A New Direction!

I'm excited to announce that I'm starting a brand new contemporary series set in a fictional town in Colorado just north of Denver.  All the books will be set in this new town, Village Green: Offering love, faith and a place to call home in Colorado. What's so fun about this new series is that it's loosely connected with my Charity House historical series.  In fact, the hero and heroine in CLAIMING THE DOCTOR'S HEART are descendants of characters in the historical books.  Charity House plays a role as well.

 

Writing this book wasn't easy, primarily because I had to create this fictional town.  I first had to figure out the connection between the historical books and the contemporary books.  I originally thought I would focus on Charity House, maybe turn the Old West orphanage for prostitutes' mistakes into a new kind of ministry.  I came up with several ideas but none of them seemed to fit.  So...Charity House became this rambling old structure the hero buys with the idea of raising his family there.  As the series continues, this will become the official gathering spot for holidays and special occasions.

Once I had the connection figured out (loose as it is) I need to populate the town.  In this book, the hero is a direct descendent of the hero in THE LAWMAN CLAIMS HIS BRIDE and the heroine is a direct descendent of the hero from THE MARSHAL TAKES HIS BRIDE.  I gave them each several siblings and poof...I now had lots of future heroes and heroines.

Next, I had to figure out more specifics about Village Green, itself.  Here's what I decided. Village Green, Colorado.  Founded 1899 by Jonathon Hawkins.  Population: 15,902.  Elevation: 4,984.

I still had to create businesses and places for my characters to frequent for fun.  Enter Hawkins Park, where the hero and heroine first meet.  I also gave the town a minor league baseball team, the Village Green Bobcats.  Since most of my characters are in the medical profession I had to give the town the Village Green Hospital.  The hero and the heroine's brother own a Family Medical practice.

Now came the really fun part.  Local businesses.  My heroine's best friend owns Senor O'Toole's, a cross between an Irish Pub and a Mexican Cantina.  The specialty of the house is Shepherd's Pie with a Mexican flare.  Since this is a small town, I added the Wash and Spins, a hybrid business that's a laundromat and a dance studio.  There's also Pizza Italiano and a ski shop still to be named.  Fun, fun, fun...

So, any thoughts as the name of the ski shop?  Leave a comment and you'll be entered into a drawing for a copy of CLAIMING THE DOCTOR'S HEART, an April 2014 release!

Here's the official blub:  After losing her high-powered job, Olivia Scott finds herself back home in Colorado. She never imagined she'd be taking care of kids, let alone being the nanny to longtime crush Dr. Connor Mitchell's adorable twin girls. But what began as a favor to the handsome widower is growing into something more. Connor's confused by his growing feelings for his best friend's little sister. She's become a beautiful woman with a caring soul, but he can't risk his—or his girls'—heart. Olivia's planning to head back to her city life. Unless this small-town doctor can convince her to stay…forever.