HelenKay Dimon's Blog, page 17

Saturday Snippet

I’m late posting this, so it’s really more of a weekend snippet…but you get the idea.

This week’s topic is hound dog – ie, hero in the dog house. I thought this worked well for EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, my upcoming release from the new Cosmo Red-Hot Reads by Harlequin imprint. Jordan and Forest met while she was working undercover as a temp in another businessman’s office and collecting info for her anonymous website. Forest arranges for her to be a temp in his office even though she told him not to. She is not impressed with his heavy-handed behavior…

She could feel Forest’s presence behind her as she opened the door, not touching, but just inside her comfort zone. His scent wrapped around her and his reflection cut through the Georgetown skyline mirrored on the wall of windows behind Wen’s desk.

She took in the plush leather chair and thick carpet. The space was done in blue, as if to match the painting to her left and its splashes of color. It looked like a mishmash of streaks to her, but she guessed it cost more than all the furniture in her condo combined.

Rather than spend more time admiring the décor, she launched into her verbal attack the second she heard the door click shut behind them. She spun around and her balance faltered when she saw a short three feet spanning the distance between them. Man, the guy snuck up without making a noise.

But she needed to focus. Smelling him was not going to make that happen. “What is this about?”

His face tightened in a frown. “Excuse me?”

“Tell me why I’m here.”

Forest folded his arms across his chest. “You wanted to talk with me.”

He just never stopped testing. “You know what I mean. In your building. Working for you.”



“You don’t technically work for me.”

The man could make a nun reach for the nearest weapon. “You’re parsing that line pretty thin, aren’t you?”

Forest exhaled then, in the way men did when they found women tiresome. “Wen needed a temp and you appeared to be out of work, so I thought the fit made sense.”

Forest even gave her eye contact as he lied his impressive butt off. Nice try. “Even after our conversation at the wedding and my comments about not wanting the job, you talked to someone at my company and demanded I be the one to take this position.”

“I asked for you.”

She wondered if he knew they were saying the same thing. Seemed his asking sounded a lot like ordering and she’d bet he was well aware how people jumped at his serious tone. “My temp coordinator threatened to fire me because of your call.”

His arms dropped to his sides as a bit of his stern control slipped. “What?”

Huh, that almost looked real. “Fired.”

“You’re serious?”

She shifted until a few more inches separated them. Not that it helped. She needed an entire football field of distance to keep her wits around this man. “What’s the end game here, Forest? Or am I required to call you Mr. Redder, since you’re the Big Boss?”

“Oh, I definitely want to hear you say Forest when we’re alone.” His voice changed. Actually dropped and roughened as it licked at her senses.

Whoa.

“Let’s go back to the part where—”

“Yes.” Pivoting away from the sound of his voice and the way it made her stomach do a strange little dance was a good idea. She needed focus and to tap into that deep well of anger inside her. She shifted until she stood at the side of Wen’s desk with Forest in front of it. “Fired, Forest. I had to obey your command or risk losing my job.”

He held up his hand in what looked like a pledge. “Okay, wait a second. The firing part was not on the table.”

“Sure sounded like it to me. Probably because the coordinator actually used the word fired.”

The skin pulled taut over Forest’s cheeks and stress showed in every line of his face. “I never threatened that and would never threaten that. You were supposed to be offered a bonus for taking this assignment.”

As soon as the flicker of positive feeling ignited in her consciousness, it vanished again. With this guy’s help, she could easily turn into her mother. A bonus here, a television there. Find a guy, grab the heirloom diamond and head for a quickie wedding in Vegas before the fighting started. Jordan had lived through that cycle too many times to get sucked into it now.

Forest did this and the temptation to kick him in the shins hit her hard enough to knock her breathless. “So, you’re paying for extra services now, like I’m some sort of special on the menu?”

“No way am I saying yes to that.”

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Copyright 2013, HelenKay Dimon

All Rights Reserved, Harlequin Books

_________

Don’t forget to check out the other author snippets:

; Lauren Dane

Caris Roane

Eliza Gayle

Lissa Matthews

McKenna Jeffries

Shiloh Walker

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

Myla Jackson

TJ Michaels

How We Got Here

I announced my new sale at the end of last week and said I’d talk about it a little today. Mostly, I want to talk about the reality of how up and down this writing career can be. A few people knew about the deal before I announced. One person said something about how my career has always zipped along without trouble. For the record, that is not true. It’s not even close to being accurate.

It’s been a rollercoaster ride for me. I’ve had lots of doubts. I’ve had some books not sell that well. There was a point last year when I said “nothing is working” and really wondered if I should try doing something else.

My husband is super supportive and always believed and told me not to give up. He did this chart for me showing how many copies I had to sell in self-publishing to earn the same amount I had been earning so that if I truly thought the traditional publishing route wasn’t working or never got another book offer I had a choice. I could take control. I’m not a big sharer, so only some of my friends knew I was drowning. Honestly, there were a few months where my friend Jill Shalvis had to believe in me enough for the both of us because I was done. I had nothing left.



It didn’t start out this way. I had an editor who loved my work and fought for me. She bought a lot of my books pretty quickly and when she died I was devastated on a personal level. A few months later I realized her not being there to be my champion also meant bad things for my single title career. It wasn’t the publisher’s fault. It’s just a reality that when the person who really pushes your career is gone, you could be in trouble and I was. At the time contemporary romance was on a huge downward spiral and romantic suspense was glutted. Since those are the two things I write, my career spiraled.

Rather than give in, I regrouped and kept trying. I started writing for Harlequin. I know a lot of authors badmouth Harlequin. I am not one of them. I started writing for Intrigue and loved it. Those books were a lifeline for me. So was Angela James – an editor for whom I have great respect and has forever changed how I write heroines – who asked me to be in a Carina Press holiday anthology. The combination was what I needed to get my emotional equilibrium.

Still, my writing self-confidence was at an all-time low and stayed there. I loved what I was writing but was convinced no one else ever would. Around the same time I realized it was time to leave the agent I had had from the beginning of my career. He’s a good agent but he was no longer the right agent for me. We weren’t connecting. I stayed on even after I knew the relationship wasn’t working. That’s on me. It’s my fault…and that’s a topic for a separate blog post…but it added to my inability to rebound.

Fast forward to the fall of 2012. My husband and friends were in full-on support mode. And, after much chatting and setting of ground rules, I switched agents to someone who is actually a friend, Laura Bradford. Then everything changed. In January/February of this year I sold 3 books to Harlequin Intrigue, 1 to Samhain, 2 to Berkley Heat and 1 to the new Cosmo Red-Hot Reads by Harlequin. Last month I sold 2 more books to Berkley Intermix.

All of that gave me the confidence to write 2 chapters and an 8 page synopsis for a romantic suspense series I’ve always wanted to write. One that captures my love for the TV shows MI5 and Strike Back as well as my love of thrillers, alpha heroes, strong women and lots of action. No serial killers or small towns, which I enjoy reading but thought were well represented in the romantic suspense genre. No, these were about guys with guns on the run, stopping international threats, and have sexy times with amazing women.

This series was the wrong genre (no one was buying romantic suspense) and the wrong time of year (conventional wisdom is editors don’t buy in summer) and not enough pages (I’d written 20 pages of this first book and didn’t even include series synopsis). This time instead of worrying I went in with the “I’ve got nothing to lose” attitude and it worked. This turned out to be the right series at the right time and ended up with 5 offers – which NEVER happens to me. I got lucky.

The reality is readers might not like the books I have coming out in 2013-2015. I get that reality now. My books from Berkley Heat are hotter than I usually write and I’m not sure how readers will react. A lot of readers don’t like romantic suspense, so I don’t know how the Avon series will go, though I am really hopeful. But the one thing – maybe the only thing – I’ve learned is to stop operating in panic mode. I calmed down and sold 12 books in 8 months. In fact, even with the deadlines I already have there is a sexy contemporary romance series I’d love to write and one I’ve been thinking about ever since talking with one of my an editors at RWA who specifically asked me to think about writing a sexy contemporary series. I’m not sure how or when to fill it in, but the point is I have options. We all do.

So, if you’re out there not selling, or your genre is tanking, or you lose your editor, or you’re losing faith in your abilities, or your publisher is letting you go, or you’re not working well with your agent, or you feel like you’re working your ass off and not getting anywhere – you are not alone. I’ve been there. Don’t give up. If you need a pep talk, email me. Bottom line: keep believing and keep writing and know that it can all fall apart over and over and somehow you’ll be okay.

News!!!

I have some fabulously awesome news and I finally get to share it. So…[imagine drumroll here]…

I’ve sold three books in a new romantic suspense series to May Chen at Avon (a division of HarperCollins).

The series focuses on a joint MI6 (British Intelligence)/CIA black ops task force. These will be super sexy with alpha dudes, strong women, guns and sex. Those last two may or may not happen at the same time. If you watch the Cinemax show Strike Back, it’s along those lines but with big romance. These will be bigger and hotter than my Intrigues but will share the same Band Of Brothers feel that I love so much.

Wahoo!!

Due to deadline issues and trying to put these out close together, it looks like these will come out in 2015. I know that sounds like a long way away, but they’re not written yet, so I have to do that first.

Next week I’ll talk a little about the sale and the auction. Some of you out there might know that it’s really hard to sell romantic suspense these days. In a bit of unexpected weirdness, I ended up with five offers in less than two weeks, all from editors and publishing houses I would have been thrilled and honored to work with. That happened not because I’m a top seller or anything other than having the right book at the right time and ignoring the grumblings about the romantic suspense genre being dead. I’ve struggled and gotten down, so I’ve been there. And I’ll share some of that on Monday. But right now I celebrate!!!

Saturday Snippet

NOTE: I announced tis week’s contest winners in the contest post, so check it out if you entered.

Today’s snippet theme is: Can’t Fight This Feeling. I thought this might be a good time to give you a peek of EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, my upcoming release from the new Cosmo Red-Hot Reads by Harlequin imprint. Jordan and Forest met and she tried not to be impressed or interested since he wasn’t her type and she didn’t think they’d ever meet again. When she crashes a wedding, look who’s there…

Early Saturday evening Jordan stood at the open bar and drank a silent toast to the bride, the newly minted Elizabeth Savory-West. Jordan could almost picture the personalized stationery. It would probably be in the same bright pink as the bridesmaids’ dresses.

Jordan had a harder time figuring out the bride, since Jordan had never actually met her. She stood now and watched Elizabeth swish around in her fluffy white dress, surrounded by tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of pink and white roses and her thirteen bridesmaids. Because that was a rational number. Jordan could barely come up with thirteen people she’d want at her wedding, never mind acting as bridesmaids.

She scanned the Highwater Observatory, the fancy room housing the reception. It was one of three ballrooms at the tony hotel on the edge of Georgetown. Jordan had to fight the urge to grab her phone and figure out how much the room rental cost. Something with skylights and “observatory” in its name couldn’t be cheap. Add in the paneled mahogany ceiling, glitzy chandeliers and rich golden fabrics and you had a very expensive few hours of dancing and cake.

She didn’t know one person in the room. That’s what happened when you crashed a wedding to scope out a groomsman. Word was Nick Asher enjoyed sleeping with bridesmaids—any bridesmaid—and sometimes skulked around weddings looking for sex partners. Sex, as in having it, then sneaking out before the hotel-room bill was paid.

He was a real classy guy, this Nick. Just went to show money couldn’t buy manners.



Right now she watched him move, circling a petite brunette and following her as she walked out the towering doors to the terrace. Jordan guessed it was time she got some fresh air, as well. She pivoted around one of the fancy columns at one end of the room and came eye-to-mouth with a guy.

At least it was a hot mouth, and the rest of the face…well, damn.

“How do you know Bitsy?” Forest stood there, dressed like James Bond, all sleek in a tux that fit him as if some dude stripped Forest naked and measured him for it.

Jordan felt all the blood leave her head. It had to be a reaction to the impressive outfit. No way was she responding to him. “What?”

“Bitsy.”

Clearly the rushing sound in her ears drowned out part of the conversation. “Is that a person or a thing?”

“She’s the bride.”

Jordan decided this would teach her not to do more investigation on the bride and groom before crashing a wedding. She’d gotten a tip about Nick being a groomsman and showed up without any planning. It was a hotel, after all. Not exactly a security-protected event.

But none of that solved the six-foot-something problem in front of her. Damn, she couldn’t see anything past Forest’s broad shoulders. That couldn’t be normal.

She waved her hand and gave a chuckle. “Oh, sure. Bitsy.”

He shifted as he folded his arms over his chest. “No one calls her that.”

Shifty bastard. “Why did you?”

“To see if you knew her or were even invited to this event.”

“What makes you think I’m not supposed to be here?” Other than that being the truth, of course.

“You’re not talking to anyone.”

Jordan snorted before she could stop it. “So?”

He put his palm against the column behind her head and leaned in. “You were hiding behind the post and ducked when the bride walked by. You’re not giving anyone eye contact and I haven’t seen you talk or eat or even sit down, probably because you don’t have an assigned seat.”

“Yeah, that’s not creepy or anything.”

“What?”

“Your stalking problem.”

The corner of his mouth lifted but just as quickly flatlined again. “You’re not exactly engaged in normal wedding-guest behavior.”

“Clearly you don’t go to many weddings.” Jordan had been to seven for her mother alone, so she considered herself a bit of an expert. And, really, hiding was the only way to get through them.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Copyright 2013, HelenKay Dimon

All Rights Reserved, Harlequin Books

_________

Don’t forget to check out the other author snippets:

Lauren Dane

Caris Roane

Eliza Gayle

Lissa Matthews

McKenna Jeffries

Shiloh Walker

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

Myla Jackson

Shelli Stevens

Jody Wallace

Contest!

I just found out that I do not have to report for federal jury duty until at least August 11th – wahoo!! To celebrate I’m giving away copies of the first two books in my new Intrigue miniseries, The Corcoran Team. To win FEARLESS and RUTHLESS – in print or digital – just leave a comment here between now and midnight PT on Friday. I will pick winner on Saturday. And for every week I don’t go to jury duty, I’ll have a new contest. I win, you win.

His job had once torn them apart…but now it was the only thing that could bring them back together

Davis Weeks had a sterling reputation for high-priority, under-the-radar rescue missions. His role in the prestigious undercover agency Corcoran Team trumped everything. Even Lara Bart. Though his loyalty to his position had once driven her away, Lara knew she had to tame her emotions if she wanted to survive. Whether she liked it or not, he was the only man who could protect her.

Showing up at his door after dodging one attempt on her life, she knew Davis had the tools to make sure the next one failed, as well. But was his past to blame for the sudden attacks? Or was the answer, just like their intense relationship, not so clear-cut?

Kelsey Moore looked forward to her daily visit from Paxton Weeks. Watching the broad-shouldered, quiet man led to some wonderful daydreams. But for real? That was downright dangerous….

It was no mistake Paxton visited Kelsey’s shop every morning. This was his first mission back from injury and he had something to prove: stake out the shop for a wanted man and take him in. But when two robbers hold Kelsey at gunpoint, Paxton blows his cover to save her life—and adds bodyguard to his list of duties. Now, with his secret out in the open—and her life in danger—the days have just become far from routine….

No purchase necessary. Voice where prohibited. Contest open in any area where I can send the books from B&N or Amazon.

Saturday Snippet

Today’s theme is: Ain’t Over Til It’s Over. Since my newest romantic suspense, RUTHLESS, officially came out this week, I thought this was the perfect time to give a peek at the book. Kelsey runs a coffee shop. She’s attacked in the backroom of her shop and in the middle of fighting when one of her regular customers – her secret crush – comes racing in to save the day. Since she thinks the guy is an injured war hero, or that’s the tale she’s spun in her head, she’s not thrilled to figure out he’s some sort of undercover agent who’s been watching over her. When she learns the truth she wants to run away from him but he’s not quite so willing to let that happen.

From the huge brown eyes to the grim line of her mouth, Kelsey looked about two seconds away from striking out. Maybe screaming her head off. Both options sounded bad to Pax. He wasn’t a fan of throwing up either, and the sudden green taint to her skin suggested that was a real possibility.

He reached down to help her up but she shrank back against the wall, her petite frame curling in on itself. In the tucked position, her long hair fell over her shoulders, shielding her face from view and hiding the ripped strap holding her shirt on her shoulder. The denim shorts showed off her lean legs and a red welt right above her knee.

Seeing her injured and scared dropped a black curtain of rage over him. Every cell inside him craved revenge. He seriously considered removing his knife and then plunging it into the bad guy a second time.



But attack mode would have to wait. They had to get out of there, which meant providing a dose of comfort and reassurance. Not two of his strengths, sure, but since joining up with the Corcoran Team he’d been polishing the skills.

“Kelsey, it’s going to be okay.” Pitching his voice low and keeping it as soothing as possible, he said the words even though he knew she was in no condition to hear them.

She glanced at the body on the floor just a few feet away from her thigh and then back to Pax. “How can you say that? Look around you.”

He wasn’t sure what to say or how much to share about his real reason for visiting her shop almost every day for weeks, so he tried to evade. “Admittedly, the attack was a surprise.”

Her eyes narrowed as fire sparked behind them. She added to the angry-warrior-woman stance by brushing her hair off her shoulder and staring him down. “That’s your response?”

So much for thinking she was scared.

She shook her head. “You pretend to be injured—”

“I actually am injured. Well, was.”

“—and you storm in here.”

“By that you mean walked in the front door and ordered coffee, though from your comment I would guess my limp wasn’t as well hidden as I thought.” And didn’t that tick him off.

The cracking sound came the second after she clenched her jaw. “You flew across the hallway a second ago, so stop pretending you’re hurt and tell me who you really are.”

“Maybe we could agree on the term recovering.”

She blew out a long breath as her shoulders slumped. “Are you trying to be annoying?”

In light of her response, Pax wasn’t sure how he should play this. “My brother would tell you that comes naturally. I don’t have to try very hard at it.”

He’d hoped to take her mind off the death choking the air around them by keeping the mood light. Seeing her pressed against the wall a few minutes ago started his mind unraveling. He’d assumed he’d clean up the mess and she’d be grateful. Maybe do the terrified thing and shake and cry, possibly need some consoling.

That was a normal reaction. This was not. She came out swinging. He half expected her to fight off his attempts at calming the situation and punch him in the groin.

Tension continued to zing around the enclosed space. Guns down and his knife still in use in the unidentified man’s stomach, and yet Pax couldn’t let his guard ease. Not when the woman in front of him vibrated with unspent energy and seemed determined to question everything he said.

She didn’t even blink. “So now you have a brother?”

“Technically I’ve always had one since he’s older.” When the mumble of conversation from the front of the shop seeped through the walls and someone banged on the door to this back area asking why it was locked, Pax talked louder to drag her attention back to him. “His name is Davis.”

She waved the comment off. Came very close to knocking against him while she moved her hands around. “I don’t understand who you are or what’s going on. And who are these two guys and why did they try to drag me outside?”

Pax surveyed the carnage. He had to move her off the property before these guys’ friends missed them and came looking for trouble. “All good questions.”

“Care to answer one?”

“Once we’re out of here.” Pax tapped the mic in his ear. “Ben? Finish clearing the shop and close the place it down. Blame a gas leak and then get a medic because we have two down. Joel, I need you back here. Now.”

Her sneakers scraped against the rough floor as she bent her knees and brought her feet closer to her butt. “Really?”

Pax wasn’t clear which word led to the reaction. “What?”

“You’re really doing some sort of spy-act thing in the middle of all this?”

He despised that word. The way Hollywood portrayed undercover agents and people in law enforcement as if they

all used shoe phones and exploding pens was ridiculous. “It’s possible you watch too much television.”

She sat up even straighter, her shoulders coming off the wall and her hands falling to the floor on each side of her hips. “Okay, Mr. Good Samaritan. How about calling the police…and what do you mean by medic? Call an ambulance. I have customers and employees out front and need to know they’re safe.”

From the clear eyes and stronger voice he guessed she’d found her emotional and physical footing. That likely spelled trouble for him.

“Then there’s the mess back here. That one will wake up eventually.” She pointed at the downed man closest to the back door. “And that one is losing blood thanks to your knife skills.”

Pax hoped she didn’t expect an apology. “Yeah.”

“He’s not dead, is he?

“Unfortunately, no. Unconscious and bleeding.” Pax glanced at the other man. “And that one is lucky not to be bleeding. I’m thinking about stabbing him just because.”

She swallowed and made a face that suggested she didn’t like whatever she’d tasted. “In a few seconds I’ll have to go over there and try to help the bloody one, and the idea of touching him after…well, it makes me want to throw up and kind of furious at you.”

Yeah, she’d definitely moved from scared—and that had been pretty fleeting—to ticked off. As the clear target of whatever thoughts bounced around in her head and put that scowl on her face, he dropped the lighter tone. It wasn’t working anyway. Didn’t take a fancy shoe phone to figure that one out.

He held up his hand in a gesture he hoped telegraphed peace and maybe a touch of surrender. “Everything will be handled, but not in the way you’re suggesting.”

Then it started. She slid her hands closer to her body and shifted in a move so slight he almost missed it. He guessed she intended to struggle to her feet and then make a run for it. He was ready for the bolt. He just wished they could shortcut the disbelief and go right to the part where she got in the car and let him take her to safety.

Not that he deserved that level of trust from her. They barely knew each other. Sure, they’d flirted and he’d benefitted in the form of free bear claws now and then, but doughnuts didn’t change the facts. He was there to watch over her, to see if her missing brother made contact.

It was supposed to be a simple surveillance op, since that’s all anyone at the Corcoran Team thought he could handle post-shooting incident. Little did they know the supposed “easy” job would lead to a backroom shoot-out.

“Don’t even think about it.” When she frowned at him, he filled her in. “Whatever big exit plan is in your head? Forget it. You’re not getting by me. We need to get you somewhere safe, and then we can talk all of this through.”

RUTHLESS

Copyright 2013, HelenKay Dimon

All Rights Reserved, Harlequin Books

_________

Don’t forget to check out the other author snippets:

Lauren Dane

Caris Roane

Eliza Gayle

Lissa Matthews

McKenna Jeffries

Shiloh Walker

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

TJ Michaels

Myla Jackson

Felicity Heaton

Cover Reveal!

I have a new Intrigue release to talk about and a cover to reveal. I decided to go with the cover reveal today and the Intrigue tomorrow. So, the reveal…

This is the cover for my October release, EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. It’s one of the launch books for the new Cosmo Red-Hot Reads by Harlequin imprint. I’m really excited for this book. She’s building a business. He’s a workaholic successful businessman. They meet at her temp job and the attraction sparks, but her business is an anonymous dating site that rates the powerful men of D.C. and he’s one of them. It’s sexy and fun. I hope you’ll check it out. At the very least, stare at this cover for a few minutes:

You can pre-order wherever you buy digital books. These links will get you started:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Release Day!!

While I am flying to Atlanta for the Romance Writers of America conference today, my book releases! This is the second in the Hanover Brothers series, A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE. I’m a bit excited because I love this series and am so excited I get to write it. This book focuses on youngest brother, Beck. He’s a lawyer and dependable and confident…then Sophie steps into his life. She has secrets. He hates secrets. Naturally, their attraction explodes. The book is sexy, romantic, is part family saga and includes a tiny bit of a mystery. Here it is:

The Hanover brothers are doing their best to live down the legacy of their con artist father…but they still have a knack for getting in trouble where romance is concerned.

As the lawyer of the family, Beckett Hanover ought to be sorting through the many claims filed against their family estate—which the brothers have recently inherited from their grandmother. But something about the housekeeper, Sophie, keeps stealing his focus…

Little does he know, as he flirts, what else she intends to steal. The truth is Sophie took the job with one purpose in mind: to help her aunt. But she never expected to find a man like Beck or get sidetracked by the handsome hottie’s sweet talk and broad shoulders. Between her secret and Beck’s past, the two are headed for one risky romance.

I hope you’ll check it out. You can buy it wherever you buy digital books, including:

-Amazon

-Barnes & Noble

-Kobo

-Intermix

-iTunes

Release Day!!

Today I teach my first ever day of summer writing camp for kids. Adults I can handle. The kids might be brutal. Let’s hope not. While I do that, you can check out FEARLESS, the first in my new romantic suspense series from Intrigue. It centers on a formerly engaged couple – Davis and Lara – and includes car chases, kissing, shoot-outs and boats exploding in the harbor in Annapolis. How can you resist that? If you still can, take a look at the cover, which I love, and maybe that will win you over.

His job had once torn them apart…but now it was the only thing that could bring them back together

Davis Weeks had a sterling reputation for high-priority, under-the-radar rescue missions. His role in the prestigious undercover agency Corcoran Team trumped everything. Even Lara Bart. Though his loyalty to his position had once driven her away, Lara knew she had to tame her emotions if she wanted to survive. Whether she liked it or not, he was the only man who could protect her.

Showing up at his door after dodging one attempt on her life, she knew Davis had the tools to make sure the next one failed, as well. But was his past to blame for the sudden attacks? Or was the answer, just like their intense relationship, not so clear-cut?

You can find it wherever you buy print and digital books, like Target, Walmart, grocery stores and bookstores. You can also look at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the Harlequin store. Enjoy!

Saturday Snippet

Today is an “author choice” day, so I thought I’d give you a peek at FEARLESS, the first book in a new Harlequin Intrigue miniseries. The book officially comes out Tuesday but I think it’s been in bookstores and Target and Walmart and others for a few weeks. The hero, Davis Weeks, made an appearance in COPY THAT last year.

By way of set-up: Davis and Lara used to be engaged but are estranged. When an attack lands Lara in trouble, she goes to Davis for help. After a brief run-in with his elderly neighbor, they are about to look for a safe spot for Lara. And here we go…

“She thinks she’s my top-secret assistant, but really she’s a nice old lady who never gets even a phone call from her deadbeat kids in Delaware. Her husband died more than a decade ago and she’s alone. I mow the back lawn, talk to her and, yes, play along with her active imagination, including installing a security system that rivals most high-tech office buildings.”

Lara listened but the questions remained. “I still don’t get it.”



Nothing in his explanation sounded like the Davis she knew. With his messed-up background he hadn’t learned much in the way of family coping skills. His bond with his brother Pax was unbreakable, but coddling elderly women seemed outside of Davis’s skillset.

He smiled. “From the time I moved in she tried to wander into the house. More than once she set off my alarm by accident. Almost got shot another time when she snuck in the back while I was out front. It was a problem until she decided I was a spy.”

The word clunked in Lara’s brain. “Spy?”

“International James Bond type.”

They used to laugh about televisions shows and how they portrayed law enforcement officials, especially those who worked undercover like he did. Expensive drinks and cars were so out of the realm of reality for Davis that he often swore his way through a program.

“You hate that term.”

He shrugged. “I tolerate the whole spy thing for Mrs. W because it makes her happy.”

The idea of Davis playing into that sort of nonsense to make an old lady happy made Lara’s stomach do a little dance. “That’s kind of adorable.”

“It was necessary. But, yeah, Pax also thought it was hysterical.”

The game came together in her head. “So, naturally, you told her Pax was a spy, too.”

Davis flashed her that sexy smile that had sent more than one woman into an eye-fluttering swoon. “I wasn’t about to go down alone. Point is, she loves it and the wandering-around thing stopped. Now she watches the house for me and is much more careful because she’s helping me.”

“And she lets you keep a car here.” Lara ran her hand over the roof, marveling at how clean it looked for being held outside of a garage.

“I actually bought the spot. Money was tight for her and it worked well with the spy story. Also gave me a place to store the car that I prefer to keep for emergencies.”

The little dance turned into a full-fledged stomach jig. He presented this tough guy tarnished image but underneath he was about helping people. Maybe it came from being abandoned by his mother that he never let anyone else get stuck out there all alone. Whatever the origin, it was one of those things that made her fall in love with him in the first place.

“You rescued her,” Lara said.

“Uh, no. I came up with a way to neutralize her.” He walked around to the passenger side door and opened it. “Get in.”

It was just like him to duck a compliment. He saw admitting to the existence of his bone-decent good side as some sort of weakness. She’d never been able to make him see that the size of his heart was much more impressive than the size of those biceps.

Rather than fight because, really, there was nothing for her to win on this one, she slid into the seat. She waited until he climbed in before asking the obvious question. “Where are we going?”

“Pax’s boat.” Davis slid the key in and turned. The engine roared to life.

“Is being surrounded by water really the safest choice?’ Then there was the problem that she got queasy if a boat rocked too much.

She’d never been on this one, but they’d gone boating with friends before. She’d tried that focus-on-a-spot-in-the-distance thing and ended up losing her lunch over the side of boat. Not the best impression on his then-work friends.

“It’s not registered to Pax. Only a few people know about it and all of them have brutally high security clearances. Whoever is behind this shouldn’t have a clue.”

She waited until he pulled out of the spot and relocked the gate to talk about the point nagging at her. “I notice you didn’t ask if I had a boyfriend before you added me to your spy story.”

The car grew deadly quiet as she traced a pattern on the inside of the window. When the silence stretched, she glanced over. The rigid jaw and tick in his cheeks told her what she needed to know. This was not his favorite topic. Understandable, but she thought she knew his response, so she was prepared to wait all day. And she let him know that when she glanced over and lifted her eyebrows but didn’t say a word.

He exhaled in that women-are-so-annoying way men often did when they were cornered. “Do you?”

He didn’t even try to make it sound like an honest inquiry. “Oh, please. I know you know exactly what’s going on in my life. Or at least you think you do.”

A smile broke over his mouth. “Yeah, I’m single, too.”

FEARLESS

Copyright 2013, HelenKay Dimon

All Rights Reserved, Harlequin Books

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