I am thrilled to share the first four stories in the new Lobster Cove series from The Wild Rose Press:
Juelle’s Legacy
Catch Me If You Can
Another Man’s Son
Heavy Netting
I LOVE this series idea. I only wish I had time to write and submit a Lobster Cove story for the series myself. Maybe soon…
In the meantime, I invited the authors to come visit and answer these questions on my blog today:
Was there anything in particular that inspired your idea?
What was it like working on a series where you had to coordinate with other writers?
Was there any part of your story that was taken from real life…that you can tell us about, that is?
Besides the main characters, who is your favorite character in the story and why?
What do you love that most people would find odd?
What do you dislike that most people would find odd?
Check out their answers and their lovely covers, and learn a bit about their characters and what’s going on in Lobster Cove:
Carol Henry with Juelle’s Legacy
Other than I love lobster, and visiting Maine as often as I can to get my fill of lobster along the coast, I found the whole premise of Lobster Cove intriguing. Helping to build a town with interesting characters going about their business was inspiration in itself.
This was the first time I worked on this type of project, and I found working with the other writers fun and inspirational. Having characters I needed to use in my novel fully developed by those writing for the Town of Lobster Cove made the town and people more real to me.
I think there is always a part of someone you know in many of the characters we create. The biggest event in Juelle’s Legacy that was taken from real life, was having to make a decision to remove life support. A sad event, and similar to the decision my mother and I had to make in regards to my father’s death several years ago.
I really enjoyed writing about Eugenia McClintock. Although she causes most of the conflict in Juelle’s life, she is motivated by her childhood and the loss of her loved ones. She has a strong community presence and looks out for the downtrodden. At times I felt as if she was the main character. I had to step back and remember who the story was really about 🙂
I love to listen to a gentle breeze blowing through the trees on a warm autumn day and watch the colored leaves spiral to the ground. My favorite time of year.
I dislike trips that include driving along narrow roads that have mile-long drop offs, especially on the passenger side of the car, and even more especially when there are no guardrails. Riding in a bus on such roads is even more disturbing. And yet, I find myself signing up for excursions that somehow take me over hairpin turns up mountainsides with these types of drop offs.
Blurb:
After an accident puts Juelle McClintock’s husband, Sebastian, in a coma, she’s left to care for her small daughter on her own—and to deal with the guilt over her plan to divorce him. When Juelle is faced with the decision of whether to remove his life support, her grief-stricken mother-in-law calls her a murderer. Matters become more complicated when Hunter McClintock arrives in town, claiming to be Sebastian’s half-brother.
Hunter McClintock is summoned from Hawaii for the reading of his father’s will—a father he never knew. Despite his qualms of dredging up bitter emotions, he goes to Lobster Cove, Maine, and walks head-first into a hornet’s nest, and a beautiful, sexy, grieving widow who is married to his half-brother.
An unexpected stipulation is revealed at the reading of the Will, and Hunter and Juelle are faced with decisions that will alter their destinies. Will Juelle’s legacy complicate her life further, or lead to the contentment and love she deserves?
Excerpt:
Juelle had all she could do to hold back her own tears. Could she do it? Could she tell the doctors to let her husband go? And if she did, would it be murder, as Eugenia accused? She lowered her head and shut her eyes before her tears could fall. She fisted her hands, and took several deep breaths, swallowed. God, she was tired of holding it all in. She swung away from the scene in front of her, and headed for the door, only to be brought up short by a man standing there as if he’d been gob-struck. The man she’d seen at Mariner’s the night before blocked her exit. Before she could ask why he was here, Eugenia’s gasp drew her attention back to her mother-in-law.
Clasping the back of a chair, the woman looked ready to pass out. Eugenia recovered so fast, Juelle wondered if she had imagined her mother-in-law’s reaction.
“What the hell are you doing here? Get him out of here. He! Is! Not! Family!” Eugenia screeched.
Juelle did a double-take. If she considered Eugenia sounded like a banshee before, with her ear splitting shrieking, her tone now was so venomous it had everyone stopping in their tracks and staring in disbelief. The strange man was the first to recover. He walked into the enclosed room. Juelle recognized the astonishment in his pinched lips, raised eyebrows.
“I am family.” His voice was calm, well modulated, and confident. “Allow me to introduce myself—Hunter McClintock. I assume you know my father?”
Juelle’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t form a single sane word. Eugenia, however, had no trouble.
“Liar! Hunt McClintock’s only son is lying in that bed.”
BUY LINKS:
The Wild Rose Press: http://bit.ly/12aso6N
Barnes & Noble Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/juelles-legacy-carol-henry/1120059999?ean=2940149652839
Kindle: http://amzn.to/1ok7J4g
All Romance Ebooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Carol+Henry
Contact/Social Media
Website: http://www.carolhenry.org
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/carolannhenry
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6582676.Carol_Henry
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.a.henry.14?ref=tn_tnmn
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/carol-henry/17/736/811 /
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Mitzi Pool Bridges with Catch Me if You Can
I don’t really know what inspired this story, but I love a mystery, and I love a strong female character. Catch Me has both.
Coordinating with other writers didn’t sit well with me as I’m a fast writer and having to look up and check to see if everything I wrote was in harmony could get dicey. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought and ended up well.
There was no part of this story taken from real life.
My second fav character after the H/H was Jackie, their daughter. I liked her spunk.
I think what I love that most everyone else hates is to bake cookies. I baked around 170 dozen last Christmas and everyone groaned, then at them like pigs.
Blurb:
Can an FBI agent from the big city find love with a small-town sheriff once he discovers a fifteen-year-old secret?
Excerpt:
He couldn’t be here. Not now. Not ever. He was part of her past. He’d made sure of that.
It took him a minute to get to her. She spent every second willing her heart to still, her anger to subside.
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Glenys O’Connell with Another Man’s Son
My musician husband sings an old folk song about a man who marries a wealthy lady instead of the woman he loves. There’s a line: “At night when I go to my bed of slumber, when I turn around to embrace my darling, instead of gold sure tis brass I find.” My mind shifted to the 21st century and I wondered why a modern woman would choose to marry for money – and pregnant, lonely, desperate Kathryn Morgan appeared on my computer screen…..
I’ve never worked on a series before for a publisher, and the Lobster Cove is a special case. Why, you might ask? Well, it’s multi-genre and each book would be capable of standing alone – but they go great together! You could read any of these books out of the published order and still have a full story experience. All the authors taking part in the Lobster Cove authors list worked well together and were generous with their information, so it was comfortable to use Lobster Cove details and characters from other books. Lori Graham was wonderful at keeping us all on track and coordinating the project.
Some of the characters were inspired by people I met while working as a journalist and as a counsellor.
I think it’s hard for any writer to choose a favorite character – we even loved our villains! But I think my favourite in Another Man’s Son would be seven year old Alex Morgan, the character in the title, who struggles to understand why he has been kidnapped and locked away in a dirty old cellar. Why doesn’t his mommy come for him? Why did the Man lie to him? Will the Man hurt him? Will his Daddy come and rescue him, or will he ignore him as he’s done all his life? Poor Alex tugs at my heartstrings.
What do I love that most people would find odd? I’m embarrassed to say that probably a lot of things. Solitude. Painting walls. White wine with orange juice. Perhaps oddest of all, going to the local landfill site (garbage dump) to watch the bears rummage for fast food…..although that’s entertainment out here where I live 🙂
BLURB:
Kathryn Morgan broke Ben Asher’s heart when he returned from military service in Afghanistan to find she’d married her boss, wealthy banker Ket Morgan Jr.
Ben vowed he’d never return to Lobster Cove but now, seven years later, he is back as an undercover FBI agent sworn to expose the Morgan family’s criminal activities. Will his vow to bring down the notorious Morgans extend to the woman he still loves?
When Kathryn’s son is kidnapped, she is forced to swallow her pride and reveal the secret of another man’s son. Can Ben protect Kathryn and her son from Ket and his sinister friends, or will old hurts and secrets destroy them all?
EXCERPT:
Kathryn drew in a sharp breath. How could she possibly explain all this to Ben? What words could she use to convey the nightmare her life had become, the sense of burning shame within her that she’d made this choice? There was no way she could bear to see the contempt in his eyes when he saw how trapped she was, like a fox in a leg trap. But, like that fox, she’d be capable of gnawing off her own leg for the sake of her son. If she had to, she’d bear the humiliation.
“What the hell is wrong with this family?” Ben exploded. “There’s a missing child whose parents are too busy fighting between themselves to co-operate with law enforcement in finding him. Dammit all, Kathryn, it seems neither of you can say for sure the boy is really missing!”
His anger sparked her own. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that, Ben Asher! Especially not now, not when…”
“Not when what, Kathryn?” His voice was gentler and he moved to stand beside her, close enough so she could smell the clean masculine scent of him that shone through the light citrus aftershave she remembered so well. She swallowed, then stood to face him. He didn’t step back, even though there were just inches between them.
She ran her tongue over her lips to moisten them, but even so her voice sounded cracked and dry to her own ears. “Not when I need you. Need your help.”
She needed more than that. She needed Ben to take her in his arms, to kiss her; to let her taste his mouth and find out if it was as magical as her heart remembered. But she was another man’s wife and the hard planes of his face told her without words that he would never forgive her betrayal. Kathryn sighed and began to turn away, but his next question stopped her.
BUY LINKS
TWRP: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/LobsterCove/conversations/messages/2311
B & N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/another-mans-son-glenys-oconnell/1120192528?ean=2940150621367
Contact info:
Website: www.glenysoconnell.com
Blog: www.romancecanbemurder.blogspot.ca
Email: glenysoconnell@msn.com
Twitter: @GlenysOConnell
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Nicki Greenwood with Heavy Netting
The Wild Rose Press’s Editor-in-Chief, Rhonda Penders, came to our local RWA chapter to speak, and she introduced us to the brand-new series, Lobster Cove. I’d never written for a publisher’s series before, but she also mentioned that her most successful authors wrote books of varying lengths in varying genres. That was enough of a challenge to me! After that, the hero of HEAVY NETTING took my words and ran away with them. It was a fast and fun book to write and an exciting change for me.
It was one of the most amazing experiences of my writing career! There’s such an energy among the Lobster Cove writers, and an enthusiasm for the overall project that feeds into every story. We collaborated on so many things, and observant readers are going to find lots of interconnected little “Easter eggs” in each book. I now feel like I could be dropped in Lobster Cove and find my way around as if it’s one of my favorite vacation spots.
The hero of HEAVY NETTING, Branson Cudahy, hails from one of my favorite places on earth: Lexington, Kentucky. I took a trip to Lexington one weekend to visit the Kentucky Horse Park. I’ll never forget it, and as we toured around looking at some of the sprawling horse farms, I remember thinking how I would have loved to be born into a big, horse-breeding family. That’s Bran, although his career did take him down an alternate path. *grin*
I’d have to say either Bran’s best friend, Rudy, or another author’s character, Carlos Young. Both are very vivid in my mind. Rudy gives Bran a lot of guff, but he gets away with it because they’ve had such a history. Carlos may be one of Bran’s favorite people in town because he runs the local gourmet coffee shop. Bran does love his coffee!
Probably editing or web design! I started out as an editor for The Wild Rose Press for two awesome years before getting published myself. I now freelance edit and design websites, in addition to writing fiction. It’s a lot of nuts-and-bolts work that could make a person tear her hair out, but I adore it.
I don’t think any of my dislikes are terribly unusual…although sunlight and I don’t get along very well without some high-test sunblock on!
BLURB:
Branson Cudahy is as southern as it gets, a cyber crime investigator from happily-landlocked Lexington, Kentucky. He has been chasing a hacker for three years, and now the trail has led him to Lobster Cove, Maine … which is a real problem for a guy with a shellfish allergy.
Jenna Sanborn waits tables to pay the bills, but she dreams of opening a quilt shop in the heart of town. She’d never even think of leaving Lobster Cove, but the handsome newcomer is tempting beyond her wildest imaginings.
Bran and Jenna never expect the whirlwind romance that comes out of their meeting. As hard as they fight to control their feelings, their hearts are fighting to push them over that dizzying lover’s leap. Will love win out, or will the hacker—and their dreams—slip the net?
EXCERPT:
“All right, Jenna,” he said. “Tell you what. I’m gonna be there about four o’clock. If you want to meet me there and talk Lobster Cove, I’ll be all ears. If not, no pressure.”
She giggled. Giggled. Like a teenager going to her first concert with a cute boy. Mortified, and now convinced that her cheeks were as red as a stop sign, she backed away. “I’ll keep it in mind. See you later, Mister Cudahy.”
His grin sent a flutter through her midsection. “Bran.”
“Okay. Bran.” She waved goodbye, then hurried off down the street with her groceries and would-be-truant oranges.
As she walked, she sensed his gaze on her, and she beamed, flattered and flustered, and for once, feeling beautiful.
BUY LINKS:
Author Alicia Dean 