Rhonda Helms and I have challenged each other to a swoon off, pitting the heroes of our September release New Adult books against each other. There will be three events (Who is sexier?, Who has the best pick up/first conversation with the heroine?, and Who does the best grovel?). We will write about our heroes and post snippets from our books. Then there will be voting! Stop by the three blogs to vote and post a comment to participate in our giveaway. Who has the best pickup line/ first conversation? PHIN (From HER BEST SHOT) When Layla, my heroine, first meets Phin, it’s in a bar while he is playing pool. She watched him play a few games and take money from his opponents. She’s intrigued by him, and yes, attracted to him, but she’s caught a little off guard when he approaches her because she thought no one noticed her come into the bar. He pointed his pool cue at her. “Are you going to sit there staring all night, or are you going to play?” “Me? I’m not stupid enough to play pool with a hustler. My day’s been crappy enough. I don’t need to lose anything else.”…

I often get asked where my ideas come from. A lot of the time I actually don’t know as I can’t pinpoint what exactly triggered it, or what made me chose that direction. Loosely, a conversation with my kids about what mazes could be made out of triggered the Court of Annwyn series. Yeah…not exactly an obvious connection to an entire alternate world ruled by fairies. But I already had in my mind the character of Caspian (THE OUTCAST PRINCE), who was psychometric. Taryn (LORD OF THE HUNT) who needed something from the fairy Court came as I went through the maze. So an idea for a story usually starts with a character. They wander in to my mind and away I go. Sometimes that character is inspired by a picture, other times a news article, most often I have no idea…I think I have a green room in my mind where characters sit around and chat just waiting for the right moment to make their entrance. For the Annwyn series it was the maze that opened the door. Once I have one character I have to go looking for the other (in takes two to make a romance). I…

Peanut butter cups usually come in pairs. Why? Who knows but when you open that package, you can’t eat just one. You have to finish both. At least I do. That other one would be left lonely, after all. Does this have anything at all to do with writing the Indecent serials? Maybe not. But let’s think about it for a minute. In AN INDECENT PROPOSITION, Jules is offered half a million dollars to spend the night with a man she’s never met. Only, that one man becomes two when she realizes there’s someone watching from the shadows. He’s scarred and bitter and completely infatuated with her, though he doesn’t believe she could ever want him because of his appearance. His best friend will do anything to bring him out of seclusion and when they both fall for this one girl, well, she’s one very lucky lady. In AN INDECENT AFFAIR, Kat was an awkward teen with emotional issues who’s grown into a beautiful woman who doesn’t quite know what to do with her life. Then best friends Tristan and Adam enter her life at a party and sweep her away from the man her mother wants her to marry….

After 40 + books as a published author I can tell you that I have researched a many and varied range of topics. Most of them interesting, gritty, hard hitting things. Just off the top of my head I can list a bunch of them – how to separate conjoined twins joined at the head, heritage listings, shipwrecks, horrifying disfiguring diseases, autopsy procedures, prosthetics, football stuff (shudder), box jellyfish stings, earthquakes, eye conditions, the sex life of goldfish, loft conversions and canal boats. And that’s without me even going through my back list and checking. I tell you, if my computer ever gets confiscated and they look at my Google history…. They’re going to take me away and medicate me. And whilst the research I do is often very fascinating, I still consider it a necessary evil. I’m not in love with it like a lot of other authors are. And then along came NO MORE MR. NICE GUY and lo and behold, with Josie putting a page from the Kama Sutra down as #1 on her drunken sex list, I found myself having to research illustrated sex guides. No, it’s okay, don’t feel bad for me. I put on my…

How lucky the parents of the Regency period were! Weddings back then were not the productions they are today, and as a parent who has gone through three weddings for her three children, I’m jealous. Now that my Brides of Wishmore series—THE BRIDE SAYS NO, THE BRIDE SAYS MAYBE, and the just released THE GROOM SAYS YES—are on the shelves, I confess I didn’t even focus on fancy marriage ceremonies because the Regency wedding was so low key. Since in so many other respects the Regency was a brilliant, over the top age, this seems a bit odd to me. The wedding ceremony was strictly for family members. Or even just the couple and witnesses. Brides would wear their best but the wedding dress, as we know it, is a Victorian creation. Sometimes, the bride and groom would walk right out the door and take up the reins of their life with little fanfare. What is the same? A ring to seal one’s vows has been around since ancient times although usually it was a gift from the groom to his bride. The vows themselves, taken from the Book of Common Prayer, are almost identical to the formal vows couples…

Once in a while in my career of forty books, there comes a story I know I have to write. It waits like an impatient child in the back of my mind for its time to shine. A PLACE CALLED HARMONY was one of those stories. As I moved through the Harmony series, getting to know the people of Harmony, Texas, better with each book I knew that someday I’d tell the beginning of their town. From the day I started writing, the characters came through clear. I had to find men strong enough to influence the generations of Mathesons, Trumans and McAllens. Many times during the writing of this story I felt all three men standing behind me telling me their lives. All three men were prepared for the challenge of building a town but unprepared for the depth of love they found as they build their families. I loved writing these men and I hope the readers will follow me into this historical romance. I felt close to all of them, because my great-grandparents settled this same country over a hundred years ago. My grandmother was even born in a covered wagon. Patrick McAllen, young and full of…

Hi, readers!! Wonderful reviews have come in for the 3rd in the Cookbook Nook Mysteries: STIRRING THE PLOT. But what matters to me is what you think! Read the First Chapter by clicking HERE. I’m nothing like my amateur sleuth, Jenna Hart, but we have a few things in common. We both love California, we love to read mysteries, and we love to eat! Two years after her husband disappears in a boating accident, Jenna, a former ad executive and marketing whiz in San Francisco, realizes it’s time to change her course. She returns home to Crystal Cove, California, a beautiful seaside community, to help her aunt open a culinary bookshop and café…and to find her smile. Although Jenna is an avid reader and a foodie, her aunt didn’t bring Jenna into the business because of her vast knowledge of cookbooks. In fact, Jenna can’t cook. She never had to learn. Her mother did it all. But she’s determined to learn. And over the course of the series, she does. In STIRRING THE PLOT, the third installment of the Cookbook Nook mysteries, trouble is brewing with a dash of murder. Halloween in Crystal Cove is a big deal, involving a…

Hey there, Fresh Fiction readers! I’m thrilled to be here today to celebrate the release of my new Entangled Indulgence, REFORMING THE ROCK STAR. I’m running a little giveaway too, so stick around to comment for a chance to feed your book addiction! When I was writing this particular book, it got me thinking about hot rock stars, the nature of people, and the crazy things we do to impress each other. ESPECIALLY members of the opposite sex. In REFORMING THE ROCK STAR, my hero Laz mistakes the heroine, Syd, for a stripper. And you can’t really blame him. She’s at a bachelor party, all buttoned up with her hair in a bun and her glasses on, and he thinks it’s all part of her Sexy Librarian schtick when, in reality, she’s actually the socially awkward and genuinely nerdy caterer. Syd goes through sort of a reverse-My Fair Lady makeover to try to show Laz how sexy she can really be, when in truth, Laz thought she was sexy the whole time. That got me thinking about the time that I “pulled a Syd” in my own life. Despite the fact that this does not *necessarily* reflect well upon me…

I think most people have some moment in their life, especially during childhood, where they felt everything was just right. Maybe they didn’t realize it at the time. Maybe the realization came later in life. When things got rough, they looked back and said, “Man, I miss those days.” Enter me between the ages of 5 and 8. These years were my golden years, where I lived with my family in the Dallas suburbs and spent countless hours outside in the back yard clubhouse, or at a neighbor’s house, or riding my bike all around the neighborhood without my parents hovering. Which seems odd, considering I remember this man calling from his door, “Hey, little girl, would you like some candy?” FREAKY. Also, not the point. These years were magical, full of dress up and pig-tails and smiles and fluffy kitties and big Christmases and family meals and laughter. When we moved out of that big house to a smaller rental still in the suburbs, happiness followed. I got to WALK to school. I was a latchkey kid. My neighbors had a trampoline, and we bounced on that bad boy every day for HOURS. My brother and I would dance…

Have you ever gone to a fancy restaurant and ordered dessert first? About a year ago, my husband took me to Commander’s Palace for dinner. Known for its flowers, splendid food, and wine, the restaurant is a landmark in the Garden District of New Orleans. We’d been before, and each visit is a treat. But this time was extra special. We were celebrating our wedding anniversary. Plus, we got to sit in the Garden Room, with its floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing huge oak trees. I’ll always remember this time — and not just because it was romantic — but because I ordered dessert first! Commander’s Palace has such great desserts, like so many other places in New Orleans — pralines (“praw-leens”), beignets (“ben-yeahs”), bananas foster, bread pudding, doberge (“dough-bash”). Oh my! I didn’t want to wait two hours for dessert. So when the waiter came by, I ordered a praline parfait, which is hand-crafted ice cream with candied pecans and praline syrup. The waiter looked at me like I had three heads, but no amount of judgment was going to stop me. It was going to be my first course. While devouring the divine dessert, I remember having an idea for…