Out on a limb...

Annie West here. Have you ever felt out on a limb? Stressed by forces you feel you have little control over and forced to consider options you'd prefer to avoid?

If so you'll have some sympathy for Antonia and Rafe in my Presents release this month. They say that writers, particularly romance writers, like to put their characters in terrible situations and then watch how they deal with them. In this case it's true. I confess. Neither Rafe nor Antonia were happy at the beginning of this book. Both faced stressful situations , the sort that bring out the best or worst in people Both found ways to get through them and redeem themselves. Because of that I love the US title RAFE'S REDEMPTION because it really gets to the crux of the story (in the UK this story was called THE BILLIONAIRE'S BOUGHT MISTRESS) .

Rafe is a man behaving badly. OK, I know sometimes we expect alpha heroes to do that, but he has his reasons - a mix of revenge on the man who destroyed his mother and the desire to stop him from ever harming anyone again. He's single minded in his pursuit, so single minded that he doesn't stop to consider the impact of his actions on anyone else. Frankly he's not seeing the big picture and that's what he has to learn before he can be redeemed.

That's where Antonia comes in. She's got problems of her own. Problems she can't walk away from, not if she's to salvage her recently dead father's reputation. As she loved her parents dearly and can't bear to see them wrongly maligned in public, there's no question that she'll turn her back. Then there's the small matter of a debt to be paid.

Rafe makes her an offer that every instinct, every feeling rejects. Yet logic, and the need to do the right thing for those she loves, means she has to consider the unthinkable - living with Rafe while he flaunts her as his lover in order to fulfil his plans for revenge.

I wondered when I began writing this whether Antonia was in such a position of weakness with all her choices taken away from her, that she'd turn into a wimp that no one could like. I needn't have worried. She leapt onto the page and found wonderful, inventive ways to stand up for herself in the face of what initially seemed overwhelming odds. She did it so well that she showed Rafe the error of his ways - absolutely necessary for his redemption.

Here's what a few readers have said:

"...a fabulously sensual Modern Romance that will keep you turning the pages late into the night with its captivating blend of drama, passion, intrigue and romance." (Cataromance review)
"How do you do it - make a man a woman should hate into someone you want?"
"OMG I finished reading Rafe and Antonia on Monday night and I LOVED it. Really, truly I loved it - this story is my idea of what the perfect Presents story should be."

It seems I love a story where hero and heroine have to face the unthinkable - or at least a situation they'd prefer to avoid. Can you remember a story where the hero/heroine had to face the worst scenario imaginable ? If not, could you suggest one? I'll give a copy of one of my backlist books to someone who leaves a comment.

If you're interested in Rafe's Redemption you can find details on my website or even better, order it from eHarlequin (it's only available there - in either paperback or ebook form).