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*Under the Covers with Carly*

© Sara Webb Quest

Carly Phillips, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Bachelor, The Playboy and The Heartbreaker has another sexy book out Under The Boardwalk (Warner Books, 2004), described as "a tale of twin sisters, mistaken identity, and the Atlantic City underworld." It is a climactic love story mixing family values and hot sex. Readers are introduced to the Costas family, gorgeous Greek cons blessed twice with raven-haired identical beauties. The serious twin Ariana Costas has left an independent, Vermont teaching-life to return to -- and come to terms with - her wacky Jersey family while her wilder counterpart Zoe goes missing.

SQ: Carly, thank you so much for this inspiring opportunity to share your latest hit (no doubt)! What motivated you to create "Under the Boardwalk" and how did you come-up with its title?

CP: I always wanted to write a story about twins, which led to the idea for "Under the Boardwalk" and its upcoming sequel, "Summer Lovin' "(8/05). The concept of two sisters who look alike and yet seemingly have nothing in common intrigued me! The title credit goes to Warner since my original title was Jersey Girl. The concept behind the title was that everyone can relate to that summer feeling.

SQ: What is the book's central plot?

CP: When the more eccentric twin goes missing, Ariana Costas is forced to return home to find out what happened to her sister. She doesn't expect to be tackled on the beach by a sexy man she isn't sure she can trust, but one who claims to know where her twin is. Ariana ends up discovering much about her family and even more about herself while searching for her twin but the biggest lesson of all is the one she learns about love. The hero, undercover cop Quinn Donovan is the ultimate loner, a man so unused to family but who comes to adore the wacky Costas clan. Ariana and Quinn are an interesting mix.

SQ: You write super-hot sex scenes. Does your own love life compare to the book's steamy one?

CP: Good question! (Grin)

SQ: Good answer! (Grin) How did you research "Under the Boardwalk's" eccentric Costas family?

CP: I did quite a bit of online research about cons and con artists, although the Costas clan has a heart of gold. And I also did Atlantic City research as well.

SQ: What inspired you to create the book's characters and which ones will appear in future books?

CP: The twins were the main inspiration and then I decided I wanted them to be eccentric. The Addams Family wouldn't leave my mind, so I modeled them after the old TV family for the humor. I just enjoyed these people so much as I wrote them! Zoe, Ari's twin, has her own story this summer in "Summer Lovin'" (8/05) and the whole family reappears. Sam, the foster sister is a major character with much of the plot revolving around her past.

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