Thanks for checking out the blog tour for Trick Roller, the second book in the Seven of Spades series!

We rejoin Levi and Dominic three months after the events of Kill Game. Although most of Las Vegas believes the Seven of Spades is dead, our two heroes know better. It’s only a matter of time until the killer resurfaces…

Please welcome Cordelia Kingsbridge to The Blogger Girls! Tell us a little about yourself, what prompted you to start writing?

I actually got my start writing Harry Potter fanfiction! After many years in the fandom, I decided to branch out and try my hand at original fiction as well. I created a new pseudonym, distinct from my fandom identity – it’s always been important to me to keep the two separate – and began publishing an original WIP called Close Protection on sites like LiveJournal and Fiction Press.

Close Protection took off pretty quickly, and after that, I focused all my creative energy on original fiction. I wrote five original novels online, posting at a rate of a chapter per week, for years before I landed my first professional publishing contract with Riptide. Those early novels have been removed from the internet now, but I look back fondly on those times!

Tell us a little about the Seven of Spades series, how did you get the idea?

The Seven of Spades series started with the final line of the first book in the series, Kill Game. That line struck me out of nowhere and sunk its claws into me so deeply I couldn’t shake it. From there, I developed the Seven of Spades’ identity and motivation before any other element of the series, including the protagonists. Once I had established who the Seven of Spades was and why they behave the way they do, the rest of the concept for the series kind of unfolded organically.

What made you want to create a series out of it instead of one or two books?

The Seven of Spades’ story – as well as the story of Levi and Dominic’s relationship – could never have been told in only one book. In fact, I knew from the very beginning that the story I wanted to tell would require exactly five books.

I plot all of my novels using a classic three-act structure. That’s true for the books in the Seven of Spades series as well, but I also used a three-act structure to form a framework for the series as a whole. Each book in the series plays a specific role within that structure: Kill Game is Act I. You’ve got your setup, the inciting incident, and the first major turning point that forces the protagonists into a brand new world. Trick Roller is the first half of Act II – the protagonists are making progress and things seem to be going well. Then comes Cash Plays, the midpoint climax, the point in every narrative arc where things start going off the rails. This leads into One-Eyed Royals, the second half of Act II, where the problems get thornier, the stakes grow ever-higher, and the consequences for failure are increasingly dire, until the story barrels headlong into A Chip and a Chair, the climactic finale.

Have you ever been to Las Vegas? If so, did you base certain aspects of the story on the Sin City or did you create your own places for your series?

Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Las Vegas! As such, the series has required a ton of research, as I do include plenty of real-world settings. In Trick Roller, for example, the characters visit places like The Mirage and The Fremont Street Experience. Resources like Google Earth have proven invaluable!

The Seven of Spades series also includes several locations of my own invention, however – such as Stingray, the LGBT nightclub where Dominic bartends, and McBride Investigations, the elite PI firm introduced in Trick Roller.

Explain Trick Roller in five words or less!

Badass couple hunts criminals!

About Trick Roller

It’s the height of summer in Las Vegas. Everyone believes the serial killer Seven of Spades is dead—except Levi Abrams and Dominic Russo—and it’s back to business as usual. For Levi, that means investigating a suspicious overdose at the Mirage that looks like the work of a high-class call girl, while Dominic pursues a tough internship with a local private investigator. The one bright spot for both of them is their blossoming relationship.

But things aren’t so simple. Soon Levi is sucked into a dangerous web of secrets and lies, even as his obsession with the Seven of Spades intensifies. Dominic knows that Levi isn’t crazy. He knows the Seven of Spades is still out there, and he’ll do anything to prove it. But Dominic has his own demons to battle, and he may be fighting a losing war.

One thing is certain: the Seven of Spades holds all the cards. It won’t be long before they show their hand.

Available at: Riptide Publishing & Amazon

About the Seven of Spades Series

Las Vegas has never seen a serial killer like the Seven of Spades.

The self-styled vigilante is on a mission to cut down the wicked and treacherous, and Sin City has no shortage of targets for their bloody wrath. What happens in Vegas . . . ends with the Seven of Spades’s calling card on a grisly corpse.

Standing against the killer are Levi Abrams, a dedicated homicide detective locked in a constant struggle to restrain his own dark side, and bounty hunter Dominic Russo, a charming rogue with a heavy secret weighing on his shoulders.

The hunt for the Seven of Spades sends Levi and Dominic on a collision course, igniting a passionate relationship forged in conflict and sealed with blood. Together they’re stronger than the sum of their parts, but a wily, elusive serial killer isn’t the only threat that will strain their bond to the breaking point.

Ante up, because the Seven of Spades is all in. Are you?

Available at: Riptide Publishing & Amazon

About Cordelia Kingsbridge

Cordelia Kingsbridge has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh, but quickly discovered that direct practice in the field was not for her. Having written novels as a hobby throughout graduate school, she decided to turn her focus to writing as a full-time career. Now she explores her fascination with human behavior, motivation, and psychopathology through fiction. Her weaknesses include opposites-attract pairings and snarky banter.

Away from her desk, Cordelia is a fitness fanatic, and can be found strength training, cycling, and practicing Krav Maga. She lives in South Florida but spends most of her time indoors with the air conditioning on full blast!

Find out more about Cordelia on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or email her at cordeliakingsbridge@gmail.com.

To celebrate the release of Trick Roller, one lucky winner will receive a $15 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 3, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Trick Roller to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!