Why They Met At Blackjack

Okay, as many of you know, I have a contest going on via Kullect. I've posted several photos mapping out Kasie and Robert Dade's journey through all three books. Definitely worth checking out. Plus you can enter to win an autographed hardbound copy of Sex, Murder And A Double Latte and a $50 Amazon giftcard by posting six photos of your own inspired by any of my ten titles (Check out the details here).

But the reason I'm writing this post is because I really wanted to go over some of the photos I posted there and why I chose to reference the scenes I did. So let's start with blackjack...or as I titled the photo-post, How It Began.




These are the hands of blackjack that Kasie and Robert (at that point only known as Mr. Dade) played, with the side bet being that Kasie would leave the table and have a drink with him if he had the better hand. In this photo I reveal the Queen of Hearts within the deck for obvious-symbolic reasons.

There was a reason I wanted these two to meet at a card table. Kasie was taking a risk (by her standards) by wearing a revealing dress and wandering around a Vegas casino. She was way out of her comfort zone. But what does comfort Kasie is anything that is clear-cut and black and white...like math, financial accounts and yes, cards. It's true that she doesn't have control over what cards she's dealt but the stakes are spelled out before hand and the game is very straight forward.

And then Robert takes her away from the table. And that's when the chaos begins.

That's one of the many things about this book that's a little different from the Sophie novels. Sophie is a much more casual girl and she lives in a more casual world. In the Sophie mysteries a car is just a car. In Just One Night a car is so much more. Obviously Robert's choice to drive an Alfa Romeo Spider says a lot about him...it speaks to his wealth, his uniqueness, his need for speed, risk and power. Dave drives a Mercedes. It's a car that is quietly prestigious and will be enough to win the approval of his country-club friends without being ostentatious. It's a calculated choice.

Over the weekend, as we wait for Monday's release of Just One Night: Exposed, check out the rest of the Kullection, read the quotes and see if you can figure out what the things that I photographed for my Kullection say about Kasie and Robert's mindset in The Stranger...and in Exposed because, in the photos, there are some pictures/hints of what's to come.

And when Monday hits come over and join me at my Facebook launch party for Exposed! We did it for The Stranger and it was SO much fun....plus I've been told I should be awarded medals for my ability to find and post pictures of amazingly hot men for these events and you certainly wouldn't want to miss out on that. I'm am, after all,  a woman of many skills.