Teaser Tuesday: Baby Grand by Dina Santorelli

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday! This week I’m hosting thriller author, Dina Santorelli. It might not be erotic, but her book is exciting! So sit back and hang with us while she chats about her book, Baby Grand.

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Thank you, Sidney, for having me on your blog today!

First, I have to say, in the name of full disclosure, that there is no erotic romance in Baby Grand, my debut novel. (Trust me, I’m as disappointed as you are.) Alas, the only steamy shower scenes—and there are several—involve actual steam in the shower. You know, a person—just one—showering. That’s about it. Instead, Baby Grand is a thriller in the fast-paced, suspenseful kind of way, a story about a kidnapped baby, the woman who is abducted to care for her and the bad guys who brought them together.

The lead bad guy, my villain, Don Bailino, is a bit of a dark, mysterious and complicated dude. Having just read 50 Shades of Grey, I realized that he reminded me somewhat of Christian Grey. For example:

• Both Christian and Don are super-controlling of everyone and everything around them.

• They can be extremely charming when they want to be. They know how to turn it on.

• They have a habit of saying, “Good girl.” (It’s a power thing.)

• They are a mixture of good guy and bad boy (or is it badass?).

• They have a selfish and selfless side—they want what they want when they want it, yet also devote their time doing various forms of charitable work.

• They are astute businessmen who run their own very successful businesses.

• They are attracted to women who are quite “normal,” women who are flawed and human.

For me, some of the most appealing characters in literature (as well as in television and film) are those who straddle the good and bad in a way that makes readers ambivalent about them, makes them not quite sure how to feel. Don Bailino is this guy who seems to have his head on straight, but was dealt a bad hand from the beginning, and there’s no denying that he does a lot of awful things. Will readers love him or hate him? Will he do the right thing in the end? Can he do the right thing?

My hope is that readers will climb on board Baby Grand—steamy shower scenes or not—to find out.

Book blurb:

In Albany, New York, the governor’s infant daughter disappears without a trace from her crib at the Executive Mansion. Hours later, newly divorced and down-and-out writer Jamie Carter is abducted from the streets of Manhattan. Jamie is whisked upstate, where she is forced by her captor, Don Bailino, an ex-war hero/successful businessman, to care for the kidnapped child in a plot to delay the execution of mobster Gino Cataldi – the sixth man to be put to death in six years by hardliner Governor Phillip Grand. What prevails is a modern-day thriller about family ties, loyalty, murder, betrayal, and love that’s told in deftly interweaving narratives that follow the police investigation of the missing Baby Grand, the bad guys who took her, and the woman who found the strength to protect her.

Author bio:

Dina Santorelli is a freelance writer/editor who has written for many print and online publications, such as Newsday, First for Women and CNNMoney.com. She served as the "with" writer for the nonfiction title, Good Girls Don’t Get Fat (Harlequin, 2010), and is the current Executive Editor of Salute and Family magazines for which she has interviewed many celebrities, including James Gandolfini, Tim McGraw, Angela Bassett, Mario Lopez, Gary Sinise and Kevin Bacon. You can follow Dina on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and on her blog. Baby Grand, her first novel, is available on Amazon.