Today Sandra Owens is joining the crew. We met as Golden Heart finalists in 2013 - the Lucky 13s. She's talking about her latest release, KING OF CLUBS, from the Aces & Eights series.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR LATEST RELEASE! (I had to shout above the pop of the prosecco bottle!)
Want to get Book 1 in Sandra's Aces & Eights series? Make sure you comment for a chance to win. (See below)
A best selling, award winning author, Sandra Owens lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Her family and friends often question her sanity, but have ceased being surprised by what she might get up to next. She's jumped out of a plane, flown in an aerobatic plane while the pilot performed death-defying stunts, has flown Air Combat (two fighter planes dogfighting, pretending to shoot at each other with laser guns), and rode a Harley motorcycle for years. She regrets nothing.
Sandra is a member of Romance Writers of
America’s Honor Roll and a 2013 Golden Heart® Finalist for her contemporary
romance, CRAZY FOR HER. In addition to her contemporary romantic suspense
novels, she writes Regency stories.
Amazing right?
Nan: I'm way behind. I haven't read this series yet! :-(
THE STORY BLURB
Covert
FBI agent Court Gentry loves his brothers, his job, and his Harley-Davidson.
Once he loved a girl, too, but when she broke his heart, he put his emotions on
lockdown…until she crosses his path again.
On
vacation six years ago, free-spirited Lauren Montgomery fell hard for Court
Gentry. She returned home happier than ever, only to descend into a spiral of
abuse by her ex-husband, Stephan. When Stephan threatened to kill any man who
touched her, Lauren cut Court from her life—but not from her heart.
When
Lauren and Court meet again six years later, Court guards himself against the
person who made him feel such intense passion and pain. Except the undeniable
spark between them is impossible to contain and heating up fast. Six years ago,
it was love. Now, it’s just lust. Keeping it merely physical is a foolproof
plan…right?
When Stephan is released from prison, Lauren can’t outrun her
past anymore, and Court vows to protect her. But with Lauren in imminent
danger, Court must question his heart and risk his life to save the woman he
never stopped loving.
Nan: I can't wait!
READ A LITTLE, BUY THE BOOK
After
they had some breakfast, he’d put his plan for the week in motion, first taking
Lauren to a shooting range, teach her how to use her gun.
He
made his favorite morning meal, scrambled eggs and bacon on buttered toast.
Sandwiches made and orange juice poured, he called Lauren in.
“I’m
not really hungry,” she said, following him into the kitchen.
“We
have a long day ahead. You need to eat.”
She
eyed the two sandwiches on her plate. “I can’t eat two of these.”
“That
better?” he said, taking one of them.
“You’re
going to eat three?”
“Growing
boy.” They ate in silence. Not happy with her at the moment, he didn’t bother
trying to start a conversation. Although she’d claimed not to be hungry, she
ate all of hers. He put a half one on her plate.
“Thanks.
These are good.”
“Welcome.”
He was glad to see she had an appetite after all, but he still didn’t want to
talk to her unless she decided it was time to trust him with her secrets.
“I
guess I’ll get ready to go to work,” she said, pushing her plate away. “If
Madison hasn’t left yet, I’ll catch a ride with her.”
“You’re
not going back to the bookstore this week.” He stood, collecting their plates.
“Because?”
“Because
your life is mine for the next six days.” He paused in loading the dishwasher,
glancing over at her. “And don’t give me that frown. If you want to learn how
to disappear and how to protect yourself, we’ll need every minute of that
time.” How he was going to keep his hands off her until she left, he didn’t
know. But he had to. She’d ripped his heart out once. No way in hell he was
going to let her do it again.
“Why
don’t you tell me about your husband?” Maybe she could explain her omission in
mentioning she’d had one when they’d first met.
Her
eyes shifted away. “I don’t have a husband.”
“But
you did once. Seems like something you should have told me. That was pretty
damn major, Lauren. Not like neglecting to tell me you stubbed your toe or
overslept.”
Her
lips thinned in displeasure, but he didn’t care. For years he’d wondered what
he’d done wrong. Turned out it hadn’t been him at all. He’d loved her and would
have protected her if he’d only known she needed it. She’d taken his chance to
take care of her away with her silence.
“That
was the most beautiful week of my life. I didn’t want to ruin it by bringing
him into what we had between us.”
Her
voice was so soft that he had to strain to hear. Okay, he got that a little,
but it still rubbed that she’d kept something that big from him. “Did you ever
plan to tell me?”
“Yes.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “The next time I saw you I was going to.”
“That
didn’t work out so well, did it?” Her bottom lip trembled, and he called
himself an ass. But she hadn’t given them a chance by keeping her secrets back
then, and she was still doing it with her refusal to tell him why she was so
determined to run.
Buy KING OF CLUBS - Amazon
A LIGHTING ROUND OF Q&A WITH SANDRA OWENS
NAN: How often do you get lost in a story?
SANDRA: Hello, Nan. First,
thank you and Get Lost in a Story so much for having me. To answer your
question, every single day! I’m either reading a book or writing a book
seven days a week. My Kindle goes everywhere with me, so I can get lost in a
story while waiting at the dentist or doctor, my hairdresser or wherever I can
snatch a few minutes. If I were ever taken prisoner, the worst torture anyone
could inflict would be to take away my laptop and books.
Nan: That would be pure torture.
SANDRA: The Nancy Drew books. I devoured them, wanted to be Nancy Drew and go off on adventures and solve mysteries like she did.
Nan: They were fun.NAN: Is there a “Blooper” in your story (it may have been changed before printing)?
SANDRA: Ha ha! Yes. I know of two in two different books that my editors, copy editors, proofreaders, and I all missed. The first one was in THE LETTER, a Regency romance, and my first published book. A reader caught it and emailed me. It’s the more embarrassing of the two. My heroine is bathing, doing her “absolutions” (divine forgiveness) instead of her “ablutions” (the act of bathing). The second blooper, in one of my books I have a male dog named Sally. At the very end of the book, I refer to him as a she. That also got past all my editors, and I only caught it after the book was out.
NAN: How is it working with hot guys and sexy women
all day?
SANDRA: It’s so much fun! I’m not sure why, but I find it
easier to get into the heads of my heroes than my heroines. Truthfully, I think
men are an open book. I mean no insult to men, but in a way, they haven’t
evolved far from their caveman days. In order, sex, food, and providing for
those they care about occupy the greater part of their minds. They’re so easy
to understand. Women are more complicated. Sometimes my heroines want me to
know what they’re thinking and feeling, and sometimes, they’re closed up
tighter than a clam shell. “What’s wrong? What are you thinking?” I’ll ask her,
and I get, “Nothing.” Well, that sure helps!
Nan: Darn closed-mouth characters. And I love all the animal pictures you post on Facebook. People, check them out! FACEBOOK
NAN: What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?
NAN:What would you say is your most interesting
quirk?
SANDRA: I’m one of those people who reads the last few pages first. Even when it’s a romance and I know that there will be a happily ever after, I just have to read the end. I usually do it after I finish the first chapter of the book and know who the characters are.
SANDRA: I’m one of those people who reads the last few pages first. Even when it’s a romance and I know that there will be a happily ever after, I just have to read the end. I usually do it after I finish the first chapter of the book and know who the characters are.
NAN: What sound or noise do you love?
SANDRA: The sound of water. Waves crashing on shore tops the list with a creek rushing over rocks coming in second. At the ocean or by a creek are my two favorite places to write.
Nan: This looks so relaxing
NAN: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?
SANDRA: Start writing the next one. Sometimes I think I should take a break for a few days or a week, but so far, I never have. There’s always a new story I’m biting at the bit to get started on. If I ever start feeling like I’m getting burned out, then I’ll take breaks between books.
NAN: How did you come up with the idea for your book?
SANDRA: The Aces & Eights series began as a joke based on a tweet my agent posted, saying she wanted someone to write a motorcycle riding undercover cop romance. I whipped up a synopsis about three undercover motorcycle riding FBI agent brothers. The synopsis was intentionally tongue-in-cheek; it’s only purpose to amuse her. Imagine my surprise when she emailed back, saying, “You have to write this!” So, Aces & Eights evolved from tweet to joke to the idea for a new series because of these two paragraphs I sent her:
There are three
brothers, all bad to the bone and as deadly as the venom of an asp. Dressed in
black leathers—reflective sunglasses hiding their eyes—their Harleys rumble a
warning to beware as they pass by. Mothers pull their children close at the
sight of them, bad girls just sigh, and the good girls never expect to fall in
love with one of them.
Alex,
Court, and Nate Gentry ride the edge of two worlds, that of the criminals who
would just as soon kill them as not, and the one on the side of the law. As
deep undercover agents for the FBI, the last thing they need or want, is to
fall in love. To the brothers, love is a dangerous emotion; one they have no
time for. To infiltrate Miami’s criminal underworld, they open a biker bar,
Aces & Eights. They plan to earn acceptance by the scum of society, but
they fail to plan for the women who invade each of their lives.
Nan: That is such a great story. And the premise is fantastic!
SANDRA: This
was fun, Nan! Again, thank you and all the amazing Get Lost in a Story authors
for inviting me to spend a day with you.
Nan: You are so welcome! Thanks for stopping over.
FIND SANDRA OWENS:
Previous GLIAS Interviews: Click HERE
SANDRA WANTS TO KNOW:
Sandra is giving away a signed copy of JACK OF HEARTS (Book 1 in the series) to one lucky commenter! (North America only)
