Letter from the Boonies

My newest book, AT HER SERVICE, will be published in March, 2008, by Kensington.  The cover is gorgeous; it does justice to my handsome, sexy hero, the latest in the Marquis of Darley series.  Hugh D'Abernon, aka Gai, is spying for England in the Crimea when the story opens.  He chances upon Aurore Clement on a muddy road outside Sebastopol where her carriage has broken down.  Naturally, he finds himself in her bed that night.  Aurore, too, is engaged in espionage-in her case for the French, although neither reveals their covert activities to the other-either in or out of bed.  After their night of heated passion, they have no intention of seeing the other again anyway.  They both have busy, dangerous lives and in any event, it's impractical to make plans in the midst of war.  They might be dead tomorrow.

As it happens, their paths do meet once again- perhaps not entirely by chance, although, if pressed, the marquis would have disputed that fact.  Their reunion is tempestuous, steamy, disarmingly affectionate and decidedly sexual.

Until suddenly, all hell breaks loose and they're on the run.

Enjoy the chase.

At the moment, I'm busy working on revisions for my contemporary, HOT PROPERTY, that' scheduled for next summer by Berkley.  The hero, Mick Mirovic, suffers at times form post-traumatic stress disorder- a residual effect from the Kosovo campaign.  At the moment, he's taking a break from life at his lake place in Ely.  He's building canoes.  Call it therapy or escape or and endearing passion- whatever...he's good at it and it helps him forget the nightmares.

Zoe Chandler has rented the cabin next door for the summer.  She's a journalist who's writing and expose of the illegal trade in classical antiquities.

They meet one morning at their mail boxes out on the road.

He's breathtakingly handsome and built like a Greek god, Zoe thinks and deciles the summer may not be all about work after all.

She's stunningly beautiful-all bodacious curves and endless legs, Nick notes.  But he's not in the market for added problems in his life.  He makes sure their conversation is short and sweet.

But then fate intervenes.  Zoe discovers her research has brought her to the attention of the wealthy collector who is the subject of her book-and he's pissed as hell.  As for Nick, his past work for the CIA has suddenly put him in the cross hairs of a hit squad when his nemesis form Kosovo is nominated for CIA director.

Really, you wouldn't think these two would have a chance to hook up, let alone have mind-blowing sex when Nick is seriously trying not to be interested and their adversaries are intent on-will...destroying them.

However, as history will confirm-over and over again, actually--there's no escaping the tantalizing and/or raging desires of the flesh.

Somehow Nick and Zoe manage both the sex and survival.

Happy reading

-Susan