Today, we welcome back a Dish favorite, Romantic Suspense author Kat Martin!
New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate
of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in
Anthropology and also studied History.
Before she started writing in 1985, Kat was a real estate broker.
During that time she met her husband, L.J. Martin, author of thirty western, non-fiction,
historical, and suspense novels. A resident of
Missoula,
Montana, Kat and her husband spend their
winters in
Ventura, California.
She is a currently writing her next Romantic Suspense.
With fifty five novels to her credit and more than fifteen
million copies of her books in print, Ms. Martin has been published in
twenty-one foreign countries including France, Japan, Greece, Argentina,
Russia, Sweden, Turkey, China, and Spain.
AGAINST THE MARK
For AGAINST THE MARK, my newest Romantic
Suspense, out the end of August, my husband and I headed for Los Angeles, more specifically to Marina Del
Rey. That’s where the heroine, Haley
Warren’s father is killed in a power boat explosion. Though we live in Montana,
we spend our winters on the California
coast so we didn’t have far to travel.
In the
story, private investigator Tyler Brodie--you met Ty in AGAINST THE NIGHT with
Johnnie Riggs, and also in AGAINST THE EDGE with Ben Slocum. When Ty agrees to help hot little blond Haley
Warren find out the truth about her father’s death, he doesn’t realize the
danger he and Haley are going to find themselves in.
After
all, tens of millions of dollars worth of stolen art is plenty of motive for
murder. Besides
a trip to the marina, which is surrounded by condos, restaurants, businesses,
and shopping, we also drove the Miracle Mile, also known as Gallery Row, the
location of the L.A. County Museum of Art and a number of other wonderful art
galleries.
Investigating
the settings, going to the galleries, restaurants, and staying in hotels in the
area, makes the book feel more real--and hey, it’s also a lot of fun.
I hope
you’ll watch for Ty and Haley in AGAINST THE MARK, the ninth book in the series. And that next year, you’ll look for Ty’s
cousins’s, the Brodie brothers, starting with Dylan Brodie in AGAINST THE WILD.
Tell me, what is your
favorite LA hot spot? If you've never been to LA, tell us about a favorite hot spot / hangout where you live!
Till
then happy reading and have a great summer.
Kat
Kat is giving away one copy of AGAINST THE MARK to a randomly chosen person who leaves a comment today. (U.S. address only)
The perfect murder is a work of art ...
In one catastrophic
instant, Haley Warren's estranged father was taken from her. She never got the
chance to reconnect with him, so now she's doing it the only way she's got
left: by proving the explosion that killed him was no accident.
When Tyler Brodie,
the provocative and handsome P.I. hired by Haley, discovers that her father was
investigating a suspected art theft, he knows his death is no coincidence.
After all, tens of millions of dollars worth of stolen art could motivate a
thief to go to any lengths including getting rid of anyone poking around where
they don't belong.
As Haley and Ty get closer to the truth, the truth gets ugly: Did
Haley's dad know too much …or was he in on the take? And
although Ty's a consummate professional, he's having trouble focusing on the
facts of the case, and not the figure of his gorgeous client. The two are
determined to get to the bottom of the case, even if it means they die trying.
Excerpt
#1
Against
the Mark, by Kat Martin
“I’ve got another client for you. Tyler Brodie, I’d like you to meet my
grandniece, Haley Warren. Haley’s out
here from Chicago. Her grandmother was my sister.”
Just to regain a little of his dignity, Ty
let his gaze roam over her, starting at the frosted-pink toenails peeking out
of strappy high-heeled, open-toed sandals, sliding up a pair of long legs in
snug fitting jeans, across that bare midriff with its glittering bellybutton
ring over a set of nicely rounded breasts to a pretty face framed by long,
softly curling honey blond hair.
She had big blue eyes, and an Angelina
Jolie mouth that made him think of dirty sex.
Maybe she read his thoughts for a faint blush rose in her cheeks.
Good.
A little payback only seemed fair.
Besides, she was a real pleasure to look
at. Not beautiful in the classic sense
like some of the women he knew, but with those dimples and big blue eyes, she
was way beyond cute.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Warren.”
The smile was gone and she assessed him
coolly. “Aunt Ellie tells me you’re a
friend, as well as an investigator.”
“I like to think that’s true.”
“Of course it’s true,” Ellie said. “That’s why I know we can count on Ty to help
us.”
Wariness slid through him. Ellie had a way of bringing him clients who
were nothing but trouble. “How’s that?”
“Well, you see, three months ago Haley’s
father died when his power boat exploded.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said to her.
Grief flashed in her eyes an instant before
she glanced away. “Thank you.”
“At the time everyone thought it was an
accident,” Ellie continued, “a gas leak of some kind that turned deadly. Haley’s stepmother doesn’t believe it. About a month ago, Betty Jean started
emailing Haley, trying to convince her to come to Los Angeles and help her find out the truth.”
Ty focused on the leggy blonde. “And you think she’s right because...?”
“I don’t know if she’s right or not. I’ve never met her. Before he died, my father and I had been
estranged for nearly five years, ever since he left my mother and ran off with
another woman.”
“Betty Jean,” he said, just to make sure he
was getting this straight.
“That’s right. After he moved to L.A., Dad tried to mend our relationship, but
I just...I couldn’t get past his desertion.”
She glanced down and her eyes misted.
“Now my father’s gone.”
Ty nodded, beginning to get the
picture. “So your dad’s dead and you
regret not mending your fences.”
“Yes, I do.
Very much. But the thing is, some
of the things Betty Jean says make sense.
I owe it to my father to find out what really happened.”
He flicked a glance at Ellie, whose
features looked a little too bland to suit him.
“I take it you’re here to convince me to help her.”
“That’s right. You know how good you are at these things, Tyler. Johnnie’s out of town on some case or
other. And Haley will be helping
you. That’ll save you from having to do
everything by yourself.”
Haley would be helping him. He could think of any number of things he’d
like her to do for him, but none of them had anything to do with business. The fact was Haley Warren was Ellie’s
niece. Seducing her probably wasn’t a
good idea.
“Have you talked to the police?”
“Betty Jean has,” Haley answered. “The police said there was nothing to
indicate any sort of foul play. But my
stepmother isn’t convinced and if she’s right--“
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll look into the circumstances of the
accident, see if anything looks suspicious.
I’ve got friends in the department.
If something’s not right, I’ll talk to them myself.”
Haley reached over and caught his arm. He felt a little zing of awareness and
figured she must have felt it too since she stepped back as if she’d been
burned.
She glanced away, took a deep breath and
forced her eyes back to his face. “I
want to be involved in this, Mr. Brodie.
I need to find out for myself. I
owe it to my father to find out the truth.”
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