CTR: Welcome to author Lila Munro who’s sharing our themed book party today! First, tell us a little bit about the book you’re featuring today. Things like publisher, release date, ISBN and a buy link at least please! Also a blurb would be nice 🙂
LM: Today I’m going to be talking about two upcoming releases. The first is book one of the Slower Lower series, A Slower Lower Love, which focuses on a couple from southern Delaware. The hero, Bryce, happens to be a police officer. The second book I’d like to share with everyone is an anthology I worked on with a few great writing partners. It’s called Force Recon: Beacon Bayou and is a set of four stories about the members of a USMC special ops team. I’m very proud of both projects which will be released through Rebel Ink Press. A Slower Lower Love is set to debut January 18 and Force Recon: Beacon Bayou will be available February 22. Both will be ready for download at www.allromanceebooks.com , www.amazon.com , and let’s not forget they’ll be available through Coffee Time at www.coffeetimeromance.com . I’m very excited to be able to talk about both these amazing stories today and will be sharing excerpts from both. Until then, however, here are the blurbs:
A Slower Lower Love
When running isn’t the answer,
Cait O’Kelley loved Bryce Delaney with all her heart. But loving him scared the hell out of her. She didn’t want to settle for being married to a cop and having his children. She wanted more. Unfortunately, more came with a price. After leaving her small home town for more glamorous life and working her way up the corporate ladder, a whirlwind affair with the boss’s son tears her world apart. On the brink of losing everything she’s worked for, she had to make a decision.
and going back seems impossible,
After eight years of living without her, Bryce finds himself tasked with the job of watching over Cait during her week-long stay at her parent’s beach house in Bethany. She’s come there to sort her life out and while she’s contemplating her future, they discover the fireworks are still there. But can they ever go back to where they once were? As his secrets begin to surface, he sees only one way to save her. He disappears without a trace leaving Cait behind to pick up the pieces and deal with a whole host of new problems. One of which she can’t explain away or hide.
can you find middle ground?
With Bryce out of the picture, his brother, Kurt, finds what he’s wanted a lifetime handed to him on a silver platter. After watching Cait and Bryce toy with each other for fifteen years, he steps up to the plate. He’s always wanted her and now is his chance. But is he strong enough to ground Cait and keep her from making yet another mistake? Which brother will win her heart and show her that a slower lower love is enough?
Force Recon: Beacon Bayou
Looking for a splendid place to visit? Welcome to Beacon Bayou! Come wander Big Thicket National Preserve… For one four man Marine Force Recon team, a vacation was just what the doctor ordered. Or in their case, the team corpsman.
Fresh off a mission in the jungle of South America, rest and relaxation are Recon’s number one priorities. But for Gunnery Sergeant Brogan Baker, Sergeant Aaron Wolf, Corporal Regan Maxwell, and Chief Gabriel Sanchez, this vacation will test their strength unlike any mission ever has.
After a string of failed relationships, Brogan Baker is questioning his sexuality. Surely Regan Maxwell can’t be the answer to Brogan’s problems, can he? Besides, Regan’s a former Hollywood pretty boy just trying to prove he has what it takes while keeping one foot firmly planted in the closet. Then Lily comes along. Can the two men foster their growing relationship and survive the presence of one tiny female?
Aaron Wolf, the unit lost sheep, agreed to the Texas get away thinking he could finally overcome the short comings his father points out every chance he gets. Meeting Scarlet might be the way out Aaron’s been looking for, but it’s the beauty Gabe’s got his eye on that shows Aaron there’s hope where he thought none existed. After losing his first wife over fifteen years ago, Gabriel Sanchez has sworn off women. But somehow Roslyn Romero manages to capture his heart. The only problem is she’s got a host of her own issues that will push Gabe to the brink.
If that which doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger, then the Force Recon team will either leave Texas in body bags or they’ll have a new found resolve to live life to the fullest. Beacon Bayou beware. Recon never backs down.
CTR: What made you decide to write this particular book? Did you have a special uniformed person in mind or just admire them all? Can you give us some story behind the story?
When I decided to write A Slower Lower Love I had just finished writing two stories that involved US Marines—I’ll get to my connection to this branch of service a bit later. I wanted to try something a little different, but didn’t want to stray from my usual theme of a hot hero in uniform. My husband is from southern Delaware and I thought that would make a great backdrop for a story and it just happens he graduated from high school with a guy that is now a police officer. I put all those elements together and A Slower Lower Love was born. With Force Recon, Chris, BethAnn, JL and I were all chatting one night and someone tossed out the idea we should try an anthology for spring break. Everyone does anthologies for the major holidays and we thought spring break would be a bit different. Then the task was choosing a theme and someone tossed out the idea of special ops guys, which is something BethAnn and I both have some knowledge of. If anyone’s ever read my blog or anything about me, they know I am a stickler for facts. BethAnn’s and my knowledge would help fulfill this requirement of making it factual for me. So, we all agreed to go in that direction and an anthology was born. We had a great time writing it and I think it will set the bar for anthologies everywhere in that our stories are very intricately woven.
CTR: How about the spouses and SOs of our uniformed protectors—do you know one and sympathize with the special stresses they have to endure? Do you think couples can make two careers of this kind work?
It’s funny you should ask. I do know one, as well as many others. I am the spouse of a US Marine and know countless others, so yes, I can and do empathize with the stresses of this lifestyle and I feel my experiences only serve to bring my stories of uniformed heroes and heroines to a level of realism that few can boast. I pull out all the stops when it comes to fact finding for my stories, and I have no qualms tossing out very controversial issues. If I’m not knowledgeable enough to bring a scene to life, I turn to my in-house reference system, my husband. If he doesn’t have the answers I need, he very graciously finds a colleague that does and they are usually thrilled to help. As far as couples making two careers of this type of work, it is very, very difficult, but not impossible. It’s hardest on the children involved, particularly when both parents are called away at the same time. However, the military is one big family and in the cases where the dual-military couple doesn’t have family of their own to care for their children, there’s always someone that steps up and offers help. I’ve also witnessed this with single military parents—help is always there.
CTR: What do you think is the special appeal of men and women in uniform, be it military, law enforcement, fire fighters or others? Do they make good romance characters because of this?
LM: It’s the appearance of authority, the strength that flies off them, and yes, they absolutely make good romance characters because of this. For me, it’s the dominance and protective factor that pops in my stories. Even though my hero’s or heroine’s counterpart may not possess a completely submissive personality, it’s the uniformed character’s strength that eventually wins them over. And let’s just face it, there’s nothing sexier than a person in uniform. For me, being a marine wife, I’d have to say those dress blues are the sexiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on—of course the look of desert cammies after several months of separation isn’t so bad either.
CTR: Let’s switch subjects a little bit now. Here we are at the start of a brand new year. Are you one of those folks who makes a big list of resolutions and struggles to keep at least some of them or do you take a pass on this custom?
LM: I don’t take a pass, but I don’t make a big list either. I usually try to find one thing about myself I could improve on and try to stick to that—and I have an ongoing resolution that I renew every single year. The things I find about myself that I want to improve aren’t physical things like most people choose, for instance the smoking, eating and drinking—being a good Catholic girl I save those for Lent. 😉 I find something in my character that needs improving or some way I could have been a better human over the last twelve months and try to do just that—be a better human. This year I’m thinking it’s going to have something to do with trust. There’s one thing I learned this past year is that there are a lot of people out there in the publishing and cyber worlds that simply cannot be trusted and it made me a bit jaded and paranoid. This year I’m going to try to remember that one or two bad apples don’t make a tree and give people the benefit of the doubt before jumping to conclusions. I guess that also requires some degree of patience with those around me. Oh, my ongoing resolution—make healthier choices—I want to be old and wrinkled someday and still cranking out tawdry stories.
CTR: Do you have a goal, plan or dream for something to do this year?
LM: I have two goals this year. One, improve my writing skills—I believe in quality over quantity as I think my readers can attest to. I don’t put out dozens of things a year; I put out one thing every few months. In the interim I’m busy learning from what went wrong with the last piece and applying lessons learned from reader comments. My second goal is to make it through an upcoming deployment without looking like much of a baby. Even though I’ve done this a few times over the years, it never gets easy—just somehow commonplace.
CTR: Where do you see yourself and your writing career on Jan 1, 2012? 2020? Even farther into the future?
LM: Well, I don’t know if it will happen by 2012, but someday I hope to break into mainstream with a brick and mortar publisher. But, for now I’m happy where I am. In the e-book world, in fact, I’ve become quite comfortable here. I believe I finally found a home at Rebel Ink Press and am quite satisfied working with them. Their level of service and attention to the work is remarkable. I couldn’t ask for better people to work with. I definitely plan on making this a lifelong pursuit. I still have a lot of stories bottled up—and most of them involve hot bodies in uniforms.
CTR: Anything else you’d like to share with our readers today?
LM: I would like to extend a warm and heartfelt thanks. Without their continued support and faithful readership, I wouldn’t really have a job. I’d also like to tell them to be on the lookout—I’ll have two more Slower Lower books coming out later this year. They’ll get the opportunity to find out more about Kurt and Logan, two more Delaney brothers. Rebel will also be publishing two more installments of the Force Recon series. In fact, we’ve taken on a relative newcomer to help with book two—Somalia. JA Lawson will be joining us and make a great addition to an already stellar writing team.
CTR: Thanks so much for joining us today and please come again when you have a book that meets our theme.
LM: Thank you for hosting me—it’s been great so far and can’t wait to see how the rest of the day plays out. I’d loved to come by again soon.
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