Hello fiction fans. I’m Anita DeVito and I’m thrilled to share exclusive insider
information on my latest release LOST IN DECEPTION.
A strong man needs a stronger woman. My hero, Tom Riley, was
introduced in the first in the series, Lost in Tennessee. Tom is a structural
engineer, build like a brick sh$t house with a mind to match. When it comes to
ladies, he was all about appreciating them but commitment was a four-letter
word. Finding him the perfect mate was a challenge. I created three or four
female leads and Tom kept blowing them off. Until Peach Morales. Ex-military
with a flair for being in the wrong place at the right time, Peach was the kind
of smart that doesn’t come in a book. She had built her life by thinking two
steps faster than her enemies and having the guts to stepped over the line.
Peach didn’t want a man in her life…which drew Tom like a moth to a flame. It’s
a case of the one thing you want is the one you can’t have.
A strong woman needs a creative guy—in and out of the bedroom.
Peach didn’t see why she needed a male lead in her story. Tom’s good
looks and he-man charms were a dime a dozen. She was disappointed I couldn’t
come up with someone better. That really made Tom mad. He picked up the gauntlet
and we put our heads together. If this was going to work, he was going to have
to think outside of the box. He had to make her laugh, love her for who she was,
and show her a life she didn’t know she could have. Everybody has baggage and
Peach’s was heavy. Being a smart man, Tom figured out he had to grab on by the
handle and help her carry it. Loving somebody isn’t about limiting or
controlling them, it’s about moving in sync and being better together than
either one could be apart.
You pick your friends, you don’t pick your family. Word to the
wise: if you are going to put two smart, headstrong people together, you better
have a damn good reason for them to stay there. When it comes to Deception, it’s
all about family. Both Tom and Peach have a deep sense of family for opposite
reasons. For Tom, his family tied to his social network and to his profession
life. When everything else felt wrong, family felt right. Peach’s family was a
hot mess. There were only two people in it worth saving from the trash
compactor: her grandfather and her uncle. When her uncle is killed in an
“accident”, her grandfather is devastated. Peach is beyond motivated to solve
the mystery, she’s obsessed. Tom gets it and we have two, powerful engine
pulling the same train. It is sad to say, but if Rico hadn’t died, I don’t think
Tom and Peach would have made it.
Industrial disasters, rare but real. Fiction is powerful
because it can inform our lives by expanding our world, teaching us empathy, and
helping us appreciate the skills and risks others take on our behalf. Peach’s
uncle is killed in a crane accident that **spoiler** was no accident. The few
pages dedicated to the description were drawn from conversations with
contractors and research on real accidents. In the US, safety and industry
standards have made such accidents rare but it wasn’t always that way. The
accident in Deception drew from the crane failure that occurred with the
construction of the Milwaukee Brewers ballpark in 1999. Several videos are
available on YouTube by searching “Big Blue Crane Collapse.” Real people died
and real families were impacted. Construction workers and cranes are responsible
for building and roads and bridges all around us. Without them, where would you
be sitting right now? I’d be sitting in the woods, trying to keep the dirt out
of my old school typewriter.
Lost
#3
Private investigator Esmeralda “Peach” Morales watches in horror as the crane
her uncle is operating topples into Lake Erie. He disappears and she’s convinced
he’ll be the scapegoat. She’ll do anything to prove he’s innocent. Seducing the
lead investigator is just part of her strategy, at least that’s what she tells
herself.
Thomas Riley is at Elderberry Farm when he learns of a deadly crane accident in
Cleveland. The forensic investigator suspects sabotage and amid the rubble and
mangled metal he uncovers a web of lies and deception. At the center of it all
is a beautiful brunette who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Both fiercely independent, they must learn to work together––inside and outside
the bedroom––to unravel the mystery and clear her uncle’s name.
Romance Suspense
[Entangled Suspense, On Sale: July 31, 2017,
e-Book, ISBN: 9781640631359 / eISBN: 9781640631359]
Anita has been writing fast-paced, sexy thrillers since 2006. She was born in
Cleveland, Ohio and lives and works around the Great Lakes. Anita is a member of
Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.
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