Shadow Rising (38 page)
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“5 stars! Castle put a fresh spin to her vampire series that I hadn’t seen before… I found myself captivated from the very first page. I highly recommend this one and found this to be a total and complete book seduction… I am so looking forward to the sequel.”
Where authors give you the inside scoop!
From the desk of Kendra Leigh Castle
Dear Reader,
I admit it: I love a bad boy.
From the Sheriff of Nottingham to Severus Snape, Spike to Jack Sparrow, it’s always the men who seem beyond saving that throw my imagination into overdrive. So it’s no wonder that this sort of character arrived in my very first Dark Dynasties book and has stuck around since, despite the fact that most of the other characters either (a)wonder why he hasn’t been killed or (b)would like to kill him themselves. Or both, depending on the day. His name is Damien Tremaine. He’s a vampire, thief, assassin, and as deadly as they come. In fact, he spent much of
Dark Awakening
trying to kill the hero and heroine. He positively revels in the fact that he has few redeeming qualities. And I just. Couldn’t. Resist.
Writing SHADOW RISING, the third installment in the Dark Dynasties series, proved an interesting challenge. The true bad boy takes a special kind of woman to turn him around, and I knew it would take a lot to pierce the substantial (and very stylish) armor that Damien had built up over the centuries. Enter Ariane, a vampire who is formidable in her own right but really remarkable because of her innocence, despite being hundreds of years old. As a member of the reclusive and mysterious Grigori
dynasty, Ariane remembers nothing of her life before being turned. All she knows is the hidden desert compound of her kind, a place she has never been allowed to leave. She’s long been restless… but when her closest friend goes missing and she’s forbidden to search for him, Ariane takes matters into her own untried but very capable hands. Little does she know that her dynasty’s leader has hired an outside vampire who specializes in finding those who don’t want to be found—and that once she crosses paths with him, he’ll make very sure that their paths keep crossing, whether she likes it or not.
All of the couples I write about have their differences, but Damien and Ariane are polar opposites. She’s sheltered, he’s jaded. She longs to feel everything, while Damien’s spent years burying every emotion. And she is, of course, exactly what he needs, which is the first thing to have actually frightened Damien in… well, ever. Damien’s slow and terrifying realization that he’s finally in over his head was both a lot of fun to write, and exactly what he deserved. After all, redemption is satisfying, but it’s not supposed to be
easy
.
Between Damien’s sharp tongue and sharper killer instincts, Ariane has her hands full from the get-go. Fortunately, she finds him just as irresistible as I do. Like so many dark and delicious bad boys, there’s more to Damien than meets the eye. If you’re interested in finding out whether this particular assassin has the heart of a hero, I hope you’ll check out SHADOW RISING. I’ll be honest: Damien never really turns into a traditional knight in shining armor. But if you’re anything like me… you won’t want him to anyway.
Enjoy!
Kendra Leigh Castle
From the desk of Jennifer Haymore
Dear Reader,
When Meg Donovan, the heroine of PLEASURES OF A TEMPTED LADY (on sale now), entered my office for the first time, I mistook her for her twin sister, Serena.
“Serena!” I exclaimed. “How are you? Please, take a seat.”
She slowly shook her head. “Not Serena,” she said quietly. “Meg.”
I stared at her. I couldn’t do anything else, because my throat had closed up tight. For, dear reader, Meg was dead! Lost at sea and long gone, and I’d written two complete novels and a novella under that assumption.
Finally, I found my scrambled wits and gathered them tight around me.
“Um,” I said hopefully, “Serena… that’s not a funny joke. My income relies on my journalistic credibility. You know that, right?”
She just looked at me. Then she shrugged. “Sorry. I am Meg Donovan. And though the world might like to pretend that I am Serena, I know who I am.”
“But… but… you’re dead.” Now I sounded like a petulant child. A rather warped and quite possibly disturbed petulant child.
She finally took the seat I’d offered Serena, and, settling in, she leaned forward. “No, Mrs. Haymore. I’m not dead. I’m very much alive, and I’d like you to write my story.”
Oh, Lord.
I looked down to rub the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, fighting off a sudden headache. If this really was Meg, I was in big, big trouble.
Finally I looked up at her. “All right,” I said slowly. “So you’re Meg. Back from the dead.”
“That’s correct,” she said.
I studied her closely. Her twin Serena and I have become good friends since I wrote her story for her, and now that I really looked at this woman, the subtle differences between her and her twin grew clearer. This woman was about ten pounds thinner than Serena. And though her eyes were the same shade of blue, something about them seemed harder and wary, as though she’d gone through a difficult time and come out of it barely intact.
“So who was it that rescued you, then?” I asked. “Pirates? Slavers?”
Her expression grew tight. Shuttered. “I’d like to skip that part, if you don’t mind.”
I raised a brow. This wasn’t going to work out between us if she demanded I skip all the good stuff. But I’d play along. For now. “All right, then. Where would you like to start?”
“With my escape.”
“Ah, so it
was
pirates, then.”
She gave a firm shake of her head. “No. I meant my escape from England.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I said. “You’ll be wanting to stay in England. Your family is there.” I didn’t say it, but I was pretty sure the man who loved her was there, too.
“I can’t stay in England. You must help me.”
I clasped my hands on top of my desk. “Look, Meg. I really like your family, so I’m sitting here listening to what you have to say. But I’m a writer who writes happy, satisfying stories about finding true love and living happily ever after. Is that what you’re looking for?”
“No!”
I sighed. I’d thought not.
She leaned forward again, her palms flat on the desk. “I need you to write me out of England, because I need to protect my family, and…”
“And…?” I prompted when she looked away, seemingly unwilling to continue.
“And… Captain Langley. You see, as long as I stay in England, they’re all in danger.”
I fought the twitch that my lips wanted to make to form a smile. So she did know about Captain William Langley… and she obviously cared for him. Whatever danger she was worried about facing meant nothing in the face of the depth of love that might someday belong to William Langley and Meg Donovan.
“I see.” I looked into her eyes. “I might be able to make an exception this time. I will do whatever I can to help you protect your family.”
Note that I didn’t tell her I’d help her to escape. Or to get out of England.
A frantic, wonderful plan was forming rapidly in my mind. Yeah, I’d write her story. I’d “help” her keep Langley and her family safe. But once I did that, once I gained her trust, I’d find a way to make them happy, to boot. Because I’m a romance writer, and that’s what I do.
“Thank you,” she murmured, glassy tears forming in her eyes. “Thank you so much.”
I raised a warning finger. “Realize that in order for this to work, you need to tell me everything.”
She hesitated, her lips pressed hard together. Then she finally nodded.
I flipped up my laptop and opened a new document. “Tell me your story, Miss Donovan. From the moment of your rescue.”
And that was how I began to write the love story of Meg Donovan, the long-lost Donovan sister.
I truly hope you enjoy reading Meg’s story! Please come visit me at my website,
www.jenniferhaymore.com
, where you can share your thoughts about my books, sign up for some fun freebies and contests, and read more about the characters from PLEASURES OF A TEMPTED LADY.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Haymore
From the desk of Jill Shalvis
Dear Reader,
Ever feel like you’re drowning? In FOREVER AND A DAY, my hero, Dr. Josh Scott, is most definitely drowning. He’s overloaded, overworked, and on the edge of burnout. He’s got his practice, his young son, his wheelchair-bound sister, and a crazy puppy. Not to mention the weight of the world on his shoulders from taking care of everyone in his life. He’s in so deep, saving everyone around him all the time, that he doesn’t even realize that
he’s
the one in need of saving. It would never occur to him.
Enter Grace Brooks. She’s a smart smartass and, thanks to some bad luck, pretty much starting her life over from scratch. Losing everything has landed her in Lucky Harbor working as Josh’s dog walker. And then as his nanny. And then before he even realizes it, as his everything. In truth, she’s saved him, in more ways than one.