Back List Blog Hop

Welcome to my post for the BackList Blog Hop. Below you'll find descriptions of all of my books. They're all romance novels, with the exception of the last book on the list, which is a book of recipes and stories. Read through the blurbs and if you see something you like, there's a link to my amazon page at the end where you can find all of my books. Finally, at the very bottom, you will find a list of my fellow authors that are also participating in this Blog Hop, please visit them and enjoy their books as well.

Today, I'm giving away a pdf copy of my book, "Compromised." Please leave a comment and your email address below to be entered. I'll award the prize on Sunday evening, assuming we don't have the storms predicted and I can get on the computer.

Thanks,
Carol

"Spring Forward, Fall Back in Love"
The last person Grace Taylor wanted to see was her old boyfriend, Andy Granger, but that's exactly who was standing in front of her on the porch of the ranch. To make matters worse, he was her trail guide. When an unexpected spring storm strands them in a secluded mountain cabin, memories and old feelings emerge. Can Grace keep the secret she'd kept for eight years while at the same time keep Andy at a distance?

"A Kitchen Affair"

Take one personal chef, add one handsome millionaire bachelor and mix well. Simmer together for three dinner parties and see what cooks up.

With Jenny Marshall struggling to pay her tuition at culinary school, she decides to become a Personal Chef to make ends meet. Derek James, owner of the James Corporation, has a crisis. His cook quit two days before his Thanksgiving dinner party, so he hires Jenny to prepare the food.

The prospects of a relationship between Derek and Jenny begin to look good until Colleen Michaels, a manager at his company, sets her sights on Derek. She convinces Jenny that she's all wrong for Derek, coming from the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak.

Everyone thinks Colleen is the perfect match for Derek; everyone that is, except Derek. He's fallen for Jenny and desperately wants her in his life. However, Colleen has other plans to keep that from happening. What lengths will she go to in order to keep Derek and Jenny apart?

"Saved by the Sheriff"
New York City writer, Jaime Wilson wants the Assistant Editor job at Real Mystery Magazine. In order to get it, she has to write a kick-ass story, and what could be better than a 30-year old unsolved murder in a small town.
When Jaime visits Royal, Indiana to investigate, she soon finds that someone in the town doesn't want the mystery solved and she becomes a target. After an arrest for trespassing and an attempt on her life, Sheriff Ben Hunter lets her stay at his place where he can keep an eye on her while she continues to work on her story.
She didn't count on falling in love with the sheriff and he didn't think he would have to work so hard to keep her safe. Finally, when she finishes her story, she has to make her choice whether to stay with Ben or go back to New York.

"Compromised" 

What was supposed to be a routine assignment, protecting a journalist that over heard the sale of classified documents, turns out to be the most difficult of CIA officer Ethan Young’s career when he discovers the reporter is Cally Hunt, his former fiancée. Ethan tries not to let his personal feelings for Cally interfere with his assignment, but finds that task nearly impossible.He can't tell her who he really works for, but keeping her safe from the terrorists proves difficult, as they always seem to find her. Can Ethan protect her without compromising his assignment?

You can find all of my books, e-books and paperback, on my Amazon page.

Writing Romance (When You're Not a Romance Writer)

I want to welcome Katina French to my blog today. Kat is a good friend and a wonderfully talented writer. I highly recommend any of her books and you can find a link to them at the end of this post. She also has a story in an upcoming anthology that I can't wait to get. I'll now turn it over to Kat.

****

I have a confession to make. I really envy Carol, and everyone who can comfortably write the romance genre. Truthfully, I'm a romantic soul, myself. I love a good romantic comedy. I get sucked into the "will they or won't they" subplots of even my favorite mysteries over the years (Castle, Moonlighting, Remington Steele are three of my favorite shows ever, for that reason). 

Enjoying romance is one thing. Writing it well? That's a whole other ballgame. 

I write speculative fiction, in other words science fiction and fantasy, with the occasional mystery. That's my comfort zone. World building? Got that covered. Plot twists and esoteric technology? Sure, bring it on. Bad guys who want to take over the world, and plucky heroes or heroines who have to thwart them with the medieval version of a paperclip and some chewing gum? ALL DAY, BABY. 

But as Jonathan Coulton will tell you, even a supervillain gets lonely. Even a high-tech code monkey wants somebody to love. Writing spec fic doesn't mean you don't have to deal with people falling in love. Whether it's a medieval fantasy or a futuristic sci-fi, people every where, in every time, fall in love. 

If you don't write romance as a genre, it can be pretty intimidating writing romantic scenes for your other works. Dialogue is tricky enough in general, but writing scenes where characters are professing their undying love for each other can be ridiculously hard to pull off. How much detail is enough when writing about physical affection? What are the romantic and sexual mores of your setting? All these questions and more have to be addressed. 

I had to deal with this when I was writing Bitter Cold for the upcoming anthology Once Upon a Clockwork Tale. It's a steampunk retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen." For me, the key was to stay true to my characters, and be honest about their internal struggle to show how they feel about each other.

The relationship between the main characters Kit and Greta is the driving force of the plot. Yes, there is a doomsday device. Yes, there's an evil genius who has to be stopped. But the core of the story is really about these two kids who have grown up as best friends, fallen in love without really admitting it, and now have to face their feelings. Ultimately, it's about getting over your fear of falling for someone you think is so amazing they couldn't possibly love you back. 

Well, that and stopping an evil genius from destroying the world. 

**************

Katina French is a wife, mom and writer from southern Indiana. She writes speculative fiction, including steampunk, modern fantasy and science fiction. She has four short stories published in eBook format, available on her Amazon Author page (http://amazon.com/author/katinafrench). Her first novella length work, Bitter Cold, will be released as part of Once Upon a Clockwork Tale, a collection of steampunk retellings of classic fairy tales. It will be available in paperback and ebook from Echelon Press in June 2013. Find out more at www.katinafrench.com

Memorial Day

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend.

Welcome to the Secret Cravings Publishing Contemporary Blog Hop, featuring the wonderful SCP authors and their contemporary novels. I feel very fortunate to have signed with Secret Cravings a few years ago and hope to stay with them for a long time. The book I'm featuring today is my contemporary romantic suspense, Saved by the Sheriff.

New York City writer, Jaime Wilson wants the Assistant Editor job at Real Mystery Magazine. In order to get it, she has to write a kick-ass story, and what could be better than a 30-year old unsolved murder in a small town.

When Jaime visits Royal, Indiana to investigate, she soon finds that someone in the town doesn't want the mystery solved and she becomes a target. After an arrest for trespassing and an attempt on her life, Sheriff Ben Hunter lets her stay at his place where he can keep an eye on her while she continues to work on her story.

She didn't count on falling in love with the sheriff and he didn't think he would have to work so hard to keep her safe. Finally, when she finishes her story, she has to make her choice whether to stay with Ben or go back to New York.

Excerpt:
Jaime carefully walked up to the old house that stood near a newer home with a barn between the two. She took a few pictures through the windows. The inside of the house looked like no one had been there in years. Perhaps left just the way it was when the Murdock's had last been there. She stood at the front door and couldn't resist trying the knob. The door opened.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he warned.

"I'll just take one picture of the inside and then we'll go." She took one step into the house.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he related again.

"You should listen to the boy," a deep voice echoed from behind them.
She knew that voice.

"Come on out."

Jaime turned to see Ben standing at the corner of the old house, handcuffing Bobby behind his back. "What are you doing?" she asked, walking over to them.

"Arresting him for trespassing. You're next."

"What!"

"Didn't you see the No Trespassing sign?" Ben asked.

"Yes, but..."

"Then you should have turned back. Now, turn around."

Jaime put her camera on the porch and turned around for Ben to handcuff her. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I thought of you handcuffing me," she mumbled to him.

He didn't answer, but instead picked up her camera and led them through the trees to his police car that was parked in front of the other house. She assumed it belonged to the Cook family. A woman in a housedress stood on the front porch.

"They won't be back out here again, Mrs. Cook," Ben called to the lady.

"Thanks, Sheriff."

He opened the back door of his car and Bobby got in. Before Jaime got in, she looked up at Ben. "I'm sorry."

He didn't answer, but put his hand on top of her head so she wouldn't bump it as he guided her into the car.

You can find Saved by the Sheriff in several different e-book formats on the SCP web site at http://bit.ly/ScpPre or in paperback and for Kindles at http://amzn.to/dMglpd or for your Nook at http://bit.ly/y72Po8

Thanks for visiting and don't forget to visit the other SCP authors. You can start at the Secret Cravings Publishing Blog.

Carol

Contest Winner

Congratulations to Shadow, who won a pdf copy of my book, "Spring Forward, Fall Back in Love" in my Caliente Blog Hop post below.

Shadow, I'll be emailing your prize to you soon.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Carol

Caliente Cowboys!

Welcome to my post for the Caliente Blog Hop, where all things are hot. The host for this blog hop is giving away a great prize, so make sure you click on the link above and see what to do to enter. For my blog, I'm giving away a pdf copy of my e-book "Spring Forward, Fall Back in Love." Leave a comment, along with your email address and you'll be entered.

The last person Grace Taylor wanted to see was her old boyfriend, Andy Granger, but that's exactly who was standing in front of her on the porch of the ranch. To make matters worse, he was her trail guide. When an unexpected spring storm strands them in a secluded mountain cabin, memories and old feelings emerge. Can Grace keep the secret she'd kept for eight years while at the same time keep Andy at a distance?

Since my book is about a hot, sexy cowboy in Colorado, I wanted to list my favorite caliente cowboys from television and movies. 

1. Tom Selleck and 2. Sam Elliott. Both played brothers in The Shadow Riders, a 1982 television movie. I don't think there is any cowboy any sexier than those two in that movie. The third brother in the movie was played by Jeff Osterhage. The Shadow Riders was based upon the Louis L'Amour book of the same name. Prior to The Shadow Riders, Selleck, Elliott and Osterhage played brothers in The Sacketts, based on two of L'Amour's books called "The Daybreakers" and "Sackett."

3. Bruce Campbell in The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Airing on television in 1993-1994, Brisco was a western with just a touch of science fiction. Set in 1893, Brisco County Jr was hired by the members of the Westerfield Club to track and re-capture the notorious John Bly, who killed Brisco's father, Brisco County Sr. The show was full of the traditional train robberies and gunfights, but with a mix of fantasy and technology. Campbell went through five auditions before being hired to play Brisco. I can't imagine anyone else playing the quirky cowboy other than Bruce Campbell.

4. Clint Eastwood. How can you talk about hot cowboys and not include Clint Eastwood. I think he's made around fourteen westerns and was great in everyone of them, but my favorite is Pale Rider. Made in 1985, the title Pale Rider referenced the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the book of Revelation, "I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death."

5. James Garner as Bret Maverick. I'm dating myself, but I remember the TV series, Maverick when it was in black and white. The series ran from 1957 through 1962 and let me preface this by saying I was not even born yet when this show started so maybe I remember the reruns in black and white. Maverick was a gambler from Texas that traveled all over the American west and Mississippi riverboats seeking his fortune, but usually getting into trouble. Maverick loved to compare his situations with old saying from his "pappy." In 1994, James Garner appeared in the movie remake of Maverick by playing Marshal Zane Cooper to Mel Gibson's Bret Maverick.

6. Robert Conrad as Secret Service Agent James West. The Wild Wild West aired on CBS for four seasons starting in 1965. It was one of the first steampunk shows, although I don't think anyone knew what steampunk was back then. Who could forget Robert Conrad in all of those fights scenes where those tight pants. That was definitely caliente back in those times. West lived in a railroad car and traveled all over the west solving crimes for the government with his partner, Artimus Gordon, played by Ross Martin. I watch reruns of The Wild Wild West on Saturday afternoons.

7. Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds. Firefly is considered a space western and Mal is the sexiest captain on this side of the star system. Mal and his crew traveled the galaxy in the spaceship, Serenity. Firefly lasted only one season on the FOX network and was cancelled after only eleven episodes. Due to it's cult following, sales of the series DVD have done very well and Nathan Fillion's appearances at Comic-Con have an increased attendance every year.

So, there you have my list of favorite sexy, Caliente Cowboys. Now, it's your turn. Tell me who your favorite cowboys are and why. Don't forget, leaving a comment and email address will enter you into my contest for a pdf copy of my novella, "Spring Forward, Fall Back in Love." I'll announce the winner on May 12 here on the blog.

Carol