The Blaine Technologies series (He Watches Me, He Touches Me, He Claims Me, Flashes Of Me, and Breaking All The Rules) is set in sunny LA. Anna felt this was the perfect city to hide in. Being a plain, slender brunette, she assumed she wouldn’t be noticed if she was surrounded by gorgeous (often blonde and busty) movie stars.
Blaine chose LA for his technology company’s headquarters because he also wished to hide. A reclusive publicity-shy billionaire living in the shadow of attention seeking flamboyant Hollywood types won’t garner much media attention. He can move around without being observed, yet still travel in his limousines and enjoy his luxurious lifestyle.
I can’t imagine setting these stories anywhere other than LA. The city is an integral part of the story. I love LA and I would happily base every story there. I couldn’t do this, however, because Chicago is as important to Sinful Rewards as LA is to the Blaine Technologies series.
First and foremost, I love Chicago. I love the city. I love its colorful past, its food (deep dish pizza – yum), its people, its unique culture. If I had to move to anywhere in the world, I would move to Chicago. It’s a vibrant, very livable city.
Chicago was a no-brainer as a setting because Sinful Rewards is a story about secrets, about how perception is not always reality, about contrasts. Many people, when they think about Chicago, picture Al Capone and the violence (or glamour) surrounding the mobster. Or they might associate the city with the Chicago White Sox 1919 World Series scandal. Or with the Great Fire. Although Chicago is a wonderful city, it struggles to overcome its dark past as do ALL of the main characters in Sinful Rewards.
These characters also have additional reasons for being drawn to Chicago.
Bee is a (low budget) fashionista so we might assume she’d live in New York, one of the world’s fashion meccas. During the story, she considers moving there. But Bee grew up in a very small town and she’s extremely cautious. Moving from this small town to New York is too big of a leap for her.
And Chicago has the fashions she adores. The Magnificent Mile is Bee’s idea of heaven, her window shopping sanctuary.
In addition to this, she understands the people, the sayings, the local references as her small town is situated less than an hour away. Fitting in is very important to Bee. Anna, from He Watches Me, wanted to disappear, to avoid other people. Bee wishes to belong. She likes to know all of the rules, to understand the jokes, to be part of the group.
Nicolas, one of our possible heroes in Sinful Rewards, chose Chicago because the city has historically been forgiving of individuals with less than saintly pasts. He’s done some bad things, things he can’t forgive himself for. If these secrets are exposed, he hopes Chicago society will continue to embrace him.
Hawke, another possible hero in Sinful Rewards, chose Chicago because of its proximity to New York (where many of the Organization’s clients live) and because of its motorcycle helmet laws… or rather, lack of laws. He’s a bit of a bad ass and hangs with a group of fellow rebel bikers. They wish to make their own decisions about their personal safety.
Sinful Rewards can only have been set in Chicago. The Blaine Technologies series could have only been set in LA. Which city would you like to see a story set in?
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Sinful Rewards 1
Cynthia Sax
Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. He is everything she wants in a man.
Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. Hawke is mysterious, the bad boy she knows will bring only heartbreak. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing.
But when a mysterious and anonymous text message dares her to do something bad, she must decide if she is really the good girl she has always claimed to be, or if she’s willing to risk everything for her secret fantasy of being watched.
Is her mystery man the reclusive billionaire with a wild side or the darkly dangerous bad boy?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-1-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0
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Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ
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