3 UNDERCOVER OPERATIONS -- 6 UNDERCOVER OPERATIVES

THREE UNDERCOVER OPERATIONS
SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT
Harlequin Blaze
Available January, 2012
ISBN-10: 0373796641

He’s lying. She’s lying. And before long, they’re lying.

Together. In bed…

Born into a con artist family, Maya Black abandoned the grifting life to live on the straight and narrow (and somewhat dull) years ago. But when her family is threatened—and the swindlers are on the verge of becoming the swindled— Maya swings into action. All she needs is a stand-in boyfriend, and the charming, tasty-as-sin Simon Barton will do quite nicely, thanks. 

But Simon has a little lie of his own. He’s FBI, and Maya is his inside track to her less-savory relations. It’s a mutual using, which quickly turns into a scorching mutual attraction. In fact, their naughty little sexcapades are the only thing they aren’t faking!

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SEX, LIES AND VALENTINES

Harlequin Blaze

Available February, 2012

ISBN-10: 0373796706

Con artist Gabriel Black just got busted. By a babe. Drool-worthy (and clearly sneaky) FBI agent Danita Cruz is forcing Gabriel to choose between hard time and scamming his own family for an undercover sting. Now he has to present Danita to his family as his girlfriend. 

And it’s the perfect opportunity to get wickedly even with her….

But Danita has some tricks of her own, and Gabriel’s control begins slipping away as raw sexual energy takes over. Their sham relationship starts feeling a lot like…well, the real deal. The Big Question is, will overwhelming desire be enough to make a liar go legit? 

Lie with me…

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SEX, LIES AND MISLETOE

Harlequin Blaze
Available December, 2011

ISBN: 0373796609

Undercover DEA agent Caleb Black is home for the holidays—possibly to bust his own father. But maybe Caleb's con-man dad isn't the one running drugs through the small town of Black Oak. Maybe it's the green-eyed goddess who runs the New Age shop and has Caleb under her sultry spell.

Pandora Easton saved the family store with two words: sex sells. And her delectable aphrodisiacs really work, as she's proven with notorious bad boy Caleb again and again and again.

Little does she guess that, in the end, her most potent potion will be the truth…. 

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SIX UNDERCOVER OPERATIVES
 

Welcome to GLIAS guys and dolls. It’s a pleasure to have you all here “getting lost.” I hope you’ll have fun with the Q&A and just jump in with whatever pops into your minds. I’m going to approach the interview as if no one’s read any of the books -- be certain not to give too much info that may spoil your books.

Gabriel, Maya and Caleb…are you guys siblings or just related to the same “con” family? What’s your favorite moment that you shared when you were younger?

Maya, laughed.  “Both?  We’re sister and brothers by blood, and were taught the art of the con from our dad.  So we’re tied by both blood and the con games we played so well.

“Hey, we were kids,” Caleb defended, shifting uncomfortably.  “You make us sound like hardened criminals.”

“You’d know,” Gabriel intoned with an amused look for his brother’s hedging. 

“We weren’t criminals.  I mean, not really,” Maya said quickly.  “We never hurt innocents.  Any job we pulled targeted people who deserved it.  Who’d ripped off others, or lied and cheated.”

“Yep, we’re just like a family of Robin Hoods,” Caleb agreed with a laugh. 

“Except I look best in tights,” Gabriel decided.

“Better than Maya?”

Gabriel gave his little sister a teasing look, then said, “Yep.  Unless she’s wearing high heels.”

Maya poked her brother in the shoulder, then shook her head.  “Focus, boys.  Angi asked us another question, remember?” 

“Favorite moment?” Gabriel recalled.  The three looked at each other as they considered.  “It’s hard to pick just one.”

“The picnics,” Caleb and Maya said at the same time.

Gabriel’s laughter faded, his smile becoming just a little sad.  “Yeah.  The picnics.”

The three siblings were quiet for a second, then both Gabriel and Maya looked to Caleb.  He sighed before explaining.

“Our mom died when we were pretty young.  Maya was barely walking when we lost her.  Dad didn’t want us focusing on the loss, on the bad times, though.  So he made a point every year on the anniversary of her death to take us to her favorite picnic spot.  We’d eat all her favorite foods, share stories and memories and he’d read us the bedtime stories she’d always read.”

Maya laid her head on her brother’s shoulder, her smile bright despite the tears in her eyes.  “I should have been too young to remember her.  But thanks to dad, and to the picnics, I have such vivid images and memories of her.  We never felt like she’d left, you know?  Because dad didn’t let her.”

Gabriel shifted, laying his hand over his sisters so their fingers linked on Caleb’s shoulder.  “You gotta figure a dad who gives his kids that kind of loving foundation deserves a free pass on teaching them three-card Monty before they’re five, right?”   

Simon, was it hard to lie and be the “stand-in” boyfriend or did it come naturally?

Simon laughed.  “Now that’s a loaded question, isn’t it?  Let’s put it this way, my job is to lie.  That’s how I catch the bad guys.”  He hesitated, glancing down at the tip of his cowboy boot before offering a charming smile.  “But Maya isn’t a guy.  She’s all woman.  Gorgeous, sexy, and fascinating.  Nor is she bad.  At least, not legally.  So yeah, it was hard.  Damned hard.  And the better I got to know her, the harder it got.”

Danita, what was the hardest thing (no pun intended) about putting Gabriel into the position of associating with his old con lifestyle?

“The hardest thing was seeing him in that lifestyle.  It’s one thing to read an FBI file, even one as impressive as Gabriel’s, and realize that wow, this guy is slick.  But there’s always a question in the back of your head.  ‘Is he really as good as the case files make him out to be?’”  Danita shook her head, eyes wide to indicate that she’d been sure the reports had all been exaggerated.  “But watching him pull a con, being in the middle of one with him and seeing how well he played not only the criminals, but his own family...  Now that was an eye-opener.    Gabriel Black is the best.  Which made falling in love with him the height of insanity for me, let me tell ya.” 

Pandora, I have to ask if that’s your real name and if you ever received grief over it?

“Have you met my mother yet?  She’s a, well, um, let’s say she’s a little eccentric.  It’s in the blood, you could say.  The eccentricity, I mean.  My great grammy started the tradition that a child not be named until their personality was developed enough that the name suited them.  My grandmother was named Leda, and whether my great grammy had the sight or whether gramma became a weaver because of her name, we don’t know. But she made the most amazing cloth.  My mother, Cassiopeia, is a psychic.”  Pandora’s words trailed off.  Brows furrowed, she bit her lip, then gave a sad sort of tilt of her head.  “By the time I was a year and a half old, I hadn’t shown any personality traits that inspired my mother.  So she went a different route, naming me Pandora in hopes that I’d develop enough curiosity to make my life exciting.”  

Gabriel, how did it feel getting busted by a “drool-worthy dame”?

“There’s not a whole lot a drool-worthy dame can do to a guy that doesn’t feel great.”  Gabriel’s smile was pure charm, the spark in his eyes wickedly amused.  “Do you mean was my ego bruised because Danita conned me with her hooker act?  Nah.  She’s good.  Damned good.    Almost as good as I am.  That’s going to make life pretty interesting, don’t you think?”  

Caleb, how long have you been undercover and what was your favorite disguise/persona?

Caleb arched one brow.  “I don’t do undercover anymore.  I quit.” 

Looking like he wanted to get up and leave, Caleb heaved a sigh, then offered a one-shouldered shrug.  “I was with the DEA for eight years.  And I was damned good because I always played myself.  A bad ass with an attitude.  It got old, though.  Undercover, the attitude and the whole lifestyle.”  His smile was fast, charming and just this side of wicked.  “I figure this new life is going to suit me a whole lot better.  What do you think?”   

 Maya, was it difficult returning to the grifting life? 

Maya leaned forward, her face open and friendly as she widened her eyes in shock. “Grifting? Me?  I’d never do anything like that.” 

She held the innocent look for an entire three seconds before a gurgle of laughter escaped.  Maya tossed a handful of midnight curls over her shoulder and settled back in her chair.  “Okay, okay.  So I might have done something like that, once or twice.  But I haven’t in years.  I don’t count running a game on my father as going on the grift.  I mean, he knew exactly what I was doing.  Heck, he baited the hook and reeled me in himself, so it wasn’t like a real con.  But...”  Tapping her fingers on her knee a few times, she considered the question, then shrugged.  “I’m glad I did it.  As happy as I was to let that life go, it was nice to revisit it.  Just long enough to make sure I’d made the right decision to leave.  And I did, which means I never have to wonder again.” 

THANKS SO MUCH for the interview! What fun having you all together. Now I have one question I've just GOTTA ASK TAWNY:  Getting us ready for Book #2 in the Undercover Operatives Series: Sex, Lies, and Midnight…  Do you have a special midnight kiss or New Year’s Eve to share?

TAWNY’S GOTTA ANSWER:  Mmm, New Year’s kisses.  They are such a wonderful way to start a brand new calendar, goals and to set the tone for a year filled with kisses.  So I figure, any year I want filled with kisses needs to start with a good one.  I’d have to say my favorite New Year’s kiss was the first year I was with my husband, a few months before we were married.  Just the two of us , a fire in the fireplace, champagne and the clock chiming 12 as we spun dreams together of our future. 

TAWNY’S GIVING AWAY a signed copy of SEX, LIES & MIDNIGHT to a blog commenter.
Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

TAWNY'S QUESTION FOR TODAY

Sex, Lies and Midnight has a New Year’s Eve theme, which is one of my favorite times to set goals (I’m not a fan of resolutions).  What’s your goal this year?  Besides reading, of course *g*

FIND TAWNY:   EMAIL     Website     Facebook      Twitter       Blaze Authors   Romance Bandits      Healthy Writer     Previous GLIAS guest appearances 

UP NEXT:  WILD THING in A Blazing Bedtime Story, June 2012

THE PANTY THIEF CAPER, December 2012

TAWNY WEBER has been writing sassy, sexy stories for Harlequin Blaze since her first book hit the shelves in 2007.When not obsessing over deadlines, she’s shopping for cute shoes, scrapbooking or hanging out on Facebook and Twitter. Come by and visit her on the web. 

In December, Tawny launched her Undercover Ops series with SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE. SEX, LIES & MIDNIGHT is on shelves this month, followed in February with SEX, LIES & VALENTINES. Join the Reader Love-Fest and be sure to follow Tawny on her Holiday Survival Tour as she celebrates these three books with contests, giveaways and lots of fun.

AND YET ANOTHER WAY TO WIN THE SERIES:
Send a question for Tawny or one of the "6 OPERATIVES" and your name will be added for a drawing for all three books. THAT'S RIGHT. Just ask a question, that Tawny will answer on Wednesday, February 1st.
READERS DON’T FORGET to follow us on Facebook & Twitter (#GetLostStories) for a daily update on who’s visiting GLIAS and what they might be giving away! Join us next week for debut author RONI LOREN. Share us with your friends...the more visitors we have, the more authors we can bring you! ~Angi