Destiny Driven hasn't used her real name in forever. It doesn't exactly inspire professional confidence if you sound like a stripper. When she's ordered to "sex up" former bestselling author Angel Robinson's latest manuscript, armed with whips, cuffs, "classic" (who knew?) porn DVDs, that hits a little close to home. So Destiny heads to a remote cabin in Healey, Alaska.
Deployed to fight an inferno, Master Parachutist Lincoln Chapman veers off course, his chute fails, and his reserve opens at the 10,000 mark. The paratrooper lands in the pear tree adjacent to Destiny's cabin.
The man's massive and unconscious. The cabin's cold and isolated, and Destiny's no girl scout. Then Linc wakes to Destiny's Madonna features, stripper body, sex toys, and 70's porn DVDs. Just as they're trying to leave, electricity fizzles. There's only one way to stay warm. Luckily they have all the supplies they need.
Reviews for A Paratrooper in A Pear Tree
Manic Readers
Reviewer Victoria Lynn:
"She has done it again! For me, the first thing that comes to mind after reading one of Jianne Carlo's books is WOW! I can't get enough! And A Paratrooper in a Pear Tree is no different."
Night Owl Top Pick
Reviewer Victoria Lynn:
"Jianne Carlo has written a totally captivating story in Paratrooper in a Pear Tree. A story that will keep you hoping is always a plus in my book, and this one will do just that. It had me going wondering just what was going to happen next."
I'm an Iron Chef and Law and Order addict who loves to cook, eat, and read. I wish you could burn a ton of calories being sedentary and eating. Don't you? If only...
Growing up on the Caribbean island of Trinidad where the population is representative of almost every race and nation on the planet, multiculturalism oozes from my pores. Though my high school was an all-girl Catholic convent run by nuns, we were taught all religions, Hinduism, Muslim, Buddhism, and celebrated all the holidays associated with those religions.
That's probably why my first book, Manacled in Monaco, featured a heroine who had a Hindu father and an Irish Catholic mother. I love the diversity of our world and the growing intermingling of cultures and races. We can learn so much from each other, not to mention being able to sample yummy cuisines. Who can remember life without sushi or tacos or red beans and rice?
Alpha males, strong heroines, exotic locations, and cultural differences are my forte.
I'm travelling the world through my books. From Manacled, which is set in Monaco, to D is for Desire (set in Trinidad at Carnival time), to White Wolf which features rural Washington to my latest, A Paratrooper in a Pear Tree, which is set outside of Denali National Park in Alaska.
My writing career began in 2007, and since then I've written and published seven books. Right now there are six more in progress, one of which Captured in Cannes, the third in the Mambo Mediterranean series, one other Valentine Voodoo is scheduled for release in February 2010.
Come journey with me, sample local food, meet alpha men and resilient women from every corner of the planet. I promise you a great read!
Backlist:
Manacled in Monaco
Notorious in Nice
White Wolf
Valentine Voodoo
T is for Temptation
D is for Desire
An Interview with Jianne Carlo
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Jianne, thank you for talking with us at TRS! Please tell us about your featured book, A Paratrooper in A Pear Tree.
JC: Lincoln Abraham Chapman and Destiny Driven are two of my favorite characters to date. With A Paratrooper in a Pear Tree, I wanted to create an alpha male who loved and understood women, so I gave Linc three older sisters, an amazing basso profundo voice, and a love of music. He's tough as nails, a Navy SEAL, and an aerial acrobat who relishes free falling from 10,000 feet.
Destiny is a New York assistant editor who secretly yearns to write "The Novel," but hasn't the courage of her convictions. Kidnapped by her father at four; she's raised under a different name and believes her indifferent step-mom is her real mother. In college, she discovers her real name and the identity of her biological mother, now dead.
Sent to Alaska to 'sex up' bestselling author, Angel Robinson's latest novel, Destiny can't believe her eyes when a paratrooper lands in a pear tree adjacent to the cabin where she's staying. Snow begins to fall. It's September for crying out loud -- there can't be a blizzard!
Destiny's forced to rescue Linc herself. He regains consciousness when she's cleaning the bleeding graze on his forehead.
Linc's instant, violent attraction to this woman with the face of a Madonna and the body of a stripper shocks the stuffing out of him. Then he notices the collection of 70's classic porn DVDs, velvet cuffs, and various other sex toys Destiny'd dumped on the table, and he assumes the worst or best if they're going to be snowed in.
Inwardly groaning, Destiny gives him her editor pseudonym instead of her real name. But…she is stuck with a big, hard, hunk whose pheromones jump at her every sense. She'd probably never see him again. No one would ever know if she…? So, why not?
Linc finds her passport with her real name and he goes on DEFCON alert, but sex is sex, and he's not about to resist if she's interested.
The sparks between Linc and Destiny straddles far galaxies.
Then the world, reality, and Angel Robinson who claims she had a ménage with Linc and his best buddy, intrudes. Add in an ex-best friend who stole Destiny's last boyfriend, The Hades Squad - Linc's paratrooper buddies, Satan, Demon, Devil, and Lucifer, and the wild ride begins.
HH: Two people thrown together in a most compromising situation. Where did you get the idea for this sexy story?
JC: In August of last year Loose-Id sent out a request to their author list for stories themed around Christmas songs. I decided to respond to the request and immediately began playing every Christmas ballad on the planet, or so it seemed. For some reason, The Twelve Days of Christmas stuck in my brain.
There are so many directions you can go in - Five Golden Rings - a nice paranormal built on magic rings. Nine Ladies Dancing - a fortyish ladies club who love ballroom dancing. Ten Lords A Leaping could take on a definite erotic swing, nudge, nudge, wink, and wink.
But my literal bent dominated and I went for A Paratrooper in a Pear Tree. Literally. The novel begins with Linc landing in the pear tree.
HH: What do you like best about Destiny and how do you relate to her?
JC: There's so much I love about Destiny, her gumption, her doggedness in trying to resolve her family situation, and the insecurity that keeps her from finishing her manuscript. But Destiny's best quality for me is her ability to seize the moment. Carpe diem Destiny!
Being a relatively new author myself, I identify strongly with Destiny's writing insecurities.
HH: What do you like best about Linc and why might he be perfect for her?
JC: I love his musical ability. At the time I wrote Paratrooper, I was taking a course on how to listen to and appreciate classical music and I fell in love with Handel. And of course there is not a single classical Christmas composition that can hold a candle to Messiah.
But the trait I love the most about Linc is that though he's super alpha and ultra domineering, he has a streak of gentleness he's not afraid to show. I think that's the product of having older sisters and being the middle sibling in a family of eleven children.
Linc's Destiny's perfect foil. He's strong where she's weak, determined to free her from her insecurities about her weight, and that helps her to gain the mental strength to write 'The Novel.'
HH: What else do you have in store for lucky readers?
JC: There are so many stories in my brain; I just can't get them down fast enough.
Valentine Voodoo, a sexy valentine story with a twist (an animated mouse called Valentine created by the heroine, Stephanie, a computer graphic artist) came out in February of this year.
Eli's everything Stephanie dislikes, arrogant and status-conscious. Stephanie's the only woman Eli wants. Their Christmas party one-night-stand's disastrous. Can second time round sex make up for it?
Two weeks ago, I turned in Captured in Cannes, the third in the Mambo Mediterranean series, to my editor. This is Harry's, 'I do the dirty with my Stetson on', tale.
To inherit his daddy's fortune, Harry has to marry a virgin and produce an heir before he's thirty-three. Soured by a failed romance, Harry hires a matchmaker to find his bride. Fleeing from criminal charges in Haiti, Martine deceptively undermines her opposition and marries Harry. Neither trusts the other and Harry's stepmother, who inherits if they don't have a baby, sets out to tear Harry and Martine apart.
My current WIP, which I hope to finish before the middle of June, is Lucifer's Choice, and this tale revolves around a member of the Hades Squad, Lucifer.
HH: What do you think today's readers are looking for and how do you fill that demand in your writing?
JC: I think readers are looking for a great story, a tale that will enthrall them from start to finish.
I'm an avid reader and I love books that keep me guessing and draw me into the character's heads.
That's what I set out to do with each tale. I want my characters to be realistic, to be human and make mistakes, and to keep the reader rooting for them. I want the plot to be tight and I hope to keep my readers speculating to the last possible minute.
HH: What you most like to accomplish in your writing career?
JC: I'd love to be able to finish all the stories I have in my head.
Besides Captured in Cannes and Lucifer's Choice, I have five other tales that I'm dying to complete. And not a single day goes by when another idea doesn't pop into my poor, overcrowded brain. I have newspaper clippings and post-it notes crammed into a file filled with themes for new books. The problem is, though I know how most of these tales will start until I actually begin writing, I have no clue how a story ends. And the suspense is killing me.
HH: What makes it all worth it to you as an author?
JC: A reader who emails me to let me know he/she loved one of my books. There's nothing in the world like that feeling you get when reading an email from a fan.
HH: What are you reading right now?
JC: Oops, you're going to be sooo disappointed. Right now I'm doing research for a historical I want to write set somewhere between 800 and 1200 A.D., so I'm reading The Saga of The Volsungs. In between deciphering this ancient Viking saga and working on Lucifer's Choice, I am currently re-reading Lisa Marie Rice's Midnight Man series.
HH: Any big plans for the summer?
JC: Personal plans? Oh man, it's a humdinger of a year for me. First my DH decided to go on a twenty eight day road trip to the Grand Canyon in February -- you read right February -- why February? To avoid bad spring weather (go figure). And we did avoid rotten spring weather instead we encountered blizzard after blizzard, but I digress.
In July we're heading to Trinidad and Tobago to attend a friend's daughter's wedding. Then in late August, we're heading up to Vancouver, Canada to attend my sister-in-law's sixtieth birthday celebrations (a weeklong party).
Writing wise, I'm hoping to finish two more books after I finish Lucifer's Choice. One a mystery romance, and the other a paranormal time-travel entitled That Tantalizing Lick.
