Shades of Temptation by Virna DePaul (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Today I would like to give a very warm welcome to paranormal  romance and romantic suspense author, Virna DePaul! Virna is joining us today with the second book in her Special Investigations Group (SIG) series, Shades of Temptation. I am absolutely loving this series; the world-building, characters, intense plot and the sizzling romance of course...love! (Reviews coming soon.) So without further ado, I'll hand it off to Virna! 

Twice As Good…Or Bad

Writers are often told to write what they know.  I write paranormals and contemporary romantic suspense.  In one series, my Para-Ops team parachutes into North Korea from a spy plane—obviously not anything I’ve personally done.  In my Special Investigations Group series with HQN, I write about a blind heroine, serial killers, and the emotional and romantic difficulties that cops struggle with—again, these are all things I researched in order to create authentic characters and scenarios, but I can’t really “know” what it’s like to be blind, or tormented by a serial killer or one’s career.  (Actually, come to think of it, I might know a little about that last part.  But that’s another story…)

Something I do know based on my former career as a criminal prosecutor, however, is that the bad guys rarely work alone.  The more powerful a bad guy is, the more apt he is to let others do his dirty work for him.  Sometimes, the bad guys are even working in tandem and don’t always know it—such is the case when someone copy cats the crimes of another.  This is why I often have more than one villain’s point of view in my stories.  It adds twists to the stories and surprises for the characters, but it’s also more realistic.  In Shades Of Desire, for example, a very powerful and respected public figure manipulates another to cover up a murder and threaten the heroine.  In Shades Of Temptation, a young man obsessed with horror movies is determine to prove how smart he is, not simply by duplicating a serial killer’s work but “improving” upon it first.  Finally, I try to make my villains sympathetic in some way.  That was another thing I learned as a prosecutor—that as much as I fought for justice for the victims, I always tried to see the defendants as more than their criminal behavior and to understand what might have brought them there.

Shades Of Temptation is available at Amazon  | Barnes and Noble | Powells | Indie Bound

WILL HE HELP PROTECT HER...Carrie Ward understands dangerous men, and she's got the scars to prove it. These days, the Special Investigations Group detective saves her risk taking for the job. But when she's asked to pursue a high-profile serial killer, she'll have to join forces with the last man she wants to depend on-Jase Tyler, an ace senior detective who's as reckless as she is cautious. And despite her best intentions, the sparks begin to fly. OR DRAW A KILLER FROM THE SHADOWS?As Carrie and Jase race to try to save the next victim, the passion that simmers between them ignites. But a cunning killer at the top of his game is challenging Carrie to play to the very end. Now all she can count on are her instincts-and Jase, the one man daring enough to keep her safe....

BIO: A former criminal prosecutor and now national bestselling author, Virna writes paranormal and romantic suspense stories for Random House, HQN and the Harlequin Romantic Suspense line.  She loves to hear from readers!  www.virnadepaul.com

~*GIVEAWAY*~

Virna is giving away one copy of either Shades of Desire or Shades of Temptation, winner's choice, to one US reader today. To enter, just leave a question or comment for her on this post and then fill out the rafflecopter below. Additional entries are available but not required. Good luck!

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