#melindacurtis – Avonna Loves Genres

Special Feature Post by Elise Cooper: Authors Remembering Their Special Dogs

I was not sure how I would handle adding to and posting this article. While sharing blog posts, books, and an on-line friendship, Elise and I have gone through the heartbreaking loss of our dogs, who were so much more, at almost the exact same time.

I lost Athena on 4/10/2026 after twelve wonderful years. She made me fall in love with all varieties in the pitbull family of terriers; their wiggly butts, zoomies, and abundance of kisses. It is still too hard for me to write much without tearing up, but I was happy Elise pulled together this article with her memories of Torii and some of our favorite authors remembering their furry family members.

Athena

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Anyone who had a dog realizes for many pet owners they were more than just a pet. To some they were a friend, partner, child, or encompassed all those qualities. It seems so unfair that they do not live long as we would like. Will Chesney, the dog handler, wrote the book, No Ordinary Dog about Cairo, the Belgian Malinois military working dog who was part of the mission to get Osama bin Laden. He put into words what others who lost a dog are feeling. Anyone who is a dog lover and who has lost a dog can relate to what Will said in the book. “The story does not end on a high note. It never does with dogs, right? Someone once said that buying a dog is like buying a small tragedy. You know on the first day how it all will turn out. But that’s not the point, is it? It’s the journey that counts, what you give the dog and what you get in return.”

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Elise’s Tribute to Torii

Torii was our fourteen-year-old beloved black Labrador Retriever who we had to put down because all her vitals was shutting down. She was a survivor and fighter who always seemed to bounce back, having overcome immune disease, one bout with tick disease, mass cell tumors, heart disease, high blood pressure, torn ACL, gerardia, bitten by a vicious dog that required a drain, and an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Unfortunately, she got a second bout of mass cell tumors and eventually it was too much for her to overcome.

We thought of her as a child because that is how she acted. She made us so very, very happy because of her kind, caring, and loveable ways. Two events stand out for me. One was when I was on the phone with my supervisor and was not a happy camper. Torii jumped on the couch, put her head on my shoulder, and started licking me. It was like she was saying ‘calm down mom things are going to be OK’. The other event is when we were having lunch in an outside restaurant and two children passed by, obviously afraid of dogs. I started talking to them and coaxed them to come up to her. Torii worked her magic and soon the children were enamored with her, crying when their mom said they had to go.

We miss Torii so very much. She gave unconditional love. She always amazed us with her strength and endurance while overcoming life’s obstacles. She was always well behaved except for the times she talked back when she wanted to eat. She made us laugh and smile with her antics. She will always be forever in our hearts and always remembered.

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Below are some authors who wrote about that special dog they lost in their lives:

Linda Castillo is a best-selling author known for writing the Kate Burkholder mystery series with her latest, A Dark Path. She speaks about the special dog she lost and was very attached to. “I had a chocolate lab. Gosh, it was back in the late ’90s, and I loved this girl. Her name was Cinnamon, and she was a dog that we just connected with. Cinnamon was one of those special dogs. If my husband and I were out and about, and we were on our way home, back to the house, I would feel this little leap of joy in my gut, because for a second, I would think that I was gonna see Cinnamon. She was a dark chocolate lab. We got her when she was a puppy from the Humane Society. And she was little, a runt. She was gorgeous. She was a beautiful dark chocolate Labrador. She had the Labrador, everything, the body, the personality, the appetite, and was calm as could be.”

“She was seven years old when she died of cancer. I made myself wait 3 months. I went down to the SPCA and I’m looking and my husband was like, everything that I look at, if it wasn’t Cinnamon, I did not want to get that dog. I had volunteered down there before, previously. So, about three months later, we went back to the SPCA in downtown Dallas, and I found the most unlikely dog. We had seen him before. He weighed 144 pounds, probably a Newfoundland. We did not get him that day but the day I won a writing contest; I drove down to the SPCA. He was still there, I put this 144-pound dog in the back of my Mustang, and I took him home.”

“I know each person is different and realize they must follow their feelings. But I think that the love that people feel for a dog, is a love just as strong as those with children. They always say, you can’t replace them, and you can’t, but a lot of people say, ‘Oh, you have to wait until you get another dog, because, you can’t replace the one that died.’ I think that the best way to mend a broken heart, when you lose a dog, is to get another dog, or two. That’s my theory.”

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J. A. Jance is a best-selling author known for writing three series centering around Seattle police detective J. P. Beaumont, Arizona County Sheriff Joanna Brady, and mystery solver Ali Reynolds who is featured in her latest book Overkill. She speaks of her special dog that she lost. “Sixteen years ago, coming home from a Saturday morning shopping trip to Target with my daughter and grandson, Colt, we spotted a little miniature dachshund running down the middle of a busy road. My daughter pulled over onto the shoulder while I jumped out and gave chase. It was rainy and cold. Eventually two college-aged kids pulled over and helped me corner her.”

“She was tiny, muddy, soaking wet, shivering, and scared to death. She had a collar but no tag and no chip. We spent the better part of two hours trying to locate her owner to no effect. Eventually we came back to the house, Bill, my husband came outside to see what all the fuss was about, and ended up carrying her into the house. On the way, Colt was explaining to Bill how we found this “poor little fella on the street. ‘Colt, Bill said, Fella is a boy name. This is a girl dog.’ ‘Okay’, Colt replied. ‘We’ll call her Bella.’”

“And Bella she became. She had obviously lived in an apartment. She had no idea how to use our doggie door, but her instincts were strong. When it came to moles, she was a killer. The first time she brought one of her bloody prizes into the house, it was right in the middle of a dinner party!”

“Because she was scared to death of our dog sitter, when it came time to go on a book tour, Bella went along and became Bella, the Book Tour Dog. Her first day on the job, she interacted with 2500 people including spending time with one woman. She had recently lost her daughter to cancer, and she had come to the signing to have her daughter’s book signed. Once I finished autographing her book, I passed her along to Bill and Bella, and Bella did her comforting best for the next half hour. But boy was she tired when we got back to the hotel.”

“We had her for eight years. Prior to having Bella, we had been golden retriever-people, but Bella helped us downsize. We’ve since had two more long-haired miniature dachshunds, Jojo and Mary. Jojo is gone, now, too, and I believe Mary is what my father would call our ‘toes-up dog.’ Loving an animal means we’re going to lose them eventually, but I wouldn’t have missed the time spent with anyone of them. I wrote a novella which is, I believe, a fictionalized version of Bella’s history. It’s called A Last Goodbye.”

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Peter James is the best-selling author of the Roy Grace novels. His latest is The Hawk Is Dead. He spoke of the special dog he lost. “Phoebe was a German Shepherd. German Shepherds have a very unfair reputation for being aggressive. In truth, its owners who should have that bad reputation: Yes, an ill-treated and badly trained Shepherd may well turn aggressive – as would almost any breed. But properly trained, loved and nurtured they can be among the gentle breeds of dog in the world. I watched one time an eight-year-old baby crawl across the floor and take a handful of food out of Phoebe’s bowl – and she just lay there, passively, without batting an eyelid. But with sheep that is another thing. I once asked a police dog handler how to stop a German Shepherd from chasing sheep and he told me it was virtually impossible since it was in their DNA! I remember when Phoebe was 12 years old, a great age for a Shepherd, and her back legs were starting to go, as we were walking through a field of sheep, she totally forgot her age and decided she was two again and damn well was going to have herself a sheep!! She almost pulled me over.”

“We’ve always tended to have three dogs of differing ages. Getting a new dog is the only cure I know for the pain of losing a dog. I honestly think losing a dog can hurt more than then losing a human relative. All my dogs are a combination of soulmate, writing companion, and personal trainer. Doesn’t matter how bad the weather might be and how much I do not feel like going out for a walk or a run, all I need is a baleful look from any of my dogs and off we go!”

“My wife, Lara, is a qualified canine massage therapist (a dog masseur) and she works with dogs with serious arthritis. She comes across a wide variety of breeds in her work – and is always falling in love with each of them! Sometimes we will replace a loved dog with the same breed, but oftentimes we may get a rescue. I’m a patron of the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) so I have a big incentive to take on rescue animals – and it is so rewarding.”

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Jenna Blum is a best-selling author whose latest is Murder Your Darlings. She speaks of her special dog Woodrow, a Labrador Retriever. “He was my North, my South, my East, and West. My working week and my Sunday rest. My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song. As W. H. Auden said, ‘He was my daily joy, my pal.’ I called myself (or he called me) “Mommoo,” so he was a fur child of sorts. But he was also The George Clooney of Dogs–not a nickname I gave him. He was a very elegant soul in a dog suit.?

“I have a new black Lab, Henry Higgins, who is a dog in a dog suit, and I love him just as much and fiercely, in a very different way. You can always expand to let a new love into your life! My memoir about Woodrow is Woodrow on the Bench. I hope it helps people who are caring for a senior animal and/ or who have lost one.”

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Melinda Curtis is a best-selling author of light‐hearted contemporary romance. Her latest is The Cowboy’s Accidental Bride and Winning the Bull Rider’s Heart. She speaks of her special dog Calvin, a chocolate lab. “Calvin grew up with our boys and thought he was a boy, too. If they played catch, he demanded to play, too. If they went swimming, he went swimming, too. And if we tried to leave him outside while other kids were over, he’d protest mightily, doing everything from dragging the screen door away from the slider and into the back yard or prying a board off the fence. You never know what personality your child will have. Same goes for animals. Calvin had a big personality and we loved him for it. He could be high energy but also gentle with little kids and our elderly parents.”

“We did get a dog after Calvin but we went smaller, a terrier mix. She’s mellower, tan, but still short hair.”

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Catherine Curzon is a bestselling author of World War Two saga fiction. She writes under the pen name Ellie Curzon with Helen Barrel, their latest, The Lifeboat Orphans and The Lost Orphans. She writes about her dog Pippa. “She was a Jackapoo and she was my everything. Best friend, constant companion, everything. It’s impossible to overstate just how much she meant to me and still does. I think about her with love every single day. I loved that little girl beyond my capacity to even articulate how much. She was everything to me in the world. Pippa was bright, silly, beautiful, and the best pal anyone could wish for. She enriched my life enormously and brought so much happiness to everyone who knew her.”

“Pippa passed a little over two years ago and it’s taken me until now to feel ready to look for a new companion, but I think that time is finally here. My husband and I are trusting to fate to send us the right pup, just as it did with Pippa. We didn’t choose her, she found us.”

“She is featured in my latest books The Lost Orphans and The Lifeboat Orphans. We started writing the series just after she died. Nothing has hit me as hard as her death. I felt like I lost a part of myself. Helen suggested to name the dog in the series after my Pippa. She is grey and peachy. I love having her in the book because that makes her immortal.”

Anyone who lost a furry loved one can agree with the sentiment of Camille Marcotte, “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you: but instead, I am deeply honored knowing you spent the rest of your life with me.”

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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 Elise Cooper: The Christmas Cowboy by Melinda Curtis

Book Description

Will he find the ultimate present…

Or lose his heart?

Zane Duvall has one goal this Christmas: attend all Twelve Parties of Clementine and win the grand prize—a small ranch he’s always dreamed of owning. But his plan hits a snag when his well-meaning family decides he needs a holiday romance to go with his holiday cheer. Lily Smith has come to town to confront a man claiming to be her father—and ends up facing a lot of questions she’s not ready to answer. When Zane proposes a fake relationship to keep nosy citizens and matchmakers at bay, Lily agrees. After all, it’s just pretend…right? But when family secrets and old wounds come to light, will their budding romance survive the season?

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Christmas Cowboy by Melinda Curtis is a delightful holiday read. There are some heavier subjects that are heartfelt and emotionally riveting. But the humor is a welcome relief, coming mostly from a five-year-old boy.

Lily Smith has come to Clementine to act as a nanny for her newborn niece and five-year-old nephew, Ford. But there is another reason she is there. She has spent her whole life wondering why her father ignored her and did not treat her like he did her brother, and intends to find out.

She intends to be by herself until she meets Zane Duvall in a bar. He asks her to be in a pretend relationship with him to get both of his biological and foster mothers off his back and stop their matchmaking ideas. She decides to help him be his date at all the Christmas parties so he can avoid every single woman chasing him all over town.

Because Zane knew Lily was a cowboy that has worked on many ranches, he asks her to chase down this wild white Stallion, Solomon that has never been caught. They grow closer and realize there is a chemistry between them. But first, she must find out who is her real father after getting a letter from a local man claiming to be her “real” father as opposed to the man who raised her.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: What are you planning for Christmas?

Melinda Curits: I’m recovering from a severely broken ankle. The holidays have been great because, for the first time in what feels like forever, I’m not cooking! I plan to nap a lot.

EC: What does it mean in your writings?

MC: I use a lot of my family’s decorations and holiday traditions in my writing. It feels like I’m connecting to the past when I include a special side dish, ornament, or game in my stories.

EC: What is the role of Christmas in this story?

MC: It has Christmas Cards, 12 parties of Christmas, Santaplooza Parade, and Rowdy is like Scrooge. This is a fake dating story, so I needed many events. Christmas offers a lot of events. I created the 12 Parties of Christmas, so the hero and heroine had places to date.

EC: Idea for the story?

MC: I love fake dating stories. Hallmark has a lot of them during the holidays. They get me in the mood to write, especially the funnier ones.

EC: How would you describe Lily?

MC: She is self-assured, has a sense of humor, tomboy, guarded, and runs when it gets overwhelming. Up until her parents died, Lily had decided she wasn’t “that girl,” the one who men wanted to date. But then her parents die and she learns the man she thought was her dad wasn’t and from there on nothing is the same.

EC: How would you describe Zane?

MC: Not a planner, honest, witty. Zane is definitely a seat of the pants type of guy. He’s been letting life happen to him. But now, what’s happening isn’t what he wants.

EC: What are the roles of Zane’s two mothers. Biological and foster?

MC: Nurturing and family are important. They are like a burr under a saddle – annoying in their desire to see him settled down. He can’t ignore them because he loves them. But their matchmaking is very heavy-handed. What do you do when women are put in your path at every turn?

EC: What about Ford, Lily’s five-year-old nephew?

MC: He is rooting for Zane, a comic relief, enthusiastic, the inner thoughts of the male and female lead. Ford keeps things light when some of the backstory might be a bit heavy. I love character growth and I love comedy when the two work together. It’s kind of the way I approach life.

EC: Why Solomon the horse?

MC: As a kid, we’d take road trips through the west and count white horses. They became special to me, a touchstone to family. Also, where we lived, there were a lot of local myths and legends about wooded areas. It seemed right to combine the two as a bridge between Zane and Rowdy.

EC: Describe the relationship?

MC: Friends first. She shields him from all the women sent after him by his mothers. He is a teaser. This is a buddy story. Neither expect love to bloom. They each have their own agenda for the holidays. But somewhere along the line, they realize they are each other’s person.

EC: Next book(s)?

MC: I have five western romances releasing in 2026 – 3 with harlequin (including a new Blackwell series book) and 2 with tule (only tule has a page up https://tulepublishing.com/books/the-cowboys-accidental-bride/). I’ll also be working on two romantic comedies – 1 Grandma Dotty/Summer Kisses book (It Happened at Sea), 1 Mermaid Bay.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Cowboy Santa by Melinda Curtis

Book Description

Can they help each other…

Make the season bright?

A small-town Oklahoma Christmas would be charming if single dad Chandler Cochran wasn’t being called into the principal’s office to deal with his son’s antics. The instigator behind young Sam’s misbehavior? Little Della-Mae, Izzy Adams’s daughter. The same Izzy who has just taken a job decorating Chandler’s family ranch for the holidays! And even though she and Chandler are pulled together to deal with their children’s misadventures, the bubbly mom and her sweet daughter are adding light and warmth to the stoic cowboy’s world.

Will trouble turn into an unexpected gift this Christmas?

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Elise’s Thoughts

Cowboy Santa by Melinda Curtis, set in an Oklahoma small town around Christmas, is a good holiday read. The male lead is single dad Chandler Cochran who is basically raising his second-grade son, Sam on his own. It seems Sam is prodded to do certain things by the female lead, Izzy’s daughter, Little Della-Mae. Izzy and Chandler are pulled together to deal with their children’s misadventures. Chandler Cochran is a no-nonsense single father who is the manager at the Done Roamin’ Ranch, and his little boy Sam is a precocious and mischievous. When Chandler meets single mom, Izzy Adams, in the principal’s office at the school, he isn’t surprised that her daughter Mae is in trouble, too, and Chandler blames Mae, because after all, Sam wouldn’t get into trouble without encouragement. Chandler wants everything to stay just as it always has while Izzy wants him to be willing to try new things.

As with all the author’s cowboy books readers will enjoy the journey of Izzy and Chandler on how they realize there is a definite attraction. Of course, they are pushed along by their two children who decide to play cupid. People will enjoy the interactions between the children as well as the input of strong-hearted and loving Mary, Chandler’s mom who is recovering from cancer.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: The idea for the story?

Melinda Curtis: I wanted to do an enemy to lovers’ book. Then it evolved that the children were in league with each other.

EC: How would you describe the female character, Izzy?

MC: Bubbly, a rule follower, resilient, reliable, courageous, and in somewhat of a shell. This was her coming of age book where she came into her own.

EC: How would you describe Chandler?

MC: Grounded, pragmatic, obstinate, stoic, someone who likes predictability and the word ‘always.’ The past seems to be holding him back and at times he is vulnerable. He was the older brother type to his foster brother cowboys. I enjoyed going into his character in more depth.

EC: What about Chandler’s son Sam?

MC: He is a charmer, a talker, spunky, and can be sassy.

EC: What about Izzy’s daughter Mae?

MC: Delicate, she can be the mastermind in her and Sam’s endeavors. Together they work in cahoots. Both she and Sam come from divorce parents. They get into mischievous at times. Together, they are a force to be reckoned with and are smarter than the average 2^nd grader.

EC: What was the role of divorce in the story?

MC: One the divorcees wanted to put their career over raising a child, while the other tried to buy his child’s love and had all his priorities wrong. The original marriages were not the right person for Chandler and Izzy. Neither was helpful in the raising of the children.

EC: What about the relationship between Izzy and Chandler?

MC: They both try to ignore their feelings. They change the conversation when they do not like where it is going. They appear confused and in a funk. She takes him outside his comfort zone. They thought they were fine without romance until they realized that finding the right person is special.

EC: What about getting a dog?

MC: I wanted to have something a little bit playful. As a parent and grandma, I know there are times that the children trap someone into getting them things. I wanted this to be a sweet piece that is true to life. Every child should have a dog.

EC: Mary, the beloved foster mom, has cancer. Please explain

MC: It has been an ongoing thread. Even though I was asked not to write any dreaded diseases, but it is realistic. I understand how grief can get in the way of romance, but it does happen in life and does affect someone’s everyday life. Everyone tends to rally around the person and remember how important life is, something we tend to forget when our noses are in our phones all the time. I wanted to write a healthy powerful way that the characters must deal with the experience.

EC: Next books?

MC: There are six more cowboy books in this series. In spring The Cowboy Wedding Proposal will be published. And another one out in the summer.

There will be another round in the Kentucky Blackwell series.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: A Cowboy for the Twins by Melinda Curtis

Book Description

Double the trouble…

For the bachelor cowboy!

Rodeo star Tate Oakley has loved Ellie Rowland since high school, even after she married his best friend. Now the newly single cowgirl is back in Clementine, Oklahoma. Ellie is focused on opening her own restaurant, helping her sick father with his ranch and raising her adorable twin girls. But could she also be ready to give the gun-shy Tate the second chance that he’s been looking for?

The Cowboy Academy

Book 1: A Cowboy Worth Waiting For
Book 2: A Cowboy’s Fourth of July
Book 3: A Cowboy Christmas Carol
Book 4: A Cowboy for the Twins

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Elise’s Thoughts

A Cowboy for the Twins by Melinda Curtis is a fun read. The story has two high school classmates reuniting after several years. The hero, Tate, had a crush and was in love with Ellie, but she broke his heart by choosing his best friend, Buck.

The story begins with Ellie returning to her dad’s ranch, now divorced from Buck who fooled around on her. She wants to make her dad’s sheep ranch profitable and is trying to raise her twin daughters. As the two spend time at the rodeos and helping each other, their feelings grow, but both must let go of past issues to finally have their happily ever after. They must navigate through hurt feelings, but thankfully Ellie’s twin girls and her grandmother push the relationship along as they become the humorous matchmakers.

The story is engaging, humorous with quirky and relatable characters.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Melinda Curtis: I grew up on my grandfather’s sheep ranch. To me, it was interesting to find out how these sheep ranchers survive. I wanted the heroine to come home to a sheep ranch and try to figure out how to make it work. Plus, someone I know raises llamas. This was a leap to having the hero’s mom raising alpacas, a lucrative type of wool. I like to draw on something from the past.

EC: How would you describe the hero, Tate?

MC: He is a confirmed bachelor who cannot say no. He is guarded, loyal, vulnerable, funny, and kind. He must get over his feeling of abandonment. Because of this, he needs people to like him.

EC: How would you describe the heroine, Ellie?

MC: Stubborn, detailed, caring, and sincere.

EC: What about the relationship?

MC: Ellie did not expect it to happen. Tate was hurt by her in high school and now is unsettled about his feelings for her. There is easy banter between them. She feels frustrated by him because he is putting up walls. Both do not want to acknowledge the attraction and depth of feelings between them.

EC: What about the grandma, Gigi?

MC: Outspoken, direct, she is the truth sayer, someone who tells it like it is.

EC: What was the role of Prince the horse?

MC: Tate needed to embrace the fact that the horse was a worker more than a pet. The horse was a symbol: how Tate can get ahead if he stops being so much a pleaser.

EC: Does Ellie’s twin girls also play a role?

MC: They say the truth. They like to give advice. They have an answer for everything. They are Yin and Yang. One is prissy and the other is cowboyish. Together they are a force, which I use for comic relief.

EC: Please explain the quote, “You can’t neglect your own needs and dreams for someone else’s.”

MC: Self-care is not selfish. Reaching for their dreams was self-care.

EC: Next book(s)?

MC: The next book is A Cowgirl Never Forgets, part of the Blackwell series, out in July. It is a story about two best friends that work for the rodeo. It will be a cross series with this one, the “Cowboy Academy Series.” The hero gets tossed by a bull to protect the heroine. He gets temporary amnesia, and everything goes from there.

Later in August will be another book in this series titled Rodeo Star’s Reunion. The hero, Griff, helps the high school rodeo team. His son will finally find out Griff is his father.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: A Cowboy Christmas Carol by Melinda Curtis

Book Description

Christmas will come…

To even the most reluctant cowboy!

Rodeo roper Ryan Oakley may hate Christmas, but he still needs a miracle. Unfortunately, the only person who sells top-notch competition horses is Jo Pierce, his former high school nemesis. Now Ryan’s making the single mom a bargain: he’ll set her up with his twin brother, her longtime crush. It’s the perfect holiday plan…until the no-nonsense working cowgirl ends up lassoing his heart instead.

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Elise’s Thoughts

A Cowboy Christmas Carol by Melinda Curtis recalls the story of Scrooge, A Christmas Carol. In this case it is one of twin brothers, Ryan, wants nothing to do with the holiday. If readers want a story that will put a smile on their faces, they will want to read this because the banter between the characters is off the charts.

Ryan and Tate Oakley are twin brothers who are part of the rodeo circuit. They always come close to winning but never can achieve the big prize. Ryan feels it is because they need better horses. He decides to buy a pair of the best roping horses from the woman who was his nemesis in high school. Jo Pierce was expelled from school after an epic prank on Ryan and now she is a horse breeder and trainer while single parenting her twin sons. Because she has a huge pending balloon mortgage hanging over her head, she reluctantly names a price. As the two continue to negotiate and work to come up with a solution to both their problems, they learn the reasons for their animosity of the past.

Readers will enjoy taking a journey with the hero and heroine as their feelings begin to change, realizing that they both must let go of the past to find a future. This is a wonderful, sweet romance with delightful characters and a hilarious horse.

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Author Interview

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

Melinda Curtis: I changed it to be a Christmas book. I watched on Apple TV, Spirited, played by Will Farrell. I love a Christmas Carol and played on it. I thought what is better than a grumpy cowboy who does not like Christmas. I gave him an emotional wound that happened at Christmas.

EC: How would you describe the twin brothers, Ryan versus Tate?

MC: Ryan is more protective, while Tate goes through life letting things slide off his back. Ryan sees it as Tate not taking life seriously or applying himself. Ryan cares more about Tate. Ryan is trying to have he and his brother move forward and create a good life for both.

EC: Describing Ryan?

MC: He is guarded, standoffish, cold, an introvert, and a planner. He is also stubborn and grumpy. He is referred to as ‘the not nice Oakley.’

EC: How would you describe Jo?

MC: Rough and tumble. She is also direct, prickly, obstinate, and can be grumpy. She has a father who tries to break her spirit but remains confident. Unlike Ryan, she loves Christmas. She does not want to break the bonds of family even if it is at the expense of the livelihood of her ranch.

EC: What about the relationship?

MC: She and Ryan bond because both came from divorced parents. In high school he was seen as not being very nice and she was seen as being a stubborn tomboy. The high school pranks they played on each other got out of hand, which affected their relationship. She now thinks of him as pushy. She has a crush on his twin brother Tate.

EC: The role of the twin boys?

MC: Max and Dean are the twin boys of Jo. I wanted to write them as a mirror of Ryan and Tate. One is more introverted and one out to have fun. It shows how Ryan and Tate would have turned out had they had a loving household to grow up in. Max and Tate are the extroverts who the girls gravitate too, while Ryan and Dean are the introverts and responsible.

EC: You also have a horse, Tiger, in the story?

MC: Horses are like dogs in they have different personalities. They can be troublemakers. I wanted an unusual looking horse. I modeled him after my daughter’s dog. He just wants to be with people, plays rough, and is an escape artist. Tiger was considered the companion horse, the family horse, and the ‘heart horse.’ There is a phrase in the horse community; this is my heart horse. The one I will remember always after they are gone.

EC: Next books?

MC: The next book in this series will be Tate’s book, titled, A Cowboy for the Twins, coming out March of next year. Readers will learn a lot more why he does not have a care. More of the Harmony Valley books coming up. This year I had a lot of releases.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Forever Family in a Small Town and A Cowboy Worth Waiting For by Melinda Curtis

Book Descriptions and Elise’s Thoughts

Melinda Curtis is one of those special authors than can write stories within different genres. She is known for her cowboy series, romantic comedy series, and mystery series. Although there are some similarities between the plot and characters the one major difference is how the mystery is presented. What they do have in common is the fabulous banter between the characters and family closeness.

“The Love in Harmony Valley series” also has a mystery surrounding its main characters. The latest, Forever Family in a Small Town features a heroine, Kathy Harris that is a recovering alcoholic. She is working at a veterinary clinic and meets, Dylan O’ Brien. He was hired to work with difficult horses but was also asked by Kathy’s brother to secretly help in her recovery. Unfortunately, she finds out and feels betrayed by both her brother and Dylan. What Dylan and Kathy have in common are that both have damaged childhoods and have gone through difficult times as adults. Kathy is fresh out of rehab for the second time and trying to regain the trust and love of her young son. After an accident with a horse, Dylan lost his “horse whisperer” reputation which led to him losing visitation rights with his son. Readers want to turn the pages to find out what is behind Kathy’s mysterious addiction, causing her to turn to alcohol and have such low self-esteem. This is a story of overcoming and fighting addiction, finding redemption and forgiveness, and moving on to the happily ever after for both Kathy and Dylan.

A Cowboy Worth Waiting For, book 1 of the Cowboy Academy series, has former rodeo queen Ronnie Pickett deciding to go into the matchmaker business. Her first client is her good friend Wade Keller. Wade is now a widower with a young daughter and Ronnie is trying to keep a promise that she made to her friend and Wade’s late wife, to find Wade a new wife. The problem is he doesn’t want anyone but Ronnie, and Ronnie is trying to set aside her secret crush to honor her promise. Both are good people and want to keep their life-time friendship, afraid to lose it by going into a romantic relationship. Wade adores his friend Ronnie, but she already told him years ago that they are too much alike to be a couple, willing to ignore the attraction between them.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Are there any similarities and differences between each series?

Melinda Curtis: “The Love in Harmony Valley series” is more of an emotional mystery series. The plot goes into how the characters are affected by their backstory. Readers might tear up, but hopefully by the end they have a good feeling since they went through the journey with the characters and saw that everyone was able to come out OK.

“The Cowboy Academy series” has heroes who are foster boys, growing up on a ranch. They all have troubled backstories. The emotional journey of the characters is not as deep as in the Harmony series. There is a little more of lighthearted humor.

The Romance Comedy series is less emotional, and more humor driven. The humor foil is Grandma Dotty who realizes she is losing touch with reality, creating a bucket list to visit her grandchildren. She is not matchmaking, but there is a backdrop of a romance going on. They are the easiest for me to write. They do not go deep into the emotions and are buffered.

EC: Lets discuss book 5 in the Harmony series, Forever Family in a Small Town. When does it come out?

MC: It comes out May 16^th. Let me explain what happened with this series. Harlequin published fifteen books way back when in the early 2000s. Now that I have the rights back, I am in the process of re-editing them. I have eighteen scheduled to come out and will write three new ones. I am self-publishing and am in the process of redoing all the covers. These are all stand-alone books with a common setting of Harmony Valley. There is no common character thread. These books are “real issue books.”

EC: The mystery of Forever Family in a Small-Town centers on alcoholism, a serious subject?

MC: The heroine does have a trigger warning. I do have a very large family and many of them have gone through the issues in these books. The writing helped me process a lot of it.

EC: How would you describe Kathy, the main character in Forever Family in a Small Town?

MC: She has low self-esteem, honest, vulnerable, and prickly. She is deeply affected by her condition of alcoholism, being haunted by her past life. The alcoholism has affected her relationship with her eight-year-old son, Truman. She now works with horses who have had a bad experience and feels if they can be redeemed so can she. She wants a second chance and not to be a victim.

EC: How would you describe the hero, Dylan O’ Brien?

MC: He has regrets from his past. He has boxed his past away, so he did not work through it. He is on a journey. He is caring, patient, and a good listener. His job is to help horses and humans recover.

EC: What is the role of Truman, Kathy’s son?

MC: Angry and resentful toward his mom. He did not want to be hurt again by her. He is mistrusting of her. There is a need to rebuild the mother-son relationship. She tells him, “People make mistakes, and you try to forgive them. If you love them enough, forgiveness comes.” This quote is so true to life.

EC: What about the relationship between Dylan and Kathy?

MC: At first, she feels betrayed but then comes around. He has encouraged her to release her secrets to overcome her demons.

EC: In the Harlequin book, A Cowboy Worth Waiting For, how would you describe the heroine, Ronnie?

MC: She is loud, colorful, assertive, bossy, and brash. She feels she is a magnet for disaster. She is brave enough to put herself out there. But in the back of her mind, she feels she is a failure. Partly because her family cocooned her at an early age.

EC: How would you describe Wade, the hero?

MC: Recluse, stubborn, distant, determined, and a charmer.

EC: What about the relationship between them?

MC: They are teasers, friends first. She is trying to ignore her feelings. He realizes first that they should get together.

EC: Next books?

MC: I have a book in the “Cowboy Academy series” releasing the end of June, A Cowboy Fourth of July. There will be another Harmony Valley book and a Christmas romance comedy. I wrote an Alaskan book with two other authors that came out in February, Her Alaskan Matchmaker. The next Alaskan book comes out in October.

THANK YOU!!

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