#elisesthoughts – Page 7 – Avonna Loves Genres

Special Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Tier One Series Books #1 – #7 by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson

Elise’s Thoughts

The “Tier One” series plots written by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson will remind readers of the late Vince Flynn. They are better than the books written after various authors took over the writing when Vince Flynn died. Thriller fans get an explosive thrill ride that starts with page one of book one and doesn’t let up for the duration. But readers will get much more, including relevant geo-political issues that make it appear these authors have a crystal ball. Below is an interview with Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson about their first seven books. They use their vast experience to write engrossing thrillers with enemies from Iran to Russia to China. Andrews worked as a nuclear engineer on naval submarines, while Wilson was a trauma surgeon embedded with the East Coast Navy SEALS. Book eight, Ember, will appear in a separate Q & A.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: What would you say is the style of this series?

Brian Andrews & Jeff Wilson: There are three book arcs where each book has its own bad guy, but the main bad guy gets their due in the third book. Because the antagonist narrative is extended over the course of the trilogy, readers get to know them. In reality this series everything has shades of grey concerning policy, morality, Special Operations, and how the characters emotionally handle their actions.

EC: How would you describe each of the following characters over the course of all the books in the series?

BA & JW: EMBER, the organization, is autonomous with analysts, field operatives, surveillance, and collecting intelligence. They are deep cover with speed, stealth, and efficiency.

John DEMPSEY: A former SEAL, believes in serving his country, and is adaptable. He is a mission before self-type of guy who puts his country first. He can be quite emotional, which defines his humanity. He is always questioning if he is doing the right thing for the right reason instead of just following orders. He is the Operations Director.

Kelso JARVIS: He heads the Ember team. He is the most complicated character. He has always been a chameleon to get the job done. He is a little bit Machiavellian where the ends justify the means. He is driven by a recognition of his own mortality because of his disease and being married to Petra. Sometimes overconfident, observant, clever, and a man of action. At times he expected members of the team to betray their peers and teammates. He is willing to make judgements about what his team can or cannot handle. He makes decisions for the team. He withholds because it is in the best interest of their operational effectiveness, the end goal. He has evolved the most of all the characters, because he is more introspective and empathetic.

PETRA FELSK: She is Jarvis’s right-hand person, a former intelligence expert. Someone he can confide in and trust completely. She can read Jarvis’ mind and complements him. She admires his qualities. She is not afraid to challenge him and call him out.

Elizabeth GRIMES: Sniper operator. In the beginning she had trust issues and feels isolated. Lizzie is perceptive, loyal, questioning, connects the dots, needs to be in control, and sarcastic. She is our devil’s advocate character, someone not afraid to argue the other side, an outside the box thinker. She now sees Dempsey as brother-like and he sees her as sister-like. But she sometimes becomes the big sister to him.

Dan MUNN: He is the SEAL medic who now works for Ember but is also an operator. Dan was a teammate of Dempsey when a SEAL. He is his good friend and knows how to push his buttons.

Levi HAREL: The Mossad chief. He is perceptive, wise, and a true ally of the US. He looks beyond politics, a pragmatist and a tactician. He is a mentor to Jarvis.

Richard WANG: He is the team’s cyber guy in the field. Insecure, egotistical, and a genius. He wants the team’s respect, defaulting to humor and self-deprecation.

Ian BALDWIN: He is the head of Ember’s signals division: electronic, communications, and intelligence. He handles the different ways data is intercepted, collected, and interpreted. He is an enigma. He is like the AI of the team. Ian is the eccentric uncle no one knows how to talk to.

BAD GUYS: They match Dempsey in skill, tactical, and survival. They are formidable foes.

EC: In the first book, TIER ONE, Navy SEAL Jack Kemper had to give up everything including his family to take on the persona of John Dempsey, working for a covert organization that operates without any bureaucratic red tape and operates in the shadows. Did the Tier One book set up the premise for the rest of the books in the series?

BA & JW: Back in 2015 when we started to write this series, we realized that America’s enemies were being constantly defeated by the Navy SEALS because they are so good at what they do. We thought about the ‘what if’ the enemies tried to neuter the Special Operations arm of the US military service, wiping out the entire Tier One Navy SEALs. We fictionalized it by making Tier One smaller than in real life and had all the squads on the same mission to get the high-value terrorist targets, which we did in the first book. For us, the premise was quite intriguing as the enemy upped their game in covert actions.

EC: It seems you always have a relevant piece to your plot. Were you influenced by what happened in Afghanistan when a military helicopter was shot down, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden?

BA & JW: This is a perfect example of what we tried to show in this first book. The Taliban knew how the SEALs moved. In the first book, Tier One, we tried to show how the enemy is gaining in sophistication and should not be underestimated.

EC: In book two, WAR SHADOWS, there is a very relevant quote, “Making decisions requires courage. Without courage leadership cannot exist. Without leadership the bad guys win every time.” Please explain.

BA & JW: This is a theme throughout all our series. Leadership matters. Look at the leadership in this country and there are serious problems. I was taught people need to lead by example, having integrity and accountability. They should own mistakes and tell how they will fix it. Instead, they gaslight. We are trying to imagine a world of military leaders and politicians that we want to see in real life, making decisions based on principles. They should not be self-serving and go along with the political winds. Dempsey and Jarvis stand up for what they think is morally right.

EC: In book three, CRUSADER ONE, there is a terrorist attack where Israel is caught off guard and people question the readiness, security, and how to protect. Even though this was written way before October 7^th, it exemplifies it. Please explain.

BA & JW: We employed Iran, Iron Dome, and multiple groups attacking at the same time. Hamas and Hezbollah were amassing weapons and digging tunnels, so we put it in the story.

EC: Elinor Jordan is introduced. Can you describe her?

BA & JW: She is like a female Dempsey and are kindred spirits. They have feelings for each other, sometimes trusting each other and sometimes they don’t. She has a schizophrenic existence, sensitive, caring, courageous, conflicted, and wants to make the world a better place. We wrote her as a Persian Jew working for Mossad. Yet, in the research we found that this community of Persian Jews are not considered by the Iranians as mortal enemies.

EC: The focus of book four, AMERICAN OPERATOR, has Dempsey rescuing an American hostage being held by the Jihadists terrorists. Please explain.

BA & JW: Dempsey rescues US State Department aid Amanda Allen and is willing to do anything to get her out because he has so much guilt over leaving Elinor behind. We wanted to represent the hostage mindset with Amanda: fearful, tough, capable, courageous, observer, and wondering if she should fight. She tried to figure out how she was going to survive but not betray her countrymen. She was tortured and was in a no-win situation trying to maintain her dignity, wits, and hope.

EC: In book five, RED SPECTER, did you focus on the Russian covert organization, Zeta?

BA & JW: It is the Russian version of Ember. Arkady is the Russian Jarvis who is brilliant, cunning, devious, a spymaster, strategic, powerful, and likes to play the long game. Both Arkday and Jarvis are willing to sacrifice their people for what they perceive of the greater good. Jarvis sacrificed Grimes emotionally and had Dempsey go on what was perceived as a suicide mission. This book is a reckoning of the escalation.

EC: Book six, COLLATERAL, has the rubber meeting the road. Do you agree?

BA & JW: We intended to end the Russian arc with this book but did not because there is a lot more story to tell. We had the US President designate Ember to go after every Zeta operative and eliminate them. We wanted to write it as the new Cold War including Russia infiltrating the Ukraine.

EC: Is book seven, DEMPSEY, a vengeance book?

BA & JW: The mission is more complicated than that. The book has a Russian contracting an American to kill his own leader. Enemies make strange bed fellows, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend until dead. We wanted Dempsey to deep dive into understanding his Russian enemy by living among them. This will change his entire approach to how he sees the world. Truth is relative and strength is what is important. The Russian President, Petrov, is a war criminal, murderer, psychopath, malicious, and paranoid, the ultimate dictator based on Putin.

EC: Why the two Russian words for truth istina versus pravda?

BA & JW: One means relative truth and one absolute truth. Americans believed there is one truth, and it is verifiable. In Russia the absolute truth is like mathematics and is provable. Now in America truth is what someone believes, which is relative truth. The question we want readers to ponder, is foreign assassination acceptable if that leader does really bad things, like Hitler? The question we pose is assassination of a foreign leader sometimes necessary for our own well-being, security, safety, and the existential threat? We are not suggesting that assassination is OK but just posing the questions.

EC: Readers that want adrenaline-fueled thrillers with a lot of action, deception and vengeance should read these books, preferably in order.

For book eight, EMBER, the one coming out this month, see the new Q & A.

THANK YOU!!

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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 Elsie Cooper: A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis

Book Description

1940: Weeks after the evacuation of Dunkirk, Germany is poised to invade a near-defenseless Britain. To safeguard the Crown Jewels from the Nazis, Winston Churchill devises a daring gamble to have them shipped overseas. The priceless artifacts will be secretly removed from the Tower of London and driven north to Scotland by two operatives posing as a young married couple, to be taken from there to Canada.

Caitrin Colline—a Welsh coalminer’s daughter and an ardent socialist—will play the wife of Lord Marlton, Hector Neville-Percy. A less likely couple is at first difficult to imagine. Yet Caitrin’s bold, streetwise confidence and sharp wits complement Hector’s social ease and connections, essential to a second part of their mission: uncovering Nazi sympathizers within the highest ranks of Britain’s aristocracy.

Battling enemies within and without, Caitrin wonders if anyone in their circle can be trusted—even her partner. And when unexpected events catapult her into a life-or-death chase across the continent, the morale of a nation and the fate of Europe itself in the balance.

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Elise’s Thoughts

A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis is a thriller and mystery all in one book, a spy novel set in England during WWII.

In 1940 there is a fear of German infiltrators throughout England. To safeguard the Crown Jewels from the Nazis, Winston Churchill devises a daring gamble to have them shipped overseas. The priceless artifacts will be secretly removed from the Tower of London and driven north to Scotland by two operatives posing as a young married couple, to be taken from there to Canada.

He recruits Hector, Lord Neville-Percy of Marlton, and police constable Caitrin Colline, a “Welsh firebrand, antiroyalist, and future destroyer of England’s aristocracy,” to act as a squabbling married couple driving a hay wagon where the jewels are hidden. Interestingly they have clashing backgrounds and personalities, since they are from different classes.

The heroine Catrine Colline is working for “512,” an undercover outfit. 512 is fictional, but it bears a strong resemblance to Churchill’s SOE (Special Operations Executive), also an undercover operation. She is a woman no one can mess with. Caitrin’s bold, streetwise, confident, and sharp wits complement Hector’s social ease and connections, essential to a second part of their mission: uncovering Nazi sympathizers within the highest ranks of Britain’s aristocracy, who also happen to be anti-Semitic.

The plot is a good adventure story with likeable characters that readers will root for.

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Author Interview

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

David Lewis: What gave me the idea is how the British hid the jewels 20 feet deep under Windsor Castle and they sent all the Bank of England’s bullion to Canada. I thought if they could transfer the bullion why not the Crown Jewels? This is the first one in the series.

EC: Was Caitrin based on anyone?

DL: My main character is based on my mother. She comes from a Welsh coal mining town, one of fourteen children. At the age of fourteen she was sent away to work in a hotel. I wanted to give my mother a cool and adventurous life.

EC: How would you describe Caitrin?

DL: Caitrin is direct, bold, confident, observant, and a force of nature. She is also funny, persistent, independent, and determined. She is not so much anti-aristocracy but a socialist who wanted to bring down the landed gentry. Her goal was to make life more equal for the common man.

EC: How would you describe Hector?

DL: Hector is from a powerful aristocratic family, but not rich. He is honest and currently in Special Operations. He is a little bit of a lost soul because of taxes.

EC: What about their relationship?

DL: He admires her confidence and wishes he had it. They infuriated each other. Neither one of them can get past their class, stopping the attraction between them. They spark off each other. They do respect each other.

EC: Is it true there were German infiltrators?

DL: Churchill was afraid of all the German infiltrators, but MI5 and MI6 were remarkable in sweeping them up. There is this book quote by an English aristocrat, “We English should be building bridges with the Germans. They are our true brothers, not the French or the Poles.” I have always been fascinated by him. I wanted to make him seen as human, not a legend. Throughout the series he starts to be directly in the adventures.

EC: You explore the anti-Semitic sentiment regarding the Jews?

DL: The Aristocracy was also anti-Jew. All the remarks in the book about the Jews by the aristocracy are true. For example a book quote, “I lost a fortune to that filthy Jew. Hitler is right. We should drive the Jews out. They’re nothing but money-grubbing leeches who have latched onto our society.” This is a running theme throughout the whole series.

EC: What about your next book?

DL: The next book, titled Beacon in The Night, is out next year. It is also based on a true story. The Germans wanted to drop bombs on historical cities and sites in England. They did it by having an agent on the ground placing a beacon in the buildings where the Germans could bomb with incredible precision. Caitrin and Hector’s job is to find the beacons and the person placing them.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Confidence Games by Tess Amy

Book Description

Emma Oxley and Nellie Yarrow have been inseparable their whole lives. Ever since they reinvented themselves, changing their names and wiping clean their digital footprints, they have made a game of following wherever the next adventure leads and challenging themselves to thefts, street cons, and mind games.

Adhering to only two rules—they will only swindle men, and only ones who deserve it—Emma and Nellie are secure in their reputation as the most trustworthy swindlers on the European black market. Until suddenly, they must play to save their own lives.

Blackmailed into stealing a priceless bracelet from a high-security exhibit, Emma will reexamine everything she believed to be true. This heist takes her far beyond her comfort zone…and she and Nellie will need allies among the glitzy bejeweled gathering in London in order to survive. Will they be able to do the right thing before it’s too late?

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Confidence Games by Tess Amy is a thoroughly entertaining read. Readers will fall in love with the characters and even though they are con artists, will root for them. There are hidden truths, friendships, the true meaning of family, and a suspenseful mystery.

Emma Oxley and Nellie Yarrow were inseparable friends until Emma got engaged. After her fiancé ditched her, who should show up to help her recover, Nellie. They now decide to reinvent themselves by changing their names and wiping clean any digital footprints. Emma and Nellie make a name for themselves on the Goods Exchange International, which is Europe’s biggest Black Market by playing mind games, swindling, and conning people. They made tons of money after picking people’s pockets. Influenced by their backstories they adhere to only two rules: they will only swindle men, and only ones who deserve it. Known as the Dream Team they make a reputation for themselves. Everything was going great until Nellie is kidnapped, and Emma is forced to steal the Heart of Envy, a piece of jewelry that is being displayed in a London Museum, if she wants to see Nellie alive again.

The supporting characters are just as enchanting as the main characters. There is Dax the duo’s resident computer expert and Sophia, a ten-year-old girl who delivers the ransom note. But both Dax and Sophia are also endangered.

This story takes readers on a roller coaster ride, full of twists and turns. It is a suspenseful character driven story that people will love. The only problem is that this is a stand-alone and there might not be any more stories. After reading the book, people are going to clamor and plead for more adventures with these characters.

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Amy Tess: I was living in Italy. My inspiration comes from small nuggets out of nowhere. I was walking around the city at night. I saw two girlfriends huddled together and wondered why one of them was wearing a big heavy coat in the middle of summer. It appeared something was hidden under the coat. I kept thinking afterward, what were they thinking and what were they hiding. I wrote a note to myself: book idea of two friends who were con artists. I enjoy the idea of exploring female friendships.

EC: How would you describe Nellie?

AT: She is strong-willed, a liar, independent, courageous, trusting, and vulnerable. She suffered through horrific abuse in her past. The way she deals with it is to build up resilience and made it her life’s mission to seek out revenge for others. She becomes this Robin Hood-like figure where she believes she is righting wrongs by stealing from bad men. At her core she is a good person. Throughout the book she learns to address this anger she was holding on to because of her past. Her abuse has influenced how she sees the world.

EC: How would you describe Emma?

AT: She is sad, detailed, a planner, confident, organized, likes to be in control, analytical, and is not very trusting. She has suffered through heartbreak. The way she deals with it is to hide who she really is and withdraw. She hides who she really is because she is afraid of getting hurt again. She sees heartbreak as a risk to be avoided at all costs.

EC: How would you describe what they do?

AT: This book quote explains, “We never cross anyone who didn’t deserve it.” This is their belief system, that they are doing bad things to bad people. They are con artists who play mind games, thieves who use focus, deceit, and manipulation. Basically swindlers. Personally, I like to explore this grey area between what is right and wrong.

EC: What was the role of Dax?

AT: He is the tech expert of the team. He does not believe in his own skills. Nellie and Emma give him a professional push.

EC: What about the little girl Sophia?

AT: She is trusting, hopeful, someone who has had a lot of rejection and disappointment. I saw her as a mirror to Emma. They both had a lot of betrayal, yet Sophia is upbeat and very trusting. She was a guiding light for Emma.

EC: The role of family?

AT: They all become a family. All of them have an issue with their own family so they become their own family, joining together to support one another.

EC: How would you describe the head bad guy?

AT: He likes to play mind games and is tricky. He humiliates, is mean, and is a liar. Once again, with him readers see how the line between good and bad is blurred.

EC: What about the relationship between Nellie and Emma?

AT: They can read each other’s minds, loyal, will always help each other and look after each other. They are life long best friends. The only people they can trust is each other. They have platonic love between each other.

EC: What is the role of Sophia’s Book of Good Advice?

AT: It was fun for me to write. It was mostly to show Sophia’s wisdom without making her too pretentious. I came up with these quotes.

EC: Next Book?

AT: As of now this book will not be a series but I do like to leave it open-ended. My next book will not be related to this book. It will be out in July of next year, set in a women’s prison. It is a locked-room mystery where a murder occurs.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Unwedding by Ally Condie

Book Description

Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world.

She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding anniversary together at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Where better to celebrate a marriage, a family, and a life together than at one of the most stunning places on earth?

But now she’s traveling solo.

To add insult to injury, there’s a wedding at Broken Point scheduled during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering just ahead. Now, she isn’t certain of anything except for her love for her kids and her growing realization that this place, though beautiful, is unsettling.

When Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool in the rain, she realizes that she is not the only one whose future is no longer guaranteed. Before the police can reach Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the guests trapped. When another guest dies, it’s clear something horrible is brewing.

Everyone at Broken Point has a secret. And everyone has a shadow. Including Ellery.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Unwedding by Ally Condie is her first attempt at adult fiction after being a successful young adult novelist. There are themes of grief, loss, family, trust, and healing. The plot is a locked mystery since the characters are “locked” into a hotel.

The setting is a remote luxurious hotel in Big Sur, California. Even though the main character, Ellery Wainwright, is surrounded by a cast of supporting characters she feels very much alone and lonely. The characters are stuck, “locked,” at the hotel after a huge storm hits, closing off the guests from the rest of the world. They are isolated with roads and bridges closed and no one able to rescue them for a few days.

Ellery decided to be a guest at the Broken Point resort since she had the reservations. She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding anniversary together until he tells her he wants a quick divorce since he already has a girlfriend. Unfortunately for her, after deciding to go swimming in the pool she discovers a dead body. It seems also at the resort is a wedding party. But the “un-wedding” is real since the dead body was that of the groom, dying under suspect circumstances. After another guest dies soon after, also under mysterious circumstances, she teams up with two guests who befriend her, Ravi and Nina. They become amateur sleuths trying to find the killer before more guests drop dead.

Readers see Ellery as relatable since she is suffering from heartbreak and a past trauma after witnessing the death of a bus accident victim. Her own life will never get the happily ever after.

The setting was very interesting, creating a sense of foreboding. There were twists to the plot and the main character’s emotional state will tug at readers’ heartstrings.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: You are known for your YA books. Is there a difference in how you write books for YA and adults?

Ally Condie: Yes and no. I always come from the character initially. This is where stories start for me, having an idea of a person doing something in a situation. When writing adult books, I can write themes and issues not as relevant to younger people. But sometimes it was from a different perspective. This was not my first mystery. I had previously written a juvenile mystery that was nominated for the Edgar Awards, titled Summerlost.

EC: Why mysteries?

AC: I have loved mysteries since I was a child. I read some Agatha Christies on a trip to England with my dad and sister. I have been a big reader of mysteries my whole life.

EC: Do you think divorce plays a role in the plot?

AC: In 2019 after I got divorced, I went on a trip by myself. I was sad since I had not expected the divorce and did not want it. I went on a trip to center myself and get away from everything. On the trip I found I was so lonely. I was paying attention to everyone there.

EC: Is that where you got the idea for the story?

AC: Yes. There was a wedding there. I thought if there was a murder here, I would be the only person who could solve it. I am the only one paying attention to everyone else. This is how I came up with the book idea. The rest of the week I plotted out the book and thought about a character in this situation. My experience was very different but some of the feelings between Ellery and myself are the same, particularly when the children are away. Suddenly I was missing out on a large chunk of their childhood. This feels painful. My ex-husband is not Luke.

EC: Is the book more plot oriented or character oriented?

AC: Both. Agatha Christie is the master of this, with a fantastic plot. The characters were also real. I hoped the readers felt that the characters were flawed people who make mistakes but there is something appealing about them as well.

EC: Did you have a character you did not like?

AC: I wanted to like all of them in some way. I was not sad when I figured out who the killer was. Each of them had a motive and a secret.

EC: How would you describe Ellery?

AC: She is, caring, anxious, an observer, and someone who connects the dots. She is very strong and has encountered a lot in her life, which comes to bear in the story. For example, she was involved in an accident that made her who she is. She felt after it that her hard experience was behind her, and then she finds a dead body here at the hotel. But by the end of the book, she is happy to see there is joy that comes from unexpected places.

EC: Other than Ellery who was your favorite character?

AC: Ravi. He is smart, sarcastic, and has a heart of gold. He is very urbane. He compliments her because he has some life experiences she does not have and vice versa.

EC: What about the hotel?

AC: It is based on a few hotels in Big Sur. I have not stayed at them because they are so expensive but did eat dinner there. There is one called Post Ranch Inn and another one Ventana Big Sur.

EC: Why the Big Sur setting?

AC: It is gorgeous and beautiful. The weather does play havoc there just as in the story. Mudslides have taken out roads, bridges, and people had to be helicopter out. The murder I added, but people have been trapped there for several days.

EC: Next book?

AC: I am working on another adult and young novel plus four picture books coming out.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: All Our Tomorrows by Catherine Bybee

Book Description

When Chase Stone’s estranged father dies, leaving his multibillion-dollar business to his children, no one is more surprised than Chase. Growing up outside of the high-stakes world filled with human vultures, Chase and his sister, Alex, are less than enthusiastic about stepping into their father’s shoes. That is until they learn of a half brother they didn’t know existed and must find to share their inheritance with.

Piper Maddox was the elder Mr. Stone’s übercapable assistant—abruptly fired two weeks before his death. She knows everything about Stone Enterprises and the man who built it. But Piper has no desire to work for another member of the Stone family. Even one as down-to-earth as Chase.

Desperately needing financial security, Piper agrees to return so long as kissing up to Chase and accepting unwanted advances are not part of her job description. A promise that becomes a serious hurdle for both of them. Piper and Chase scramble to find the third Stone sibling before the media does, sharing secrets along the way. Secrets that can bring them together or tear them irrevocably apart.

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Elise’s Thoughts

All Our Tomorrows intermingles the romance genre with family fiction. Readers will not be disappointed in this first book of the series. Per usual, Catherine Bybee provides poignant and bittersweet moments where readers will have a roller coast of emotions: laughing, crying, and worrying right along with the characters. This one has emphasis on relationships: family, corporate business, and personal.

The book opens with the funeral of Aaron Stone who has been estranged from his children, Chase and Alexandra (Alex) all their lives. They are shocked to find out that he has left his multibillionaire business to them, but also that they have a half-brother who shares the inheritance.

Desperately needing help in understanding and digging into their father’s business and personal accounts, Chase reaches out to his father’s recently terminated (without cause) executive assistant, Piper, who he rehires with a raise. They spend a lot of time together to research the company and to find hints on where to locate the brother. As the attraction grows, Piper is trying very hard to keep her distance since she is pregnant with another man’s child. Until she blurts out to him the secret. The relationship takes off from there.

Bybee fans will also enjoy finding some old characters in the story. Jack, Jessie, and the father Gaylord play a somewhat prominent role. They come in to help Chase and Alex with the business and embrace them into their family, including helping to find their lost brother, Max.

This book has witty banter. It is a heartfelt story that has sexual tension and tension regarding the business. It is one of those books’ readers will not want to put down.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for this series?

Catherine Bybee: Right now, there will be three books, all about the siblings. I knew I wanted to write about rich people again since I did not do that for a while, plus do possible global play. Other pieces I wanted to put in is a grumpy boss, and a pregnancy. I keep looking for someone to put me on a private plane so I can do some personal research. I did a lot of research into the corporate world. Often the controlling interest is not 50% or higher.

EC: Is Piper an executive secretary with power?

CB: Yes. I wrote her to be the right hand and, in some ways, having more detailed knowledge than the actual CEO. She wears two faces, seeing the executive side but also knows the office gossip.

EC: How would you describe Piper?

CB: She speaks her mind, fierce, confident, honest, and a powerhouse. She is also loyal, has a sense of humor, and sarcastic. She can be insecure and vulnerable. Her soft side is on the inside. She tries to hide it in the corporate world. She is sassy, a departure from when she was the executive assistant of the father, because she knows she is needed.

EC: What is the role of the dog Kit?

CB: I got the name of the dog, Kitty, after I met someone who literally had a dog of that name. I used it because it is so funny. He is an anchor at her side that protects her. Kit is an angry looking rottweiler, like my neighbor’s dog, but the dog would not hurt a flea.

EC: What about the pregnancy?

CB: I intentionally made it so that the baby was not the hero’s child. It affected all the characters’ lives, depending on the decision about the baby. I wanted her to struggle with the decision of keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption. I also did not want this to be a child of incest or rape. She was not in love with the guy who was the father. I hoped I showed how the decision is never easy, that she was faced with the judgement of others. I wanted to have it come across that the decision about the baby should be solely hers. As I put in my notes at the end of the book, my experience helped me write this part of the story. I saw decisions made because someone else wants it. How young women ignored the pregnancy until they were five months along without any natal care.

EC: How would you describe Chase?

CB: He has a sense of humor. He is honorable, protective, skating around having wealth. Based on his experience he knows how wealth can affect people. He is family oriented.

EC: What about the relationship between Chase and Piper?

CB: I wanted to show how Chase stepped into the role of wanting to be the baby’s father. She walks into the office for the first time, dressed as a powerhouse, has him spellbound. They are guarded and have mistrust. She fears his judgement. They like to tease and flirt with each other. He made her off balance. He gives her the reprieve of thinking about the baby.

EC: What is the relationship between the siblings, Alex and Chase Stone?

CB: They respect each other, loyal, and equal partners. They can be honest with each other. There is a difference in that Chase came to terms about his absentee dad, while Alex still has daddy issues. She has this overwhelming need to overcompensate. The two of them have kept each other grounded. They have family values they got from their mother. They have each other’s back.

EC: Why bring in Gaylord?

CB: He is the counter to Chase and Alex’s father, Aaron. He is the father everyone would want. He, Jack, and Jesse were featured in the book written over a decade ago, Not Quite Dating. Since I brought back the hotel world of corporate business I decided, why not bring back these from a previous book. This is an update for those readers who have read it. He is someone the Stone children could ask questions. I wanted to show there could be some good fathers in this book. There is a secondary relationship between Gaylord and the Stone children’s mom, Vivian.

EC: Does Melissa and Floyd represent the not so nice people?

CB: They will be in play in the next books. They continue to have their issues.

EC: Next books?

CB: I wanted to be fresh when I approached Mari’s story, from the D’Angelo series. I wanted this series to be finished before I tackle silver-haired romance.

The next book will feature the half-brother Max who they found at the end of this book. There is a lot to his story. There are some dangling plot points that will be wrapped up at the end of the series. The title The Forgotten One comes out in November. All the Stones will be back in book two with Max realizing he now has a family.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Love on a Whim by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Book Description

Brynn Haywood’s impulsive marriage to a man she’d known less than 24 hours leaves her with deep regret. She flees to Cape Cod, finding refuge with her loyal friend, Dawn Dixon. As Brynn grapples with her emotions, Dawn acts swiftly, eager to help secure a lawyer for her through her mother Marnie’s good friend, Lincoln Hayes. However, Lincoln’s preoccupation with his daughter’s lavish wedding brings unexpected challenges.

The arrival of Lincoln’s estranged son, Bear Hayes, stirs the waters further. Alarmed by his father’s extravagant generosity toward the Dixon family, Bear ignites friction between Marnie and Lincoln. As the wedding day arrives, Lincoln vanishes–and an unwelcome guest makes a surprise appearance.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Love On A Whim by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a delicious read. The quote at the beginning of the novel sums it up, “Eat ice cream. Read books. Be happy.” The book explores family, faith, romance, forgiveness, friendship, and second chances.

The plot begins with Dawn Dixon’s best buddy from college, Brynn Haywood, attending a civil engineer convention in Las Vegas. While there she, uncharacteristically, decides to leave the convention with someone she just met, see some of the sites, and eventually gets married. When she wakes the next morning, appalled by her behavior, she sneaks out of the room and heads to Cape Cod, hoping Dawn can help get her out of this mess. Dawn, an inveterate “fixer,” spends her energy plotting how to get Brynn’s marriage annulled, while her mother, Marnie urges Brynn to slow down and listen to her heart.

There is also Lincoln Hayes, Marnie’s boyfriend, whose estranged family is coming to town for his daughter’s wedding. He agreed to finance the wedding to ease his guilt for being a terrible absent dad. Although the daughter is willing to forgive and forget, the son, Bear, is very resentful, the epitome of what his father used to be: concerned only about himself, too busy for others, unkind, and trying to make trouble for the Dixon family.

Then the caterer gets Covid, and everything falls apart. The Dixon family to the rescue. Callie takes over the catering, Dawn makes the ice cream treats, and Brynn who is a good hobby baker, agrees to make the wedding cake.

Readers will be on the edge of their seats wondering what will happen to Brynn’s marriage, as well as other issues facing the characters that include Dawn’s infertility, Lincoln’s health problems, and can the family reconcile. The story is compelling, filled with wit and wisdom, and all the characters have their issues resolved in a satisfactory way, where the reader feels they are part of the drama. But there is also a humorous tone that lightens up the tension.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Since this is the last book in the series what do you want to say about it?

Suzanne Woods Fisher: The characters might be revisited in another series. I got the original idea because my husband is a professional ice cream maker. My editor said to write a book about ice cream in Cape Cod. It is a family saga. I enjoy writing books about outsiders who try to fit in. All the books in the series have family members who try to get back on their feet after a couple of bad mishaps. They are trying to make a go of it in a tourist town. This is all about people and relationships.

EC: Did you also put in important issues in the books?

SWF: Yes. People trying to recover from grief, having to deal with cancer, dealing with clinical depression, and infertility.

EC: How would you describe the heroine in the story, Brynn?

SWF: Sensible, responsible, impulsive, predictable, even keeled, and passionate. Because she is a civil engineer, she is logical, a planner, and organized. She is also insecure and does not like it when her heart tries to overrule her brain. She and Dawn bonded in college. Unlike what we know about her she meets and marries a guy in 24 hours and panics, fleeing to Cape Cod. She pursues her passion to be a baker.

EC: What role did Marnie, Dawn’s mom, who considers Brynn her adoptive daughter, play?

SWF: She pushes Brynn to think why she said yes to this man. She is telling her to slow down. She is a good counterbalance to the three young women. She plays the mother who is over-protective, leading them to come to a good decision, but she also will not be so direct and leads them with questions or hints to think what they want. Marnie has a quiet way because she cannot say too much, or the women will shut down. She relies on feelings, intuition, and faith.

EC: Dawn was the featured character in book 1, The Sweet Life, Callie was the featured character in book 2, The Secret to Happiness, and this features Brynn. What are the similarities and differences between each?

SWF: They are like a three-legged stool. They all are sister-like. They are all perfectionists, reasonable.

Dawn has always been in the shadow of her cousin Callie, where they both competed against each other. She grew up with a little bit of a jealous streak. She now sometimes feels like third man out. She does not look for good in people unlike Callie and Brynn. She is matter of fact. She is a perfectionist, logical, likes to find other people’s mistakes, stays on task, and is stable. Dawn likes to interfere because she likes to be in control. Readers appreciate her, but she can rub on them, very frustrating, meddling, and has blinders on because her way is the way. But she is very loyal to her friends and family and is always there for them.

Callie is a talker, positive, a perfectionist, bold, creative, effervescent, decisive, persistent, and like Dawn she also likes to be in control. She is good at time management.

Brynn is softer, gentler than Dawn and Callie. Yet, she has always been attracted to the family life of Dawn and Callie. She is logical, reasonable, relies on feedback, calm, reserved, and eager to learn.

EC: What about the relationship between Brynn and T. D., the man she impulsively married?

SWF: They were attracted to each other. The relationship was based on spontaneity and light-heartedness. They did trust each other. They had a real intimacy when they met and were able to share their real self with each other, bearing their souls to each other. They had a lot in common because they came from the same perspective of being from divorced parents and forced to be on their own. They did not want their future to be like their parents. But after Brynn left, she felt humiliated, helpless, and emotional.

EC: What about Bear, Lincon’s son?

SWF: He had a lot of baggage. He was defensive and feels abandoned. Now he is placed in a situation where he must deal with his father who abandoned him, and an over-bearing mother. He is a damaged guy. He is suspicious, distrustful, skeptical, cold, angry, uncaring, harsh, and condescending. He is incredibly loyal to his sister and his mom. He tries to protect his father because he is afraid the women are taking advantage of his generosity. Readers do see him as a good person in the way he reacts to the child, Cowboy Leo. Bear was like an older brother to him, and Leo thinks he is a caring person. Because of Bear, Cowboy Leo became baseball Leo.

EC: Does Marnie and her beau, Lincoln’s relationship take different turns in the story?

SWF: Lincoln’s daughter is getting married at Cape Cod. The wedding caused a lot of insecurities between them. Marnie relies on him. They are best friends. This is a second romance for both. She finally realizes how much he has changed over a decade. He previously put everything into his work, sacrificing his family, before he met Marnie. She sees him when he became a generous, caring person.

EC: Next books?

SWF: A series will come out with four novellas. The print version will come out in November, titled The Year in Flowers. Three girls work in a flower shop in the South. They are best friends, but around the time they leave for college something dreadful happens in the shop. Each novella has what they are doing seven years later.

I will also have an Amish book coming out in October titled A Healing Touch. It is about a doctor to the Amish, who makes house calls. She is the central character.

THANK YOU!!

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