Suspense
Romantic suspense or thrillers provide readers with heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and/or anxiety.
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It Takes a Cat Burglar by Cailin Briste @CailinBriste #RLFblog #SciFi #Romance
Today’s featured book is It Takes a Cat Burglar: A Thief in Love Suspense Romance, a sci-fi suspense romance by Cailin Briste.Sebastian St. Croix is a wealthy businessman with a specialized hobby. He steals things. As in entering without permission and purloining expensive artifacts and art objects. This could be his flaw, a penchant for taking what doesn’t belong to him, but it isn’t. He’s a thief in a white hat. The items he takes have all been previously stolen from public museums and are in private collections. He returns these priceless works of art once he appropriates them.
Like most romance heroes, Sebastian is handsome. When Darcelle sees him for the first time after a year of interacting through notes this is what she thinks. “He was gorgeous. Only a master sculptor could have formed a face of such perfect symmetry. The masculinity of his high cheekbones, angled jaw, and straight brows was softened by his exquisite lips. From beneath black locks slanting over his forehead, pale green eyes stared at her.”
On the surface it doesn’t look as though Sebastian has any flaws.
Rich? Check.
Good looking? Check.
Uses his skills for good? Check.
But a romance book isn’t as fun to read if the hero doesn’t have at least one flaw he must struggle with or overcome to find his happily ever after. The aspect of Sebastian’s personality that makes him an exceptional cat burglar also makes his love life one of physical release with no long-term connections. He must be in control. And then Darcelle Lebeau enters his life. She exposes that flaw, so that even Sebastian recognizes he must change or lose her.
It Takes a Cat Burglar is a novella, so the length limits creating a hero with multi-layered flaws. The best full-length romances are a spider web of the hero and heroine’s flaws, intractable situations, and devious villains. I personally love a hero who struggles to relinquish control. When he lets go, the result is so satisfying.
Which flaws are your favorites? Are there some flaws that would make a hero unacceptable? What about dark heroes? The darker the hero, the more flaws he has, but getting a bad boy to fall in love is a huge favorite among romance readers. So, what part of the bad boy persona is flawed and what shouldn’t change? Let me know what you think.
It Takes a Cat Burglar: A Thief in Love
When Darcelle Lebeau throws off the invisible chains that keep her bound to her family, she discovers a new vocation. Tempted to enter the illegal playground of a man she nicknames Matou, she becomes a cat burglar in training. Deeply ensnared with each task he entices her to fulfill, she fails to discover his identity and true intentions.
Sebastian St. Croix, a wealthy businessman, has a dark side. He’s a thief, a cat burglar who steals art and historical objects. For one year, he trains Darcelle to become his assistant, remaining incognito, observing her from afar. His admiration grows along with his desire for her with every phase-one challenge she completes. Phase two will test the limits of his control. Hands-on personal training? Yes. Sex? No. With his sister’s happiness at stake, nothing, not even the tempting Darcelle Lebeau, can interfere with accomplishing the biggest break-in of his career.
Genre Sci-fi suspense romance
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R
Publisher Hot Sauce Publishing
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0727MJK45/Cailin Briste Social Media
Cailin has been writing fiction for six years and non-fiction for two decades. Her non-fiction work has been published in magazines and in a non-fiction anthology. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, the RWA Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Chapter, and the RWA Passionate Ink Chapter.
Cailin loves science fiction and romance, so combing the two came naturally. She is currently writing the third book in her Sons of Tallav sci-fi erotic romance series. Shane: Marshal of Tallav and Maon: Marshal of Tallav were released in 2016 by Loose Id. She’s also working on a novella for an SFR Shooting Stars anthology tentatively title Educated by the Master.
Website http://cailinbriste.com/
Blog http://cailinbriste.com/category/all-posts/
Twitter http://twitter.com/CailinBriste
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cailinbriste/
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/cailinbriste/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7413817.Cailin_Briste
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Cailin-Briste/e/B00GSX9QVW
Newsletter http://cailinbriste.com/cailins-newsletter-sign-up/ -
The Mad Monk’s Treasure by @Kris_Bock #RLFblog #suspense
Today’s featured book is The Mad Monk’s Treasure by Kris
Bock.Genre romantic suspenseBook heat level (based on movie ratings): PG13The lost Victorio Peak treasure is the stuff of legends – a
heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, made richer by the spoils of bandits and an
Apache raider. When Erin, a quiet history professor, uncovers a clue that may
pinpoint the lost treasure cave, she prepares for adventure. But when a hit and
run driver nearly kills her, she realizes she’s not the only one after the
treasure. And is Drew, the handsome helicopter pilot who found her bleeding in
a ditch, really a hero, or one of the enemy?Erin isn’t sure she can trust Drew with her heart, but she’ll
need his help to track down the treasure. She heads into the New Mexico
wilderness with her brainy best friend Camie and a feisty orange cat. The
wilderness holds its own dangers, from wild animals to sudden storms. Plus, the
sinister men hunting Erin are determined to follow her all the way to the
treasure, no matter where the twisted trail leads. Erin won’t give up an
important historical find without a fight, but is she ready to risk her life – and
her heart?“The story has it all – action, romance, danger,
intrigue, lost treasure, not to mention a sizzling relationship….”“Great balance of history, romance, and adventure.
Smart romance with an “Indiana Jones” feel. Well-written with an
attention to detail that allowed me to picture exactly in my head how a scene
looked and played out.”
Now 99 cents or free at all retailers!Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SKJU7BA/
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/noresults/the-mad-monk-kris-bock/1121114477
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/notPublished/515796Kris Bock Social Media
Kris writes novels of suspense and romance involving outdoor
adventures and Southwestern landscapes. In Counterfeits, stolen Rembrandt
paintings bring danger to a small New Mexico town. Whispers in the Dark
features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. What We Found
is a mystery with strong romantic elements about a young woman who finds a
murder victim in the woods. The Mad Monk’s Treasure follows the hunt for a
long-lost treasure in the New Mexico desert. In The Dead Man’s Treasure,
estranged relatives compete to reach a buried treasure by following a series of
complex clues. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com.Website http://www.krisbock.com/
Blog http://swarmchairtraveler.blogspot.com/
Writing Blog http://chriseboch.blogspot.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/kris_bock
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kris-Bock-Author-Page/174350342612332
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/krisbockbooks/
Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4735592.Kris_Bock
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/author/krisbock -
A first visit to India @dianneanoble1 #RLFblog #RomanticSuspense
Diane Noble, author of Outcast, shares her memories of
visiting India.The first
time I visited India I was ten years old, flying back to England with my
parents and brothers after a three year tour in Singapore. Our RAF Hermes plane
took almost three days, stopping in several countries to re-fuel, and de-ice
the wings. We’d travelled out in a troopship, the Dunera – a whole month and
school lessons every day – but the Suez Canal had been closed so here we were
in Calcutta, as it was then known. I remember the heat, the highly spiced kofta
they gave us for breakfast with a fried egg, which none of us could eat, the
hole in the floor toilet we had to squat over while flies buzzed around us, the
strange smells and sounds. How could I have known I’d begun a lifelong love
affair with India?A single
parent for much of the time, I had to wait until my children had grown and
flown before I could travel to Rajasthan, the princely state of maharajahs and
palaces. Since then I’ve been all over the country, generally on India’s
excellent trains, from Delhi and Agra in the north where the Taj Mahal reduced
me to tears, to beautiful Kerala in the south, the temples of Bhubaneshwar in
the east and vibrant Mumbai in the west, yet still, time after time I am drawn
back. Next year I hope to travel the width of the country by train, up to its
border with Pakistan and then into the Himalayas. My modest house – I spend all
my money on travel – needs replacement windows but hey!Ten years
ago I volunteered to spend three months teaching English to street children in
Kolkata. While there I realised what it is I love about the country –it’s the
people. Despite great deprivation they laugh and are joyful. This time in
Kolkata proved to be the hardest thing I have ever done. Broken, crumbling
buildings sit amid lakes of raw sewage; filthy children encrusted with sores are
homeless; families live on a patch of pavement so narrow they take it in turns
to lie down. They give birth – and die – there. Yet their indomitable spirit
shines through.I feared I
couldn’t do it, felt my resolve dying daily amid the horrors and hardship, but
I started writing a journal and it saved me.Imagine your shirt sticking to your back as
you edge round a goat, swat at flies and cough as smoke from pavement cooking
fires catches in your throat. After four hours of threadbare sleep you’re
trying to find the group of street children you’ve come to Kolkata, India to
teach English to as a volunteer.Your ears hurt with the noise –
shouting, blaring horns, a backfiring bus. A cow stands in the middle of the
road, munching impassively on an old newspaper, as traffic edges round it. This
animal is holy and if a driver were to run into it, he would be dragged from
his car by an angry crowd and beaten up.Heat beats on your head like a
hammer as you search among blackened buildings whose stonework crumbles like
stale cake. There is a smell of spices and sewage, urine evaporating in hot
sun.When you see the small group it
takes you an age to cross the road, weaving between rickshaws, yellow taxis,
tuk tuks festooned with dusty tinsel. The children are so tiny – malnourished –
with bare feet, cropped hair and laddered ribs, but they shriek with laughter
when you try to speak to them in Hindi. They stroke the pale skin of your arms
and clamber on to your knees as you sit, cross-legged and crampy, on the bare earth
floor. They are a joy, desperate to learn English, desperate to improve their
position at the bottom of the luck ladder.When you get back to your small room
that evening your feet are gritty and blistered, your chest is raw with exhaust
fumes and you are unbelievably filthy. Sweat makes white rivulets down the dirt
on your face and you feel, and doubtless smell, rank.By the end of the first week you
will be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the poverty, despairing at the
smallness of your contribution. How can you possibly do this for three whole
months? Whatever were you been thinking of when you signed up?Maybe, like me, you’ll start a
journal and at the end of every day, no matter how tired you feel, you’ll write
down every detail of your day – how the children are progressing, who made you
laugh, who can now write their names, how much their poor chests rattle, who
has the worst sores. It’s a sort of de-briefing you might find cathartic.Despite having nothing, the children
giggle and fool around, laugh and sing, hang on to you, desperate for cuddles,
Everywhere you go in this dreadful place Bengali men and women will get used to
seeing you, wave and call out ‘Hello, Aunty’ (a term of respect for women of a
certain age) At the wayside shrine even jolly, elephant-headed Ganesh will be
wearing a broad grin.My diary covered three months
and formed the basis for A Hundred Hands which tells the story of Polly who saw
the plight of the children living on the streets and stayed to help. Outcast
features the plight of the Dalits, the Untouchables. I have been back to India
many times. Despite its horrors the country is mesmeric and its people a joy.Outcast
Rose leaves her Cornwall cafe to search for her daughter,
Ellie, in the steaming slums of Kolkata, India. In the daily struggle for
survival she is brought to her knees, yet finds the strength to confront the
poverty and disease and grows to love and respect the Dalit Community she is
helping. But then there are deaths and she fears for her own safety. Her cafe at home is at risk of being torched, and finally she has to make the terrible
choice between the Dalits and her own daughter.Genre Romantic SuspenseBook heat level (based on movie ratings) PGPublisher Tirgearr PublishingAmazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Outcast-Dianne-Noble-ebook/dp/B01BLL9CVOBarnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/outcast-dianne-noble/1123400384Kobo https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/outcast-51Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/614347Dianne Noble Social Media
I think I became a reader before I could walk. While other
people had childhood memories, I amassed a vocabulary. I was born into a
service family and at the tender age of seven found myself on the Dunera, a
troopship, sailing for a three year posting to Singapore. So began a lifetime
of wandering – and fifteen different schools. Teen years living in Cyprus,
before partition, when the country was swarming with handsome UN soldiers, and
then marriage to a Civil Engineer who whisked me away to the Arabian Gulf.Most of the following years were spent as a single parent
with an employment history which ranged from the British Embassy in Bahrain to
a goods picker, complete with steel toe-capped boots, in an Argos warehouse. In
between I earned my keep as a cashier in Barclays, a radio presenter and a cafe proprietor on the sea front in Penzance.Website www.dianneanoble.com
Twitter www.twitter.com/dianneanoble1
Facebook www.facebook.com/dianneanoble -
Writer Tip: Maintaining Tension, by Kaylin McFarren @4kaylin #authortips #RLFblog
How do you maintain tension when writing suspense stories?
After attending dozens of writing workshops and numerous conferences, I compiled a list of rules that I depend on daily when writing romantic suspense. These recommended guidelines are a great tool for creating tension and expectation, which is essential to keeping your readers turning those pages!
Remember to show, don’t tell! I’ve heard this over and over again and it is the most common mistake among new writers. The fewer blocks of description or passive writing you include, the better. Avoid “info dumps” where you include sections of research information and background details you might consider important. This will only serve one purpose: bringing your story to a screeching halt and turning it into a boring textbook. Instead, focus on current events or the overall point of your story by including realistic dialogue and fun, action-packed scenes.
Make sure to create a “believable” threat or frightening dilemma, such as a kidnapping, unexploded bomb or an impending disaster. You might add a psychological danger such as the loss of a job or dying family member. The trick is to make the threat relevant and potentially devastating to your main characters.
When things seem to go wrong, they can only get worse, which is a great plan of attack for keeping your reader’s interest. Ask yourself, “What would people do in this situation?” Then have your character do the unexpected, open the wrong door or make the wrong choice, leaving them facing the consequences of their actions.
In suspense pacing is by far the most important aspect of your story. A common practice is to increase tension by shortening your phrases and dialogue. While lengthy sentences add a more relaxed mood to your story, short choppy ones read faster and help make scenes more suspenseful. But don’t get carried away and make the mistake of wearing your readers out by keeping action rolling at fever pitch. As in “real” life, characters need to catch their breath after an exhausting action scene.
Determine the timeline for your story, remembering that quick scenes or episodes that occur in a matter of hours or over the course of a day are far more suspenseful than scenes taking place over several days, weeks or months.
Lastly, be sure to end each chapter with a great hook or final line to keep readers from putting your book down. This could be a revelation, unanswered question or sudden discovery that can only be answered or revealed by reading further. The best suspense stories leave readers hungry for knowledge and anxious to know where the story’s ultimately leading.Kaylin McFarren
Book: Severed Threads
When true love’s found, death has no end.
Believing herself responsible for her father’s fatal diving accident, Rachel Lyons has withdrawn from the world and assumed a safe position at a foundation office. When called upon by a museum director to assist her former love interest with the recovery of a cursed relic from a sunken Chinese merchant ship, she has no intention of cooperating – until her brother is kidnapped by a drug-dealing gangster. In order to save him and gain control over her life, Rachel must not only overcome her greatest fears, but also relive the circumstances that lead to her father’s death.
Amazon http://is.gd/i0mpKE
Trailer: http://is.gd/1oI4prKaylin McFarren Social Media
Website: http://kaylinmcfarren.com
Blog: http://kaylinmcfarren.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/4kaylin
Facebook: http://facebook.com/kaylin.mcfarren
Pinterest: http://is.gd/VqPHfc
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/kaylinmcfarren -
Is It True: Targeted by @kelownawriter #romanticsuspense #RLFblog
Play Is It True
with today’s guest Beverley Bateman, author of Targeted, a Romantic Suspense.
This is a game in which authors answer yes and no questions. They can elaborate
on answers as much as they choose.First, tell us about
your book.Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PGAfter and eleven-year absence Janna Kincaid inherits a ranch and is
forced to return to a town she only remembers with unhappiness, a man to whom
she was briefly married and never wants to see again, and someone is trying to
kill her.Kye Hawkins has loved Janna since he first met her. They were married
but a few weeks later she ran away, without an explanation. He still hasn’t
figured out why. Now she’s coming back. Does she still love him? Can he
rekindle the romance and also prevent her from being killed?Janna doesn’t want Kye’s help in anyway, yet he always seems to be
there when she’s in trouble. Can they work together to find a killer, save the
Native burial ground and home of the spirits, and find romance again?Now, tell us Yes or No for each answer below. Feel free to
explain any (or none) of your answers.Is it true:
this is your first book? Nothis book is part of a series? Yes. It’s the third in the
Hawkins Ranch series.you lost sleep while writing this book? Noyou did research for this book? Yes – lots of research on
ranch life and the Blackfoot tribesome characters in this book are not human? (pets for
example) Yesthis book has more than one genre? Yes – western, romance
and suspenseyou speak more than one language? Noyou grew up where you live now? Noyou love to read? Yesyou are never late?you love pizza? Yesyou love sushi? Yesyou have a pet? Yes – twoWhere can we find your
book online?Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B016E1RAP6/
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019HMLBVI/
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/targeted/id1054711828?ls=1&mt=11
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/targeted-14Beverley Bateman Social Media
Beverley
Bateman started writing when the locked room murders were popular and loved to
write a few of them. Recently she left the beautiful Okanagan Valley in BC, Canada with her husband and two Shiba Inu dogs for Medicine Hat, Alberta. It’s
smaller and more friendly. She lives there in the summer, and winters in
Tucson, AZ away from the snow and cold. She writes in both places. Hunted,
Missing and the newest – Targeted are part of her Montana series. She also has
her Holly Devine series; A Cruise to Remember, and a Murder to Forget. Don’t Go
is her darker romantic suspense. And By Design, a medical thriller will be out
soon.Website
http://www.beverleybateman.com
Blog http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Twitter http://twitter/kelownawriter
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/beverley.bateman.18
Facebook Authorpage – http://www.facebook.com/AuthorBeverleyBateman?ref=hl
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/okwriter
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7052567.Beverley_BatemanYou May Also Like
Read Hope, a romantic suspense by former lawyer Seelie Kay @SeelieKay #RLFblog #romanticsuspense #lawyers
Read the series: Saddle Creek by Lorelei Confer @loreleiconfer #RLFblog #RomanticSuspense #ModernWestern
Character Sketch: Big Mike from Bad Vibes @JDFaver_Author #RLFblog #Suspense
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Unexpected @kgfletcher3 #RLFblog #romanticsuspense
Welcome KG Fletcher author of Unexpected, a new Romantic
Suspense.Why did you write
this book?I was inspired on my daily route to work when the same black
Porsche passed me every morning for two weeks. The idea for the story came and I had to get it out!What is your favorite
genre to read?Romance or biographiesWho is your favorite
character from fiction (not including your own)?Right now, Jamie Frasier from the Outlander series. (swoon!)What are you working
on at the moment?Just completed my third novel, The Nearness of You which
will release in October 2017.What books will we see
from you in coming months?My second novel, Love Song is being released on April 13th
this year and my third novel, The Nearness of You will be released in October 2017.Please tell us about
your latest book.Genre Romantic SuspenseBook heat level (based on movie ratings): RRecently jilted Josephine Davis wasn’t looking for love…. A
chance encounter along the sweltering highway with Atlanta’s own millionaire
bachelor changed all that. Devastatingly handsome and full of unexpected
talents, William Prescott Harrington, III shows beautiful Josie a life that she
could have only dreamed of; his excessive wealth and generosity eventually
threatening her very existence. Two star-crossed lovers from polar opposite
sides of Atlanta navigate their way through a maze of greed and jealousy
desperate for only one thing each other.Her heart made a wish. Will her dream become reality or will
the nightmare destroy them all?Unexpected
Publisher Inkspell Publishing
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYDLUSD
Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/unexpected-68
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1166021702
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unexpected-kg-fletcher/1125294385?ean=2940157026578KG Fletcher Social Media
KG Fletcher is the author of the romantic suspense novel,
Unexpected released in December, 2016. She is an active member of RWA and the
Georgia Romance Writers Association. She was a singer/songwriter in Nashville,
TN and a recipient of the “Airplay International Award” for “Best
New Artist” showcasing original songs at The Bluebird Café. She earned her
BFA in theater at Valdosta State College and has traveled the world
professionally as a singer/actress. She currently gets to play rock star as a
backup singer in the National Tour, “Remember When Rock Was Young a
Tribute to Elton John.” (www.almosteltonjohn.com)KG lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Ladd and their
three gorgeous sons. She is a hopeless romantic continuing her work on her
original cabaret act called, “The Novel Romantic an unexpected evening of
sweet and spicy love” to help promote her romance novels.Website http://kgfletcherauthor.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/kgfletcher3
Facebook https://facebook.com/kgfletcherauthor/
Instagram https://instagram.com/kellyf9393/
Amazon Author Page https://amazon.com/author/kgfletcher
