Darkness Bred (27 page)
“Stacking wood is a man’s job,” he said, showing no sign of realizing his own reminder that she was alone now. “You’ll have plenty to do giving the house a good clean.”
She dithered but said, “Well, thank you, then.” At another time she would have told him a woman could stack wood perfectly well. Today she didn’t mind having a man do something for her.
She only glanced over her shoulder once on her way back and he was already making the first layer of wood in the lean-to. Gabriel would never send anyone untrustworthy, and Leigh decided she liked having Niles there, doing ordinary things and making the place feel less empty.
Where Authors Give You the Inside Scoop
Dear Reader,
Some characters demand center stage. Like Andrew Carrington, the Earl of Bellingham, known as Bell to his friends. Bellingham first walked on stage as a minor character in my third historical romance
How to Ravish a Rake
. I had not planned him, but from the moment he spoke, I knew he would have his own book because of his incredible charisma. He also had the starring role in the e-novella
A Season for Sin
. As I began to write the e-novella, I realized that it was almost effortless. Frankly, I was and still am infatuated with him. That makes me laugh, because he is a figment of my imagination, but from the beginning, I could not ignore his strong presence.
After
A Season for Sin
was published, I started writing the full-length book WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS so that Bell could have the happily ever after he richly deserved. A chance encounter brings Bellingham and the heroine, Laura, together. Bellingham is a rake who hopes to make a conquest of her, but despite their attraction, there are major obstacles. Laura is a respectable widow, mother, and daughter of a vicar. Bellingham only wants a temporary liaison, but he finds himself rescuing the lovely lady. His offer of help leads him down a path he never could have imagineed.
I’ve dreamed about my characters previously, but my dreams about Bell and Laura were so vivid that I woke up repeatedly during the writing of WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS. Usually when I dream about my books in progress, I only see the characters momentarily. But when I dreamed about Bell and Laura, entire scenes played themselves in my head, DVD style, and sometimes a few of them in a night. While I didn’t get up in the middle of the night to write those scenes down, thankfully I remembered them the next morning and some of those dreams have made their way into the book. I’ll give you a hint of one dream I used in a scene. It involves some funny “rules.”
This couple surprised me repeatedly when I was awake and writing, too. I was enthralled with Bellingham and Laura. Yes, I know the ideas come from me, but sometimes, it almost feels as if the characters really do leap off the page. That was certainly the case for Bell and Laura.
As the writing progressed, I often felt as if I were peeling off another layer of Bellingham’s character. He is a man with deep wounds and very determined not to stir up the past. Yet I realized that subconsciously his actions were informed by all that had happened to him as a young man. I knew it would take a very special heroine to help him reconcile his past. Laura knows what he needs, and though he doesn’t make it easy for her, she never gives up.
I confess I still have a bit of a crush on Bellingham. :) I hope you will, too.
Enjoy!
Frog Crossing
Out West
Dear Reader,
My dog, Millie, doesn’t like salt water, or bath water, or rain—but it is the sight of all seven pounds of her trying to drink Puget Sound that stays with me. Urged to walk into about half an inch of ripples bubbling over pebbles on a beach, she slurped madly as if she could get rid of anything wet that might touch her feet.
That picture just popped into my head once more, just as I thought about what I might write to you about the Chimney Rock books and how stories shape up for me.
We were standing at the water’s edge on Whidbey Island, looking across Saratoga Passage toward Camano Island.
Darkness Bound
, the first book in the series, was finished and now it was time for DARKNESS BRED, on sale now.
Elin and Sean were already my heroine and hero. I knew that much before I finished the previous story, but there were so many other questions hanging around. And so many unfinished and important parts of lives I had already shown you. When we write books there’s a balancing act between telling/showing too much, and the opposite. Every character clamors to climb in but only those important to the current story can have a ticket to enter. The trick is to weed out the loudest and least interesting from the ones we
have
to know about.
The hidden world on Whidbey Island is busy, and gets busier. Once you are inside it’s not just colorful and varied, sometimes endearing and often scary, it is also addictive. Magic and mystery rub shoulders with what sometimes seems…just simply irresistible. How can I not want to explore every character’s tale?
That’s what makes me feel a bit like Millie draining Puget Sound of water—I have to clear away what I don’t want until I find the best stuff. Only I’m more fortunate than my dog because I do get to make all the difference.
Now you have your ticket to ride along with me again—enjoy every inch!
All the best,
Dear Reader,
How many of us had high school crushes, then years later come face-to-face with the boy who will always hold a special place in our hearts? This is what happens with Morgan Dane in HAVEN CREEK. At thirteen she’d believed herself in love with high school hunk, Nathaniel Shaw, but as a tall, skinny girl constantly teased for her prepubescent body, she can only worship him from afar.
I wanted HAVEN CREEK to become a modern-day fairy tale complete with a beautiful princess and a handsome prince, and, as in every fairy tale, there is something that will keep them apart before they’re able to live happily ever after. The princess in HAVEN CREEK lives her life by a set of inflexible rules, while it is a family secret that makes it nearly impossible for the prince to trust anyone.
You will reunite with architect Morgan Dane, who has been commissioned to oversee the restoration of Angels Landing Plantation. As she begins the task of hiring local artisans for the project, she knows the perfect candidate to supervise the reconstruction of the slave village. He is master carpenter and prodigal son Nathaniel Shaw.
Although Nate has returned to his boyhood home, he has become a recluse while he concentrates on running his family’s furniture-making business and keeping his younger brother out of trouble. But everything changes when Morgan asks him to become involved in her restoration project. It isn’t what she’s offering that presents a challenge to Nate, but it is Morgan herself. When he left the Creek she was a shy teenage girl. Now she is a confident, thirtysomething woman holding him completely enthralled with her brains
and
her beauty.
In HAVEN CREEK you will travel back to the Low-country with its magnificent sunsets; slow, meandering creeks and streams; primordial swamps teeming with indigenous wildlife; a pristine beach serving as a year-round recreational area; and the residents of the island with whom you’ve become familiar.
Church, community, and family—and not necessarily in that order—are an integral part of Lowcountry life, and never is that more apparent than on Cavanaugh Island. As soon as you read the first page of HAVEN CREEK you will be given an up-close and personal look into the Gullah culture with its island-wide celebrations, interactions at family Sunday dinners, and a quixotic young woman who has the gift of sight.
The gossipmongers are back along with the region’s famous mouth-watering cuisine and a supporting cast of characters—young
and
old—who will keep you laughing throughout the novel.
Read, enjoy, and do let me hear from you!!!
Dear Readers,
Who can resist a cowboy? Not me. Especially a bull rider, who has the courage to get on two thousand pounds of attitude that wants to throw him in the dirt and dance on his dangling parts. But you don’t need to be familiar with rodeo to enjoy THE SWEET SPOT. It’s an emotional story first, about two people dealing with real-life problems, and rediscovering love at the end of a long dirt road.
To introduce you to Charla Rae Denny, the heroine of THE SWEET SPOT, I thought I’d share with you her list of life lessons:
- Before you throw your ex off your ranch, be sure you know how to run it.
- A Goth-Dolly Parton lookalike
can
make a great friend. And Dumpster monkeys are helpful, too. - Next time, start a hardware store instead of a bucking bull business—the stock doesn’t try to commit suicide every few minutes.
- “Never trust a husband too far, nor a bachelor too near.” —Helen Rowland
- If you’re the subject of the latest gossip-fest, stay away from the Clip-n-Curl.
- Life is full of second chances, if you can get over yourself enough to grab them.
- “To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and discover that the prisoner is you.” —Louis B. Smede
I hope you’ll enjoy THE SWEET SPOT, and look for JB and Charla in the next two books in the series!
Darkness Bound
“Welcome to a thrilling new world where suspense runs
wild
(literally)! I devoured this book, I drooled over the hero, and now I’m panting for the next one in the series. Sexy, spooky, and suspenseful! Read this inside with the doors locked!”
—Kerrelyn Sparks,
New York Times
bestselling author
“4½ stars! No matter what the genre, you can always count on the gifted Cameron to deliver an exciting tale filled with passion and thrills. Cameron launches her sizzling Chimney Rock series featuring werehounds and other supernatural creatures. Dark things are stirring on Whidbey Island, which means that for lucky readers, chills and thrills aren’t far behind!”
—
RT Book Reviews
“
Darkness Bound
is filled with interesting characters, and a multitude of paranormal creatures…The writing is crisp, and the dialogue often amusing…I look forward to reading the next book in the series.”
—RomRevToday.com
“Take one mysterious and sexy man combined with one woman looking for a new beginning, stir in some paranormal forces, and you have
Darkness Bound
…Full of suspense, passion, and discovery that had me fully engaged until the end.”
—JoyfullyReviewed.com