| TAMPA, FLORIDA
My hometown is also the hometown to my Marisela Morales series, the “Dirty” series, if you will, being released by Simon & Schuster. The first book, DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS (Downtown Press, June 2005), took place in Tampa, Miami and Puerto Rico. The second book, DIRTY LITTLE LIES, is actually set in Boston, though the last chapter returns to Tampa...as will the next book in the series, TALK DIRTY TO ME.
Many of my romance novels are also set in my hometown, especially my early ones. Click here to learn more!
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Chicago is one of my favorite places in the world, so I'm thrilled to have three Blazes set in that city available now.
LOOKING FOR TROUBLE (June 2003) and UP TO NO GOOD (August 2003) feature twin sister heroines Rory and Micki Carmichael. The novels "bookend" a novella collection entitled INVITATIONS TO SEDUCTION, written by Blaze stars Vicki Lewis Thompson, Carly Phillips and Janelle Denison and also set in the Windy City.
The stories are connected through a book, as well as a party planning business called Divine Events, run by three sexy, female cousins. Are there stories in the work for Cecily, Gianna, and Isabella Divine? Hmmm....time will tell! Previously, I'd mentioned on the site to keep an eye out in LOOKING FOR TROUBLE for a return of Miranda and Noah Yeager from GOOD GIRLS DO! Well, they actually don't make an appearance, but they do play a key role in the story. The hero, Alec Manning, is a sociologist...and he has this grant he's bucking for...from the Amelia Henson Foundation. Sound familiar? There are also fun references to other characters that only my most eagle-eyed readers will catch. Have fun looking!
UP TO NO GOOD marks the return of so many characters, it was like a reunion! The book actually starts in Paris, then goes to New Orleans, then ends in Chicago. In New Orleans, be prepared to catch up with Grey Masterson and Reina Price, as well as my brother-in-law/sister-in-law bodyguards, Brandon Chance and Samantha Deveaux LaRocca! And let's not forget Reina's best pal, Chantal. I had a great time revisiting so many favorite characters!
Connecting cities has become a new love of mine. That’s why when Nicholai Vaux, the hero of UNDENIABLE, a gypsy from Atlanta needed a heroine, I went back to Chicago to find her. Enter Danielle Stone, Micki’s drug-addicted friend from UP TO NO GOOD. So while this story of everlasting and otherworldly love takes place in Chicago, there is an Atlanta connection--and appearances by sexy Gypsy King, Viktor Savitch and the irrepressible Gypsy grandma, Jeta.
You might remember (waaaaaay back in LOOKING FOR TROUBLE and UP TO NO GOOD) the Devine sisters who ran the party planning business where the infamous red book was found...and they also employed my heroines Rory, Micki and Danielle in each of the respective books. There’s a backhanded connection to the Devines in my new book, THE DOMINO EFFECT. Cecily Devine is my hero, Luke Brasco’s, ex-girlfriend. I’d hoped she’d make an appearance, but alas, she balked. However, now that I’m doing a BAD GIRLS CLUB book for Blaze, you never know if she’ll show!
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NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
I can’t believe A FARE TO REMEMBER is my first book set in New York City. Okay, actually, it’s not. My novella in the MORE THAN WORDS, VOLUME 2 collection, entitled, “Into the Groove,” is set in New York, but because of the nature of this charitable collection, I likely won’t be able to connect any future stories to this one. However, my novella in A FARE TO REMEMBER, titled, “Driven to Distraction,” gives me a chance to introduce Domino Black, the heroine of my Extreme Blaze (see Chicago.) It’s her first appearance. She makes quite an impression.
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
I’ve never been to Louisville, but ever there was a town that deserved a major league baseball team, I’d say this is it. That’s why we, meaning Leslie Kelly, Kimberly Raye and myself, gave them one for the BOYS OF SUMMER Blaze collection. While my story is not connected to any others (except that my heroine, Callie, was a waitress in Tampa when she met my hero, Donovan Ross...before they married and moved to Louisville), the three stories themselves are very tightly connected. Definitely fun to write!
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
Obviously, DOUBLE THE PLEASURE is connected to DOUBLE THE THRILL by Susan Kearney, my critique partner.
But you'll also get to revisit characters from PURE CHANCE (January 2001)--Brandon Chance and his new sister-in-law, Samantha Deveaux, the heroine from INSATIABLE (June 2001).
Also, since Luc Dupre, the hero of my online novella, ONE WICKED WEEKEND, sold Club Carnal and moved to New York...you'll meet his newly-divorced sister, Chantal, who is now running the club and is a good friend of Reina Price, the heroine of DOUBLE THE PLEASURE.
Look for Chantal and Club Carnal to also appear in UP TO NO GOOD, as well as Brandon Chance, Samantha Deveaux LaRocca, Grey Masterson *and* Reina Price! It's a veritable New Orleans reunion...and lots of fun. Endora still isn't back, but she will be, she will be...
Also available online is my short story,
ROCK AND ROLLING. It's set in New Orleans and Samantha Deveaux LaRocca makes a brief appearance, along with Cassie Michaels and other characters from my Tampa-based stories!
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA
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Most recently, I’ve published two novellas and have an upcoming novel all tied into my Atlanta setting, where I lived briefly many moons ago. The first one, "My Lips Are Sealed" was released with a Lori Foster reprint of TANTALIZING in January, repackaged with the name LIP SERVICE. My heroine, FBI agent Lacey Baptiste, returns home to Georgia for a much needed party weekend. She meets Seth Kingston and well, her weekend fling might just turn into something more! In the story, you'll meet Lacey's sister, Eve, who returns for her own this summer in a paranormal Blaze collection called ESSENCE OF MIDNIGHT. Eve, you see, talks to the dead. Which is good since my hero, gypsy-king Viktor Savitch, hasn't taken a breath for over a hundred years. At the end of “Surrender,” you’ll meet another sexy gypsy named Nicholai. He’ll make his own appearance in my August 2004 Blaze, UNDENIABLE. This ends my Atlanta series...and ties into my Chicago series...so make sure to look below and see how!
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TAMPA, FLORIDA
I just love hot, sultry settings, don't I? And lately, I've been using my hometown to create a cast of characters that pop up at will in each other's books.
Jillian Hennessy, my laws-are-made-to-be-broken investigator from JUST WATCH ME... makes appearances in both WHAT'S YOUR PLEASURE? (June 2002) and BRAZEN AND BURNING (March 2003).
Jake Tanner, the seriously sexy hero from WHAT'S YOUR PLEASURE? made his first appearance in JUST WATCH ME... (March 2002) as the partner to my hero, Cade Lawrence.
And Cassie Michaels, daughter of rock-star D'Arcy Wilde (the heroine of ROCK AND ROLLING, my most recent online novella) appears in both WHAT'S YOUR PLEASURE? and BRAZEN AND BURNING...and she's a key player in her mother's story, available here.
And of course, there's Sydney "Slow Burn" Colburn, the heroine of BRAZEN AND BURNING, who first appeared as the best friend to Devon Michaels, the heroine of WHAT'S YOUR PLEASURE?
Got all that? No story set for Cassie yet...but she still has some growing up to do. However, Adam Brody, the hero from BRAZEN AND BURNING, does have this sister, Renee, and then there's Jake's sister, Kat....hmmm....
My first three books were also set in and around the Tampa Bay area. So far, there aren't any spinoffs planned from SEDUCING SULLIVAN or PRIVATE LESSONS, but keep an eye out in my upcoming Chicago series for Noah and Miranda from GOOD GIRLS DO!
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
So far, my only book set in this awesome city is EXPOSED (Blaze #4, August 2001). However, the book is connected to my New Orleans-set novella, ONE WICKED WEEKEND.
The premise of the "Sexy City Nights" miniseries is based on a series of magazine articles that tout the sexiest things to do in four cities (San Francisco, EXPOSED; New York, BODY HEAT by Carly Phillips; Chicago, HEAT WAVES by Janelle Denison; and Los Angeles, LA CONFIDENTIAL by Julie Kenner.
The heroine of ONE WICKED WEEKEND, Lauren Deveaux (cousin of Serena and Samantha Deveaux from PURE CHANCE and INSATIABLE), came up with the magazine concept and wrote the first article, for New Orleans!
Confused yet?
Don't be!
Hopefully, the "Sexy City Nights" series will make a comeback, as I'm itching to write a story for that wayward bride from EXPOSED, Maddie Burrows...and Max's hunky brother, Ford. I'm thinking Miami....
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