Sins Gift

Delilah’s Here!!!

She did send me her stuff yesterday, but it was already after I went to work, so here’s a little about one of my favorite authors, and her newest release. Check it out!

Sasha: What are you planning for the series?
Delilah: Sin’s Gift is the first in a series of books I’m tentatively calling The Shadowlands. It’s an introduction to the adventure series seen through the eyes of two human cops, one of whom suffered a head injury that enables her to see beyond the “glamour” otherworldly creatures use to disguise themselves. I wanted the reader to see it unfold from her eyes. I wanted the heroine to question her own sanity and for everyone around her wonder about her too. In sequels we’ll get to know better some of the creatures she aligns herself with. I wanted a lot of flexibility so that I could have fun with the stories and not have too repetitious a feel. Some will slip into the deep end of fantasy, others will slide more toward gritty, urban fantasy. I’m thinking since it’s set in Texas, why not have my demon team investigating other world horse rustler? What would happen if demons took over a maximum security prison? I just keep asking “what if?” and thinking about all the industries and flavors that exist in Texas and the stories could go on forever!

Why do you like writing series?
Delilah:The best thing about writing series is that I never had to say goodbye to characters I love.

When I wrote my very first vampire story for Ellora’s Cave, All Hallow’s Heartbreaker, I wasn’t planning on writing a series. I had a secondary character, Quentin, who emerged fully fleshed, with a wicked sense of humor, who I didn’t like leaving without a “Happily Ever After.” Readers wanted his story too, so I obliged with Love Bites. When I wrote his story, there was a messy ménage love scene and another sexy male who was heartbroken at the end of the story. Before I knew it, I’d published six stories in the My Immortal Knight realm. Series was easy for me to write, not that I ever planned a sequel ahead of time, it’s just the way each story blended into the next. I’m now writing the 7th book in that series, but offering it free to readers through my newsletter group.

When I sold to Avon RED with the first of my Dark Realm stories, I committed, up front, to writing a series. Suddenly, I had to find those threads that I could drop for the next story, and the writing got much more complicated because the stories were more complex with a much larger cast of characters.

How did you come up with the idea for the Sin’s Gift?
Delilah:As happens a lot to me, I was drifting off to sleep, thinking about this cop who’s just come back to work after being shot in the head. I’d been watching a lot of Vincent D’Onofrio in “Criminal Intent” and loving how damaged he is. I’d been missing San Antonio since I moved to Arkansas. I thought about my hardass female cop working in one of the substations around that city and what her first day back at work would be like, and then I started to dream. Of course, I had to get up and write that first scene as it played out. It’s not magic or anything, it’s just my overactive imagination and insomnia.

To learn more abotu Delilah, check out her website at www.delilahdevlin.com

When Police Officer Sinead O’Rourke returns to duty months after being shot in an incident that also claimed her partner, she knows it’s not going to be easy. Despite being cleared of any negligence, her fellow officers wonder whether she’s partially responsible for his death. One more problem is that everyone knows she claims to have seen his ghost. After months of rehabilitation and lying like hell about the fact she’s not seeing spooks anymore, Sin’s determined to get back into the saddle.

Jake Chapa doesn’t want to partner with Sin. Been there, done that—couldn’t keep his hands off her the first time around. She’s too much of a distraction and her penchant for rushing into trouble scares the shit out of him. Despite wishing she’d quit her job, he’s still deeply attracted, so much so that when an armed robbery goes down and something happens that rattles Sin to the core, he’s right there—ready to cover her back and her sweet body…

Click below to read an EXCERPT in the rest of the post!

There’s no place like home.
The police substation didn’t sit at the end of the rainbow or anywhere near Kansas, but for some reason that stupid phrase ran like a mantra through Sinead O’Rourke’s head as she drew a deep breath and pushed through the double doors leading into the station house. Once inside, she kept her gaze focused straight ahead, ignoring the way conversations died away as one by one the officers on duty noticed who’d entered their midst.
So she’d been gone awhile. No doubt San Antonio’s finest whispered she looked a little different than they remembered. A few even knew she’d gone nuts for a while. But their redheaded stepchild was back.
Fuck them, anyway.
Sin headed straight to the lieutenant’s office and knocked on his door.
“Come in.”
Relieved to escape the thick atmosphere of the open floor, she knew she’d only traded one bleeding wound for another when the patrol shift lieutenant, Clayton Kalisek, glanced up and stiffened at the sight of her. “Glad to see you made it, O’Rourke.”
“Yeah, I finally got tired of sitting on my ass,” she said with more attitude than she felt. “Only so many Oprahs a body can stand.”
“Sit down for a second while we have a talk.”
She shut the door behind her and warily took the chair in front of his desk. Just as she remembered, his set expression didn’t give away a thing he was thinking. “What’s on your mind, Lieutenant? The doctors gave me a clean bill of health.”
His narrowed gaze landed on the scar on her cheek then locked with hers again. “If you’re not ready for this, just say so.”
Some things never changed. Lieutenant Kalisek still knew just where to stick his dull knife. “I’m fine,” she said, her tone curt since she wasn’t about to bother hiding her irritation.
“Sure you are.” But he didn’t sound convinced. He leaned back in his chair and continued to stare. “I’m putting you with Chapa, again. I know you two have a history…”
Chapa. Shit. They had plenty of history, all right. Most of it bad. “Fine,” she bit out. “Have you broken the good news to him?”
Clay’s face tightened with a pained expression. “Told him yesterday.”
“Wish you’d waited until I was in the room,” she said, a mirthless grin sliding along her lips. “Bet he was loud.”
The lieutenant’s ice blue eyes narrowed. “He’s not going to cut you any slack.”
Her chin came up. “Don’t need any.”
His nod was curt. “Very well. Get out on the street.”
That was it? Feeling a little deflated, like she’d worried about nothing, she hesitated. “You’re not going to say anything about the psych eval?”
“Doc said you’re ready—that the meds and the time off did the trick.” His expression tightened. “Should I ask you if you’re still talking to ghosts?”
A lump burned the back of her throat as she caught sight of Danny standing just behind the lieutenant’s shoulder. “No ghosts,” she lied, ignoring the grin splitting her late partner’s face.
She shot up off the chair and turned to open the door.
“Like I said, O’Rourke. Chapa’s not gonna cut you any slack.”
She nodded over her shoulder, not daring to look back.

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