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Overjoyed and humbled, all at the same time. The first time one of my romance novels appeared on the New York Times bestselling list was in 2008, a book called ACCIDENTALLY YOURS. When your name appears on a prestigious bestselling authors list such as the New York Times and the USA Today bestsellers lists, it means that lots of readers rushed out to buy your book the very first week it was released. My readers mean the world to me, and it’s always such an honor to know they’re that eager for my next book.

After four of my Fool's Gold books hit #2 on the New York Times bestsellers list (SUMMER NIGHTS, THREE LITTLE WORDS, HOLD ME, and KISS ME), I finally sidestepped the "always a bridesmaid" curse when THRILL ME debuted at #1 in August 2015. Pretty exciting to see my romance novel at the top of the bestsellers list! Years earlier, my friend Debbie Macomber had given me a bottle of champagne and told me to open it when I hit #1. (Not if, when.) I opened it the night I got the news, and I raised a toast to Debbie and to the wonderful readers who had helped me make this remarkable achievement.

This summer, Otherwise Engaged will be reissued in paperback in my second special sprayed-edges release in a single year—another career first! Otherwise Engaged will appeal to readers who loved For the Love of Summer and The Vineyard at Painted Moon. It’s a complex and surprising story of two young women who discover they have a very unusual connection—when Shannon was born, her teen mom had planned to give her baby up for adoption to wealthy Ava, but changed her mind at the last second. Ava never recovered from the pain and shock of that moment, which bled into the life of the girl she did adopt, Victoria. The story starts when Shannon and Victoria are twenty-four years old and meet unexpectedly—with their moms—at a wedding venue, where all the secrets come tumbling out.

Up next will be The Trouble with Friends early in 2027. Lily, Anne, and Maya met in boarding school and bonded instantly over being only children—sort of. Anne once had a brother who died along with their parents in a tragic accident. She was all alone in the world, so when her best friends suggested that their group, the Onlys, should make a pact to be each other’s family the rest of their lives, aunties to each other’s children, Anne was thrilled.

But in their twenties, Anne and Lily fell in love with the same guy, and Anne married him. The Onlys imploded. Lily was heartbroken and furious, while Maya was caught in the middle between the two friends she still loved.

The story starts about fifteen years later. Maya, determined to bring the Onlys back together, sets Lily and Anne on a series of quests. For reasons that will be revealed in the book, they can’t say no.

The Trouble with Friends is my favorite kind of story—the story of genuinely good but imperfect people finding away to forgive one another to earn the happiness we all deserve. I think you’re going to love it.

There's a Contact form inside the Members Only area. I respond to reader mail once a month, so depending on when your email comes in, it might be a few weeks before you hear back from me. You can also send me a message via Facebook.

From the time I was about thirteen, I loved reading romance novels. I had never thought about actually becoming a romance writer because I thought romance writers were exotic people who lived in France, wore black all the time and talked about things like dead philosophers and existentialism. While I was in college, I saw that a local adult education center was offering a class on "How to Write a Romance Novel." I signed up for that class and, the very same day, began writing my first romance novel.

The book was awful, but the class changed my life. It was 8 weeks long and I knew by week 6 that I wanted to make a career as a romance author. I stayed in school to complete my degree (in Accounting of all things) then walked away from a job offer to try my hand at romance writing. Fortunately, I sold fairly quickly. My first romance novel sold in August 1990 and was published in January 1992. From that point on, I’ve never wanted to be anything other than an author. Although I write more women’s fiction than romance novels these days, romance will always be a part of my books because I find falling in love to be endlessly fascinating and infinitely variable. Every couple has a different story and a different path to finding one another.

Ideas come from everywhere – conversations, articles. Songs are a great source of inspiration for me. I’m convinced that there’s a book in every country music song, but you might be surprised at the idea that comes from a song. For me, it’s not about the lyrics or the story of the song, as much as it is about the emotions.

So yes, ideas are everywhere, but the idea is merely a spark. The tough part is fanning that spark into flames, into a full-length women’s fiction novel. I’ve had a lot of ideas that weren’t good enough to sustain a book. I either have to reassign it as a subplot, or let it go. (That is so hard sometimes!)

The Bookstore Diaries started as a title with no story. That happens sometimes! The same thing happened when the title Daughters of the Bride popped into my head. Start with a title, then develop the story. Whatever works! And wow, did this one work in a big way! Jax and Ryleigh are loving sisters living the good life in Port Palmas, California—just north of Los Lobos, for those of you who have enjoyed my Los Lobos books. Jax is running the Painted Lady Bookstore that she inherited from her grandparents, while Ryleigh is an elementary schoolteacher.

At the start of the book, Ryleigh shocks herself by turning down the proposal of the man she thought she was in love with. Which means she has officially run out of dating prospects in their small town, and she’ll have to move to find what she wants—a family. Jax, who is desperate to keep her sister-slash-best-friend in Port Palmas, finds a swoony guy that Ryleigh can date. But he only has eyes for Jax.

The Bookstore Diaries is fun and heartfelt and joyous. I’m excited to hear how it makes you feel!

The Trouble with Friends started with the characters. The idea popped into my head: What if three only children vowed to be each other’s family for the rest of their lives? They might have an idyllic vision of spending holidays together, raising their kids as cousins, being there for each other through thick and thin. But then, I thought, what if two of them fell in love with the same man?

From there, The Trouble with Friends grew into one of my all-time favorite stories.

The single title romance novels and women’s fiction books take about 3-4 months from start to finish. They are long with intricate plots and a lot of characters, which makes for a lot of writing…and rewriting. I do have a schedule. I'm slow in the beginning but after the first few chapters, I generally write about 15 pages a day. And I do plot out the whole story. I need to know what's going to happen before I can comfortably move ahead. This doesn't mean the characters don't get a vote. They frequently surprise me with their actions and dialogue. Then we all have to have a meeting and figure out what happens next!!

You can see a complete list of my books, in order of publication, listed by series here. Many of my women’s fiction books are available in print, so you can find them wherever books are for sale. If your local bookstore doesn’t have it, they should be able to order it for you, or you can definitely order it from websites like Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

You’ve come to the right place! All of my books are listed in order on my Printable Backlist. Or you can sign in to the Members Only area for a list that shows each series separately and in order. That’s particularly helpful with the Fool’s Gold romance novels because there are several novellas that are interspersed throughout the series. The list in the Members area shows all of the Fool’s Gold books in order, as well as Wishing Tree, Happily Inc, Mischief Bay, Blackberry Island, Hometown Heartbreakers, Desert Rogues, the Buchanans, the Marcelli Family, the Bakery Sisters and the Lone Star Sisters.

Yes—over 100! To see all of my available audiobooks, visit the Audiobooks page of my website. Each audiobook has links to make it easy for you to buy from Audible.com, Apple Books, Kobo audio, and Libro.fm.