Hot and Deadly Blog Hop, June 20 -23

What a great subject for a blog hop! Hot and deadly heroes. Yum! If you’re like me, you love romantic suspense heroes. They’re tough, take-charge, alpha heroes with a take-no-prisoners attitude. Not to mention they’re sexy as hell. But underneath that tough guy exterior, a heart of pure marshmallow beats. Okay, maybe not marshmallow. But these hot and deadly heroes are transformed by the love of a good woman.

I have two titles with heroes that qualify for the ‘hot and deadly’ label. Hunter Smith, my hero in Flawless, is a jewel thief. Actually, an ex-jewel thief, because when the novel opens he’s in the slammer in London. It’s 1942 and the world is at war. The head of the Special Operations Executive, Britain’s wartime spy department, comes to his cell with an offer: go to occupied France and steal back the famous Coeur Bleu, the Blue Heart diamond, from the Nazis, and he’ll bust him out of jail. Time is of the essence. They must retrieve the Blue Heart before the Nazis barter it for weapons of war that may destroy the Allies.

Hunter accepts the deal, not only because he wants to get out of jail, but also because he wants to avenge the death of his childhood friend Jean-Philippe, the last person to have the diamond before the Nazis took it from him.

He’s dropped into France where he’s met by Madeleine, a French resistance fighter, who seems to

hate him at first sight. What he doesn’t know is that Madeleine is the widow of his friend Jean-Philippe and she blames him for his death. But despite her distrust, they must work together, posing as husband and wife in order to accomplish their mission.

Hunter was a fun character to write. On the surface, he’s exceptionally suave and charming, not to mention hot. He’s got a talent for picking locks and opening safes that has landed him in a heap of trouble on occasion. But underneath it all is a man extremely loyal to the people he loves, a man who still bears the scars from the neglect of his parents. You can read an excerpt from Flawless here.

In Seeing Things, David Logan is another man who is completely loyal to the people he loves. His five year old nephew Jeremy is kidnapped while in his care. When Leah McKenna comes forward, professing to have “seen” the abduction, he dismisses her and her psychic abilities. But when she tells him things about Jeremy that only someone who’s seen him recently would know, he’s convinced she’s working with the kidnapper. Thinking she’ll lead him to his nephew and his kidnappers, he decides to stay close to her.

But he’s a tough cookie. He rides roughshod over Leah. He doesn’t believe anything she says, even as the proof of her abilities is mounting. Not until she reveals a secret from his past, something he’s never told anyone, is David forced to accept that Leah’s psychic abilities are real. He also starts to believe that his feelings for her are real as well.

I really made this poor guy suffer. When Jeremy is kidnapped on his watch, he’s wracked with guilt. He’s the kind of person who needs to protect his family, and when he can’t, he feels like a failure. Poor baby! If you’d like to read an excerpt from Seeing Things, click here.

As a special offer on my blog, tell me in the comments about one of your favorite hot and deadly heroes, whether from books, TV, movies, or even real life. I’ll randomly pick two commenters and award them each a CD copy (PDF text only) of Seeing Things. So comment away!

And don't forget that the grand prize for the hop is a $50 Gift Certificate to either Barnes and Noble or Amazon (winner's choice). Hop on over to another blog!