If you've read my books, you've already picked up that I prefer two basic locals for my stories, either Los Angeles based or Texas based. I'll play around with New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco, since those are my favorite cities, but my heart has been evenly split my entire adult life between California and Texas.
I'm a Texas girl, born and bred. Like any Texas girl, I'm proud to be from the Lone Star State. My own personal history, whether as a child growing up in the 1970s and 1980s or raising my kids in the same towns I grew up in (with them attending the same schools I attended,) everything is entrenched in Texas history. I love the cities. I love the country. I cross the state line and I still feel like I've come home.
Even my accent comes back instantaneously. It's hilarious.
I grew up with thunderstorms and cowboys, bluebonnets and remember the Alamo, with people that greet you with yes sir or yes ma'am, or wave at you when you pass them on a remote country highway. I grew up on Mrs. Bairds, Tex-Mex and Big Red soda, and ended many nights closing down a bar just to get a Whataburger (with jalapenos) at 2am. I've enjoyed the slower pace of rural Texas and the more hectic crowded cities like Houston and Dallas.
Every single book I can center in Texas is a virtual love letter to my home state, which is especially true for my Mevember Giveway today.
I wrote SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY as an homage to Texas men, Texas gentlemen specifically. These are the ones who tip their hat to you when they greet you, or stand when you enter the room. They open the door for you, they call you 'darlin'' with a slow, easy drawl. They believe in God and family, hard work and keeping their word. They have nothing to prove; instead they live their lives by a code of ethics that center on doing what's right.
They're not perfect, mind you. But the right Texas gent makes it easy to forgive.
When I first started reading romances when I was eleven, I was drawn to the southern men that Janet Dailey wrote about. Manly men who knew when to be tender, and loved you more when you were standing toe to toe with them (rather than shrinking under their feet.) They had my heart from the start. I couldn't wait to meet one. To love one. Or really, to love several.
Fortunately for me, I even got to raise a couple. I've written many more.
Jonah Riley is that special kind of man. He sits somewhere between sweet Cinnamon Roll and self-assured alpha... which makes him perfect for our heroine Lacy. She's a feisty spitfire of a Texas girl. She needs someone who understands the delicate balance a good man has to strike knowing when to lead the dance and when to let his woman shine all on her own. Jonah's both hero and cheerleader, depending on her needs at the time. Best of all, when he says he'll be there... he means it.
Travel to my beloved Texas as you get to know Jonah and Lacy in SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY, today's free giveaway.
It's a double shot of pure southern comfort with a rock and roll kicker.
Enjoy, y'all.
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