SWEET REVENGE is undoubtedly my very favorite book to date. These incredible characters simply took over my keyboard from page one and didn't relinquish control until I'd typed The End. And thank goodness for that!!!
Creole and Grace each have a boatload of baggage coming into their relationship--so much so that I wasn't sure how they'd ever pull off their happily ever after.
Creole is a man who's been through utter hell since childhood, and now the only person who's ever shown him an ounce of compassion--his foster brother--has been brutally murdered. Despite his past, Creole has never lost his basic goodness, or the hope for love...though he'd surely deny it if confronted with that truth. He's convinced he's an irredeemable bad boy through and through. But Grace knows better. Creole is a hero who fights for justice and the underdog, renouncing his own chance at happiness so others don't have to go through what he did as a child.
Grace wants nothing more than to show Creole he doesn't have to make that sacrifice. Though he is not the man for her, she knows deep down behind that tough-guy facade, Creole has a fragile heart that yearns for warmth and belonging. One day he'll meet the right woman, and when he does Grace wants him to be ready to accept the love he so richly deserves.
I cried my way through this whole book, deeply moved by the emotions these characters felt for each other. Trust me, on this book I was merely the conduit. It was Creole and Grace themselves who wrote SWEET REVENGE. And I'll be forever humbled they chose me to tell their story.
A woman with a varied and checkered past... I guess that's how I'd describe myself (tho it makes my husband crazy :D) By profession, I'm really an archaeologist (an Egyptologist) but I've worked all kinds of jobs, from real estate to a fabric store clerk to a student counselor at the Fulbright Commission in Stockholm, Sweden. My favorite was a work-study job in grad school, reorganizing the ancient Egyptian pottery at the University of Chicago's famous Oriental Institute. The pay was lousy, but holding ceramic jars actually touched by Ramses II and King Tut was awe-inspiring and unbelievably exciting.
I've lived all over the USA, and even spent six years in Europe. I love to travel. Maybe because my great-grandfather was an Hungarian gypsy--my only ancestor who was not Danish. My family and I have just moved to Charleston, South Carolina, which has also been a wonderful adventure. It's amazing here. Although I love archaeology, doing fieldwork in The Sudan, Africa (my specialty) isn't too practical with children and a husband who has a normal job. So when I thought about what I'd like to do instead, I set out to fulfill my lifelong dream of being a writer. Now I have my adventures through my characters. I can give my heroines the thrills and excitement all women dream of having, but I never have to change out of my jammies to do it. My kind of job!
Although I've only been writing for Silhouette for a couple of years, I have already been blessed with national attention for my writing. Four of my books were nominated for the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award. I first won the prestigious award in 1997, and then in 1998 for my first Silhouette release, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (ISBN 0373079907). My last release, WARRIOR'S BRIDE, was also nominated for the Golden Heart in 1998.
My 2001 release, WARRIOR'S BRIDE (ISBN 0373271506) was off to a great start immediately, making it to #6 on the WaldenBooks Bestseller List the week it came out. Recently, it took home honors by winning a Dorothy Parker Award of Excellence, given out by The Reviewers International Organization (RIO). Last year, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN did me proud by walking away with first place wins in both the competitive 2001 National Readers' Choice Award in long contemporary, and the 2001 Daphne du Maurier Award, given out by the RWA Mystery-Suspense chapter, The Kiss of Death, for the year's best romantic suspense novel. I was also thrilled to learn it is the Grand Prize winner in the Golden Chalice Awards, given out by Bridges Magazine, as well as taking second place in both the 2001 Rising Star Awards and the 2001 Write Touch Reader's Award. I'm totally blown away by the recognition my Silhouette Intimate Moments have garnered so far among readers and peers alike. Thanks to all of you!!!
I love writing about unusual situations and unique settings. I really like to turn up the heat on my characters till the page sizzles. But I try to write with a large dose of humor and usually with a quick dash of suspense thrown in as well. There's nothing like an unexpected chuckle or a dead body to liven things up (though WARRIOR'S BRIDE was the exception, being all romance). My next SIM, SWEET REVENGE (July '02), will not disappoint readers who like an on-the-edge-of-your seat story. Both the romance and the suspense take off on page one and don't let up until the last paragraph. By the way, the hero in this one, Auri 'Creole' Levalois, will truly sizzle your socks off :D.
Sensually, I'll admit I like to push the envelope in my stories. I think much of the appeal of romance is the seductive fantasy it allows women to indulge in safely. A woman whose days are filled with diapers or spreadsheets, PTA or sales meetings, wants to be swept away in a romantic fantasy for a few hours, into a world where she can quench her thirst for love and romantic adventure, and fulfill her dreams of a man who instinctively satisfies her deepest yearnings. I love writing about feisty heroines who do things I would never dare to do in real life. My heroes are dark and dangerous men who ooze sensuality-but who know how to treat a lady.
Along with writing for Silhouette Intimate Moments, I also write women's erotic romance under the pen name Nikita Black. My first two erotic romances, CAJUN HOT and THE RENEGADE'S WOMAN, have recently gotten some tremendous honors. CAJUN HOT (ISBN 1892520400) took home First Place in Single Title in both the 2001 Rising Star Awards and the 2001 Write Touch Readers Award (the same contests that Catch Me came in 2nd!). It is nominated for a 2001 Golden Quill Award, as well as a Dorothy Parker Award of Excellence. My other erotic romance, THE RENEGADE'S WOMAN (ISBN 1892520184), was nominated for the same award. And lastly, CAJUN HOT was nominated for the 2001 EPPIES, the awards given by EPIC, the Electronically Published Internet Connection, for Excellence in Electronic Publishing of all genres.
Needless to say, I am absolutely thrilled about these award nominations. Erotic romance is a genre that is not usually recognized with such high honors. My objective in writing the Nikita Black books is to explore the depths of the erotic fantasies all women have, which have so long been denied us, or trivialized by the predominantly male outlook of critics and analysts. Nikita Black's raison d'être is to show women it's okay to fantasize. That it doesn't make you a pervert. My Nikita Black books being singled out for such distinction tells me there are other fearless women readers out there like me, who love a one-man-one-woman type of story with blistering sex and thought-provoking scenarios, but with a happy, committed ending.
Still, as much as I enjoy writing my Nikita Black books, I also love writing for Intimate Moments. It gives a nice balance I think. With the Silhouette books, I concentrate mainly on the emotional side of the relationship between the hero and heroine, rather than the sexual. For me, there is just nothing better than creating a heart-tugging love story with characters you love and an ending that leaves a big smile on your face. I hope you agree. Please look for SWEET REVENGE on Amazon.com next July 1st (or better yet, pre-order it!).
If you've read any of my books and liked it, drop me a line! I love to hear from readers. You can visit me on my websites at NinaBruhns.com and NikitaBlack.com. Or email me at Nina@NinaBruhns.com.
