Special Guest: Cynthia Justlin!

Today we welcome talented debut romantic suspense author, Cynthia Justlin to the Killer Fiction blog. Cynthia started out writing contemporary romance, but when all her plots began to turn dastardly, she decided to stop fighting the urge to throw explosions, dead bodies, and evil villains into her books. With her B.S. in the chemical sciences and her love of the periodic table (yes, she's a geek and proud of it!), she finally found the perfect potent mix of love and danger to put into her stories.

I've known Cynthia for several years on the Romance Divas forum, and when we (as well as our friend, Jeannie Lin) decided to enter the Golden Heart in 2009, we traded entries for one last coat of polish.

The entry I got to read during our critique swap was Her Own Best Enemy, Cynthia's debut release! And it was very, very good. I've been waiting for it to be released, so now I'm a very happy girl.

Here's the blurb:

Desperate to track down her ex-husband who disappeared along with their son, Grace Stevens delves into his past and uncovers evidence of a shocking dual life. The man she thought was an ordinary computer consultant is in fact a former high-ranking Special Forces officer with unique skills in military intelligence. With nowhere to turn she is forced to plead for help from Keith King, the one man she hoped to never see again. Against her better judgment she’ll have to put her child’s fate into his hands.

Keith has officially hit rock bottom. Framed for the theft of deadly missile components, the cynical Special Forces officer is in danger of losing the only thing he can count on: his career. His one shot at clearing his name lies in locating Grace’s ex, who was working with Keith on a secret mission to take down a cutthroat military traitor. But to team up with Grace he’ll need to spend 24/7 with a woman who has every reason to hate him. Out to use each other for their own agenda, desperate mother and disillusioned soldier find they must work together to stay alive, and in the process discover that sometimes even the best of enemies fall in love.



So without any further ado, heeeeeeere's Cynthia!

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This is my first guest blog, so be gentle with me!

Remember those shy, awkward girls in high school who did their best to make sure nobody noticed them? Yep, that was me. I’ve always hated drawing attention to myself. I rarely raised my hand to participate in class, even when I knew the answer, because when the whole class turned my way, my whole face would heat up uncomfortably and I couldn’t wait to get--their--attention--off--me.

But then I had children. And I quickly realized that if I didn’t put myself out there for them, nobody else would. You mess with my boys and I’m going to be in your face. I would walk through hell for them any day of the week, stand up in front of millions of people and give a speech (trust me when I say that hell would be a piece of cake for me compared to this), take on any opposition, fight, kick, scream, kill to keep them out of harm’s way. Nothing would stop me.

And that’s exactly what Grace in my debut romantic suspense, Her Own Best Enemy, does when her son goes missing. You see she, too, was the shy, awkward, gangly girl in high school (yes, I’m writing what I know!). She was teased and taunted and generally humiliated, but all of that has left her stronger. Strong enough to know that the only way she can find her son is to beg for help from the very person who made her teen years a living hell.

The good part is, Keith doesn’t remember her. The bad part is, he is nothing like the cruel teenager she used to know and she finds herself falling for this new, stronger, gentler, honorable, man who is risking everything to get her son back. Every twist and turn, every new clue brings them closer together, but Grace isn’t ready to let go of the past, and Keith isn’t ready to trust her with his future.

I’ll readily admit to living a fairly mundane life, but this book allowed me to explore my ‘momma bear’ instinct--to face down men with guns, dodge bullets, and narrowly escape explosions and flash floods, all in the name of saving that which is most precious to me.

So what gets your ‘momma bear’ instinct going? Whether you have children or not, what’s that one thing that pushes your hot button and transforms you into a woman (or man) of steel? Let me know, and one of the lucky commenters will win an e-copy of Her Own Best Enemy in their format of choice. Winner will be posted on the blog on Sunday night!