Desire and the Deep Blue Sea Read online

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  Thirty or so years later, I have a few answers. 1) Because my mom apparently fancied pirates at that time. Now she hoards romances involving cowboys and babies. If a book cover features a shirtless man in a Stetson cradling an infant, her ovaries basically explode and her credit card emerges. 2) His manhood. Also, her womanhood. 3) It's his “hard length,” sometimes compared in terms of rigidity to iron. 4) Because explaining how an orgasm feels can prove difficult. Or maybe the couples all had sex on New Year's Eve at Cancun.

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  During those thirty years, I accomplished a few things. I graduated from Wake Forest University and earned my M.A. in American History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I worked at a variety of jobs that required me to bury my bawdiness and potty mouth under a demure exterior: costumed interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, high school teacher, and librarian. But I always, always read romances. Funny, filthy, sweet—it didn't matter. I loved them all.

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  Now I'm writing my own romances with the encouragement of my husband and daughter. I have my own stack of books in my closet that I'd rather my daughter not read, at least not for a few years. I can swear whenever I want, except around said daughter. And I get to spend all day writing about love and iron-hard lengths.

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  So thank you, Mom, for perving so hard on pirates during my childhood. I owe you.

  If you want to find me online, here’s where to go!

  Website: https://oliviadade.com

  Newsletter: https://go.oliviadade.com/Newsletter

  Acknowledgments

  Whenever I send a story to Mia Sosa, Kate Clayborn, and Emma Barry, I know their feedback will improve my writing immensely, even when I don’t want to hear it. Maybe especially when I don’t want to hear it. :-) Thank you for helping my books shine, without fail.

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  Also, without the assistance of Cecilia Grant, Sionna Fox, Susannah Nix, Zoe York, and Lori Carter, this story would still be on my hard drive. Thank you for helping me inflict it upon an unsuspecting world.

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  Therese Beharrie has been a loving friend and supporter as I’ve struggled these past few months, and I don’t know how I would have kept going without my beloved alpha billionaire boss. ♥

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  To my family: Thank you for loving me in a way I can’t doubt, despite my best efforts. I love you too, always.