Hello my lovelies! I have to let you know, my internet is still in and out. Mostly out. And with no rhyme or reason. It might work, then all of a sudden… stop. For a long period of time. With maybe a 40 second window where it does work. I’m about to start stabbing things at random, because stress eating hasn’t helped. (No joke I’m getting too big for my fat clothes.) But anyway, let’s not focus on that.

What we’re here for, is the lovely Elle Kennedy! She contacted me about being a guest here and I was very happy to have her. I’m also very happy that she is kind and gracious and isn’t demanding about the time her post goes live and understand internet problems are evil.

Without further ado…

Appreciating Secondary Characters

This month I read a romance that featured a hero and heroine that I disliked immensely.  I didn’t enjoy their dialogue, wasn’t invested in their relationship, and didn’t care one way or the other if they ended up together.  Normally when this happens I don’t bother finishing the book.  This time, I kept reading—for the sub-plot characters.  In fact, I skimmed through all the scenes with the main characters, only bothering to do it just in case the sub-characters’ names came up!  I loved this secondary couple so much that they saved the book for me, and as a result, I ended up reading more of that author’s books and liking them a lot.

As a writer, I get a lot of emails from readers, and some of them address the same issue I just mentioned—ie “I didn’t really like A and B, but I loved C and D—when is their book coming out?”  Of course, when anyone voices a dislike for a main character, I feel a little wounded—because I love all my characters and it’s sad that everyone doesn’t see how awesome they are.  But as a reader, I know that I’m not going to like every single character in a book, and sometimes it happens to be the one I’m supposed to be the most invested in.

A good example of this, for me, is with JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  I didn’t care much for the h/H in the first book, but I adored all the side characters and they were the sole reason I kept going with the series.  If it weren’t for those characters, I would have missed out on an amazing series.  As a result of that, I’ve learned to be a lot more patient when it comes to reading and discovering new authors.  If the first book in a series was so-so, I will almost always pick up the second one, and sometimes even the third.

Next month, the second book in my Killer Instincts series releases—Midnight Alias features many of the characters first introduced in Midnight Rescue, along with a few new faces that were so much fun to write about.  I’ll be honest—I have fallen in love with one of my secondary characters.  His name is Sullivan, he’s Australian, and I adore him.  Yep, adore.  With that said, I’ll leave you with a short excerpt that features my new favourite character.

I’ll also be giving away a copy of Midnight Rescue (Killer Instincts Book 1), so leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway.  Just tell me how you feel about sub-plots, side characters, hating a hero/heroine, or anything else that strikes your fancy!

Elle

Midnight Alias Excerpt

An undercover DEA agent has gone off the radar. Suspecting an internal mole, the government needs Luke Dubois and his elite team of operatives to recover their man, and the New Orleans native thinks he’s found his way inside the dark underbelly of Manhattan: Olivia Taylor, the girlfriend of a mob boss and the sexiest woman he’s ever laid eyes on. His new mission objective? Get past Olivia’s defenses and convince her to take a chance—on him.

All Olivia wanted was to finish law school and live a normal life, but that dream was shattered when one dangerous night put her deeply in a mobster’s debt. Now Luke and his team will help her escape—in exchange for intel on the missing agent. But Olivia doesn’t anticipate her intense attraction to the reckless Louisiana charmer or that she’ll be forced to risk everything—including her heart.

“This isn’t even a mission,” Luke announced.  “All we do is watch.”

A third voice joined the mix, this one boasting an Australian accent and a whole lot of scorn.

“Don’t you even think of complaining, mate,” Sullivan Port said as he strode into the living room in nothing but a towel.  The white terrycloth hung low on the guy’s hips, way too small for that huge body of his.  Sullivan was six-three, with broad shoulders and a heavy chest, and he constantly seemed to be strolling around half-naked.  Maybe it was an Australian thing.

“You get to watch naked girls every night,” Sullivan added.  “We watch the building. Naked girls is my job.  Tell me, how is that fair?”

Luke couldn’t argue.  Out of all the men on Jim Morgan’s mercenary team, Sullivan probably did have the greatest appreciation for the female form, and no matter where the guy was, he always managed to find a hot eager girl ready for a lay.  Not that Luke was hurting for female company himself, but Sullivan was a whole different league of player.  Luke once watched a prostitute in Amsterdam offer to pay Sullivan to go upstairs with her.  If Sully weren’t such a cocky rub-it-in-your-face type, Luke might even call him his hero.

“Morgan is punishing me,” Sullivan went on, crossing the parquet floor toward the kitchen. He disappeared behind the enormous refrigerator door then reappeared with a beer bottle, towel flapping against his thighs as he returned to the living area.  When he plopped down on the armchair across from the sofa, both Luke and Trevor shielded their eyes.

“Whoa, fix that towel, man,” Luke ordered.

“Fix it?” Trevor echoed.  “No, go put clothes on instead.  For the love of God, this isn’t a frat house.”

Sullivan shrugged.  “I like having a cold beer after a shower.”  He grinned.  “If my cock makes you feel inferior, that’s not my fault.”

There, it was official.  This was not a mission.  When grown men started talking about each other’s cocks, it meant things were bad.

Whee! So what’d you think? Remember to answer Elle’s question, or ask her some of your own. And there’s a copy of Midnight Rescue up for grabs!