Marie Force and 'Kisses After Dark' take us back to Gansett Island

Paste BN and New York Times bestselling author Marie Force joins HEA to introduce readers to her latest Gansett Island book, Kisses After Dark.

Marie: I'm so excited to take readers back to one of our favorite places this week — Gansett Island — for another visit with the McCarthy family and their friends. Kisses After Dark, the latest installment from Gansett, features Shane McCarthy and Katie Lawry and is out NOW! This is the second McCarthy-Lawry romance as Shane's sister Laura married Katie's brother Owen in the last book, Gansett After Dark.

Shane and Katie bring some heavy issues into their new relationship. Shane is still recovering from the demise of his marriage to Courtney, who hid a raging addiction to pain medication from him and then divorced him after he paid for rehab. The Lawry family's history of domestic violence is well known to longtime Gansett readers. Katie's way of dealing with her past is to stay far, far away from all men, lest she end up with one like her father.

In Gansett After Dark, readers witnessed Shane's dramatic rescue of Katie, who was pulled into a rip current shortly before Owen and Laura's wedding. Permanently bonded after their near-death experience, in Kisses After Dark, Shane and Katie take tentative steps toward exploring the simmering attraction they feel for each other.

But with so much at stake for both of them, will they be able to put the past behind them and take a chance on love?

Here's a sneak peek from Kisses After Dark, available everywhere e-books are sold:

A slash of lightning followed by a crack of thunder made Katie startle and pull back from him. "Sorry," she muttered.

He smiled and brushed her hair back from her face. "Don't be sorry."

"I feel like such a fool for still being scared of thunder and lightning at my age."

"Is there an age limit on being afraid of something?"

"No, but… I still feel silly about it."

"No need to feel silly on my account."

She turned on her side to face him, wincing when her skin pulled against the cut on her foot. "Are you really this nice, or is this just your first-date-impress-the-girl-with-your-awesomeness act?"

He was even more adorable, she discovered, when he laughed. Falling onto the pillow on his side of the bed, he covered his eyes with his forearm as he continued to laugh. "You're too much, you know that?"

"I've heard that a time or two."

He lifted his arm off his face and looked at her. "My father always told us to be ourselves because it was too much work to be ourselves and someone else, too. So I hate to tell you that what you see is what you get. I have no reason to be anything other than nice to you, Katie. Do you want to know why?"

She nodded.

"Because I really, really want to go out with you again." He checked his watch. "Tonight. And maybe tomorrow night, too. And the night after."

"Do you have to work tomorrow?"

"Today, you mean?" he asked, reminding her it was after midnight already. "Yes, I'm working."

"You're going to be tired."

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"You really don't have to stay. I've survived many a thunderstorm on my own. You should see the epic storms we get in Texas."

"I don't mind staying awhile. There's no need for you to survive this one alone." He somehow managed to arrange them so his arms were around her and her head was resting on his chest.

The subtle scents of soap and sporty deodorant and laundry detergent filled her senses and calmed her racing mind. She was lying in bed with a man for the first time in her life. Shouldn't she be freaking out or telling him to go or something?

"I can almost hear you thinking," Shane said as he casually ran his hand up and down her arm, setting off a flood of sensation that seemed to gather between her legs.

"You can't hear someone think."

"No, but I can feel your tension and your hesitancy and your internal debate about whether it's worse to be in a bed with me or to live through the storm on your own."

Since she couldn't deny that she'd been having those very thoughts, she didn't bother to try.

He pressed his lips to her forehead. "It's okay to relax, Katie. I promise you're safe with me."

Little by little, her muscles gave way to the drowsiness that tugged her under. She shifted her legs, trying to find some relief from the dull throb between them. The sensation was new to her and one she looked forward to exploring more in-depth. She choked back a giggle at the direction her thoughts had taken.

"What're you thinking about now?" he asked.

"I can't tell you."

"Oh come on! Now you have to tell me."

She dissolved into laughter. "I really can't."

"Yes, you can! Do I need to tickle it out of you?"

"Don't you dare."

He raised his hand in a menacing claw that hung above her, making her forget all about the storm raging outside or all the reasons she'd stayed away from men for so long.

"Shane?"

He dropped his arm and put it around her. "Yeah?"

"I'm really glad I waited to have my first date with you."

Leaning in, he kept his eyes open when he kissed her. "So am I, honey."

—

Find out more about the McCarthys of Gansett Island Series on my website, and don't forget to enter our quick five-day contest following the publication of Kisses After Dark. The grand prize is a trip for two to the 2015 Reader Weekend in Newport, Rhode Island, which will include a day-trip to Block Island, the real-life inspiration for Gansett Island. The link to the contest can only be found in the back of the e-books. AND, check out the all-new McCarthy Family Tree from a link in Kisses After Dark.

Thanks for reading Shane and Katie's story!