EVERY DEEP DESIRE (Deadly Force #1) by Sharon Wray-Review, Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 6, 2018
He’s taking it all back
His honor, his freedom, and the woman he loves
Rafe Montfort was a decorated Green Beret, the best of the best, until a disastrous mission and an unforgivable betrayal destroyed his life. Now, this deadly soldier has returned to the sultry Georgia swamps to reunite with his brothers, and take back all he lost. But Juliet must never know the truth behind what he’s done…or the dangerous secret that threatens to take him from her forever.
It took Juliet Capel eight long years to put her life back together after her husband was taken from her. Now Rafe is back, determined to protect her at any cost, and it’s not just her heart that’s in danger. The swamps hold a secret long buried and far deadlier than either of them could have imagined.
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REVIEW: EVERY DEEP DESIRE is the first instalment in Sharon Wray’s contemporary, adult DEADLY FORCE romantic suspense series focusing on a group of former Green Beret’s betrayed by someone in charge. This is Rafe Montfort, and Juliet Capel’s second chance story line.
NOTE: EVERY DEEP DESIRE contains scenes of graphic violence that may not be suitable for some readers.
Told from several third person perspectives including Rafe and Juliet VERY DEEP DESIRE is a complex and multi-layered story line that focuses on the rekindling romance between former and dishonourably discharged Green Beret Rafe Montfort, and the woman he loves, landscape architect Juliet Capel. Eight years earlier Rafe Montfort went AWOL leaving the woman he loves struggling to survive. Fast forward to present day wherein a changed Rafe returns seeking revenge against people who destroyed his life-a life he no longer controls as his own. With continuing threats against Juliet, and the return of two of the men he once called friend, Rafe’s mission becomes more complicated as the ‘Brotherhood’, a secret organization known as the Fianna, seeks payment and retribution for sins of the past. What ensues is the second chance romance between Rafe and Juliet, and the potential fall-out as one-time friends become enemies, and enemies become future friends, and the Brotherhood refuses to let go of one of their own.
Sharon Wray has loosely adapted Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette with the release of EVERY DEEP DESIRE wherein brother is pitted against brother, family against friendship in a war not of their making. From betrayal to secrets, poison to promises, EVERY DEEP DESIRE is a complicated mosaic of double cross and treachery, heartbreak and confession, power and control. The ‘Brotherhood’ speaks in Shakespearean prose referencing life and death with every message and note. There are heroes and anti-heroes, villains and sinners, black sheep and rogues such that the line between good and evil is constantly blurred. With the introduction of Rafe’s former Green Beret Team, I am hoping the author has plans for future story lines.
EVERY DEEP DESIRE is not an easy read due to the numerous intersecting and complex plotlines; the introduction of a diverse cast of secondary and supporting characters; and the mysterious Fianna-a group of ‘mythological’ Irish warriors dating back hundreds of years. The overload of information is, at times, confusing and chaotic, but I recommend reading EVERY DEEP DESIRE until the end. The premise is unique, intriguing and cleverly written; the characters are passionate and tragic; the romance is palpable and intense. EVERY DEEP DESIRE is a thrilling and fascinating take on Romeo and Juliet- the hidden ‘Easter Eggs’ are only the beginning.
Copy supplied by Netgalley through the publisher
Reviewed by Sandy
Juliet’s house had disappeared.
Rafe Montfort scrubbed a hand over his face. A strangling ache invaded his chest, filling the empty space that once held his heart. He shifted the Army duffel he’d shouldered for the past six miles, moving the burn from one arm to the other. Why had he assumed her father’s trailer would still be standing? That she’d be living there? Waiting for him?
Because he wasn’t only a bastard who made assumptions. He was a fool who once believed the Prince’s brutal goals justified Rafe’s ruthless actions.
Or, as Escalus used to say, “a fool whose violent delights have violent ends.”
Summer cicadas hummed in the Isle of Grace’s surrounding woods, their mournful drone filling Rafe’s head with rhythmic disapproval. Sweat soaked his T-shirt, pooling low in his back above his waistband. Where he used to keep his gun.
He wasn’t just a bastard. He wasn’t just a fool. He just wasn’t the man he’d once hoped to become. With a nod to his broken past, he left the overgrown property and headed home.
Keep it moving, Montfort. That’s right. One boot in front of the other.
He kicked an empty beer bottle into a ditch, shattering the brown glass, and marched toward Pops’s trailer tucked between the towering Georgia pines a half mile down the Isle’s dirt road. He’d given up his honor, his wife, his men. Thank God his mother had died before he betrayed everyone he loved. In the years he’d been away, he hadn’t just cut out his heart; he’d sold his soul.
Despite the breeze, questions about Juliet’s departure burned his blood.
Why had she left? He climbed the pine steps to the deck alongside the double-wide.
Where’d she go? He jumped the last two steps to avoid the missing planks.
Did she ever think of him? The Capels had arrived on the Isle long before the American Revolution. It’d never occurred to him that her family would leave. For eight long years, he’d been counting on that.
His duffel landed with a thud next to an outboard motor and buckets of fishing gear. He rubbed the knotted muscles in his shoulder and faced the broken screen door. His vision faded until all he could see was the blurry mesh.
What the hell was he doing? Why had he even come home? Because he’d had no choice. Everything depended on him remembering that. With renewed determination, he raised his fist and hit the metal door.
No answer. He closed his eyes, took another breath, and knocked again.
Juliet’s family was gone. Had his left as well?
He heard a banging around back, pulled out his leather jacket, and covered the tattoos on his arms. He’d rather die of heat stroke than start an argument. Then he jumped over the deck rail. His combat boots made it easier to walk through the tall weeds to the red barn a hundred yards behind the trailer. Three times larger than the home, the barn and surrounding yard held remnants of every American classic car ever made.
Everything stood as if he’d never left, except for the cell boost antenna on the barn’s roof. From the height and distance, it probably provided a cell signal the width and depth of Pops’s property. Pops had joined the twenty-first century? Maybe miracles were possible.
He drew closer and saw his daddy’s gray head bobbing up and down beneath the hood of a black 1958 Chevy Impala. He stopped on the other side of the car and exhaled until his lungs ached. “Pops?”
His dad raised his head, his eyes squinting. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me. Rafe.”
A man, shorter than he remembered, stood. In a stained red T-shirt and overalls with one strap hanging down, his father waited a few moments before nodding. At least he wasn’t holding a beer. Or his shotgun.
Rafe waved at the car. “She’s a real beauty. She yours?”
“No.” Pops wiped his dirty hands on an oily rag, and Rafe focused on the remaining finger on his father’s right hand. He’d given the other four to the Marines. “She belongs to your brother.”
“Good for him.”
Pops tossed the rag onto the engine and gripped the side of the Chevy’s frame. His hard stare took in Rafe’s leather jacket in what had to be triple-digit heat. “What you doin’ here, boy?”
He held out his hand. A hug would only be an invitation to an ass-kicking. “The Army released me from prison.”
“Released?” His father picked up a dirty wrench, his face brown beneath a haircut the Corps would salute. “What the hell for? Good behavior?”
“No, sir.” He dropped his hand. If disapproval were a color, it would be the dark, muddy brown in his father’s grim gaze. “I don’t know why.”
Since he’d spent two years in a Russian jail and then the last nine months locked in isolation in Leavenworth, he wasn’t sure what to think. “I was told to return to Savannah and wait for a call.”
While it went against every one of his hard-earned instincts urging him to run, he’d come home to find out what the hell was going on. Besides, it wasn’t like he had anyplace else to go.
“You still a sergeant?”
A sharp ache hit Rafe’s back molars, and he eased off the teeth grinding. On his left, he noticed a band of magnolia trees surrounding a white glory cross. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and forced himself to meet his father’s reproach. “I don’t know what I am.” Sergeant? Prisoner 061486? The Prince’s warrior? Hell if he knew.
“I know what you are,” Pops said. “Damn traitor. Not to mention adulterer, liar, thief.”
Rafe’s exhale sounded more like a hiss. While he wasn’t all of those things, he’d done other things—worse things. “I was also dishonorably discharged.”
TRC: Hi Sharon and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the recent release of your debut book EVERY DEEP DESIRE
Sharon: Thank you so much for having me here today.
TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?
Follow Sharon: Goodreads / Website / Facebook / Twitter / Google Plus
Sharon: I’m a librarian and archivist who worked in the pharmaceutical and news industries, as well as in art and public libraries. I’m also a wife and a mother of twins who also used to design wedding gowns. But many years ago, when I decided to stay home with my twins and give up my design business, I was looking for a new creative venture and my sister-in-law gave me a copy of the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. As I worked through the book, I decided to become a romance author.
TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?
Sharon: My father was my biggest influence and one of my biggest supporters until his death. His grandparents came from Ireland (my maiden name is Brennan) and he was always telling me stories about Irish kings and warriors and, of course, fairies. When I was trying to decide which creative track I should take, I remembered my father’s stories and that help me decide to become a writer.
TRC: What challenges or difficulties have you encountered writing and publishing your first novel?
Sharon: I don’t want to depress any new writers out there, but it took me fourteen years from the day I decided to become a romance writer to having a book on a bookshelf. 🙂 I joined Romance Writers of America on March 2, 2004 and my debut novel will hit bookstores March 6, 2018.
In those fourteen years, I’ve written eight full manuscripts and two partials. I also have alot of outlines for other books. It took me six years to find an agent and another six to sell my first books. And along the way I’ve received over a hundred rejections. But all of this taught me invaluable lessons about patience, perseverance and gratitude. It’s also taught me how to be a better writer. As long as this journey has been, it’s also been wonderful. And it makes my release of EVERY DEEP DESIRE that much more amazing.
TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of EVERY DEEP DESIRE and the DEADLY FORCE series?
Sharon: The DEADLY FORCE series is about a team of ex-Green Berets and their sexy, smart heroines who redeem Shakespeare’s greatest love stories.
When a group of ex-special forces soldiers, under the leadership of Colonel Kells Torridan, are accused of vicious war crimes and dishonorably discharged, they find themselves in the middle of a war between a vicious arms dealer and the secretive Fianna army.
Kells’s men now work in a cheesy, pirate-themed gym in Savannah, GA, desperate to prove their innocence before their enemies comes after them again. But as these men struggle to rebuild their lives and redeem their honor, it’s the women they love who teach these alpha males that Grace always defeats Reckoning.
EVERY DEEP DESIRE is a contemporary romantic suspense retelling of Romeo and Juliet. When Juliet Capel, a woman determined to protect the life she’s built for herself, becomes the target of an arms dealer who believes she holds the key to a 17th Century secret, her only chance to stay alive rests within the arms of Rafe Montfort, her ex-Green Beret husband who abandoned her eight years earlier.
TRC: From where did the idea come to integrate Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and the mythology of the Fianna Irish warriors?
Sharon: Honestly, I’m not sure. I didn’t think about any of this when I started the book. At first, I started writing about a character named Jack Keeley (he’s a colonel from the hero’s Green Beret unit who’s in prison for most of the series) and Jack started telling me about the series premise, about a group of ex-Green Berets caught in the middle of war between a brutal arms dealer and the Fianna army. Then, after the first rough draft, Rafe (the hero) told me he was a Fianna warrior, and Juliet (the heroine) told me she always felt her love story with Rafe was a tragedy. And the two ideas came together. Except then I had to start the book over.
This book would’ve been easier to write if I’d know all of this before I started writing. LOL.
TRC: What kind of research/plotting did you do, and how long did you spend researching /plotting before beginning EVERY DEEP DESIRE?
Sharon: Wow. A lot. It didn’t help that I’ve been a reference librarian all of my adult life. 🙂
I’ve been working on this series for about seven years. First, I re-read the entire Fenian cycle of poetry and all of the stories about the mythic Irish warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill who formed the Fianna army to fend off the Roman invasion of Ireland. Then I re-read Romeo and Juliet and read as much literary criticism as I could find.
My parents lived in Savannah for a while, and my husband is from Charleston, so I did hundreds of hours of hands-on investigative work in these cities. I went to archives, took history tours, and ate in restaurants. 🙂 My brother-in-law is from one of the oldest families in the south, as well as a lawyer, and he was incredibly helpful with the legal aspects in this story.
My husband went to West Point and was an army officer for many, many years and now works for the DoD. He helped me with all of the military/weapon/action stuff and answered all of my crazy questions with patience and in terms I could understand. And if he didn’t know, he asked people who did know.
But for as much research as I did, I deliberately fictionalized certain things. I took famous stories about pirates and privateers and changed them to fit the story. I even made up my own island and my husband’s rendition of it made it into the book!
TRC: What was the hardest scene to write?
Sharon: It’s a tie between the first meet scene between Rafe (the hero) and Juliet (the heroine) as well as the first meet scene between Rafe and Nate (Rafe’s ex-Green Beret buddy from his former unit). Both of these scenes were difficult to write for the same reason: They were highly emotional.
Rafe abandoned his wife and his men, including Nate, so both Nate and Juliet feel completely betrayed. Even after 8 years, that kind of betrayal is hard to recover from. Although one character is a wife and the other is a friend, the emotions of betrayal, anger, and sadness were similar. Both scenes took me months to write, and many, many rounds of revisions to hit the emotions properly. And now they’re two of my favorite scenes in the book. 🙂
TRC: How will publishing EVERY DEEP DESIRE affect your writing style going forward?
Sharon: The editing process for this book taught me a lot about what scenes are really necessary and which ones aren’t. I am a very long and very slow writer, and my hope is that the process I went through with this book will teach me how writer leaner and faster writer going forward.
TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?
Sharon: As a librarian, I do believe that covers help readers select a book. I’ve spent too many years in libraries where people would bring in books, point to the cover, and say, “give me something like this”. And I’m incredibly grateful to Sourcebooks for giving EVERY DEEP DESIRE such a fabulous cover. I also think that a strong cover on the first book of a series helps set the tone for the series and hopefully attracts readers who are seeking that kind of story.
TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?
Sharon: I don’t do any directing of the characters in the first few drafts. I write down everything they say and do and want and feel and see. Then, as I begin to revise, I start cutting and moving and redirecting. But If I do too much redirecting. The characters stop talking to me. I can edit them, but I can’t change them. They don’t like that!
TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?
Sharon: I always feel like I can improve in this area. First of all, knowing the characters is key. You can’t evoke emotions in readers if you don’t understand the emotions your characters are feeling. I spend a LOT of time with my characters, trying to learn everything I can about them, before I start my drafts.
To evoke emotion—and keep the tension on the page—an author must understand the interplay between dialog and narrative in both scenes and sequels. And then know when to layer in backstory, setting, and descriptions. It’s like trying to balance five bricks on a high wire. It can be done (I saw someone do this once!) but only if everything is in perfect balance.
If I fail in this balance (and I have many, many times), I always make sure I understand the type of scene it is (scene or sequel, action or love scene, etc). Then I look to the narrative to see if it’s overburdened with extra stuff, and then to the dialog to see if it’s rambling. I have some characters who love to talk and even though it may be witty and fun, it often needs to be cut. Balance is the key to everything.
TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?
Sharon: I do listen to music while I’m drafting and will build a playlist as I draft. I collect songs of all genres from classical to heavy metal, depending on the scene I’m writing. Each scene has a feel to it, as do each character, and I use the music to help me pace the scene. Then, when I’m ready to revise, I pick a few songs that I feel embody the tone and “beat” of the book and will play those over and over again until I’m done.
When I’m doing final read-throughs, everything in the house needs to be silent. Even the dog’s snoring annoys me! Lol.
TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?
Sharon: That our lives are really glamorous. Mine’s really not. I write seven days a week, and between revising and marketing and writing new books, it’s easily a 60-hours a week job. I rarely leave the house if I’m in draft-mode or revise-mode which is almost all the time! But I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m so much happier now than I was when I working in an office.
TRC: What is something that few, if anybody, knows about you?
Sharon: I used to work in the American Red Cross office in Uijongbu, South Korea.
TRC: On what are you currently working?
Sharon: I am revising book 2 in the Deadly Force series and writing book 3.
TRC: Would you like to add anything else?
Sharon: It’s still seems so surreal that EVERY DEEP DESIRE is out in the world. My book’s debut proves that if you have a dream you can’t ever, ever, ever give up. Dreams do come true.
LIGHTNING ROUND
Favorite Food
BBQ ribs
Favorite Dessert
Oreos (seriously!)
Favorite TV Show
The Colony (it’s a sc-fi show with Josh Holloway)
Last Movie You Saw
I re-watched Casablanca with my family.
Dark or Milk Chocolate
Both!
Secret Celebrity Crush
Laurence Olivier (when he played Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights)
Last Vacation Destination
Jamaica with my husband
Do you have any pets?
Yes, a one-eyed rescue dog named Donut (He’s an Australian blue-heeler)
Last book you read
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. It’s a YA retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
Sharon: Thank you so much for having me here today!
TRC: Thank you Sharon for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on your the release of EVERY DEEP DESIRE. We wish you much success.
Dear Readers,
As an author, I both love and fear release days. I’m thrilled that the book I’ve spent years on is entering the world, ready to find readers. Yet terrified because the fictional world I’ve spent so much time in—dreaming about, thinking of, planning for—is no longer my own.
The story and everything in it, especially the characters, now belong to you. All the feels you experience, whether I intended them or not, will be filtered through your own life’s events. Your memories, your dreams, your joys, and losses will determine what you take away from the story. And that’s the way it should be.
Yet, while reader reactions are completely out of my control, it’s also scary. Especially when one makes changes to the genre. Every Deep Desire, and the other books in the Deadly Force series, are all romantic suspense stories—yet they’re also different. And we all know how the world feels about change.
The Deadly Force series is about a group of ex-Green Berets, under the command of Colonel Kells Torridan, who were charged with a crime they didn’t commit and dishonorably discharged despite their innocence. Some of the men from the unit are in prison, but the men in the series, including Kells, are living in Savannah, GA, managing Iron Rack’s, a run-down, pirate-themed gym in a not-so-nice part of town, and working as bouncers at a goth strip club. They’re hiding in plain sight, teaching Krav Maga classes, tossing drunks, desperate to find any information that can lead them to who destroyed their lives, and why.
But these books aren’t just about the men and their weapons. They are also romances. To be more specific, each love story is a retelling of one of Shakespeare’s greatest love stories. Just add in sexy, down-and-out Green Berets, dangerous arms dealers, and strong heroines who teach these alpha males that Grace always defeats Reckoning.
Every Deep Desire, a contemporary retelling of Romeo and Juliet and first in the Deadly Force series, is about Rafe Montfort and Juliet Capel. Rafe, a man in Kells’s unit, left his men and his wife to join the Prince and his Fianna army only to end up in prison. Now, eight years later, Rafe finds himself released without explanation. His only clue is a note telling him to return to the remote sea island off the coast of Savannah where he and Juliet grew up. It doesn’t take long for him to realize that his wife Juliet, the woman he’s adored his entire life, is in danger.
Juliet, a landscape architect, has struggled for eight years to recover from Rafe’s abandonment and disappearance. Their early marriage had been a disaster both their families had warned them about, but they’d been too young and too in love to understand. Now she’s determined to live her life on her own terms without help from anyone. And the last thing she needs is her ex-husband returning home with vague warnings of danger.
But when vague warnings become real threats, Rafe and Juliet realize that both of their enemies, the Prince and Remiel Marigny, know a 17th century secret about the Isle where they both grew up, a secret both of their families have kept for hundreds of years. Now, in order to figure out why an army of assassins, a brutal gun runner, and a team of ex-Green Berets are interested in Juliet’s ancestor—a Puritan woman accused of witchcraft—Rafe and Juliet must face their past together.
Now they’re running out of time. And not only is Juliet’s heart and Rafe’s freedom in jeopardy, the secret they uncover is far deadlier than anyone could’ve realized.
I hope you all enjoy this first book in the Deadly Forces series. It’s a world where sexy, smart heroines must teach these ex-Green Berets bent on redemption that physical strength and combat experience isn’t always enough to win. Sometimes a person’s greatest weapon—true courage—comes from seeking forgiveness and accepting love.
NOTE: The Reading Cafe is NOT responsible for the rafflecopter giveaway. If you have any questions, please contact the publisher
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Leigh James is an author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She is a vocal lover of strapping alpha males in movies, books and real life, which makes her three kids roll their eyes and makes her husband feel appreciated.
