Padme's Library: Swept Away by J Haymore

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Swept Away by J Haymore

Title: Swept Away

Author: J. Haymore

Publication date: October 20th 2014

Genres: New Adult, Romance, Suspense

Summary:
He is everywhere. He surrounds me, permeates the air, wends his way under my skin. I can’t escape his strength, his intensity, his presence.

I’m trapped.

There’s nowhere to run.

Nowhere to hide.

But even if I could escape…would I be strong enough to leave?

I needed something—something big—to get myself out of the rut I’d fallen into after the car accident that killed my sister. This sailing trip was meant only to mark a new chapter in my life. Until Ethan Williams stepped on board.

Ethan radiated confidence. His darkly handsome good looks and ocean-blue eyes mesmerized me. But it was the way he looked at me that drew me in. He wasn’t looking at my past or at my scars, but the real me behind all that baggage I was trying so hard to leave behind.

But Ethan had secrets—dark, dangerous secrets. I was trapped in the middle of the ocean in a tangle of lies, sex, and violence. The problem was, I was happy to be trapped forever…if it meant I could have him.

***Warning: Swept Away is a 4-part serial. This story is messy and twisted and very, very sexy. It is not for people under 18.***

A shuffling movement comes from the direction of the navigation area. It’s Ethan, of course. Without trying to—without wanting to—I track his every movement whenever he’s near.
The trampoline grows taut beneath me as he steps on it. He sits beside me and stares up at the sky for a moment. Just having him this close washes heat over my skin.
He’s spoken to me over the past few days, of course. It’s unavoidable. He’s put on the mask of the unflinchingly polite gentleman again. It’s no wonder he’s good in business. He can be hard, terse, and commanding, but he can also be gracious and charming.
He turns to me and asks quietly, “Are you okay?”
This is the most personal question he’s asked me in days.
I give him a tight smile. “I’ve been through worse.”
“Yeah.” There’s a gruff edge of emotion in his voice.
He doesn’t know the half of it. I told him about my parents, but not about Em and the accident and the cause of my limp. He doesn’t know that I was almost killed in a convenience-store shooting, and that the only reason I’m lying here right now is because of a Good Samaritan who took a bullet for me.
Ethan lies beside me, stretching his tall form out next to mine. He’s large, and his weight makes the trampoline dip. My muscles tighten so my body doesn’t roll toward him. “Look at the stars,” he murmurs.
“I know.”
“I never thought I’d find it so peaceful out here.”
“What did you think sailing across the ocean would be like?”
“Dangerous,” he answers. “Uncomfortable. Miserable, actually.”
I turn to him, raising a brow. “Really?”
He nods.
“Then why did you come? I know you said it was something you needed to do. But if you thought it would be dangerous, uncomfortable, and miserable, then why?”
He laughs quietly, but he doesn’t answer.
Fine. By now I know how private he is.
I stare at the stars brightening the sky. Below us, the Temptation dips and rolls. All is silent except for the gentle slosh of water against the hull.
“Tara,” he murmurs. His tone draws my gaze. He turns fully onto his side, propping his head up on his hand as he watches me.
“Yes?”
“Have you ever been on a runaway train?”
I give a soft snort.
“That’s what I feel like I’m on right now.”
My lips twitch up, but they don’t quite make it to a smile. “Then put on the brakes, and you’ll stop moving before you crash.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Why not?”
“Because… I’ve tried to stop it since I… Since the first moment I saw you on that ramp and every day since then. But it isn’t going to work. I’ve tried, and... And I can’t.” He swallows hard, but his gaze doesn’t leave mine, not for a second.
My heart starts to pound. Emotions grab at me, excitement and fear and hope, along with a sharp edge of anger. “You’ve been doing a fine job of it for the past few days.”
He reaches out and touches my cheek. It’s just the gentlest touch, but it sends a bolt of electricity through me. “No. I’ve been doing a shit job of it. I’m good at pretending, but if you knew what was going on in my head—” He breaks off abruptly. After a quiet moment, he adds, “I can’t stop it. I can’t ignore it. Trying to is only going to make me crazy. So I’m done trying.”

Author Interview:

1. In three words, how would you describe Swept Away?

Suspenseful, erotic, romantic

2. If you could be any character from Swept Away, who would you be and why?

I think I’d be Kyle, Tara’s best friend. He goes through a lot in this book, but there’s a lightness and a playfulness in him that I’d really like to have!

3. Do you ever picture particular actors or actresses as you write your characters?

I very rarely do this. The characters turn into flesh and blood in my mind (as I hope they do in the readers’ minds) and I always have a very difficult time when people ask me to cast my books, because I can never find the actors and actresses who exactly fit the image in my head!

4. Do you have any rituals that help you get in the mood to sit down and write?

There are a few things that help me to get in the mood:

Having my headphones & my long, eclectic playlist ready to go on my phone

Having a comfortable chair

Being away from my kids (i.e. no distractions!)

Having a hot, tall cup of coffee or tea nearby

5. Tell us some special research you did for this book.

I actually did a lot of research for Swept Away. Here is a sampling of things I Googled (this is just a few of the MANY):

“How to sail from California to Hawaii”

“What’s it like to drown?”

“Private jet interiors”

“Sociopathic behavior”

“Firsthand accounts of hypothermia”

“Best seafood restaurant in Honolulu”

“What’s it like to be high on MDMA?”

“Most expensive sports cars”

6. What’s next for you?

I also write historicals as Jennifer Haymore, so I have a Highlander clamoring to get onto the pages next. Then... I think I’ll probably be writing Kyle’s story. After all he’s been through, he deserves his happily ever after, I think!

7. What would you say are the defining characteristic of your novels?

All my novels have a touch of intrigue and suspense, and usually there’s a twist people don’t expect. I haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly why, but a lot of reviewers call my books “different”—in a good way, I hope!

I also always have protective heroes. There’s just something about a hero that will do anything to protect his heroine that gets me every single time.

8. What traits are most important in a romance heroine?

Inner strength, intelligence, and a strong spirit.

9. What are the 5 best things about being a writer?

(5) Working in PJs

(4) Making my own hours

(3) Being able to travel to amazing places in the name of research

(2) The feeling of writing “the end”

(1) Being able to escape into my characters’ worlds for hours at a time

10. If you were a heroine in a book, your character would be:

(a)the girl next door

(b)the damsel in distress

(c)kick-butt take charge heroine

(d)the aloof ice queen

I’d like to be them all! But I’d probably be (a) the girl next door...boring, I know!

11. How do you conquer writer’s block?

I just write through it. I think to myself, “You’re writing crap. It makes no sense. It’s horrible. But you’re writing it, and you’re not going to stop.” Invariably, I read it later on and always find there’s something I can work with.

Author Bio:
USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Haymore is the author of sexy historical and contemporary romance.

You can find Jennifer in Southern California trying to talk her husband into yet another trip to England, helping her three children with homework while brainstorming a new five-minute dinner menu, or crouched in a corner of the local bookstore writing her next novel.