Karen Sue Burns – Romance Lives Forever

In Hot Pursuit.

Karen, welcome to Romance Lives Forever! Let’s talk about your new book, In Hot Pursuit.

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Buy links:

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/92eqmma

Barnes and Noble: http://tinyurl.com/9ksmmfl

Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/8uoj33z

Sony: http://tinyurl.com/9pwrrd4

Publisher: Crimson Romance/Adams Media

Length: a tad over 72,000 words

Heat rating: PG13

Tagline:

When $25 million is stolen from her employer, a relationship-phobic
accountant hunts for the thief alongside a handsome bachelor who falls for her.

Blurb:

Quinn Wells believes her life is just as it should
be — calm, relaxed, and free of relationship entanglements. The theft of a $25
million dollar gift to her employer, Houston
Cullen University,
changes all that.
Quinn, knowing her own innocence is in question, takes
matters into her own hands by setting off in pursuit of the coworker she believes
is responsible for the theft. But Logan Rice, the donor of the gift, isn’t going
to let her out of his sight.
As they race from city to city, Logan is determined to win over Quinn and convince
her they have a chance as a couple. But Logan’s
wealth and social position are the opposite of Quinn’s middle-class life, and he
devastates her by withholding information about his past. Will she discover what
is most important to her before he walks away?

What are your main characters’
names? Ages? Occupations?

Quinn Wells — 44 years old — Controller of Houston Cullen University

Logan
Rice — 42 years old — Executive Director of the Bridge

Interview with author Karen Sue Burns

Tell us about the main
character in your current book. What is she like?

Quinn Wells is a divorced woman in her early-forties who is content
with her life having a good job and happy daughters. After being divorced for ten
years, she has convinced herself that she isn’t relationship material, i.e. she’d
damaged goods. She’s looking forward to becoming a grandmother, continuing to work
until retirement age, and cooking. She would love to publish her own cookbook. Her
life turns chaotic with the theft of a $25 million gift to her employer, Houston Cullen University.
As university controller, she’s appointed to deal with the police and proceeds to
use her analytical skills and gut instincts to solve the theft. The search for the thief provides the
perfect opportunity for the reader to view the many sides of Quinn — analytical
and organized over achiever, general smartass, doting mother, loyal friend, reluctant
lover, and brave citizen in the face of danger.

If your main character
was here today, what would she say is her strongest point?

Quinn has excellent logic in dealing with problems, along with
plain old smarts that guide her search for the thief of the $25 million. Plus, she
is tenacious and thinks outside the box in most instances.

Does she think she has a weakness? (If so, what does she think
it is? What does her lover think it is? What does her enemy think it is?)

Quinn would say her weakness is that she’s too smart for her
own good — yes, she’s a smartass and thinks she is right about most everything.

Logan Rice would say her weakness is that she has given up on
love and her thinking that she can’t make a relationship work for the long term
is plain wrong.

Rebecca Holland would say that Quinn’s weakness is an over inflated
sense of importance at Houston Cullen University as everyone knows that accounting
is a necessary evil and boring as hell, just like Quinn.

What drives your heroine
to do the things she does? What makes her want to be the “good guy?”

Quinn believes in “truth, justice, and the American way.”
She has a conservative nature and believes that hard work, dedication, and a strong
will lead to success. She believes that by using her smarts she is the good guy
who works are being fair to all. On the other hand, she does have a bit of a quirk
or spark that generates her smartass trait. Her tenacity in going after the thief
stems from her belief in justice and righting a wrong.

What’s your main character’s favorite guilty pleasure?

For women, a guilty pleasure usually relates to chocolate, jewelry,
or clothes. Quinn’s guilty pleasure is kitchen gadgets. She has a ten year old car
and a plain cell phone, yet she has the latest style of food processor, four coffee
pots, enough kitchen knives to open a store, and three sets of pots and pans. Rather
than wandering around the shoe department at Nordstrom’s or Macy’s, she stalks the
aisles of Crate and Barrel and every boutique kitchen store in the Houston metro area.

Coliseum in Rome

Interview with Character Quinn Wells

A biography has been written
about you. What do you think the title would be in six words or less?

The title would probably be something like: The Tenacious Broad

Picture yourself as a
store. Considering your personality and lifestyle, what type of products would be
sold there?

This is an easy one, I would be a kitchen store. i would sell
everything, other than food and large appliances, that could be found in a residential
kitchen. And, naturally, I would be forced to tour the world for the very best products
for my store . . . ooh, too much fun!

If you came with a warning
label, what would it say?

Watch out, too smart for her own good.

Please Fill in the Blanks — Responses by Quinn Wells

I love pizza with black olives and extra cheese.

I’m always ready for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, usually
wine if it’s after 11 am.

When I’m alone, I enjoy
trying out or creating a new recipe.

You’d never be able to tell, but my first grandchild will
be born soon. (I agree, I look so young for forty-four!)

If I had a halo it would be lopsided.
I’m so not an angel.

If I could have a dog, I would spoil her like crazy.
Hmm, maybe I should adopt a puppy.

I can never grow house plants because I have a black
thumb, seriously, left hand.

About the Author

Karen
Sue Burns writes romantic suspense and mystery featuring feisty heroines who find
themselves embroiled in risky situations full of adventure and sexy heroes. She
has worked as a CPA for over 25 years. She’s traveled to Rio
de Janeiro, London and Oslo, audited glass molds for wine bottles in California, and taken a helicopter to a drillship off the
Gulf Coast–all in the name of accounting. For
the last 16 years she’s been controller at a liberal arts university in Houston, Texas
handling the financial statements, the annual audit, and preparing IRS Form 990.
Accounting has been good to her, but writing romance novels is her passion. In Hot
Pursuit is her debut romantic suspense novel. Karen may be contacted via her website
at http://karensueburns.com

Booklist

In Hot Pursuit is the first
novel for the author.

Books Coming Soon

Karen Sue Burns

The Liberation of Mr. Delaney,
a contemporary ghost mystery and book one in The Texas Ghost Series, is currently
planned to be indie published by the end of October 2012.

Find Me Here

Website: http://karensueburns.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/KarenSueBurns

Twitter: http://twitter.com/karensueburns

Blog: http://karensueburns.com/blog

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/KarenSueBurns

About the images

Statue of Liberty outside the
New York-New York Casino in Las Vegas: One of Quinn’s favorite sights during
the first leg of her search for the thief of the $25 million.

Trevi Fountain in Rome: Throwing
a coin in the foundation alongside Logan
is a comforting act for Quinn — “They
had crossed an unspoken boundary. The warmth of his gaze filled her with hope. Hope
that what lay ahead wouldn’t bite her in the butt. But at that moment, the planets
in her world were in perfect alignment.”

The Coliseum in Rome:
This nighttime photo was the inspiration for the cover of In Hot Pursuit.