Military Week: Cat Johnson

CAT JOHNSON’S RED HOT & TRUE BLUE MILITARY HEROES

I get asked the same question a lot—why did I start writing military romance? The answer is easy. I loved reading military romance. Suzanne Brockmann and Alison Kent were fixtures on my keeper shelf, so when I got my first romance contract in 2006, I asked my then editor, if I tried my hand at a military romance would she be interested? Her answer was yes.

That was the birth of the Red, Hot, & Blue series, currently releasing with Samhain Publishing. It started out with a team of SpecOps, but as I began researching the details for those first stories and came in contact with actual deployed troops, my ideas and story began to focus more on the tankers, the infantry, the boots on the ground. And as the war changed, the hot spots moving from Ramadi, Iraq to the border provinces in the mountains separating Pakistan from Afghanistan, so did my settings change to reflect the reality.  Reading through my series from book 1 the reader will notice the shifts—from the elite BlackOps, to the soldiers dodging snipers in Ramadi, to the slight side turn the series takes when I focus on the hometown and the family members of some of the military heroes, to the eventual move to the new hotspots in Afghanistan.

I hope the readers enjoy the journey as much as I enjoyed getting to know those real life men who inspired the stories.

Cat Johnson

www.catjohnson.net

http://twitter.com/cat_johnson

http://facebook.com/catjohnsonauthor

A FEW GOOD MEN (Red, Hot, & Blue Novel) by CAT JOHNSON

eBook release June 19, 2012, PREORDER now from:

Samhain Publishing

Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble Nook

Books on Board

Please enjoy the following excerpt from A FEW GOOD MEN…

He has met the enemy…but he’s never fought desire like this. 

Deployed in the deadliest place on earth, Army Staff Sergeant John Blake relies on caffeine, adrenaline, years of training and sheer force of will to get through his days. He has no problem with his tank crew passing around a sexy romance novel, but John’s a fighter, not a lover. He’ll pass. Winding up as the author’s accidental pen pal wasn’t in his plan, but there’s something about her sweet, caring emails that has him looking forward to checking his inbox.

Week after week, Maureen Mullen, aka erotic romance writer Summer Winters, has dated one loser after another in a quest to find the last decent man on earth. Now it seems she’s found him—halfway around the world. When it comes to falling for unavailable men, she’s batting a thousand.

Gradually, the emails between the war-hardened warrior and the writer of passionate prose heat up to the point of keeping them up warm and wanting at night. Soon they’re wondering if it’s possible to build something solid out of cyberspace, or if it’s just an emotional mirage that will dissolve in the heat of reality.

Warning: Contains some steamy phone calls from the war zone and one hell of a sexy first meeting between two strangers who are already in love.

Excerpt:

Jazzy had been alive when the medevac helicopter took him away, but now that John knew he would be fine, he was pretty sure he wanted to kill him.

John ran his hands over his face. “Why can’t you wait to email her when you get out of here?”

“Because the docs say I can’t leave this hospital bed for almost a week, and then I have to go straight to my bunk and not move for another week except to go to the head. So you have to do it. I can’t be wandering around the MWR. I might collapse and injure myself.” He held a hand to his ribcage and looked pitiful.

“Look. I have no problem calling your wife for you. Hell, I’ll even contact your grandmother and dear old aunt if you want, but I am not emailing your sex-writer pen pal, Summer Winters.” John was sticking to this resolution even though Jazzy was giving him the hurt puppy eyes.

He watched the man in the bed before him shrug and then wince in spite of the large number of painkillers John knew was coursing through his veins. The areas covered with white gauze bandages outnumbered those without, making the concussion and contusions seem worse. But John was well aware that with explosions it was the internal injuries that could kill you, no matter how good or bad the exterior looked.

“That’s okay, sir. It’s not like I got injured following an order you, my superior officer, gave me or anything—oh wait. It is exactly that.” Jazzy couldn’t suppress the grin that crossed his lips.

He was trying guilt now? Dammit, though, it was the truth. Jazzy had been out of that tank and in harm’s way following his order.

John growled, a low rumbling sound of frustration and defeat. “I really hate you right about now. You do know that, don’t you?”

Jazzy smiled wider. “Yes, sir. And might I add you’re not the first superior officer I’ve had say that. So her email address is summer at summer winters dot com. Do you want me to write that down?” Jazzy picked up the pad of paper and pen he kept on his bed so he could write his wife daily.

“No, thank you. I believe I can remember that very complicated address.” John scowled until his lips formed one tight line.

Don’t miss the rest of The Red, Hot, & Blue Series from Samhain Publishing

Available Now:

Trey (Book 1)

Jack (Book 2)

Jimmy (Book 3)

Red Blooded (a print compilation of the eBooks Trey, Jack and Jimmy)

Jared (Book 4)

Cole (Book 5)

Bobby (Book 6)

Coming Soon:

A Few Good Men (Book 7)

Model Soldier (Book 8)

A Prince Among Men (Book 9)

If you enjoy military romance, comment and tell us why!

Contest: Cat will be giving away to one lucky commenter their choice of the following Red, Hot & Blue series eBooks: Choose from Trey, Jack, Jimmy, Jared, Cole or Bobby. (International entries included)

Military Week: Heather Long

My love of military romance dates back to three, (two alike and one very different) television series and grew from there. The first series, M*A*S*H aired from 1972 to 1983. But I don’t remember a time I didn’t watch it, leaning against my grandmother’s knee and being amazed by these men and women who were in the thick of it. In the early 1980s came the A-Team. These military specialists and the idea that they’d been framed, but still tried to do good things was extremely romantic to me.  The third series, China Beach, ripped open the joy and the agony of loving someone in the military. You couldn’t not love Boonie or McMurphy. You had to feel their pain and you had to mourn with them.

These were all series that I watched while growing up and coupled with the exposure to seeing images of coffins returned to Dover, military officers in their dress clothes and more, I couldn’t help but want to be like these ‘heroes.’  The Vietnam backlash was very big when I was younger, but my grandmother was just not one of those people. She believed that these men and women went there to defend our country and it didn’t matter if you didn’t agree with the action -- you supported those who served.

In the last thirty years, we’ve seen action on the news in Panama, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, Somalia and more. I remember being in Great Britain during the Falkland Islands War and watching it every day on television. I grew up listening to my grandmother’s stories of World War II and surviving it.

I know sailors, soldiers, Marines and airmen. Their capacity for giving to their country without thought for life and limb secures my liberty - how can that not move me? I’ve always found the tales of those men and women who served finding love especially moving, especially meaningful and desperately needed.

Writing them feels a little like giving back, a small contribution to honor the tremendous gift that our military bestows upon us. Writing military romance may not win a war or save a life, but if it - like those series I watched and books I read when I was growing up - helps just one person respect our military more…that’s a goal I embrace.

Our military defends our freedoms, our ‘rights’ to write and writing military romance gives me a chance to give it back and reading military romance reminds me that even in the darkest of times, we have hope. One of the most romantic military images of all time is the sailor and nurse seen kissing in the iconic 1945 Life magazine photograph from the end of World War II.  That moment captured a fever, a feeling, a fathomless well of romance, hope, and survival that defines military romance today.

I salute those who serve and they who love those who serve and their families who must wait, hope and remember.

When you look at that Times Square image, what do you feel? I'll give away the first 3 books in digital to one commenter. Open international. I'll post the winner in the comments Monday June 4th. You MUST come back to see if you've won.

Always a Marine - 1NS Series
Once Her Man, Always Her Man - Available Now
Retreat Hell! She Just Got Here - Available Now
Tell It To The Marine - May 2012
Proud To Serve Her - June 2012
Her Marine - July 2012

Military Week: Kallypso Masters

Thanks, Mel, for this awesome tribute to the military and a few of us who love to write military romances! I'm not sure what it is about military men and women that fascinates me so, but I've loved reading these types of stories since reading Rachel Lee's Conard County series back in the 1990s. The men are alpha, which helps a whole lot. The women are strong and able to take care of themselves. And yet they can be brought to their knees by the birth of a child or the love of the right woman. *melt* What's not to love about that?

I also come from a long line of men who have served in the armed forces, including most recently my father who served in the Navy in World War II and the Army in Korea. (Said he'd have joined the Air Force next if my mom hadn't snagged him. He did have two brothers who served in the Air Force, though, and two in the Army.)

And yet I write about Marines in my debut Rescue Me series. There is something about that sense of honor, their not seeing anything heroic about what they do (it's just their job), their never completing a mission without bringing every member of the unit home, and so much more in that Marine's creed that just speaks to me. Of course, the uniform is totally awe-inspiring, too.

My thanks to all who are serving or have served in the military, and to their families (because they serve alongside them)!

Masters at Arms introduces readers to three very different men who come together in a firefight in Fallujah, Iraq, that will forever bind them as brothers. Please go to Smashwords and use coupon code QP88L to download your FREE copy, because this introduction is necessary for readers to fully understand the next three romances in the series—Nobody's Angel and Nobody's Hero, and Nobody's Perfect, the last of which will be released in the next couple of weeks. These four books also need to be read in order because the three men's lives are so intertwined that I wrote them in serial style with each man's romance arc taking place over multiple books. I also don't believe that a happy ending means "the end" for a couple, so they all will continue to work on relationship issues in later books in the series. (I have eight books planned through 2013, but there may be more as their "family" grows.) But you can rest assured each couple will be brought to a satisfying conclusion at the end of each of the romances.

Today, I've decided to spotlight Nobody's Perfect (Rescue Me #4), which will be released in the last half of June. This is the story of young Damián Orlando and Savi Baker (Savannah Gentry in Masters at Arms), my two most broken characters.

What I love about writing Romance novels is that my characters can go through hell and I know they will still have a happy ending. I have to keep telling myself that with these two, because they truly have been to hell and back and their healing can't be contained within this book. They were introduced in section two of Masters at Arms and separated for eight long years, until they meet under painful circumstances in Nobody's Hero.

BLURB for Nobody's Perfect

Savannah Gentry, now Savi Baker, escaped the torture and degradation forced upon her by a sadistic father for eleven years and has made a safe life for herself and her daughter. When her father threatens her peace of mind—and her daughter's safety—Savi runs to Damián Orlando for protection. Their one day together eight years earlier changed both their lives and resulted in a secret she can no longer hide. But being with Damián reawakens feelings she wants buried—and stirs up an onslaught of disturbing flashbacks that leave her shaken to the core with little hope of ever being a sexual being again.

Damián has his own dragons to fight, but has never forgotten the one perfect day he spent with Savannah in a cave at the beach. He will go to the ends of the earth to protect Savi and her daughter, but can never be the whole man she deserves after a firefight in Iraq. Besides, the trauma of war and resulting PTSD has led him to find his place as the Masters at Arms Club's favorite sadist. Savi needs someone gentle and loving, not the broken man he has become. But he sees that the lifestyle he's come to embrace also can help Savi regain control of her life and sexuality. How can he not help redirect her negative thoughts and actions if she needs him?

AUTHORIZED EXCERPT for Nobody's Perfect

© 2011, 2012 by Kallypso Masters

(Damián speaks first.)

“Let me take your jacket.”

“No, I’m fine. I’ll just keep it on.”

He didn't look like he believed her about being fine, but motioned for her to have a seat on the sofa. He sat down at the other end and reached over to pick up an open bottle of Dos Equis he’d obviously been drinking before she'd arrived.

His gaze targeted her. “Who hit you?”

Savi wasn't sure where to start. She lifted the soda can to her lips and tipped her head back, drinking long and slow, then lowered the can again and stared at it a moment, tracing a fingernail around the rim.

“Was it your husband?”

Her what? She looked up, brows furrowed, then shook her head. “I’m not married.” What had made him think otherwise?

“I have a friend who was a corpsman—a medic—in Iraq. Will you let him check out your injuries?”

No way. She squared her shoulders and sat up a little straighter, willing herself not to show any sign of discomfort or her inability to breathe deeply. “What injuries?”

“Well, there’s the black eye, swelling, bruising on your face. You’ve also been favoring your left side. Did he hit you there, too?”

She sagged against the sofa. “It’s nothing.”

“Let my friend be the judge of that.”

She hadn't come here seeking medical help. She needed protection for her daughter. “I’m not leaving Mari.”

“Who said anything about leaving? He’ll come over here if I ask him.”

“No. The fewer people who know I’m here, the better.”

“Who are you running from, Savannah?”

A spark of something that felt like anger flashed through her at his use of that name. “I told you not to call me that.”

He grinned. “I liked your hair better blonde. Why did you change it?”

She hadn't been a blonde in seven years. “None of your business.”

He leaned toward her and she tried not to let him intimidate her, but he did. “Hey, chica, you just showed up on my doorstep out of nowhere, beaten up and on the run. You’re the one who asked me for help, so don’t go getting all defensive. I’m just trying to figure out what the hell’s going on.”

When she refused to respond, he sat back and took a longer draw on his beer, draining it, then lowered the empty bottle to his crotch. She averted her attention from that part of his anatomy, reaching up to twirl her hair. A wave of discomfort crashed against her. She hadn't been alone in a room with a man in a very long time.

“I felt safer changing my appearance.”

“Marisol’s father?”

Her hand froze on the curl as her heart thudded against her chest, robbing her of even more oxygen. Did he know? She looked up at him again, studying his face for some time. “What about him?”

“Is he the one who roughed you up and sent you running?”

He didn't know. She relaxed into the sofa and took another swig of the soda, buying time as she tried to will her heartbeat to slow down. “No. He’s been out of my…out of the picture from day one.” She'd tried to find Damián when she'd gotten strong enough to function after Mari's birth, but hadn't been able to find him.

“Let me see where you’re hurt.”

She refused to make eye contact. “No. I’m fine.”

“Bullshit, chica.” When she looked up at him again, he held her gaze. “Your choice—me or my friend? Which will it be?”

Anger ripped through her again. She hadn't come all this way to have him expose her to her father's hound dogs by leaving a paper trail, which is what would happen if he involved medical personnel. She glared at him for a moment, but he refused to back down. Leaning forward, wincing at the shortness of breath before she caught herself again and masked her features, she laid the soda can on top of a magazine on the coffee table.

She sat back against the sofa. “It’s nothing. Really. Just a bruise.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. I have some…expertise with bruising. Remove your jacket.”

She continued to wage a silent battle of wills with him, but after a few moments decided they needed to get beyond this or she'd never get anywhere with getting him to help them. She raised a shaking hand to loosen the belt of her jacket, then tried to control the shaking in her hands as she reached up to undo the top button.

“I haven’t ever hurt you, Savannah. Have I?”

Why did he keep calling her that?

Savi remembered those first months when she'd fantasized about Damián coming to rescue her. And later fantasies of his being a daddy to Mari. Before she'd shut down emotionally. Still, she'd always hoped he would try to find her. He'd broken her heart by not doing so.

Don't be ridiculous, Savi. He wouldn't have come looking for you. He'd have looked for Savannah Gentry. And she was dead.

Kallypso Masters' Giveaway

To win a copy of this book or any other in the series and some cool swag (bookmark, pen, sexy hand fan, and Romance Trading Cards), please comment below telling me about why you like reading military romances. If there's a special military hero in your life, tell us about him or her, too! Contest open internationally! Closes June 4th at Noon MST. The winner will be announced June 5th.

For all of the buy links for Kally's books (sold at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks, and Smashwords), go to http://kallypsomasters.blogspot.com/p/books-by-kallypso-masters.html.

You can find Kally online (more than she probably should be there) at:

Website | Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Twitter (@kallypsomasters)

Ahh, Kallypso…the stories you tell: Blog

Military Week: SE Jakes

SE Jakes Salutes the Military

When Mel asked me to join in this salute to military heroes, saying yes was so easy.  When she asked me to talk about why I write military romance, that was even easier.

First of all, military men (and women) are true heroes.  What better character base is there?   Honorable, loyal, protecting our country…just thinking about their sacrifices is enough to bring tears to my eyes.  I know many military men and women and I’m so thankful for their service.

As for military romance…for me, there’s nothing better.  It’s one of my favorite genres to read, so writing it is a natural bent.  There’s nothing better than a man in uniform – he’s alpha tough, strong as hell, save the world badass…and those are my favorite type of men when they fall in love.  All that and the added vulnerability makes them that much more compelling.  Because when warriors fall, they fall hard. When I decided to combine these men in uniform with m/m romance, I knew I’d found my niche. 

My next book in the Men In Uniform series is called BOUND BY DANGER – for those keeping track, it’s Tomcat’s story and he and Jace we definitely combustible.

The danger that drew them together could send them over the edge…

Playing the role of enforcer in the Killers motorcycle club, all CIA operative Clint “Tomcat” Sommers has to do is make sure he has a body to show for his work. Thanks to his ability to move stealthily and easily between the two worlds, the CIA is damned close to making one of its biggest MC gang busts.

Two years undercover have taken their toll, but there’s no backing out now. Tomcat’s only reprieve from the pressure is fantasizing about the newest member of the gang.

Worry for his cousin’s involvement in the Killers drove Navy SEAL Jace Reynolds to agree to infiltrate the gang to do some short-term surveillance for the FBI. The deal: do the job, and his cousin gets witness protection. When he meets Tomcat, though, his fantasies kick into overdrive. Meeting men while on active duty is tough. Acting on his desires within the club could have deadly consequences.

Despite the risks, Tomcat’s and Jace’s off hours flare hotter than a full-throttle burnout. But the smoke is bound to attract unwanted attention. And when Tomcat suddenly disappears, the secrets both warriors keep could send one of them to the grave.

Product Warnings:

Contains two hot men undercover—and under the covers. Both with secrets under wraps that could cause everything to unravel in the deadliest way imaginable. If you’re inspired to try something new on a motorcycle, go for it. Just don’t blame the author for any pulled muscles.

Here’s an excerpt from somewhere in Chapter One:

He dragged the boy behind him, his gun down at his side until they reached his car. Safely inside, neither man said a word until Tomcat pulled in to the garage that attached to the building where his loft was.

His loft—the entire building, actually—was CIA-owned and had been a part of his long-assed cover. His loft was steel-reinforced, soundproofed, had bulletproof glass with blackout tint, and no one was allowed up here, not even the agent who played his old lady—for her safety. Still, it was furnished so anyone who visited wouldn’t notice any of the high-tech gadgetry or the insulation.

He still checked for bugs daily and changed the alarm code every morning as well.

Now, Jace came in behind him, and Tomcat closed and locked the door, alarmed it and swept the room silently.

“Can’t be too careful,” he said, more to himself than to Jace when he was finished. Jace would think the paranoia normal for someone in the MC, especially a hired gun.

If he thought differently, it didn’t show. He just nodded, at least until Tomcat slammed him against the wall, his gun pulled.

“You set me up?” he demanded.

“No.” The kid barely blinked, even with Tomcat’s elbow at his throat, gun to his head. “In case you didn’t notice, I saved your ass.”

Then he leaned in and whispered, “UC. I’d say Fed, but I think you’d be offended.”

Tomcat pressed the gun harder to Jace’s temple, but still he continued, “Spook,” with a warm puff of air against Tomcat’s cheek. “I’m young, but I’m not dumb.”

No, indeed; to be a special forces soldier, he wouldn’t be. He could be as dangerous as Tomcat himself was, if not more so.

“I know you need to deny it, but dude, come on,” Jace said.

“Dude, you need to shut it.” But Tomcat wanted more from him. The man was so close—they were both hard—and no, he definitely hadn’t been wrong about Jace’s wants.

“We clean in here?” Jace asked. “I saw you sweep, but I still need to know.”

Tomcat ignored his question, said instead, “You fucked up my job.” When Jace didn’t answer, he admitted, “We’re clean here.”

“I was stopping you,” Jace told him.

“Why? Trying to save my soul? Don’t bother.”

“From shooting Jerry’s brother. It was a setup.” Jace stared at him with those goddamned deep blue eyes. What the hell—had Tomcat gotten sloppy, or was the club being deliberately sly because they’d stopped trusting him?

“How do you know this?” he demanded.

“I’m a little smarter than the average MC member.”

What he meant was better trained, would notice far more than the others. And Tomcat had no reason not to trust him. “You’re going to have to tell me everything you know.”

Jace nodded, and he did, told him about the rival gang’s—and its president, Jerry’s—issues. “It’s not about you—Cools trusts you. But he also knows that if you killed Jerry’s brother, Carl would be blamed, and it could start the internal war they want. Cools wants a leg up on Jerry and Carl’s territory.”

Damn. Tomcat slid a hand through his hair and turned away. He knew that the Killers fought with lesser gangs like Carl’s all the time, but he hadn’t seen this coming.

“You’re not telling them I ratted, are you?”

“Never.”

“I’d trust you more if you were an MC member.”

Tomcat wanted to be offended but couldn’t. There was too much truth in that statement. Finally, he put his gun away, pocketed it but kept his arm on Jace’s throat. Mainly because he was enjoying the proximity, never mind that his entire job could be blown to shit.

But this kid wouldn’t turn him in. The consequences to his career would be too great.

“We’ve got to lie low for the weekend, especially since we’re already well into Saturday.” Tomcat stared at him hard. “You’re sure no one saw you?”

“They know there’s nothing I can do without putting my military career on the line. No one fucks with me—no one follows me.”

Tomcat didn’t know how completely true that was, but if what Jace had told him about the setup proved true, there were way too many people watching Tomcat’s six. Hell, even one was too many. “You’re going to have to drop out and figure out a story as to why we met up.”

Jace shrugged. “Can’t we just be hanging out? I mean, your background’s military. They know that. Keeping the lie as simple as possible and as close to the truth usually works best.”

Tomcat finally pushed away from him because he needed space. Needed to think. He poured himself a soda and chewed on some crushed ice as he mulled Jace’s suggestion over. Could work, he supposed, but something nagged at him.

He didn’t want anything about this mission to come back and haunt him. And Jace…hell, they’d killed men for less. “Why the hell did you think hanging out with this group would be such a good idea?”

Jace’s jaw tightened—if he had an answer, he wasn’t about to spill it. Not tonight, but Tomcat was confident he could get it out of him, so for the moment, he changed tactics. “You hungry?”

“Maybe.”

Yeah, SEALs ate like teenage boys. He was pretty sure Jace was no exception. “Fridge is stocked. Make yourself comfortable. Oh, and give me your phone.”

He brushed past Tomcat. “Make me.”

Oh, this boy was going down. Would lie writhing and begging under him by the time all was said and done.

It was like Jace knew it, too, and was taking advantage as much as possible before that happened. And after the boy downed a sandwich or two and a soda, Tomcat asked, “So the only reason you found me was to warn me?”

“Yes.” Jace flicked his gaze coolly over him.

“I don’t think so.” Tomcat was done forcing himself to believe it was nothing more than a natural suspicion—he knew better. “No one knows I live here. No one knows you’re here. Do you understand how much trouble you could be in?”

Jace moved from the table over to where Tomcat was pacing. He slid his body in between Tomcat’s and the wall and breathed, “Yeah. Go ahead and punish me.”

There were inches separating them, and Tomcat liked to pretend he was made of steel—and most of the time it worked—but the proximity was too much. Jace might’ve been teasing, but Tomcat would up the ante, take it to the next level and see what the boy would do then.

The boy. An intimate term he’d never thought he’d use on anyone again. This night was turning out to be full of surprises.

***

You can purchase Bound by Danger in eFormat (print comes out Summer 2013) at:

Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

MEN IN UNIFORM SERIES:

Bound By Honor (Bk1)

Bound By Law (Bk 2)

Ties That Bind (Novella)

AMAZON LINK TO ENTIRE SERIES

To find out more about the series, you can visit me at

Blog | Twitter | Facebook   

So, now that you know a bit about my series, tell me, do you read m/m books or books with m/m storylines?  If not, are you willing to try?  I’m excited that authors like Suzanne Brockmann and JR Ward are making headway in this genre and I’m hoping that means we’ll see even more m/m (or f/f) storylines in mainstream romance.  

Leave a comment and one person will win all four (4) ebook in the Men In Uniform Series. Also two (2) runners-up will get their book of choice.

Military Week: Melissa Schroeder

Welcome to Mel's Salute to Military Romance! I will be honest with you. For years, I didn't write much military romance. I will be the first to tell you that being a military spouse is just not romantic a lot of times. There are the moves, the TDYs, the OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS (which I usually completely hate) and then there is the feeling that no one in the world understands what you are going through. Then, Malachai Dupree, brother to Chris and Jocelyn, popped up in my head when Jocelyn was talking in A Little Harmless Addiction. It was a kernel of a thought: a spinoff of Harmless but with military men and women.
I will be completely honest with you. I wasn't sure I could do it. When I first said something to my then editor I had with the Harmless publisher, there was little to no interest. Usually when I talk of the military it is to complain about something. One assignment in 20 years in a place with seasons would be the top of my list. But as a military brat myself, I knew there was something else to the military. See, I love romantic suspenses with a military bent. I couldn't write them though. I was born in an Army hospital and have spent most of life immersed in military. I wanted it to be a little more reality based, and sometimes that doesn't thrill readers, lol.
I was a big lover of M*A*S*H growing up and one thing that taught me was there isn't anything pretty about military. But it also taught me something else, something I knew without actually acknowledging it. Military folk are just like everyone else, but their problems all have an added layer to them. Along with the regular squabbles that pop up, you have to move every few years, deal with a spouse who often times HAS to put the job in front of the family (there is that little thing called an oath they take when the enter the military) and a bone deep loneliness that others outside of the military just will never understand. Your life is ruled by the military whether you want it to or not.

So when I sat down to write my first A Little Harmless Military Romance, I felt a lot of pressure. I wanted to make sure that my readers understood what these people and their loved ones go through all the time. I didn't want to glorify it, because a lot of times, it isn't very glory filled. Still I wanted everyone to see the softer side of life, the part that keeps the military man and woman whole while they have to deal with the horrors in the field. There is something about that saying "keep the home fires burning" now more than ever.






Be sure to check out the first two A Little Harmless Military Romance Books:
INFATUATON: A Little Harmless Military Romance
AMAZON   Barnes and Noble   ARe   KOBO 


POSSESSION: A Little Harmless Military Romance
AMAZON    Barnes and Noble  ARe  

SURRENDER
Coming Late June

So, I have a big old prize for you! How about a SWAG PACK of Harmless Military goodies, along with two signed copies, one of Infatuation and one of Possession??? And this is open to international readers also. Just let me know your answer to this question:

What is your favorite kind of military hero? Do you like the kind of guy in the midst of international intrigue, the cocky fighter pilot, or maybe you go for one of the PJ's who go for the rescue? Let me know and your name goes in the hat!