I was recently asked if I like writing second chance romances and the answer was a resounding yes! In fact, I have another one coming out after Fuel to the Fire in March called Weathering the Storm that features another couple who come together after years apart. I love writing the rekindling of a romance even if I do think that it has more of a chance of working out on the page than in reality.
The riot of emotions that comes from seeing the other person again is as fun to write as it is difficult. When two characters meet again, especially when the break up was a difficult one, there are two ways it can go. It can end very well or very badly. Of course, I prefer to write about the former and I do my best to make the journey to their happy ever after to be believable and yet true to the characters. I love writing the meet, the confusion, the angst and the resolution and all the emotions in between.
In Fuel to the Fire, Jackie and Logan’s relationship in the past ended very badly and they both blame the other for it. They never got the closure they needed and the emotions are still very raw even after all the time they spent apart. When they see each other again the pain flares immediately as does the attraction.
As the story progresses, they get closer even though common sense tells them that what they’re doing is like throwing gasoline on a flame. They can only get hurt and this time there’s no one to blame but themselves. What they’re doing is trying to get some closure not rebuild a relationship they both believe isn’t worth saving.
But Jackie and Logan can’t stop the incandescent chemistry that burns between them and the more time they spend together, the more their firm held beliefs about what happened between them begin to crumble. Did it really happen the way they remember? Why does everyone point at Jackie and whisper about her? The truth will come only if they break free from their biases.
Of course it ends happily, what kind of romance writer would I be if I let my characters wallow in misery of my creation forever? But I do hope that the in between bits make it a worthwhile journey for the reader and makes the ending that much sweeter.
About Kait Gamble:
An inveterate traveller, Kait has set foot on three continents and has the other four on her bucket list (yes, even Antarctica). Until she can see them all, she writes romances that take readers to far flung locales, often to places she’s been or hopes to one day go. For now, she’s settled in England where she spends most of her time plotting, scribbling ideas on every available scrap of paper and trying out dialogue on her cat.
Fuel to the Fire Blurb:
Can past hurts be forgotten to make a future together?
Jaqueline Pennington once had the world at her feet, but she threw it all away for a man from the wrong side of the tracks—handsome, smart and the love of her life, Logan Forrester—only to find that she’d dropped everything for him to abandon her.
Logan wanted one thing out of life—to be with Jackie and give her the life she deserved. When that plan went to hell, he walked away and applied himself to becoming a prosperous security software engineer. A job that, years later, brings him back to Jackie.
They haven’t seen or heard from each other since that fateful night, but the chemistry that still crackles between them is too good for either one to pass up. So Jackie and Logan reach an agreement and burn off the sexual tension, getting closure during their time in St. Lucia.
But what happens to their plans when the truth about their separation comes out? Can they get over the past to build a future?
Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of voyeurism.
Fuel to the Fire Excerpt:
Someone else dove in behind her, sending more water over the lip, but she didn’t expect them to approach her.
“You’ve got your deep-in-thought face on.”
Jackie jumped at his gratingly familiar voice a millisecond before he floated to her side. She fought her face into a tranquil expression. “I was trying to relax.”
He turned to study her, throwing his arms over the glass to hold himself in place. “If that’s the face you’re making, you’re relaxing wrong.”
She glared at him. “Maybe it’s the company.”
“Ouch.” He still didn’t look away.
“If you’re not going to leave, then I am.” Jackie pushed off the wall, propelling herself through the water. That was until a hand closed around her ankle and dragged her back.
Jackie kicked at him with her free leg, but to no avail.
Logan hauled her up against him as easily as if she were a child. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her in place. “Hush, princess. You don’t want to cause a scene, do you?”
“Let me go right now.”
“Or you’ll what?” At his challenge, she lifted her chin a notch. “I’ll scream the walls down.”
“You and I both know that will never happen,” Logan scoffed, shifting himself closer. “Not unless I’m doing something else to you.”
Their bathing suits might as well not have been there. Jackie felt every inch of him, many of which prodded insistently and ignited panic within her. It shot like a bolt through her, and she shoved at his shoulder, his chest, wherever she could. She found only hard, unyielding, muscle. “Logan, this is inappropriate.”
“But that’s what makes it so exciting.” He leaned closer and growled in her ear. “Isn’t that why you went slumming it with me in the first place? The thrill?”
Jackie jerked back to look at him. The difference in their social standings had nothing to do with her attraction to him. It hadn’t been even a minor factor. What burned between them had been purely chemical—physical. Though, they did have a lot in common outside of the bedroom as well. She’d thought he knew that.
A dull ache throbbed in the vicinity of her heart. “You’re an ass.”
His smile grew, and he pressed closer still. “One that you couldn’t keep your hands off, if I remember correctly.”
“That was a long time ago. Things have changed.” Jackie tried to edge away, but the glass wall was even more unyielding than his body. “Will you please give me my space?”
“So simple just to ask, isn’t it?” he growled. He glared at her, his eyes dark. “Why couldn’t you have done that before?”
Jackie stared at him, confused. “What are you talking about?”
Logan shook his head at her question. “What does it matter now? What’s interesting at the moment is how our bodies don’t seem to register that we haven’t seen each other in years.” He ground his solid erection against her—as if she hadn’t already noticed.
Conflicted, Jackie wanted to wind herself “You’re disgusting.” “Are you telling me that you’re not the least bit interested?” Logan dropped his gaze pointedly to her chest.
Jackie followed it to stare down at herself and the peaks of her nipples straining through the thin fabric of her swimsuit. She crossed her arms protectively. “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s the cold water.”
Fuel to the Fire is now available to buy and download from Totally Bound, Amazon and other retail sites: https://www.totallybound.com/book/fuel-to-the-fire
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