Bare Knuckle by Katie Porter (Guest Post/Giveaway)

It's the weekend! Woohoo! What better way to start it then a trip to Vegas with Katie Porter's newest release in their Vegas Top Gun series? Enjoy! 

The Growth of Secondary Characters
By Katie Porter

Capt. Eric “Kisser” Donaghue didn’t start out the hero of Bare Knuckle. No, his first appearance in the “Vegas Top Guns” series was in Inside Bet, as Jon Carlisle’s arrogant nemesis.

The Aggressors were a small, elite crew. If Ryan and the rest of the chain of command thought Kisser deserved a spot on the team, it wasn’t Jon’s business to say anything else. Keeping his distance was safest, especially when repeated attempts to make the stubborn bastard see sense had all failed.
Donaghue grinned. “You went down twice. Bad day for you.”
Pain spiked behind Jon’s ears as he ground his back teeth. “I went down the second time because you deviated from your flight path. You almost took out the air command.”
 “I didn’t though. All’s well that ends with winning.”  

Hmm…not a promising start. Then Eric goes on to hit on strippers, make misogynistic comments about the squadron’s second in command, Capt. Leah “Princess” Girardi, and generally do his absolute best to prove he’ll never be hero potential. Yet, there were glimmers. (We made sure!)

“Where do you get off? Flying for a living is a dream come true.” Eric’s voice was harsh, but something dark and vulnerable stole the anger from his features. “Fang fought for it. Leah, hell—much as her PMS pisses me off—she fought for it too.”
“It’s not that easy.” Dash shook his head, his frustration ballooning. “Have you ever left your wife in the middle of the night to fly off to Christ knows where? No. Not ever. For you it’s one big chick smorgasbord adventure. So forgive me if I don’t treasure every goddamn minute.”
“I do.”
“What?”
“Every goddamn minute, Dash.” The bare facts of his background—a Detroit hard case who’d used his fists to climb and climb until that meant climbing into a cockpit—were just facts. Dash had never seen them written so plainly across Eric’s features, which he usually kept in lecherous-wiseass mode. “You’re wasting your time and mine,” Eric said, voice tight. “If you weren’t under orders…”
“Then yeah, I wouldn’t be here. Is that what you want me to admit?”
“You’ve got it all wrong.” Eric had assumed something very close to the Zen-like calm Mike always wore. “No condemnation. No judgment. Imagine there’s some inner city kid out there who wants what you have. Why stay? You’re wearing his squadron patch. Or there’s some chick who’s taken shit for her entire career. She’d kill to climb into your Viper.”

What’s this? The wiseass has an angsty background and a sense of purpose? Maybe it’s just been hidden under too many callouses from hard knocks. Maybe he has what it takes… 

Then, at the end of Hard Way, reunited couple Dash and Sunny receive news that Eric crashed his plane and nearly died. 

What a way to wake a guy up. However, his having a change of life perspective after a tragedy wouldn’t be as believable for readers—or as emotional when it happens—without seeding those little touches of humanity. We never intended him to be a secondary character forever. Aside from Leah, who goes from party girl to squadron leader throughout the course of “Vegas Top Guns,” Eric undergoes the most serious personality changes. 

That means when hopeful, lovely showgirl Trish Monroe shows up in his life, he’s nearly ready for her and the happiness she has to offer. Nearly. After all, Bare Knuckle is still a romance novel. They can’t be all happily ever after on page one…

We'd like to give away a copy of BARE KNUCKLE in any digital format. Just answer the question: Do you enjoy seeing the development of a series’ secondary characters, and why? and then fill out the rafflecopter below!

Bare Knuckle by Katie Porter 
Vegas Top Guns, Book 5
Samhain Publishing
Digital Release: October 8, 2013
Digital ISBN: 978-1619210943
Amazon - B&N
“The duo behind Katie Porter goes out with a bang in the last of their phenomenal ‘Vegas Top Guns’ series.” ~ RT Book Reviews 4½ Stars 

“It’s deliciously explicit details is guaranteed to ignite the fire within readers.” ~ Fresh Fiction

“These characters have depth, the sex scenes are hot, and the reader will root for this pair.” – Library Journal

After a near-fatal plane crash, fighter pilot Captain Eric “Kisser” Donaghue is a changed man. By day he labors to regain his confidence in the cockpit. By night he moonlights as an off-Strip boxer, fighting for prize money to pay for his younger brother’s third stint in rehab.In the ring, no one cares he once had a face that launched a thousand one-night stands—and neither does Eric. He’s only there to win. Yet he can’t take his eyes off the new ring girl, a glitz-meets-pageant-queen vision of blonde perfection.Down on her luck but not quite out, Vegas showgirl Trish Monroe lives for the spotlight. The scarred, steely-eyed loner who stares at her from his corner of the ring gives Trish an extra reason to strut her stuff.Curiosity and the temptation of a no-strings good time bring them together. The discovery of their secret fetishes—she likes to show off, he likes to watch—turns mere sexual chemistry into a fiery exploration of matched passions. They’re a natural fit. Trust in love, however, is harder to earn than trust in bed, especially when this beauty and beast hide even from themselves.

Warning: This book contains a Sin City-style Beauty and the Beast love story, lots of naughty pics and vids, adrenaline-pumped base jumping, and a set of very important note cards. Oh, and as always, an incredibly hot fighter pilot.

For more about Katie Porter, the co-writing team of Carrie Lofty and Lorelie Brown, visit their website at KatiePorterBooks.com! 

Thanks again to Reading Between the Wines for featuring Katie Porter and Bare Knuckle!



a Rafflecopter giveaway