He stirred in his sleep, mumbled something as I ran my gloved finger over his torso, circling his nipple. I pulled my gun from its holster. I slowly screwed on a suppressor. Like I said, getting prohibited weapons was nothing when you knew the right people.
I’d been a favourite to many in the system. I knew my way around a pussy. I made some lifelong connections and I’d earned respect that carried beyond the cells. There was money in revenge—something that I’d been thinking a lot about. Vengeance dealer, just as Arthur had wanted. Tonight, though, was for me. No one was paying me for this one.
With a smile, I greeted Salvatore’s sleepy gaze, his eyelids only cracked a fraction. What he made of me, I couldn’t say. His eyes grew wide though, taking me in all dressed in black, a mask shielding my eyes.
“Who the fuck are you?” He grunted as he pushed himself up. “How the fuck did you get in here?”
Now he was alarmed. Too late, my friend.
My smile grew. “I’m here for vengeance, silly.” I lowered my gun to his crotch. “You won’t be using that ever again.” And took my shot.
You ever hear a guy get his dick blown off? It’s surprisingly quiet actually. A muffled sound of the gun and then a scream that wasn’t a scream but more like a long, squeal that was too high pitched for me to hear.
I took two more shots just to make sure he’d be bleeding out, then pulled one of my knives and embedded it into his side. Now that was poetic justice. He was as good as dead, and if not, then he’d wish he had died.
As would any rapist who dared to cross my path.
Taking back the night.
For Kassey.
Always for her.
The End.
But really only the beginning.
A Conversation with Angela Addams
You’ve mentioned in other interviews that Burning Kiss is your first attempt at writing a thriller…what set you on that path? What inspired you to write such a dark story?
The inspiration came quite unexpectedly while I was reading an essay. Sounds boring, right? I can’t remember exactly what the essay was about but in it was a poem by Robert Browning called Porphyria’s Lover…as soon as I read the poem, which is about a man killing his lover with her own hair, my brain started churning out a plot.
Burning Kiss is one of the darkest things I’ve written and I was definitely influenced by my strong feelings around sexual assault and female empowerment. While Jade doesn’t always make the best choices, I do feel like she is the embodiment of the anger a lot of women feel when it comes to loss of power, being a victim, and taking back control.
Jade is an incredibly unreliable character, and at times very unlikable. Did you enjoy writing her? Does she resemble anyone in your own life?
Jade started speaking to me about the same time as the plot ideas started rolling out. I know it sounds weird when authors say things like that…a character speaks to you? What? But it’s true…her voice was in my head for a while before I started writing her down. The first draft of Burning Kiss was very raw and emotional and Jade was really hard to feel sympathy for. It was through many rounds of editing and the insight of a lot of editors and beta readers that helped me get her to a place where she was still unreliable but also relatable. She’s a broken woman who really believes what she is doing is just. And yes, I loved writing her. I love writing strong but flawed characters and the anti-hero is incredibly appealing to me. Everyone has a dark side.
You set this story in Toronto. Any particular reason for that?
I set the story in Toronto because I live here (or at least did when I was younger; now I’m out in the country) and at the University of Toronto because I attended U of T for one of my degrees and love the campus. I created a new campus, though, because I wanted to create an environment suitable for my thriller and I wanted control over the architecture. As my readers know, I’m a proud Canadian! There are just not enough thrillers set in my country.
You’ve talked in the past about your own love of trap shooting…and in Burning Kiss we are first introduced to Jade at a trap range. Is there a bit of you in that scene?
Oh yeah, to some extent there is. I love trap shooting and it is a very male dominated sport. The comment one of the shooters makes about Jade needing a pink gun was something that was said to me when I first started. While most of the men at my range are very respectful and helpful, you do get the occasional visitor who underestimates what the female shooters can do. I felt like it was the perfect place for Jade to challenge the norms. I find shooting to be incredibly empowering so I knew that Jade would too. Also, she had to have access to guns and some level of expertise using them, so adding the gun range elements gave her opportunity for training.
You added a surprising twist to this story with regards to Kassey’s character. The way she’s written, she could be a figment of Jade’s imagination or a ghost. Were you intending to add a supernatural element to this story?
This was never going to be a supernatural story and the addition of Kassey’s character is meant to show not only that Jade has a heart and vulnerability but also a seriously big problem with her mental health. Kassey is not a ghost in the traditional sense but she is haunting Jade mentally, keeping her from moving on and giving her an excuse for her outrageous behaviour. Kassey is also Jade’s anchor and soul in many ways and without her, as Jade says, she has lost her light. By the end of the story, Jade has truly turned into a vigilante and her moral compass is set on a very specific direction.
Jade is a flawed character but I found myself rooting for her just as often as I was cringing over her actions. What compelled you to create such a complicated character?
Like I said, I love the anti-hero because it’s a character who has so much depth and conflicting traits. It’s a character who has an almost complete disregard for laws and social expectations but who is also motivated to seek justice usually because of a loved one being hurt or murdered. Jade is not perfect and I wrote her to be a contradiction in many ways. You would look at her and not expect that she was a vigilante or even capable of violence herself. I love that the most. Appearances are deceiving both with regards to Jade herself but also the men who are in her life. She made mistakes and did awful things to people in her past but she feels that she can change the world by the path she’s taking. You know she’s headed for disaster and perhaps she doesn’t deserve a happy ending, but I think it makes you want to find out what she’s going to do next.
What are you planning next? Will there be more books featuring Jade and Eddie?
Originally I wrote Burning Kiss with the idea that there would be more books to come. And I’m not opposed to that idea at all. I think Jade has more stories to tell and more justice to quest after and I do love writing her.
My next projected release will be more in line with my usual storytelling though…a paranormal romance with a guaranteed happily ever after.
Acknowledgments
I am very excited for the release of this book; it’s been a long journey from birth to publication for Burning Kiss. Of course, a lot of people have helped me along the way. First and foremost, I want to thank my editor Holly Atkinson. Her genius insight and evil eye editing skills (see what I did there, Holly?) helped me shape this book into something to be proud of. I also wouldn’t survive without my supportive friends who beta and proof read, help me develop blurbs and taglines, listen to me whine, kick my ass and remind me why I do this: D.B. Reynolds, Michelle von Enckevort, Anna Sotiropoulos, Tammy Crosby, and Dianne Waye.
Big thanks to my mom who listened to me endlessly about the plot of this novel and didn’t get grossed out and to my dad who always tries to help me come up with interesting titles (and to Anna Sotiropoulos who helped me sort out this particular title). And a BIG thanks to my husband who supports everything I do, always. I love you, Yendor. And to my kids who have never read any of my books but really want to. (When you’re older!)
About the Author
Every day is
Halloween for author Angela Addams. Enthralled by the paranormal at an early age, Angela spends most of her time thinking up new story ideas that involve supernatural creatures in everyday situations. She believes that the written word is an amazing tool for crafting the most erotic of scenarios and has recently started down a dark path to disturbing thrillers and erotic horror.
She is an avid tattoo collector, a total book hoarder, and loves anything covered in chocolate…except for bugs.
Find Angela online
www.angelaaddams.com
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Also by Angela Addams
The Dark War Series
The Dark War
The Order of the Wolf
Cursed
Wolves’ Bane
Spell-Weaver
Valiant Heart
Beast Rising
Single Titles
Burning Kiss
The Temptress
Assassin
Ghost Bride
Burning Kiss Page 28