Authors Interviewing Characters: Kathryn Nolan
THRILL OF THE CHASE – Kathryn Nolan
When rivals Harper and Eve are forced to team up on a high-stakes treasure hunt, sparks fly, secrets unravel, and the biggest prize might just be their hearts.
Reporter Harper Hendrix is chasing a career-making story—and the legendary Blackburn Diamonds are her ticket to the top. She’s smart, ambitious, and definitely not distracted by the infuriatingly hot antiques salvager standing in her way.
Eve Bardot has spent years searching for the diamonds, and she’s not about to let a pesky, too-charming reporter ruin her shot. But when rival treasure hunters close in, Eve and Harper strike an uneasy truce to track down the prize together.
Their partnership? Purely strategic. The bickering? Nonstop. The chemistry? A complete disaster.
As clues pile up and tension turns explosive, Harper and Eve must decide what’s more important the hunt…or falling for each other.
Eve Bardot interviews her treasure-hunting-rival, enemy – and love interest – Harper Hendrix, from Thrill of the Chase:
Harper: (sitting with one leg gracefully crossed over the other, posture perfect, an array of pens sticking out of her high bun): I’ll say it again, Eve: this entire thing is absurd.
Eve: (sprawled on a couch, right ankle hooked over her left knee, an arm tossed carelessly across the back): Nothin’ absurd about it, Hendrix. You interview people all damn day for your job. Why can’t I interview you?
Harper: Of course you can. You do have free will.
Eve: (lips twitching): Do I? Oh thanks, that’s good to know.
Harper: (mid-scowl): What I mean to say is, I’m not opposed to being on the other end of an interview. I just don’t see the point.
Eve: Can’t handle the hot seat, huh?
Harper: (peers at her fingernails) More like I’ve got a to-do list a mile long and buried treasure to find so any second that I’m not looking for those diamonds is a wasted one.
Eve: (cracks a sly grin) Ouch. I’m just trying to get to know my rival a little better.
Harper: More like you’re trying to pin down what I know.
Eve: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – when it comes to the Blackburn Diamonds, there’s no way in hell you’ll ever know more than me. Might as well quit now.
Harper: And as you already know…I’m extremely persistent.
Eve: Persistently a pain in my ass, you mean.
Harper: (rolling her eyes): We can bicker and insult each other literally anywhere. You don’t need the cover of an interview to do it.
Eve: (gives a little shrug): You’re right. But pain in the ass or not, you’re all I can think about right now.
Harper: (blushing slightly): Yes, well…um, what?
Eve: (grin turns wicked): You know it’s true…because you’ve been thinking about me too.
Harper: (fiddling with her earring): My thoughts are consumed with how to find diamonds that are possibly, maybe, hopefully buried in those foothills. Trust me, you barely register.
Eve: Barely is something. Barely means you think about me a little.
Harper: Sorry, I meant ‘never’. You never register.
Eve: (snorts): You’re such a little liar, Hendrix.
Harper – blushing furiously now.
Eve: (leaning forward): You wouldn’t be the first person to follow me around town like you’ve been doing, trying to get my attention…because you want to ask me out. Just admit it. The diamonds thing is a ruse.
Harper (bursts out laughing): Oh my god how could I have forgotten how fucking arrogant you are. I’ve heard a lot of lines in my life but “fabricated an interest in a potentially career-changing story just to get a date with the Eve Bardot” actually is the worst one.
Eve: (hiding a smile behind her hand): Can I just point out…that you haven’t denied it yet.
Harper: Eve.
Eve (palms raised): Okay, okay, okay…I’m just teasing you. I’m just suggesting that we drop this whole “rivals chasing after each other for the same diamonds” thing and instead go have some fun together.
Harper (eyes narrowed): Are you seriously asking me out?
Eve: (looking suddenly flustered): No…I mean, yes. But in an extremely casual and chill way that isn’t a big deal or serious at all.
Harper: You really know how to charm a girl, you know that?
Eve (cocking an eyebrow): Long-term and serious isn’t my thing. Doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t appreciate you giving me a night – or three – before you got on that plane back to New York to show you just how much I’ve been thinking about you.
Harper (turning red again): That’s not…well casual isn’t my thing so…obviously…no.
Eve (holding her gaze): You sure about that, Hendrix?
Harper (swallowing hard): Never been more sure of anything in my life. Except for being extremely sure that I’m going to find those Blackburn Diamonds before you do.
Eve (cracking a grin): Back to business then, huh?
Harper (standing up and fixing a miniscule wrinkle in her skirt): Not all of us are unrepentant scoundrels like you, Eve. I’m actually focused on the task at hand. And that’s beating you at your own game.
Eve (her eyes lingering on Harper’s face and the blush that still stains her cheeks): You just keep telling yourself that. Meanwhile, I’ll be the one with those diamonds in the end. And you’ll be heading home empty-handed, that’s for damn sure.
Harper (extending her hand for a shake): Then may the best woman win.
Eve: (takes her hand with a wink): You bet.
BUY HERE
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Kathryn Nolan (she/they) is an Amazon Top 25 bestselling author. Her steamy romance novels are known for their slow-burn sexual tension, memorable characters, and queer joy. They’re a bisexual bookworm and femme babe with big Leo energy, and they love to spend their free time hiking, camping and traveling. When not on the road, she lives in her hometown of Philly with her cute husband, Rob, and giant-eared rescue pup, Walter.
Sign up for Kathryn’s weekly newsletter to see what they’re writing, what they’re reading/watching and get all of their travel stories (plus an abundance of Walter photos!): authorkathrynnolan.com/join-
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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