JAYNE WELCOMES CHRISTINA DODD
Jayne, here, to welcome Christina Dodd to RWQ. I just finished her new book, INTO THE SHADOW, and all I can say is "wow"! The book reminded me of why I started reading romance novels in the first place. Nobody delivers the exciting zing of the classic -- okay, occasionally politically incorrect -- romance the way Christina does. I loved INTO THE SHADOW and here's Christina to give you a taste of the story.
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I love a little bondage.
No, not me, personally. I would freak out. But in the hands of an author I trust, I love to read about bondage, secure in the knowledge that it’s a romance and everything will end with happily ever after.
In INTO THE SHADOW, Karen Sonnet escaped her kidnapper. She has just been recaptured and he has handcuffed her … so she thinks.
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Karen's mouth went dry with fear … and desire.
Damn Warlord. She had told herself so many times that the soft emotions and strong passions no longer survived within her soul, and he made her feel them all.
Turning her by the shoulders, he marched her ahead of him. Marched her toward his tent.
Toward his domination.
The walk back went too quickly, and each moment, her tension increased.
He shoved her across the bridge without a single care for her fear and hesitation, lifted the material and rolled her inside.
Her bound hands were an insurmountable handicap, but Karen struggled to her knees, unwilling to loll on the floor like a helpless slave.
Yet when she would have stood, he pressed his hand to the top of her head and held her in place.
He pulled a long, shiny blade from his belt, stepped behind her …
She closed her eyes in the anticipation of pain … and suddenly her hands were free.
He dangled a cut rope before her eyes.
She pulled her hands to the front and stared. The cold metal on her wrists wasn’t steel,
as she thought, but gold, not handcuffs, but wide and ornate gold bracelets. The gleaming metal had been worked, decorated with tiny beads that altogether formed a panther on the prowl. In front of the great cat was the crescent moon, also created by a series of tiny gold beads. It was stunning, unique, barbaric.
She tried to slip a finger between the metal and her wrist; the bracelets were tapered to fit close against her skin. She scratched at the seam, searching for a clasp; it was hidden by some clever device.
He watched, his mouth curled in a half-smile. “Beautiful, aren’t they?”
“How do I get them off?”
“You don’t. Once they’re locked, they can’t be removed by anyone but a jeweler with sheers strong enough to cut them loose.” He picked up one of her wrists and traced the panther. “See this? This is me. And see this?” He ran his finger over the moon. “That is you. This marks you as my possession, and if you run away again, everyone in this part of the world will bring you back to me.”
She stammered, “B…but that makes them slave bracelets.”
“Exactly.”
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So what do you think? Does reading about bondage in a romance (specifically my romance, INTO THE SHADOW), secure in the knowledge that it’s going to end well, give you a thrill? Or does it make you run screaming for the hills?
--Christina Dodd
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posted at 2:19 PM
