Summer Fire!

Joan Reeves, whose book in Summer Fire is Heat Lightning, is a bestselling author of Contemporary Romance. Available as ebooks and audiobooks, her romance novels all have the same underlying theme: “It’s never too late to live happily ever after.” Joan lives her happily ever after with her husband in the Lone Star State. Sign up for WordPlay, Joan's free email list for readers: http://eepurl.com/Yk61n.

The Wranglers welcome Joan to the round corral today to talk about Summer Fire.

I thought it would be fun to ask some of the authors of the Summer Fire Contemporary Romance Collection the same question because I knew the responses from these New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors would all be entertaining to readers and informative to writers.

Question: What was the inspiration for your story in the Summer Fire Contemporary Romance Collection?

Gennita Low, author of Sizzle. “Sizzling passion and flying bullets.”

I wanted to write an adult Romeo and Juliet story ala spy-style. So, two spies from opposite sides showed up in my head to introduced themselves. Perfect! They're in love and I need to put them right inside a current area of political interest. The Ukrainian crisis inspired much of my story because, in a way, it's about people torn between two loves too and Mariupol is a city beloved by both Ukrainians and Russians.

Kym Grosso, author of Solstice Burn. “Love and erotic temptation in the tropics.”

My husband and I love to vacation in the Caribbean, so I was inspired by some of our island adventures. Solstice Burn is loosely tied to my new contemporary romance, Carnal Risk, and the main character, Chase makes a small appearance in that book as well. 

Victoria Danann, author of A Season in Gemini. “A breath of fresh romance--normal and paranormal.”

I had planned a novel called TWO PRINCES: The Biker and The Billionaire, to release mid-June. I realized it needed a back story or introduction. So writing a novella was perfect.

L. Wilder, author of Summer Storm. “Can their love survive the storm?”

While writing my Devil Chaser's series, I became inspired to write a spin-off series with one of my characters, Maverick. This book is the introduction to his series.

Cat Miller, author of Sun Burnt. “Sophisticated city girl’s wild ride with a cowboy.”

I am writing another novel about a girl raised on a ranch who spends time in Las Vegas. Her new love interest is from Nevada and knows nothing about country living. With that in mine, when I was planning for Summer Fire I decided to write about what it would be like for a city dweller to enter a small town community. In the city nobody notice you and you rarely know your neighbors. In a small town else one notices your every move. Everybody knows everyone else and a stranger stands out. Culture shock is the name of the game.

Mimi Barbour, author of Big Girls Don't Cry. “Why cry when no one is listening?”

My story for the Summer Fire collection is called Big Girls Don't Cry. Ever since I experienced a ride in a mirrored elevator and wished the designer to perdition, it was a book I wanted to write. I began thinking about what would happen if a big girl lived in an apartment building and had to look at herself every day. Of course, my mind took off and I could picture this gorgeous hunk moving into the same building, which would mean she'd want to entice him. Well, first she'd think of making herself more attractive… After that, the story wrote itself.

Helen Scott Taylor, author of Irish Kisses. “Second chance at love in an enchanting Irish castle.”

I've always loved Ireland and wanted to write a contemporary romance set there for a long time. I had a vision in my mind of an Irish castle, then I saw a picture of a magical wishing jar full of tiny lights, charms and trinkets, and the story came to life in my head.

Clarissa Wild, author of Killer. “Bitterness turns into an obsession; a stalker is born.”

My inspiration was the standalone Stalker. I needed some extra backstory to really set the mood, which was perfect for my Summer Fire story, Killer.

Mona Risk, author of Husband for a Week. “Never fall in love with a fake husband.”

I was browsing through pictures and found photos of a Mediterranean cruise, some of them showing gorgeous sceneries from Sicily that I wanted to share with my readers--or at least show them this island that I enjoyed by using it as the setting of a book. Since I have already published a romantic suspense, Neighbors and More, where the hero is Sicilian, I decided to write a sequel, the story of his young sister and set part of the plot in Sicily.

Lorhainne Eckhart, author of His Promise. “A love they thought would last forever.”

I have a few series out and what I did was take two side characters, and give them their own story. Bruce and Kim were introduced in The Deadline, Kim was the attractive neighbor woman to Laura and Andy. And Bruce Siegel was the Pediatrician who helped their son, Gabriel. You didn't learn a lot about Kim and Bruce except that they had a shared past. They were friends, but you also learned there was  a story that had yet to be told. And so Kim and Bruce got their story in, HIS PROMISE.

Joan Reeves, author of Heat Lightning. “Secrets, lies, passion. Secrets can kill.”

I’ve known people in life who were tormented by traumatic memories. I often thought it would be merciful if they could excise those memories. Then maybe they could find happiness. Of course, the mercy of forgetting has a downside that became dangerous for my heroine.

Brandy L Rivers, author of Summer Rhythm. “Doug never could resist Chloe. Is she back for good?”

I had an idea for the only human in the band Nights Embrace, and felt I needed to tell his story finally. And yes, it is contemporary. He somehow doesn't know, or chooses to ignore what's different about the rest of his bandmates.

Add Summer Fire to Your Library

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Dv2jy3

Apple: http://bit.ly/1CVOgih

B&N: http://bit.ly/18d9QY0

Kobo: http://bit.ly/19QsJAD

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1wsmBsL

Giveaway

Leave a comment with your email address and be entered in a random drawing for a free copy of Summer Fire: Love When It's Hot Contemporary Romance Collection. Giveaway is open until May 24 midnight. Winner will be chosen on May 25 by Random Name Picker and notified by email as well as in the Comments section of this post on Word Wranglers.