When I was asked to do a little piece for Fresh Fiction, I knew I wanted to tie it to my new book, THE MISBEHAVED, which released—May 10th—from Totally Bound Publishing. It’s a friends-to-lovers romance involving a frisky bartender, Natalea Jones, and her best friend and most eligible bachelor, Drake Harte. The story opens at Natalea’s bar where she is hosting the charity reveal of the firefighter calendar, which includes as Mr. December—her best friend Drake. Yes, the hero of THE MISBEHAVED is a sexy firefighter. Not uncommon. Not unheard of. Who makes a more desirable hero than a firefighter? The interesting element for me is that I find myself drawn to them in my writing. I have three books that thrust a firefighter hero into the spotlight. Why? What makes these guys such great romance novel heroes? I’ve asked myself that question numerous times as I drive past our local firehouse and find myself slowing down in hopes of getting a glance of the firefighters out washing the trucks or shooting hoops in the driveway—with their shirts off, of course! And I’ll admit, some days I’m one lucky lady! J Is it the hard bodies? Maybe. As a warm-blooded…

Pro of Same-Sport Loving – If you’re really dedicated to excellence, you have to spend a lot of time working out, practicing, and otherwise perfecting your game. If you have school or a job as well, there isn’t much time left for a relationship. But if your work out and practice time is ALSO relationship time, you’re all set! Con of Same-Sport Loving – One of you will probably be better at the sport than the other. This isn’t necessarily true, but it’s pretty likely. What effect will that have on the relationship? And if both of you are equally dedicated and equally skilled, how will it feel if the difference is based on something neither of you have any control over? Like, say, your boyfriend hit a growth spurt at puberty and turned into 6’2” muscle-man, and you? You didn’t. Pro – You’re both probably pretty fit. Nice muscles, strong bodies, lots of endurance… hard to argue with any of that! Con – You’re both probably pretty competitive. This can work well if you’re both on the same team, but if you face off against each other? Look out! Pro – Passionate competition can lead to other kinds of…

What is your name? Do you have a nickname? My name is Tobias Ford. I also answer to Master, Sir, or Master T. Where were you born? Where have you lived since then? Where do you call home? I was born in Tucson, Arizona. My mother still lives there. I’ve lived all over the world with my stint in the military. Currently, Pasedena , California is where I call home. What is one strong memory that has stuck with you from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting? My alcoholic father left my mother and I when I was five. It’s tempered my need to control my life. I never have more than a drink or two, the disease that drove him from our lives resides in my veins, so I’d prefer not to go down that road. Combined with my PTSD from my tours in Iraq and Afghanistan it would be a bad mixture all together. And I don’t have relationships with women who have children, I know how much that can mess with a child’s mind. I prefer my subs unattached and unfettered. You’re getting ready for a night out. Where are you going? What do you…

SHELTER FOR ELIZABETH came about in an interesting way. At the end of book 4 in my SEAL of Protection Series, PROTECTING SUMMER, the heroine was kidnapped by a serial killer who wanted to torture the Hero SEAL. In order to accomplish this, he kidnapped another random woman from the parking lot of the local Walmart. He tortured THAT woman, telling the heroine everything that was happening to her was going to happen to the heroine next. Enter the SEAL team to save the day…but not before the poor random woman was traumatized and brutalized. I kept getting reader notes asking if the poor random woman was going to get a SEAL of her own. At first I had no idea who they were talking about, as that woman was a “throw away” character. But I thought about it…it was the perfect set-up for a book. So…. Poor Elizabeth moves to Texas to try to get away from what happened to her at the hands of the serial killer. She has agoraphobia…meaning she’s scared to go outside and is in therapy. When she nearly sets her apartment on fire, she meets a hunky firefighter who takes a liking to her…and…