By Celeste Rupert (Guest Blogger)
There is just something about a bad
boy.
It’s the reason for poems about
highwaymen, books about pirates, movies about hitmen and spies and
assassins. The scoundrel with the heart of gold has always captured
our imaginations. There’s a list of famous villains a mile long,
from popular culture and from history.
I do love an outlaw. A gentleman
bandit, ruthless and charming.
I grew up reading my grandpa’s Louis
L’amour novels, and today I have an extensive collection of my own,
only partially “borrowed” from Grandpa’s bookshelves.
He aims to misbehave |
The man who robbed the town bank might be the same man
who fought for a woman’s honour, or left food for a family that
needed it. Some of the West’s most celebrated lawmen had checkered
histories, but in the frontier a man was judged by his actions, not
his past.
My first erotic romance,Outlaw Rose, not only features an anti-hero in Tucker, the bank robber who makes
off with the gold, but an anti-heroine in Rose.
Rose isn’t as straightforward in her
thievery as Tucker and his band of rapscallions, but that doesn’t
mean that her intentions were any more honourable. She’s using her
strengths – smarts and sexuality – to get what she wants, and
she’s not afraid to have a little fun along the way.
When these two lawbreakers get
together, sparks fly in every direction.
Check out the excerpt below, and leave
a comment (with your email address) telling me who your favorite
lovable rogue is! You can probably guess who mine is. ;-) I’ll
chose one commenter at random to win a .pdf copy of Outlaw Rose.
A
branch cracked. Rose crouched down in the shadow of a nearby bush and
hoped her dark dress and the overcast night would be enough to hide
her from view. The footsteps grew nearer and she held her breath. Her
heart pounded so loud in her ears that she was afraid it would lead
him straight to her. She tried to calm down.
It
was quiet. She strained her ears for any sign he was coming closer.
The silence pressed in on her as she squinted through the darkness,
searching for movement. There was nothing but the faint rustle of
nearby leaves in the night breeze. She breathed out a sigh.
He
was gone.
She
sensed the movement a split second before she felt the hand close
over her arm. She fought with all her strength, jerking backwards to
try to break his grip, until the loud, metallic click of a hammer
being drawn back echoed through the night. She froze.
"That’s
better." His voice was a low growl and she felt the steel barrel
of his pistol against her cheek. He lifted her to her toes, bringing
his face down close to hers. She could smell the coffee on his
breath, then his face was close enough to see clearly. His strong jaw
and full lips had been hidden by the mask the day before, but she
remembered his eyes, which registered surprise as he recognised her.
"You! You’re that little snip of a bank teller." He
pressed the gun harder into the soft skin of her face. "What the
hell are you doing sneaking around our camp?"
"I
followed you."
"Why?"
"The
posse took off to the south, thinking you’d head for Mexico. I…"
She hesitated, until the pistol jerked again. "I took a chance."
"Stupid
of you. I can’t let you go now, or you’ll just run to the
sheriff." He twisted, and she realised he was looking around
him. "I don’t like killing women, but you’ve put me in a bad
spot."
"No!"
Her heart pounded in her ears.
"No?"
He leaned over her menacingly. "Do you have another suggestion?
We’ve made plans for that gold, and I don’t plan to let some
pretty little bank teller get me hanged before I get around to
spending it."
"If
you’ll let me live…" Her voice trailed off.
He
gave her a shake, bouncing her off his broad chest, his hand like
steel on her arm.
"I’ll
make it worth your while."
He
froze and she collided with him again. "What?" he said.
She
relaxed against him, trailing a trembling hand across his chest. She
heard him suck in his breath, then jumped when his hand covered hers,
holding it still.
You
can buy Outlaw Rose here:
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=2010
Author
Bio
Celeste
Rupert lives and writes in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Her
fascination with the Old West results in stories set in the rough and
tumble world of the frontier, full of cowboys and outlaws and women
who know exactly what they want and aren’t afraid to go get it.
11 comments:
Hello, Celeste,
Welcome to Beyond Romance, and congratulations on Outlaw Rose.
I'm actually more intrigued by your bad girl heroine (though I don't deny the appeal of the rogue). It's pretty rare to have a romance heroine who's as bad as the hero!
Sounds like a great story, Celeste. Good luck with your release.
I'm with Lisabet. Fun to read about a bad girl! I love "bad guys" too. Desperately.
My favorite rogue has to be Rhett Butler.
normandiealleman (at) yahoo (dot) com
Great excerpt, Celeste. Bad boys and naughty girls, what more could you ask for. Sounds like a great read.
Congratulations on your new release.
H K
Thanks so much for having me Lisabet - and for all your help!!
Rose was a lot of fun to write ... so much so, that I think she might need another story!
Ooo, Rhett Butler, that's a good one!!
I love when the heroine has a little bad in her. Women are encouraged to be 'good girls' way too much. We need to let our naughty side come out to play. Nice excerpt and yummy picture from Firefly. *sigh* I miss that show. Lots of bad girls and guys.
Ooooh sounds good! Love bad boys... Need to add more bad girls to my reading... thanks for sharing the excerpt for Outlaw Rose and congrats on its release! :) Fav rogue... so many great ones out there... I am kinda leaning towards Roarke from NR's In Death series.
greenshamrock AT cox DOT net
Thank You HK!!
I'm actually a very recent Firefly convert - my little bro and I watched the whole series in about 2 days a couple weeks ago. We are retroactively mad that it was cancelled 10 years ago. ;-)
I haven't read the In Death books, but I sure do hear a lot of good things about it. Might have to give it try!
Thanks for playing!
Congratulations on the debut release Celeste. There is something about a bad boy that draws us in. Looking forward to reading more about Rose especially after that excerpt.
Cheers
Donna
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