It is my very great pleasure to have a guest post by the very talented Cynthia Sax. I have enjoyed this ADULT series immensely and I hope that those of you who have read it have had as much fun with it as I have!
Sinful Rewards 12 – Saying Goodbye To Beloved Characters
by
Cynthia Sax
I’m often asked what the toughest part of writing is. For me, hands down, no competition, it’s writing that final chapter, knowing I’ll have to say goodbye to the characters in the story.
With Sinful Rewards, this was especially difficult. I’ve spent 12 novellas, over 1,200 pages with Bee, Hawke and Nicolas. We’ve grown together, shared secrets, laughs, tears. They’re as real to me as many real life people are. (My dear wonderful hubby always prefaces any of our discussions with ‘Are these people you know in real life or in books?’)
I loved most seeing how Bee has matured. When we first met her in Sinful Rewards 1, she was all about the exterior. She sought to look the part, believed in faking it until making it. She was a fashionista, caring about labels and designers.
During the 12 novellas, all of this is stripped away (literally and figuratively). She hooks up with Hawke, a fellow exhibitionist. He helps her become comfortable in her own skin. As she builds her confidence, she cares less and less about what people think about her. She starts to look at the interior, at people’s souls, rather than their clothes.
A defining snippet in Sinful Rewards 12 is when she realizes she doesn’t need her nemesis’s approval.
***
She hates me. For the first time in my life, I ask myself why. I’ve never done anything to warrant her loathing. Could her attacks be a deflection, as Mrs. Davis’s were, as Mr. Wynters’s were? Were her criticisms about herself, not me?
Have I been trying to impress someone who is more f***ed-up, more miserable and self-loathing, than I’ve ever been?
***
In Sinful Rewards 1, Bee’s inner dialogue would have focused on herself, on the problem being her, not the nemesis. In Sinful Rewards 12, she realizes that the hatred isn’t about her. It is about her nemesis.
One of the fun things about having a 12 novella serial is being able to show this huge change but the offset is I’m even more committed to Bee and her adventures. It was very challenging stopping the serial at 12 stories.
That’s why I’m hoping that readers will want a story about Cyndi or our lonely billionaire or another character in Sinful Rewards. That way, I can revisit Bee and see how she’s doing. (grins)
Do you find it challenging to end a story or series you’re reading, saying goodbye to those characters?
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Sinful Rewards 12: A Billionaires and Bikers Novella
By: Cynthia Sax
Releasing June 16, 2015
Avon Red Impulse
Blurb
“A YEAR OF SIZZLING HOT SAX”
THE SEXIEST 12 MONTH SERIAL: Sinful Rewards
The thrilling conclusion to the Billionaires and Bikers series!
One tiny mistake turns Bee Carter's worst fears into a terrifying reality. She knows she isn't alone. The sexy, honorable man she adores stands by her side, willing to sacrifice his freedom to ease her concerns.
But she yearns for more than he is offering. She wants a partner who will love her as fiercely as she loves him, who will say the words and mean them, and someone who will choose her because this is what he desires more than anything else, not merely out of a misguided sense of duty.
Will saying no to the man she loves earn Bee unbearable heartache or will she finally get the forever she craves?
Link to Follow Tour
Goodreads Link
Goodreads Series Link
Excerpt
(note from ELF...this is one of the tamer excerpts, but I love what it shows about how far the relationship has come between Nicolas & Bee)
Nicolas stands in the hallway, a sheepish smile on his beautiful face, and my small burst of joy dissipates, replaced by the dreaded malaise. He’s handsome, the lights shining on his black wavy hair, tanned skin, dark eyes. He’s immaculately dressed in a gray suit, white shirt, pink tie. He’s carrying ice cream, a small tub of Heavenly Hash cradled in his perfectly manicured fingers.
But he’s not Hawke. He’s not the man I love, the only person I want to see.
“Don’t look at me like that, Bee.” Nicolas pushes his way into the condo. “I had that situation with the New York build last night. There will be fancy events in the future.” He holds up the tub. “I brought ice cream.”
I summon a smile. “You forgot about me.” I take the ice cream from the dashing billionaire. “What do those articles I sent you say about forgetting friends?”
Nicolas grimaces. “You knew I was a bad friend.” He walks with me to the kitchen, smelling of expensive cologne and wealth.
“You’re not a bad friend.” I set two bowls and two spoons on the counter. “You’re a terrible friend.” I open the tub of ice cream.
The real estate developer settles his long lean body on a bar stool and dips a spoon in the container. “You’re not giving up on me, are you?” The lines carved between his perfect eyebrows belie his casual tone.
“I’d never give up on you.” I knock his sucked-clean spoon away and huddle over the tub, protecting the ice cream from impatient-billionaire-induced contamination. “Hawke doesn’t love me,” I blurt, needing to voice this, to share this with someone.
“He said that?” Nicolas steals a spoonful of ice cream from the bowl I’m filling.
“No.” I frown, scooping as fast as I can. “But he’s never said he loves me, either.” I push Nicolas’s bowl toward him.
His eyes sparkle. “I’ve never said I love ice cream.” He shovels the sweet treat into his mouth with a boyish glee. “But I do. Very much.” His lips curl upward. “The name of this flavor is perfect. It is heavenly.”
“Hawke doesn’t love me,” I repeat stubbornly, dishing out a smaller portion for myself.
“A good friend would agree with you.” Nicolas’s head is bent over his ice cream.
“You’re not a good friend.” I place the tub in the freezer compartment of the fridge. “What would you do?”
“I’d tell you that neither of you are acting rationally, that if craziness is a sign of love, Hawke has it much worse than you.” Nicolas licks his spoon. “He guards you like you’re the last piece of prime real estate on the planet. I’m taking my life into my hands by simply eating ice cream with you.”
I climb onto the bar stool beside him, his observations about Hawke’s protectiveness appeasing me, banishing some of my melancholy. “He cares about me.”
“No, he cares about his team.” The billionaire’s lips flatten grimly. “Disregarding all of my advice about maintaining his distance.” Nicolas believes remaining aloof from his employees makes painful staffing decisions less traumatic. “What Hawke feels for you is in an entirely different category.”
“It isn’t love.” Or is it?
Author Info
USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes contemporary, SciFi and paranormal erotic romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, Real Time With Bill Maher, and numerous best of erotic romance top ten lists.
She lives in a world filled with magic and romance. Although her heroes may not always say, “I love you,” they will do anything for the women they adore. They live passionately. They play hard. They love the same women forever.
Cynthia has loved the same wonderful man forever. Her supportive hubby offers himself up to the joys and pains of research, while they travel the world together, meeting fascinating people and finding inspiration in exotic places such as Istanbul, Bali, and Chicago.
Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled release day newsletter and visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter| Goodreads
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GIVEAWAY
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