Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Wild Ride to Love

posted by Nancy
Apologies to everyone for the unfortunate glitch that delayed today's blog. I especially hate it because we have a guest. Kathleen O'Reilly returns to the Lair with her latest Blaze release, Just Surrender. I've read the excerpt on her site, and I can't wait to read the book.

Welcome, Kathleen!


The hero and heroine of Just Surrender meet under less than promising circumstances, and then the hero gets an unpleasant surprise. Tell us about that.

Tyler is a surgeon, flying in for a fellowship in NYC, and he ends up in Edie’s cab, which isn’t really Edie’s cab, but she’s helping out a friend. Not being a real cabbie, she’s in it more for the meeting people than for the actual transportation aspects, and deciding that Tyler needs a friend (his girlfriend just broke up with him in a text message), she begins a night-long-trek through NYC and most of the surrounding boroughs, because she doesn’t think he should be alone. Tyler originally wants to just get back to his hotel and sleep, but he’s attracted to Edie, and uh, things move along from there.

What I like about both the hero and the heroine in this book is how similar their core personalities are. Edie wants to fix the entire world, wants to be everyone’s friend, wants to be the person that everyone goes to for help, and she’s got a big enough ego that she thinks she can. However, deep down, she’s scared of a real emotional bond, and so her actions are all very superficial. Tyler is a heart-surgeon. He wants to fix everyone, too, but he doesn’t think he’s capable of a real emotional bond.

Geez dumping a guy with a text message! After that, just as Ty and Edie are getting along so well (not!), something happens that makes his evening even worse . . .

They get a flat. In Brooklyn. In one of the seedier parts of Brooklyn. And it’s raining. Watching a man who needs to control everything stuck in a situation that is out of his control was a ball to write. In my real world, I know and love a lot of control freaks, and I adore when life whacks them upside the head, because… well, they don’t handle it well. I think God does it, on purpose, only because he thinks it’s funny. So do I.

So one thing leads to another leads to a bar. The excerpt on your website ends there. Is it fair to ask where our hero and heroine proceed after that?

Hehehe…. It’s a Blaze. There’s sex.

LOL! Would you like to share an excerpt here?

Tyler examined his mud-splattered shirt, pulling it free from his pants, ready to burn the damn thing. He looked up into the rear-view mirror and met her eyes. “Why are you smiling?”

“You look good in dirt," she told him, and he noticed the dimple on the right cheek, which was completely free of both dirt or guilt.

“You’re not helping.”

“I’m trying to cheer you up." She sounded sincere and completely comfortable. Not painfully aroused. Not wondering what he looked liked naked.

“Get me to my hotel," he growled, too tired for his clinical voice. "That'll cheer me up.”

“Why don’t you like me?”

“Because you feed on people’s pain.”

“I do not," she insisted.

“Then why are you so intrigued by the fact that I got dumped?” It stung. Yes. Stung. Tyler wasn't used to pain. He cured pain. He prescribed meds for pain. He analyzed pain, and monitored pain, but goddamnit, he did not feel it. It wasn’t even Cynthia so much as the idea that he wasn’t good enough. It was a pain he’d stopped felling a long time ago. Or so he thought.

“Aha, I knew I was right," Edie chirped, pouring salt into the wound. "Not that I'm happy you got dumped. Satisfied, yes? I mean, I do like to be right. Especially on matters of reading people. Don’t you like adventures?”

Adventures were the nation’s number one cause of death..

He blamed Cynthia for his foul mood. She had dragged him into this gutter of embarrassing juvenile behavior. Edie had merely pummeled him until he had no choice but to regress. Such asinine justifications cheered him up.

Almost as much as the cheery idea of dirty, bacteria-infected, saliva-swapping sex. Tyler smiled to himself. "Sorry," he apologized politely.

“Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?” she asked, apparently not sensing the darker trend to his thoughts.

“Why?” he asked, stalling for time, because his first answer that leaped to his brain was 'yes.'

“I owe you. You’re doing a nice thing, and you didn’t say a word when I tooled all over the tri-state region. Tonight you've changed a flat, your girlfriend of some indeterminate amount of time dumped you, all of which happened when you should be getting well laid at the hotel. If there’s anybody in the world that needs a drink, it’s you. Maybe a shot of tequila, or ouzo. I know this Greek bar...”

“I don’t want to go to a Greek bar,” he told her, shifting uncomfortably, finding an exposed spring in the seat, feeling it cut into his thigh. Probably severing the femoral artery, thereby letting him bleed out a quick and painless death. Then Cynthia would feel bad. Because she had dumped him in a text message.

“How about an American bar?” Edie suggested, as if all his immediate pains could be solved with alcohol. A bar was a recipe for disaster, but since Tyler had apparently not severed his femoral artery and was going to live, alcohol now seemed almost plausible.

“If I let you buy me a drink, one drink -- will you drive me back to the hotel?” There was a roughness in his voice that worried him. And now he was creating justifications of extraordinary mental dexterity designed solely to further his own penile agenda. Although to be fair, he didn’t want to have a penile agenda. He wanted to get to the hotel, take a shower, climb into bed. He could visualize it all. Unfortunately, his visuals also included Edie. And she was naked. And limber.

“I’ll drive you straight back to the hotel. I swear,” she promised, but Tyler knew when disaster lurked around the corner, when a surgery was doomed before it started. He didn’t like to think these were premonitions, because that implied his subconscious was guiding his decision -- or worse, his penis.

Tonight Cynthia had dumped him. Texas’ #4 cardio-thoracic surgeon with a net worth of over four million, who had saved her father’s life, not once, but three times, not that anyone was counting. If there was a woman in the world who owed him her undying gratitude, it was Cynthia.

So what if he wanted to be a jackass? If he wanted to have a drink? If he wanted to have limber sex with a woman who felt some deep-seated desire to make him feel better? By God, he should. If he wanted to do something wild, spontaneous, and hair-raising, then by God, he had a premeditated right to go for it.

It was because of such elaborate rationalizations that his father had called him Shit-For-Brains Sophocles, but Tyler always shrugged it off. Although now he did wonder if Sophocles ever created meaningless justifications in pursuit of limber sex. Probably not. Probably Sophocles never had shit for brains. Only Tyler.

“One drink. An American bar,” he agreed, resigned to his decision.

“A friend of mine works in a strip club.”

He smiled at her, mud-splattered and grimy with an agenda that was just as black.

To read more, click here.

******

What inner conflicts keep Edie and Ty apart?

In this book, it’s Edie who is running from a relationship. Her father is a world-class surgeon who has neglected his family for his career, although he’s still a very good man. Edie resents her father for putting his family second, but gets mad at herself for resenting all the patients who prevent the man from being a real father to her. Tyler’s journey is much shorter. He thinks that he’s not capable of loving anyone, but then he falls in love with Edie and realizes that he’d never met the right woman for him before.

Can you give us a hint of what ultimately brings them together?

Edie’s father, and I think that’s all I can say without spoilers. ☺


Don't you have a book out in May, too? What's that about?


Okay, so this IS the May book, officially. Amazon has been selling it since the 19th, but last night my local Target still had the April books out. And the Kindle edition goes on sale May 1st. Color me confused. But anyway, sometime soon, this book will be out, (unless you order mass-market from Amazon, in which case you can get it now).

I have Austen Hart’s story in July, JUST LET GO, and then in September of 2011, it’s Brooke Hart’s story, JUST GIVE IN.

After that, what's on your horizon?

I’m waiting to hear from my editor on my next trilogy, so we’ll see. And I’ve been working on a single title contemporary as well. No idea about that one, but crossed fingers are appreciated as well.

For more about Kathleen and her books, visit her website.

Kathleen is giving a signed, personalized copy of Just Surrender to one commenter today. So tell us, what's the strangest cab (or other vehicle) ride you ever took? Have you ever had a day where just everything went wrong? Or a chance encounter with a stranger who became a friend or more?

62 comments:

Kate Carlisle said...

Seriously? I'm first? Me?

Kate Carlisle said...

I got the Bird!!! My first time! Come here, you little golden love nugget, you!

Okay, that was weird. But hey, I'm kind of excited. First time with the rooster. You'd be a little overwhelmed, too.:-)

Where were we? Oh yeah...welcome back to the Lair, Kathleen! OMG, I laughed out loud at your excerpt! This sounds like a fabulous read and I'm going to go order it right now!

Thanks for a fun interview, Nancy!

Nancy said...

Kate, congrats on the bird! I hope you keep him very busy. *g*

RFTC Blog said...

Congrats Kate. He's quite the handful.

Loved the excerpt. The strangest cab ride I've ever took was in Las Vegas. My friends and I decided we wanted to visit a hotel off of the strip. Well the cab driver just kept taking us through all of these weird back roads and near empty parking lots. Then when we would say something he would just shake his head. Then all of a sudden he just stops in this abandoned parking lots and decides to make a bet with us claiming that he can get us to out destination within 3 minutes. I just didn't know what to think. Very weird.

Nancy said...

Danielle, I think a cab ride like that would make me wish I were armed.

Verrrry strange!

So did he get you there?

Kathleen said...

Hello, Kate! You are first! Thank you for the nice welcome and I'm glad you liked the excerpt. It was a fun book to write.

Kate Carlisle said...

OMG, Danielle! I would be checking and double-checking that the door locks were working! I'm glad you were safe.

But now that you mention it, it's amazing how many times I've taken cabs around Vegas where the drivers didn't know where they were going. We've often had to give them directions. I guess if it's not right on the Strip, they don't know about it.

Kathleen said...

Hello, Danielle! Laughing about the Vegas cab ride. Sounds like a bankrupt gambler was driving a cab to settle some debts. :) I think the deserted parking lots would have scared me, though.

I actually got the idea for the book when I was driving on the Grand Central Parkway from JFK. The freeway is THE WORST! Like driving on moon craters. And I saw all those cabs careening across four lanes of traffic, and I felt so sorry for the people in those cabs.

Nancy said...

Kate, you mean cabbie ignorance is a common thing in Las Vegas? That's really so . . . not reassuring!

Carol A. Strickland said...

Don't make me laugh when I'm supposed to be working! (Enjoyed the excerpt very much. Good luck with the book!)

ClaudiaGC said...

Hi Kathleen!
I loved your O'Sullivan books and I definitely want to read your latest, too!
As for the weirdest cab drive...I was living in London for some years and my parents were visiting me. WE did most of our travels on the Underground but they wanted to experience a "real" London cab. So, we got into one and were talking to each other and the driver noticed that we were German and it turned out that he had lived some years in Germany during his time in the army. He was so excited to practise his German that he offered to drive us a bit longer (over an hour! can you believe it?lol) through the city (with taximeter switched off, of course) so we could chat with each other. That was the funniest cab ride I ever had!:)

jo robertson said...

Somehow Kate I don't think that's the first time you've gotten the bird. Just saying... (big grin).

Kathleen - the book sounds fabulous. Love the premise of the first meet. As for the questions...I guess my most memorable cab ride was in Minneapolis. The cab driver didn't know how to get to my motel. Apparently, they only know how to get to the Mall of America - so he took us there. I knew the hotel had a shuttle that left the MOA every two hours, so we got there and waited for the shuttle.
I'm afraid that's not nearly as interesting as Kathleen's cab experience, but all my other cab experiences have been discussions about places to go.

Yes, have had days when everything goes wrong - but I can't think of a single one at the moment.

jo robertson said...

Danielle - And you had to pay for this cab ride? I think I would have written down his name and number from the cab license info. Glad you survived in good spirits.

Jenn3128 said...

No cab experience for me, but I am a horrible passenger in any vehicle. I always assume I know where I'm going (even if I don't) and will yell out which direction the driver should be going. Even if I'm wrong, people tend to believe me!

I'm going to go read more now, love the excerpt!

Beth Andrews said...

Welcome back to the lair, Kathleen! Loved the excerpt and can't wait to read more of Just Surrender :-)

No strange cab rides although the past six months teaching my daughter to drive had some interesting moments *g*

Kathleen said...

Thank you, Carol. That's my goal. To make everybody laugh at work. ;)

Kathleen said...

Hello, Claudia.

I'm glad you enjoyed the O'Sullivan brothers. I enjoyed them myself. :)

The German-speaking cabbie sounds like a great guy. I love those old London cabs with the jump seats. I haven't been in a London cab in a long time, so I don't even know if they still have them, but I always felt like such a "lay-die" when I rode in one.

Kathleen said...

Jo, Getting dropped off at Mall of America? That is too funny! Sometimes when you find someone who is so OBVIOUSLY in the wrong profession, you want to take them aside, and say, "sweetie, we need to talk about this career choice."

Kathleen said...

Oh, Jenn, you sound just like my Dad. Although he doesn't yell. :)

jo robertson said...

Hi, Kathleen, welcome to the Lair. I love the sound of Tyler, which happens to be my middle son's name.

Great excerpt!

jo robertson said...

Kate, I can't believe that's your first time getting the rooster! Yay!

Nancy said...

Carol, thanks for stopping in!

Nancy said...

ClaudiaGC, what a wonderful coincidence with the London cab driver.

I imagine it must've been great fun. I was going through Customs in Germany once, with all of us sort of melding from a mob into a line, and the guy next to me gestured that I should go ahead of him. I thanked him, and he said, "An American! Good to see you." We chatted down the line. After a an airline ride where all announcements were in French or German, he was a welcome sight.

Of course, we Americans tend to put everything in English and just expect people to deal. *sigh*

Nancy said...

Jo, there are clearly more weirdly incompetent cab drivers in the world than I suspected.

We were in a NY cab and directed the driver to "The Westin at Times Square." His response--"where's that?"

The confirmations, bearing the hotel address, were in our suitcases. In the trunk. It was 11 pm, and I ended up calling Eilis Flynn and asking her to look up the hotel on the net and give me the address. While my cell phone bars, already low, dwindled. But she came through for us.

That was a lesson. Carry the confirmation on your person. Always.

Jane said...

Congrats on the GR, Kate.

Hi Kathleen,
Luckily I've never had any strange or scary taxi rides. I have been in cabs where the driver swerves in and out lanes jockeying for position.

Nancy said...

Jenn3128, my dh is a horrible passenger, too. He doesn't offer assistance so much as he repeatedly offers to drive. He's bored in the passenger seat, and reading gives in the car makes him sick. I can read anywhere, though.

So he drives, I navigate, and we remain married. *g*

Nancy said...

Beth, having taught the boy to drive, I can relate!

Nancy said...

Hi, Jane--The swerving and jockeying can be a bit unnerving. I always tense up as we go over the bridge and into Manhattan, where the worst swerving and jockeying seem to occur.

Nancy said...

Kathleen, I haven't been in a London cab in a long time, either. I keep hoping to rectify that, but schedules or money keep getting in the way!

Nancy said...

Just BTW, congratulations to our own Kate Carlisle for her National Readers Choice Award nomination--for Sweet Surrender, Baby Surprise.

SheriV said...

I recently went to a midnight release of a video game. And I started off as the only girl there but when another woman showed up we ended up spending the evening together and are now friends. So I guess my need for a video game that couldn't wait until morning got me another friend. Yay for being the only girl there.

smurfettev@gmail.com

Nancy said...

SheriV, what a great way to meet someone! When I got into comic book fandom, women were rarer than we are now. I made several friends in fandom.

Unknown said...

Hi Kathleen ~ I loved the excerpt.

Have fun with the rooster Kate.

My most interesting cab rides took place in Athens and environs. My husband and I were attending a convention and along with another couple we rented a cab for the day for a flat rate. We told the driver to take us sight seeing which he did. Enjoyed it tremendously as he gave us lots of local information. He took us south of Athens to Sounion. Finally dropped us off at a restaurant.

Later we were in a cab with a non English speaking cab driver The lady with us asked if he spoke German and he did. So we were in a cab in Athens with a Turkish driver who communicated with a Canadian lady in German. How that for going international?

Helen said...

Well done Kate have fun with him

Kathleen

This book sounds so good loved the excerpt.
I don't catch cabs much at all so I don't have any strange tales to tell, I usually drive myself or hubby does LOL.

Have Fun
Helen

Nancy said...

Kaelee, sightseeing for a flat rate sounds like a great deal. So does your cosmopolitan cab linkup.

Nancy said...

Hi, Helen--I don't spend much time in cabs, either. Only when I travel, and that's not as often as I'd like.

Kate Carlisle said...

Jo!!! Bwahahahahahahahaha!! Dang, I almost lost my coffee on that one!

Yes, yes, okay. I suppose I've gotten the bird once or twice before in my life, come to think of it. LOLOL

Kathleen said...

Hello Beth! I have a daughter who is learning to drive right now as well. I feel your pain. :)

Kathleen said...

Hello, Jane! I wish you many non-scary cab rides in the future. :)

Kathleen said...

Nancy, count me in on the horrible-passenger-dh club. I usually navigate (usually creatively), but we've done some long trips and after ten hours, I put my foot down and tell him to take a break. He hasn't argued yet, but it does take ten hours to get to that point. ;)

Kathleen said...

Nancy, would love to go back to London, especially this Friday.

Kathleen said...

Oh, Kate!!! Congratulations on the Readers Choice nod!! Excellent news!

Nancy said...

Kathleen, ten hours doesn't do it in our car. *sigh*

Re: Friday--Anna Sugden is organizing a neighborhood party. I gather it has been a big job.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kathleen! Hi Nancy!

Love the meeting in a cab premise. :)

Years ago, I was on an exchange program in Taipei. My friends and I were in a taxi stuck in a traffic circle nightmare. Another cab bumped ours. Words exchanged. Our driver pops open the glove compartment. Removes lethal-looking hatchet and goes after the other driver. We tossed some money on the driver's seat and ran screaming.

DH and I were waiting for the car service to take us to JFK. The car is running late...car shows up and we load our luggage in..then I notice the flat tire. Driver doesn't know how to change a flat. (geez!) My husband changed the flat. Driver embarrassed. Wouldn't accept tip. Barely made our flight.:)
Congrats on the GR, Kate!

Pink P.

June M. said...

My wildest ride would probably be when I wrecked...and flipped the car end over end! I still remember the song playing, Areosmith's version of COME TOGETHER, and will NOT listen to it in a vehicle!

Anna Campbell said...

Kate!!!! I think you'll have to wear a nametag so he knows who you are, it's been so long since you caught the bird. Wow, and now I see it's your first time. You are no longer a rooster virgin. Snicker!

Anna Campbell said...

OK, I'm late to the party. I've got a book out today (yeah, I know, but it had to be said!) and I've been all over the universe. But how could I miss the visit of one of my all-time favorite writers to the lair? KATHLEEN!!!!!!! Oh, take me home again, Kathleen... Yeah, fan girl squees all round. Kate, I've read Jsut Surrender and it's your fabulous mixture of wit and emotion and passion and just bloomin' great writing. LOVED it! If you girls haven't read a Kathleen O'Reilly, you're missing out big time! She's one of the best out there right now. I've been hooked ever since reading her Sullivan Brothers trilogy which made me laugh and cry and do other things you can't mention on a G-rated blog like this one. I think my favorite of yours, Kathleen, is HOT SUMMER NIGHTS which features a cranky and extremely attractive writer who's a recluse as the hero. Yum, yum, yum!!! Congratulations on the new release!!!!

Nancy said...

Jennifer, retreat was definitely the better part of valor in Taipei! What a . . . novel approach your driver took to traffic problems.

Nancy said...

June, wow! I wouldn't have guessed being in a car that flipped end over end would be survivable.

I'd like to see the Mythbusters play with that one,

Nancy said...

Anna, congrats on your new release! I can't wait to read it.

I also loved Hot Summer Nights.

Kathleen said...

Hi, SheriV, thanks for stopping by! OK, have to ask, do you watch the Big Bang Theory? One of my families favorites (we're all total geeks) and it sounded just like one of the episodes!

I was in line with my son for Assassin's Creed, some edition, and it was quite interesting. It is these little slice of life moments that give me plot ideas. ;)

Kathleen said...

Kaelee,

Thanks so much for the nice words. Athens, aye? Sounds like a great time and a very nice set of cabbies. You won't find that in NY. ;)

Kathleen said...

Hi, Helen,

Glad you enjoyed the excerpt. From the comments here, it sounds like a cab-free existence is a good thing -- except in Athens and London.

Kathleen said...

Hi, Jennifer.

A HATCHET??? A HATCHET??? OMG. I will now never take a cab in Takei.

LOL about the flat tire in the cab. It's always on the way there (when time is killer) and never on the way home, is it?

Kathleen said...

Oh,June --
what a horrible thing! And Aerosmith! I am an AC/DC girl myself, but if I was in flipped car with Hell's Bell's playing, I don't think they'd do it for me anymore, either.

Kathleen said...

Anna!

I have Midnight's Wild Passion on my Kindle, and have a late night planned this evening!

Kathleen said...

And Anna,

Thank you as always for the nice words. You're such a great advocate for the genre and always so generous, and ... oh, heck, NOW the words are failing me. ;)

Anna Campbell said...

Thanks, Kathleen and Nancy. Big day in Campbellandia today! ;-) Kathleen, how cool you've already got MWP!

Kathleen said...

Heheheh, Anna... Preorders are my friend. ;)

Nancy said...

Kathleen, the boy has introduced me to Big Bang Theory. We watched the time machine episode last night.

Kathleen said...

Nancy, we all love the BBT. Jacquie D'Allessandro got me started on it, and oh, man, I have worked with some of these people. You need to find the episode where they dress up like superheros for a comic store party. only a true geek understands the humor.

Nancy said...

Kathleen, I have known several people of the BBT sort--including one who was out of work and facing eviction and so sold his blood, the proceeds of which he applied not to rent but to the admission fee for a comic book convention.

Truly.