ince her father's sudden death six months ago, Cassandra Van Winter has been trying to conceal her family's millions of dollars of debt. She can't afford to let anyone near enough to discover the charade she's maintaining. At first, the discovery of a multi-million-dollar necklace seemed like the answer to her prayers, but that was before the "accidents" started.
Now, she takes one look at the six feet of muscle her mother's hired to protect her, and curses her body for coming back to life. As the "accidents" increase and danger comes closer, Reilly gets closer too. Before long it's not just her life in danger, but her heart.
Reviews for Reilly's Promise
4 Stars! "Butler certainly makes her mark as a romantic suspense author with this story. The chemistry between the hero and heroine is sizzling, and there's a little bit of everything, from humor to intrigue." - Barb Anderson, Romantic Times Booksreviews!
5 Angels! " . . . From the minute that Reilly and Cassandra meet the sparks fly and the chemistry is off the charts. They were each lying to each other about themselves and it really added to the story and made the ending very spectacular!" - Missy, Fallen Angel Reviews
"a sultry and suspenseful story . . . Reilly is a real man's man that knows his duty and does it well, including taking care of a beautiful woman. When the pair meets the chemistry is palpable . . . a well developed romantic suspense that is well worth the time." - Lettetia Elsasser, Ecataromance Sensual
4 Hearts! "There's a lot of romantic skirmishing as Cassie and Reilly try to understand themselves and each other. Christyne Butler has thrown in a few red herrings and a highly successful twist. The solution to the mystery is satisfying and not at all easy to guess. And the development of the romance is a joy." - Lynn Bushey, The Romance Studio
5 Flowers and a RECOMMENDED READ! "Reilly's Promise is a fast paced, suspenseful ride from the very first chapter. It's filled with realistic situations, interesting secondary characters, vivid descriptions and intense physical and emotional chemistry between Cassandra and Reilly. I loved Reilly's honor and integrity, along with his determination to keep Cassie safe, no matter what the personal cost. Their characters are well rounded and balanced -- and never, ever boring." - Pam, My Book Cravings
Visit Christyne Butler's web site
An excerpt from Reilly's Promise
About Christyne Butler
I've been a writer all my life.
Okay, first I should start with saying I've been a reader all my life. You know the kind . . . always has her nose in a book, reading at the breakfast table (where I could get away with it -- dinner time, no way!) and on long car rides with my family. One of my lasting childhood memories is my mom saying to me, "If I find one more book lying around this house . . ."
Stuart Little, Wilbur and Charlotte, Sheila the Great and Margaret (from Are You There God, It's Me), Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames and of course, Jo, Beth, Amy and Meg, the wonderful March sisters, were among my many literary friends.
According to my aunt, both Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Beecher Stowe are in my family tree on my mother's side, so perhaps writing is in my blood. I went from making up stories as a kid to writing teenage angst poems and diaries to discovering the instant gratification of writing fan fiction on the internet.
I started, stopped and started again writing romance many times during the last twelve years. It wasn't until the fall of 2002 when my husband challenged me to actually write (a.k.a. - finish!) a book (of my own characters that could actually be published), that I decide to seriously pursue this dream. I found the Romance Writers of America and joined a local chapter in New Hampshire and the rest was a lot of learning and writing, writing and writing some more!
I come from a military family so it's no surprise the hero in my first book is a former United States Marine. My father served in the US Air Force which explains my birth in Taipei, Taiwan, while my older sister was born in Niagara Falls, NY and my younger sister in Manchester, NH. We grew up all over the world, settling in Merrimack, New Hampshire when my father retired in time for me to stick around the same school all four years until I graduated. The military life called to me (or maybe it was seeing Top Gun too many times!) in my early 20's and I joined the United States Navy.
I fell in love with reading romances while serving in the Navy with the very distinctive memory of opening a box of paperbacks while on board my first ship, the USS VULCAN AR-5. I was helping put away donations in the ships library, and discovered that someone remembered women were in fact serving aboard seagoing vessels and had sent a box full of paperback romances.
I now live in Central Massachusetts with my daughter, my former Marine/retired US Air Force husband, and my six stepchildren are scattered about in NH, MA and PA -- less than a days' drive away. I guess old habits die hard, because when I can find the time I still love to read (I always have a romance novel with me!) and except for my husband, no one seems to mind that I have books lying all around my house.
A note from Christyne...
I am very excited about my sale on July 8th to Silhouette Special Edition! The current title (subject to change) is THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG! Look for it in 2009!
An Interview with Christyne Butler
By Holly Hewson, Marketing Director for The Romance StudioHH: Christyne, thank you for talking with us at TRS. Please tell us about your featured work, Reilly's Promise. CB: Reilly's Promise is my ever completed manuscript and seeing it published is a dream come true. This is a story that deals with what happens when two people who 'appear' to be totally opposites find themselves stuck with each other and attracted to each other. It also is about the premise that things aren't always as they seem. Cassandra Van Winter is a woman with a pretty big secret and the last thing she needs is this man prying into her life. And Reilly isn't exactly forthcoming about certain things in his life. It's fun to watch these two figure each other out and deal with the fact that someone seems to have it in for Cassandra.
HH: They are total opposites and they are on a collision course for each other. Tell us where you got the idea for this wonderfully emotional story. CB: Reilly came to me fully formed one day even though he insisted his life was just fine the way it was, thank you very much. I knew that wasn't true, this man needed a woman --the right woman -- to share his life with I introduced him to Cassandra. <g>
HH: What was your favorite thing about writing this story? CB: I think it was the 'a-ha' moments that happen while writing any story. I am very much a plotter and I pretty much work from an outline but when the characters go off and do their own thing it's a lot of fun!
HH: What do you like best about Reilly? CB: Reilly is a man of his word. When he says he's going to do something, he does it. He takes his responsibilities seriously, but still have a sense of humor and he would do anything to protect the woman he loves -- what could be better?
HH: So this is your first release. Tell us about the moment you found out you'd sold it. CB: It was November 13, 2006 at 6:26 am --- yes, its true, you do remember. It wasn't a call for me, but an email from the editor at Samhain Publishing who has emailed me ten days earlier with a few revisions for Reilly's Promise. I made the revisions in a weekend and got the manuscript back to her on Monday, the 6th. When I checked my email the morning of the 13th before heading to work (a daily habit) I was shocked to see another email from the editor just a week later.
I figured it was a "thanks, but no thanks" reply so it took a few moments, but I finally opened the email. With my eyes closed. <g> I finally told myself to just open my eyes and read the darn thing and that's when I found out Samhain wanted my book. I started to cry and headed straight to my teenage daughter's room. The poor girl --- she thought something bad had happened until I could get out the great news!
HH: What made you decide to try your hand at romantic fiction? CB: I've been a writer all my life and fell in love with romance novels while serving in the US Navy. I found the world of fan fiction in 1999 and wrote a couple of pieces based on the daytime soap opera "Days of our Lives". It was my husband who challenged me to write something I could actually sell so my romance writing career was born.
HH: How have things changed for you since you sold? CB: While I am more confident in my abilities as a writer and in my work, I still have so much more to learn about the process of writing and publishing. The wonderful authors, editors and staff at Samhain have been very generous in sharing their knowledge and excitement about romance publishing.
HH: What are you working on now? CB: I am in the middle of a sequel to the book I just sold to Silhouette Special Edition. I am also keeping Rann's story alive in my head. (Rann is Reilly's half brother --- and I have been getting a lot of requests for his story!)
HH: What goals have you set for yourself at this point? CB: Well, I just met one of those goals by selling to Harlequin Enterprises, to the Silhouette Special Edition on July 8th. Since I started my writing career, I've always wanted to be a Harlequin/Silhouette author. I work full time so my goal is to write two books a year.
HH: What's your favorite way to interact with readers? CB: I love to read emails and chat online but nothing surpasses talking with romance readers in person. I am such a fangirl of so many authors that I love to just sit and talk to fellow readers --- about my book and the books of my favorite authors.
HH: Thank you!
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