Casting Come When Called

For our December theme, the Cabal is casting real life actors as the characters of our books! All in fantasy, alas.

Come When Called is a menage featuring Ford, Evie and Charley...and boy do these three heat up the pages of this book!

EVIE RADMIN: Evie is a curvy, voluptuous girl with dark blonde hair, blue eyes and full lips. Oh, and she has sex with Ford and Charley on demand.

FORD LACHANCE: Ford has dark, tousled hair, going grey at the temples, bright green eyes, and dazzling dimples. He’s athletic in a soccer player / crew-rower sort of way. Fit and muscular without being too bulky, tall, suave, sophisticated, confident, and very rich. He wears fine, custom suits. He is a dominant and enjoys commanding Evie sexually. He’s very demanding, is always in control, and always gets what he wants, but he’s a loner, and so is very alone in the world.

CHARLEY BAKER:  Charley is the exact opposite of Ford, and is Ford’s best friend. Charley has shaggy brown hair and sexy stubble. He speaks in a Southern drawl. Charley is a very large and muscular biker, who wears tight, worn jeans, black biker boots, and a grey fitted tee-shirt that shows off his big chest. He is fun, boisterous, and outwardly loving and affectionate. And he’s in love with Ford, from afar. But that "afar" doesn't last once Evie comes along and is determined to get the two together. He and Ford share Evie, and Evie becomes the conduit that helps Charley and Ford have a...deeper...relationship. 

CASTING:

For Evie, I'd pick Scarlett Johanson. Evie is a badass in her own way, and has had a bit of a rough life. But she's also soft and vulnerable, and capable of a deep and accepting love. I think ScarJo could pull off the dichotomy of Evie's character brilliantly. 

For Ford...I just can't. Ford's most defining feature--other than his nearly supernatural gorgeousness--is his dimples. I looked for dimpled actors, but none that I can find are quite right. Probably anyone considered right for Christian Grey would work for Ford too, except that Ford is older than Christian by a few years. And, by the way, Ford was written long before I ever met Christian. :) 

For Charley, this one's easier...Jenson Ackles (Dean from Supernatural), but with one change. (hey, this is fantasy!) Dean/Jenson's got the right amazing looks, fun, breezy attitude--nearly a big puppy dog--for Charley Baker, but I'd need a much larger, bulkier version of Jenson. Don't get me wrong, Jenson's built juuuusssttt fiiiiiinnnnee, but Charley is physically a really large guy. 

So there you go! My fantasy cast for Come When Called. If you have any suggestions for my brooding, dominant, dimpled Ford, PLEASE leave me comments!! I want to know. 

<3 Piper

When the Cover Gods get it Right

And I mean REALLY right. Especially since we're talking about casting characters, I pictured Cobie Smulders (Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother) as my heroine in my February 2014 release from Harlequin Medicals MELTING THE ICE QUEEN'S HEART.

Dr. Virginia Potter was the beautiful brunette from HIMYM.

Except for the whole Canadian thing and the hatred of children. ;)

I was worried about the cover. It's just me.

And then I got sent this:

Perfecto.

This is Dr. Virginia Potter Chief of Surgery, the Ice Queen, as she's known by the rest of the medical professionals in her hospital.

I was swooning over this cover. I love it.

And I LOVE when the cover Gods really, really get it right. I do know my Pinterest boards do help them too! ;)

If you're interested in the rest of the cast you can see it here.

And you can find out more about the book here

It started with a kiss… 

Having left his humanitarian posting in Africa to raise his two orphaned nieces in San Francisco, Dr. Gavin Brice has enough on his plate without an inconvenient attraction to his new boss! The frosty Dr. Virginia Potter clearly disapproves of his maverick ways - but with one amazing kiss, the ice begins to thaw….

You can find out more about Amy at her website or follow her on Twitter.

Looking for Mr. Right

This subject, who we would cast as the hero in the movie version of one of our books, is like the best. idea. evah...

Whoever came up with it... *smooch*

I mean, come on, who wouldn't love the research involved in writing a blog post like this? When else can I enter search terms like, "Benjamin Bratt nekked" or, "Did Esai Morales ever do porn?" and not feel even slightly guilty? These are serious actors, but if one of them was going to play Xbal Montegro in the movie version of Jaguar in the Sun, book four in the Unveiled Seductions series, I'd need to know if they have... well... the goods to do the part justice. Xbal is the kind of man who'll take you up against a door or on his jaguar god altar if the urge strikes, so yeah, I'd have to break out the casting couch.

As I said before, *smooches* to whoever gave me this line of thought. 

But, on a slightly more serious note, I'm pretty sure Benjamin Bratt would fit the bill really well. Here's the description of Xbal, as the heroine Cassandra watches him approach:

Xbal Montegro wasn’t exceptionally tall in the world of the fey, being just an inch or so taller than Cassie’s five-foot-eight-plus-heels, but the way he carried himself made that unimportant. And although he wasn’t handsome in the way so many of the male inhabitants of the faie side of the Veil were, she found him more beautiful than any other man she knew. The broad forehead, high cheekbones and slightly hooked nose were balanced by a firm, determined jaw and sensual mouth, which had a deeply bowed upper lip and almost too-full lower. It was the kind of mouth that on a lesser man would look effeminate. On Xbal it simply looked delicious and gave his harsh, copper-hued visage warmth. Warmth that was now echoed in his eyes as he came to greet her.

See? The mouth might be a little off, but the rest is spot-on. I'd post a picture of him here, but somehow I don't think he'd appreciate it--not with the 'nekked' and 'porn' references above. Not until they're ready to cast the movie... then he'll thank me.

Hopefully on that casting couch...

Just kidding!

Sort of...

Anya aka Bootie Hotness

Book four in the Unveiled Seductions series.

Cassandra Solinar has a bucket list and jaguar god Xbal Montegro is on it. About to undergo an essential rite she won’t survive, she wants to wring every ounce of pleasure out of the time left. Including discovering if Xbal’s sex magic technique is as good as rumored.

It’s no hardship for Xbal to accept Cassandra’s invitation for one erotic encounter, but far more difficult to let her go once he gets a taste of the explosive passion between them. Now he’s determined to hold on to her, no matter what.

Cassie can’t tell Xbal the truth about what she’s about to do. It’s illegal, but without her death the entire world will perish. It’s a job she’s been preparing for from birth, but the loss will be greater now. For in Xbal she finds a soul-deep connection she doesn’t want to lose, and the one thing she made a point of not putting on her bucket list—love.

A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

A cast of characters for my books?

The December theme here on the Cabal of Hotness blog is casting the characters of our books using real-life actors. But here's the thing: I purposely don't "cast" my characters. Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like assigning them to an actor limits me. I know what they look like, and I tell my readers enough so they know too, but also so they can form their own picture.

If I said my hero looked like Gerard Butler, as a reader I would think you'd attribute certain personality traits to that hero based on what you've seen Gerard Butler do in the past, whether as himself or one of the characters he's played.

Am I nuts in thinking that?

Maybe. But in the spirit of the theme, let's imagine who could play Rob from Underneath It All. Here's the skinny on Rob:

- professional hockey player
- 5'9", 210 pounds (aka stocky)
- olive skin tone
- dark brown hair
- brown eyes
- Italian descent

I found a guy for Rob's cover. This is him:

What do you think? How did I do?

The reason I liked this "Rob" was the facial expression. Rob, though a sweetheart, has a bit of "I'm hot and I know it" to him, and the eyes, the little smirk etc on this guy capture that perfectly. I can't think of an actor who would give me the same impression.

My heroines are even harder. I know what they look like, but I tend to describe my heroes more than my heroines. I guess the way I look at it, is -- most of my readers are female. They want to hear about the man, not the woman who's going to steal their book boyfriend away from them, as all heroines do.

Do you prefer, as a reader, to draw your own conclusions or do you enjoy having the author compare him to a real-life person when describing him in the book? I'm curious to hear your answers!

-- Cassandra

http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com