WHITE HEAT
BY BRENDA NOVAK
Paradise in name only?
A religious cult has moved into what was once a ghost town--Paradise, Arizona. And their actions are cause for concern. One woman who escaped from the compound was nearly stoned to death. Another has gone missing altogether.
Private security contractor Nate Ferrentino is given the assignment of infiltrating the group. It’s a challenge he welcomes…until he learns that Rachel Jessop, one of his colleagues at Department 6, has been chosen to accompany him. Nate’s attracted to Rachel but because of their history, he prefers to keep his distance.
Problem is, they have to pretend to be married. Only couples can participate in certain rituals, which Nate and Rachel need to do if they’re going to pierce the veil of secrecy. But when they find proof that cult leader Ethan Wycliff is as twisted as they feared, they know they have to set aside their differences…or Ethan might take more lives. Maybe even theirs….
Most writers say they've had stories running around in their head since they can remember, but that wasn't the case for Brenda. She grew up thinking she didn't have a creative bone in her body. She considered herself "left-brained," with talents in science and mathematics, and even went to school for business.
It wasn't until she was 29 and married with three kids that she discovered writing — and if not for a difficult situation that prompted her to find a way to make money from home, she might not have started even then.
Brenda was a loan officer for a mortgage company when she caught her in-home daycare provider drugging her children with cough medicines and Tylenol to get them to sleep while she was gone. They'd been waking up several times in the night and she couldn't figure out why. Except for the baby, they were too old for that. But once she found the medicine in her baby's bottle, she suspected the baby-sitter had been doing this for several months.
No longer able to trust someone else with her children's well-being, Brenda quit her job to stay home with them — but her husband's business was failing and she needed to find some way to help him financially. That's when she decided to write a book.
It wasn't the "quick fix" the Novaks were hoping for. It took her five years to teach herself the craft and to finish her debut novel, Of Noble Birth, published in November 1999. But it introduced her to something she loves to do more than anything else. Shortly after she sold Of Noble Birth, she sold three books to Harlequin's Superromance line, the first of which, Expectations, came out in February 2000.
Now she has five children; three girls and two boys, and juggles her writing career with softball games and field trips, carpool runs and homework sessions, and trying to keep up with her active husband. Fortunately, her family is as involved in what she does as she is in their activities. Her husband or one of her daughters sometimes go to conferences with her, they put stamps on the postcards she sends to her mailing list when she has a new book come out, and they come to all her book signings.
Her oldest, Ashley, throws her backpack down when she gets home from school and immediately joins Brenda at her computer, wanting to hear the latest installment on her current work in progress. Ashley gives Brenda valuable feedback, and so does her husband, who hears the same pages when he comes home from work. Now, as a family, the Novaks look back on those hard times when Brenda was just starting out and are grateful that something so good came out of it.
Brenda loves to hear from fellow romance enthusiasts. You can contact her at P.O. Box 3781, Citrus Heights, CA, 95611 or via her web site at www.brendanovak.com.
THANKS TO MIRA BOOKS
I HAVE ONE GREAT PRIZE PACKAGE
TO GIVE AWAY FOR WHITE HEAT.
THE WHITE HEAT PRIZE PACK INCLUDES:
- A Tote bag
- 3D viewer bookmark
- WHITE HEAT lip gloss-Made especially for the book
- A copy of WHITE HEAT
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!
HOW TO ENTER:
+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK. YOU CAN TWEET ONCE A DAY BUT MUST COMMENT EACH TIME YOU DO WITH THE LINK.
6 PM, EST, AUGUST 28!
43 comments:
Hi! I like the fact that the two main characters have to pretend to be married to enter the compound. I didn't know this author has 5 kids. Thanks for a fantastic giveaway,Karen!!! :)
Connie
connie_bryant@hotmail.com
Wow, first! I read all of Brenda'a books and am honored to have the chance to win this book. I have liked books about cults since the Jim Jones deaths. I think every insite even if it is fiction gives some more insite in how these people operate. Thanks for the chance to WIN! ybutler@oppcatv.com
It's the issue of trust and conversely deception that intrigues me about this book,.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
Love that her family is involvede with her work.
Great giveaway. Please enter me, thanks.
FB fan bonus
ruthiekb72@yahoo.com
Great book which is intriguing and has fascinating characters. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
This book about infiltrating the cult as a couple is thrilling. rojosho(at)hotmail(dot)com
I like that the books about a religious cult - I always wonder what makes people join them. milou2ster(at)gmail.com
I "liked" Brenda Novak on Facebook. milou2ster(at)gmail.com
I cannot wait to find out how they will do having to act as husband and wife with the tension they have between them. It always makes me nervous and excited at the same time....afraid they will get 'caught'. The first chapter has me hooked. Thanks, for the chance to win this book.
gcpeach17 at aol dot com
Wow! I went to Brenda's website and found out that she caught her day-care provider drugging her children with cough syrup and Tylenol to get them to sleep while she was away. How sad is that.
I would love to be entered into the giveaway. Thank you for the opportunity.
Smiles & Blessings,
Cindy W.
countrybear52[at]yahoo[dot]com
I like the tension between Rachel and Nate and that they have to pretend to be married. That will prove interesting, I am sure.
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
I found it interesting that they are investigating a cult, and what they have to do to infiltrate it.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
I really want to read this book. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com
Wow, this seems like an intense book! I would love to read it. I am fascinated by religious cults, and have read many books about the FLDS and Warren Jeffs.
In the first chapter, I read that the leader of this cult idolized and corresponded with Charles Manson!! WHOA! That is downright scary. How could people want to follow him?!
stephaniet117 at yahoo dot com
I love that the main characters have a history...it always makes for a great story.
foxchick0323@live.com
I "like" Brenda on facebook!
foxchick0323@live.com
I like the interplay between Rachel and Nate from the very beginning,as they discuss this good-looking baddie.
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com
I have never read any of Brenda Novak's books but this sounds like a great premise. Cults fascinate me.I may become a fan. Thanks for an awesome giveaway.
monagarg@yahoo.com
From the first chapter, I read that the protagonist was a frat boy and started a new religion, the "anti-religion," with his roommates and the religion spread. The descriptions and writing style are great.
Also, the fact that there is sexual tension and a history between Rachel & Nate makes it more intriguing. And they have to go undercover as husband and wife?!
monagarg@yahoo.com
+5swag chirth7@yahoo.com
+5swag shundelt@yahoo.com
+5swag jeff72768@yahoo.com
I liked Brenda on Facebook- what's not to like?
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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/alterlisa/status/21282908964
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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/
I love that her junk drawer includes Chewy Sweet-tarts, Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts, Rain-blo Bubblegum, and real milk chocolate malt balls
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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/
I like that it sounds like a little bit of a thriller, with the characters pretending to be married to spy on the cult.
meredithfl at gmail dot com
I "liked" Brenda on FB.
http://www.facebook.com/meredithfl
meredithfl at gmail dot com
The backdrop of the religious cult makes this book intriguing. Interesting also would be the past relationship of the main characters.
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com
"liked" Brenda Novak on Facebook
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com
+5 Swag
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com
The whole story sounds interesting! I can't wait to read it!
allisonsbj3(at)gmail(dot)com
Brenda's facebook fan
allisonsbj3(at)gmail(dot)com
Love that this book is about infiltrating a cult...I find cults so frightening but also so intriguing!
Thanks,
candc320@gmail.com
I "liked" the author on Facebook and posted a comment: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Brenda-Novak/120794854630624#!/pages/Author-Brenda-Novak/120794854630624?v=wall&story_fbid=136643009712475&ref=mf.
candc320@gmail.com
I love that this book centers around this cult, and I'm hoping that Nate plays a major part, given the sexual tension between him and Rachel. Please count me in. Thanks!
nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com
I "liked" her on Facebook. Shouldn't it be illegal to drug kids like that? Even if it is done using legal products like cough syrup and Tylenol? Sickening.
nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com
I love the details she uses to describe Ethan and the cult. Ethan idolizes Charles Manson. UGHHHH!
lag110 at mchsi dot com
I already like Brenda Novak on FB.
lag110 at mchsi dot com
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/lag32583/status/22296240677
lag110 at mchsi dot com
I think it's riveting that a cult of religious zealots, with very liberal laws regarding sex and marriage, led by a man who once communicated frequently with Charles Manson is under investigation in this book.
Aimala127 AT gmail DOT com
I have never about a cult in a book before. There have been so many in the U.S. It would be interesting to read about methods of control in this book.
CarolNWong@aol.com
+ 5 Swagbucks
CarolNWong@aol.com
I "liked" Brenda Novak on FB.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
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