Since my new book, THE LAST MILE, the second book in my Blood Ties Series, Gage Logan’s story, is set in Arizona, I thought it might be fun to talk about a place I’m only just getting to know. Most of the year, I spend my time in the mountains of Montana.  I’ve never been much of a desert person, but on a drive from California back to our Montana home, we took a detour that led us to Northern Arizona.  It’s far different from the rest of Arizona, over 5,000 feet in altitude, with mountains and pine trees all around.  So I felt a connection right away. We ended up buying a winter home there and as I grew to love the area, I decided I wanted to write a story set in that location.  Since I hadn’t written a treasure hunt book in years, one idea morphed into another and eventually became my new novel, THE LAST MILE. One of the most famous missing treasures, not just in Arizona, but the world, is the Lost Dutchman Mine.  The legend says it’s located in the harsh and dangerous Superstition Mountains of Arizona. But no matter how much I researched;…

Kade Logan stood on the bank watching the sheriff and his deputies haul the mud-covered vehicle out of the lake.  The crane groaned as the automobile tilted upward, the rear end lifting into the air, the front wheels dragging across the spongy earth.  Brackish lake water poured out through the open windows. For eight long years Kade had been haunted by the mystery of what had happened to the dark green Subaru that belonged to his dead wife.  Her body had been found in a shallow depression in the hills at the base of the mountains outside Denver, but until now, eight years later, her car had never been found. And her killer had never been caught. “You okay?”  Sam Bridger, Kade’s best friend, stood beside him, a tall blond man Kade had known for years. “She’s been dead eight years, Sam.  So yeah, I’m okay.”  But the rage he felt had never lessened.  It should have.  At the time of her death, their marriage was already on the rocks.  The second time Kade had caught Heather cheating, he had filed for divorce. “Maybe they’ll find something in the car that’ll give them a reason to reopen the case,” Sam…

I love to write novels that revolve around interesting subjects.  The bad news is, it’s usually a subject you don’t know anything about or you wouldn’t find it interesting.  That involves a ton of research. My latest release, THE PERFECT MURDER, the final book in my Maximum Security Series, is set around the offshore oil drilling industry.  Since I couldn’t actually visit a platform off the Houston, Texas coast, I had to dig into the subject extensively.  It’s a difficult, dangerous life, I learned, one that takes the men and women who work on the platforms away from their families for two or more weeks at a time. I learned a lot and I’m hoping readers will find the subject interesting as well In THE PERFECT MURDER, Reese Garrett, CEO of Garrett Resources, a billion-dollar oil and gas corporation, is a man with a past who is determined to retain his hard-earned reputation by avoiding an affair with the beautiful woman who works for him, a valued and trusted employee. When McKenzie Haines is accused of murder, Reese is forced to make a choice–one that could destroy his career or get him killed.  It’s a fast-paced, high-stakes action-adventure as well…

My new novella, COME MIDNIGHT, is one of my personal favorites, though I have no idea where the story idea came from.  Breanna Winters, seated on an airliner next to a good-looking man in an expensive suit, finds herself kidnapped by Honduran terrorists.  She doesn’t expect Derek Stiles, a corporate executive, to put his life at risk by volunteering to go along when Bree is dragged from the plane and marched into the jungle. Fortunately, Derek is a former Navy fighter pilot with extensive survival training and has spent time in the jungle before.  Still, it’s soon clear they’ll need to depend on each other if they’re going to survive. I loved writing this high-action adventure, and I particularly liked the interaction between the two main characters.  Though at first Bree and Derek seem to have nothing in common, in the end they discover they are the perfect fit. I hope you enjoy COME MIDNIGHT and that you’ll watch for Derek again in THE PERFECT MURDER, Reese Garrett’s story, the final book in my Maximum Security series. Till then, all best and happy reading, Kat *** Read on for an exclusive excerpt from COME MIDNIGHT by Kat Martin:  The sound…

I love to read novels set in interesting places.  Currently, I’m reading a historical romance that takes place in Nazi-occupied Paris during WWII.  I’ve always loved Paris, which makes the book even more fun to read.  Being able to recognize the settings where the action takes place, as well as the names of restaurants and streets I have visited. As a writer, going to the place your book is set, or choosing a place you have actually been, is the best way to make your book seem real. In THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL, the novel takes place in Colorado, a state I love to visit.  After I’d concluded my second Maximum Security novel, THE DECEPTION, which was set in Texas, I was looking for someplace different for book number three.  Colorado, with its wide variety of landscapes and extreme climate conditions, seemed perfect. Having been to Denver a number of times, street names were familiar, parks and airports, locations of smaller towns, and rural mountain communities. Since this was a Maximum Security novel, a romantic thriller, I began by researching crime in the state.  I had digging and digging and finally stumbled onto an article about the U.S. Army chemical weapons…

Bran’s mood fluctuated between concern for Jessie and what she had suffered, and fury that he was helpless to do anything about it. Lowlife Ray Cummings was in prison, exactly where he belonged.  He was being punished–not enough as far as Bran was concerned–but punished nonetheless. And now, knowing the extent of what she had been through put Jessie even further out of his reach.  She didn’t need more heartache and having sex with him was exactly where that would lead.  She wasn’t a one-night hook-up kind of girl and he wasn’t a relationship kind of guy. Jessie deserved a man who was gentle and caring, a guy who would help her deal with the trauma she had suffered.  Bran was a rough-and-tumble lover.  He demanded a lot from a woman, and the women he took to bed liked it exactly that way. He sighed as he lay on the lumpy sofa in the living room staring up at the ceiling.  If only he could get the look on Jessie’s face out of his head, the heat in her big green eyes when she’d told him she was thinking about having sex with him. Sweet Jesus.  He ached with every…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?   THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL. It’s out July 28. 2–What is it about?  It’s about the theft of chemical weapons from an army depot in Colorado. Jessie Kegan, the heroine, is determined to prove her father, an army colonel, is innocent of the crime. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Determined. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  His strength and loyalty, and the military background that give him and Jessie a chance to survive the powerful enemies they confront. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?   They depend on the strength and intelligence of each other. And Brandon can count on his brothers to help him no matter what. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?   I love Colorado. Beautiful mountains and extreme climates provide plenty of interesting scenery and challenges. 7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantster (write by the seat of your pants)?  I do a little of both. I’m no longer able to just follow an outline. Much of the story depends on the clues that are uncovered as the hero and heroine try to solve the deadly problems they are…

Kate could hardly believe it.  Jason Maddox, the last man in the world she wanted to see, was sitting right beside her.  Worse yet, he was the man she had just hired to help her find Chrissy’s killer.  What the unholy hell had just happened? “So…umm…where do we start?” she asked, accepting whatever circumstances fate seemed to have set in motion. “I need to take some notes,” Maddox said.  “I’ll be right back.”  He rose from the swivel chair next to hers and she tried not to think how good he looked in a yellow knit pullover and dark blue jeans. But the pullover stretched over his powerful chest and an amazing set of biceps, one with a tattoo of an eagle perched on a globe and the words Semper Fi inked beneath it.  She had noticed it that night in the parking lot. She blocked the thought as he walked away and tried not to notice his long legs, broad back, and round, muscular behind.  She felt like fanning herself.  Just looking at all that hard masculinity made her face feel warm. He disappeared out the door, returned a few minutes later with a lined yellow pad, and sat…

My upcoming release, PIVOT, began with a novella I wrote sometime back, a Romantic Suspense titled Against the Heart.  Ian Brodie is the owner of the BOSS Inc. security firm, a tall, good-looking man, one of the Brodie cousins. In PIVOT, the adventure continues with novellas by bestselling Romantic Suspense authors, Alexandra Ivy and Rebecca Zanetti.  Alexandra and Rebecca tell the stories of teenage girls who became friends during their tough years in foster care. Now as women, they’re fighting for their lives again. When Meriwether Jones and her young daughter run from trouble, that trouble follows.  Her prayers are answered when ex-cop Ian Brodie hires her to help his aging father.  But Meri is keeping dangerous secrets–and Ian is in danger of losing his heart. Melanie Cassidy finds trouble when she tries to save a young boy from being kidnapped.  Working the case, former love-of-her-life, Detective Gray Hawkins, appears and rescues them both.  But her good-Samaritan efforts pull her and Gray into a world of drug dealers and dirty cops–and forces them to examine the relationship they’d abandoned. Michelle Peach is one of Meri’s closet friends.  Trouble arrives when two rough men in search of Meri break into her…

“You cook?”  He seemed surprised. She shoved her glasses up on her nose, and hooked her hair back over her ear.  “My grandmother grew up on a farm outside Dallas.  She was a fantastic cook.  She raised me, so yes, I like to cook.”  She smiled.  “I’m really good at it.” A low groan slipped from Jax’s throat.  “What if we stop at the store and pick up whatever you need?” She laughed.  “We don’t have to do that.  I keep a lot of stuff in the pantry.  I can make pasta or something.  Do you like Italian?” “Hell, yes.” She smiled.  “I’ll make a salad to go with it and we’ll be fine.” Except that when Mindy unlocked her front door and Jax shoved it open, thoughts of supper shot right out the window.  The entire apartment looked as if an earthquake or a tornado had totaled the place. *** “Oh, my God!” Jax’s HK.45 slid easily out of its holster.   “Stay here.”  He started forward, the gun gripped in both hands, panning the living room for any sign the intruders might still be there. “Oh, God, Muffin!”  Mindy bolted forward, but Jax’s arm shot out, blocking her way….