Guest Author: Kara Braden – The Longest Night + a Giveaway!

Hi Kara!  Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be here today! 

Thanks for having me! Forgive me if I’m a bit nervous, but I’m a debut author, so this is new for me. I’m Kara Braden, author of The Longest Night, which came out just a few days ago. It’s a cabin romance set in the snowy forests of northwest Canada, with a twist. See, it’s the heroine, not the hero, who lives out in the wilderness. To explain a bit more, I’ve asked Cecily to answer a few questions about her life before Ian.

Cecily Knight: You make that sound like a geologic time period. Pre-Ian, Post-Ian.

Kara: He came into your life unexpectedly, though.

Cecily: And entirely unprepared for a week at a ski resort, much less at my cabin. He actually brought a suit with him. What’s he going to do in a suit, even at a ski resort? Lounge around at the bar?

Kara: He does look awfully good in a suit, though.

Cecily: Well, yeah, but don’t let him hear you say that. His ego’s bad enough as it is. Besides, he’s mine.

Kara: Fair enough. But what about your Pre-Ian life? What was your first winter like, at the cabin?

Cecily: Let’s just say I wasn’t much better prepared than Ian. I’d spent a couple of summers up there, fishing—the land’s been in my family for a while now—but I’d never experienced the full extent of a Canadian winter. Thankfully, the architects who designed the cabin did their research, so the roof didn’t cave in or anything.

Kara: But what happened? Did you run out of food or firewood?

Cecily: Both, I’ll admit. But I was able to radio down to Pinelake, and the folks there were so generous about helping out. Snowmobiling there was risky, but I made it and ended up spending three weeks in town until the weather cleared enough for me to get back home, with supplies. I love those people. They’re the most generous you’ll ever meet.

Kara: What about your garden? I’ve heard it’s—

Cecily: Dead, yeah. I’ve got a black thumb. You know those plants that nobody can kill? Cacti and spider plants and ivy? Give me a week.

Kara: So, I guess it’s canned vegetables?

Cecily: Fortunately, I’m a pretty good shot, so I trade what I hunt for anything fresh. Or I did, Pre-Ian. You know, Pre- and Post-Ian is kind of a useful way to look at life. Anyway, I’d bring stuff down to town to trade, or I’d just barter with Mags.

Kara: Mags, as in, Dr. Marguerite Lavolier? She’s your nearest neighbor, isn’t she?

Cecily: If you can call it ‘nearest.’ She’s a ways down the river. The Pinelake Road dead-ends at her place. But yeah, I’d pick up extra chicken feed or bring down some venison for her, and she’d trade veggies from her garden or the chickens she raises. After a winter of isolation, you really get to miss fresh eggs.

Kara: And company, too, right?

Cecily: I’ve got a pretty good imagination, and I’m always working on a couple of books at a time. But yeah, sometimes it’s nice to talk to someone and actually hear a response. And Mags is the best. Plus she doesn’t put up with nonsense from anyone—not even Ian.

Ian Fairchild: Excuse me?

Kara: Ian! This is a surprise—

Ian: Yes, because someone didn’t tell me we were doing an interview. I’ve done interviews before, love. CNN, the New York Times—

Cecily: I know. Believe me, I know.

Kara: Unfortunately, we’re about ready to wrap up here.

Ian: Already? But I just got here.

Cecily: I’ll interview you for my next book. How about that?

Ian: Your next book has a magical talking ferret in it.

Cecily: I can name him Ian.

Ian: You wouldn’t dare.

Cecily: Watch me.

Kara: And that’s how they make their relationship work. Compromise and a whole lot of snark. 

The Longest Night blurb:

This could work, whispered the little voice in the back of her mind, the voice that had been silent for seven years…

SHE SOUGHT SOLACE IN SOLITUDE
Years ago, former Marine Captain Cecily Knight fled her dark past and the nightmares forever haunting her nights. Alone in the remote Canadian wilderness, she survives day to day…until Ian Fairchild comes storming into her life and shatters her protective seclusion.

UNTIL ONE TOUCH BARED HER SOUL
Aloof but intriguing, defensive but undeniable, Ian is everything Cecily shouldn’t want but can’t ignore. He watches her with shrewd blue eyes, as if determined to decipher her secrets…and for the first time in years, she finds herself coming alive beneath the hands of a man with too many scars to count.

As the hushed and harsh winter closes in around them, two lost souls find themselves on the precipice of a love that could save their lives…or destroy them forever.

Excerpt:

Realizing they were about to have the talk, Cecily took a breath to steady herself. She rose from her crouch and turned to find him standing much closer than she’d expected, only inches away. “Look, I—­”

“Please, Cecily,” he interrupted gently as his hands came up. Long fingers skimmed over her face, sliding back along her jaw to brush lightly, chillingly over her hair. “We’ve talked enough for tonight.”

She stared at him—­close, so close—­and wanted to say something, but she knew that she’d come off sounding like a babbling idiot if she started to talk.

Ian took her silence for consent—­which, in a way, it must have been, because when he leaned down to steal a kiss, Cecily couldn’t find it in herself to protest. She leaned into it instead, hands sliding up to grasp his waist, holding him lightly but closely. The kiss was sweet, tasting of sugar and coffee, and full of his confident aggression, encouraging her to let go of her inhibitions.

Seven years of self-­denial proved too much of a strain. The last of Cecily’s reservations dissipated like fog, and she pulled him close to take control of the kiss. She reveled in the feel of a body pressed to hers, warm and hard and very real. 

July 2nd – The Longest Night by Kara Braden
Author Website: http://karabraden.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karabradenauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaraBraden @KaraBraden
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/KaraBraden/
Tumblr: http://karabraden.tumblr.com/
Buy Links: Amazon , Barnes & Noble , Books A Million , Hastings , IndieBound , Indigo , iTunes , Kobo

Author Bio: Kara Braden makes her debut in modern romance with a story of love in isolation. She believes that engaging, romantic fantasy can be found everywhere in the world, even in the most unlikely places. With the support of her wonderful husband, cats, and dogs, she writes from her home office outside Phoenix, Arizona, where she spends her time hiding from the sunlight and heat.

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