Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Leanne Banks Celebrates A MAVERICK FOR CHRISTMAS * Drawing for Amazon Gift Certificate
Author Guest / October 30, 2011

I’m so excited to be part of the fabulous Montana Mavericks series.  I love that it’s set in a small town in Montana and the way everyone knows a little bit about everyone.  Not everything, but a little bit.   The heroine in the book, Abigal Cates, is part of a big family.  She has several older sisters and one younger brother.  One of her sisters, Laila is a beauty queen and actually dated Cade Pritchett, the man that Abigal has secretly been in love with for ages. Abigal makes some pretty bold moves and finally gets Cade to look at her as more than everyone’s favorite little sister.  But he realizes he’s not right for Abigal and breaks off their relationship.  This is devastating for poor Abigal and she instinctively turns to her sister Laila, who offers her a place to sleep for the night, a cup of tea with honey and booze, and a lot of sympathy and encouragement. This started me thinking.  Are there people in your life that you stepped up and encouraged when they were down?  How did you do it?  Flip side, are there people in your life that encouraged you when you were down?…

Inara Scott | The Alpha Male, or is Brad Pitt an Alpha or not?
Author Guest / October 30, 2011

My friend and writing partner Susan Sey and I have often discussed the alpha hero. What makes him hot. How to keep him from becoming a jerk. How both of our husbands are alphas, even though they are completely different men. We are romance writers and the sort of people who like to analyze things, so naturally, we can spend a lot of time on this subject. But our conversation often comes down to this: if we’re writing an alpha male, what is his essential characteristic? How do we know when we’ve gotten him right? First, let me debunk a myth: an alpha male doesn’t have to be handsome to be sexy. We have all sorts of great examples of sexy alpha males who aren’t pretty. Take Hugh Laurie — not the prettiest man alive, but I bet you wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers. 🙂 His looks are almost immaterial; there’s something about him that makes him sexy, regardless of the breadth of his shoulders or square cut of his jaw. So what is that thing that the sexy alpha hero has got to have? Absolute, unmitigated, and totally-deserved confidence. Alpha men know they are good…