Book Title: BENEATH DARK WATERS
Character Name: Val Sorensen
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
We were happy once. Our parents were forgetful and were busy working to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table, but if we needed them, they were there. Then, anyway. Now, not so much. Back when we were kids, my twin brother Ivan and I would do all the normal kid things, and I was a tomboy for sure. We climbed trees and played football. We lived in Minnesota until I was ten, when my father got a job teaching university in New Orleans. It was quite a culture shock! But we were still happy. Ivan and I would babysit our little sister Sylvi until our parents got home from work and sometimes even afterward. I complained sometimes, but it wasn’t really a burden. I loved Sylvi then. I kind of raised her. So does that make her problems—and her crimes—my fault?
What was your greatest talent?
I play the piano and sing—when I’m not playing roller derby with the New Orleans QuarterMasters. My derby name is Val-killer-rie.
Significant other?
A few in the past. One in particular who helped me through a very dark time in my life, but that was over years ago. Now … I can’t seem to get a certain Orleans Parish prosecutor out of my mind.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
I’m a survivor of sexual assault. The biggest challenge is trusting anyone, but especially men. Their biggest challenge is not to treat me like I’m broken. I’m a survivor and I took my life back, thank you very much.
Where do you live?
I live—and love—New Orleans. We moved here when I was ten years old, and I’ve loved every minute of living here. I really like not being cold and shoveling snow! I haven’t lived here full time, though. I was in the Marine Corps for a while, stationed in Iraq. After that I lived in New Mexico for several years until the death of a loved one brought me home to New Orleans for good.
Do you have any enemies?
Not anymore. They’re all dead now, and I didn’t shed a single tear.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
I’m in a good place now. Probably the best I’ve ever been. I have wonderful friends who’ve become my made-family. I guess that I’m attached to my house. I live in the house my brother left me when he died and … it’s all I have left of him. I have a good job, making more money than I ever dreamed of. I volunteer with inner city kids, teaching music. I have a good life.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
I have an amazing dog, a Black Russian Terrier named Czar. I trained him to be a guard dog and he sometimes accompanies me to work. He’s a big baby, but don’t come after me or you’ll be terrified out of your wits. Czar is the size of a small pony, and he knows how to use his teeth.
What do you do for a living?
I’ve had a lot of jobs, but right now, I’m a bodyguard for Broussard Investigations. Burke Broussard, my boss, hired me on the recommendation of my old Marine pal, Molly Sutton. Sometimes my job is more exciting than other times, but it’s always different, and I love that.
Greatest disappointment?
That I didn’t get to tell my brother that I loved him one more time before he was murdered.
Greatest source of joy?
Working with children. I was a middle-school math teacher when I lived in New Mexico and I tutor kids at our community center when I’m not teaching music.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
I play roller derby with the New Orleans QuarterMasters, and I’m damn good.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
Wow. That’s a hard question. I’m not going to give you a BS answer like, “I work too hard” or “I care too much.” Even though both of those are true. I think my greatest personal failing is my sister Sylvi. But she made her choices and now she has to live with them.
What keeps you awake at night?
Memories, mostly. I took my life back after the assault and my waking hours are productive. But I can’t control my dreams, and when they wake me up, I’m up for the rest of the night.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
Remaining professional when my ten-year-old client’s father is all I’ve ever wanted.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
My family back. I miss my parents. They’re not dead, but they haven’t dealt with their grief well. They aren’t the same two people that they were when my brother was alive. And I’m not enough to bring them back.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
I don’t rightly know. I can’t control my parents’ happiness or the way they’ve processed grief—or the way they haven’t. I don’t know how to make myself be enough for them. Maybe someday.
BENEATH DARK WATERS by Karen Rose
A New Orleans Novel #2
Deadly secrets lie beneath the murky waters of the Louisiana bayou in this pulse-pounding new romantic suspense novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.
There’s no safe place for a child to hide when danger comes from every direction.
Public prosecutor J.P. “Kaj” Cardozo has only lived in New Orleans for six months, and he’s already working on a high-profile celebrity sexual assault case that’s made headlines all over the country. But when his son becomes the target of a kidnapping attempt as a threat to Kaj, he is desperate to keep him safe and turns to a private investigative firm famous for their protection services.
A veteran Marine, Val Sorensen is glad to have found a new career with Broussard Investigations. Her latest assignment as the bodyguard to ten-year-old Elijah Cardozo reminds her why—Val is a kick ass guardian with a tender heart. Through her duties, Val grows fond of the boy—and his handsome father.
But when the high-stakes investigation reveals an explosive network of crime through a revived drug gang, lingering deep-seated corruption in the NOPD, and a group of murderers-for-hire targeting Kaj, Elijah, and his star client, they’re all left scrambling for safety…
Romance Suspense [Berkley, On Sale: August 15, 2023, e-Book, ISBN: 9780593336328 / eISBN: 9780593336342]
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About Karen Rose
Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn’t concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”
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