Deadly Pursuits Back to Blog
Update: The winner of STRONGER THAN SIN is…Jolene Allcock. Congrats, Jolene!
First of all I want to thank Cynthia for letting me share some time on her blog! I’m Caridad Pineiro and I write paranormal romance and romantic suspense and a blend of the two. Cynthia and I are part of the Dangerous Women Writers and it’s a pleasure to be able to know such a warm, loving, giving and talented woman! But as you may know, Cynthia has a dark side that comes out in her wickedly wonderful novels and that’s what we’re here to start celebrating as she counts down to the launch of DEADLY HEAT with this MY DEADLY VALENTINE blog special.
What is it as readers and writers that makes us love that dark side? That makes us our characters undertake oftentimes deadly pursuits?
Call me a sucker for true love, but to me that is a prize that is definitely worth pursuing no matter the cost. I take that maxim to heart as a writer and think of all kinds of ways to torture my hero and heroine as they travel the treacherous path to Happily-Ever-After land. Somehow surviving against all those insurmountable odds makes the reward at the end sweeter, doesn’t it?
I think readers respond to that journey on which we take them, experiencing the lows when it seems as if everything will be lost and the highs as the hero and heroine somehow triumph over every baddie and obstacle in order to finally be able to declare their love.
And I love creating what I hope are some memorable baddies.
In AZTEC GOLD, the villainess is an ancient Aztec demi-goddess who can only be killed by something as black as her own heart. The demi-goddess has been terrorizing the Mexican jungle surrounding her temple for centuries until she’s confronted by the hero and heroine as they try to rescue their friends and find true love along the way.
In STRONGER THAN SIN, the villains are human and yet much scarier. Somehow dealing with people who don’t have a care for life is much more difficult to handle than monsters who don’t know any better. In this case, it’s a black ops group taking advantage of a hero who has been genetically engineered to have super-strength, but who is slowly turning to bone.
Deadly pursuits. In each of them, the hero and heroine will risk life and limb for each other and for the loved ones around them. We will cry and our hearts will clench as they seem to fail. We will cheer and be uplifted as love ultimately triumphs over evil and we have our Happily-Ever-After.
Sometimes people ask me why I like being a writer and I think the answer is simple: I love being able to write stories where love makes all things possible. Even if it takes leaving a pile of bodies along the way.
Thanks so much again for having me here, Cynthia! Thanks to all of you for dropping by. Now that you know a little more about what makes me tick and what I love in stories, what do you love? What really makes you bite your nails? What brings you the most joy at the end of the book?
I’d love to know.
Thanks so much to Caridad for coming by! I’ll pick one lucky commenter to receive a copy of Caridad’s wonderful book, STRONGER THAN SIN (I’ll ship it to the winner via Amazon.com).
Tweet It
[…] me for a discussion of Deadly Pursuits at Cynthia’s Eden’s My Deadly Valentine blog tour! Then also join me at Ester Lopez’s wonderful blog where a chat about writing and STRONGER […]
I love good writing, but that’s not enough. A book needs great characters who spring to life and make me want to spend a few hours of my life with them. And a great villain is part of that. And I do like a fast-moving plot. I feel joy just thinking about it.
Hi, Caridad!! Thanks so much for visiting! And I have to say, I LOVED STRONGER THAN SIN. Excellent book!!
Thank you all for dropping by! I appreciate it. I’m counting down the minutes to be able to read DEADLY HEAT. Congrats on the new release.
Hey Caridad! I love the suspense elements of a story but I also like a heroine and hero that I can root for. I hate books where there’s no one likeable. I’ve recently read a couple and since I’m one of those people that have to finish what I start, I’m looking for a hero!! Your book sounds awesome!
I love a book that I can fall in too when I am reading and after reading. What make me bite my nails is suspends bc I love turning the page till I finish the book. I do love a nie happy ever after book, but I do like cliff hanging for the end bc it make me want to read more of the series. Carded I love ur book and I can not wait to read stronger than sin.
Likeable is a major requirement for me as well. I need to love the H/H and feel like they are almost real people. When I wrote SINS OF THE FLESH, Mick, Cat and Liliana were so alive for me, I knew I had to write some more about them in later books.
I love a good book, that sucks me in where I can’t put it down, keeps me on the edge of my seat with excitement and suspense, keeps my emotions swinging throughout the book, and an ending that make me say ahhh! and of course I would love to win Stronger than Sin!
I appreciate books that have really strong heroines. Needy, clingy women are a sure fire buzzkill for me.
I love my books to be full of realism. If the horror or fight doesn’t ring true in my mind I give up. Must say Cynthia has it down. I haven’t read you yet but I do have a copy of Stronger Than Sin. From all the reviews I’ve read you won’t disappoint me.
Hi Caridad! I have say I really love the books that make me laugh and make cry. Of course the nail biters are always goo too! I have to be able to connect or at least like the main characters to enjoy the book. If I dont like them then most likely I’m not gonna enjoy the book.
Have a wonderful day!!!
Hi Caridad and Cynthia! You are both on my top authors list! Lets see, I do a lot of nail biting when a hero or heroine is lying to the other, it just gets my anxiety levels up for when the truth comes out. And as for what brings me most joy? The epilogue, I adore having a little five or six pages on how things are going months or years later!
I love it when the hero/heroine is someone ur not sure you like at first but they have redeemable qualitys and in the end ur cheering for them
Meandi09@yahoo.com
the most joy at the end of the book is for me to know that the characters had a great time and found what they were searching for!!
thanks so much for your post 🙂
greetings, Melanie
The journey and interactions between the characters to get to their HEA is what I enjoy most about reading… when I put a book down and leave with a smile, I know I read a great book! 😀
Great post. I totally agree with you about love making all things possible. I can’t wait to read this book. Looks so good.
Thank you all for sharing what you love! I so agree with all of them. In the SINS series, each book has a little cliffhanger at the end, kind of giving you a clue as to what will happen in the next book. It’s a tease, I know, but sometimes I wish I could just keep on writing them without stopping. LOL!
In my opinion, a good book drags me into the story. The characters captivate me from the bigining and I fall in love with them. The plot has me furiously turning the pages. The sexual tension slowly starts and builds up into an aching need for the characters and the reader…until all are satisfied with a sensually emtional sex scene. sigh.
Valerie
in Germany
Well, I love angst in romance. Like, LOVE it!!! Of course, it MUST conclude with an HEA. So as long as angst, or any suspenseful situation leads to a happy ending, it should satisfy me 🙂
What I love at the end of the story is also the HEA 🙂 I can’t read a book/watch a movie without one!
First I must say I LOVE every book you write Cynthia. You are an amazing author. I just started reading Caridad Pinero and I must say she is great too. I have not gotten her new book Stronger than Sin yet but it is next on my list. If I dont win it, I will definitley be picking it up on my trip to Borders on the 25th to get all the new releases.
Thanks for having Caridad in to share her thoughts & books
with us. The end of the story has to have a “happy ever
after” for me to be happy with the book!
Pat Cochran
Wow, what a treat today! Two of my favorite writers in one post! A big hello to Cynthia and Caridad! What I really love in a good book is a story that grabs my attention. Characters that make me care about what happens to them. Also a happy ending, or at least working towards one, as happens in some series if it is on going.
Hi, Caridad! What I like in a story is good characters that I care about and a satisfying ending. Character growth is also important; the characters should grow throughout the book.
First off I have to say that I love a good bad boy. That is what I am most drawn too, give me a guy who is down on his luck and struggling and has some inner turmoil. Someone who has erected several emotional walls and is somewhat standoffish and maybe a little self centered. Finding a character like that and then watching the heroine walk into his life and throw everything into chaos and watch him struggle with his feelings as she slowly breaks those walls down. It’s emotional to watch and brings me into the story. I also love a story that is full of angst and emotion, I want to laugh, cry and feel a connection with the characters and go through the ups and downs as they are going through it. Those are the stories that once I put the book down and am done reading it, those characters are still in the back of my mind
I love books that takes me away and just can’t put down! Nothing is better!!
I enjoyed the blog Caridad! having great characters good and bad, a believable plot, a romantic ending, that makes a good story.
Hey Caridad! Great to see you here. and I love your books!
I love books that take me to there world and see what is happening to the character. I love ur books so much.
First of all, i haven’t read any of your books. so this will be a great chance for me to start ! (please pick me 🙂
I love books that can make wanting more. Mysteries to solve, Romance with HEA.