Paranormal Romance Blog

Gena Showalter’s awaited sequel to Playing with Fire is now on sale! Twice as Hot is in stores (online and otherwise )…but before you run out to buy it, Gena’s here to guest blog about how she couldn’t resist torturing her superpowered heroine in Twice as Hot….

by Gena Showalter, author of Twice as Hot (HQN Books, Feb. 2010)

What could be more fun than a woman developing unexpected superpowers?  That same woman trying to plan her wedding to a sexy government agent, of course!  “Wedding dress” is suddenly synonymous with “bonfire,” and a paraster—paranormal disaster—waits around every corner.

I know, I know.  How could I do that to sweet – and totally non-sarcastic, always on the up and up — Belle Jamison?

Hint:  I absolutely, unequivocally enjoy torturing my characters.  And do I ever torture my darling Belle… Her powers over the four elements – earth, air, wind and fire — are on the fritz in a bad, bad way, her best friend and empath sidekick Tanner is in a funk since his girlfriend dropped him, her other best friend Sherridan has moved in and is desperate to develop a superpower of her own, no matter the consequences, and Belle’s wedding is literally going up in flames around her.

See?  How could I not enjoy that?  I mean, after Playing With Fire released in 2006 – a story about how Belle first develops her superpowers and meets Rome (who secretly plans to neutralize her but ends up falling for her instead), Belle insisted I tell the rest of her story.  Honest.  She didn’t beg me to leave her alone, and I didn’t tell her to stuff it.

You see, in Playing With Fire, there was one narrative thread that I did not tie up (and could not tie up, at the time).  One thread that stuck with me all these years.  Was Belle the one and only woman for Rome Masters?

I knew the answer — he belongs with me!  Uh, never mind, scratch that, didn’t meant to say it aloud — but Rome’s ex, the world’s best psychic, never agreed.  Maybe because she’s always wanted him back, and I threatened to pull her hair out, but that’s neither here nor there.  And then, when Rome returns from a mission, minus only his memories of Belle, Belle begins to wonder, as well.  Are they or aren’t they?  Can they or can’t they?

Let’s face it.  She needed to know.  She deserved to know.  We women have to stick together, so I was more than willing to help her out.  Totally altruistic on my part, I assure you.  I’m a giver.  I didn’t do it simply to spend more time with my alpha warrior Rome.  So, after a four-year wait (I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry) Belle finally gets to learn the truth.  And I hope you enjoy discovering that truth as much as I – uh, she — did.

Wishing you all the best,
Gena Showalter

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