watch for Alex and Sabrina in AGAINST THE ODDS, out in time for Christmas on December 18.

Have a wonderful holiday,

Kat

P.S. What gifts will you be shopping for this Christmas?

~~~

Links: Excerpt | Book Trailer | Kat’s Contest |PW Review

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Stepping Inside the Actors Studio with Julie Ann Walker

Posted on December 18, 2018October 29, 2018 by adminrachelgrant

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from April 2013.

Julie Ann Walker back to Kiss and Thrill! Julie’s latest book, THRILL RIDE, released April 2nd and to celebrate this eagerly awaited sequel, I decided to put Julie in the hot seat, James Lipton-style. Lipton (photo below courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) is the host of the Bravo TV series Inside the Actors Studio, and he always wraps up the interview by asking the subject the same ten questions.

James Lipton by David Shankbone

Since this is Julie, and I know she won’t mind, I’m going to sit back and enjoy a cocktail while James does all the work.

1.) What is your favorite word?

It’s too dirty. I can’t share it here. LOL! Just kidding. I love the word “flibbertigibbet.” I mean, come on! It sounds made up, completely nonsensical, like something a drunk man in a bar would come up and say to woman. “Ya wanna head back to m’place and play with my flibbertigibbet?” *hiccup*

2.) What is your least favorite word?

Now, you’ll probably think I’m crazy, but I loathe, despise, and abhor the word “slurp.” It’s like the words slim, slug, and burp got together and had a threesome and the child born of the unholy union was slurp. Slurp is supposed to denote both an action and a sound effect, and both things are repugnant.

3.) What turns you on?

Oooh, that’s easy. A good wine. Give me a nice bottle of wine, a warm night with a soft breeze, and I’m a sure thing. (Believe me when I say my husband considers this information when planning vacations. *wink, wink*)

4.) What turns you off?

Without a doubt, that would be feet. Feet are usually ugly, sometimes smelly, and oftentimes either obscenely dry or disgustingly sweaty. Feet have always grossed me out. And some of that might stem from having my older sister shove her big toe in my mouth if she caught me sticking my tongue out at her, or if she caught be yawning, or sneezing… She was a sadistic child, and now I’m scarred. For life.

5.) What sound or noise do you love?

I should say it’s the smooth, guttural rumble of a V-twin engine, right? Considering badass custom motorcyclists are kind of my shtick? And I do adore that sound. It’s visceral and exciting. But more than anything else I love the soft resonance of waves shushing against the shoreline. Perhaps it’s because I grew up on a lake and currently live on one, but something about that noise is so soothing, so comforting… feels like home.

6.) What sound or noise do you hate?

The alarm clock. Of course, this could have something to do with the fact that I’m not, repeat not, a morning person. The instant that meep, meep, meep wakes me out of a deep sleep I want to cut someone. Seriously… cut them.

7.) What is your favorite curse word?

Hands down, that would be “asshat.” The word is so concise and at the same time so definitive, summing up a person who has their head stuck up their butt in just two syllables. I’m a sucker for brevity when it’s wielded with precision. LOL! Perhaps it’s the writer in me!

8.) What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

I think it would be fun to be a foreign correspondent for a big news agency. I imagine myself exposing corrupt politicians, interviewing leaders of state, slinking across unfriendly borders in the middle of the night to get the next big scoop… Then again, like anything else, the idea of foreign correspondence is probably far more romantic than the reality.

9.) What profession would you not like to do?

Anything that has to do with garbage or human waste. I have a weak stomach. And smells can get to me quicker than anything else. The aroma of chicken skin left in the trashcan for a couple of days has been known to make me to blow chunks into the kitchen sink. Just sayin’…

10.) If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

Whew! Didn’t expect to see you here! ?

THRILL RIDE BY JULIE ANN WALKER

He’s Gone Rogue…

Ex-navy SEAL Rock Babineaux is as Cajun as they come—spicy, sexy, and more than a bit wicked. But would he actually betray his country? Even his best friends on the special-ops Black Knights team aren’t sure they can trust him. Now the target of a massive manhunt, Rock knows the only way to protect the team—especially his partner, Vanessa—is to run…

She Won’t Back Down…

Rock might think he can outmaneuver them all, but he hasn’t counted on how stubborn Vanessa Cordero can be. And she refuses to cut him loose. Sure, her partner has his secrets, but there’s no one in the world she’d rather have by her side in a tight spot. Which is good because she and Rock are about to get very tight…

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Julie Ann Walker is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Black Knights Inc. romantic suspense series. Look for the first four books in her fast-paced series: Hell On Wheels (August 2012) In Rides Trouble (September 2012) Rev It Up (October 2012) and Thrill Ride (April 2013). For more information, please visit www.julieannwalker.com or follow her on Facebook www.facebook.com/jawalkerauthor and/or Twitter @JAWalkerAuthor.

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