If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey, you'll love this new
series!
Taken
In His Keeping Book 1
by Mia Frances
Genre
Dark Romantic Mystery Thriller
If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey, you'll love this new series!
IN HIS KEEPING Book #1 TAKEN is a steamy romance murder mystery thriller with a cliff-hanger ending. The story continues in Book #2 BANISHED and concludes in Book #3 CLAIMED.
**On Sale for Only .99cents Aug 19 – 26!!**
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Banished
In His Keeping Book 2
Exiled to a luxurious penthouse fortress on Park Ave.
and trailed by security teams wherever she goes,
Sylvie Jenkins feels like a virtual prisoner.
Sylvie becomes jealous when Connor squires other women to society events. He tells her it’s to throw the "real" killer off the track. But Sylvie has her doubts.
This is book
#2 of the IN HIS KEEPING trilogy, a steamy romance murder
mystery thriller. It has a cliff-hanger ending.
The story concludes in book #3 IN HIS KEEPING: CLAIMED.
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Claimed
In His Keeping Book 3
Jealous and angry, her relationship with Connor in tatters, Sylvie decides to escape her penthouse prison. She flees to an isolated cottage in the Catskill Mountains where she hopes to lick her wounds and mend her broken heart.
Sylvie has a new job and a new life, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, far from Connor Hudson's rules and control. She may have escaped her lover, but not the killer. He knows where she is…and he's coming to claim her!
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Mia Frances is the pen name of author Mary Vigliante Szydlowski. As Mia, she's the author of the dark, gritty post-apocalyptic romance,
TRIBES; steamy romantic suspense novel, Little Girl Lost; and the erotic romance, murder mystery series:
IN HIS KEEPING:
TAKEN, IN HIS KEEPING
BANISHED
IN HIS
KEEPIN
CLAIMED.
Her Science Fiction/Fantasy works include novels:
The Ark (Jarl Szydlow)
The Colony (Mary Vigliante)
The Land (Mary Vigliante), Source of Evil (Mary
Vigliante), and novella, The Hand of My Enemy.
She's also the author of horror novel,
Worship the Night
Dark Realm
the tale of a dystopian world ruled by Satan.
In addition, she's the author of mainstream novel
Silent Song.
She’s also published 11 children's book
There's A Mouse In The House,
Are We There Yet?
Little Sowbug & the Big Flood
Ghoul School
Millie Muldoon & the Case of the Halloween Haunting
Millie Muldoon & the Case of the Thanksgiving Turkey-napper,
Millie Muldoon & the Christmas Mystery,
A Puddle for Poo,
Kia’s Manatee,
The Duck in the Hole,
and I Can't Talk I've Got Farbles In My Mouth.
Her short stories, articles, children’s stories, essays, and poems have appeared in books, magazines, newspapers, and on the web.
She's also a contributor to the
Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies
The Dog Did What?
Volunteering and Giving Back,
Merry Christmas!
Mom Knows Best, and Life Lessons from the Dog.
She's a member of the Authors’ Guild, SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators), SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America), and RWA (Romance Writers of America).
Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub *
In His Keeping
What inspired you to write this series?
I love the Adirondack Mts. of upstate New York. I was driving around up there a few years ago and happened on the little Westport train station on the banks of Lake Champlain. It is so quaint and off the beaten track that it gave me an idea for a story about a young woman, down on her luck, who's so desperate that she takes a train up from the city to work for a man she's never met and live with him in his remote mountain mansion. That was the beginning of the IN HIS KEEPING series. This is that train station.
What is the series about?
The story begins with In His Keeping: Taken and centers on Connor Hudson: a reclusive, dominant, billionaire, best-selling author, and Sylvie Jenkins, the girl he hires to be his research assistant for a new erotic romance series he's writing. Sparks fly when they meet. He's used to getting his way, but the shy little mouse he hired is no pushover. Over time she succumbs to his charm and falls in love with him, but her feelings aren’t reciprocated.
He's a cold fish in that regard and says he's incapable of loving anyone. She begins to understand why he's so reticent when the cops show up at his mountain estate and tell them that Connor is the prime suspect in a series of grisly murders: his parents, his fiancé, and a couple of old girlfriends. Everyone who loves him dies…violently.
The cops think he's a cold-blooded serial killer. In the second book, In His Keeping: Banished, Connor has sent Sylvie to live in his luxurious, New York City, Park Ave. penthouse. While Sylvie is being kept a virtual prisoner there, Connor begins to squire other women to galas and charity events. He says it's to protect her and throw the killer off the track, but she doesn't believe him.
They rarely see each other anymore, but when they do their meetings are filled with painful punishment for Sylvie, followed by the most exquisite pleasure. Feeling jealous and abandoned, their relationship in a shambles, Sylvie finally summons the courage to escape her prison and what she views as her doomed love affair with Connor. In the 3rd book, In His Keeping: Claimed, Sylvie manages to elude Connor, but she can't escape the killer.
When you started this series, did you already have a clear vision of the books and characters you wanted to write about? Or did that evolve over time?
I knew I wanted to focus on the prickly love story between my heroine Sylvie, a plain, nerdy farm girl and her best-selling author, billionaire entrepreneur boss Connor Hudson. I knew from the get-go that his parents had died when he was young and that his fiancé had been murdered and that he would come under suspicion for her death; but I had no idea just how big a part the killer and murder investigation would play in the series until I was actually writing the last two chapters of the first book. Then it took on a life of its own.
How do you keep track of your series details?
I've got lists on my computer and on my desk. I’ve got pages devoted to each of my characters: physical descriptions, personality traits, quirks, education, work history, family background, relatives, where they were born and raised, their friends, associates, social relationships, and descriptions of the various homes and apartments, they live or have lived in, or have spent a significant amount of time in, etc. That way I can keep track of everybody's history without having to go back through the book. I usually have a page of background information for my lesser characters too. To keep their physical appearances, clear in my head, I cut out pictures from magazines of people I think look like my characters. The pictures are tacked up on the wall above my desk. I used the dark-haired male model who does the Ralph Lauren ads as my Connor. His name is Nacho Figueras and he is an Argentinian Polo player. He's also drop-dead gorgeous! And…wait for it…he’s best buddies with Prince Harry. How’s that for class?
In the first book, Taken, we are introduced to Sylvie Jenkins. What kind of person is she?
Sylvie is a farm girl from Wyoming, New York. Wyoming the village and Wyoming the county. She was brought up on a dairy farm. Sylvie grew up thinking she was plain and not very pretty. She's fixated on her flaws, bemoaning the fact that she's flat chested and skinny as a rail, that her face is covered with freckles. She decided early on that if she couldn't be pretty, she'd be smart: the smartest girl in class, the one who aced all the tests in college and skewed the grading curve.
She's shy, so no one ever notices her. Sylvie decides to change her life for the better by moving to the big city after college. She dreams of getting a job in one of the big publishing companies, but all she can get are waitress jobs at poverty wages. She’s down to her last dollar when she's offered the job with Connor. He wanted a plain-looking research assistant who wouldn't distract him from his work; but instead, the agency sends him a feisty, opinionated, sassy little brat, who's not about to kowtow to her "spoiled rich-boy" boss.
What was Sylvie’s first reaction on seeing Connor Hudson, her new boss?
She faints! Connor likes to act out his male characters when he's writing books. In this case he's working on an erotic romance and is wandering around the house naked, much to his housekeeper's dismay. Having no money for food, Sylvie arrives at the mansion half-starved and weak from hunger. That and getting a gander at this gorgeous, buck-naked man and his prominent package proves too much for her and she passes out!
What kind of person is Connor?
Connor is smart, controlling, and arrogant, the quintessential alpha male. He has his way of doing things and he expects everyone to fall in line, especially the woman who shares his bed. He's a consummate lover, with a stunningly handsome face and a killer, well-muscled body. He's used to having women grovel at his feet. Connor has lived a life of privilege: raised wealthy, he parlayed his father's publishing company into a worldwide media and marketing empire.
On the surface he's cold and reserved. He can't get a handle on his feelings for Sylvie. The deaths of his parents, the murder of his fiancé, and the hit and run death of his girlfriend have left him emotionally numb. He says he can't love Sylvie, but he doesn't want anyone else to have her either. He sends her away, but wants to keep control of her. He demands her love, respect, obedience, and submission, but offers her nothing in return. It's not until he almost loses her that he wises up. For all his bluster and angst, he's the kind of man who will run into a burning building and endanger his own life to save the person who means the world to him.
What are romantic moment between Sylvie and Connor like?
I think one of the sexiest, most romantic scenes in the series occurs in book 1, TAKEN, when Connor and Sylvie make love for the very first time. After a heated argument and Sylvie's first-ever spanking, Connor carries her to his room. She's shocked to find it filled with bouquets of flowers and flickering candles.
What is your favorite scene in the entire series?
In book 2, IN HIS KEEPING: BANISHED, Sylvie decides she's had enough of her penthouse prison and sneaks out, throwing her bodyguards and Connor into a panic. She heads to the nearest bar and goes on a bender.
What was the most difficult scene to write in the series?
It occurs in book 3 Claimed, when Sylvie flees the New York Penthouse and is attacked by the killer in the isolated Catskill Mt. cabin she inherited from her aunt. Held captive and tortured, she nearly dies. I actually cried while writing that chapter.
What was the most heartbreaking/poignant scene in the series?
It's also in book 3, CLAIMED, when Connor stands by helplessly as emergency workers try to breathe life into Sylvie's battered body and keep her alive long enough to get her to the nearest hospital. For the first time since he was a kid, this rich, billionaire tycoon is brought to tears. All his money, power, and position are useless if they can't keep Sylvie from dying!
Which character in the series is the most difficult to write?
The killer. Putting together his motives and why he did what he did was problematic at times. He had two very distinct personalities: one all elegance and charm and the other a perverted monster.
The book has a hard won HEA ending. Is that it for the series?
I’m not really sure. I’ve come up with some ideas that would continue the story of Connor and Sylvie but would also include the uncovering of a quasi-club of murderous, mega, rich-boy
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