Harlequin has reissued 16 of my backlist titles in
ebook. Today I'm talking with Jim
Richards and Andrea Sinclair from SECRET LOVER, a mystery/romantic suspense
from Harlequin's Intrigue line, originally released in print and currently
available in ebook.
Good morning, Andi and
Jim. Thanks for joining me today. Your story is certainly spread out geographically. It starts in the middle of a snowy winter at
an area of summer vacation cabins in the woods on Vancouver Island in Canada
and travels all the way down the west coast to La Jolla, California, next to
San Diego.
Jim: Good morning, Shawna.
Andi: Thanks for the invitation to stop by for a
chat.
Andi, you're from La
Jolla, a charming Southern California beach town adjacent to the north side of
San Diego. And you live in a restored
bungalow right on the beach. Why would
you leave such a marvelous location and travel to the Canadian woods in the
middle of winter, a time when most people are getting away from the cold, snowy
climate and traveling to a warm and sunny place to spend the winter?
Andi: (chuckles) That's a great question, one I
kept asking myself as I looked out the cabin window and watched the snow
falling. I'm an author…mystery
novels. The book I was working on was
something different for me. Instead of
creating the plot from beginning to end, I was using a real case from the news
that had never been solved, a cold case, as inspiration. I concocted a similar storyline to the facts
of the real case as the back story for my novel and was in the process of
trying to bring it forward and solve my similar but fictional mystery. Unfortunately, I was having a major case of
writer's block. My agent made a
reservation for me at the cabin campground hoping the change of scenery and
isolation would eliminate any distractions and help me get back on track again.
Jim: That's where I encountered Andi. After a year of running, I finally found an
out of the way far off the beaten path place in the Canadian woods on Vancouver
Island and had worked there four years.
In the off season I was the winter caretaker of the cabins. We occasionally had someone check in during
the off season, but not that often. So,
to have a beautiful woman staying there all alone was far from ordinary. While bringing in some more firewood for her,
I noticed all the crumpled, discarded sheets of paper on the floor and asked
her about them.
Andi: I had so thoroughly researched the facts of
the real case, that I couldn't let go of the real man who was the center of the
story—a man who had done the right thing in exposing criminal activity and
agreeing to testify in court, then an attempt on his life put him in protective
custody. Shortly after that he
disappeared from the safe house. With
their key witness gone, they had to drop charges. That left me with lots of questions. Was he bought off by the bad guys? Had they killed him and disposed of the
body? Had he taken off because he
changed his mind about testifying?
Everything I had dug up about the missing witness said he was an
honorable man. So what happened? I couldn't concentrate on my fictional
version. Part of that, I'm sure, can be
blamed on the time I spent as assistant to a top investigative reporter. All my instincts were pushing at me to follow
the real story rather than make up a fictional ending.
What about you,
Jim? What went through your mind when
you saw her research notes?
Jim: That's an easy question. Pure and absolute panic. My mind flew in every direction at once
trying to latch on to anything that made sense.
I even gave a brief thought to the possibility of her being a
professional hired killer sent to silence me.
For five years I had been living by my wits…five years since I had been
forced to flee the custody that was no longer protecting me. The only person I could trust was me.
So the two of you
formed an alliance?
Jim: Not exactly and certainly not at first. Even though I'd seen some of her research
notes, it was a little while before she tumbled to my true identity. That's when the trouble began.
Andi: Well, the trouble actually began a little
before that. I got a phone call from my
agent telling me someone had broken into his office and the only thing they
took was his file on me containing my real name in addition to my pseudonym and
my address in La Jolla. At that point it
hit me…someone thought my research for my novel had turned up information
telling me where the missing witness was hiding and I had probably gone to meet
with him.
Jim: So against my better judgment, we hit the
road together making the 1500 mile drive all the way to La Jolla in order to
avoid airports where someone might be watching for me. The theory being that someone looking for me
would not be looking for a couple vacationing by car. But the journey was far removed from being a
smooth, uneventful trip.
What happened?
Jim: In addition to all the pitfalls during the
course of those 1500 miles, once we arrived in La Jolla we were faced with a
whole new set of dangers including Andi being shot—
Andi: Don't give that away. Save some surprises for them to discover when
they read the book.
Uh Oh…you're going to
pull that 'you have to read the book' stuff on me? That has become a repeated pattern with these
interviews.
Jim: (tries to suppress a teasing grin) And that
somehow surprises you?
LOL…okay. Enough questions. Thanks for being here today.
Andi: It was our pleasure.
SECRET LOVER, a Harlequin Intrigue mystery/romantic suspense
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 & Noble for Nook as
well as other online vendors.
Be sure to check out my website for additional excerpts from
SECRET LOVER as well as information on my other Harlequin reissues. www.shawnadelacorte.com
Blurb:
A MYSTERIOUS AND SEXY STRANGER
Andrea Sinclair found herself inexplicably drawn to Jim
Richards—mind and body—as if she already knew
him. His hair and face were wrong, but there was something about the man… Was
he the one she'd been searching for ever since he left the Witness Protection
Program with a price on his head?
Jim had been alone for too long—alone and lonely. He
couldn't help fantasizing about Andi, though she represented life-threatening
danger to him. She knew everything about him—everything he'd carefully tried to
erase. Could he trust her to help him find the killer who pursued him…? He
didn't have a choice. His heart wouldn't let him leave her.
Inside front cover:
What was there about Jim Richards that seemed so familiar?
Andrea focused on his eyes, his nose, the shape of his face.
His athletic build—broad shoulders, long legs and good looks. His bed-tousled
hair. She recalled the warmth of his handshake and the moment of poignancy when
he had placed his hand on top of hers. A tremor of desire shivered inside her.
Why?
The man was an enigma, a puzzle with many layers and facets.
Did she have the right to pry into his private life? Her sense of integrity
said no, but her instincts kept tugging at her with a different answer. Every
instinct she possessed told her he was not who he appeared to be, that he was
hiding something.
Andi had to know who Jim Richards really was and why he had
assumed a secret identity. The last thing she needed was to become involved
with a mysterious stranger.
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