Hello! Thank you so
much for visiting Written Butterfly with me today!
Thanks for hosting me!
Q) How did you dream up the dynamics of your characters?
My hero in Desire Disguised, Security Chief Ben Zashi,
appeared in the first book of my Love Under a New Star series and in his quiet
way let me know he’d like to find his true love, so I had to oblige. I decided
to make things difficult for him by introducing him to a heroine who is even
more private and withdrawn than he was, so he had his work cut out for him.
Cara Belasco, my heroine, has good reason to keep to herself since she’s been
on the run with her little brother since she was eight. When she arrives on his
planet, he’s very suspicious of her cover story and initially approaches her as
a law enforcement officer who needs to know if she poses a threat to the
community he’s sworn to protect. As he gets to know her, a more personal
interest takes hold. For her part, Cara has to learn to trust a new person
which is very out of character for her. Both Cara and Ben have to really grow
as people in order to overcome all the barriers between them.
Q) Do you have any habits that get you in the writing frame
of mind?
I’m in the mood to write whenever the house is quiet! I’m a
stay at home mom to a very precocious seven year old so I live with constant
noise and interruption. Every peaceful moment sees me at the computer typing as
fast as I can. If I have the luxury of a couple of hours to myself, I like to
make a pot of tea to keep me refreshed as I write. I don’t really listen to
much music or snack when I write, nor do I like to venture out to coffee shops
or gathering places.
Q) If you could choose, which published author would you like to
brainstorm with and why?
Bilbo Baggins, of course! I’d love to visit the Shire and stop by Bag End
for tea, biscuits, and cheese and listen to all of Bilbo’s stories. I admire
the way he wrote The Hobbit and the chance to get some great anecdotes about
dwarves, elves, wizards, and dreadful orcs and goblins would certainly inspire
a couple of fantasy books for me. Bilbo would likely be very red-faced if he read
any of my steamier scenes, so I doubt I’d ask if he’d like to be a critique
partner.
Q) What are your upcoming projects?
I have another small town contemporary coming out with
Liquid Silver hopefully by the end of March. It’s the story of a school bus
driver and a movie star and how they meet and fall and love. I’m also working
on completing a couple of sci-fi erotic romances under my other pen name, J. J.
Lore and I will hopefully self-publish a title in 2015 too. I’m also working on
writing a short naughty fairy tale and it’s been great fun so far. That’s all I
have planned for the first quarter of the year, after that, who knows what I’ll
come up with?
Desire Disguised
Love Under a New Star Book 2
By Lynn Rae
Liquid Silver Books
5 January 2015
ISBN/ASIN: B00RTLZIXW
Blurb:
Cara Belasco has been on the
run from assassins since childhood. Living in the shadows with her younger
brother and one elderly guardian, her luck nearly runs out when the smuggler’s
ship carrying them crashes into a soggy jungle planet.
Ben Zashi, the stalwart head of
security who rescued her from the wreckage, is very curious about her cover
story, and Cara has to fend off his inquires as well as her escalating
attraction for him. Will the secrets she’s been hiding come between them, or
can Cara allow herself to find passion with the one man who longs to protect
her?
Buy
Links:
Excerpt:
Cara
followed at a jog, or tried to for a few paces until a broad chest appeared in
her line of sight, blocking her view of the doorway. Ben Zashi. She’d forgotten
about him for a few minutes, which was a first during her time on Gamaliel. He
held up both hands and tilted his head, his eyebrow quirked in an inquiring
fashion.
“What?
Move, I need to go—”
“Actually
it would be better if you waited.” He directed her to stand by his door and she
did, too shocked by his interference to protest. He walked into their suite of
rooms, and she heard his low voice, too indistinct to make out any words. Mat
replied a few times and Ben returned, closing the door behind him.
“What
are you doing? I need to get in there and—”
“No,
you need to get in here unless you
want everyone in the building to hear this,” Ben commanded, and a flicker of
something close to fear wrapped in a thrill fluttered in her chest.
He
jerked his chin at the door behind her, and she turned and entered his rooms.
She’d never been inside. The layout seemed to mirror their suite, but she was
too unsettled to take notice of more than a piano and a blue sofa. Whirling
around as soon as she heard the door close, she found she was face to face with
an unsmiling man.
“Give
yourself a minute, Cara.”
She
shook her head. “No, let me out of here. I need to talk with him.” She’d just
found Mat, and this man was going to keep her from him. Unacceptable.
She
tried to dodge around him, but he was too quick, flinging out an arm to block
one side of the hall, and then the other when she tried it again. Her
frustration built up in her chest, and she found it hard to take a deep breath.
Ben’s dark eyes never left hers as he talked.
“Listen.
You’re upset. He’s upset. Take a breather before you see him. He’s safe in
there, and he’s not going anywhere tonight.”
“How do
you know that? He just disappeared—”
“No, he
went to a new friend’s house and thought he’d have time to get back here before
you returned. The school routine is new for him, and he just forgot to check
his datpad. Cara, listen, he’s just being a kid, don’t be so hard on him—”
The
anger popped in her head in a burst of red light, and all the years of fear,
the stress that never let up fueled her rage as she lifted her hands fully
intending to shove at Ben’s broad chest with all her might. “You don’t know
what you’re talking about. I have to be hard on him or he’ll—we’ll die.”
Her
strength failed her as soon as she touched him, and her arms gave out before
she could actually push. Ben pulled her in as she fell against him. “Nobody
died.”
“But we
will,” Cara muttered into his chest as his arms wrapped tightly around her. She
wasn’t going to be able to do this on her own. Two men had already died
protecting them, and Soren was nearly dead. That left her, a naïve woman with
no experience or skills.
“Not on
my watch.”
“I
can’t do this.” Cara shivered into the comfortable warmth of Ben and tried to
talk herself into some courage. She had to do it, there was no one else. But
she’d already lost Mat once in the few days she’d been responsible.
Something
moving against her hair distracted her. Ben’s grip on her loosened, and with an
unexpected ache, she realized he was going to let her go. She didn’t want that,
not yet, so she slid her hands around his arms and held on. He said something
low she couldn’t make out, and he touched her hair again. The soft and
mysterious strokes were mesmerizing. She could hear his heart beating and the
steady thump made her feel sleepy, a strange reaction after so much heightened
emotion.
Ben
moved one of his hands to her cheek and tilted her head to peer at her. She
stared into his eyes and wanted to fall into unconsciousness, to just let all
of it go for the rest of the day. A respite from her tattered life was all she
wanted.
Ben
frowned, looked at her mouth, and said, “Blast it.” Then, he kissed her.
Author Bio:
Lynn Rae makes her home in land-locked
central Ohio after time spent in the former Great Black Swamp, beside the Ohio
River, and along the Miami and Erie Canal. With professional experience
in fields ranging from contract archaeology to librarianship along with making
donuts and teaching museum studies, Lynn enjoys incorporating her quirky sense
of humor and real-life adventures into her writing (except the naughty bits). She writes sci-fi, contemporary, and
historical romances. You can find her posting frequently on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lynnraewrites or at her webpage http://www.lynnraewrites.com/
Thanks for hosting me, Beth!
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