FALLING FOR THE ENEMY—a conversation with Paige and Bryce

Harlequin has reissued 15 of my backlist titles in ebook.  Today I'm talking with Paige Bradford and Bryce Lexington about FALLING FOR THE ENEMY, a Silhouette Desire originally released in print August 2002 and currently available in ebook.

Hello, Paige and Bryce.  Thank you for making room in your schedule to chat with us today.

Bryce:  It's our pleasure.

My first question is for you, Paige.  You moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California, then you went to work for Bryce's company…is that correct?

Paige:  I'm from Los Angeles originally.  After my divorce, I returned to be near my father.  He was my only family.

About your father…I understand that you're the one who found his body after he…

Bryce:  Would you mind skipping that topic?  It's an emotional—

Paige:  It's all right, Bryce.  Yes, I'm the one who found my father's body after he…he shot himself.  In addition to a suicide note, I also found scraps of paper in the fireplace that he had apparently tried to burn.  Bits and pieces of things that didn't make sense, lots of numbers.  (glances at Bryce as if seeking reassurance)  And Bryce's name mentioned several times.

Bryce:  (grasps her hand and holds it)  And that's when she started prying into my life, a situation that quickly came to my attention only I didn't have a clue why she was doing it or what she was looking for.

Paige:  Well, what I found led me to believe he was responsible for my father committing suicide.  I was determined to prove it…to bring him down and expose him for what he was.  Or, more accurately, what I believed him to be.  I also wanted to find some way of keeping him from closing down my father's company and putting 100 employees with families out of work.

Really?  Bryce, you actually owned her father's company?

Bryce:  Well, sort of.  By default, actually.  I didn't really want it.

What happened next?

Bryce:  What else…I hired her as my personal assistant so I could keep my eye on her in order to find out what she was up to.  And the rest, as they say, is history.  (LOL)

No, I meant what happened next with her father's company.

Bryce:  You'll need to buy the book to find out about that.

Okay, I'll accept that.  Now let me change the subject.  There's a question I've been dying to ask you.

Bryce:  (laughs softly then flashes a teasing grin)  Uh Oh.  That sounds ominous.  Do I need to consult my attorney?

LOL…I think you'll be okay.

Paige:  Don't worry.  (offers a mischievous grin)  I'll protect you if she gets too rough.

Bryce:  Looks like I'm covered.  Fire away.

From the beginning, I notice you called her Bradford rather than Paige, Ms. Bradford, or Mrs. Bradford, and continued it for quite a while in the same way as guys refer to each other by their last names.  Why did you do that?

Bryce:  That's an easy one.  From the first time we met I knew I had to keep an emotional distance and make sure nothing between us became personal.

Do I detect an immediate attraction?

Bryce:  Definitely.  Calling her Bradford helped me maintain that emotional distance.  At least for a while.

Paige:  I was feeling it, too.  As much as I wanted to believe he was the ruthless shark I had made him out to be, the more I was around him…the more I found out about him…my firm convictions began to crumble.  There was the Italian family who owned the small neighborhood restaurant in London, the business negotiations for new contracts, his work ethic.  Everything going on around me shot down all my preconceived notions until I didn't know what to think anymore.

Tell me about the avalanche.

Paige:  Plain and simple…Bryce literally saved my life.

What happened?

Paige:  It's all in the book.

Oh, I see.  LOL  Another suggestion to buy the book if you want to know the answers.  Sounds like a good idea.  Thank you for being with us today.

***

FALLING FOR THE ENEMY, a Silhouette Desire by Shawna Delacorte reissued in ebook format. Available at http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/ (do a search for author name Shawna Delacorte). Barnes and Nobel for NookBooks at http://www.bn.com/ and Amazon for Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/

Blurb:

A Dangerously Desirable Boss:

Paige Bradford intended to expose Bryce Lexington for the ruthless shark he was. But when they started working together, the sparks they gave off jettisoned her best intentions…. Paige knew this corporate hunk wasn't what he seemed—but was she losing her heart…to the enemy?

Hiring oh-so-sexy Paige might have been the biggest mistake Bryce had ever made, but he had to learn what she was after. Especially since she had Bryce—the man with everything—wanting something far more precious: Paige's love.

G-rated excerpt (inside front cover):

The look on Bryce Lexington's handsome face said it all.  He liked what he saw, liked it very much. Paige felt an inexplicable tingle of excitement as he continued to stare at her. She quickly pulled the beach jacket on, covering her body from shoulders to mid thigh.

"Tomorrow, Bradford…" Bryce paused to take a calming breath. "Tomorrow bring your own swimsuit." He quickly turned and left the pool house without even pausing to look back.

Paige closed her eyes. The look of smoldering intensity that Bryce had greeted her with popped back into her mind. A tremor of sensual desire made its way through her body, then settled low inside her.

Paige was not sure what she wanted anymore or why she was still there. She probably should have resigned as she had originally planned, but now it was too late.

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Text Copyright © 2002 by SKDennison, Inc.  Cover Art Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

Check out my Shawna Delacorte website for more excerpts from FALLING FOR THE ENEMY.  http://www.shawnadelacorte.com/

COWBOY DREAMING—a conversation with Melanie and Cody

Harlequin has reissued 15 of my backlist titles in ebook.  Today I'm talking with Melanie Winslow and Cody Chandler about COWBOY DREAMING, a Silhouette Desire originally released in print August 1996 and currently available in ebook.

Good morning, Melanie and Cody.  Thanks for joining us today.

Melanie:  Thanks for the invitation.

My first question is for Cody.

Cody: (grins) Hit me with it.

As I understand it, you're from the New England area with a background in international finance.  How did you end up as foreman of a cattle ranch on the eastern slopes of the Rockies foothills in Colorado?

Cody:  My family had been involved in banking and finance for literally generations and that's what they groomed me for…college degrees in business and finance including advanced education in Europe, travel, and foreign languages.  Bottom line—it wasn't what I wanted out of life.  So, defying family tradition, I looked around for something I felt comfortable with.  I knew I wanted to get away from the regimen of board rooms, suits and ties, and big business.  The great outdoors and ranching appealed to me.  And that's when I met Buck Winslow…a day that changed my life and gave me the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment I had been seeking.

What about you, Melanie?  You left home at eighteen and established a successful career as a freelance photographer.  The ranching life didn't appeal to you?

Melanie:  (wrinkled her forehead in a moment of contemplation)  It's not quite that cut and dried.  My father and I had a strained relationship at best…at least that's the way I saw it at the time.  Putting that together with my mother's death when I was eighteen, all I wanted to do was get away from what I felt was a painful place.  I had been interested in photography starting when I was about nine years old and new that's what I wanted as a career.  Over the ensuing ten years after I left home, I established a successful career which had me traveling all over the world.  During that time I didn't have any communication with my father.

After a ten year estrangement, what prompted you to return to the ranch where you grew up?

Melanie:  That's another one that's difficult to answer.  For the last couple of years my thoughts had regularly turned to the ranch and the fact that my father was getting older.  However, my actually showing up at the ranch was a truly spontaneous thing.  I decided to do it and drove non-stop from Los Angeles to the eastern foothills of the Rockies.

Cody:  I'm a light sleeper.  It was the sound of someone entering the house in the middle of the night that woke me.  I immediately assumed it was a burglar breaking in.  You can imagine my surprise…actually my shock at discovering the intruder I tackled and pinned to the floor was a woman.

Melanie:  (laughs) Well, you can imagine my shock, too.  I don't think I've ever been as frightened as I was at that moment when Cody threatened me with bodily harm if I dared to move.

Cody:  In my defense, that was before I realized the intruder was a woman.

I assume you got everything straightened out as soon as you turned on the lights to see what was going on?

Cody:  Far from it!

Melanie:  Not even close.  Instant animosity which got worse as soon as I identified myself as Buck Winslow's daughter.  He made it very clear that he had no use for me and questioned why I had even bothered to return to the ranch at that time.  He was obviously very protective of my father, but I didn't understand why until I found out my father was…that he was dying.

With Buck being very ill and the two of you at each other's throat, how did you work that out?

Cody:  I suggested a truce until I could assess the situation.  I know how much it had hurt Buck when his only child abruptly left home without warning and he never heard from her again, how much he missed her.  It was going to be enough of a shock for him with his fragile health to have his long absent daughter suddenly show up without the added stress of the two of us arguing.  The last thing I wanted was for Buck to be upset.

Melanie:  I had no idea that my father was ill.  Cody said he had tried to reach me a year earlier, mailed a letter to the magazine where my photographs had just appeared, but I never got it.  When he didn't get any response he assumed I didn't care.  After I realized what was going on, I understood his attitude toward me—didn't like it, but understood it.  Over the next couple of days I learned so much about my father that I never knew.  He wasn't the cold unfeeling man I had painted him to be.

Cody:  But then another roadblock appeared.  Mel decided I was taking advantage of Buck.  She misinterpreted something she saw and thought I was embezzling.

That sounds like more than just a wariness of each other.  What turned the two of you around?  When and how did you start seeing each other as something other than adversaries and start developing trust?

Melanie:  It's all in the book.

Cody:  (puts his arm around Melanie's shoulders and draws her close to him, then offers a mischievous grin)  I can disclose that we definitely did work out our differences and there's a happily ever after ending to our story.

LOL…and on that note I guess there's nothing left to say except thank you for being here with us today.

***

COWBOY DREAMING, a Silhouette Desire by Shawna Delacorte reissued in ebook format.  Available at http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/ (do a search for author name Shawna Delacorte).  Also available from Amazon for Kindle and Barnes & Noble for Nook.

Blurb:

STRANDED

When Melanie Winslow returned to the Colorado ranch where she was raised, she never expected to find herself stranded in a mountain cabin with Cody Chandler. The rugged ranch manager was the answer to every daydream Melanie had ever had about strong, sexy cowboys.

WITH A SEXY COWBOY

But this one was real, with a kiss that made Melanie's heart beat faster, and a smile that hinted at the most intimate things. The trouble was, the last thing Melanie intended to do was fall in love with an untamed cowboy—no matter how perfect he seemed. If only her heart felt the same way….

Inside front cover excerpt:

Melanie felt Cody's warm breath across her cheek, then his lips on the side of her neck. His words tickled her ears. "We should figure out the sleeping arrangements for tonight."

He rose suddenly and added a couple more logs to the blaze. "There should be some sleeping bags in the cupboard," he said. "And another cot…" It was almost a question.

All right, Ms. I-can-take-care-of-myself-and-don't-need-anybody, what do you plan to do now?

This was not the time to panic, Melanie told herself. She was a self-sufficient woman who would handle this logically and intelligently.

As she watched, Cody jabbed the burning logs, causing embers to fly—like the hot sparks she felt every time he kissed her. The intensity in his face and the captivating pull of his masculinity drew her to him. Her insides melted into a simmering pool of desire.

Maybe common sense and levelheaded thinking weren't all they were cracked up to be….

-----------------------

Text Copyright © 1996 by SKDennison, Inc.  Cover Art Copyright © 1996 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

Check out my Shawna Delacorte website for more excerpts from COWBOY DREAMING   http://www.shawnadelacorte.com/

AT THE TYCOON'S COMMAND—a conversation with Kim and Jared

Harlequin has reissued 15 of my backlist titles in ebook.  Today I'm talking with Jared Stevens and Kim Donaldson about AT THE TYCOON'S COMMAND, a Silhouette Desire originally released in print February 2003 and currently available in ebook.  Check out my website for more excerpts. http://www.shawnadelacorte.com/

Hello, Jared and Kim.  Thanks for stopping by to chat with us.

Kim:  It's our pleasure.

Jared:  It's my understanding that you want to talk about how we got together.  The rocky road to love…so to speak.

LOL…yes, something like that.  You do have to admit that your story smacks of elements from Romeo and Juliet or maybe more accurately the Hatfields and the McCoys.

Kim:  Yes, indeed…the family feud.

Jared:  Our grandfathers started a feud that had lasted decades.  And in a small town like Otter Crest, something like that can't be hidden.

Am I correct in my understanding that neither of you stuck around Otter Crest after graduating from high school?  You each left in different directions to attend college then stayed away with your careers?

Jared:  I came back when my father died and I took over the helm of the family empire.  The company is headquartered in San Francisco and that was my legal residence, but I'd spend a couple of months each summer at the family compound in Otter Crest.

Kim:  As for me, upon graduation I accepted a teaching job.  I had returned to Otter Crest when my father died…the funeral and then settling his estate.  I had no intention of staying any longer than necessary.  But the day after the funeral, the Stevens' Enterprises corporate attorney showed up at the door of my father's house with a demand for payment of a long overdue financial obligation he claimed my father owed.  And that moment brought the feud full blown to the third generation.  I had perceived the timing of the demand for payment as purposefully designed by Jared as just another unethical Stevens' tactic.

You said he 'claimed' your father owed the debt.  Was it legitimate?

Kim:  My father had insisted it wasn't so, but it turned out to be real.

Jared:  The corporation had a signed and notarized promissory note.  I had my suspicions about the ethics of how it came about, but the paper work was in order and legal.  My concerns were probably what prompted me to make her an offer to work it off rather than paying it off.  The timing was unfortunate with regards to her father's funeral, but it was an attempt to reach Paul Donaldson's heir while she was in town.

So, Kim, that's when Jared offered you a means of settling the debt?

Kim:  Yes…he offered to let me work it off.  I immediately interpreted the offer as nothing more than a sleazy proposition—just another ploy by the high and mighty Stevens' family to belittle and humiliate a Donaldson.

Jared:  She totally misinterpreted my offer, but I understood why she would have made that assumption.

Kim:  I had a legal document drawn up stating that my working in his summer office would settle the debt.  It clearly spelled out a legitimate job situation.

That knowing smile and the glances between you two indicate something a little different than some straight forward office work.

Kim:  I thought I had been so thorough in covering all the bases by spelling out the work arrangement in a legal document, but he was one step ahead of me.  It was a job working as his assistant, but there was very little typing or other office type chores involved.  I picked up his dry cleaning, took his car to be detailed, took his dog to the vet and the groomer.  Well, you get the picture.  I was not a happy camper!

That's certainly understandable.  How about you, Jared?  What was your intention with all the personal chores rather than legitimate office work?

Jared:  Our families had been feuding for three generations.  I had just met her for the first time—lots of tension and a definite adversarial situation.  I had no idea if I could trust her around corporate business and felt uncomfortable about her having access to financial records.  I would have simply dismissed the debt if it had been between my father and her father, but it was a business debt and was on the corporate books as such so I needed to make an earnest effort to settle the obligation.  I had no personal interest in a stupid decades old feud and didn’t want to cause her financial difficulty by demanding she pay the debt.  The work situation seemed like a good compromise to me.

Kim:  I didn't know Jared, but had gone to high school with his younger brother, Terry…an arrogant jerk who embodied all my father had said about the Stevens' family.  That, naturally, made me wary of Jared.

Jared:  That's HALF brother.  My father was married six times and there were also all the mistresses and short term affairs.  I'm lucky there was only one half-sibling for me to deal with.

You and your brother…half-brother…don't get along?

Jared:  That's putting it mildly.  Kim is absolutely right in describing him as an arrogant jerk, but she left out the part about him also being totally irresponsible and believing he was entitled to whatever he wanted.  My father and I were never close, but he knew there was no way he could put Terry in charge of anything which left me heading the corporation.

Sounds like you and Kim had several ups and downs before you settled into a relationship.

Kim:  And one frightening incident that made everything else pale in comparison..an incident by the name of Chloe.

That sounds interesting.  Who is Chloe and what happened?

Jared:  You'll need to read the book to discover that.

LOL…why am I not surprised?

***

AT THE TYCOON'S COMMAND, a Silhouette Desire by Shawna Delacorte reissued in ebook format.  Available at http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/ (do a search for author name Shawna Delacorte).  Barnes and Noble for NookBooks at http://www.bn.com/.  And Amazon for Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/.

Blurb:

Employed By The Enemy:

Working for Jared Stevens was not how teacher Kim Donaldson wanted to spend her vacation, but doing so would pay off her father's debt and end the long-standing feud begun by their grandfathers.  If only Jared hadn't matured into a handsome man with a magnetic appeal and a smooth, sexy voice that made concentrating extremely difficult.

Reformed playboy Jared was nothing like his unethical father.  He was hard working and responsible...and his attraction to his newest employee was immediate and powerful.  Jared found their passionate battles in the office led to steamy lovemaking in the bedroom.  But could a woman who no longer trusted find love with a man afraid of commitment?

G-rated excerpt (inside front cover):

"I'd be willing to let you, uh...work off the debt."

The shock traveled through Kim's body, followed by a sharp jab of anger, which was compounded by the lascivious gleam in Jared's eyes and the unmistakable challenge in his face.

"You'd what?"

"I'd be willing to make arrangements for you to work off the debt this summer while you're not teaching."

"That type of ludicrous line might work on the many women who frequent your bedroom, but I'm most certainly not one of them!"

"Whoa!  Hold on there.  I don't know what you're assuming, but I'm offering a legitimate position, handling the summer office chores."

It made sense, but did she dare trust what he said?  He was a Stevens.  For as long as she could remember, their families had been enemies...

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Text Copyright © 2003 by SKDennison, Inc.  Cover Art Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

Weird April Holidays

Each month has its share of weird holidays.  What a great excuse to have a party!  Let's take a look at what April has to offer.

The first week of April gives us 7 days devoted to International Pooper Scooper Week where we make sure those with pets know how to clean up after them so everyone can have a pleasant walk in the park and along the sidewalk.

The third Saturday in April is Husband Appreciation Day.  There's a lot of responsibilities placed on a husband and things has to do to be a good one.  No everyone is lucky enough to have a good husband, but those who do should take this day to show their appreciation.

April 1—April Fool's Day:  A day of funny items, gag gifts, and practical jokes.  Lots of fun for those pulling the prank and not so much fun for those of the receiving end.  The danger with this day is taking it too far.  Don't cross the line from fun over to humiliation.  And make sure you don't end up damaging someone's property.

April 4—World Rat Day:  This a newcomer to the holiday list, started in 2002.  Before you let out a string of "ew", this holiday is to celebrate the pet rat, not the wild rat.

April 7—National Beer Day:  This is primarily a U.S. holiday and commemorates the end of 13 years of Prohibition

April 10—Golfer's Day:  This is a day for golfers to be thankful the game was invented and celebrate it by…playing golf.

April 12—National Licorice Day:  If you enjoy this oddly flavored root, then use this day to get someone else to give it a try.

April 20—Look Alike Day:  Whether it's a celebrity, family member, friend…someone you admire.  This is the day to show them that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

April 22—National Jelly Bean Day:  A good day to enjoy them and to give them as gifts in all different flavors.

April 26—National Pretzel Day:  The pretzel dates back over a thousand years to France where monks baked strips of dough into the shape of folded arms.  This grew into today's huge snack industry.

April 29—International Dance Day:  Originally created to commemorate the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (creator of modern ballet).  Today it covers all forms of dance.

April 30—National Honesty Day:  This is a tricky one, like a two-headed coin.  One side says it's important to always tell the truth.  The other side says that a lot of people don't want to hear the truth.

There is at least one weird holiday for each day of April.  Some of the others include Sorry Charlie Day on April 6 for people who have lived through rejection.  And to counter Honesty Day we have Tell-A-Lie Day on April 4.  Blame Somebody Else Day falls on April 13.

Do you have any special "weird" April holiday that you celebrate?