It’s our great pleasure to welcome National Bestselling Author Bethany Kane (Beth Kery’s alter ego) back to BLI today! Bethany is here to celebrate the release of her latest novel Addicted To You, with us which will hit the stands June 7, 2011. Addicted To You is a hot, emotional erotic romance involving Rill Pierce, a delectable Irishman and Katie Hughes, a feisty heroine. Addicted To You is the first of A One Night of Passion series of novels.

Bethany! Welcome back to BLI and thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us today! 🙂

Bethany: As always, my pleasure Lea.

Since you were here previously and talked about writing process etc. I wanted to dive right in and get the low down on Addicted To You which I think can safely be described as an emotional, multilayered story. What can readers expect from Addicted To You?

Bethany: Well, ATY is indeed emotional, but for me, the tone for the story was set by Katie Hughes, the heroine. As a result, ATY has an at times lighter, more humorous feel to it than some of my previous books. Because Katie is both vulnerable and doubtful about herself, but also feisty and strong, it adds a unique layer of spice to the story. Katie is indomitable and loyal to the bone, but—like most women—she doubts herself at times…worries that she’s a fake and not living up to her full potential as a human being. Rill, the hero, is the tortured soul in this book. Katie storms into the quirky town of Vulture’s Canyon, determined to save him. Whatever Katie tries to conquer from the heart, she’ll vanquish, and there’s no doubt in the reader’s mind she’ll succeed when it comes to Rill. In the process of ‘saving’ the man she’s carried a long-time torch for, she saves herself, as well. If I had to think about who Katie is most similar to in all my classic romance favorites, it would be Emma (Jane Austen). Like Emma, Katie has a heart of gold, she’s loyal, and she refuses to give up. She also is a bit mixed up sometimes, but that’s part of her charm.

Rill Pierce… Wow, we have a charismatic Irish screenplay writer and film director who has left a very successful career and isolated himself in this old house situated outside of Vultures Canyon. He has shunned all of his close friends and is kind of living in this stunned stasis using alcohol as a crutch isn’t he? Can you dissect this complex hero a little more and maybe share with readers what inspired the development of his character?

Bethany: I first started formulating Rill in my head a couple of years ago when I watched the incredibly romantic film, August Rush. Jonathan Rhys Meyers portrayal of a sexy Irish rock star was fan-yourself sexy. If you haven’t seen August Rush, I recommend it. Although it’s mainly the story of a young boy finding his parents, it’s also an amazing romance.

As far as Rill’s job as a screenplay writer and director, it relates to my long-term love of movies and theatre. You see it pop up quite a bit in my books. I took a lot of film classes in college, and love studying director’s style and motifs. These are incredibly bright men and women who are required to not only have amazing creative intelligence, but also understand the practicalities of technology. They are like generals, in a sense, who must coordinate a platoon of artists, technical professionals, musicians and actors in order to create this entire world.

For me, Rill had a lot of similarities to Vic Savian, the hero in Wicked Burn. If you’ve read the book, Vic admits to a period of time when he was a real mess, drinking too much…losing faith, essentially. Writing Rill reminded me a little of what it would have been like if I wrote Vic during that time period. Both men are writers, both are talented and volatile, and both have this sort of raw, magnetic sexuality.

Rill is unique in that his childhood background was rather sad. His mother is unavailable and promiscuous. Despite the fact that Rill lives in a world where a veritable sexual smorgasbord is available to him regularly, he purposefully restrains himself sexually and was unflinchingly faithful to his dead wife. He’s a bit like the son of a drug addict who makes it a point never to become addicted themselves. He’s afraid he might be like his mother. As a result, Katie has to teach him that it’s okay to fully express his raw, dominant nature sexually.

Rill is experiencing a sort of existential crisis in regard to something crushing he’d learned about his dead wife, Eden. The pain of what he learns relates to his marriage, but it also relates to his own identity, and the fact that he’d projected all sorts of illusions onto Eden because of his own needs.

I thought you nailed Rill’s Irish accent and mannerisms by the way. Did you have fun writing him?

Bethany: Thanks! I did have a blast writing Rill. I’m Irish-American. I’ve always had an affinity for accents, trying to ‘get’ them along with local phrases and dialects when I travel. I’d love to say I’m great at an Irish accent, but I’m actually best at English and American southern. An Irish accent is so subtle. It’s similar to an English accent, but every once in a while it strikes as deliciously lyrical on the ear, and you’re amazed at how unique and lovely it is. It’s also very raw and blunt at times, and I love the contrast. It’s the perfect accent for Rill–as he’s both elementally masculine and raw, but also possesses the spirit of an artist.

Okay, so it happened one night right? LOL Here is Rill drowning his sorrows in fact, he is falling down drunk and Katie Hughes, his best friend’s sister arrives unannounced on his doorstep. Katie is determined to ‘rescue’ Rill, from his self-destructive path. Katie is a weapon, she drives a black Maserati, she likes speed. She is extremely intelligent and worked as a tax attorney in Beverley Hills. Katie is kind of a repressed gypsy though isn’t she Beth?

Bethany: She really is. Katie is a free spirit who just happened to be born into an affluent world. The funny thing about Katie is she initially thinks all the hippies and do-gooders in Vulture’s Canyon are so different from her. As the story progresses, however, both the reader and Katie realize she’s one of them, in spades. She may wear designer clothes and drive an expensive car, but she longs to give back to the world, to utilize her passion for good. That’s at the crux of her identity crisis, because who believes a rich girl from Beverly Hills can really be serious when it comes to public service and humanitarianism? Everybody rolls their eyes at her when she says she wants to serve, to make a difference, questioning her motives. Katie has to fight to find her place in that world, and I really respect her for that.

Rill and Katie have known each other for a long time as his best friend Everett is her brother. This is a friends to lovers romance but Katie has been smitten with Rill for a long time hasn’t she?

Bethany: She has always carried a torch for Rill. He’s all easy charm and rugged maleness, plus he’s one of the most talented young directors on the planet. She first meets him when she’s a teenager, and he’s several years older than her. Rill calls her “Sunshine” because of her luminescent spirit and teases her that he could never put her in one of his films because his lighting director would give him hell for ruining everything he’d ever learned about his trade. Now what girl wouldn’t melt for that?

Everett Hughes, another wonderful character. I would love to read his story, would you be willing to share a little information about Everett?
Beth: I’m glad you liked Everett. 🙂 Yes, I’m planning to tell his story. In Addicted to You, we see Everett mostly through Katie’s eyes. She adores her big brother, but she has a major case of ‘overshadowed-by-an-older-sibling-syndrome’. Everett Hughes is not only the hottest actor in Hollywood, he’s also a damn good actor. He’s incredibly gorgeous, if a little idiosyncratic. Katie mentally bemoans the fact that he can wear the most atrocious outfits in the world and make them look quirky chic. He typically wears hats in order to cover his hallmark blonde hair, and he can ‘do’ just about any accent on demand. Fortunately, Katie and Everett grew up in a very warm, caring family, and so Everett is very grounded despite the potential pitfalls of his trade.

You wrote a suspense subplot into this story involving Miles Fordham, this smarmy businessman who owns a golf club and marina on the river. Miles plans to add a casino to his Golf Club which doesn’t sit well with the locals at all. What inspired the subplot concerning a small town being taken over by a big business concern?

Bethany: Despite the fact that I live in the city, I grew up a small town girl. I went to school in southern Illinois, and used to love to drive through the hilly forests thereabouts. It’s truly God’s county. I actually based Vulture’s Canyon off a real town, although I’ll refrain from saying the name of it. I wouldn’t want people to think I was making fun of it, when in reality, I loved it so much that it stuck with me all these years. As far as the casino—one was built not too far from this particular town, and so I sort of used my imagination to conjure up what the residents might think of such a drastic change to their little community, the alteration of their way of life, etc.

What can we look forward to next from the desk of Bethany Kane/Beth Kery?

Bethany: Liam’s Perfect Woman, the second book in the Home to Harbor Town series, from Harlequin, releases late July/August of 2011. I’ve been contracted for three more books in that series, so I’m currently writing those. The second book in the Princes of the Underground series, Silken Rapture, will be out, more than likely later this year from Samhain. As for Bethany Kane, I’ve been plotting a story for Everett Hughes. 🙂 It’s going to be a fun one.

Well I for one am looking forward to all your future publications. And Everett’s story? WOOT!!

Bethany, can you summarize Addicted To You Twitter style in 140 characters or less?

Bethany: Don’t strangle me for not being original, but I think Julie James said it best in her cover quote:

A fabulous, sizzling hot friends-to-lovers story. You’ll be addicted from page one!

LOL! No strangling – I think it’s perfect. 😉

Bethany (Beth), it’s been wonderful to talk about Addicted To You, thank you again!

Bethany: Same to you, Lea. Thank you!

Where to find Bethany Kane (Beth Kery):

Website
Twitter
Facebook

~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Bethany has generously offered one copy of Addicted To You to one lucky commenter!

And, BLI is offering a copy of Beth’s Berkley erotic romance Explosive to one lucky commenter!

Winner #1 will have their choice of books.
Winner #2 will receive the remaining novel.

All you have to do is leave a meaningful comment about the interview.
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please leave us a way to contact you.
(Email in blogger profile or twitter name – no way to contact you – no entry).

This giveaway is open worldwide!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, June 11, 2011; and we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

About Lea

Lea is an animal loving, tree hugging vegetarian who lives in Toronto, Canada with her family, which includes three dogs. She is a prolific reader and has been blogging and reviewing since 2008. Lea is a contributor at the USA Today HEA Blog and an active member at Goodreads.

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