Nobody's Hero (27 page)
Authors: Bec McMaster
L
ONDON STEAMPUNK SERIES
N
ovellas in same series
:
The Curious Case Of The Clockwork Menace
D
ARK ARTS SERIES
B
URNED LANDS SERIES
Nobody's Hero
The Last True Hero (Coming soon)
O
THER
B
ec McMaster is
the award-winning author of the London Steampunk series. A member of RWA, she writes sexy, dark paranormals, and adventurous steampunk romances, and grew up with her nose in a book. Following a life-long love affair with fantasy, she discovered romance novels as a 16 year-old, and hasn't looked back.
I
n 2012
, Sourcebooks released her debut novel,
Kiss of Steel
, the first in the London Steampunk series, followed by:
Heart of Iron
,
My Lady Quicksilver
,
Forged By Desire
, and
Of Silk And Steam
. Two novellas–
Tarnished Knight
and
The Curious Case Of The Clockwork Menace
–fleshed out the series. She has been nominated for RT Reviews Best Steampunk Romance for
Heart of Iron (2013)
, won RT Reviews Best Steampunk Romance with
Of Silk And Steam (2015)
, and
Forged By Desire
was nominated for a RITA award in 2015. The series has received starred reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, with Heart of Iron named one of their Best Romances of 2013.
W
hen not poring
over travel brochures, playing netball, or cooking things that are very likely bad for her, Bec spends most of her time in front of the computer. In 2016, she debuted the Dark Arts series with
Shadowbound
, as well as the Burned Lands series with
Nobody's Hero
.
B
ec lives
in a small country town in Victoria, Australia, with her very own Beta Hero; a Staffordshire terrier named Kobe, who has perfected her own Puss-in-boots sad eyes–especially when bacon is involved; and demanding chickens, Siggy and Lagertha. It's possible she has a minor obsession with
Vikings
, and
The Originals
.
F
or news on new releases
, cover reveals, contests, and special promotions, join her
mailing list
.
T
his story has lived
in my head for at least six years, and it all started with Riley, a feisty heroine in a dystopian world, and McClain, the true-blue hero who would be her man. Halfway through chapter one, Luc Wade swaggered onstage and kidnapped her, in order to settle a debt with McClain. McClain was supposed to come to the rescue. Wade was supposed to get his comeuppance. The problem? The chemistry between he and Riley was scorching off the page, and Wade decided nope, he's not just the bad guy here. That's why this book is called
Nobody's Hero
. Because Wade was never, ever meant to be the one who got the girl.
A
s for McClain
, he was just as important a part of Wade's story as Riley was, and I loved delving into this tale of a man who was honest, loyal, true, and yet kept a very dark secret from the world... He and Wade had a real bromance from the start, and I couldn't resist their scenes together.
I
enjoyed
every second of writing this book, but as with every project I take on, I couldn't have done it without a lot of help from these amazing people:
I
owe
huge thanks to my editor Kristin from Hot Tree Editing for her work in spit-and-polishing this manuscript until it gleamed; my wonderful cover artists from Damonza.com for taking everything I described and giving me the cover of my dreams; and Marisa Shor from Cover Me Darling for the print formatting. To the ELE, and the Central Victorian Writers groups for keeping me sane, and being my support groups! Special thanks to my family, and to my other half–my very own beta hero, Byron–who has always been unabashedly proud of this dream of mine, even when I didn't know if I could do it.
L
ast
, not least, to all of my readers who support me on this journey, and have been crazy vocal about their love for the London Steampunk series, and anything else I write! I hope you enjoy this crazy little detour into a dark, sexy world!