I’ve always loved romantic suspense, especially if it involves military special ops. I know it’s a bit weird (especially since I’m Canadian), but on my nightstand I always have two stacks of books—one romance, and the other U.S. special ops non-fiction. I started out loving the Civil War and devouring everything I could find about it when I was twelve, and somehow it segued into special ops after that. Hey, I’m quirky, what can I say?
When I decided to start writing romance a few years ago, of course I wanted to write special ops themed romantic suspense. My series with The Wild Rose Press started with Out of Her League (winner 2009 RWA Laurel Wreath award for best romantic suspense), and evolved from there. My second book has just come out in print, and will be available in digital format Feb. 26th. Cover of Darkness features a SEAL lieutenant and a female social worker named Bryn (from Out of Her League), who also happens to be a belly dancer. Her talents come into play when she’s enlisted to help a CIA contractor catch the terrorist responsible for her father’s death.
For research, I didn’t just read half a dozen books about SEALs and their training. Nope, I took up belly dance, too. To be honest it was something I’d always wanted to try, but never had the guts to do. See, I’m a former nationally carded fastpitch player. I’m an athlete, not a dancer. I don’t do graceful, and I never liked dancing in general unless I was at a wedding. To say the least, taking up belly dance was a stretch for me. But as it turned out, I loved it so much I started performing with a group, and funny as it might sound, it helped me figure out my heroine Bryn better.
I’m also deathly afraid of flying, but since my special ops heroes would be horrified (and disgusted) that their creator was too chicken to leave the ground, I forced myself to get on a damn helicopter so the pilot could go through the various aspects of flight for me, and talk more about flying military operations. It wasn’t a Black Hawk, but it did have rotors and it did indeed leave terra firma despite the fact I thought my heart would stop. After I lived through that experience, I even studied flight manuals to better understand the challenges of flying a helo at night at high altitudes, such as over the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan. See the effort I went to for these books? Realism is really important to me. Maybe no one reading my books would notice if I got a detail wrong, but I wanted to make sure I did what I could to “get it right”. I hope I’ve done so, within reason.
After Cover of Darkness, I completed the last three books in the series, each of which featured a special ops hero. I had a great time learning about my heroes’ professions with an awesome list of recommended non-fiction reading. In the end, I wound up researching SEALs, Rangers, Delta Force operators, Green Berets and then Pararescue Jumpers and Combat Controllers. The last two I became interested in while researching the first series (and you should see the awesome resources I’ve obtained on them!), so of course I decided to use them for my current works in progress. Yeah, another series. I love it when that happens!
Bottom line for me, I wanted to do my heroes justice. Yes, it’s fiction, but I wanted it to be good fiction, with enough truth in the story to make it plausible. I wanted to make it as realistic as possible and include certain details to highlight not only the dangerous missions special ops soldiers take on, but also to highlight their incredible skill sets. Not to mention the sheer resolve and willpower they have to even make it through their training in the first place. (I know for a fact I’d curl up like a boiled shrimp after about two days of sleep deprivation, so count me out )
If you enjoy this kind of romantic suspense, I hope you’ll like my books. Okay, and I really hope all my efforts at research comes through in my work .
You can find me through my blog,website, or Facebook, and I’d love to hear from you.
Happy reading!
Kaylea Cross
Cover of Darkness
Targeted by a terrorist cell, Bryn McAllister survives a bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut only to be left to die in a desert cellar. When she is rescued by Navy SEAL Lieutenant Declan McCabe and his team, Bryn must rely on the handsome officer to get her to safety. But just when she thinks the nightmare is over, family friend and legendary CIA operative Luke Hutchinson recruits her and McCabe to help track down the terrorist mastermind responsible for the attack.
With Bryn determined to see the terrorist brought to justice, Dec joins up to protect her, prepared to do whatever it takes to keep her safe during their dangerous mission. Battling the explosive attraction between them, Dec fights to keep his distance from her so he can do his job and keep her alive. But when plans falls apart and Bryn is captured, he must make the agonizing choice between his duty as a SEAL and the life of the woman he loves.
www.kayleacross.com
www.kayleacross.blogspot.com
www.thewildrosepress.com
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