May I introduce: Susanne Bellamy "Engaging the Enemy"

 

Engaging the Enemy

by Susanne Bellamy

Reading through Susanne's bio is like reading through a copy of "Lonely Planet" ... dreaming of the next big holiday.

Equally interesting is the blurb of her latest release "Engaging the Enemy". A must on my TBR list!

 

1- Tell us a little bit how you came up with the idea for "Engaging the Enemy"
Engaging the Enemy was born on a tram ride along Swanston Street in Melbourne. It was my first tram ride in the city. While my husband and daughter counted coins that were never going to be enough for our fares, I noticed an old red brick building, and idly wondered about its history. Who would have lived and worked there? Why was it now abandoned? What was its fate? Suddenly the premise of a story hit; what would happen if not one, but two people really wanted this old building? The opening scene jumped into my head and off I went!

2 - There's something about an Irish Charmer, right? Why did you choose Matt to be "Irish"?
There’s no particular reason I can think of except that I ‘heard’ his accent right from the beginning. Matt was an Irishman, full of blarney and who was I to disagree! As it turned out, that was a good choice when it came to exploring his social justice attitudes. The Irish have plenty of experience of injustice and this helped me to layer his internal conflict.

3 - Tell us about your current project.
My next release is a free Christmas anthology, written with three other south east Queensland writers and titled A Season to Remember. Christmases in Australia often focus on the beach (it’s the southern summer) so we wrote stories of Christmas past, present and future. I decided to venture into previously unexplored territory and set mine in 2525 AD.  Given that the sea was a common element to all four stories, I had a bit of fun. My ship is a starship in planetary orbit but they do make it to the beach!

4 - Okay ... let's talk travel J. Have you always had the travel bug and what was your favourite destination / adventure so far?
The travel bug bit me early. I was seven when my family sailed to England and back to Australia. After that, I wanted to learn lots of languages and travel everywhere! I’ve been to many countries, mostly with my husband and children. We’ve had so many adventures along the way that it’s nearly impossible to choose just one, although I love anything with boats or mountains! Perhaps one of the more unusual was sailing on an old-fashioned junk in Ha Long Bay. Lying on the upper deck at night and seeing a myriad of stars so big and bright in the sky was pure magic. France, Scotland, Italy, Vietnam—they’re so different and I loved them all. My son and I counted up the countries we’ve visited so far; I think we got to eighteen, with many more still on our respective bucket lists.  

Blurb:

One building, two would-be owners and a family feud that spans several generations: all relationships have their problems.

 Andrea de Villiers can’t lie to save herself. But when developer, Matt Mahoney, buys the building she and a friend have established as a safe house in the Melbourne CBD, she decides that protecting The Shelter is more important than her aching heart. She will confront Mr Mahoney, and she will emerge victorious. There are no other options.
 But Matt has other plans for Andie, and she soon finds herself ensnared in a web of well-meaning lies and benevolent deceit. To protect the building and the families that depend on her, Andie agrees to play the part of Matt’s fiancée, and play it convincingly.
 But lies soon bleed into truth, and what was once a deception starts to feel all too real. Can Andie accomplish her goals and protect The Shelter, without losing her heart to the charming Irish developer?

 

Author:

Susanne’s heroes have to be pretty special to live up to the real life one she married. He saved her life then married her. They live on the edge of bush land on a mountain in beautiful sunny Queensland, Australia with two children and their dog. She writes contemporary romance and historical suspense novels set in exciting and often exotic locations.

Paris will always be one of her top spots, and she fell in love with Scotland when they visited the west coast (nothing to do with fine single malts!), and recently had her first real trip to Italy--tick off one Bucket List item!  She has enjoyed New Year in Kathmandu and trekked in the Annapurnas, sailed in Ha Long Bay on a junk, and stayed on a floating hotel beside a tethered elephant in Thailand. The Peak in Hong Kong and Mt Faber cable car ride in Singapore are favourite spots. Susanne loves travelling to new places and exploring the culture and history, and meeting new people. These experiences are gradually being incorporated into her stories.
Her as yet unrealised dream is a trip into Earth’s orbit.

Susanne is a member of RWA and enjoys mentoring new authors. She is published with Escape Publishing, and will be a 2015 release author with Entangled Publishing.

White Ginger

One Night in Sorrento

Engaging the Enemy (Escape Publishing)

Coming 28 November 2014 -- A Season to Remember (FREE Christmas anthology)

Coming 2015 – Emerald Quest: Winning the Heiress’s Heart (Entangled Publishing)

 

a.         Facebook       https://www.facebook.com/susanne.bellamy.7

b.         Twitter           https://twitter.com/SusanneBellamy 

c.         Website          http://www.susannebellamy.com/

d.         Pinterest        http://www.pinterest.com/susannebellamy/ 

e.         http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00AYRGVRA

 

 

Purchase Links:

Escape: http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/product/9780857991768#popup

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com.au/Engaging-The-Enemy-Susanne-Bellamy-ebook/dp/B00LGDXHZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404452861&sr=8-1&keywords=9780857991768

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Engaging-Enemy-Susanne-Bellamy-ebook/dp/B00LGDXHZA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1404453062&sr=1-1&keywords=9780857991768

http://www.amazon.com/Engaging-Enemy-Susanne-Bellamy-ebook/dp/B00LGDXHZA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1404453062&sr=1-1&keywords=9780857991768

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/engaging-the-enemy/id895324558?mt=11

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780857991768

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/engaging-the-enemy-5

 

 

Excerpt:

 Andrea de Villiers couldn’t have orchestrated the accident better if she’d planned for a year instead of just one night.

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres were almost finished as she edged closer to the group of Melbourne’s wealthy charity patrons and supporters and lined up her tray of drinks with Matt Mahoney’s chest.

One second to launch.

She took a deep, steadying breath and stepped forward.

His blonde companion’s arms drew a giant circle in the air, collided with the edge of her tray and Mr. Mahoney, corporate developer and all round jerk, was instantly wearing expensive champagne as an accessory to his Armani dinner jacket.

Round one to Andie.

Served him right for refusing to meet her. He brushed futilely at his shiny lapels and a thrill raced through her.

I did it.

Andie-never-puts-a-foot-wrong-de Villiers had done the unthinkable. If only she could tell him who she was, her triumph would have been complete.