Guest Post with Author Dani Collins and Giveaway

Meet Dani Collins, author of A Debt Paid In Passion.

Dani Collins spent twenty-five years dreaming of writing full time and finally made her first sale to Harlequin Mills & Boon in May of 2012. Five more sales quickly followed along with an indie title, a fantasy romance to Champagne Books, and a two-book contract to Harlequin Digital. When it rains it pours!

She’s edging closer to making Romance Author her day job, but for now she writes around work, family, and enough exercise to keep her out of traction. For more information about Dani, you can visit her website at www.danicollins.com, listen to her interview with Nice Girls Reading Naughty Books, or watch her interview on GFTV.

Find Dani:

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I’m not huge on making resolutions for January, but I love the clean slate feel of this time of year. 2013 was a crazy one for me. It was my first year as a published author and I made several more sales to Harlequin Mills and Boon as the year went along. The last three months were a blur of turning in three manuscripts, revising two of them, and promoting my December book, More Than A Convenient Marriage. Oh, and writing some proposals so I know what 2014 has in store.

Needless to say, if I did make a resolution, it would be something along the lines of ‘calm down.’ I am setting goals and intentions to change the pace of my life. The flip side of all that busy-ness in my writing world is a house and family in desperate need of TLC. My life has fallen badly out of balance and I need to straighten up.

But that’s the thing I love about January. The holiday season is behind us, the kids back in school. Suddenly we have nothing but time until Spring. In my part of the world, even the landscape is white and sparkling.

In my February book, A Debt Paid In Passion, Raoul and Sirena desperately need a fresh start. She was his PA and borrowed some money without asking. They had an afternoon delight before she was able to tell him, he found out through other channels and had her charged with embezzlement. Not only did she get off with an agreement to pay it back, but turned up pregnant. She came to stay with him after the birth and they’ve both just revealed their reasons for all that they’ve done. Raoul is ready to trust her and wants her to live with him permanently. He just has one condition.

A beautiful thief…?

Raoul Zesiger has everything a man could want—including Sirena Abbott, the perfect PA who keeps his life in order. Or so it seems, until their professional relationship gives way to one hot, impassioned night…and then he has her arrested for embezzlement!

She may have escaped a prison sentence, but Sirena knows she'll be shackled to Zesiger by more than just the past. With Raoul determined to recover the debt she owes him, Sirena is torn between guilt and an impossible attraction. But what will happen when Raoul uncovers the truth behind her theft?

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“We’ve managed until now and we were furious with each other,” he cajoled.

“I’m still furious,” she interjected with more exasperation than heat. A lot of her bitter loathing was dissolving. She couldn’t help it. Getting that peek into his past explained so much, not least his single-minded determination to succeed.

And it did nothing to dissipate the attraction she felt toward him. If anything, it was worse now. The thick walls she’d built against him were thinning and little fantasies of somehow finding a future with him, earning his trust and maybe his love, sparkled like fairy dust in the edges of her vision.

So dumb.

Given what he’d just told her, it was time to accept that he would never, ever love her. The best she could hope for was this, a truce and a fresh start.

Injustice sawed behind her breastbone like an abrasive file.

Lucy grew heavy in her arms. She started to change her position then let Raoul take her, watching as the limp infant was tucked lovingly into her father’s chest.

Folding her empty arms, she tried telling herself she could manage alone, but she couldn’t ignore his point about daycare.

“My mother wants to see her,” Raoul added in quiet insistence. “You know how hard travel is on her. Lucy obviously hates the bottle. We could force the issue—”

“No!” she blurted, hating thinking of Lucy being distressed about anything. If she preferred to breastfeed, well, this was a finite time in both their lives.

“You’ll come to New York with us, then.”

“Don’t start with your pushy tactics! I know how you work, getting a small concession and turning it into a major one,” she said with mild disgust. “I’ll think about New York. And if I go, it won’t be as your—”

Lover? Mistress? Girlfriend? The words all sounded so superficial and temporary, paring her self-worth down to nothing.

“Nanny?” he prompted, mouth quirking briefly, then he sobered. “I’d have to hire one if you don’t go. I’d prefer to pay you. You could quit the transcription.”

“Don’t make it sound easy. It’s not.”

One long masculine finger touched her jaw, turning her face to his. “What’s hard? Making the promise about not stealing? Or keeping it?”

His challenge pinned her so she felt like an insect squirming in place, unable to escape even though she wanted to scamper away. Dying by increments, she felt the spasm of hurt reflect in her face before she was able to mask it, but a pierce of pain stayed lodged in her heart like an iron spike.

Looking him straight in the eye, she more defiantly than sincerely said, “I will never take anything from you. Ever.”

He held her gaze for so long she almost couldn’t stand it. Tightness gripped her chest and her skin felt too small for her body.

He nodded once.

As he walked away, she hung back, trembling. Had she lost or won?

Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 copy of A Debt Paid in Passion

To Enter: 

• Please leave a comment or question for Dani.
• US/Canada shipping ONLY.
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

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