Have you ever been to Blessings, Georgia? You should take a trip there someday. There aren’t any tourist destinations, but there is a feeling within that sleepy Southern town unlike any place I’ve ever been. Every time I begin a new story, I get to revisit the residents, some of whom are aggravating, and some who will melt your heart upon introduction. But they all have one thing in common. When someone is in need, they come together without judgment, giving of themselves and their time, sharing joy and grief. I wish I lived there. Every time I finish a story, I feel lost…like I moved away from my own special Eden. Everyone should live in a place like this at least once in their lives, if for no other reason than to be reminded of the good in the world, and what love for your fellow man really means. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS was the novella that introduced my readers to this place and the people who live there. Each story is a stand-alone book, but with continuing characters that pop in and out of ensuing episodes of life in Blessings. The latest saga to come out of Blessings is…

Writing books for a living is nothing to complain about: I work from home, I spend my days largely uninterrupted, and then, you know, there are the champagne parties, the ball gowns and the book launches parties with cake pops because oh my God I never really got over the cake pop craze and it’s become a little embarrassing. I live on a military base, so my alarm clock is less the soothing sounds of my local radio station, and more the sound of five aircraft taking off about 500m from my bedroom window. I roll over, stretch and then remember my deadlines. An empty pit opens in my stomach. I get out of bed, put my glasses on and go into the bathroom. Too much. I remove my glasses and everything looks much better – good enough for me to think that last night’s make up will do for the day too. The first celebration of the day is when I realize that my dog hasn’t pooped in the kitchen. Fist pump. It’s going to be a good day, and obviously the pup is feeling better too. Win-win. After coffee, I give the dogs a quick walk. The looks…

I typically write historical romances set in England, but for this series, I decided to switch things up and head north to Scotland. Just like the Townsend family in ENCHANTING THE EARL, I made my own voyage to Scotland (albeit in cars and planes instead of driving a carriage for weeks over rough terrain). Since I don’t have room to list all the things I loved about my trip, I’ll limit myself to five. The Highlands. Scotland is beautiful and the Highlands in particular are a striking and unique mix of windswept moors, high mountain peaks, lush green hills, deep lochs, and vast gray sea. In some parts, it looks almost otherworldly. If you can handle a little inclement weather, the scenery is definitely worth the trip. The food. Food snobs might look down on me for this, but whatever—I thought the food was pretty tasty. The seafood is super fresh, and you can get it however you like it, from steamed mussels in a fancy meal to the golden fried perfection of fish and chips. I was a little iffy on haggis (though it certainly wasn’t bad), and I surprised myself by liking black pudding. Also, the desserts— cranachan…

My new book, MARRY IN HASTE is the start of a brand new “Convenient Marriage” series. It stars Cal Rutherford, an officer in the army, who has just become Lord Ashendon. Cal is a man’s man, a career soldier who thinks he knows how to handle women, but really has no idea. Hint: they’re not the same as soldiers; strangely, women don’t take kindly to being ordered around. Cal does, however, know how to kiss. Here he is walking our heroine, Emmaline Westwood home at night, after she was caught up in a brawl at a political meeting. They’re in Bath. It’s their first kiss. He broke off, noticing, in the light of the lamp overhead, a stain on her otherwise pale face. “Stand still,” he ordered, and when she glanced at him in surprise he caught her by the shoulders and turned her toward the light. A bruise was forming on her cheekbone, and dried blood made a dark crust around one of her nostrils. And, now that he looked, drops of blood stained the front of her clothing. “Dammit, you were injured too. Why didn’t you say something?” Flustered, she tried to move away. “I’m perfectly all r—”…

The most popular book set in Colorado is Stephen King’s The Shining set at the fictional Overlook (aka The Stanley Hotel). That should have been a gimme, but I missed that question recently, which is crazy because the haunted history tour of The Stanley Hotel ranks as one of the best cross sections of literature, history, and pop culture in my experience. In fact, our trip to the hotel sparked several scenes in UNSTOPPABLE. Every summer we like to spend a few days in Grand Lake, CO where I worked in the summers before and after my senior year, and it’s still one of my favorite places on the planet. The kids had recently watched The Shining (both versions) after having convinced me that it wouldn’t give them nightmares for the rest of their lives, and they wanted to visit The Stanley. I had never taken Trail Ridge Road through the Rocky Mountain National Forest between Grand Lake and Estes Park, but it was summer, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Right? The tour guide at The Stanley told us that King had been en route to Grand Lake to do some writing when he got stuck thanks to a…

Author/Reader Match Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Megan Hart. Writes: Hello! I’m Megan. I write sexy romances and erotic fiction, along with mainstream novels that sometimes make you cry. My new book, All the Lies We Tell, is sexy contemporary romance. About: Megan Hart writes books. Some of them use a lot of bad words, but most of the other words are okay. She can’t live without music, the internet, or the ocean, but she and soda have achieved an amicable uncoupling. She can’t stand the feeling of corduroy or velvet, and modern art leaves her cold. She writes a little bit of everything from horror to romance, though she’s best known for writing erotic fiction that sometimes makes you cry. Find out more about her at meganhart.com, or if you really want to get crazy, follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/megan_hart and Facebook at www.facebook.com/readinbed. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Open minded Craves passion and surprise Likes to experience a wide…

My love of travel borders on obsession. Seriously … I never get tired of talking about, researching, or planning a trip. I’m that annoying friend who wants to know everything about your adventures in Europe or your trek to Machu Picchu. Yes, I even enjoy looking through the endless supply of pictures you took while away. Even though I’d never turn down a nice beach vacation, my personal preference is to move on a trip. I crave activity. I get bored sitting around a pool and antsy by my second umbrella-decked cocktail. Exploring an area—whether a rainforest, chic urban local, or historic ruins—is my idea of travel bliss. When I travel to a new location or research a possible future destination, I always consider each as a potential setting for one of my novels. Would it add beauty, depth, and interest to my story? Even better, would it provide my characters with challenges and rewards able to push them together, tear them apart, or both? (Why not let the setting do some of the heavy lifting in creating conflict, right?) With these requirements in mind, here is a countdown of my top five international travel destinations that would make great…

I love sprinkling little bits of the “real world” into my books, whether it’s a real place or landmark, a real story or a real bit of dialogue that I’ve heard with my own ears. It’s those fine little details that make a book memorable, both for me and my readers. But how do you know what’s real and what’s not? Well, I’m here to spill the beans… The “Naked Pirouette Incident” from BETTING THE BAD BOY Paige tells Noah about a time when she drank too much tequila and accidentally walked naked into the wrong bedroom in her share-house. Then she did a ‘naked pirouette’ to spin around and run out of the room. Real or fake? Yep, this was a real event. My good friend is the real Naked Pirouette legend, but I’ll be keeping their name a secret. The “Chihuahua Lock-Out” from TAKEN BY THE CEO Emmaline gets locked out of her car by an evil Chihuahua and calls on the hero, Parker, to borrow his phone so she can call someone to unlock her car. Real or fake? Fake…kind of. The evil Chihuahua is loosely based on my mother’s dog, who isn’t evil…but she’s a bit…

“Your daughter is doing great,” I continued, trying to focus on Nicole and not the way his hand curved around his iced tea. “There’s a school in Santa Monica called Crossroads. It’s a great school, academically, but one of their core directives is the emotional health of the student. They have a grade-bearing course that focuses on each child’s emotions.” He smiled that award-winning smile. “Ma’am, I’m from the South. That hippy-dippy shit ain’t gonna fly.” “And when your daughter breaks down because she never dealt with losing her mother, your good-old-boy shit ain’t gonna fly neither.” I heard his foot tap, but didn’t look at it. We were eye-locked, measuring each other. Thank God I wasn’t working for him. He was melting me from the inside out, and I had a feeling it was on purpose. “You play nine-ball?” he asked. “Sure do.” “You win and I’ll go see your hippy-dippy school. I win and you go see the one on Wilshire.” “I don’t see why it matters what school I see. It’s your decision.” “You consulting or not?” I hadn’t considered seeing him after that meeting, but he had a point. A real consult on how to manage…

“The Bowery, the Bowery! They say such things, And they do strange things On the Bowery! The Bowery! I’ll never go there anymore!” The words to the popular song from the 1891 musical A Trip to Chinatown tell you everything you need to know about the Bowery, which is both a street and a neighborhood in Manhattan. In turn of the century New York City, many neighborhoods had bad reputations, and the Bowery was among the worst. Originally, however, it was actually several miles outside of town. “Bowery” is an Anglicization of the Dutch word bouwerji which means “farm”, as the area contained many large farms in the 17th Century. When the City grew, it spread northward, and the farms gave way to residential lots where elite citizens built mansions. By the mid-1800s, those citizens had moved farther north, and Bowery became the eastern border of the notorious “Five Points” slum where all manner of evil flourished. To make matters worse, the Third Avenue Elevated Train ran above Bowery, turning the street dark even at midday. The neighborhood housed cheap bars, dance houses, brothels, and flophouses. So what was a Society debutant doing there? That’s what Private Investigator Frank Malloy…