#authorinterview – Page 24 – Avonna Loves Genres

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: High Meadow by Freya Barker

Book Description

An emergency call to pick up an injured stallion on the side of the road sends Alexandra Hart, the new owner of Hart’s Horse Rescue, into action. A recent addition to the area, she is not impressed when the animal’s taciturn owner shows up. With his less-than-stellar disposition, he’s the kind of man she normally avoids at all costs, unfortunately, he owns the ranch just down the road.

However, when the manhunt for a pair of escaped prisoners gets a little too close for comfort, Jonas turns out to be a better neighbor than she expected.

The Alex who shows up at his ranch to help with his prize stud’s recovery is not exactly who Jonas Harvey expected. This is the same bleeding heart he met on the side of the road. Worried she’s not up for the job, he’d prefer to keep a close eye on her but his High Mountain Trackers team gets called in to track down a group of domestic terrorists.

But the slip of a woman proves him wrong. On all fronts. Alex not only charms his horses but him as well, and when trouble comes calling she proves to be a worthy ally to boot.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

High Meadow by Freya Barker has strong independent women facing off against alpha-males. It is a modern-day western suspense with added doses of romance.

The story is set in Libby Montana where Jonas Harvey has the High Meadow Stud Horse Ranch, which neighbors with Hart’s Horse Rescue. When one of Jonas’ horses goes lame with a leg injury, Alex Hart is asked to help heal him. Jonas did not expect Alex to be a female but finds a woman who is confident in her abilities to heal horses a la the Heartland TV show.

The suspense comes when two escaped convicts begin working with nationalists and homesteaders who are setting bombs. Because Jonas also has a business, the High Mountain Trackers, they are asked to find the domestic terrorists and help to assist the arrogant FBI and DHS agents. After retiring from the Special Forces Jonas had set up the High Mountain Trackers with his ex-military buddies, Fletch, Sully and Bo. This elite team uses all the special talents and knowledge acquired during their military careers to track and rescue, or recover, the lost, or the hiding.

Alex and her friend Lucy have a business that rescues abandoned and abused horses as well as dogs and a donkey. New to the area, they would have to build the rehabilitation reputation of their farm. But everything is put on hold until the convicts are found because they have decided to set up their terrorism operations on Alex’s land.

The hero and heroine are respectively in their fifties and forties. While working together both Jonas and Alex realize there is a chemistry between them. Although they did not seek out a romance it seems to have found them. Now Jonas must use his gruff skills to protect her, while she shows him that nobody will push her around and she will not avert danger. Readers will enjoy learning about the characters while getting a riveting mystery/thriller. This first in a four-book series is filled with action and great banter between the characters.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why the setting?

Freya Barker: My daughter lives out in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and she does a lot of camping down into Montana. Most of my writing takes place in the Colorado area, but I thought Montana would be interesting to write about, especially since it is a place I always wanted to go. A photographer friend of mine showed me a picture she had taken of a rancher, that became the cover for High Meadow. I decided to write about Lincoln County in Montana. The homesteader idea came from discussions with my son, an avid hunter.

EC: Why a horse rescue for the female lead, Alex?

FB: I always dreamed of having one when I was younger. As a three-year-old growing up in Holland I saw a functioning farm behind us. At that age I was put on a Belgium horse. I had no fear and loved the experience. I had been around horses my entire young life. I adore horses. My dream growing up was to come to Canada to have enough space to own a horse. I emigrated to Canada when I was twenty-seven with my young children. LOL, I have lived in Canada for over thirty years and still do not have a horse.

EC: How would you describe Alex?

FB: Independent, motivated by idealism, emotional, passionate, strong, determined, big-hearted, and pragmatic. She is a bit of an earth-mother type. She has preconceived ideas which can make her a bit naïve. She relocated herself to a place where she knew nobody so I would say she is also adventurous. The main drives in her life were to raise her son after her husband was killed and to build up a business.

EC: How would you describe Jonas?

FB: He is a traditionalist and old fashioned. He has lived in a male dominated environment, being surrounded by ranchers and having been in Special Forces. He is considerate and can be a charmer when he wants to be. Jonas can also be open-minded.

EC: What about the relationship?

FB: It is a mature relationship. Neither is looking for a partner, yet there was some chemistry both could not ignore. There is not a lot of angst, emotional situations, in the relationship, but more a cerebral approach. I am not a fairy tale writer and want it to be real. I hope I reflected that they could talk about misunderstandings and their feelings. I put in my books how others see the relationship before the hero and heroine and will tease them. Because they are slightly older characters people around them can see what is happening first. In the beginning Alex is guarded but not for long, because she was willing to open to a possibility.

EC: Ama/Jonas relationship versus Lucy/Alex?

FB: They both behave as siblings. With Lucy and Alex there is friendship, a little bit of big sister, and nurturing from Alex to Lucy. With Ama/Jonas she is the nurturer. Both Lucy and Ama are direct and blunt. Lucy has a defense mechanism because of what happened to her that makes her more abrasive. Ama is also loving, and the directness is part of her personality. Both control the household.

EC: Why the military angle?

FB: I have had military angles before. I group of my friends are ex-military. I use the veteran component. Readers get a certain picture of an alpha male. It is a quick way for people to identify with the characters. It is also a way to honor them. A lot of skills learned in the military can be used, for example tracking. Jonas was in Afghanistan, Alex’s late husband fought in Afghanistan, and Alex’s son is fighting in Iraq. It made for a credible source since they step up to the plate and would not sit by the sidelines. I also tried to make it realistic. I asked people who knew and did research to find out information.

EC: The thriller end has a lot of 3-letter agencies?

FB: There are jurisdictional issues. It can be different from state-to-state and county-to-county. In this case I researched the town and county. I found out how the departments worked.

EC: Next books?

FB: The book just out, book two, is High Stakes. The hero is Fletch who is a broody individual and likes to be in the shadows. He has spent some time in Canada and was found there by Jonas when assembling his team. Fletch lives off the grid. Because he is a tracker he was approached by a woman, Nella, whose sister, Fili, is missing. There is a lot of wildernesses involved as with tracking, tracing, adventure, and hiking. Book 3 called High Ground comes out in August. The hero and heroine are Sully and Fili. Book 4 will be released in December. The hero and heroine are Bo and Lucy.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Invisible Woman and Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck

Elise’s Thoughts

The Invisible Woman (Female Spy Heroines of WWII Book 1)

Sisters of Night and Fog (Female Spy Heroines of WWII Book 2)

Erika Robuck

Berkley Publisher

The Invisible Woman and Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck are very riveting historical novels. Based very closely on true stories, Robuck skillfully brings to life these heroic women, Virginia Hall, Virginia d’Albert-Lake, and Violette Szabo. Both these novels highlight the duty, sacrifice, and determination of these historic women who helped the Resistance in WWII.

The SOE, known as The Special Operations Executive, was a British WWII organization formed in 1940. They aided the Resistance with espionage and sabotage against the Nazis. They worked hand-in-hand with the US OSS, later to become the CIA. Both Winston Churchill, William J. Donovan, and Vera Atkins, who recruited, trained, and planned secret missions in France, aided the Resistance.

The Invisible Woman shows why Virginia Hall should be honored with the US Medal of Honor. She was a vigilant spy, a fearless soldier, and an unflinching commander.Sent to occupied France to organize spy networks, gather intelligence, and run safehouses in 1942, she had to escape the Nazis after her network was betrayed. But not to be deterred, she came back in 1944 to organize the resistance before the Allied invasion. The Gestapo had wanted posters of “The Limping Lady”, because she had a prosthetic leg who she named “Cuthbert.” She was influential in helping the allies to defeat the Nazis and liberate the French.

Sisters of Night and Fog has two women, Violette Szabo and Virginia d’Albert-Lake connected by fate and chance. Virginia is an American to a Frenchman who becomes a leader in helping Allied airmen escape from Occupied France. Violette, a British citizen who is half French, joins the SOE, leaving behind her small daughter, and parachutes into France with money to pay the resistance. Both women helped the resistance, but unfortunately their clandestine deeds come to a staggering halt after they are captured by the Germans and brought together at the Ravensbrück concentration camp. They bond through having to endure the torture and horrific conditions. Virginia admires and respects Violette for her inspiration and determination to keep as many women as possible in the camp alive. Robuck’s portraits of these three unforgettable heroines is captivating. A bonus in both novels is the author’s notes about the characters and history. Readers will feel the tension and take the journey with these inspiring women through their sacrifices, courage, and endurance.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: The series idea?

Erika Robuck: Both these books are related. They are about women of WWII who fought with the resistance and participated in espionage in different capacities. As I was researching The Invisible Woman it led to the second book, Sisters of Night and Fog. I had been writing about women in the shadows of male authors for a long time. An editor said, why not write about a woman remarkable on her own. I discovered a Smithsonian article about a woman who spied for the allies and helped the foundation for modern intelligence. The main character of the first novel, Virginia Hall, fit the bill for a woman who is remarkable.

EC: Do you like the name Virginia?

ER: LOL. The name likes me. They are old-fashioned. It seems everyone I search is either a Virginia, Violette, or a Vera.

EC: Ok, so do you like women characters whose names start with “V”?

ER: I have grown to like it because I think of the victory symbols. It is fitting for these real women.

EC: The main character of Virginia Hall from The Invisible Woman was formulated from some stories told to you by her niece?

ER: I met her because she lives in Maryland, as do I. I was able to interview her quite a bit. She allowed me to see the family photos. She colored in the pencil sketch I had, able to get to know the real woman after I met her family. Virginia would take her niece on fishing and hunting expeditions.

EC: How would you describe Virginia Hall?

ER: She is unconventional in that she and her husband Paul lived together before they were married at a time when that was unusual. She is assertive, formidable, inquisitive, intelligent, no nonsense, has a sense of loyalty/duty, and incredibly courageous. She was athletic, the captain of every team she was on. Since being told no a lot of her life, she was a little bit bitter. Her mother did not want her to travel the world, the Foreign Service said no because she was a woman and had a disability. But she overcame all of it.

EC: What was her disability?

ER: She had a prosthetic leg. She accidentally shot off her foot while hunting, shooting birds. She named the leg Cuthbert, the Patron Saint of Birds. This is the only connection anyone could make with the name of her leg. Even with her loss of leg she had so many skills as an actress, hunter, sailor, adventurer, soldier, and linguist.

EC: Had did Virginia Hall become a spy?

ER: After France fell to the Nazis she went to London. This is where she got on the radar of the British Special Operations Executive. They saw her talents and were not put off about anything with her. After her first mission where the network was betrayed, she had a tremendous amount of anger. She lost a lot of people to death and imprisonment although she was able to escape. With her next mission to France, she had a lot of survivor’s guilt and PTSD. She was afraid about losing people, yet she kept going, conquering it, and had hope. I am working with the women of the intelligence agencies and her family to get her The Medal of Honor.

EC: She became a commander in the resistance movement?

ER: She had a very keen eye for talent, spotting how certain people could help the allied cause, and gain their trust, which is how she created her resistance network. She was able to corral, train, and arm the resistance, showing how vital the network was to the allied cause. She was able to organize them.

EC: How would you describe Vera Atkins who was in both books?

ER: She was the ultimate spymaster, cool and calm. Being Jewish, Vera was deeply invested with those she supervised for the SOE to help fight the Nazis. She faced backlash as a woman but was able to recruit allies since she was incredibly charming and diplomatic. She could navigate the different circles. She and Winston Churchill were on the same page, not afraid to have women or people with disabilities serve. They were partnered with the OSS, the CIA precursor. The author Ian Fleming based the fictional character “M” on Atkins in his James Bond novels. After the war she hunted down every bit of evidence of those she agents lost, feeling deeply responsible. She lost 118 of the 400 she recruited. Her research was used in the Nuremberg Trials to convict many Nazis.

EC: In Sisters of Night and Fog there was also a Virginia, Virginia d’ Albert Lake?

ER: She is very different than Virginia Hall because she was a typical run of the mill woman. She did not seek danger and daring, thinking after she was married in France there would be a happily ever after. She was not wired for a leadership role but grew into it. Virginia d’ Albert Lake was more grounded and quieter. She embraced her role, helping one person at a time. She was a different kind of leader than Virginia Hall who could be kind of boorish.

EC: What about Violette, another hero of the second book?

ER: She is more hotheaded and impulsive than either Virginia. She worked more on instinct. She grew up with five brothers and had to fight her way through life. After the Nazis killed her husband during the war, she sought vengeance. Violette became a sharpshooter. She was more of a risk-taker, a wounded person, and more emotional than the other two. She moved through life like a wrecking ball. Her relationship with her father created in her wanting to be one of the boys and seeking the approval of the men in the resistance. She matured through the years of the war. With her SOE training she became more focused, subdued, and polished. This allowed her to be a great leader of those women who were imprisoned by the Nazis with her at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp.

EC: What all three women had in common?

ER: Both Virginias were American. All three were courageous with an inner strength. They demanded respect. They found their vocation, which helped them rise to different occasions. All of them faced a cycle of emotions from worry, fear, hope, guilt, and love. They knew the average life span was six weeks. I loved them all with a different piece of my heart.

EC: There is a quote in one of the books about humanity?

ER: You are referring to this one, “Is humanity doomed? Is it even redeemable at this point? What’s the use of doing any small act of good when evil seems to overpower it? The darkness seems to blot out all the light.” What the Germans did to the Jews: rounding them up, sending them to labor and concentration camps, endless killings, and torture. Man’s inhumanity to man is incomprehensible. The Nazis also crucified babies, locked the French up in Churches, and burned them. Each of these women were determined to show that hope exists with the defeat of the Nazis.

EC: What would you like readers to take away from the books?

EK: There is always hope. Women have the strength to do what is needed to be done. They just must have courage. At the end of each book, they can read the author’s note if they choose to go deeper into the history.

EC: Next book?

ER: I was thinking of writing about Vera Atkins, the supervisor of SOE but another author is doing it, Laura Kamoie. After this WWII novel I will go into another area of historical fiction. For my personal mental health, I am steering clear of WWII.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Citizen K-9 and Best in Snow by David Rosenfelt

Book Descriptions

Citizen K-9 ‘s plot has a high school friend of the Cold Case Investigative team vanishing. They decide to investigate what happened and are not deterred by threatening incidents. The Paterson Police Department has created a cold case division, and they want to hire the private investigators known as the K Team to investigate the crimes. The team members include Corey Douglas and his K-9 partner, German shepherd Simon Garfunkel, recently retired from the force, Laurie Collins, wife of defense attorney Andy Carpenter, who used to be a cop as well, and Marcus, an enforcer type.

Their first cold case hits home for the K Team. A decade ago, at Laurie’s tenth high school reunion, two of their friends vanished. At the time Laurie had just left the force, and Corey was in a different department, so they had no choice but to watch from the sidelines. With no leads, the case went cold. But now they risk their lives to find out what really happened.

Best In Snow has defense attorney Andy Carpenter’s golden retriever, Tara, discovering a body. The murder victim is Mayor Alex Oliva, who had an infamous relationship with the newspaper. Last year a young reporter published an expose and was fired for libel. Now, the young reporter – and prime suspect– has Andy Carpenter agreeing to take the case. As the evidence piles up Andy must get to the truth to prove his client innocent.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Citizen K-9 and Best in Snow by David Rosenfelt have dogs in the background. The former movie executive turned author knows how to create a plot that has a good mystery, some action, and likeable characters. These two series usually come out every year. The “Andy Carpenter series” is more of a legal thriller, while the “Citizen K-9” series delves into Cold Cases and is a spin-off with many characters overlapping between series.

Both these books have an entertaining cast of characters, lots of plot twists and turns, humor, wit, surprises, court room drama, and suspense. Readers will enjoy these reads.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Role of the dogs?

David Rosenfelt: In the Andy Carpenter books they are just pets, although they do find bodies. They are not crucial to the books. In the Citizen K-9 books the dog has a role being a former police dog. One of the books, Play Dead, had a dog that was integral to the plot. For the first time they put a dog on the cover. It sold like twice as many copies because there was a Golden Retriever on the cover. With dogs on the cover there had to be dogs in the book. Usually, a dog gets Andy into the case.

EC: Is Citizen K-9 a spinoff of the Andy Carpenter series?

DF: Yes. It is a third in a series. For some bizarre reason they are selling well so there will be more stories. Laurie, Andy’s wife, a retired police person, works with others to solve cold cases. I never have a eureka moment with ideas. The Andy Carpenter books are legal thrillers, and this book is a conventional thriller with some humor.

EC: The retired police dog is named Simon Garfunkel–are you a fan?

DF: Yes, but that is not why I gave the dog that name. I used the name because I am into dog rescue benefits. I had a character name auctioned off. The person who won the auction wanted their dog’s name, Simon Garfunkel, to be used in the book. Since I liked the name, I used it.

EC: Do you want to tell us about the dog rescue?

DF: Yes. Andy Carpenter started a dog rescue in the second book of that series. My wife and I started a dog rescue while living in California after our wonderful Golden Retriever, Tara, died. We started volunteering in the Los Angeles animal shelters, which are horrible. We did not want to see dogs put down, so we started our own foundation. We ended up rescuing 4,000 dogs. If one of the dogs was unplaceable they came home as our pet. We never had less than twenty-five dogs in our house. We are dog maniacs. Right now, we have thirteen because the rescue shelters in New England are terrific.

EC: Did you have any bad experiences?

DF: Once, a year and a half collie mix came into the shelter with a broken leg. Nobody would fix it, and nobody would adopt her because of her leg. Someone working there had moved the dog from cage to cage so her management thought it a different dog. She brought the dog to a vet. We rescued that dog. She was the greatest dog we had for fourteen years.

EC: How would you describe Corey, a former police dog handler, now a PI and part of the Cold Case Investigative team. He is the main character in your Canine series books.

DF: He had an occasional temper. I was looking for different personality traits from Andy. He is courageous. He likes to be a rule follower. The means is far more important than the end to him.

EC: What about Andy from the Best in Snow book?

DF: Andy is me. He thinks like I do, and we are in the same world. He has a warped sense of humor like me. He believes the end justifies the means. He is independent, sarcastic, sometimes obnoxiously badgering, no understanding of women. He became wealthy in book 1.

EC: How would you describe Laurie, his wife and now PI?

DF: No nonsense, direct, doesn’t take any gruff. She does have a soft side. She is very protective of Andy. In book 4 she received this offer and was pondering leaving Andy. In book 6 and book 7 I brought her back and put them together.

EC: Where did Marcus, the enforcer, come from?

DF: I probably ripped him off from Hawk of the Spencer books. Marcus evolved. He has a lot of idiosyncrasies. He has this whole other life that Andy does not know about. In this book Marcus speaks for the first time. He loves classical movies. No one knew he is married and has a child.

EC: Next book(s)?

DF: Holy Chow is the next book, coming out in July of this year. A woman rescued a dog from Andy, and she is murdered. The other book is titled Santa’s Little Yelpers, a Christmas book coming out in October. In this book Andy represents someone.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview With Elise Cooper: The Darkest Place by Phillip Margolin

Book Description

Robin Lockwood is an increasingly prominent defense attorney in the Portland community. A Yale graduate and former MMA fighter, she’s becoming known for her string of innovative and successful defense strategies. As a favor to a judge, Robin takes on the pro bono defense of a reprehensible defendant charged with even more reprehensible crimes. But what she doesn’t know—what she can’t know—is how this one decision, this one case, will wreak complete devastation on her life and plans.

As she recovers from those consequences, Robin heads home to her small town of Elk Grove and the bosom of her family. As she tries to recuperate, a unique legal challenge presents itself—Marjorie Loman, a surrogate, is accused of kidnapping the baby she carried for another couple, and assaulting that couple in the process. There’s no question that she committed these actions but that’s not the same as being guilty of the crime. As Robin works to defend her client, she learns that Marjorie Loman has been hiding under a fake identity and is facing a warrant for her arrest for another, even more serious crime. And buried within the truth may once again be unexpected, deadly consequences.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Darkest Place by Phillip Margolin brings the reader right into the courtroom. As a former defense attorney, he uses his personal experience to create a suspenseful trial. There he explores the two sides of the Shaken Baby Syndrome and if postpartum psychosis really causes paranoid delusions.

The title plays into the personal story of the main character, Robin Lockwood, when she suffers a devasting loss. Anyone who has lost a loved one knows they can go down to a very dark place. The impact on Robin’s life has brought on depression. She goes home to gain solace from her mother who chastises her and reminds her that she was a prominent defense attorney, Yale graduate, and a former MMA fighter. Her mother sympathizes with Robin’s loss but knows she must make a new life for herself.

As she is recovering, she is asked to assist on a case in her hometown. It involves the defendant being accused of kidnapping, abusing a baby, and assaulting a couple. Marjorie Loman is accused of kidnapping the baby for whom she was a surrogate and assaulting the adoptive parents. Working on her defense Robin gets experts to disavow the Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Robin also discovers that Marjorie has an arrest warrant back in Oregon in connection with the torture and murder of her husband, Joel, with whom she was involved in a contentious divorce and who had wiped out their joint bank accounts. Joel also had been embezzling millions from his company and was being threatened by gangsters.

This story has it all including kidnapping, murder, assault, surrogacy, shaken baby syndrome, theft, divorce, postpartum depression, embezzlement, and stolen identity. Margolin puts some twists in to make the story even more interesting.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Phil Margolin: The Oregon Criminal Defense Organization is a fabulous group that I have been a member of for centuries. Even though I stopped practicing law in 1996 I stayed a member. They have seminars. There was one on junk science which fascinates me. One of the lectures is about the Shaken Baby Syndrome. Because there are two sides, I wanted to write a trial about it where both sides are put on display. I also wanted to have Robin return home to her roots.

EC: Can you describe the Shaken Baby Syndrome?

PM: It is a child who might have brain damage. But there are no bruises on them. No broken bones. How is it explained? After reading about it, I do not think it should be used in court. No one can have any scientific proof because it can never be done. The biomechanical experiments showed that no one can generate enough force to cause those types of injuries. Scientific theory should never be used, and this one can never be tested with actual children. Of course, babies should not be shaken, but that is not the question. What must be asked, will the severity of the shaking cause injuries?

EC: How would you describe Robin?

PM: This is my seventh book with her. All are stand alone. In my first book, she was a young lawyer who gets a dream job with a brilliant attorney that shows signs of dementia. She used to be a professional fighter. She grows up with older brothers who are wrestlers. Robin is brilliant. Now she is grief stricken, depressed, and a survivor.

EC: You also lost a loved one?

PM: Yes, my first wife Doreen. I went through a horrible of 2.5 years being miserable, depressed, and missed her a lot. She was gorgeous, brilliant, and the nicest person. There is not a day goes by that I do not think of her. I am now remarried to Melanie, getting very lucky. She is incredibly smart and built a business into a multi dollar corporation. Yes, I did use a lot of my own feelings.

EC: How would you describe Marjorie, the antagonist?

PM: Hardened, angry, a manipulator, and shows no remorse. She does have this postpartum psychosis after she gives birth to the baby, and it is taken away from her.

EC: Why the Perry Mason reference?

PM: My editor thought it would be interesting to use. This is from my background. I devoured all the adult murder mysteries in elementary school. I read almost every Perry Mason book and decided then I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. It was easy to put into Robin’s background. Her mother watches reruns and now appreciates what Robin does after seeing her in action.

EC: What about the next book?

PM: It will also be a Robin book. It opens with her having a nightmare and struggling with her loss. Then it jumps to a key witness admitting he did the murder to his lawyer. The lawyer knows there is a guy rotting on death row who is innocent but cannot do anything about it because it was a confidential communication. It comes out in November and is titled Murder at Black Oaks. The wife of this lawyer is very wealthy. She recreated a manor house with secret passages and dungeons. Everyone there including Robin and her investigator are sealed off because of mud slides. They found someone stabbed to death in the caged elevator.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Cowboy Meets His Match by Melinda Curtis

Book Description

She could never love a cowboy
Until she does…

Racing boat captain Olivia Monroe never imagined breaking up with the ocean and starting a fake relationship with too-charming cowboy Rhett Diaz. Now her family’s insisting Olivia and Rhett take an adventurous road trip as a “couple.” Only somewhere between zip-lining and rappelling down a waterfall, Olivia’s rediscovering her courage—and dangerous new feelings for Rhett. But how can a sailor love a landlocked cowboy…especially one with secrets?

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Cowboy Meets His Match shows why Melinda Curtis writes great wholesome romances with a lot of humor. Besides romance, this story is about family, second chances, love, compassion, and finding oneself by making new beginnings.

All three main characters, Olivia Monroe, Rhett Diaz, and Sonny are struggling with the direction of their futures, which is why they agree to go on a road trip together.

It all started after Olivia, a famous racing boat captain and champion, had her boat capsized. She is now hiding out with her cousins in Second Chance, Idaho, struggling to find her courage and leave her fears behind. She has hired Sonny, a sports psychologist, to help her regain her self-confidence. But things do not go as planned after she impulsively kisses a handsome former rodeo star turned rancher, Rhett. Her cousins see this and fall for the pretense that Rhett and Olivia are a couple. They promise to invest in a new extreme sports company if he takes Olivia and Sonny on a road trip.

Together the three go on a trip to try out different adventures. Because of a bet between Sonny and Rhett, Olivia is forced to make choices of which extreme sport they will try. This includes zip lining, mountain bike trails, hang gliding with eagles, and rappelling down a waterfall. After each thrill ride it appears that the fake relationship between Olivia and Rhett is turning real.

Per usual, Melinda Curtis does not disappoint. This story of finding one’s inner strength and overcoming fears whether physical or emotional is a great read.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for this story

Melinda Curtis: I knew that I wanted to write about a racing boat captain who had a near death experience and then lost her nerve. She needs to rebuild and retool her life. I wanted a hero that was a good match to her. I did not see her recovery helped by a regular rodeo or ranch cowboy. I added the thrill seeker element to test her courage and limits.

EC: Did you do any of the extreme adventures you wrote about?

MC: No way! In my youth I was a bit more courageous. But as I grew older, I find myself being more careful. I literally married someone who does not like horror movies or roller coasters, so I have stopped even going on them when we go to amusement parks. This is how far I have fallen.

EC: How did you chose the adventures?

MC: I did some research and had some friends who mountain bike. My children have done zip lining, so I asked them about their experiences. I did Google thrill seeking and found rappelling down a waterfall, which I thought was nuts. I found it fascinating to get into the psychology of people that do it. I thought about putting in hang gliding from the times I was younger and flew with my father who piloted small planes.

EC: How did you write the scenes about “getting back into the saddle?”

MC: I was in a car accident when I was eighteen where I was hit by a drunk driver. The car turned over and landed on top of a fire hydrant. I was amazed that nothing happened to me. Thankfully, I had my seat belt on. Yet, I could not drive for a while. I did not have a scratch on me but mentally it was horrifying.

EC: How would you describe Olivia before and after the accident?

MC: Before: She was a little too full of herself. I have heard elite athletes talk and wondered where is their humility? This is how she was. She had the feeling nothing will happen to her. In a previous book she was not a very good sister. Olivia was headstrong, only thought of her career, determined, independent, and assertive.

After: She was lost and was searching for her old self. She was going through a process that in the next stage of her life who was she going to be and who did she want to be, having a character growth. She got in touch with her softer side and was able to relate to people better. Olivia did doubt herself.

EC: How would you describe Rhett?

MC: A headstrong cowboy who decided to step back. He is also searching for his future. He is willing to compromise his morals to get what he wants out of life. He took Olivia on this trip on a misdirection. Rhett is kind, caring, protective, a risk taker, teaser, and an adrenaline junky. He tried to charm ladies.

EC: What about the relationship?

MC: It is alpha to alpha. She was a very strong powerful woman. On some level they understand each other. She is his platform where he can spring from. He encouraged her to go and do these adventures. She gave him a sense of a true partnership. He liked to push her buttons because she constantly put-up fences that he wanted to tear down.

EC: What about Sonny, her sports psychologist?

MC: He is a whack-a-doodle. Like Rhett and Olivia, he is trying to reinvent himself and find his next act. He decides to express his softness through his love of baby goats. Sonny is her surrogate, father-figure, cheerleader, and mentor. He pushes her also.

EC: Why goats?

MC: Growing up I did live on a sheep ranch. I was looking for something enduring, yet, comedic. I wanted something warm and cuddly where Olivia would hold it and have a breakdown moment with tears falling.

EC: Next book?

MC: It is called Healing the Rancher that comes out in May. It is a “Beauty and the Beast” type of story. The heroine is a social media manager who wants to land an account with a beef supplier chain, like “In and Out.” She is a princess type that needs to be with the client on a ranch. The hero is gruff on the outside.

In August will be my next Harlequin. It is going to be a Thanksgiving book titled A Cowboy Thanksgiving. It is book twelve in the “Monroe series” that wraps everything up. There are a lot of themes of family. The bounty of the harvest is upon us. Also, in August due to come out is the third in an anthology I write with three other authors.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: A Killer View by Roy Johansen

Book Description

Kendra Michaels, blind before gaining her sight via a revolutionary surgical procedure, offers her razor-sharp senses to assist her friend Jessie Mercado in a baffling case. An army vet and former bodyguard for the rich and famous, Jessie has faced all kinds of danger but one thing the motorcycle-riding private investigator has never encountered before is an incarceration consultant.

Preparing wealthy people to go to prison is big business. When Owen Blake of Mamertine Consulting hires Mercado to find his missing partner, their suspect list is filled with recently released white-collar criminals, a few drug kingpins, and a couple of murderers to keep things interesting.

As witnesses turn up dead and car chases leave destruction in their wake, Jessie and Kendra learn just how far someone will go to keep the fate of one man hidden. But why? Together they must hunt down the lethal secrets of Blake’s company, hell-bent on staying one step ahead of disaster.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Killer View by Roy Johansen is a spinoff from the bestselling Kendra Michaels series he writes with the legendary author, Iris Johansen, who happens to be his mom. He has gone solo in writing Jessie Mercado’s story, a private investigator who is a friend and colleague of Kendra.

Kendra Michaels is a San Diego music therapist who uses her powers of observation and deduction to help law enforcement investigators solve cases. In the Michaels’ series Jessie helps in solving some crimes using her own rules.

This bookhas Kendra introducing Jessie to a new client. Owen Blake is the co-owner of an incarceration consultancy, which handles financial and personal needs for people serving prison time. After he hires her to find his missing partner, Jessie becomes suspicious that something bad has happened to the partner. She realizes the suspect list is filled with former and current clients including white-collar criminals, a few drug kingpins, and a couple of murderers to keep things interesting. She’s assisted by her new boyfriend, Jake Brice, considered “the hottest actor on the planet,” who puts the skills he has honed working on Marvel Superhero movies. Together they must hunt down the lethal secrets of Blake’s company, hell-bent on staying one step ahead of disaster.

Readers get to know Jessie’s backstory better. They meet her father, James, a veteran, and her “boyfriend” Jake Brice. In the last couple of chapter Kendra is front and center as she helps Jessie solve the case by using her sensory magic.

This is a fast-paced action-packed story. The plot has humor, charm, and suspense, with a smidge of romance.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Roy Johansen: I read an article about a former suspect in a murder investigation who ran a service to help with the logistics of those going to prison. A lot of white-collar people who committed crimes will use someone like that, but also well financed thugs. It is different from person to person regarding the services offered. I had Jessie, a private investigator, have one of her clients who has a similar company, Personal Incarceration Consultant.

EC: How would you describe Jessie Mercado’s resume?

RJ: She has a very colorful past including a war hero in Afghanistan, found fame on this athletic game show, like “American Ninjas,” and became the head of security for a very famous pop star, all this before becoming a PI. Her father is also a veteran.

EC: How would describe her personality?

RJ: Independent, competitive, takes initiative, smart, headstrong, takes risks including driving her motorcycle, very loyal, strong physically and mentally, basically Wonder Woman and Electra. I guess I had DC and Marvel covered.

EC: How about Brice?

RJ: He was a veteran who was tortured in Afghanistan. His new career is a major movie star. He has a sense of humor, independent, determined, persuasive, protective, thoughtful, and sociable. He and Jessie have a lot in common. All these traits also apply to her.

EC: What about the white streak in his hair?

RJ: The white streak in his hair developed after his military service. It is more psychological from his time in the military. It is now a trademark of his. It will be explored more in later books. In a way it is almost a badge of honor for him.

EC: Do they have a relationship?

RJ: They connected originally since they both are US war veterans who fought in Afghanistan. They have mutual respect. He sees in Jessie a lot of his former life. He has a lot of affection and love for her. She cares for him even though she is more hesitant and guarded about stepping into a relationship. She is not ready to admit to herself the way she cares for him. There is more to explore here in future books.

EC: Cameo appearances by Kendra Michaels?

RJ: Kendra plays a significant part in helping crack the mystery. She worked her magic of deductions. She is only in the beginning of the book for a little while, but in the latter part of the book she and Jessie become a team to solve this case. I wanted to take Kendra out of the story for a chunk of the time, so readers get to know Jessie better and those in her life.

EC: You also brought back Delilah (Dee) Winter?

RJ: In the last Kendra book, Blink of an Eye, Dee was kidnapped. In this book, Dee feels the need to keep Jessie safe. I like the relationship between Jessie and Dee. There is a vulnerability there where Jessie is very protective of her. By having Dee around shows the softer side of Jessie, who thinks of herself as Dee’s older sister.

EC: There are a lot of Los Angeles restaurants mentioned in this book?

RJ: Yes. I think because a lot of it was written during the early days of the pandemic when everything was closed. It was my way of visiting them. I did a short video featuring some of these LA restaurants. It is on You-tube and my website.

EC: Next book?

RJ: There will be a new Kendra Michaels book out early next year. It is titled, More Than Meets the Eye. Jessie is not in this one. But characters from previous books are facing some peril. Usually Kendra is a reluctant sleuth, but in this one she goes full tilt to save those who she cares about. There will be a series for Jessie and the next Jessie book will be out in a few years. The next story is hinted at the end of this book.

THANK YOU!!

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