SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY: WHEN WE KISS by DARCY BURKE

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When We Kiss
Ribbon Ridge #5

By: Darcy Burke

Releasing January 19, 2016
Avon Impulse

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BLURB:

Denver real estate mogul, Liam Archer, has always been a thrill-seeker, and the loss of his identical twin brother has only intensified his reckless behavior. Sky diving, heli-skiing, motorcycle riding…he’s tried everything once. Except falling in love. Liam doesn’t do relationships, but a no-strings fling with Aubrey Tallinger-the smart, gorgeous lawyer handling his brother’s estate-is totally his speed.

 

At first, hooking up with Liam whenever he’s in Ribbon Ridge is perfect; but Aubrey fears she could fall hard for the sexy daredevil, if he’d only stop refusing to acknowledge the demons he’s trying to outrun. To protect herself from heartbreak, Aubrey ends their affair. But this time, Liam isn’t leaving town and instead of seduction, he wants to be…friends.

 

The white hot attraction between them still sizzles but Liam knows that winning Aubrey back won’t happen in his bed. He’ll have to convince her that he’s more than the careless, adrenaline junkie she believes him to be. Because when they kiss, Liam feels whole again… and he isn’t ready to give her up without a fight.

 

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He’d said, “Sure, I always call you up when I’m in town.”

Like she was a convenience. And there was that word again. She didn’t want to be anyone’s hook-up girl. She’d quashed her burgeoning feelings, but it had maybe been too late. She’d already been crazily infatuated with him. So much so that when she’d seen him at Thanksgiving, she’d allowed herself to be the convenience she didn’t want to be.

But no more.

She gave him an arch look. “So it was a great weekend. You still can’t argue it was more than a hook-up. I walked away from that without knowing when—or if—I’d see you again.”

He frowned at her. “That’s absurd. You’re our attorney. Of course you’d see me again.”

Was he being purposely obnoxious?

He put his hands on his hips. “I suppose you’re going to tell me Thanksgiving was just a hook-up, too? I brought you dinner.”

After they’d flirted all day at a winery event they’d just happened to meet at. She’d accepted his sister Tori’s invitation to attend without realizing Liam would be there. Wait, had he known? “Did you know I would be at the winery that day?”

He arched a brow. “Who do you think suggested we invite you?”

Damn it. She didn’t want to know that. “Now you tell me,” she muttered.

He flashed her a grin. “Am I wearing you down?”

She thought of what had happened next, after yet another spectacular night together. She tightened her arms across her chest. “No. Do you remember what we did after that night?” She watched his expression go from thoughtful to confused to blank. “That’s right. Absolutely nothing. You went back to Denver without a word.”

He winced. “Hey, I tried to see you at Christmas, but you weren’t here.”

Because she’d gone out of town with her aunt and uncle—the better to avoid Liam. With every hook-up, she’d fallen a little more under the spell of their attraction while he’d seemed impervious. She hadn’t wanted to lose her heart. She still didn’t.

“And I actually did try to ask you out for New Year’s, but you wouldn’t return my texts.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Darcy Burke is the USA Today bestselling author of hot, action-packed historical and sexy, emotional contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily-ever-after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations.

A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, their two hilarious kids-who each seem to have inherited the writing gene in some form-and two Bengal cats. In her "spare" time Darcy is a serial volunteer enrolled in a 12-step program where one learns to say "no," but she keeps having to start over. Her happy places are Disneyland and Labor Day weekend at the Gorge.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

 

 

INSPIRATION BEHIND THE CHARACTERS 

 

I’m delighted to be here today—thank you! If you’ve read the Ribbon Ridge series, you probably know that the heroine of the first full length book ONLY IN MY DREAMS is based somewhat on my daughter, who has sensory processing disorder. Sara Archer is an adult who’s learned to manage with her SPD with the help and support of her family and therapists when she was younger.

 

SPD affects a lot of people, with most of them probably not even realizing it. For a long time, sensory processing issues were mainly only associated with the autism spectrum, but many people with attention deficit disorder also struggle with sensory processing. Actually, a lot of us struggle with it, period. Can’t pay attention in a loud environment while your friends have no problem? Can’t stand tags in your clothes or those ridiculous seams on your socks (seriously, why are seamless socks not a mainstream thing?!)? Are you “klutzy,” meaning you bump into doorframes or maybe run into people on occasion when you’re walking through a group? All of those things relate to how our bodies process the world around us. And how do we process? By using our senses. I wanted to write a character who was both special and relatable at the same time. Hopefully I did that!

 

I wanted to do the same thing with Evan Archer, the hero in THE IDEA OF YOU (book four in the series). Evan has Asperger’s syndrome, which is now just called Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1. So many people live with this disorder, and I wanted to show that they are interesting, funny, and, yes, sexy! And they have happy ever afters too.

 

The other characters in Ribbon Ridge weren’t necessarily inspired in the same way. For WHEN WE KISS, I knew that Liam was going to be a daredevil adventurer, so it made sense for his heroine to be a little bit opposite. Aubrey likes her small town life and is ready to settle down and have a family. It’s not quite opposites attract, but more like two people trying to get to the right place at the right time.

 

I don’t use visuals as inspiration like some authors. For Liam, I just thought of an outdoorsy guy who rides a motorcycle but who’s also super comfortable (and sexy!) in a crisp suit. Aubrey came from an affluent background, but has embraced a sort of country lawyer persona. She lives in a quaint house in downtown Ribbon Ridge, and though I didn’t specifically give her a white picket fence, I probably should have! I do think the cover of this book captures both of them perfectly.