Today we have a very special guest, Dakota Harrison. Dakota's new release, Exhale, is available now, and her second release, Breathless will be available in October 2013.
Welcome, Dakota!
Hi Rachel, and thanks for having me here
with the LoveCats! Today I'm interviewing my hero, a surgeon named Takeshi,
currently living in Seattle, to see what makes him tick.
Dakota: Good
morning, Taka. So, to get things started, tell the readers a little about
yourself.
Taka: How
are you this morning, Dakota? Well, I was born in Tokyo; spent my teen years in
Australia; and went to college in the US – and never left. I'm a surgeon at the
Seattle Memorial Hospital.
Dakota: I'm
great. Happy to be here in Seattle. Why did you choose college in the US? What
made you make the decision to leave your family in Australia once you’d finally
got settled?
Taka: *crosses
his ankle over his knee* The Med courses were what tipped my decision. The
degrees on offer in Australia are fantastic, but the type of surgery I wanted
to do, I needed to be at a training hospital that specialized in that area. I
was lucky enough to be offered a fellowship position working under the best
cardio-thoracic surgeon in the States. Matt’s doing great too.
Dakota: Speaking
of Matt, how’s Gabby?
Taka: She’s
doing really well. Tired, but that’s to be expected. Did she tell you we’re
having twins?
Dakota: Twins!!
No! That’s wonderful. The wedding was lovely. Your vows in particular were
inspiring. You made me cry!
Taka: *blushing*
Ah, thanks. Yeah, Gabby had no idea what I’d written. I wanted to get it right,
you know? We waited so long… I got in huge trouble for making her cry, too. Ruined make-up, and all
that. Matt’s being a major pain in the rear, though.
Dakota: Oh?
Why’s that?
Taka: *huge
grin* He’s calling me ‘Dad’.
Dakota: I
can see him doing that. Tell me, for the reader’s sake, what did make you wait so long? How did you
know it would all work out in the end?
Taka: *suddenly
serious* I didn’t. I tried – really hard, too – to forget her. It didn’t work.
I just couldn’t get her out of my head. When I called a girl ‘Gabby’ in a
really compromising situation, I realized that I should just give in and go
with it. I'm glad I did.
Dakota: So
are we! Changing the subject a little here, your ties with the Yakuza. Do
you have much to do with that anymore?
Taka: *shrugs*
Not really. It’s my uncle, not Dad, who is Oyobun.
Dad took us to rural Australia to get away from it all when my aunt was killed.
Dad didn’t want any part of it from the beginning. It was hard to leave though,
until Grandfather passed away.
Dakota: Do
you miss any part of that life? Do you miss Tokyo?
Taka: Why?
You been talking to Shin?
Dakota: *smiling*
How did you guess?
Taka: He
told me he’s trying to get you to go see him in Tokyo. He has some news I think
you’d like to hear, too. About a girl…
Dakota: I
may just have to go interview him as well! Thanks for coming in today. It was
nice to catch up.
Taka: No
worries. For you? Anytime. *grins*
Dakota: *slaps
at him with the notebook* Flirt.
~Exhale~
Takeshi
is finishing up a brutal double shift in the ER when a familiar—and bloody—face
erases all thought of heading home. The broken body of the woman fighting for
her life belongs to Gabby, his best friend’s mother. A woman he's loved since
he turned nineteen, when he foolishly declared his love for her.
She’s not dying today. Not on his watch. And not
with a promise left unfulfilled.
Gabby
has never forgotten the taste of the kiss Taka gave her under the mistletoe all
those years ago. Or the silly promise that surely by now he’s forgotten. She’s
wrong. Taka remembers. And she melts as he uses every trick in his highly
trained surgeon’s hands to heal her—and rekindle the heat between them.
But
there’s a secret lurking in Gabby’s past. And when it follows her all the way
to Seattle, it threatens to drag the one man she loves into the nightmare she
thought she’d left behind.
I read the book and loved it - the hero was special! Thanks for a great read.
ReplyDeleteHi Bron! Wow, you found this early ;) Thank you. I'm so glad you loved their story. Taka was a honey to write - Matt on the other hand, well, he's a handful. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool, interviewing a character in your own book. I must try that one day with mine...
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun way to meet your hero, Dakota! I love the sound of Takeshi and Gabby's story and I can't resist a story that starts so dramatically in the ER!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with "Exhale" and with "Breathless" to come... now I'm off to check out one of those links for my copy!
Hi Damien! Thanks, I thought it would be fun. Anyway, they *are* real, aren't they? ;) Thanks for popping by.
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon! Thanks! He's a honey, isn't he? Re the ER, well, we had to get him off his laurels, now didn't we? *vbg* I hope you love their story as much as I do. Cheers!
ReplyDelete