Friday, November 7, 2014

Paula Quinn's Top 5 Heroes List, excerpt & print giveaway of THE WICKED WAYS OF ALEXANDER KIDD

We're fortunate to have Paula Quinn visiting today.  Enjoy her Top 5 Heroes list & the excerpt from her recent release THE WICKED WAYS OF ALEXANDER KIDD.  Paula is also giving away a signed print copy to one (1) lucky commenter (sorry, U.S. only). Who are your top 5 heroes? Good Luck, y'all!

No author likes picking a favorite of her characters, let alone her top 5. But most of us have them. That special few who hold a special place in our hearts. Here are mine.


1. Callum MacGregor-Callum tore at my heartstrings before I even began writing Laird Of The Mist. He truly believed he was a monster. He lived with dreams of torture, blood, and revenge. There was no place left for love in his heart. There couldn’t be any poorer choice of a heroine for him than a Campbell, niece of his worst enemy. But that’s what made Kate Campbell so perfect. Strong-willed and compassionate, she knew how to go about breaking down Callum’s walls. I loved writing him. I loved writing both of them and watching him find his soul again.

2. Tristan MacGregor-Tristan kept me on my toes while I wrote Seduced By A Highlander. I imagined him as this gorgeous rake who could charm the queen of England to give up her throne. But behind his winsome grins, he had dragons that needed slaying. He worked hard at keeping them at bay, even had me fooled for a while that they didn’t exist. But like any good knight, whether his armor is polished or rusty, Tristan eventually faced his dragons. Watching him conquer them was memorable for me. The fact that he fought them for love and something even bigger, forgiveness, stole my heart.
3. Colin MacGregor-I fell in love with Colin while writing Ravished By A Highlander, where I introduced him as the youngest and boldest of Callum’s sons. His hardened attitude won me over quickly and I found myself anticipating writing his scenes. He made another appearance in his sister’s story, Tamed By A Highlander. He was a little older, a bit more clever and determined to his causes. He grew in every book until he starred in his own in Conquered By A Highlander. I was ready for this brash warrior, born for battle, ready to deceive and destroy the king’s enemies. But Colin was so much more than that., and watching him comfort a three year old from monsters, sealed my heart.

4. Dante Risande-Whew, Dante! He practically wrote Lord of Temptation without me. He’s the only hero I never had a full image of in my mind. He was just big, and sexy as they come, hunk of Norman soldier. He charmed me just like he charmed all the women in his life. There were times while I was writing a scene when I’d pictured him saying or doing something completely out of the ordinary. I didn’t keep those lines, but they were fun. He was fun. Always carefree, always competent and able. Mostly, he was gentle with the slave girl who drove him mad all the way across England.

5. William the Conqueror-Every once in a very rare while in an author’s life will a character come to life fully on the page. Dante may have written his story, but William wrote himself. Every scene. I became a little obsessed with this future king of England in Ravished By A Highlander. I researched every thing there was about him, and discovered a few surprises. William was grand, bigger than his scenes, and he loved it. Flashy and formidable, he turned out to be a good friend and big pussy cat-when he wasn’t killing his enemies, that is.



For your reading pleasure here's an excerpt from Paula's latest THE WICKED WAYS OF ALEXANDER KIDD.  
“Well?” Trina continued as if there had been no interruption. “What do ye intend to do aboot treating me like one of the men?”
He stared at her for an instant, looking like he simply couldn’t believe her audacity. It amused him. “Disobey me again,” he smirked, “and find yarself marooned—just as I would do to one of me crew.”
He moved to enter his cabin. He wasn’t going to win by keeping her away. Not this time. She squeezed past him—hell, everywhere she went she had to squeeze past him and rub up against his solid planes and rigid muscles, thanks to the tight quarters on the ship. It was driving her mad. Now was no different. This time, she didn’t slip away. This time she stopped in the center of him, pressed against him, unable to move, to breathe. She looked up into his dark eyes and felt his heart accelerate against her.
“Disengage yerself from me, Caitrina,” he demanded quietly.
“Nae.” She defied him yet again.
She felt every inch of him tense and tremble against her. She exhaled and felt the quickening of his breath and his shaft hardening against her hip.
She didn’t want to move for the rest of her life, and without thinking she reached her hands up to clasp his shoulders. “I dinna’ mean to continue disobeying ye. ’Tis just that yer demands are impossible to—”
He reacted instantly, lifting her off the floor and into his arms while he slammed his door shut with his foot. He didn’t give her a chance to speak but covered her mouth with complete mastery and barely leashed control. She opened to his curious tongue and cupped his face in one hand. The other traversed the sculpted lines of his shoulder, down his arm, curled tightly now around her back.
Coming up for a breath, she licked his lips. She bit them and he groaned like a beast she should fear. When he bent her back over the crook of his elbow and exposed her throat to his hungry mouth, she knew whatever he wanted to do to her, she would allow.
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9 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for having me, Ivy :) Let's kick this off for our visitors! Commenters, tell me a few of your favorite heroes for a chance to win a signed print copy of The Wicked Ways of Alexander Kidd!

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    1. So glad you could visit, Paula! Thanks for taking the time to stop by. :)

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  2. I enjoy reading your books, Paula :)
    Some of my favorite heroes would be Christine Feehan's Carpathian heroes. There are so many book heroes that it's hard to name just one. I also enjoy old westerns and the big valley and the Virginian are among my faves. I like Trampus (Doug McClure) and Heath (Lee Majors). I think they're great heroes. Rhett Butler is another. The list is really endless :)
    Lori
    lorih824 at yahoo dot com

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    1. Hi Lori, thanks so much for stopping by! I've read a few CF Carpathian novels. I'd have to say Darius (I think his name was) was my favorite out of the ones I read. I've never seen The Virginian, but you're right, the list is endless!

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  3. I always loved the (1) Count of Monte Christo. Read the book when I was a teen and found him to be the ultimate hero even if he did not get the girl in the end (at least in the book by Alexandre Dumas).
    Then I fell in love with (2) Darling Cruel out of the League universe of Sherrilyn Kenyon. He wasn't the first SK character to be my fav but since I read the first league book (not his) and he appeared as a side character I was lost.
    I read my fair share of historical romance novels and within those lots of kilted heros have captured my heart, but one that sticks out for me was (3) Aidan, the Wolf of Awe out of the masters of time series by Brenda Joyce.
    Introduced to romance (on the scale I am reading these books nowadays) was I through (4) Lord Alleyne Bedwyn (Slightly Sinful by Mary Balogh) and even if I have read many books of her since then he has been the one that stayed in my mind and my heart.
    The last of my fav five is (5) Dominic Lachlan Guisachan, eight Earl of Glencrae. Yep I really liked this guy although he had kidnapped his heroines sisters in previous books. He still kept his good heart and he provides the most heart breaking speech while dangling over a cliff to his love, to let him go instead of going over with him. Sigh.

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    1. Hi Fluser, thanks so much for stopping by! My daughter just read The Count of Monte Cristo for college. I've read it but it among my top five movies of all time. I'll have to check out this Dominic Lachlan Guisachan. He sounds like someone very interesting!

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  4. I'm one of those people who fall in love with the hero she is reading about. Right now I'm all about Finn O'Donnell, in Carolyn Brown's Cowboy Boots for Christmas, Cowboy Not Included. He's a retired military man and a cowboy with a soft tender side. Hard to beat that!

    But then again, there are so many to love!

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  5. Congrats, Fluser. You've won a signed print copy The Wicked Ways of Alexander Kidd, provided you live in the U.S. and provide me with your address by 12 am est 11-21-14.
    Thanks for stopping by & hope to see you often.

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  6. Never heard from fluser so random draw winner is Beautiful Disaster. Please check your email & spam, Lori. Send me your address by 12am 11-29-14 so I won't have to draw another winner.
    Hope to see you often!

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