Damsels in Towers - Annie West

This month marks the release of an unusual book for me - my contribution to the Harlequin Presents 'Chatsfield' series. Unusual for a couple of reasons - it's part of a continuity so the original idea for the characters came from editors (though what happens in the book is all mine). Because it's my first real reunion novel. It also has the hero believing for quite some time that the heroine was unfaithful  to him - a definite first for me.

 

It struck me recently that this story abounds in romantic tropes. Orsino, my hero is wealthy and therefore has power. Poppy, his estranged wife is beautiful (in fact she's a model - another first for me). Orsino is scarred, so badly injured in the beginning his vision is even affected. Most of the action takes place in the fairytale setting of the Loire Valley in France with its fabulous chateaux. In fact, Poppy and Orsino are holed up in a romantic tower. This one to be precise. I visited Chateau Chenonceau a few years ago and thought this tower, just in front of the huge Chateau, utterly romantic. When it came time to find a spot for my couple to stay while he recuperated and she worked on a fashion shoot, it seemed the logical place.

As I wrote I'm sure I channelled Beauty and the Beast, given Orsino's scarred body and psyche, not to mention his beastly behaviour. Then there was Rapunzel, for it seemed to me Poppy was trapped in this tower, unable to escape (you'd have to read the book to find out why). I even felt that there was a touch of Rumpelstiltskin in this story - that the characters were stuck, labouring hard, till they discovered the magic words that would set them free. In this case, not a goblin's name but words to express their fears and feelings. If there's one thing this couple don't do well in the beginning, it's communicate!

Plus there were touches of things I'd read as a little kid poring over a book of fairy tales - fabulous treasure (the film shoot features wonderful antique and modern jewellery), gorgeous ball gowns (yes, there's an old fashioned ball so maybe the Twelve Dancing Princesses story came in there too). There's a villain, though I can't really blame him for the mess this pair find themselves in. There's even a fairy godfather who helps them escape the tower for long enough to take a long hard look at themselves.

 

But several things became abundantly clear as I wrote. This was no fairy tale. It's not a story where the damsel needs to be rescued from her tower by the handsome prince. Poppy wasn't hanging about waiting for any man to rescue her. In fact, rather like Belle in Beauty in the Beast, she's responsible for rescuing Orsino by making him face a few home truths. Just as he makes her face things she'd avoided for years.

 

It's not a story where outside intervention clears the path for a happy ending. Poppy and Orsino have to work on that together. The enchanted location might be pretty but far from being idyllic, it's proof that the problems this pair need to overcome are deeply ingrained, not imposed from the outside.

 

I loved working with so many threads that wound back to those enchanted childhood tales. But just as much, I enjoyed turning those themes on their head so if there was a sleeping beauty needing to be woken it was my hero, not my heroine. He was the one cut off from reality, or at least from the truth. Then there was the sexual sizzle between my couple. I don't remember that in any of those old stories and if there was I'm sure the heroine would have been passive. Ha! One thing Poppy isn't and that's passive. So in the end I've decided that this book is a different take on the old romance tropes of captivity and rescue, and definitely on the idea of an active hero and a passive heroine. In fact, how many of those are being written now?

Do you have fond memories of fairy tales? Which was your favourite? Which would you like to see or have you seen in a modern romance?

 

You can read about Rebel's Bargain at my website or, better by far, snaffle yourself a copy from these links:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Harlequin

 

 

Sunday Smooch - Rebel's Bargain

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  Annie West but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Tammy!


Can you please contact Rachel (at) rachelbailey (dot) com to receive your copy of Cover Story.


Also, a reminder to Fedora that you won Stefanie London's giveaway the week before. Please contact her at Stefanie (at) Stefanie-London (dot) com to receive your copy of Breaking the Bro Code.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Annie West's REBEL'S BARGAIN.

When the thrill–seeker strikes a deal!

Five years ago, Poppy Graham married Orsino Chatsfield beneath a confetti of paparazzi flashbulbs. But Orsino spent more time chasing the rush of adrenaline than with his wife and, in her darkest hour, he let her down. Their split was bitter and Poppy’s striven for independence ever since. But now her arrogant husband is back…

Injured in a climbing accident, there’s only one person Orsino can turn to…his deceitful wife! They have unfinished business and he’ll face it before he walks away for ever. But the blazing passion between them reignites in an instant, leaving Orsino to wonder whether it will kill or cure!

Scene set-up

Poppy and Orsino had a passionate love affair years before, marrying quickly and then separating acrimoniously and very publicly when things fell apart. Now, badly injured after an ice-climbing accident, Orsino has manoeuvred Poppy into looking after him while he recuperates, thinking to make her pay for some of the pain she caused him. What he hadn't bargained on is the need he still has for her, physical and, though he hates to admit it, emotional.

 

Smooch  -

‘This way.’ It was Poppy, beside him again, her voice as colourless as a mountain brook. She swept one arm in a wide gesture and he located the door. 

Slowly he paced beside her, his good hand clenched around the walking stick, his body tense with effort.

The big door swung open with a whoosh of crisp air. He hesitated then stepped out, relishing the cocktail of smells bombarding him: exhaust fumes and dust, smoke and spicy cooking. It was so different to the scoured smell of the hospital. He heard bustling life surround him. Relief battered like a wave, making him light-headed.

Not even to himself had he admitted to fear that he’d never leave the hospital. Yet he felt a weight slide off his shoulders.

‘Orsino! Orsino! Over here!’

He blinked, trying and failing to focus on the faces surrounding him. His heart drummed in his chest and a cold sweat broke out on his brow. Something suspiciously like panic twisted in his gut.

A hand closed around his sleeve.

Poppy. She was there beside him.

He breathed deep, hating the way tension eased because he wasn’t alone. Hating the fact that she felt the way his arm shook. She of all women.

It was one thing to imagine her pandering to his every whim while he regained his strength. It was another to have her guess how much this cost him. To know how much he needed her right now. His pride smarted.

Gritting his teeth, Orsino walked on, aware of the warmth of her hand through the sleeve of his jacket. Aware too, of the curious leap of excitement he felt being close to her again.

As they walked slowly the voices grew strident and blurred faces crowded close.

‘Can you see, Orsino?’

‘How close did you come to death?’

‘Are you and Poppy reconciling? Are you in love after all this time? How about a kiss for the camera?’

Poppy spoke. ‘The car is straight ahead.’ There was nothing in her tone, neither stress nor sympathy. She might have been talking to a stranger.

He hadn’t expected her to feel anything. He’d had her measure since the night five years ago when he’d discovered what she really was.

Why did it matter that he’d been mistaken in the hospital, imagining he’d got under her skin? Why did it matter that he meant nothing to her?

Yet it did.

Because almost dying out there on the mountain, he’d faced the terrible truth that some part of him was still connected to her.

The realisation was like salt poured on an open wound. A wound he’d believed healed. His gut churned with the force of his reaction as years of resentment came flooding free.

Someone jostled them and his stick clattered to the ground. He reached out and found himself grasping soft cashmere and even softer hair. His fingers tightened.

‘That’s it, Orsino. Just one kiss!’ Around them the paparazzi pressed closer.

‘Can you stand while I reach for your stick?’ Poppy’s words were innocent enough but her ice-cool tone struck him again. To her he was an encumbrance till the divorce, a necessary responsibility. No more.

Five years ago she’d made a fool of him. Even now, when he’d blackmailed her into dancing to his tune, he hadn’t dented her self-assurance much less her emotions.

Impotent fury spiked.

He would get a reaction from her.

Planting his feet more solidly, he released his hold and heard her breath sigh out. But before she could draw away he lifted his hand to the back of her head, to the silk tresses that moved as she jerked beneath his hold.

Her tangy, sweet scent filled his nostrils.

‘Orsino?’ Her voice wobbled.

Now that was a reaction.

He looked down into wide eyes. The fiery burn in his belly flared and spread as he held her tight and slanted his mouth over hers.

 

Poppy could have broken away from him. She should. He held her with one arm only, the plaster on his other arm pressing against her middle.

His splayed hand held her firmly but not unbreakably.

So why did she hesitate as his mouth captured hers?

Maybe it was the surprising restraint in the touch of his cool lips against hers. It reminded her of the first time they’d kissed. Then he’d scooped her close, his shoulders blocking out the world, leaving her cocooned in the passion that swirled like a maelstrom between them. Yet he’d taken her mouth with a gentleness that had been more devastating than any urgent caress. He’d undone her with one simple kiss, because she’d felt not only desired but cherished.

His mouth moved now against hers, pressing gently. Poppy felt the years peel back, as if awakening to a man for the first time.

A shudder ran the length of her body as nerve endings sprang to life.

His tongue swept the seam of her lips, coaxing a response that rippled through her, from her mouth down to her tingling nipples and her toes curling in her boots.

Orsino’s hand moved in her hair, long fingers strong and hard and ridiculously erotic given all he did was hold her.

Her heart hammered into her breastbone and her eyes fluttered shut as her lips moved tentatively against his.

Sensation flooded her, the sound of blood pulsing in her ears, the tensile strength of him against her, the dark chocolate and spice deliciousness that was the shockingly familiar taste of Orsino on her tongue.

He pressed closer and reason finally surfaced from the inchoate thoughts tumbling through her mind.

She pulled back, eyes wide at her body’s betrayal.

Impenetrable dark glasses stared back at her. Her eyes dropped to the thin, mobile mouth that had so easily worked magic on hers. She caught a gleam of dampness on his bottom lip, the sheen where her mouth had met his.

Wrenching free of his hold, Poppy staggered back, heart pounding, her breath sawing from her lips.

Still he stood unmoving while all around them cameras clicked and whirred and reporters climbed over each other for a better view.

She felt like she’d had an out of body experience. It sure wasn’t her body that had responded to Orsino so eagerly. It couldn’t be. She’d eradicated him from her system.

Pity your body doesn’t know it.

The snide little voice came from inside her head.

Imagine what would have happened if he’d had two hands to work with.

 

I'm thrilled to be see REBEL'S BARGAIN on sale now (though in you're in Aus/NZ paperbacks won't be in stores till the 15th). You can find it in all the usual places including Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Harlequin. To celebrate I'm giving away a copy to someone who leaves a comment here.

As Orsino is a thrillseeker, how about sharing the most daredevil thing you or someone in your family has done. Or perhaps the daredevil exploit you've always wanted to try but probably never will.

 

 

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Louisa George's 'Enemies with Benefits' will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver