May Book Picks

I have a thing for cowboys. There, I said it out loud. I dated many of them in my younger years. Before you think that’s more information than you need to know, let me explain. As a writer I’m inspired by everything, even my past. I never met a perfect man and I never met a perfect cowboy. That’s why I created my ideal one in "TRUTH AND DARE," my May release. Oh sure, he has flaws. But they only make him hotter. I hope you’ll check the book, and my cowboy Cade Randall, out this month.

Now let’s see what some of my writer friends are up to this month:

Tawny Webber’s JUST FOR THE NIGHT is a 24 Hours: Blackout story. I loved writing this because it let me play with one of those ‘what if’s I’ve always pondered... What if someone got locked in the mall after it closed. And better yet, what if you got locked in with someone you loved to hate. I was surprised at the direction the story took me, since I’d always imagined if I were locked in a mall I’d be trying on fancy clothes and shoes, sliding down escalators and naughtily rearranging the mannequins. My hero and heroine, who happened to be ex-lovers with an explosive past, however, were much better—and much worse—behaved. It was a fun ‘what if’ to play with! As a museum and archaeology junkie, Elizabeth Amber couldn't resist writing a hero that was the lead archaeologist in the Roman Forum circa 1880. The major excavations took place then, after centuries of silt had half- buried arches, columns, and the ruins of the Vestal Virgin House and Temple under sixteen feet of silt. "The heroine in my May release, BASTIAN, THE LORDS OF SATYR, is trying to use Bastian to locate a powerful artifact in the Virgins' House. And she was once a Vestal herself, centuries ago." In Alexi Morgan’s latest, BOUND BY DARKNESS, her hero was quite a surprise. The hero of this book, Larem q'Jones, has been a force to be reckoned with since he first entered the Paladin world several books ago. He was supposed to be a friend of the heroine in an earlier story, someone who made her stop and think about what she was giving up by leaving their world. In doing so, I put Larem in an untenable position because her decision destroyed his life. Larem's honor and my conscience demanded that he be given a book of his own. I've enjoyed watching this incredibly complicated man build a life for himself in a new world. "My hero’s already stunned by the fact that he’s inherited a child, one he had never known he’d fathered," says Barbara White Daille. "Romances are all about the conflict...so how do I take that popular storyline and give it a twist to increase the conflict?" Those were the questions Barbara White Daille asked while plotting A RANCHER’S PRIDE. The answer she came up with: add to an already heart-wrenching situation by having her hero unable to communicate with his child because she speaks a different language. Four-year-old Becky is deaf. "Becky’s a sweetheart. I loved writing about her—and torturing her daddy, Sam," she says. "And as someone who also loves language and is a certified American Sign Language interpreter, I enjoyed the challenge of weaving sign language into the story." Desiree Holt’s latest is HARD LOVIN'. "I was a huge fan of folk music during its heyday and have never lost my love for it," says Holt. "I still love listening to The Kingston Trio and one of my faves is The Gypsy Rove, and old Irish air. It tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a wandering minstrel and is seduced by his music, leaves her castle and her lover to follow him. Her wealthy father tracks her down only to find her at another castle with her gypsy rover who turns out to be a wealthy lord. I took the song and turned it into a modern day story of a wealthy rancher's daughter and the wandering country music minstrel she falls in love with. It's a fun tale and I use the lyrics of the song to introduce each chapter." Also look for Megan Kelly’s THE MARRIAGE SOLUTION and THE GUARDIAN by Margaret Mallory.