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Hi, and thanks for
having me on the blog today!
For those of you who
don’t know me, I’m Amber Lin, author of Giving It Up, which RT Book Reviews
gave 4.5 stars and called “at once, scary and sexy in all the best ways.” I’m
here to share my new release, Selling Out, featuring a high class call girl and
a by-the-book detective with the Chicago Police Department.
Today I’m going to talk
about my favorite type of character….
On the one hand, I have
always been drawn to dark topics. Gritty, raw realism. Pain, abuse, heartache.
Prostitution, crime, and penury. I want to hear stories about these things, to
sink my teeth into them.
I want to write these
stories.
But I also write
romance, which always has a happy ending. It’s sort of a safety net: go as dark
and deep as you want, but know that I will catch you when you fall. When you
fall, not if you fall, because every story has its dark moment, it’s loss.
Every story gives you what you want, the justice, the hero, and then snatches
it away.
Characters need to earn
it.
My favorite type of
character is the one who claws her way out of the ditch where life has thrown
her, who fights her way past the people who would subdue her. I want to see her
fight.
And I want to see her
win.
Shelly is the heroine is
Selling Out. She’s a prostitute with abuse in her past. That’s not a rare story
in life, sadly, though it’s hard to find in the world of romance novels. What I
love about Shelly is that she faces the repercussions of that abuse and her
life as an escort with grace and humor and an inherent human kindness that
refuses to be buried.
I want to see her fight
and win. I want to see her try and fail. And then succeed. I fell in love with
my heroine, and then had to build a hero worthy of her. One who fit the usual
bill: handsome, smart, strong, loyal. All nice and fine qualities, but my love
for Shelly was great. She needed someone her equal. Who would not forgive her past, but would truly
understand it and help her heal. And so came Luke.
Thanks for having me,
Erzabet!
“Amber
Lin drew me in with Giving It Up and became an auto-buy author with Selling
Out. There is a uniqueness to her writing and her characters that will always
make her stand out for me.”
—Swept Away by Romance
—Swept Away by Romance
“This
story is emotional, dark, erotic, suspenseful, traumatic and raw. It will have
your heart hurting yet you will laugh plenty too. I can highly recommend this
series.”
—TotallyBookedBlog
—TotallyBookedBlog
“Emotional,
angsty, and just enough suspense to keep you hooked to the very end.”
—SmexyBooks
—SmexyBooks
Shelly Laurent escapes her life as a high-class escort, but against her better judgment she takes the scared young Ella with her. Framed for murder by her pimp and his dirty cops in retaliation, Shelly turns to the one man who could be her salvation: Detective Luke Cameron. She doesn’t know if she can trust him or if he’s just a mirage, but it's time for her to take a stand. Just one shot, make it count, she’ll fight Ella’s demons—and face her own.
Shelly throws light on the shadows of Chicago’s underworld, challenging everything she knew and the man she’s come to love. Together, a prostitute and a cop fight for truth stronger than secrets, hope deeper than deception, and a bond more enduring than betrayal.
Shelly throws light on the shadows of Chicago’s underworld, challenging everything she knew and the man she’s come to love. Together, a prostitute and a cop fight for truth stronger than secrets, hope deeper than deception, and a bond more enduring than betrayal.
Amazon
EXCERPT
“Shh,” I murmured, stroking his back.
“Shelly, goddammit.”
But his protests fell away as I pressed my breasts to his arm and my tongue to his ear. His harsh inhalation sounded broken, shattered, or maybe that was me.
I tasted salt and man, earth and spring. Slow licks alongside his lobe and upward, more suggestive than sensation, but for a man like this, anticipation would be everything. Or so I had imagined, all the times I had dreamed of it.
A small sound escaped him, somewhere between a grunt and groan. I took it as encouragement and smoothed my hands along the hard planes of his shoulders, his chest. Not anywhere near the bulge in his jeans, because this wasn’t about pleasure—it was about wanting.
Anything to get closer, I let my knees slide apart around his side, the faint heat of his body a shock to my core. His hands clenched and opened on his knees, and again, the muscles rippled beneath his darkly tanned skin. Was he restraining himself from touching me or pushing me off?
“Baby, no,” he groaned, letting his head fall back onto my shoulder.
No, I would never deserve to have him as more than a sex partner. And he had never fucked me, though I knew he wanted to. Every time he saw me, his eyes would darken and my stomach would bottom out, but we’d never touch. But maybe for one brief inconvenient moment, while the door was open and the young woman beyond it needed help, we could pretend. Maybe it could be enough.
I shut my eyes tightly and pressed a kiss to his temple. Pretend, just pretend. I would give him the sex he had craved, and in return, he’d give me memories. It would be a payment, just the same.
“You want this,” I whispered.
He shuddered in my arms; it was like hugging a wild animal, one who could just as easily maul me as cuddle.
“Can I touch you?” he whispered. “Please.”
It unraveled me, that plea. As if he understood that a little bit of my soul slipped away every time someone touched me. As if he would cherish the part I gave him.
I scrambled away from him as if burned, breathing hard. No.
No one understood, which was exactly the way I liked it. I ran a shaking hand over my face to smooth away the panic.
Sure, he knew the score better than most people. He had worked the beat as a patrol cop and then as a detective. Life as a high-priced escort wasn’t glamorous; it was sweat and blood sprinkled with glitter. But he didn’t know the full extent, and I prayed he never would. Henri didn’t sell bodies; he gutted them.
I panted against the headboard, unable to walk away but unwilling to beg. Luke remained carved in stone where I’d left him sitting on the edge of the bed. The air pulsed with doubt and longing—with sex.
“I want it to be real between us.” He spoke low and hoarse.
A quiet sound escaped me. Every caress, every pinch. Every slur ever spoken. “It’s always real. That’s the problem, Luke. It’s always too damn real.”
He hung his head, and I thought for a moment I heard him say I know, but the moment slipped away, the sweet intimacy sailed away like clouds on the horizon—never really mine.
Amber Lin's Bio:
Amber Lin writes erotic romance with damaged souls and deep emotion.
Her debut novel Giving It Up (Loose Id, 9781611188431) received The Romance Review’s Top Pick, Night Owl Top Pick, and 5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies. RT Book Reviews gave it 4.5 stars, calling it “truly extraordinary.” The sequel is slated for release in early 2013. Her small town romance will be published by Carina Press in Fall 2013. She is represented by Jewelann Cone of the Cascade Literary Agency.
Amber married her high school sweetheart, birthed a kid who’s smarter than she is, and spends her nights writing down her dirty thoughts. In other words, life is good.
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