Title: Burned by Passion
Author: Dez Burke
Genre: African American Romance/Interracial Romance
Publisher: Pink Lotus Publishing, Inc.
Release Date: Aug 8 2013
Blurb/Synopsis:
Even good girls make mistakes.
Kira was shocked to meet her boss’s handsome, long-absent son and find him even more lethal in the flesh. He’d always been just a face in a photo – and nothing had prepared her for the way they clashed and burned when they finally met.
Blake Carter returned to America for a reunion with a father he hadn’t seen since he was ten. But Blake had never bargained for falling for his father’s sexy secretary, the beautiful and impressionable Kira Taylor…
Blake caught one glimpse of the gorgeous beauty from across the crowded room and felt the primal taste of desire like he’d never known. The sparks were more antagonism than attraction on her part as they collided over differences about the way he treated his father. But Blake had very strong persuasive skills when it came to bringing the vulnerable Kira to bend to his carnal passions…
Excerpt 1:
His eyes narrowed, smile disappearing once again. “You’re going to come out of the tub right now; unless you want me to help you out myself?”
Glaring at him hatefully, Kira muttered feelingly, “Damn you, Blake.” But he merely smiled. She knew he realized she had no choice but to give in. And the water was starting to cool uncomfortably.
He straightened, holding up the towel patiently.
Taking a deep breath, Kira rose from the water, resisting the urge to place her arms across her nudity. Even though she knew he was looking at her unabashedly. He wrapped the towel securely around her streaming body and waited until she’d stepped out onto the bathmat before surprising her by swinging her easily off her feet and into his arms, carrying her back into the bedroom.
“Really, Blake?” she muttered, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck and fighting the pounding in her chest at how easily he’d lifted her, as if she weighed little more than a bag of feathers.
In the bedroom, he placed her gently down to stand on the thick rug and Kira instantly curled her toes into the thickness underfoot. The room was deliciously warm by now, a beautiful June night in London. What wasn’t great though was Blake doing the unexpected and whipping the towel off her slightly damp body. Kira gasped.
She felt too paralyzed with shock to move. What on earth…?
“Why would you wish to deny me the pleasure of seeing your gorgeous body, Kira?” he asked softly, head cocked to one side. He held her gaze with almost hypnotic intensity. “You’re unbelievably beautiful and now you’re mine.”
Kira didn’t know what to say. She felt outraged, and…well, a bit gooey in places as she let his words wash over her. She’d sworn to herself he’d never again get a glimpse of her without her clothes on but she couldn’t have foreseen this scenario.
Top ten things you don’t know about me:
- Cotton or Silk? Are we talking about panties or sheets? Either way I have to go with silk, but not satin because I don’t like to slip and slide off the bed.
2. Champagne/beer/wine? Definitely a wine girl, California Chardonnay to be exact.
3. Plotter/pantser: For every book I start out as a plotter but that usually quickly goes out the window pretty fast and I turn into a pantser. I write in scenes instead of by an outline.
4. Describe your workspace: My workspace is total chaos. My computer room is also my teenage daughter’s computer room. Unfortunately, the room is also home to three very noisy parrots. While I’m working I always have at least one of the little devils sitting on my shoulder or trying to eat my keyboard. I’m not sure I would be able to write in total silence.
5. Sports fan or just tolerate it? I barely tolerate it.
6. Who is your biggest influence on writing? Definitely my high school creative writing teacher. She would have us write papers on describing a flower or a cloud. She always gave constructive criticism instead of ripping my papers apart like they love to do in college.
7. Favorite food – Barbeque. Anything barbequed, especially pork. I was a strict vegetarian for years for ethical reasons than had to go back to eating meat because of my health. So now I’m on a barbeque, hamburgers and fried chicken diet. Until next week when I have my cholesterol checked!
8. When did you start writing? I’ve been writing as long as I can remember. I believe around fifth grade I began spending a great deal of time locked up in a room by myself and writing stories.
9. If money were no object, where would you like to live? This is an easy question. My daughter and I talked about it and we both said the same thing-Where we live now in Atlanta. We live in a 70’s style house in an older, established area of Atlanta. It has tons of trees and flowers so I feel like I’m in the country though I can be in downtown Atlanta in ten minutes. My house is my HOME and the only home my teenage daughter has ever known so I wouldn’t move even if I won the lottery. For years I traveled extensively as a travel writer and have been lucky enough to travel all over the world. So while I would love to spend a summer in Paris or Tuscany, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere except where I am right now.
10. What’s next for you? I have a very busy writing season coming up. There are plans for two books and an additional Christmas book. I’m also in discussions to do another romance collection with four other bestselling authors. We can always do more together than individually. Our goal is to hit the USA Bestseller List with an interracial romance collection. If we do I believe it would be the first collection to do so.
Review:
This is my first read by Ms. Burke and definitely won’t be my last. She has written a great book about an interracial couple that you root for from the beginning. It showed the good, bad and the ugly about how the outside world still considers interracial dating and how Blake and Kira handle it.
I will have to say that it took a bit for me to warm up to Kira in the beginning. She came off as a bit weak but with her back story I could understand a little of her reluctance but also her OMG when she meets Blake for the first time, too. 😉 Plus, Blake was one determined man to have Kira once and for all. Plus, in his eyes, he only Kira from the inside, not the outside.
One thing that stuck out to me was how her boss, Blake’s dad viewed them as a couple. You would think that he would have a problem but he doesn’t at all. He also helps them with some twists and turns throughout the book that was nice, too.
If I had a compliant about the story as a whole was that I felt like at times, Ms. Burke came off as a little preaching but she does make valid points, too. Personally, I’ve always felt like you can’t help who you fall in love with and to hell with what the world thinks. If you are happy then that’s all that matters. Shoot…my husband is 7 years younger than me and most people don’t even realize that at all. LOL!
Overall, I loved Blake and Kira. The smexy times were HAWT (bring a hose, water…maybe a cold shower afterwards), the dialogue realistic and the situations that they found themselves in believable. Don’t pass this book up. You will fall in love with Blake and Kira. I know I did.
Book Links
Author Information
Dez Burke grew up in rural Alabama and spent most summers reading worn copies of her Grandmother’s Harlequin Romances. Even as a young girl, she noticed the absence of African American characters. So today, she writes hot, steamy romance books featuring black women and gorgeous men of all races.
Author Links
I love to read Historical – anything & everything. Horror is not my thing.
Lol….loved the “Ten Things You Don’t Know about Me” ….especially the “bbq diet”…..lol…..
thanks for the giveaway!