Lady of Seduction (42 page)

Dear Reader,

Paisley Nichols, the heroine of MY DANGEROUS PLEASURE, is living her dream. She owns a bakery in San Francisco’s financial
district, and she’s making a go of it. It’s hard work and long hours, but she loves what she does. I had some real life inspiration
for her character. When I was a kid, my mother baked from scratch; bread, cinnamon rolls and delicious cookies, which my siblings
and I took for granted. It wasn’t until much later in life that I realized that not every mother baked like that. Now I bake
goodies for my son, and if I have to taste test what I bake, well, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

My youngest brother worked as a pastry chef for a while (he now does catering on the side) and there was a time when he was
training when he’d drive up from Santa Barbara where he lived, spend the weekend at our house, bake up a storm and leave us
with a refrigerator full of whatever he was practicing at the time; creme brulée, chocolate soufflé, chocolate mousse and
what have you. When he got married, the restaurant threw a party for him, and if you’ve never been around a slew of professional
chefs, let me tell you, you are missing out on great food and lots of fun.

With my brother as an example, I got more ambitious
with my own baking. He taught me that quality ingredients make an enormous difference in the outcome, but there are also any
number of little tips and tricks that get left out of many recipes that can transform a dessert from great to amazing or from
decent looking to professional looking. For example, when making pie crust, use ice water, not room temperature water. Not
even the
Joy of Cooking
mentions that crucial fact. Suddenly, my pie crusts were a success! I’ve also picked up and shared lots of recipes and tips
from people on Twitter (I’m @cjewel).

Lest you think my story is nothing but sweetness and 70% (or higher) pure cocoa chocolate, Iskander, the demon hero of MY
DANGEROUS PLEASURE, has a very dark side to him. He’s been tasked with keeping Paisley safe from the mage who’s stalking her,
and when she develops some unusual magical abilities, his job gets even more difficult. There are people after them both,
and they aren’t very nice. But in between the enslaved demons and magic-using humans chasing them, Paisley and Iskander do
find the time and place to indulge themselves with delicious sweets and each other.

Dear Reader,

I have a confession to make—I am totally addicted to dark, brooding, tortured heroes with complicated pasts! I blame
Jane Eyre.
This is still one of my all-time favorite books, and I first came across it when I was ten or eleven years old. It was a
battered, old paperback copy from a box of books from a garage sale, and I stayed up all night reading it. I was shocked by
the wife in the attic! And when I had finished, I started reading it all over again. I then snatched up every Gothic romance
I could find. I guess I’ve never gotten over the “Mr. Rochester thing.”

When I started writing the second book in The Daughters of Erin series, DUCHESS OF SIN, I had planned for Sir Grant Dunmore
to be part of a love triangle in the story, who would probably die in the end. But as I wrote his scenes, he showed me that
he was much more complicated than that. His scenes with Caroline seemed to take on a life of their own, and I wanted to find
out more about him. I wanted to see what would happen between Grant and Caroline and where their unexpected attraction would
take them. The answer became LADY OF SEDUCTION. And their passion for each other caused a
lot
of trouble for them, and fun for me!

I’ve loved spending time with the Blacknall sisters and their heroes, and I’m sorry to say good-bye to them in this book.
But I’m very happy they’ve all found their happy-ever-afters. For excerpts, behind-the-book information on the history of
this era, and some fun extras, you can visit my website at
http://laurelmckee.net
.

And if you’d like to put together your own Irish feast, here is a recipe for one of my favorite dishes—Shepherd’s Pie! (The
first two books featured Irish Soda Bread and Sticky Toffee Pudding, all great when served with a Guinness…)

• 1½ lbs ground round beef

• 1 onion chopped

• 1–2 cups vegetables—chopped carrots, corn, peas

• 1½–2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)

• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)

• ½ cup beef broth

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

1
Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2
While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 tablespoons butter (½ a stick) in large frying pan.

3
Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking
time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat
has initially cooked.

4
Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth
and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5
Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6
Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that
will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7
Cook in 400-degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Serves four.

Dear Reader,

There’s something about a bad boy that’s irresistible, something about a man who lives on the edge and plays by his own rules.
And whether it was the time you caught the teenage rebel checking you out in your new
Christmas sweater—or the time the tatted biker sent you a blatantly sexual look as he cruised by on his custom bike—a run-in
with a bad boy is like taking a ride on the world’s biggest roller coaster; long after the ride’s over, you’re still shaky,
breathless, and begging for more.

No doubt a portion of the blame lies with our mothers. (It’s so easy to blame Mom.) Maternal warnings always include the things
that turn out to be the most fun—wild parties, fast cars, and naughty boys. (All of which got me in plenty of trouble.) But
I think most of our infatuation has to do with our desire to take a break from being the perfect daughter, the hardworking
employee, the dependable wife, and the super mom. For one brief moment, we want to release our inner bad girl and jerk up
that sweater Aunt Sally gave us and flash some cleavage. Or hop on that throbbing piece of machinery and take a ride on the
wild side.

Even if it’s only in our fantasies—or possibly a steamy romance novel—we want to throw caution to the wind and fearlessly
proclaim…