Accidentally...Over?
Page 31
Ellie Watt is definitely one of the most complex and interesting characters I have ever written, particularly as a heroine. On one hand she has all these terrible qualities; on the other she’s just a vulnerable, damaged person trying to survive the only way she knows how. You despise Ellie and yet you can’t help but root for her at the same time.
Her love interest, hot tattoo artist and ex-friend Camden McQueen, says it perfectly when he tells her this: “That is what I thought of you, Ellie. Heartless, reckless, selfish, and cruel… Beautiful, sad, wounded, and lost. A freak, a work of art, a liar, and a lover.”
Ellie is all those things, making her a walking contradiction but oh, so human. I think Ellie’s humanity is what makes her relatable and brings a sense of realism to a novel that’s got plenty of hot sex, car chases, gunplay, murder, and cons. No matter what’s going on in the story, through all the many twists and turns, you understand her motives and her actions, no matter how skewed they may be.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a romance novel without a love interest. What makes SINS & NEEDLES different is that the love interest isn’t her foil—Camden McQueen isn’t necessarily a “good” man making a clean living. In fact, he may be as damaged as she is—but he does believe that Ellie can change, let go of her past, and find redemption.
That’s easier said than done, of course, for a criminal who has never known any better. And it’s hard to escape your past when it’s literally chasing you, as is the case with Javier Bernal, Ellie’s ex-lover whom she conned six years prior. Now a dangerous drug lord, Javier has been hunting Ellie down, wanting to exact revenge for her misdoings. But sometimes revenge comes in a vice and Javier’s appearance in the novel reminds Ellie that she can never escape who she really is, that she may not be redeemable.
For a book that’s set in the dry, brown desert of southern California, SINS & NEEDLES is painted in shades of gray. There is no real right and wrong in the novel, and the characters, including Ellie, aren’t just good or bad. They’re just human, just real, just trying to come to terms with their true selves while living in a world that just wants to screw them over.
I hope you enjoy the ride!
From the desk of Kristen Callihan
Dear Reader,
The first novels I read belonged to my parents. I was a latchkey kid, so while they were at work, I’d poach their paperbacks. Robert Ludlum, Danielle Steel, Jean M. Auel. I read these authors because my parents did. And it was quite the varied education. I developed a taste for action, adventure, sexy love stories, and historical settings.
But it wasn’t until I spent a summer at the beach during high school that I began to pick out books for myself. Of course, being completely ignorant of what I might actually want to read on my own, I helped myself to the beach house’s library. The first two books I chose were Mario Puzo’s The Godfather (yes, I actually read the book before seeing the movie) and Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.
Those two books taught me about the antihero, that a character could do bad things, make the wrong decisions, and still be compelling. We might still want them to succeed. But why? Maybe because we share in their pain. Or maybe it’s because they care, passionately, whether it’s the desire for discovering the deeper meaning of life or saving the family business.
In EVERNIGHT, Will Thorne is a bit of an antihero. We meet him attempting to murder the heroine. And he makes no apologies for it, at least not at first. He is also a blood drinker, sensual, wicked, and in love with life and beauty.
Thinking on it now, I realize that the books I’ve read have, in some shape or form, made me into the author I am today. So perhaps, instead of the old adage “You are what you eat,” it really ought to be: “You are what you read.”
From the desk of Laura Drake
Dear Reader,
Hard to believe that SWEET ON YOU is the third book in my Sweet on a Cowboy series set in the world of professional bull riding. The first two, The Sweet Spot and Nothing Sweeter, involved the life and loves of stock contractors—the ranchers who supply bucking bulls to the circuit. But I couldn’t go without writing the story of a bull rider, one of the crazy men who pit themselves against an animal many times stronger and with a much worse attitude.
To introduce you to Katya Smith, the heroine of SWEET ON YOU, I thought I’d share with you her list of life lessons:
Remember what your Gypsy grandmother said: Gifts sometimes come in strange wrappings.
The good-looking ones aren’t always assholes.
Cowboys aren’t the only ones who need a massage. Sometimes bulls do, too.
Don’t ever forget: You’re a soldier. And no one messes with the U.S. military.
A goat rodeo has nothing to do with men riding goats.
“Courage is being scared to death—and saddling up anyway.”—John Wayne
Cowgirl hats fit more than just cowgirls.
The decision of living in the present or going back to the past is easy once you decide which one you’re willing to die for.
I hope you enjoy Katya and Cam’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. And watch for the cameos by JB Denny and Bree and Max Jameson from the first two books!
From the desk of Anna Campbell
Dear Reader,
I love books about Mr. Cool, Calm, and Collected finding himself all at sea once he falls in love. Which means I’ve been champing at the bit to write Camden Rothermere’s story in WHAT A DUKE DARES.
The Duke of Sedgemoor is a man who is always in control. He never lets messy emotion get in the way of a rational decision. He’s the voice of wisdom. He’s the one who sorts things out. He’s the one with his finger on the pulse.
And that’s just the way he likes it.
Sadly for Cam, once his own pulse starts racing under wayward Penelope Thorne’s influence, all traces of composure and detachment evaporate under a blast of sensual heat. Which isn’t just the way he likes it!
Pen Thorne was such fun to write, too. She’s loved Cam since she was a girl, but she’s smart enough to know it’s hopeless. So what happens when scandal forces them to marry? It’s the classic immovable object and irresistible force scenario. Pen is such a vibrant, passionate, headstrong presence that Cam hasn’t got a chance. Although he puts up a pretty good fight!
Another part of WHAT A DUKE DARES that I really enjoyed writing was the secondary romance involving Pen’s rakish brother Harry and innocent Sophie Fair-brother. There’s a real touch of Romeo and Juliet about this couple. I hadn’t written two love stories in one book before and the contrasting trajectories throw each relationship into high relief. As a reader, I always like to get two romances for the price of one.
If you’d like to know more about WHAT A DUKE DARES and the other books in the Sons of Sin series—Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed, Days of Rakes and Roses, and A Rake’s Midnight Kiss—please check out my website: http://annacampbell.info/books.html.
Happy reading—and may all your dukes be daring!
Best wishes,
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Humble Groveling Goes Out To
Ebook Piracy Note from the Author
Warning
Final Accidental Note from Cimil, Goddess of the Underworld
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
; Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue One
Epilogue Two
Author Note
About the Author
An Excerpt from Vampires Need Not… Apply?
Glossary
Character Definitions
Also by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
Praise for Mimi Jean Pamfiloff’s Accidentally Yours Series
The Dish
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
Excerpt from Vampires Need Not… Apply? © 2013 by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
Cover photography © Michael Racz
Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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ISBN 978-1-4555-4700-5
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