The Journey Continues: Release Day-- He Watches Me by Cynthia Sax

I'm so excited for Cynthia Sax today--it's release day for He Watches Me, Book One of The Seen Trilogy! I've been waiting for this day and haunting Chapters/Indigo's website, waiting for it to appear. I. Can't. Wait. To. Read. This. Book. There's a sexy excerpt here, on a previous post, for those of you who want a little taste of the goodies awaiting in this book. And now I'll turn the 'floor' over to Cynthia.

She’s Got A Friend

Cynthia Sax

Although we often focus on heroes and heroines in our stories, they don’t live in isolation. These characters have family, co-workers and friends, just like everyone else does (I consider Anya to be a dear buddy of mine – she’s a friend any woman would be lucky to have).

Of the three, I find friends to be the most indicative of a character’s personality. A heroine can’t choose her family but she can choose her friends.

Or she can choose not to have friends. Maybe she moves around a lot or she’s scared of being hurt or she has a dangerous secret a best friend would be certain to uncover (because we all know how best friends are – grins).

In the case of Anna, the heroine of He Watches Me, it is all three. Anna is running from her past. A beloved family member made a bad decision and this decision has haunted her, causing her to be judged, rejected, hurt. Anna moves across the country to L.A., seeking a fresh start, hoping to escape her undeserved reputation.

Anna is lonely and she desperately wants friends but she knows, in order to keep her past a secret, she’ll have to lie to them. She’s not a good liar and she’s uncomfortable with not telling the truth. Anna also knows when her new friends find out the truth about her, they’ll reject her. Then she’ll have to move again, leaving them behind.

She decides it’s best for everyone including herself if she avoids making friends, if she stays invisible, fading into the background. She goes to work, does her job quietly, eating lunch alone, and goes directly home, to an empty house. She is so disconnected with the outside world, she doesn’t even have a phone.

This is a great plan in theory. In reality, it doesn’t work. Camille aka Goth girl decides Anna will be her new friend. She sits beside her at work. She eats lunch with her. She defends her when co-workers tease her. She decides she likes Anna.

Anna, however, knows Camille doesn’t truly know her. When Camille finds out the truth, she’ll reject her. The smart response would be to reject Camille first, before Anna cares too much, before Camille can inflict more pain. Anna can’t do this. She knows how hurtful rejection is.

Anna now has a friend she desperately wants yet shouldn’t have. Pain is coming… for all of them. Anna simply doesn’t know when. Until this day arrives, she’ll enjoy Camille’s company, knowing how precious friendship is.

What do you love about your best friend? How long have you known her or him?

***

He Watches Me

Blurb:

She desires to be seen. He wants to watch.

Anna Sampson has a naughty secret. Every night, she slips into her neighbor’s yard and swims naked in his pool. She fantasizes that the dynamic young billionaire watches her nightly nude aquatics, his brilliant green eyes gleaming with lust.

She discovers this isn’t pure fantasy. Gabriel Blaine has been watching her via his security cameras, and now that he has returned to L.A., he doesn’t plan to stop. That’s all he wants—to watch. Anna knows she shouldn’t allow him and she certainly shouldn’t want more, but she craves Blaine’s attention, needing his gaze fixed on her body.