Heart of Deception by Gayle Feyrer

 

If you need some steam in your historical romance, you need to check out this excerpt from Heart of Deception by Gayle Feyrer. Enjoy this and the author's thoughts on becoming a character in one of her own books. Check out the rest of the tour for even more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

Intrigue and treachery stalk the grimy streets and the royal courts of Elizabethan England. Returning from war, Rafe Fletcher finds his family accused of conspiring to murder Elizabeth and place Mary, Queen of Scots, on her throne. His only hope to save them lies in infiltrating the criminal underworld of nefarious siblings Nick and Vivian Swift.

Rafe discovers it’s Viv who is the mastermind of the duo. Bold, clever and ruthless, Viv is also loyal and fiercely passionate. Rafe fights the intense magnetism that pulls him ever closer to destruction. But desire defies every warning he gives himself and they begin a blazing affair--until murder and betrayal severs their newly formed trust. Restoring that trust may be the only way Rafe can save the Queen, his own family, and the woman he’s come to love.

Their adventure takes them from the fledgling theatres of Shakespeare’s London to the desperate corridors of Bedlam, from the deadly backstreets of the Clink to the glittering court of Queen Elizabeth. It is a world of dark secrets and darker intrigues. Will the fire of their passion burn bright enough to incinerate the lies, and illuminate the truth?

Read an excerpt:

“I am always hunting.” Smiling dangerously, Viv stepped to face him. “And I always catch my quarry.”

Rafe stood utterly still. “I’m sure you’re a most skillful huntress.”

Her eyes scanned him from head to foot, then lifted to meet his own, glinting with challenge. Laying one hand on his chest, she rubbed slowly against the nap of his doublet. “Soft as fur.”

Her touch was both caress and threat. Rafe’s heartbeat quickened beneath her hand, but he held her gaze steadily.

“Yes. You do look splendid in my livery.” Her fingertip skimmed the collar, her nail grazing lightly along his throat. Then she stepped back. Her voice was low, but every word was hard and distinct. “Now—take it off.”

Rafe drew a sharp breath. Lust and mutiny clashed in his nerves, stringing every lineament taut. He didn’t move. She read the tension in his body and laughed softly, mocking him, knowing that her aggression disconcerted him. He glared defiance.

“Take off your clothes.” Her voice was low, as menacing as it was enticing. Her eyes calculated his opposition. Only a flicker of laughter in their depths leavened her brazen tyranny.

Rafe wondered if his resistance made him more compelling. Was it that few resisted, or she preferred those that did? He did not think she wanted subservience, but neither did he know how much mastery she would accept.

Her voice softened to a seductive whisper. “Take them off … I want to see all of you.”

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If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why?

This prompt intrigued me, as I’d often been asked by others and even asked myself that question about characters in other books, other movies, at various times in my life. I finally have a definitive answer for “If you could be any character, who would it be?” I’d be Phryne Fisher, especially as embodied in the TV series by Essie Davis. I want her absolute self-confidence, her daring, her courage. Also her cheekbones, her strut, her wardrobe and her Art Deco house. She had a tough childhood, but a fascinating one, and she’d have triumphed even if she hadn’t gotten suddenly, wonderfully rich.

But I’d never asked myself that question about my own characters. Of course, as I write, I become each of them in turn, both male and female, so in a way it was never necessary. Now, stepping back, I chose two, because I realized they are more similar than I realized. From my romances, I’d chose Veronica, from my mystery series, Theo Faraday. With my other women characters they share courage and emotional honesty. What they have that I envy, though I often found it naïve of them, is an essential optimism. Both automatically look for the best in everyone and everything, though both have the intelligence and shrewdness to discern falseness. They have a natural empathy for others, an effortless goodness, an openness even when oppressed.

Of the two, I’d pick Theo, because she’s an artist and I identify with that (I choose to make her an artist because I could bring my own experience to bear). But Theo’s a better artist and a far more disciplined one, even though she’s more impulsive and reckless than I am. I envy Veronica’s psychic ability. I have next to none. My husband and I sometimes express similar thoughts out of nowhere (as opposed to expressing them because of some identifiable external prompt in a film or in the news). I had a paranormal experience visiting the room where Van Gogh died, feeling an intense, lingering imprint of grief. It was an external sensation that went far beyond the internal welling of sadness you might ordinarily feel contemplating the death of someone you admired and pitied. I do know several people who have some psychic ability. Enough that I absolutely believe it exists, and also little enough that I know it’s not as reliable as I’d like to believe. But I envy Veronica her visions. Theo wasn’t supposed to have any psychic ability, but as her story evolved she does has some, though even more than Veronica she’d rather not. Theo wants to paint and fears developing that other ability would pull her away from her true path.

I’d also pick Theo because she lives in my favorite era and favorite city, Belle Époque Paris. If you saw Midnight in Paris, you know that I told the hero he should stayed with Adriana in Maxim’s. Still, if I had to pick one of my characters to be now, I might choose Viv or Marian instead because they are both more interested in shaping the world and are powerful enough to do it.

Gayle Feyrer began drawing as soon as she could hold a crayon and writing when she was twelve. She holds a Bachelor's in Pictorial Arts from UCLA, and a MFA from the University of Oregon in Creative Writing. In her varied career, she has been a tie dye artist, go-go dancer, baker, creator of ceramic beasties, illustrator, fiction teacher, and finally, novelist. A Libra with Scorpio Rising, Gayle’s romantic nature takes on a darker edge. She hopes these shadows bring depth to her romances.

A world traveler, Gayle has visited Paris, England and Italy numerous times. She lived for two years in Jakarta, Indonesia, with many trips around Asia. She currently resides across the bridge from San Francisco, with her husband and their two rescue cats, Charlotte and Emily, the Flying Bronte sisters, half Siamese and half tabby.

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Gayle Feyrer will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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