Character Spotlight ~ Dani Pettrey's Cole McKenna & Bailey Craig

Dani Pettrey's debut romantic suspense, Submerged, the first in her Alaskan Courage series is available now from Bethany House and it's fabulous!

Synopsis

 A sabotaged plane. Two dead deep-water divers. 

 Yancey, Alaska was a quiet town...until the truth of what was hidden in the depths off the coast began to appear. 

Bailey Craig vowed never to set foot in Yancey again. She has a past, and a reputation--and Yancey's a small town. She's returned to bury a loved one killed in the plane crash and is determined not to stay even an hour more than necessary. But then dark evidence emerges and Bailey's own expertise becomes invaluable for the case. Cole McKenna can handle the deep-sea dives and helping the police recover evidence. He can even handle the fact that a murderer has settled in his town and doesn't appear to be moving on. But dealing with the reality of Bailey's reappearance is a tougher challenge. She broke his heart, but she is not the same girl who left Yancey. He let her down, but he's not the same guy she left behind. 

Can they move beyond the hurts of their pasts and find a future together?

Enjoy meeting Cole & Bailey!

Brief physical description

Bailey is 28 years old. She’s 5’7 and graceful in build. She has blue eyes and amber hair.

Cole is 29 years old. He’s 6 foot tall with a lean athletic build. He was modeled after a surfer so picture a surfer’s fit and sculpted physique and you’ll have Cole. He has green eyes and sandy blond hair.

Actor/famous person

Bailey: Think Katherine Heigl

Cole: Think Bruce Irons

Strengths and weaknesses

Bailey is intelligent, a hard worker, she loves learning and she has an incredibly tender heart beneath the stoic exterior she tries to exude.

Cole is dedicated, protective, loving and comfortable in his own skin. His weakness: Bailey Craig :)

Quirk (if any)

Bailey: She bites her bottom lip when deep in thought or when she’s nervous.

Cole: He’s more at home beneath the water than above it.

Your inspiration for the character

Bailey: Bailey made a lot of mistakes growing up and so did I. In some ways, Bailey and I share a similar background, in other ways we are completely different. I wanted to show how lost someone could be to give up such a loving relationship (like she had with Cole) for a string of meaningless ones. I also wanted to show how God can take the raw and broken pains of our past and make us whole in Him.

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Cole: This really ties in with the background to the story, but I watched a movie about cave divers and I was fascinated. It got me thinking what type of person would pursue something so dangerous and highly skilled for a living, and Cole McKenna was born. I fashioned him, at least physically, after surfer Bruce Irons.

Background to the story

It all started with the cave diving movie. Once I had Cole and his siblings, I wanted the perfect setting for all their adventures. I settled on Alaska because it’s gorgeous, ripe for adventure and there’s an inherent risk of danger if you aren’t properly prepared for the extreme conditions. From there, Cole and Bailey’s story unfolded.

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Interview with Dani

Author Alert @ Relz Reviewz

Visit Dani's website and blog

Buy Dani's book at Amazon or Koorong

Q&A with debut author Dani Pettrey

Dani Pettrey

I introduced you to the lovely Dani Pettrey in a recent Author Alert and now you can learn some more about her in this Q&A.  I have it on good authority that her writing is pretty spectacular so be sure to add Submerged to your wishlist!

Please share a little about yourself

Credit: nkzs

I am a wife, homeschooling mom and author. I feel so very blessed to write inspirational romantic suspense because it incorporates so many things I love--the thrill of adventure, nail-biting suspense, the deepening of one's faith and plenty of romance. I am a huge fan of dark chocolate, am always in search of the best iced mocha, and would love to one day own a little cottage on a remote stretch of beach. I live in Maryland with my husband and our two teenage daughters.


What appeals to you most about writing fiction?

I love the power of story. How it can transport you to another time, another place. Books have been such a huge part of my life. There are many novels that have touched my life—helped me to see something in a different light, inspired hope, and made me a better person. I humbly hope that my stories touch my reader’s lives in a similar way.

How did you celebrate when news of your contract broke?

Cried, shouted for joy, dropped to my knees and thanked God. Then my family and I went out for a nice dinner :)

Name five things you can’t live without (no need to take this too seriously!)

Okay, not taking it too seriously I would say: dark chocolate, iced coffee, the beach, books, and movies.

Favourite book ~ Favourite movie ~ Favourite TV show

Favourite book and movie are the same—Pride and Prejudice. Favourite TV show would be Lie to Me.

Where is the most interesting place you have been?

I would say this is a tie between Pompeii and Rome. Both are amazing places so full of history.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A lawyer. I loved to argue (much to my husband’s chagrin).

What are two things people might be surprised to know about you?

I married a cowboy and I attended finishing school as a child.

Submerged releases in May, 2012 ~ what book related activities will you be involved in from now until then?

I am working on Shattered. It is the second book in my Alaskan Courage series. It is the story of two of the secondary characters from Submerged. I continue to work with my amazing publisher on various aspects of Submerged. We just went over book cover ideas and information for their catalogue which is a ton of fun. I’m also in the process of having a wonderful new website designed.

(Said wonderful website, created by the brilliance that is PulsePoint Design , is now live!)


Submerged

What/whom inspired you to write Submerged

Actually, it was a movie I watched called The Cave. It got me thinking about cave divers and what type of person would pursue that as a career. I found the research and the men and women who cave dive to be fascinating, and Cole McKenna was born.

Share a little about your main characters

After his parents died, Cole McKenna, the oldest of the McKenna clan, set aside his dreams to raise his siblings. The family co-owns and runs Last Frontier Adventures in Yancey, Alaska, and Cole is a dive rescue captain with the area’s volunteer dive rescue team. Submerged begins with his team’s search-and-rescue mission to recover a plane that has crashed into the ocean. And that crash ultimately brings the woman who broke his teenage heart back to town.

Bailey Craig is a professor of Russian Studies. Having left Yancey right after high school, she had no plans to ever return. She isn’t proud of her past, and despite giving her life to Jesus she fears everyone in town will continue to view her as that girl. When her aunt dies, Bailey feels she has no choice but to return home and face her past—and the only man she’s ever loved.

Describe Submerged in five adjectives

Romantic, suspenseful, adventurous, heartfelt and action-packed

Your favourite sentence from Submerged

“Pursuing adventure for a living, I get more than my fair share of knocks, but getting a backwards head-butt from a beautiful lady is nothing to complain about.”

What kind of readers do you think will enjoy your story?

I think readers of inspirational, romantic suspense. Fans of Dee Henderson or Lynette Eason.

Here's the synopsis:

A sabotaged flight.

Two murdered divers.

A single clue—a grainy image of sunken treasure.

Dive Rescue Captain Cole McKenna has never worked a case like this, but who he’s working with may prove more dangerous than the assignment. It’s been a lifetime since Bailey mangled his heart. Now she’s back in town and he needs her expertise to track down the illusive treasure.

Professor of Russian Studies Bailey Craig vowed never to set foot in Yancey again, but when her beloved aunt dies, she has no choice. Her plan of attack is simple: return for Agnes’s funeral, get the family business ready for a quick sale, and then put Yancey and all the heartbreaking memories wrapped up in it behind her for good.

Cole walking through her door, asking for her help on a murder investigation, wasn’t part of her plan, neither are the feelings he’s resurrecting—feelings best left dead. Agreeing to help for the sake of the victims, she and Cole travel across Alaska’s rugged terrain and deep beneath is coastal waters. As the case escalates, so do their feelings for one another. Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to let go of the past and just when Bailey thinks she can’t take it any longer, the case shifts in a new and extremely personal direction, fastening her in for its duration. Racing against the clock and a rising body count, Cole and Bailey work together to find the treasure and uncover the hidden history at the root of it all. But will they be too late?

Dani ~ thanks for sharing!  So looking forward to reading Submerged next year :)

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Author Alert ~ Dani Pettrey

There is nothing I love more than discovering a new author, especially in a genre I love!   Introducing them to you is even better :)

Meet Dani Pettrey who is contracted to Bethany House for a three book romantic suspense series, kicking off with Submerged in March, 2012.

Dani has kindly shared the synopsis for Submerged and a favourite paragraph ~ enjoy!

A sabotaged flight.

Two murdered divers.

A single clue—a grainy image of sunken treasure.

Dive Rescue Captain Cole McKenna has never worked a case like this, but who he’s working with may prove more dangerous than the assignment. It’s been a lifetime since Bailey mangled his heart. Now she’s back in town and he needs her expertise to track down the illusive treasure.

Professor of Russian Studies Bailey Craig vowed never to set foot in Yancey again, but when her beloved aunt dies, she has no choice. Her plan of attack is simple: return for Agnes’s funeral, get the family business ready for a quick sale, and then put Yancey and all the heartbreaking memories wrapped up in it behind her for good.

Cole walking through her door, asking for her help on a murder investigation, wasn’t part of her plan, neither are the feelings he’s resurrecting—feelings best left dead. Agreeing to help for the sake of the victims, she and Cole travel across Alaska’s rugged terrain and deep beneath is coastal waters. As the case escalates, so do their feelings for one another. Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to let go of the past and just when Bailey thinks she can’t take it any longer, the case shifts in a new and extremely personal direction, fastening her in for its duration. Racing against the clock and a rising body count, Cole and Bailey work together to find the treasure and uncover the hidden history at the root of it all. But will they be too late?

Loving the sound of this story and Cole and Bailey ~ how about you?  

Here's a favourite sneak peek from Dani.

Bailey kept her gaze downcast as people shuffled past. So many pairs of shoes moving by. So many who loved Agnes.

In a few minutes they’d all be gone and she could say a proper goodbye, without anyone peering on. She’d tell her aunt how much she loved her and how desperately she’d miss hearing that gravely voice encouraging her, prodding her on...even chastising her when she needed a good kick in the pants.

“Bailey.” A hand rested on her shoulder.

She flinched, her heart nearly stopping.

It wasn’t Pastor John, but she knew the voice. It haunted her often in her dreams.

Her heart sank as she gazed up into those eyes—the same seafoam green ones that first filled her with joy and then with shame.

It’d been futile thinking she could avoid him in a town Yancey’s size. He was as much a part of the place as tides were the ocean. Every memory of Yancey was wrapped up in him. Her best and worst.

“Sorry.” Cole offered a weak smile. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

She blinked. It was all she was capable of.

He extended a hand. “Cole McKenna. Don’t know if you remember me.”

How could she forget?

Check back soon for an exclusive interview with Dani and to see cover art once it is released.