Broken Bonds
by Karen Harper
Book Description:
by Karen Harper
Book Description:
Three
very different sisters…
Three desirable, dangerous men…
Three endangered lives…
THE COLD CREEK TRILOGY is set in Appalachia in
a small town where the enemy is us.
Three desirable, dangerous men…
Three endangered lives…
THE COLD CREEK TRILOGY is set in Appalachia in
a small town where the enemy is us.
Haunted by the past…
Cold Creek is a place with a dark history, especially for
the Lockwoods. Now adults, the three Lockwood sisters are still recovering from
the events that led to the destruction of their family when they were children.
Determined to move forward, Tess and Kate are making fresh starts, ready to put
bad—even deadly—memories to rest and settle happily in the small but booming
town. And they're hoping their older sister, Charlene, can do the same.
Char is back in town seeking comfort as she figures out her next move. A social worker used to difficult situations, she soon runs afoul of some locals who think she's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. She's certain something sinister is being covered up, and when she witnesses Matt Rowan being run off the road, she knows she's right.
Working together, Matt and Char figure uncovering the truth will be dangerous, but living in Cold Creek won't be safe for any of them until its secrets are revealed.
Char is back in town seeking comfort as she figures out her next move. A social worker used to difficult situations, she soon runs afoul of some locals who think she's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. She's certain something sinister is being covered up, and when she witnesses Matt Rowan being run off the road, she knows she's right.
Working together, Matt and Char figure uncovering the truth will be dangerous, but living in Cold Creek won't be safe for any of them until its secrets are revealed.
Buy Links:
Author Interview
1. Who are your
favourite authors of all time?
Charlotte Bronte, I love
her characters in JANE EYRE. Shakespeare, I taught
his plays for years and I wrote a book about the love of his life (not his
wife!) in MISTRESS SHAKESPEARE. And King David from
the BIBLE because I love the beautiful, inspiring poetry in The Book of
Psalms. No matter what I write about, it seems there’s always
a quote from Psalms that perfectly ties in to the good or evil I write
about in my rom/sus novels.
2. If you could travel
in a time machine would you go back to the past or into the
future?
Great question!
I would go back into the past to the Elizabethan era. (If I
could choose the place too—Merrie Olde England). I admire Queen Elizabeth I and
have written several novels about her life and times, THE QUEEN’S GOVERNESS and
a 9-part mystery series, THE QUEEN ELIZABETH I MYSTERIES. I admire
her because in an age where men ruled, she went it alone after coming out of a
very dysfunctional family, to say the least. (What could be worse than her
father having her mother beheaded?) It’s admirable when modern
women can be bold and go it alone in the face of terrible circumstances, but
Queen Bess did it four centuries ago.
3. If you could have a
signed copy of any novel what would it be and why?
I’ve always admired GONE
WITH THE WIND, although parts of it are so dated now. I wonder how
much a Margaret Mitchell signature would cost? I knew someone who
once worked with MM at The Atlanta Constitution. This lady told me the men at the newspaper used to
tease MM because she kept her notes for her novel on “recipe cards,” as if she
was going to cook up a book. But MM put them in their place when
she used those cards to write GWTW! I’ll bet they were
envious when all the movie stars came to Atlanta
for the movie premier too, and they had to cover the event.
4. If you could invite
any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?
Charlotte Bronte, since I
love her characters in JANE EYRE (See question #1 above.)
Shakespeare. Ben Franklin. Thomas
Jefferson. President Eisenhower. (I actually met him
in 1965 when he visited Ohio
University in Athens,
Ohio and I was one of the student hostesses for his
speaking event. But I’d like to know from him how he managed to
get many different European leaders to work together against the Nazis in World
War II. My father, who was a pilot in WW II, admired
Eisenhower. I think “Ike” covered my question in his large book
WAGING PEACE, but I’ve never had time to read it. Love the title,
though. Titles are important.)
5. Have any hidden
talents you would like to share?
I talk to my
plants. Call me crazy, but honestly I think my African violets
grow much better with that kind of tender loving care as well as with plant
food.
6. Do the words come
easily most of the time? How do you unblock your writer’s block?
Unless I’m upset by
something in “real life,” the words usually flow well. When my
father died years ago, I couldn’t write for a while, but I figured that was
OK. Sadly, he died just before my first book came out.
He was a great reader, so I always felt bad he didn’t see me in
print. I still have his collection of Charles Dickens novels that
meant a lot to him.
7. Which
character is your favorite and why?
I always am partial to my
heroines, in BROKEN BONDS, Char Lockwood, a very independent-minded social
worker with a soft spot for Appalachian children. I find it intriguing to live
inside the characters’ heads to learn what makes them tick. Of course, finding
the perfect man for my heroines is a challenge.
Also, writing about small
towns means secondary characters who are quite eccentric—and some who are
dangerous, even possibly a killer or kidnapper. The sad thing about crimes in
small towns is the enemy is often ‘us,’ that is, someone related or familiar,
and that brings in treachery and betrayal. When everyone pretty much knows
everyone, crimes are often not impersonal.
8. When it comes to
writing, what are your strong points? What are your weaknesses?
I think (I hope!) my
strong points are conveying each character’s emotion and motives.
I always have a tough time deciding whether to put the book into
1st person (the main character or characters use the “I” point of
view) or 3rd person where a sort of outside, invisible narrator tells
the story but still allows the readers to get inside the main hero and heroine’s
heart and head. I work very hard to make “my people” come alive
through action, dialogue—and their inner thoughts.
Also I love to use setting
that come alive for the reader. My new COLD CREEK TRILOGY is set on the edge of
Appalachia, and that’s given me so many romantic and scary
settings: mountain cliffs, abandoned coal mines, old barns, and a
small town where it is really dark at night.
My main weakness/problem
is making sure the middle (the muddle!) of the book doesn’t sag.
I’m juggling so many characters by then, I need to have something very
exciting happen to spur the reader on. I work hard at
that.
9. What type of books
do you enjoy reading?
I must admit I usually
binge read fiction between writing my own books. While I’m
writing, my reading is often for background research. For example,
for BROKEN BONDS, I had to study up on poverty in Appalachia (sadly, it still exists); fracking (because one of
the possible villains is into that). For book #1 in the trilogy I
read up on childhood trauma and small town sheriffs. For book #2,
FORBIDDEN GROUND, I studied ancient, Indian mounds, their burial customs and
artifacts. I also try to keep up with newspapers to get ideas for
scary situations I could use.
If I even tried to keep
read up-to-date books by my author friends, I’d probably never have time to
write! I love biographies and memoirs too, often historical
ones. I recently finished a book called FOUR SISTERS by Helen
Rappaport, the story of the last Russian czar’s family.
Fascinating young women with luxurious lives caught up in a terrible
time.
10. How long does it
take you to write a book?
If I have all the research
completed for a romantic/suspense, it takes me about 4 - 5 months.
Then I try to let it “rest” and go back through it. My
editor reads it and may ask for revisions. I read it again after
the copy editor has gone over it for small errors. But the truth
is, most of my books are inspired, puzzled out and maybe even researched way
ahead of when I write—at least the basics. I know it’s time to
actually start writing when I hear the hero and heroine start talking to each
other—sometimes arguing, though I know they will eventually fall in love.
(No I am not crazy to hear voices; most fiction writers do!)
Then the fun is to see the characters try to take over the
story.
Discuss this book at PUYB
Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
Other books in the
trilogy include:
Shattered
Secrets:
“Harper,
a master of suspense, keeps readers guessing about crime and love until the
very end.” --Booklist, starred review on Fall from Pride.
ISBN-13:
9780778316473
Publisher:
Harlequin
Imprint:
MIRA
Publication
date: 8/26/2014
Series:
Cold Creek Series , #1
Format:
Mass Market Paperback
Pages:
400
Buy Links:
Forbidden
Ground:
“Masterfully
drawing the reader in, Harper has delivered the best, once again.” --Suspense
Magazine on Upon a Winter’s Night.
ISBN-13:
9780778316701
Publisher:
Harlequin
Imprint:
MIRA
Publication
date: 10/28/2014
Series:
Cold Creek Series , #2
Format:
Mass Market Paperback
Pages:
352
Buy Links:
About the Author
A New York Times and USA Today
bestselling author, Karen Harper is a former college English instructor (The
Ohio State University) and high school literature and writing teacher. A
lifelong Ohioan, Karen and her husband Don divide their time between the
midwest and the southeast, both locations she has used in her books. Besides
her American settings, Karen loves the British Isles, where her Scottish and
English roots run deep, and where she has set many of her historical Tudor-era mysteries
and her historical novels about real and dynamic British women. Karen's books
have been published in many foreign languages and she won the Mary Higgins
Clark Award for 2005. Karen has given numerous talks to readers and writers
across the county.
For More Information
***GIVEAWAY***
Blog Tour Organised by:
No comments:
Post a Comment