by Michele de Winton
Felicity Williams can't remember the last five years thanks to an accident that wiped out her memory. She fled her old life in hopes of starting fresh and found refuge working on a cruise ship. But her past is coming for her…
Rick McCarthy wakes after a climbing accident to discover that his business partner and fiancée has quit her job and disappeared. He’s trying to accept that she’s run out on him, but now he needs her signature to close a deal that could literally be life or death. He’ll go to any extreme to get what he needs…even if that means becoming someone else to win her back.
But a little lie becomes a large mess when they’re stranded on a deserted island together, and old misunderstandings might ruin their chance at new love…
From page 38 –
Maybe I missed one of your attributes,” Felicity said. “You’re driven, focused, but hate women?”
Rick snorted. “Hate is a pretty strong word.”
“Don’t trust us, then?”
Too bloody right. “Who would? It’s all I love you, until something better comes along and then you’re off.” Rick would have stuck his hand in his mouth to get his foot out if it wouldn’t have made things worse. What’s wrong with you? You still don’t know the full story about Novotech. Chill.
“Phew. Lucky we decided to not talk about anything personal.”
Goddamn her for being so smart and—he looked for the word—sassy. It was as if she saw through him and refused to be put on the spot. This was not the Felicity he knew. Rick felt his shoulders hunching. Maybe she’d been playing him all along. Maybe this was the real her and the woman he’d worked with, dated and bedded, was her colder secret twin. Good one. “Any reason I should trust you in particular?”
“Probably not.” Felicity leaned forward and pulled half a lobster tail onto her plate. “I’d be very wary of me. If you’re not careful I’ll eat all this and you’ll have to go crying to the captain.”
Damn. She almost made him smile again. This was not going to plan at all. If he wanted to unravel this as quickly and cleanly as possible, he needed to be completely in control.
Rick stopped talking and focused on the food. She was too good. If he told her flat out who he was, who they were, she could either deny it outright or make some joke of it before she scrambled off to sell her soul to his competitors. At least at the moment she was contained in the middle of the Pacific with nowhere to go. Contained and—if that ass of a captain was as good as his word—at Rick’s beck and call for as long as he wanted.
She looked at him and shrugged before tucking into her lobster.
Then there was the possibility that she really did have amnesia. There really wasn’t an ounce of complicity in her face that Rick could detect. The more time he spent with her, the more he had to admit that maybe the reports of her memory loss weren’t a ruse. And the more he had to admit that her quick tongue added something even more enticing to the package her curves and sparkling eyes had always created.
“You’ll have a good time tomorrow, at least. All the passengers are going to Tabween Island, and you’ll be able to take your pick of the lonely-hearts. Got any good pickup lines?”
Maybe something slightly more direct. “Have we met before?”
“That’s not very original.”
“No, I’m asking you. Have we met before?”
She smirked. “You know you’re supposed to use that one when you first meet a girl, right? I don’t think it works as well when you’ve spent the day with her, growling at pretty much everything that moves.”
Epic fail. No blush, her pupils didn’t dilate an iota, no reaction at all. To this Felicity, he really was a stranger. So maybe this wasn’t an act. Rick listened as politely as he could while she told him about Tabween Island, but as she spoke the flicker of an idea tugged at him.
If this wasn’t an act, and Felicity really did have amnesia, maybe he could jolt her enough to get a few memories back. He’d read something about a burst of adrenaline helping amnesia sufferers. All he needed was the glimmer of a memory so he could explain who he was, who they were, and she could sign over the shares in the patent, finalize the investment deal and start planning their wedding. Putting her in survival mode might just do it. Maybe a little time to reflect, a little danger, a little quality time with him and she’d start unraveling. She’d always loved the outdoors. Tabween Island was about as remote as it was possible to get. Perhaps she could play Brooke Shields in his own private Blue Lagoon.
Rick gave his head a small shake at his own nostalgia. His priorities had to be about getting her to sign over the shares in the patent before he started thinking about rectifying a relationship that might already be dust. But it wasn’t as if they hadn’t enjoyed a great time in the bedroom. Rick smiled. Seclusion, survival, and a good dose of seduction. If there was anything that was going to get Felicity to either remember or at least hear him out when he revealed his reason for being there, that was going to do it.
A quick word with the captain and Plan B would be sorted.
Hi and thanks for stopping by!
Thanks so much for having me! It’s always a thrill sharing a new book with readers so I really appreciate you having me pop over today.
Okay, lets get the tough questions out of the way first.
Where did the idea for this series come from? Often my answer to the where do your ideas come from question is a slightly boring, “everything I see around me.” It’s true, I do find inspiration in the everyday. Snippets of conversations, articles in the paper, photos in magazines. But with the Love on Deck series, it wasn’t every day that inspired me, rather a series of days that provided almost everything these three books required fully formed; characters, setting, sunshine, cocktails…bliss.
I was a guest writer on a Cruise ship. I know right, who knew there even was such a thing. But I had been doing a reading at an event and the CEO of a cruise ship company happened to be there. She asked if I’d be interested doing something similar. A free cruise? For Moi? Count me in! Of course I said yes! It meant that my husband and I had a sort of hybrid cruise, having a full guest experience with a lovely stateroom and full access to the onshore tours etc, but also going backstage and into the staff offices and quarters of the ship. The Cruise Director on my cruise was a man and I never even met the Captain. But watching the staff interact with guests and being involved with some of the shows sparked something in my mind. I have also been a professional dancer so felt I definitely knew what the entertainers on board would be thinking and feeling. The characters therefore burst almost fully formed onto my pages when I sat down to write them and then with their friendships and foibles established I just had to keep writing them.
I also visited an isolated tropical island on that trip and so the setting for part of Love Lost and Found was delivered to me, almost fully formed and ready to strand my unwitting characters on J
I like to make sure my ladies are working to their utmost capacity so I made my Cruise director a woman so in the first book, The Boss and Her Billionaire, Cruise director Michaela Western has everything she wants – except a sex life. There are no secrets on cruise ships and she won’t risk her career for a few moments of toe curling pleasure. But then a devilishly handsome new staffer with a body made for sin tempts her to walk on the wild side… Then in the latest release, Love Lost and Found, Michaela’s BFF Felicity has to cope with five years of amnesia. She flees her old life in hopes of starting fresh and finds refuge working on Michaela’s cruise ship. But her past comes to find her… And then in the third book, currently titled Tempted by the Boss’s Daughter and due out early 2014, if Charlotte hadn’t inherited her mean-bitch tempter from her cruise ship captain father she’s sure she would have made Head Chef at her last job. Or at the very least, been able to keep her job and not ended up stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in the kitchen from hell.
Where did all that come from? Real life. Well, almost.
What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews? People are entitled to their opinions and if we managed to divorce the emotion of our ego from that fact reviews are much easier to deal with. However I believe it’s always better to get a review full stop than not. The fact that someone has bothered to share their thoughts about your work with the world is a big deal in itself – at least all your hard work spurred them on to a reaction!
If someone were to write a biography about your life, whom would you want to write it and what would the title be? Ooooo. That’s super hard on the author front. Maybe Sarah Mayberry and Margaret Atwood could collaborate – that way it could have some crazy-cool future world building in it with some sassy dialogue and a happy ever after…? And for the title Reading while Falling
How much research do you do to prep for a novel? Sometimes like with this one the research comes along as an experience, and so it feels a bit like a gift rather than hard work. Other times, I need to immerse myself in books, movies and a location to “get” where and how the characters will tick. Always though there’s about a month of the idea bouncing around first before anything gets on the page. Moreover, I’ve only written one paranormal novella and even for that, in it’s completely fantastical world and with non-human characters, I still felt I needed to have an anchor of real life, so The Landing where is it set is loosely based on Akaroa Peninsula in Dunedin New Zealand.
What song best describes your writing ethic? Hmmmm, another curly one. How about 9 to 5? Not in the way that I feel oppressed by the big bad boss, given that the big bad boss is myself! But that I really try and get a 9 to 5 working day in as often as I can. And, well, Dolly Parton!
What was the hardest thing about writing Love Lost and Found? Coping with morning sickness and a bossy toddler while I was trying to do edits. Ha. I find it’s always real life that’s more difficult to cope with than the world’s I’m lucky enough to create when I’m writing ;-)
Anything you want to share with your readers? Thanks again so much for having me over. I really love to hear how people are finding the books I’m working on and whether a character or setting sparks a longing to hear more! Felicity for example wasn’t going to have her own story, but after The Boss and Her Hillionaire, she just seemed so great she had to get her own book! So do get in touch on Facebook, Twitter etc.
What's your current faves?
Television Show: I live in New Zealand so we sometimes get shows a lot later than the rest of the world. However I’m quite enjoying Orange is the new Black at the moment and we were very caught up in Game of Thrones for a while! I also watch a lot of Shortland Street – a New Zealand classic, as I’d quite like to write for it one day and have been given a little nudge of encouragement from time to time to do that.
Ice Cream: Kohu Road Dark Chocolate – melted dark chocolate in ice-cream form pretty much. Almost worth getting on a plane to the bottom of the world for! http://www.kohuroad.co.nz/
Movie: Arg. So many, but how about The Labyrinth as childhood inspiration sparkle. And, David Bowie! Plus all those cool puppets.
Song: Loving Royal by Lorde at the moment. Being very patriotic and supporting this amazing young New Zealand woman.
Book: Currently reading Russel Brand’s autobiography – My Booky Wook. Not exactly romance, but certainly a gritty snapshot at the brit funny man.
Quote:
Position (reading position that is): Oh er. I’m about to burst with a baby as I write that, so no position seems all that comfortable. But sitting up in bed with a cup of tea and a book or my iPad is always a joy if I can manage to hide from my toddler for long enough ;-)
Michele will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
Michele was born in the mid 1970’s amid a burgeoning sprawl of vineyards and new retirement homes. With two teachers as parents, her love of reading and books was cemented at an early age. Being a writer however, was not was she was supposed to do when she ‘grew up’. Despite training in law (or perhaps because of it) she has been a dancer, producer, writer, and all round arty type in various countries for most of her life.
Moving into writing full time in 2010 was like being a part of a contemporary romance – perfect! Creating new worlds for her characters, or rather letting those same characters show her their worlds is now a highlight of Michele’s daily life. And falling in love over and over as each hero and heroine allow their true feelings to surface is something very special. What a treat to do it every day! Now back home in New Zealand after travelling extensively, Michele writes from an office where the sound of the tapping keyboard is only rivalled by the whisper of wind in the trees.
Twitter - @Micheledewinton
