Winner of Romantic Times Reviewer's Career Achievement "Series Storyteller of the Year" award in 2006, Debra Salonen's 26 titles for Harlequin Publishing sold more than 2.3 million copies, worldwide.
A six-time nominee for RT's Best Superromance of the Year award, Debra took home that honor in 2010.
Channel your inner maverick with dynamic, sexy, take charge heroes and the Montana women who know what they want and make their own rules to get it. Read all the titles in Debra's Big Sky Mavericks and Love, Montana series from Tule Publishing. Satisfy your sweet cravings with the 12-book, six-author Love at the Chocolate Shop series. #whatlovetasteslike
Join the rendezvous in the Black Hills of South Dakota where Hollywood meets the real wild west in this 10-book series. Now, available in 3 Boxed Sets.
And don’t miss a single new book in Deb’s West Coast Happily-Ever-After series by signing up for her Romance Matters newsletter: Newsletter.
Happy Book Birthday, BLACK HILLS BILLIONAIRE–Black Hills Rendezvous, Book 2!
I can’t believe it’s been three years since the second book in my Black Hills Rendezvous series came out. Shane and Jenna were two of the most complicated protagonists I’d ever written at that point. Their histories were difficult and entwined in a way that made predicting a happy ending nearly impossible to envision. They came soooo close to meeting, falling in love and living a fabulous life until something unthinkable happened, until a dark force ruined everything.
But when Shane’s best friend sets the game in motion in BLACK HILLS BABY (Book 1), they’re given a second chance–if Shane can get past the guilt he carries from a deathbed promise he made.
Here’s one of my favorite snippets to feature: their First Kiss.
Q: So, when is a first kiss not a kiss? A: When you’re in the Mystery Spot.
“As you can see, this was the bedroom. We’ve removed the furniture to avoid injury, but just imagine what a nightmare it must have been to sleep in a room that seems to be constantly shifting from side to side. We call this the dizzy room for a reason, so don’t be surprised if a stranger is suddenly holding on to you for balance.”
She took a deep breath and walked straight to the middle of the room. Almost instantly, her equilibrium went haywire. She stepped on what looked like a level surface and felt her foot drop a quarter of an inch. Just enough to throw her balance off. She staggered, which prompted Shane to dash into the room.
“Watch out,” she warned.
He weaved to the left like a drunk after a long night at a bar. “Holy crap,” he muttered. “What the he–?”
She grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to the wall. He looked slightly dazed. “Wow. What is it?”
“You’d have to ask my dad. Unfortunately, I think the secret went to the grave with him. All I know is it’s very effective. I’ve seen people bob and weave all the way back to their car. I’ve done this tour so often I barely feel it unless I’m in the middle of the room.”
He put a hand to his forehead. “I’ve got the spinners. Like those nights in college when you drank too much then lay down in bed and the ceiling was going around in circles.”
College.
He looked at her so intently she realized she must have said the word aloud.
“Sorry. Wrong thing to say.”
She shook her head. “It was a long time ago. Shall we finish the tour? There’s an exit through the back, but since I have to lock up, I think we should go out the way we came in.”
His usual serious look was back on his face. He nodded and pushed off from the wall to lead the way. He only made it a few steps before listing sideways, like the Titanic after meeting the iceberg. She tried to keep him upright, but his momentum was too great. They both staggered a few steps then crashed into the wall. The wall with the drawing of a four-poster with a patchwork quilt on it, and they landed smack dab in the middle of the one-dimensional mattress.
“This was your plan all along, right?” Shane asked, wrapping his arms around her to keep steady. “To get me in bed?”
She laughed to keep her panic at bay, but to her surprise she didn’t feel the usual fear that came when someone got too close, too fast. In fact, she liked the feeling of being in his arms. Warm. Secure. Protected.
“I’ve seen the same thing happen to other people. Perfect strangers. Dad used to say it was all about a person’s polarity-–positive and negative.”
His eyes were such a deep, yummy brown. Like chocolate syrup. “Does that mean one of us is a magnet and the other iron filings?”
She knew which she’d be. “Maybe we’re both iron filings being drawn to the giant magnet in the wall.”
He arched his neck to look over his shoulder, his skepticism clearly back in place. Laughing, she put her hands flat against his chest and pushed back. She waited for her balance to return, the way it usually did, but if anything, she was even loopier. Her hands wouldn’t leave his shirt. Her breath was shallow and shaky. Because she knew he was going to kiss her.
Kiss. His mouth touching her mouth. No. She didn’t kiss. Or touch. Or… But no words of protest made it out before his lips touched hers.
Holy thunder and lightning, Bookgirls, that was a storm!
My back yard after the last powerful storm passed through.
I usually write my blogs ahead of time, but I just got my WiFi back after two days of no connection. Since I live in the country, I signed up for a satellite service to provide access to the world at large. Well, that’s a slight overstatement since the “service” is so lousy, but regardless of the lack of speed, most days I do have access. But for the past two days, the modem’s power light came on but no one was home, if you know what I mean. The so-called brains of the outfit wouldn’t wake up. And when I tried to go online, I’d get dire warnings about not having a secure server.
I checked my roof to see if the dish was still attached. Yup. Was it still facing in the right direction? I couldn’t say, but since another couple of waves of storms were predicted, I decided to leave the unit unplugged and focus on writing.
And…um…wow. I wrote three complete chapters and I learned a whole bunch of interesting stuff about my characters. I guess what they say about connectivity decreasing productivity is right. (I’m trying to look surprised here, but it’s no shock. I’m as big a sucker for a cute puppy meme as anyone, and heart-tugging videos tug me right down the rabbit hole.)
So, here’s my dilemma: all the lights on my modem are twinkling brightly. Obviously, I’ve decided to start my day online–I’m writing this in WordPress, but what now?
Decisions, decisions.
How do you avoid the temptation of checking email and social media when you have other more important things to do?
First, we agree to let an overgrown squirrel predict the weather, then we blithely allow the flower industry, candy makers and greeting card people to run rampant over our hearts.
Speaking of hearts. Did you hear that the candy makers who supply the bulk of the world’s supply of that Valentine’s Day staple “Conversation Hearts” blew it? Whoever decided to sell the company to another company too inept to look at a calendar–V-Day is FEBRUARY 14th, people…well, not my problem. https://www.delish.com/food-news/a22577659/necco-candy-hearts-shut-down/
I bought early because some traditions–even the silly ones–must be adhered to. 😉
One GOOD thing to come out of this Valentine mayhem is celebrating Romance Novels. I mean, why wouldn’t we? Boy meets girl. They have issues. True love prevails. They live happily-ever-after. People who don’t read romance novels call that a formula. I call it magic. Reading can be magical. A good book can transport you out of a life that might be missing conversation–let alone conversation hearts–into a world of rich emotion, forgiveness, and joy. There may even be chocolate.
And here’s my Valentine to you: 50% off BOOKS II AND III of the Love, Montana series in the Tule Publishing BookStore, using the code: LOVE50 (copy this code then click the links below)
(The code is good for both titles: please share the love! Since Book I – HER HERO TO LOVE – is still FREE for one…more…day, that means you can read the entire series for less than a bag of Conversation Hearts. ;-))
