My historical novels so far (seven and counting) have featured the lives of real historical British women, usually royal. Several featured Queen Elizabeth I; I also wrote about an Irish princess and the Plantagenet royals. But when I came across a footnote mentioning Charlotte Bill, a mere lower class nanny who lived in a much later era, I knew I had to know more about her amazing life. And so was born years of research to set the story in the Victorian and Edwardian eras and to learn about a servant class woman with great power, because she reared two kings of England. Charlotte Bill was a Cockney girl who was first hired as an under nursemaid by the royal family of the future King George V and Queen Mary, the current queen’s grandparents, while Queen Victoria was still on the throne. Upon arriving at their Norfolk estate of Sandringham, Charlotte discovered the current nanny was abusing both David (later Kind Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor) and Bertie (later King George VI.) If you recall the movie The King’s Speech, you may remember this terrible incident which hurt both boys for the rest of their lives: David gravitated to…

One moment, Miranda was gasping for more air. The next, her very existence depended on how close she could get to him. The touch of his lips freed her mind and made her body soar. The tension gripping her limbs and her lungs melted away in an instant. She shivered involuntarily and her arms tightened around his neck. Hawk’s mouth moved back and forth over her burning lips, urging them to open. Surrendering to his silent demand, she parted her lips. She heard the groan deep in his throat as he took a fistful of her hair and his tongue plunged deep into the soft recesses of her mouth. A silent thrill of desire raced through her. She’d never been kissed by a man before. But right now, all fears were forgotten. The trap in which they found themselves became trivial. Miranda allowed the rising hunger she had for him to erupt within her. Lost in the seductive play of his tongue, the heat of his embrace, and his roaming hand, she responded with passion. He lifted her higher in his arms and pulled her legs around his hips. Her body ached for his touch, her heart pounded, and her…

LAST CHANCE COWBOYS: THE LAWMAN the second in my Where the Trail Ends series. Readers of book one (The Drifter) will remember the character of Addie Wilcox, a feisty young woman determined to focus on her career as a frontier doctor and forget all about Jess Porterfield, who chose a life in the city over staying in Arizona with her. She’s doing just fine until Jess decides city life is not for him, returns, pins on a badge and becomes the local marshal. These two, hot-blooded (and hot-tempered), set off fireworks in more ways than one on their way to figuring out what the whole town has always known: they were meant for each other. Which character from LAST CHANCE COWBOYS: THE LAWMAN do I most relate to? ADDIE!! Because? Oh, come on—this woman is the epitome of what women have been fighting for lo, these last several centuries. And believe me, I did not write Addie—Addie told me how to write her character starting back in book one, THE DRIFTER, where she showed up as a secondary character and was so loved that she had to have her own story. She is Everywoman—intelligent, outspoken, feisty, a dreamer, a fighter,…

              The other night, I was watching the end of a Hallmark channel movie when my husband walked into the room. “Don’t ruin it,” I said. (He can’t help himself. His urge to say something, usually sarcastic, is too great.) “Are they about to live happily ever after?” he asked, sitting down beside me. “Shh,” I said. “Don’t talk. Just watch.” The heroine was climbing up a ladder, her job to place the star atop the community center Christmas tree. (The community center that was saved from the wrecking ball, of course.) “She’s going to fall, and the hero is going to catch her,” he predicted. (That’s the other thing he does. Tries to guess everything that’s going to happen. Anyone need a spare husband?) “The hero is across the room,” I said. “She’s not going to fall. Please go away.” At the top of the ladder, the cute German Shepherd that was in the movie nudged the ladder, causing the heroine to wobble precariously. The hero bolted across the room and was there in a flash! Sure enough, she fell right into his arms, creating a beautiful moment where they shared a Christmas…