The heroes in your romantic suspense novels seem to be former military, alpha types. What inspires you about these types of heroes? I’ve always been attracted to a man in uniform. There’s just something about them that seems to scream integrity and heroic. Now, I know that’s not always true, but it makes for a great romance! I also married my own man in military (Mr. Stoker was in the Army for 21 years!)   Since so many of your heroes are uber-tough, are there certain qualities you try and incorporate into all your heroines? I happen to think all of us are way tougher than we give ourselves credit for. The things life throws at us can be horrific, sad, scary, and all sorts of other emotions. I write stories where the heroines act in ways I’d LIKE to act if I was ever in one of the situations, I put them though (But I have a feeling I would fall way short!). I’d love for all my readers to see their inner strength in themselves through my characters.   What is your favorite aspect of a novel to write – action scenes, relationship/romance, descriptive, or dialogue? As a…

The Valentine’s Day celebrations continue with SUSAN STOKER! Don’t forget to follow our recipe roundup all week long!  *** I watched a show on television about a missing little girl. She was three when she disappeared. But it got me to thinking about what happened if that little girl was found years later? What had she gone through? What was her life like? I wrote Defending Zara with that in mind. When Zara was in elementary school, she was on vacation with her parents in Peru. They were killed and she was dumped in a barrio. She grew up there, eventually learning Spanish and how to survive in the poorest sections of the city. Fast forward years and years, she’s now an adult and runs across Meat, a Mountain Mercenary in the country to try to save children from a human trafficker. It’s a story of despair, hope, luck…and love. One of the first meals Zara shares with Meat is a simple fare of Chicken soup. It had been so long since she’d had such a wonderful meal without having to beg or steal for it. I imagine her and Meat sitting down in their house back in Colorado Springs…

with Fresh Fiction Reviewer, Helen Williams Helen: How do you go about developing your characters? SUSAN: I first think about how I want the H/h to meet. It might be a completely dramatic thing, or it might be they already know each other. Then I think about what the 85% drama will be. Once I have those two things, I’m good to start writing. Their personalities come out as I write (and since I write series, I usually already know a lot about the Hero because he’s been in the other books before).  How long does it take you to get a storyline together? I never REALLY know what the storyline is until I’m writing. I know what the drama will be, but the rest kind of just comes as I’m writing.  In reading your stories I see a lot of issues that are relevant today. Do you go to any particular resources for background information (i.e. epilepsy, PTSD)? I don’t have a go-to source, but there have been times I’ve asked my readers for their input. For the book Rescuing Macie, the heroine suffers from anxiety. I asked my readers who suffer from this to share their thoughts if…

We’re joined today by Fresh Fiction reviewer Helen Williams, with a wonderful author recommendation!  The first time I read a book by Susan Stoker was two years ago.  I have been hooked from that moment on. The thing that made me continue reading her novels is her style of writing for her female characters. I like the fact that they find themselves in hopeless circumstances but they continue to fight and not give up. These women go through horrendous situations but show tremendous character in spite of their circumstances.  I have read books before with strong female characters but Ms. Stoker’s novels drew me in like no other.  The storylines have a real-life feel to them. The different situations that her characters experience are sometimes painful to read about but Ms. Stoker’s writing style gives you hope when you see her heroines triumph over the different hardships they encounter. The novels portray some light humor between the characters but they also have some serious realities. Ms. Stoker’s books cover issues dealing with PTSD, rape, physical and emotional abuse, blindness, agoraphobia, homelessness, drug abuse, cancer, epilepsy, physical scars, and human trafficking.  Although these are heavy issues, Susan Stoker delivers them in…

Defending Harlow is a story of second chances. Harlow and Black knew each other in high school but didn’t run in the same circles. When he meets back up with her years later, Black is immediately attracted, except Harlow has written off dating, especially because she’s dealing with trying to keep the residents in the women’s shelter she works at safe. Harlow always had a crush on Black but figured he was out of her league, and it’s impossible to date him now that he’s showing interest because she’s absolutely positively decided that she’s done with dating. She’s had bad date after bad date and figures she’s just not meant to be with someone. The proof is in her last five horrible dates: 1. The guy who kept leaning over the table and stealing food from her plate without asking. 2. The man who ordered for her, which she thought was nice, until he started asking about how many calories were in each dish and then ordered her the baked chicken with vegetables and no butter. 3. The date who did a background check on her to make sure she didn’t have any skeletons in her closet that would make…

Clearing his throat, Arrow said, “I came in here to see if you wanted to try to get those mats out of your hair. The guys found conditioner.” He held up a white bottle. Morgan brought a hand up to her head self-consciously. She knew how bad her hair was, had seen it firsthand in the mirror. She hadn’t wanted to take a pair of scissors to it, but was afraid it was going to be inevitable. “Sure. But I don’t know if it’ll do much good,” she told him honestly. Arrow stood and held out a hand to her. “We can try.” She liked that. We. She felt his fingers brush over her cheek in a barely there caress before he tugged on her hand, urging her to walk toward the bathroom. Maybe it was her time in captivity that made her appreciate the little things more. Arrow grabbed the ice bucket on the way into the bathroom. Morgan stood there feeling awkward as Arrow set the conditioner on the edge of the bathtub, then put his hands on his hips, surveying the room. He turned to her and gestured toward the tub. “Go on and have a seat…

In my romance series, the Mountain Mercenaries are a group of six former special forces men who were brought together by they mysterious, “Rex.” They were chosen because of their expertise and their disenchantment with always having to do things “by the book.” There is an underlying reason why Rex formed the group, but that story line is still evolving.:) Their mission is to fight for abused women and children who can’t fight for themselves. They work somewhat “under the radar” to rescue women who have been kidnapped and to keep them safe from abusers. Allye, in the first book, Defending Allye, mistakenly believes that they are a group of men gone “rogue” as that is typically what a mercenary is. But in the Mountain Mercenaries case they are more like vigilantes.They do what they can to right a wrong done to a woman or child. They work within the law as much as possible, and Rex has connections with law enforcement all over the country, and even outside it. But when push comes to shove, if they have to sneak in and out of a foreign country to rescue someone, they will. It’s all about bringing loved ones home to…

So you are the infamous Gray Rogers — former Navy SEAL, current “Mountain Mercenary”. What can you tell us about this group you belong to and how is it different from when you were in the military? We don’t exactly advertise our services. For the most part the Mountain Mercenaries are kept on the “down low” but we are allowed to talk about our group on an as needed basis. We all have regular “day” jobs for anyone who decides to dig into our background. The men on our team are all retired Special Forces soldiers from all branches of the military. In many ways, being a part of the Mountain Mercenaries is better than being in the military because of the lack of bureaucracy, our handler, Rex, deals with all that, we are left alone to get the job done. And we always get the job done. Your last assignment was suppose to be an information seeking assignment to gather intel on a kidnapping ring. But it turned a bit different. Give us a rundown of your mission. Right. Black and I were to intercept a boat in the Pacific and get information about a well-known human trafficker. Imagine…

CLAIMING ALEXIS features Blake Anderson, who isn’t thrilled he has to work with the younger, and (so he thinks) spoiled Alexis Grant. But as time goes on, the two find that they have much more in common than a desire to help others. Just when they are settling into life as a couple, the case they’ve been working on heats up and Alexis finds herself smack dab in the middle of a situation she never could’ve imagined. In the beginning of the book, Alexis starts out as a kind of intern at Ace Security. In book one, her brother was kidnapped along with the heroine of that story and Alexis meets the brothers of Ace Security and decides she wants to know more about the security business. She doesn’t expect to fall head over heels in love with Blake Anderson…her boss. She knows it’s not a good idea to date her boss, but when he asks her out, she literally cannot say no. I could just picture her trying to talk herself out of dating Blake in her head by making a list of all some of the reasons why dating her boss is bad news. I would think it…