Kris Rafferty | “Outside Looking In”

With a show of hands, how many of you felt like an outsider growing up? I suspect most hands are waving in the air right now, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably a bookworm like me, someone who hides in plain sight, escaping into books, written worlds that never judge us. It took me a long time to understand most people feel as if they’re “outside, looking in.” I suspect it’s not so much a human condition, as it is a ‘living’ condition. If you’re alive, you seek to connect with someone, be it pet or partner. Even the lowly amoeba is willing to split in two to find a friend…a place to belong.

SEDUCED BY SIN is the third book in my An Unlikely Hero series, and though it’s a standalone book, it completes a series plot arc, as well as continues the theme of being an outsider. In my An Unlikely Hero world, outsiders rule, and they’re convinced being an outsider is why they survive and thrive in a world that has been cruel to them. They’re solitary creatures, hiding who they really are to blend in a world they know they don’t fit in…couldn’t fit in, even if they’d tried. No one has faith in them, and they have no faith in themselves, but they want things, secretly long for them. Things like love, happiness, and normal. As they struggle to stay aloof from the lure of these secret longings, my unlikely heroes risk their lives to save the day, and their reward is belonging on their terms.

In BETRAYED BY A KISS, Marnie Somerville is sure Dane MacLain is just another bad guy. Her job as resident investigator at Whitman Enterprises is to track down the owners of delinquent accounts, but something about Dane’s case is off, and Marnie can’t resist a good mystery. The secret files and cover-up she finds after hacking her boss’s computer are more than she expected, and now she’s fleeing her former employer...right into Dane’s arms. Former detective Dane MacLain has spent the last year gathering intel against Whitman Enterprises, the company he believes responsible for his wife’s death. When a beautiful and intense woman shows up with information, Dane is willing to accept all she has to offer, especially when the help comes in such a sexy package. Caught in a deadly cat and mouse chase, Dane must do everything he can to protect Marnie as they run for their lives.

In TEMPTED BY A TOUCH, Harper MacLain is more comfortable supporting the heroes in her life, but now must find the courage to become the hero or all will be lost, because people keep dying around her, and try as she might, she can’t stop bad things from happening to those she loves. When her closely guarded secret lands her in the middle of her ex-boyfriend’s investigation, she’s in over her head. She hates that Detective Lucas Sullivan is in her life again, tempting her to fall back into bad habits…and his bed.

When Harper left him, Lucas tried not to care, burying himself in his job instead. Then Harper became the job. Now they’re on the run, and all he can think about is keeping her safe…and his hands off her. Lucas knows she's the key to solving his case, if he can keep them alive long enough to do it. And that's the trick...because falling in love can kill you.

In SEDUCE BY SIN, Caleb Smith saved Francesca Hamilton from a nasty situation with her father. Sure, it landed her in Caleb's bed wearing his engagement ring, but it was a means to an end, and she was enjoying the ride. It wasn’t Caleb's fault her feelings were changing, leaving her wishing things between them were real rather than pretend.

Caleb took the FBI’s assignment because he wanted to end the tyranny of a man who’d hurt the people he loved. Odds of success were slim and the danger high, but he knew the risks. Francesca didn't and was completely in the dark about her family’s "business." And the more time he spends with her, the harder he falls for her…but to finally get retribution, he'll have to destroy her world.

To find out more about An Unlikely Hero series, visit her website.

About Kris Rafferty

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I am the youngest of four in a rambunctious Irish-American family. I became obsessed with books young, and still retain an image in my mind of the first book I took out of the library.

I completed my first short story during “rest period” in first grade, first novel at eighteen, first rejection at eighteen…it took me a long time to believe I could be a writer, and longer to convince anyone else.

Meanwhile, I filled the time earning my BA at U/Mass Boston, married the love of my life (who is also the baby of his family), had three perfect children (that I could wax poetic about for days, and often do), and earned my third degree black belt in Parker Kenpo Karate (a life-changing event that took over a decade of challenging my mind and body).

I’m a staunch advocate for people empowering themselves, emotionally and physically, to be their best selves, to not rely on others to keep them safe in a world that is not safe. And I believe creating/playing music is the closest thing to creating life that doesn’t eventually lead to diapers and drool. I play classical piano, love summer road trips, am a fanatic for warm water ocean, and one of my favorite things to do is to say I’ll start exercising tomorrow.

An Unlikely Hero

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