I would like to thank everyone who told me they couldn’t wait to return to Cavanaugh Island. And like the genie in the bottle, I’m going to grant your wish.
You will get to revisit people and places on the idyllic island while being introduced to others who will make you laugh and cry—and even a few you’d rather avoid. It is a place where newcomers are viewed with suspicion, family secrets are whispered about, and old-timers are reluctant to let go of their past. Most inhabitants believe what happens in Sanctuary Cove, Angels Landing, or Haven Creek stays on Cavanaugh Island. Angels Landing—or “the Landing,” as the locals refer to it—takes its name from the antebellum mansion and surrounding property that was and will again become a crown jewel on the National Register of Historic Places.
In ANGELS LANDING you will meet newcomer Kara Newell, a transplanted New York social worker who inherits a neglected plantation and a house filled with long-forgotten treasures and family secrets spanning centuries. Kara finds herself totally unprepared to step into her role as landed gentry, and even more unprepared for the island’s hunky sheriff. Her southern roots help her adjust to the slower way of Lowcountry life, but she finds herself in a quandary when developers concoct elaborate schemes to force Kara into selling what folks refer to as her birthright. Then there’s hostility from newfound family members, as well as her growing feelings for Sheriff Jeffrey Hamilton.
Jeff has returned to Cavanaugh Island to look after his ailing grandmother and to assume the duties of sheriff. His transition from military to civilian life is smooth because, as “Corrine Hamilton’s grandbaby boy,” he’s gained the respect of everyone through his fair, no-nonsense approach to upholding the law. However, his predictable lifestyle is shaken when he’s asked to look after Kara when veiled threats are made against her life. When Jeff realizes his role as protector shifts from professional to personal, he is faced with the choice of whether to make Kara a part of his future or lose her like he has other women in his past.
So come on back and reunite with folks with whom you’re familiar and new characters you’ll want to see time and time again. You will also get a glimpse of Haven Creek, where artisans still practice customs passed down from their African ancestors. Make certain to read the teaser chapter from Haven Creek for the next installment in the Cavanaugh Island series.
Have you ever stared in the mirror and had yourself a mini identity crisis? Felt unsure of who you really were? I have, and that was the inspiration for BLAME IT ON TEXAS. But for my heroine, Zoe Adams, her identity crisis isn’t so mini.
Imagine seeing a childhood picture of yourself splashed across the TV screen on an unsolved mystery show, which claims you were kidnapped from some highfalutin Texas millionaire family. Imagine learning that your corpse was supposedly discovered shortly after you were kidnapped. Imagine it, when all your life you’ve had some strange memories that didn’t make sense.
With Zoe’s parents—or people she thought were her parents—deceased, she’s certain of only one thing: She’s not dead. (Although, after her fiancé ran off with another woman, taking her heart with him, she hasn’t felt too alive.) So Zoe does the only thing she can: She takes a leave of absence from her job as a kindergarten teacher, packs up the only thing that matters in her life—her handicapped cat—and hightails it from Alabama to the Lone Star State.
Her search for answers lands her in a whole lot of trouble, too. When someone starts taking pot shots at her, she winds up under the protective arm of a sexy commitment-phobic PI who is more than willing to play bodyguard. Between Tyler Lopez, his family and friends, and all the zany characters she meets while working at Cookie’s Diner, Zoe learns that who you are isn’t so much about your birth name or who your parents were. It’s about whom you let into your life and whom you love.
From Texas-sized flying cockroaches and ticked-off clowns, to games of strip Scrabble, writing the story of Zoe and Tyler was the most fun I’ve had doing something that wouldn’t get me arrested. The chemistry between these two characters lit up the page from the moment she dropped three