Nicole Fanning is an old-school romantic, with a proclivity for a little mischief, and an obsession with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
She is the author of the Heart of the Inferno Series, which follows the story of a dangerous mafia don and the girl who became his only exception.
What is your obsession with the history and love behind the world’s successful crime organizations?
Perhaps, it’s simply because I love a little mystery, but I find it incredibly interesting that so many of these organizations exist around us without our knowledge. And while, yes, perhaps the members of such organizations might be dangerous people who do dangerous things, the story doesn’t end there. The more I researched these organizations, the more I realized that there was loyalty, honor, and even love within these factions. Not of any government or power in particular, but to their FAMILY. I suppose my dark little heart just found that…beautiful.
Tell us about your book, Catalyst.
Catalyst is the story of two people who were never supposed to meet, let alone fall in love, doing exactly that.
Jaxon Pace is a billionaire hotelier and well-established playboy. He does what he wants when he wants, and since he also happens to be the Don Supreme of the largest mafia syndicate in Chicago-no one dares refuse him. But no one told Natalie Tyler that. She’s a guest, staying in his hotel for her cousin’s wedding. A wedding in which her ex-fiance just happens to be the best man, and her family is still unaware of her reasons for calling off her own wedding. When she inadvertently thwarts a kidnapping attempt of Jaxon’s daughter and finds herself on HIS path, her week-long trip to Chicago gets a lot more interesting. This chance meeting hits both of our main characters like a freight train, changing their lives forever.
You’ve received rave reviews.
“Taking Chick Lit to a new level, Nicole Fanning appears to have as much emphasis on mystery/crime variations as on steamy erotica. Managing to build a cast of credible characters makes her tale of mafia romance surge forward like a steam engine.” _ Grady Harp, Top 100 Amazon Reviewer.
“Once in a great while, a book comes along that just wows you. It grips you hard by the throat and doesn’t let go, even long after you’ve finished the book. Catalyst by Natalie Fanning is that book.” -Knotty Girl Reviews
Tell us about your main character Jaxon.
Jaxon Pace is a generational mafia don, meaning he was born into that life, and he was literally bred for it. Trained in the ways of his world from the moment he could walk, he is an anomaly. While the rest of the world sees the successful billionaire playboy, the crime syndicates know that everything in that city either bends to his will or breaks. He is calculated, ruthless, and always in control. And he knows exactly where to bury anyone who crosses him.
His only weakness is his six-year-old daughter, whom he has raised on his own after her mother tragically died in a house fire when she was just a baby. That loss changed him, and for years he’s kept everyone at a distance. However, when our feisty heroine comes into the picture, Jaxon is forced to question if he really IS better off all on his own, and just how far he is willing to go for love.
Tell us about the goal of the Two-Headed Dragon in this book.
The Two-Headed Dragon is the “upstart” mafia organization that appears on the Chicago crime syndicate scene and threatens Jaxon’s fragile relationship with both the city officials AND the other mafia Dons. In his world, mafia organizations are not created, they are maintained. Sometimes for generations. So the idea of a NEW mafia organization just springing up out of nowhere is unfathomable to him. But while the name of the organization may be new to him, the origins of such organization might not be quite as foreign as he initially deduces.
What do your books say about the human condition?
I think they remind us that all of us are complicated and that none of us are completely good or completely bad. We have BOTH light and dark inside us. Most of the characters in both Catalyst and Ignite blur the lines between “good” and “bad,” challenging us to fall in love with their beautiful catastrophes. Specifically, I wanted Jaxon to be complex enough to make us REMEMBER him. To see him as the bad man, who does bad things, but yet cares for his “family” and keeps WORSE men in check…and to remind us that ALL of us are capable of change.
Share your inspiration for Ignite, the 2nd Book in the Heart of the Inferno Series, and what readers can expect!
It is the story of Natalie Tyler, a nurse and everyday girl next door, who inadvertently becomes the paramour of billionaire mafia don Jaxon Pace. From completely different worlds, these two were never supposed to meet, let alone fall in love. But love is a funny thing, and despite all the outside forces attempting to tear these two apart, we see them choose each other, finding hope in the darkness.
Ignite picks up where Catalyst left off-with Jaxon having been shot by his assumed dead, but very NOT dead ex-girlfriend, who is now out for vengeance. And, if having a crazy ex-girlfriend after you isn’t enough, Jaxon also learns that Natalie is pregnant with his child. Natalie learns more about Jaxon’s “other” life, the one that very few outsides of his underground crime organization ever get to see. But Jaxon is more than just a brute or bully, he is a complicated man, with a complicated past…and he is also the father of her child. While Catalyst introduces us to a cast of beloved characters and sets the stage for Jaxon and Natalie’s love story, Ignite will test that love in every way imaginable. Ignite is the fuel on the fire, thrusting our characters into a myriad of trials, tribulations, and heartbreak that will test just how deep their love truly is
What is next?
Next up on the list is book three in this four-book series, Flash Point. Coming this Fall!
Amazon.com: Catalyst (Heart of the Inferno): Fanning, Nicole: 9798736659715: Amazon.com: Books
Amazon.ca: Catalyst (Heart of the Inferno Book 1) eBook: Fanning, Nicole: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
Amazon.com: Catalyst (Heart of the Inferno): Fanning, Nicole: 9798736659715: Amazon.com: Books
Amazon.ca: Catalyst (Heart of the Inferno Book 1) eBook: Fanning, Nicole: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
