My new release, THE BILLIONAIRE’S UNEXPECTED BABY , centers around an unconventional couple who is preparing for the arrival of a baby who is…well, unexpected. This one was a lot of fun to write. Being a mother myself, I could relate to a lot of the anxiety my characters experienced as they awaited the big day. Of course, I didn’t have my friends running a pool on my relationship and the only baby daddy drama I had was with my husband and a few unfortunate name choices, but still. I could relate. There are a lot of things about having a baby that caused me a great deal of anxiety. Here were my Top 5: The Breaking of the Water – Now, in the movies this is always shown as a massive gush of water where I’ve heard in real life it’s not always that dramatic. However, going into the whole thing, I just knew, with my luck, I was going to be a gusher and it was going to happen in the middle of some fancy and overly crowded venue. Then, I ended up having C-sections, so I never had my water break. Crisis averted! The Contractions – those…

Meg Ryan nailed it. In You’ve Got Mail, bookstore owner Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) stands behind the counter of The Shop Around the Corner and insists, “When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.” “Hear! Hear!” I remember books and their characters from my childhood as if they were living, breathing folk—animals and humans alike. I could bump into them today and know their names, understand their motivations, imagine the decisions they’d make in a world or time outside their own. They were and are my friends—part of my fiber and being. I’m not sure if I picked my favorite books because I’m like those characters and believe I could comfortably slip into their shoes, or because those characters have influenced my own thought processes and character growth. Either way, we’re friends for life. Here are my favorites and why I love them: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer—This story chronicles, tongue in Mark Twain’s cheek, a good-hearted, fun-loving, sometimes conscious-stricken, creative boy magnetically drawn to trouble and adventure, who precariously walks a knife’s edge of danger. Through it all, he remains steadfast…

I had a conversation with a friend the other day, debating why independent-minded, strong-willed women crave alpha males. She, being one of these women with quite an affinity for the fictional Christian Grey, said “it’s not that I want to be dominated out in the real world—just in the bedroom.” So I mentally tapped my chin, pondering my own fascination with alpha males. Yes, I married one. So there’s no denying I’ve got it pretty bad for aggressive, protective men. This may be why they show up so often in my writing. Okay, definitely why. But I believe the lure is more primitive than we think. If we gaze far back to the caveman days, cavewomen followed the one with the biggest club and the baddest attitude to scare off dangerous predators and keep her safe. Even in the 21st century, you’ll find a line of women readers drooling over badass billionaires, dominant shape-shifter alphas, Highland warriors, and deadly demon hunters. I’ve not yet heard one of my friends panting over the pretty boy shopping for his skinny jeans and highlighting his overly styled hair. We want the modern caveman with the biggest stick (sexual innuendo intended) to beat our…