Saturday, February 20, 2016

LOVER UNKNOWN—a conversation with Kyle and Lauren


Harlequin has reissued 16 of my backlist titles in ebook.  Today I'm talking with Kyle Delaney and Lauren Jamison about LOVER UNKNOWN, a mystery/romantic suspense from Harlequin's Intrigue line originally released in print and currently available in ebook.

Hello Kyle and Lauren.  Thank you for being here today.  I appreciate you taking time from your schedule.

Kyle:  It's our pleasure, Shawna.  After all (LOL) you're the one who wrote the book so you're the one responsible for us being together.

Well…(tries to suppress a chuckle)…I can't disagree with that.

Lauren:  What would you like to know?  Did you have a specific topic in mind?

I think for starters, maybe we could share some general background information with the readers.  Didn't you have some sort of premonition right before Kyle showed up at your door?  Do you have those psychic visions often?

Lauren:  I've had psychic visions starting with my teen years but I never really studied it or tried to harness my natural abilities.  The visions would occur, but I was never sure about what they were trying to tell me.  I didn't know if they were a portent of things to come or something from the past.  That's the way it was with the vision that woke me from a sound sleep that morning.  I saw a man falling from a cliff into the ocean below, but I didn't have a clue what it meant.  And then a few hours later a man appeared at my door, almost as if he had materialized out of the early morning mist.

So even your initial meeting was mysterious?

Kyle:  I didn't think of it as mysterious.  I'd been driving all night.  On the outskirts of town I saw a building with a sign saying tea room and lights on inside the building.  I was hoping for some coffee.  And that's when things quickly turned mysterious.  What I found was this incredibly alluring woman who immediately captured my total attention and left me with a very unsettled feeling.

Lauren:  (shoots a sly glance at Kyle)  He tried to convince me he was a paranormal investigator here to validate the presence of the entity that haunts the old lighthouse, but I didn't believe that for a moment.  He was well rehearsed, knew all the right words, but there was an underlying energy about him that said he was a skeptic.  I had no idea who he really was, but I knew our destinies were somehow woven together.

And you ended up saving his life?

Kyle:  (answers for Lauren)  No question about that.  My initial wound wasn't all that bad, a through and through gunshot in the shoulder.  But the fall off the cliff into the ocean, battling the cold sea, and dragging myself part way across the bluff definitely put me in extreme danger.  Especially with the blood loss and infection setting in.  I'm very lucky Lauren found me, and that it was Lauren rather than anyone else.

Lauren:  I still didn't know who he really was or what had happened to him.  He made me promise not to tell anyone he was there, not to call a doctor or anyone else.  Logically, he could have been a criminal of some sort and I was breaking the law by protecting him, but I instinctively knew that wasn't true.  I agreed to keep his presence a secret and allow everyone to think he was dead.

And that's when he told you who he really was and why he was there?

Lauren:  Yes, but first he swore me to secrecy.  I must admit that I was relieved to find that he was an undercover agent on an assignment rather than a criminal.

Kyle:  Fortunately for me, Lauren proved to be very clever and resourceful.  She was the one who came up with a new identity for me that allowed me to go into town and mingle with the locals without arousing suspicion so I could continue my investigation.

Ah…your investigation.  Tell me about—

Kyle:  (laughing)  No you don't!  Anything more will have to come from reading the book, especially any details of exactly what I was investigating and the surprises I turned up along the way.

Lauren:  Things that had been right under my nose the entire time and I didn't realize it.  Not even a psychic hint.

Are you sure I can't persuade you to tell us about your discovery at the lighthouse or your raid on—

Kyle:  Nope…not even a hint.

Lauren:  Everyone will have to read the book.

Well, if I can't talk you into revealing anything else, I guess there's nothing left to do but thank the two of you for being here today.

Lauren:  It was our pleasure.

Kyle:  We enjoyed it.

LOVER UNKNOWN, a Harlequin Intrigue by Shawna Delacorte reissued in ebook format.  Available at http://ebooks.eharlequin.com (do search for author name Shawna Delacorte).  Also available from Amazon for Kindle and Barnes & Nobel for Nook as well as other online vendors.

Check out my website for more excerpts from LOVER UNKNOWN and information on my other Harlequin ebook reissues.

Blurb:
HE CAME TO HER IN THE NIGHT…
Lauren Jamison sensed danger and secrets when Kyle Delaney entered her waterfront store. Not for a moment did she believe the dark stranger was an ordinary man. Instinctively she knew he lived on the edge, belonged to a world of deception. But unable to resist him, she became a prisoner of passion.

Then one stormy night her world shattered when she found his body in the moonlight—shot and delirious from pain. Before he collapsed, he told her to follow his instructions or they'd both wind up dead. Just who was Kyle Delaney? And should Lauren risk her heart—and her life—for a man who might be on the wrong side of the law?

Inside front cover excerpt:
"Who are you?"

"You already know that," Kyle said. "I'm here to—"

She put her fingers against his lips to still his words. "Don't play me for a fool. I did the best I could with your injuries, but now that you're part of reality again, you owe me answers."

His voice was low, soft and very serious. "Lauren, please don't ask. I can't—"

"I don't want to hear I can't." She fixed him with a hard stare. "I want answers, Kyle."

He tugged on her hand until he had closed the last small gap between them. His lips brushed against hers, then he captured her mouth fully in a hot and sensual kiss.

She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the warmth that flowed through her, until it almost obscured her thoughts. When she spoke, her words were barely above a whisper. "Who are you, Kyle Delaney? Why are you here? And what am I involved in?" She had to ask…but she wasn't so sure she wanted to hear the answers.

He took her hand again, bringing it to his lips. "You have to let this go, Laruen. You can't become involved. You have to trust me—and I have to trust that you'll maintain your silence."

Her voice a barely discernible whisper, Lauren said, "I don't think I can do that…."

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