Book Review, Author Interview & Giveaway: The Deadly Series by Cynthia Eden

Deadly Fear, Deadly Heat, Deadly Lies Deadly Fear blurb: FBI Special Agent Monica Davenport has made a career out of profiling serial killers. But getting inside the twisted minds of the cruel and the sadistic has taken its toll: She’s walled herself off from the world. Yet Monica can’t ignore fellow agent Luke Dante, the only man who ever broke through her defenses. Luke has the unique ability to put victims at ease…professionally, he and Monica made a perfect team. Now they’re reunited to catch a murderer who uses his victims’ deepest, darkest fears for sport – but their investigative skills aren’t enough. Luke and Monica will have to face the secrets from their past, the ones that terrify them the most, if they are to have a future together. Deadly Heat blurb: She wants revenge… Six months after her lover died in an arsonist’s blaze, firefighter Lora Spade calls in the FBI’s elite Serial Services Division to track the elusive killer. When Special Agent Kenton Lake is lured into a violent inferno, Lora pulls him to safety and is stunned – not by the fire, but by her own searing attraction to Kent. For the first time in months, she longs for something other than vengeance. He wants her… Kenton’s interest in Lora should be purely professional. But one fleeting kiss and he can’t get her out of his mind. Her combination of strength and vulnerability makes him want to protect her, and that means solving this case – and fast. For even the passion igniting between them can’t hide a terrifying truth: Lora is the next target in a murderer’s sadistic, fiery game. Deadly Lies blurb: She wants to hide the past… FBI Special Agent Samantha Kennedy is haunted by memories of the serial killer who abducted her. To keep the darkness at bay, she pretends to be a different, more confident woman. This Samantha doesn’t fear every unknown face. So she throws caution to the wind and shares a night of unbridled passion with a handsome stranger. He needs to uncover the truth… One night isn’t enough for successful entrepreneur Max Ridgeway. He wants more of the sexy, smart, mysterious woman who slipped away before dawn. When they meet again, their attraction is undeniable-until his stepbrother goes missing, and Max realizes that Samantha isn’t who she seems. But they must trust each other to trap a ring of bloodthirsty kidnappers before the nightmares that terrorize Sam become irrevocably real. Deadly Series Review I couldn’t get enough of this series! I flew through these books and was left wanting more. Each book had a compelling story, and each was unique. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat, and every book definitely had a point of no return. Once you get to that crazy twist in the story, you can’t do anything until you finish the book and find out what happens. I love when authors write stories like this! It’s also great to see characters appear in more than just their book. The couple from the first book shows up in the next two, and the heroine in the third story gets set up throughout the series. Cynthia Eden does a great job of intertwining the characters within each of the stories tying them together. I absolutely fell in love with Monica and Luke from Deadly Fear. They are both strong characters, and it was so easy to fall in love with them. You are rooting for them through the entire book. Monica is a very complex character, which always makes stories more interesting. We slowly learn more and more about her past as the story unfolds, which makes for a fabulous ending. Deadly Heat is perfectly titled… this book is seriously hot! Lora and Kenton have a seriously hot connection, and Cynthia Eden does have her way with great sex scenes (which I just happen to be partial to : ). I loved Lora’s sense of sarcastic humor, and how she teases Kenton. It’s so great when characters make you laugh out loud. I loved watching Samantha overcome her fears in Deadly Lies. Samantha is abducted in an earlier book, and has to struggle to over come this traumatic experience. Max helps Samantha through her nightmares, and move on with her life. The dynamic between these two really tugs on your heart strings. I absolutely love the relationship between Max and Samantha, and couldn’t get enough. I would definitely recommend reading this series. And a helpful word of advice? Have the next book handy because you’re going to want to dive right in!

My favorite part of being a blogger is that I get to meet and talk to awesome people. The fabulous Cynthia Eden has been awesome enough to agree to do this interview to go along with this blog post, AND offer to giveaway a copy of Angel Betrayed, Cynthia’s July release. Get it before it hits the shelves!Enjoy the interview : ) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Obscured Vixen: Your Deadly series includes heroines with very different personalities – Monica, Lora and Samantha. Which do you find yourself most like and why? Cynthia Eden: Actually, I wish I could say that I was like all of those ladies! But they are much braver than I could ever be. ; ) I tend to be a fairly quiet girl, so I’m like Samantha in that respect. Isn’t the saying that still waters run deep? It’s the quiet girls that you should watch out for—they often have deep secrets! OV: I love the mystery to all of these stories. Is it fun writing twists into your story to purposely mislead the reader? CE: Is it wrong to say that, yes, it is? I can’t help it—I love twists. When I’m watching movies or TV shows, I’m constantly thinking of ways to add in twists, ways that I would have written the scenes in order to throw off viewers. After all, what is life without some fun twists? OV: At the end of Deadly Lies, you have an epilogue that hints at another books in this series. Will there be? CE: At this time, I haven’t written any additional Deadly books, but I not going to close the door and say that there won’t ever be more of them. I had a great time writing those tales, and, one day in the future, I may revisit them. I can say this much… I have lots of romantic suspense stories in the works. I will be releasing 4 stories with Harlequin Intrigue next year, and I will also be releasing single titles, as well. We’re actually still doing contract negotiations on the single titles, but I can say that the books will be very dark and sexy, similar in tone to my Deadly books. OV: I can’t wait! How long have you been writing? CE: For as long as I can remember. Seriously. I always wanted to be a writer, but life distracted me for a time. After college, I started teaching, I got married, I had a son, and, then one day I realized… I’d lost my dream. I decided that it was time for me to grab that dream and hold onto it as tightly as I could. So I started writing. My first book didn’t sell (actually, I don’t think my first four sold), but I kept writing anyway. And, now, I’m lucky enough to say that I’ve been writing full-time for five years. Did I mention how incredibly lucky I feel? OV: Have you ever wrote something, reread it and thought, “Wow! That was awesome!” CE: I wish! I think that I may be my own worst critic. When I write a story, I often think… is this good enough? Are the characters strong enough? What am I doing?! For a while, I thought I was the only writer who had these doubts, then I talked to others and realized… yes, we’re all a little (or lot!) neurotic this way. So I’m doubting *while* I write a story, but when I am actually done with the story and reading over the final version, I can sometimes think… hey, that’s not half bad! OV: Which of your works are you most proud of and why? CE: That is a very tough question. I’m proud of all my stories—I really loved the characters I create—but I think I have to say that the Deadly books challenged me the most. Those books pushed me to explore deeper and darker aspects of my characters. The Deadly stories required some intensive research, and they took me out of my paranormal comfort zone. Those books showed me that I could love another sub-genre, and they taught me the value of following my instincts. So… the Deadly books (Deadly Fear, Deadly Heat, and Deadly Lies). Those books are the ones that come to mind first for me. OV: I am so excited that you are a featured author at Author After Dark (AAD) this year, and cannot wait for the ‘I Scream Party!’ Any details you can share with us about that? CE: Yay!! I am so glad that you’re excited about the party! I will be hosting the I Scream Party with Katie Reus, Manda Collins, and Virna DePaul. We’ll have tasty ice cream treats (you can add your fave toppings) and a ton of giveaways (each person who comes to the party will get a bag of goodies). We’ll have some special villain fun waiting for the attendees. Games, bad guys, and ice cream. What more do we need in order to have a good time? OV: Games, bad guys, and ice cream… what more could a girl want?! What are you most looking forward to as an Authors After Dark featured author? CE: I’m looking forward to meeting the readers! I am so excited about having a chance to talk with people who love romance books just as much as I do. Readers, bloggers, other writers—the place will be filled with some very fun folks, and I can’t wait to chat with them all!

Giveaway Details Cynthia has been extremely generous and is offering to giveaway her upcoming story ANGEL BETRAYED which is not being released until July. This is definitely a giveaway that you will want to enter! Sammael – call him Sam – was an angel once. An angel of death. But the dispassionate, watch-from-above thing just wasn’t working for him when it meant watching evil torture innocent souls day in and day out. It might have cost him his wings, but these days, he gets to apply the direct method on the bad guys. Problem is, what’s making his life difficult is a bad girl… Seline O’Shaw needs protection, and with the hounds of hell on her tail, she’s not going to quibble too hard about where she gets it. Sam’s virtue is questionable, but he’s smoking hot, massively powerful, and owes her a favor. So what if she’s getting a little case of angel lust? There are some damn deadly sins after her hide… This giveaway will end June 14, 2012 at midnight EST United States entries only Click here for full giveaway terms and conditions This giveaway has ended.

Other AAD Author Interviews:

• Interview with Jade Lee for Seduced by Crimson
• Interview with Kristen Painter for Blood Rights
• Interview with Lia Habel for Dearly, Departed