Candis Terry | Living In and Exploring the Land of Sweet, Texas

Once upon a time, when I was asked to create a new series proposal for my publisher, I knew exactly where I wanted to vicariously live for the next couple of years. I am a frequent visitor to the great state of Texas, and during those visits I’ve tried my best to get out of the big cities and into the small towns because, well, that’s what I write about. I eat in their restaurants, browse their lovely shops, and engage in as much of the local happenings as I can. This—unfortunately—has included going to a cave and watching several million bats fly out. Yeah. Crazy, I know. And not a single one of them came out bellowing, “To the Batmobile!” or looked hot in black latex like Christian Bale.

When I do research, it’s important to me to see what the locals really do, how they really live, where they get gas for their cars and buy their tomatoes. I drive through their neighborhoods and along the outskirts of town. I make note of the types of houses there are and what the lawns and gardens are like. I talk to the residents, the firemen, the police, the mayor, and even the guy who works at the local liquor store. Some of them think I’m crazy with the questions I ask, but they smile and oblige anyway. I go to yard sales and talk to the folks milling about while they try to decide if thirty bucks is too much to pay for an old milk can (it’s not). And then the best part happens . . . I come home to my own little farm, put everything together, and hopefully construct a magical make-believe town inside my head that I hope will lovingly translate to my readers.

Creating Sweet, Texas was more fun than I ever imagined. And some of the places readers have learned to love are imagined from real places. Bud’s Nothing Finer Diner is a combination of Soda Pops in Boerne and The High Café in Comfort, Texas. Wilder and Sons Hardware and Feed was imagined from Bergmann Lumber Co. in Boerne and Henne Hardware in New Braunfels (both stores are way more than hardware and paint!). Miss Giddy, the loveable fashionista goat I dreamed up, was born from seeing so many goats in the Texas Hill Country and then happening upon a darling little store in Comfort called . . . Miss Giddy’s (wonderful people and super cool stuff to buy!). When I blurted out to my husband, “I’m putting a goat in these books,” he gave me an indescribable look. But I was smiling so I didn’t care. In the first Sweet, Texas book (ANYTHING BUT SWEET), I had a blast when Charlotte Brooks, the heroine, a TV show makeover host and designer, came in to revive the aging town and took the candy store, Goody Gum Drops, to a new level. In my newest book SWEET SURPRISE (the fourth book in the series), Fiona Wilder busted loose from the hot and wild Wilder brothers to get her own story and create her very own cupcake shop.

In my head, I know exactly where that adorable cupcake shop sits on Main Street. I can see it as clear as the snow on my front yard right now. I can see the secondhand store where Fiona bought her cute wrought iron table and chairs. I can taste that dripping-with-cheese Diablo burger from Bud’s Diner. And I can hear the laughter of the folks as they sit around the table at the senior center while they argue about who deserves the blue ribbon at the next Sweet Apple Butter Festival.

One of the things I like best about writing small town contemporary romance is actually putting boots on the ground and digging deep into the area I want to write about. For me it’s more than who’s wearing what, it’s the history about that rickety restaurant down the road that only serves breakfast and has weathered through four generations. In SWEET SURPRISE, traditions, community, and family mean the most to Fiona Wilder. She’s a girl after my own heart. And my heart really likes living in Sweet, Texas. I hope you’ll stop by and take a look. But watch out if Chester Banks, Sweet’s resident octogenarian Cowboy Casanova, offers to give you a tour. He might look harmless, but there’s a whole lot of fire still burning in his chimney.

About SWEET SURPRISE

Playing naughty or nice . . .

Fiona Wilder knows all about falling in lust. Love? That's another story. Determined not to repeat past mistakes, the single mom and cupcake shop owner is focused on walking the straight and narrow. But trouble has a way of finding her. And this time it comes in the form of a smoking hot firefighter who knows all the delicious ways to ignite her bad-girl fuse.

Can lead to heartbreak . . .

Firefighter Mike Halsey learned long ago that playing with fire just gets you burned. He's put his demons behind him, and if there's one line he won't cross, it's getting involved with his best friend's ex. But when fate throws him in the path of the beautiful, strong, and off-limits Fiona, will he be able to fight their attraction? Or will he willingly go down in flames?

Or a sweet surprise!

Fresh Fiction reviewer Miranda Owen says "SWEET SURPRISE is a fun, sexy romance with textured characters." Read our full review here.