1. Tell us about yourself.
I live in Homer, Alaska, which I’m proud to say is the Halibut Fishing Capital of the World. Yay! Right now we have nearly 24 hour daylight so I’m a little wired. (Summer solstice is coming up soon.) I write contemporary romance that has been described as “steamy and irresistible” with “quick wit” and “sizzling love scenes.” My first two series were about firemen and baseball players. I live with my husband and two stepdaughters on the edge of pristine wilderness, fortunately just within reach of cell service and Internet.
2. What three things about you might surprise your readers?
Since I got into social media, I’m not sure I have any secrets left! It might surprise readers that I backpacked around Europe when I was 14, along with my older cousin who was only 19. (Crazy, right?) Number 2: I can split wood like nobody’s business. (A handy skill in Alaska.) Number 3: I was a Hula Hoop champion in third grade and got my picture in the paper!
3. Is there a genre(s) that you think “I might like to write one of those.”?
I’m obsessed with dystopian YA fiction. My step-daughter and I actually came up with an idea the other day and began plotting it out in the car. She gets first dibs, since she actually is a young adult (she’s 12.) But she asked if she could get me to write a few sentences now and then when she gets stuck. I can’t wait to get my hands on the story!
4. Tell us about DRIVE YOU WILD.
DRIVE YOU WILD is a baseball romance about bad boy slugger Trevor Stark, who has a reputation as a troublemaker. He falls hard for the good-girl daughter of the team owner. Paige Taylor is recovering from a humiliating divorce and is starting over as an intern at Catfish stadium. The last thing she wants to do is get involved with one of her father’s players, but Trevor Stark is too fascinating to resist. Falling for Trevor is even more dangerous than she realizes because he’s hiding something big and it’s about to turn his life upside down.
5. Where did the idea for the storyline come from?
Trevor has been a character in the previous Love Between the Bases series, and I have to say he’s acted like a jerk. But he always intrigued me, and I knew there was a reason why he was playing the bad boy. I wanted to dig down and unearth those reasons and work the storyline around that. Crush Taylor, the owner, has also been an important character so I knew bringing in his estranged daughter would really shake things up.
6. What do you think readers will like/love about Paige and Trevor?
I think readers will fall for Trevor once they see what’s driving his behavior. He is a fiercely protective good guy hiding behind an arrogant mask. Everything he does is for a very good reason, and once you understand the reason, you see what an amazing person he is. Paige is kind and compassionate and she really cares about people. She’s a loving person who has been wounded by her ex-husband, but hasn’t lost her faith in people. That’s what I love about her. She always has faith in people’s underlying goodness.
7. What was your favorite scene from the book?
Can I pick two? One is the scene in which Trevor storms into Crush Taylor’s office without his uniform pants on. That’s when he finds out that the girl he met the night before is, in fact, the owner’s daughter. The second scene is a showdown between Trevor and Crush, who’s a former Hall of Fame pitcher. And I can’t say any more about that without spoiling it. But it brings together so many delicious threads that I just loved it.
8. Who are some of your book boyfriends? What draws you to them?
Mr. Darcy is my original book boyfriend. I will also include any member of the Bonner family in Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books. I love Alex in Lisa Kleypas’ Dream Lake. The common thread between all these book boyfriends is that I love a “tortured” hero. Someone who has suffered a blow, who has matured from it and really had to dig deep to overcome it.
9. If you had to pick a favorite cocktail of choice, what would it be? (It can be non-alcoholic too)
I’m going with the Mojito because it has so many of my favorite flavors. Mint, lime, sugar. Leave out the alcohol and it’s still delicious. Drinking a Mojito is the next best thing to relaxing on a beachside lounge chair. Mojito in a lounge chair? Pure bliss.
10. What’s next for you?
I have a new series starting in September based around a rough-and-rowdy hotshot wildfire crew that moves into a quiet tourist town called Jupiter Point in coastal California. The hero of the first book left Jupiter Point in disgrace, but now he’s back to set up the crew and prove himself. But first he’ll have to mend fences with the girl he left behind. I’m super-excited about this new series—it’s a combination of hot alpha firemen and hometown romance, with lots of fun chemistry and steamy scenes thrown in. Look for it in September of this year!
