Craved By You
(A Stark Security Novella)
by J. Kenner
From New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner comes a new story in her Stark Security series…
Maxim Wilder is finally exactly where he needs to be in the Manhattan cell of Group Ultra, a deadly and lucrative arm of a major criminal organization. Everything is in place for him to pull off the biggest job of his career—until a woman he’s never been able to forget shows up and threatens to destroy all his hard work. So what choice does he have but to snatch her? To keep her hidden, safe from everyone. Except him.
Cami Green has more secrets than most. The terrible family she left behind. The boy who destroyed her when he walked away. Even her covert job at Stark Security. It’s a life that keeps her mind busy and her heart safe.
Then the job puts her face to face with him. Max Wilder. The boy who broke her heart. The dark and seductive man at the center of a dangerous conspiracy. The bastard she’s determined to take down. Too bad she didn’t count on being kidnapped. Locked up. The only way to get free is to play along and look for an opportunity. And as his touch draws out lost memories, all Cami can do is hope to keep her head, and not fall for the criminal she’s come to destroy.
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An Exclusive Interview with J. Kenner
Can you tell us why or how you chose to write about this couple for your novella?
I chose Cami because she popped into Entwined With You, and I really loved her and knew right away she needed a book! And, hey, Maxim fit the bill for the man she had to be with, especially since I wanted to do a second chance romance, but with spies who are at odds with each other.
Do you do anything to treat yourself when you finish writing a book?
I don’t have a specific ritual, but I’ve been asked this question enough that I’ve started paying attention! So here’s what I tend to do: 1) Sleep. Because I’m pretty much 20-hours-day writing for the last few days of a book, and sleep’s just gonna happen. 2) Organize my office to get my head back on straight because, see above <G>. 3) Binge something with my husband. The last book led to a season of The Real Housewives of Orange County. (Another book led to Downton Abbey. So it’s not always mindless entertainment, ahem). 4) Take about a week for the binging … and then dive into the next book, either writing or planning or researching.
Yeah. I’m pretty boring <G>
What one piece of advice would you give an aspiring writer?
Know “the rules,” but don’t get so caught up in them that it suffocates your creativity. If you aspire to write, that most likely means you’re an avid reader, and that means you already have an innate sense of what makes a story work. Trust that, especially on your first draft, and think of structure and “the rules” not as a map, but as a diagnostic tool when you’re doing your edits.
Can you give us a few lines from your work in progress?
Sure! This is from Wicked Heat. I’m so psyched about this book! I’m doing final proofs as I answer this. It features (spoiler alert!) Damien Stark’s son, and Bree (who folks may know as Damien and Nikki’s nanny). Here’s a snippet:
“As much as I hate to admit it, even to myself, I like this game. Before, I felt like a victim, desperately scrambling for money. Now—even though I’m undressing at the whim of a man who’s paying me to submit so that I can pay off a sick fuck who’s blackmailing me—I feel powerful.
That probably makes me delusional. At the very least, it makes me screwed up.
But I figure that’s better than terrified.”
What’s your cure for hiccups?
Suck in a deep breath, then don’t exhale but take as many sips of water as you can really, really fast.
What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?
Dragons. Because … dragons!
Biography:
Julie Kenner (aka J. Kenner and J.K. Beck) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over forty novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres.
Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations,” J.K. writes a range of stories including super sexy romances, paranormal romance, chick lit suspense and paranormal mommy lit. Her foray into the latter, Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner, is in development as a feature film with 1492 Pictures.
Her most recent trilogy of erotic romances, The Stark Trilogy (as J. Kenner), reached as high as #2 on the New York Times list and is published in over twenty countries.
J.K. lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and several cats.
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