A. Yes, that is true. Back when Extreme Exposure was release, she mentioned to me that she felt Holly just wasn't heroine material. I told her that was fine, but I felt pretty certain that Horny Holly would win her over. My editor eventually asked me to write Holly’s story. When I reminded her what she’d said about Holly initially, we both got a good laugh out of it.

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Q. Holly is a different sort of heroine, not what we’re used to from your books or in romance generally speaking. What made you so certain you wanted to give her a story?

A: Well, it’s no secret that finding a romance hero who hasn’t had sex with lots of women is like finding a four-leaf clover. They’re rare. At the same time, we find a surprisingly high number of virgin heroines in contemporary romance. I guess our culture romanticizes the notion of experienced men leading less experienced women through the wild world of sexuality.

But reality is very different than that. The last study I read found that the average number of sexual partners a US woman has had by the time she turns 40 is 12. That’s the average. All of my other heroines have fallen far short of that average, except perhaps Laura Nilsson from Striking Distance. I actually never asked her for a tally.

My point is that our fantasies about sexuality and the reality we all know and live are very different. I suspect slut-shaming plays a role in pushing heroines to the less sexually active side in romance. And that comes from the bad old double standard that has done so much to hurt women.

I consciously chose for Holly to be a more sexually expressive character 11 years ago when I started writing this series. Through the years, I’ve gotten suggestions from fans that she really hasn't slept with those men, that she’s actually a virgin and just making it up and so forth. No, no, no. She is who she is without apology. As a writer, I found that fun.

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Q: Tell us about Nick.

A: Nick is a good guy who is going to seem an awful lot like a bad guy. He lost the woman he loved in an operation that went south, and he’s been looking to even the score with the man who murdered her. He comes from a big family. His parents immigrated to the US from the Georgia when it was still part of the USSR. Nick was born into the US and served in Delta Force before being recruited into the Special Activities Division (SAD) of the CIA. He is tough, serious about serving his country, and in some ways very alone.
Q: He sounds yummy! What’s different about Holly and Nick’s story? You’ve said in some of your comments about it that it’s lighter than the other I-Team books.

A. It is lighter. After last year’s cancer battle and after Striking Distance, which dealt with some very heavy emotional issues, I needed something lighter. I think it’s the funniest I-Team story, because, well, Holly. It’s also pretty hot—again, Holly. What else could we expect? That isn’t to say it’s just humor and sex. There is some darkness in the story, starting with the way Nick and Holly come to know one another. But Holly has a way of seeing the world that brings lightness to dark moments, as Kat once observed about her.

We see most of the other I-Team members. We learn some new things about Laura and Javier’s story. We get to know Derek Tower better. Darcangelo and Hunter are still at it with the bromance and the banter. It’s getting harder and harder to fit all the couples in as the series progresses, but most of them are represented.

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Q: Rumor has it that Seduction Game is the last I-Team novel and that the series is over.

A. That depends on how you define “last.” I am determined to give Joaquin his own story. I love him, and so do a lot of my readers. But after that, there will probably be a few more novellas to wrap up some plots for secondary characters and then the I-Team will head into the sunset. I don’t want to continue the series to the point where it grows stale. I’d rather end on a high note.

Right now, I’m working on An I-Team Christmas, which is proving to be a really interesting experience. That will be coming out on Nov. 17, in time for some fun holiday reading. But this isn’t your average heartwarming holiday tale. Think Die Hard meets the I-Team. There will be pretty Christmas trees and lights and lots of bullets.

Also in time for the holidays, I’ll have an I-Team shop set up at Café Press, featuring T-shirts and other things with the official I-Team logo. This is really important to me because the logo was originally designed by a close friend of mine, Lynsey Marion, who died suddenly and unexpectedly last March. She made them as a gift for me but hadn’t yet sent me the final files before she passed on. Carrie at Seductive Designs has been recreating them so that I’ll be able to use them. Keeping the logo alive and putting it to use is one way of keeping her with me.




Q. What’s after the I-Team?

A. Good question! Do you have a crystal ball? I have a handful of historical romances I’d love to write. There are a couple of spinoff series that I’d love to do, one featuring Javier and Derek’s black ops firm and the other set in Scarlet Springs, which is mentioned in Soul Deep for the first time. Scarlet Springs is a Colorado mountain town but unlike the idyllic mountain towns in so many romances, it’s a real Colorado mountain town with three marijuana shops and lots of eccentric residents. That series will include Gabe Rossiter from Naked Edge (and possibly other I-Team characters) as cross-over characters and will focus on the work of the county’s Alpine Rescue Team—the men and women who  save people’s lives day in and day out in the high country. There will be hard-core climbers, skiers, helo pilots, rescue dog trainers, wildland fire fighters, paramedics, avalanche rescue people and more. I’ll be publishing the Scarlet Springs series independently.

Also, I may have a secret project up my sleeves.


Q. How fast can you write?

A. Not fast enough, though to have written a full-length novel and two novellas in a single year after the year I had last year feels pretty incredible to me.

Q: Speaking of last year, how are you doing health-wise?

A. I’m doing pretty darned well. I haven’t yet had reconstruction, and I have short hair. Those are the two things that bother me most. But I am trying to focus on things I enjoy and moving forward with life. I’m taking a painting class and have gotten started with aqua fitness classes, which I really like.

All of the test so far show no sign of cancer. I was diagnosed as stage 1c, and I've got less than a 10 percent chance of recurrence. I’m actually surprised at how well I’m living with the fear of recurrence. I simply don’t think about it, except when it’s time for my next bunch of tests. Then I get a little nervous—butterflies in the tummy, that sort of thing.

I will never say that I’m grateful for the experience, because I wasn’t. If there are survivors who feel that way, that’s fine. But I could have lived my entire life without going through chemo or radiation or losing my breasts and hair and been just fine.

The truth is that we have very little control over how and when we die, as my friend Lynsey’s sudden death proves, but we do have control over how we live our lives. I’m trying to put 100 percent of my energy into living, into writing, into joyous things so that when the day comes I’ll be able to feel I lived the best life I could live.




Pre-order your copy of Holly and Nick’s story now! Available on Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kindle UK, and in audiobook . (The print version will be out in March 2016.)