Please welcome Author Leslie Tentler!
ABOUT LESLIE TENTLER
Leslie Tentler is the author of six novels, including BEFORE THE STORM, LOW TIDE, FALLEN and the Chasing Evil Trilogy (MIDNIGHT CALLER, MIDNIGHT FEAR and EDGE OF MIDNIGHT). She was a finalist for Best First Novel at ThrillerFest 2012, and is a two-time finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense. She is also the recipient of the prestigious Maggie Award of Excellence. A native of East Tennessee, she currently resides in Atlanta with her husband, standard poodle and three aloof cats.
Tell us about Rarity Cove and what bearings it has on the story.
Setting is such an important piece of any story. It sets the atmosphere and builds the mood. I first introduced readers to Rarity Cove in Before the Storm (Rarity Cove Book One). It’s a fictional seaside town about forty minutes outside of Charleston, South Carolina. It’s a small tourist town and quite idyllic, with a quaint downtown with centuries old live oaks in the square and the ocean boardwalk nearby. Rarity Cove is best known for the St. Clair, which is a four-star resort hotel that has been run by the St. Clair family for generations.
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What’s the St. Clair family like?
I strongly recommend reading Before the Storm before moving on to Low Tide (Rarity Cove Book Two) in order to truly get to know the St. Clair family and especially to understand the dynamics between Mark, the eldest St. Clair sibling and the hero in book one, and Carter, the younger brother who is the hero in book two.
The St. Clair family is considered to be “old money” in the small Southern town, and Mark, who is head of the St. Clair hotel, is a business and civic leader. In book one, Carter is sort of the prodigal son who has returned to Rarity Cove while on hiatus from the soap opera he stars on in New York City. He and Mark have a bit of a contentious relationship, and the reason as to why is revealed in Before the Storm.
In Before the Storm, you’ll also be introduced to Mercer, the youngest St. Clair sibling and only daughter, and Olivia, the family matriarch, who is a socialite and a bit of a meddler in her family’s personal lives. You’ll visit all these characters again in Low Tide.
Who is Carter St. Clair?
When you first meet Carter in Before the Storm, he is an actor on a soap opera in New York City, still on the cusp of superstardom. At the end of that book, his career has taken off in a big way, and you’re just beginning to get a glimpse of his trajectory to fame.
Low Tide begins three years later, and Carter is now an A-list Hollywood leading man, very much in demand. But then the unexpected happens. Seriously wounded in his LA mansion by a deranged stalker, he leaves the glare of Hollywood and returns home to Rarity Cove to recuperate, both physically and emotionally.
A few readers mentioned to me they initially had qualms about reading Carter’s story in Low Tide, since he was a bit of an antagonist to Mark in Before the Storm, at least until the two brothers finally buried the hatchet over something that had happened years earlier. But those same readers have told me how much they ended up loving Carter in book two. Carter has matured quite a bit and the nearly fatal stalker attack in particular has forced him to really take a hard look at his life and the kind of man he wants to be.
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Introduce us to Quinn Reese.
Quinn Reese is a physical therapist who has returned to her mother’s home in Rarity Cove after fleeing her soon-to- be ex-husband, a professional football player in San Francisco. Currently out of work, she receives a lucrative offer from the St. Clair family to work with Carter. But Quinn has her own personal history with the St. Clairs, and with Carter in particular. Mark talks her into working with Carter since he has been resistant to other physical therapists so far. Mark believes Quinn won’t be intimidated by Carter’s fame, since she was married to someone famous herself. Quinn is reluctant, but needs the money to truly get a fresh start on life.
I really enjoyed writing Quinn—she’s smart, good at her job, and empathetic. She’s also a vegetarian, a dog lover and a yoga enthusiast. But while she seems like she has it all together on the outside, on the inside, she’s kind of a mess and keeping some pretty big secrets that spill out over the course of Low Tide.
What was your experience like writing Low Tide?
Low Tide was my first foray into writing a continuing series. Both Before the Storm and Low Tide are also my only books that aren’t high-stakes, law enforcement oriented thrillers. I enjoyed revisiting the characters I’d created in Before the Storm in Low Tide.
Who is your favorite character?
With this series, it really is Carter. I had a lot of fun making him a bad boy in Before the Storm, and then knocking him off his throne in Low Tide. At the beginning of Low Tide, Carter is in pain, he’s depressed and he’s really struggling with the “new normal” in his life after being so seriously wounded. Until Quinn’s arrival, he’d lashed out against physical therapy, but Quinn isn’t having any of his attitude. At the point that Carter realizes he’s falling for Quinn, he really has made a 180-degree turn from the man he used to be. Carter has been a “ladies man” his whole life—his looks, the St. Clair money and later, his fame—always allowed him to have his choice of women. Having him realize that ordinary Quinn is actually someone quite special, someone he wants to protect and cherish, was fulfilling for me as a writer.
If you could be any character in this book who would it be?
Quinn, definitely. Who wouldn’t want to be the heroine in her own book?
