Can you love the one you hate?

Lucifer's Lover.

Contemporary Romance.

Reviews. Outline. Excerpt.
Casting the movie. Buy it.

Reviews:

5 Stars!

Ms. Cooper-Posey has done it again! "Lucifer's Lover" is an emotionally vested romance between two people who think they know what they want. Fact is they truly have no clue until fate forces them to face them to take a cold hard look at what's important.

Lyndsay and Luke are exceptionally drawn characters. Ms. Cooper-Posey is a master at creating characters a reader will truly care about. She's not afraid to create a lead character that's not "perfect" in every way. Both Lyndsay and Luke have their own share of emotional baggage that has gone a long way into forming the adults they've become. The conflict between Lyndsay and Luke is not only believable but also entertaining. As a result the reader is treated to a well-choreographed dance between two people looking for love, acceptance, and a happy ending. Ms. Cooper-Posey writes with heart and is a gift to the writing industry.

Kristi Ahlers, Amazon Top 500 reviewer

5 Stars!

LUCIFER’S LOVER had me breathless from the first page as I felt the sparks fly between Lindsay and Luke that would ultimately end in an undeniable love that would stand all their insecurities and fears. Tracy Cooper-Posey brings her reader a heart searching tale between two lovers who are forced to face the scars of their past as they succumb to the love that cannot be denied. You will not want to miss this tale that will have your crying with the characters as they face their hurt and rejoicing when they finally accept what their love has to offer.

Briana for Romance Junkies

5 Stars!

Lucifer’s Lover is a wonderful read. It was fun watching the two in their daily banter. The morning after when he meets her father at breakfast, that was an unforgettable scene. Ms. Cooper-Posey has written such a charming story about two people who are so in tune with each other but afraid to release what their hearts store. I could not help but fall in love with this well-written story and the characters on their path to self-discovery and the makings of a real family life. Ms. Cooper-Posey touches the heart and makes you feel everything, and that is why I rate it 5 cups.

Cherokee, Coffee Time Romance

4 Stars

The ending is so real-life, the arguments, the words and actions draws the reader into the characters lives and you're left feeling as though you’ve experienced the entire thing yourself. There are many powerful scenes as Luke and Lyndsay learn to open up their lives to one another. Ms. Cooper-Posey’s Lucifer’s Lover is a charming mix of humor and heat, such that I personally can’t wait to pick up another of her novels.

Valeen, The Romance Readers Connection

4 Stars

"Lucifer's Lover is an obsessively enchanting tale of a battle of wills that turns into a life changing romance. With strong, well-defined characters and a storyline that reaches into your imagination, I relished reading Lucifer's Lover from start to finish. If you love your characters with a bit of gumption and a whole lot of personality then this is one you cannot pass up."

Sheryl for eCataromance

“Devilishly entertaining! Wickedly wonderful! Almost too hot to pick up, but too good to put down.”

Victoria Dark, Author of Dangerous to Love

Outline:

Lucifer's Lover is Lindsay Eden, who is obsessed with achievement and determined to outshine the memory of her mother's illustrious career. Despite an alarming lack of people skills, she has managed to make it to the head of the marketing and public relations department of the exclusive Freeman Hotel, high up in the rarified mountain air of northern Washington. She might have got further faster, if it were not for her closest rival -- the charming newcomer, Lucifer Furey Pierse.

Luke spends most of his time talking about his wonderful New York, and a bewildering parade of eccentric relatives -- when he's not watching the clock and waiting for 5.00pm to shoot out the door. Yet he's still one of the best marketing men Lindsay has ever seen. No one knows much about him except that he could turn a murder into a side-splitting comedy routine. He also has an eye for women, including an inexplicable attraction for the prickly, definitely not-interested Lindsay.

Their rivalry erupts into a competition to win a highly elusive account. The stakes are high. If Luke wins, he gets a date with Lindsay. If Lindsay wins, Luke leaves town...forever.

Excerpt:

Chapter One

“We have to get better figures!” Lyndsay railed, slapping the file on the table. She caught sight of Luke’s delighted expression, and realized she’d left herself open for one of his pithy comments. Wide open. Damn.

He opened his mouth, and Lyndsay lifted her forefinger. “Don’t,” she warned him.

Which, of course, meant everyone else at the long boardroom table swiveled to look at Luke, encouraging him to express himself.

He soaked up the attention, leaning back in his chair. The dark eyes danced with devilment while everyone waited for him to speak. Of course they would — anything was better than facing Lyndsay’s wrath. She had been tough on them, but lord how they deserved it this month.

But she wasn’t going to wait for him to launch one of his famous broadsides. “This isn’t a joking matter,” she injected before he could speak. “Even your figures have slipped lately. What’s the matter, Pierse? Is the competition too tough for you?”

“What competition?” His face was bland.

Irritation flared and she drew in a breath, but before she could speak, Timothy leaned forward and tapped the file in front of her. “The medicos.”

His quiet reminder lopped the head off her indignation. Lyndsay nodded her thanks at the mousy man next to her, and gathered her concentration. She addressed the twelve people that made up her department with the low voice she had cultivated to help her exude confidence and authority.

“This is the Public Relations & Marketing Department’s worst month in five years. We’re a front runner team, people, and that means our performance can be measured in tangible results. Figures. If we don’t get those results, heads will roll.” She glanced at each of them including, reluctantly, Luke.

He stared back at her with a straight face, but there was a glitter in his eyes that warned her he had more mischief brewing.

The problem with Luke was that he wasn’t good looking enough, she decided. The dark, dark hair, that wasn’t quite the perfect hero’s pitch black, for instance. It was a deep shade of brown, which cast subtle highlights in sunlight and contrasted with the thick dark mass beneath to create an interesting affect. The face wasn’t precisely perfect. His jaw was solid instead of refined, and there was a dimple on the chin that wasn’t quite symmetrical. And, too, there was a barely visible scar — a tiny one — on the corner of his jaw, that always made her wonder how he’d got it. His teeth were wonderfully white — she knew that from watching him throw his head back and laugh, way too often, and usually at her expense. But the teeth weren’t totally straight. No braces had ever smoothed them out to bland perfection. His hands were large and useful, the wrists strong with muscle, but the fingers were unexpectedly long, like a sensitive artist’s hands. And the eyes — she’d learned his black eyes gave away nothing. They danced all too often with amusement, humor, or mischief, but rarely anything else. Except on the odd occasion when she’d come upon him quietly, she had caught an expression that was almost contemplative and far away. On those few times she had assumed he’d been thinking about his beloved New York.

And his clothes weren’t quite right either. Oh, he wore the latest suits, and the trendiest ties and shirts, but it was the way he wore them. Nearly always the tie was loosened and the collar button undone. Often, he pushed the jacket sleeves up, or he would strip off the jacket, and roll his shirt sleeves up. And he would lounge against the edge of people’s desks, his hands in his pockets — an indolent pose that made Lyndsay’s teeth ache. It was as if he was donning the high-powered account executive’s uniform, but refusing to take it seriously.

All in all, the little imperfections gave him an intangible sense of character. It hinted of a past, and gave him more presence. And that was just the problem. If he had been model-perfect, if he had the immaculate grooming and plastic perfection of the oily, endlessly charming salesman, she might have been able to dismiss his presence in her mind and from her office.

But the fact was, he was a brilliant marketing man.

It was far from the first time she had regretted he was such a good salesman. If he had been one whit less than dazzling at bringing in business, she could justifiably curb his flamboyant ways.

She dragged her attention back to the task at hand. “Now, Vince Gormley has agreed that figures have been lousy for a while because of the unseasonable weather, but we’re coming up on Christmas, and the snow has come in just fine...recalcitrant weather won’t do as an excuse any more.”

Alexander, the third man of the marketing team, shook his head. “It’s not just the weather. Ever since the Sherbourne Hotel added that convention center, they’ve been killing us.”

“They’ve been marketing pretty heavily,” Timothy added. “They’re all over the Internet.”

Lyndsay shook her head. “That’s no excuse. Competition is the name of the game. That’s why we have jobs in the first place. That’s why marketing was invented.”

“I heard Edison invented it to keep himself occupied on long journeys.” It was Luke’s voice. Of course it would be Luke, she thought grimly.

There were grins and muffled laughs around the table, but they quickly died. Luke looked in Lyndsay’s direction and shrugged. “Well, who’d want to do it anywhere else except on a slow boat to China?”

“Unlike you, Pierse, most of us here love our jobs,” she shot back.

“Yes, we all know you love your career, boss. You go into withdrawal symptoms by Sunday afternoon,” Luke drawled.

“That’s on the weekends she actually stays at home,” Timothy added, and Lyndsay frowned at him. It wasn’t like Timothy to take Luke’s side.

Timothy shrugged. “Well, it’s true,” he added defensively. “Name one weekend you haven’t come into the office this last month.”

“Name one weekend he has!” Lyndsay demanded, pointing at Luke. She mentally winced, and withdrew her pointing finger. This wasn’t the way a leader would act. This wasn’t the way her mother would have acted. She took a deep breath, calming herself, and squared her shoulders.

“Rather than denigrating my efforts, it would be nice if I could see some symptoms of dedication in all of you. I want to see some results!” She pushed the file she had been holding out into the middle of the table. “And now you have the ideal opportunity to get some. I heard on the grapevine the other day that the Washington State Medical Association are shopping around for a new AGM location. They love holding the AGM here in Deerfoot Falls, but they’re unhappy with the Sherbourne Hotel. They feel it’s too commercial.”

She watched the realization move around the table like a wave of warm air.

“We could steal one of Sherbourne’s richest accounts from them,” Alexander murmured. The twitching of his marketing instincts was apparent from his eager expression.

“Yes, we could,” Lyndsay agreed, lifting her voice a little over the murmurs and comments around the table. “It’s up to us to earn our salaries by bringing in business for the hotel. We seem to have lost sight of that fundamental fact, but this should serve as an overdue reminder.”

“Who gets to go after the account?” Luke asked loudly, creating a silence.

“Are you about to impress upon me yet again your wonderful talents as a market man?” she asked dryly.

“I bring in more business than anyone here.”

“Almost everyone.”

“Everyone, including you. Timothy ran figures for me, spread over the last six months, so smooth down those hackles of yours. I’ve brought in two thousand dollars more than you.”

“Two thousand is chicken feed,” Lyndsay protested. “Some of the executives we deal with have that much for incidental expenses!”

“It’s still two thousand more than you bought in,” Luke said flatly.

Impossible. Lyndsay sat silently, trying to counter this unprecedented change. Luke was doing better than her? That wasn’t part of the plan. No-one could do better than her. How had she allowed this to happen?

“Face it, Lyndsay,” Luke said quietly. “I’m the best PR man you’ve got. I should get the chance to land the account.”

Author's note:

Lucifer's Lover first emerged in fragmented chapters and pieces, many years ago. I was always fascinated by the idea of two people who professed to hate each other slowly uncovering the truth; that they really love each other with a world-moving depth and devotion. But because the story starts out with two people snarling at each other -- two people who are not plastic perfection, who have strange quirks and odd lives -- there was never any way the big New York publishers would look past page two, let alone buy it.

However, the story kept tugging on me, until finally I shrugged, and finished it. I had a blast writing it, and Lucifer is certainly up at the top of the ranked list of my books. I just so grateful that Archebooks agreed with me that the story was, indeed, worth the ride.

--Tracy.

Casting the Movie...

I often get asked who I would cast in the movie of my book, if it should ever come to pass, so just for fun:

Movie producer's pitch:

Working Girl grows up and moves to the mountains.

Casting call:

Lyndsay. Keira Knightley

Luke. Colin Farrell