Torch (Take It Off) (26 page)

Authors: Cambria Hebert

Tags: #Romance

Keep an eye out for
TEASE,
the next
Take It Off
novel, in September 2013!

You can look, but you can’t touch…

Harlow is a broke college student. When her tuition assistance is taken away, she is faced with a choice: admit to her mother she couldn’t hack it on her own or make a lot of money fast.

So she gets a good-paying job.

As a stripper.

She thought it would be easy, but it turns out being sexy is a lot harder than she thought. When a few mishaps work in her favor, she manages to hang on to her job and catch the eye of the Mad Hatter’s best-looking bartender, Cam.

She’s also caught the eye of someone who wants to do more than look, someone who’s decided she’s nothing but a tease.

As the clothes come off, Harlow finds herself caught between lust and murder. The only thing she knows for sure is that her new risqué job is a lot more than she bargained for.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the
A
cademy for this shiny award that weighs more than my head… Oh wait… this isn’t some speech that bores everyone and their mother to death. This is the part where I ramble on about everything I did while writing this book and then I pull out a long list of names to thank people.

Oh, you don’t want to read that either?

Too bad.

Okay, I will keep the list to a minimum. In actuality, this book took a lot less time to write than I thought it would. TORCH was my very first attempt at a new adult contemporary novel. I was excited to try a new genre (my other books are all paranormal), but I was also a little reluctant. Reluctant = me messaging my writer buddies Cameo Renae and Amber Garza to belly ache about how hard it is to write a new adult contemporary novel. Everyone kept telling me how easy they were to write, but I didn’t seem to grasp it at first. I guess I was so used to hellhounds and men that worked for the Grim Reaper that writing normal people was beyond my grasp.

Side note: another reason writing “normal” people is difficult for me is because I highly doubt I have ever been considered normal. Ha-ha.

But I just decided to dive in and give it a go. I figured if it didn’t turn out well, I could hide the pages under the bed and pretend it never happened. OR I could call up the Grim Reaper (he and I are buds) and have him come take care of the mess I made.

Fortunately for me (and Holt and Katie), I didn’t have to do any of that. Turns out writing TORCH was really fun. I love the way these characters mesh. Holt is like a giant anchor and Katie is like a boat lost at sea. I love the simplicity of the story but how entertaining it is (at least I hope I’m not the only one who thinks this).

I would first like to give special acknowledgement to Jessica Sorensen, who took time out of her incredibly busy schedule to read this book and graciously allowed me to quote her on the cover. Thank you so much, Jessica, for doing that. I know that you have a very demanding release schedule and it’s so awesome that you took time out of your life to give me a hand.

I would like to acknowledge Amber Garza and Cameo Renae (you should read them—they rock) for being there to cheer me on. You two ladies are so awesome. I appreciate you both so much. Special thanks to Amber, who read TORCH for me to give me some early feedback and help calm some of my nerves about the book.

To Regina Wamba of Mae I Design, thank you so much for sharing your incredible talent with me and everyone in the book world. Your design of TORCH is so incredible. I sometimes just stare at it and sigh. It is everything I wanted in a new adult cover and I can’t thank you enough for giving TORCH the heat it deserved.

Also, to Cassie McCown of Gathering Leaves Editing, thank you so much for fixing all my bad habits, for always being on time, and for doing your job so well. An editor like you is extremely hard to find, and I feel really lucky that we have the chance to work together. Someday I will break my habit of using the word “that” in every sentence I write. Until then, keep your shovel handy.

I would also like to give a shout out to the girls of Girls *Heart* Books for organizing a three-day release day blitz and an upcoming
Take It Off
tour. You ladies have been so wonderful to work with. Thank you for your support!

I couldn’t have written this book without the support of my Nespresso machine. Thank you for making me too many wonderful lattes every single day. I seriously have no idea how I survived without you.

And as always, to my husband Shawn, without you I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. Thank you for always being there for me and our kids. We love you.

And that concludes this book’s acknowledgements! See you next book!

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal
Heven and Hell
series, the new adult
Death Escorts
series, and the new adult
Take it Off
series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math, and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry), where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting
http://www.cambriahebert.com