The Thin Line Between Good and Evil
At my very core I am a romance author. Everything else aside, at the end of
the day I believe in heroes to die for, heroines that give them a run for their
money and a happily ever after.
Then The Promise crept into my mind. I was taken with the idea of writing a
hero who at his essence was evil personified – a demon. How on Earth did one take an incubus
and make him redeemable? How could
I make my readers cheer for him at the end?
I started thinking about how so many things in life toggle
that fine line between good and evil.
One person's favor is another person's burden. Take The Wizard of Oz, in that story the Wicked Witch is
exactly that, irredeemable, terrible to the core. Flip the camera 180 degrees and you get the musical Wicked
where the Wicked Witch (Elphaba) is anything but wicked, and in fact it was
everyone else around her who was truly evil.
Many times, the villain is nothing more than the hero in his
own story. All you need do is look
at things from another set of eyes.
So for my demon, I gave him something he never encountered
as an incubus…a child. Not just
any child, but a crying child who just lost a parent. I let him get to know her throughout her life. I let him
experience the trials and tribulations of being human. In his world humans were
nothing but useless mortal creatures to be used, but I let him encounter
someone who used him right back. I
gave him a human who didn't know enough to be scared of him. In fact, while my heroine couldn't even
love herself, she learned to love him.
Hero to die for?
I am quite in love with Dolan, my torn up and miserable demon.
Heroine that gave him a run for his money? Leora confounded him from the day he
walked in on her.
Happily ever after?
Hey, at the end of the day I write romance.
Kim Carmichael's newest release is
The Promise:
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Demon Dolan Ciar exists on three simple words:
desire, denial, and destruction. Every four years, he is allowed one night of
earthly passion to punish a deserving female. By the time he is finished, his
victims are left as willing receptacles for demons yet to come.
Since she was four, a demon has
been the only constant in Leora Desmond's life. He taught her how to seize
control, to never give up, and to take whatever she wanted. At twenty-four,
her self-centered existence is focused on one thing. She wants Dolan, and she
won't be dissuaded.
A mistake brought Dolan to
Leora. A promise bound him to her. Returning once again to ask for his
freedom, he is faced with Leora demanding to be his next conquest. The
ultimate retribution would be to take from her the ultimate symbol of her
selfishness.
Now, Dolan must decide if he
can doom her to life in living hell or face his own set of unearthly
consequences, while Leora must choose between her pleasure and her heart.
The Promise blurs the line between
good and evil, desire and love, and promises and commitment.
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He
tilted his head. "You look older."
She
forced herself to blink and to remember her goal. "Then I assume I am at
last old enough to be a fit for a demon." She stepped forward, stopping
less than a foot away from him. The back of her throat dried out, and she
swallowed.
He
put his hand to his chin, his gaze taking her in. "This old song and
dance. When will you use the brains you have and leave it alone?"
His
words hit her, but rather than retreating, she moved closer. The energy, the
tingle, the wafts of spice encompassed her and lured her toward him.
"Never."
"You
were smart last time. Why don't you release me so I can do what I came here
for." He glanced down at her and then shifted his focus beyond her.
"I have needs as well."
"Tonight
I am the one you came here for." The mention of his last visit stung,
but she willed herself to keep going. She ran her fingers up the buttons of
his shirt. "You always told me to take control."
He
shook his head. "A lesson you learned well."
She
reached up and clenched his collar in her fist. "I let you go last time,
but tonight I am the one you need."
He
grabbed her wrist. "I spared you before. Never forget that."
She
stared right into his eyes. No weakness was allowed tonight. "It's me,
Dolan. Me, or you can be celibate until the decade I do you the favor of
dying. I don't care about your pain." She tensed, preparing herself for
his retaliation.
"I
thought I taught you better than to make demands of a demon." He pressed
his palm to the side of her face.
Heat
radiated through her body, sending a warning to every one of her nerve
endings. "A demon who comforts a child is a failure of a demon in my
book."
His
jaw tightened. "That was a mistake. An oversight."
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Kim will be awarding 3 Promise Swag Packs that include a promise
button and Trading Card. Be sure to leave a comment and your email!
