U is for Uber Excited

Debra received another cover this week.

To say I was thrilled to get the cover for my Fourth of July story last week was an understatement. When I opened my e-mail and found the cover for my Halloween story just a few days later, I was over the moon! Apparently my cover designer was behind a bit on the Fourth one and ahead of schedule on the Halloween one.

To make it even more exciting...I mean, how often do you get two covers for two different stories within a week?...the cover is absolutely wonderful. It fits the story so perfectly I can hardly believe it. Not to mention, since it's Halloween, it has a fall theme, and fall is my favorite season. (Not that I'm in a hurry for it to arrive at this point and time. I plan on enjoying the summer ahead to the fullest!) The colors are so rich and vibrant. I can't stop looking at it. I keep sneaking peeks on my computer and phone throughout the day. It's definitely my favorite cover of the series.

So, without further ado...here is the cover for Halloween at The Corral.

And here's the tag line and blurb so hopefully you'll see why it's not only visually stunning, but fits the theme of the story to perfection...down to the jack-o-lantern in the corner, since there's a scene in which the hero and heroine carve one.

You don't need to wear a mask to hide who you really are.

Kelly Harper has no interest in egomaniacs like Dan Jenkins. She also has no patience for the entourage of groupies that follows him while he basks in their attention. Her experience with her ex-fiancé has taught her to steer clear of guys like Dan who see women as no more than a pretty face to parade around.

Dan Jenkins is something of a local celebrity. His charm and good looks ensure he never lacks for female company, but truth be told, he finds their attentions shallow and superficial. No one really bothers to get to know who he really is. Trouble is, Dan's not sure he really knows who he is.

Will Kelly be the one to figure out who Dan really is behind the good ol' boy facade? If so, she just might discover a man she never expected. A man worthy of giving her heart to.

Until next time (maybe I'll have stopped gushing by then...),

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

T is for Ta Da!

Debra reveals her latest cover.

It's finally here! The cover for the third installment in my Holidays at The Corral series was finalized today.

And here's the blurb:

When United States Marine Tyler Collins is injured in the line of duty and sent home, the first thing he does is go see the girl he left behind. He wants peace and to escape from the memories of violence and war. Instead, what he finds might change his life forever.

Their time together was supposed to be a fun summer fling, but in the three years since Tyler's been gone, he's never far from Pam Foster's thoughts or heart, even though the last thing she did before he left was lie to him. She has to right the wrong, but can a man with such integrity and honor forgive her? Especially when she hasn’t forgiven herself.

Is rekindled love enough, or will the secrets of the past ruin any hope of a future together?

Fourth of July at The Corral hits cyber shelves on June 3.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

P.S. Just for comparison, here are the covers for the other two books in the series. I'm just loving how they all really look like a set. Cover artists at TWRP rock!

Sunday Snippet - A Peek at Debra's VALENTINE'S DAY AT THE CORRAL

The latest in Debra's Holidays at The Corral Series released on Friday.

“Gail?”

She groaned. Someone had recognized her? The stairs were only a few feet away. So close to freedom. Maybe she could pretend she hadn’t heard her name. She took another step.

“Gail Robbins?” The deep voice was closer now.

Crap. She turned.

Double crap. Scott Callahan, the new president of Thompson and Sons, the accounting firm where she worked, stood before her. She bit back another groan. Of all the people to run into.

He smiled. “I thought I recognized you.”

“Hello, Mr. Callahan.”

“Scott.”

Even though theirs was a small firm, being on a first name basis with the head of the company seemed too familiar, so she merely nodded.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

Not the word she’d use. More like awkward. Or embarrassing. Running into your boss at a speed dating event? Gads.

Wait…

“What are you doing here?” The question popped out before she could stop it.

He chuckled and tapped the name tag affixed to the lapel of his tailored suit jacket. Had he come right from work? “Same thing you are.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You’re here for the mixer?”

His green eyes twinkled. “Yep.”

“Really?” Triple crap. Her mouth had a mind of its own. If she wasn’t careful, it would get her fired. Not to mention the fact she’d snuck out of work early to go home and change before heading to The Corral.

He quirked an eyebrow, which drew her attention to his face again. Up close, he appeared more boyishly charming than stern executive. Younger too. Considering his position, she’d assumed he was in his mid-forties. Now she reassessed and put him closer to her own age of thirty.

“Does that surprise you?”

His age? She jerked back to the conversation at hand. “What?”

“You sound surprised I’m here for the speed dating event.”

“I am.” In for a penny, in for a pound. Not like the situation could get any worse. She might as well be honest.

He laughed. The deep, throaty chuckle was…sexy.

Gail blinked. Where had that come from? You shouldn’t think your boss’s laugh was sexy. Or the wayward lock of sinfully black hair falling over his forehead, loosened from the sweptback style as if he’d just run his fingers through it.

“I have to admit, I’m surprised I’m here too.”

“That makes two of us.” She bit her lip. “I mean, me. Not you. Me being here is surprising. It’s all my cousin’s fault.” Ugh. The more she tried to explain, the more tangled her words became. And now she was rhyming.

“Ah, we have something in common. It’s all my sister’s fault that I’m here.” He grinned. “Tell you what, how about I buy you a drink, and we can swap stories about our meddling relatives?”

Once again Gail gaped. Had he just asked her to have a drink with him? Her first instinct was to say no. For one thing, she wanted to get the hell out of there. For another, he was her boss. Mingling socially didn’t seem…proper. Then again, was it worse to refuse to have a drink with your boss? That couldn’t be good for a career either.

He leaned closer. The spicy yet subtle scent of his aftershave tickled her nostrils. “Come on, help a guy out.”

Odd phrasing. “Help you out?”

“Yes. Please save me from the woman dressed in a pink jumpsuit checking out my ass.”

Gail laughed. How could a girl say no to that?

T is for Tyler

Tyler is the hero in Debra's "Fourth of July at The Corral".

The Fourth of July edition of my holiday series is almost ready for submission. I completed the first draft last week and then printed out a copy, which I've gone through to do paper and pencil edits. Next I'll enter those into the mss, and from there do some line edits and such. After the synopsis is written, I'll submit it to my editor. Summer stories are due by December first, so I have roughly 10 days to get it all together.

As always at this stage, I am more than a little in love with my hero. This isn't anything new. I fall in love with each of my heroes in turn.

Tyler Collins is a United States Marine. His family has a long history of military careers. His dad still serves, and his granddad served in Vietnam. He didn't enlist right out of high school, but as soon as he graduated college, his plan for a military career of his own began. Before heading off to OCS (Officer Candidate School) he took a visit to his college roommate's home town. There he met Pam. There was an immediate attraction, and they were soon head over heels. But since Tyler would be deploying overseas after OCS, they knew there time together would be brief. Tyler leaves and serves two tours of duty in Afghanistan. During his third, he is injured and sent home on medical leave. Upon being released from the hospital, he heads right to Pam, even though they haven't seen each other or had any contact for three years.

The story begins here in Tyler's POV.

Chapter One

Would she remember him?

Tyler Collins stared at the wooden sign outside the bar: The Corral – Steakhouse and Saloon. Did she still work there? Over three years had passed. Three years in which he thought about her every day.

More than likely she didn’t remember. After all, their time together had been brief. Less than two months. Filled with idyllic moments of sunshine and laughter before he deployed for hell. Memories he cherished and held close even now. Memories that had gotten him through the worst times of his life. Gave him something to hold onto when the rest of the world turned to chaos and pain and death.

Every detail was etched into his brain. His heart. His soul. The dark chestnut of her hair. The lighter, soulful brown of her eyes. The way her lips went soft and pliant beneath his.

She had to remember. Because they’d also shared a few moments of nerve-wracking anxiety wondering if the entire course of their lives, three lives, had changed forever. No one could forget something like that.

Only one way to find out for sure. With a deep breath, he shoved open the door to the Jeep and stepped down onto the gravel parking lot. The small rocks crunched beneath his boots as he made his way to the entrance.

“Grow a set, Collins,” he muttered. “You’ve faced way worse shit than this.” He gave a wry chuckle. Mortar shells exploding within spitting distance he took in stride. Talking to a woman he hadn’t seen in three years made his knees go weak. He ran a hand over the short stubble of his hair, threw back his shoulders, and walked in.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Christmas at The Corral (available now)
Valentine's Day at The Corral (coming soon)

Q is for Quaint

Debra fell in love with the quaint town she created for her series.

The Corral is the setting for my series. It's a bar based on the actual place my hubby and I met. In the first book (This Time for Always) the majority of the action takes place at the bar or at the hero's home. There are a few other small scenes, but the characters do spend the majority of their time at The Corral. In the second book (This Can't Be Love) the majority of the action takes place away from the bar itself at the heroine's grandfather's house. The hero works at The Corral, so that's our tie-in. In the third book (This Feels Like Home), some of the action takes place at The Corral, but I really started expanding the universe of it so to speak and the town around The Corral began to take shape. It's here we really get a glimpse of what Main Street looks like. We meet Kelly, the proprietress of the dry cleaners. We spend a bit of time at the park at the edge of town. We find out The Corral itself sits on the edge of a field bordering the woods. We spend a bit more time at Bubba's Diner (the other eatery in town). And we spend quite a bit of time at the rodeo ring with our bull rider hero.

When I was done with the series, I wasn't ready to leave my setting behind. So I came up with a spin-off series of holiday stories based at The Corral and in the town. Kelly will be the heroine in my Halloween story. Through Scott's eyes (the hero in the Valentine's Day story) we learn there's a town square and a clock tower. Maggie shows us what the town looks like decorated for Christmas. And in the Fourth of July story we find out how the community comes together to honor those who have served our country.

With each and every story I fall deeper in love with the small town I've created. Two of the holiday stories are contracted. Another is almost ready for submission. And I'm planning two more after that to complete the spin-off series.

But I can't help but wonder, even when those books are done, am I going to be able to let my quaint town go? There's so much more to learn about it. For instance, I'm sure there's a bookstore. (g) And maybe a crafty/house decorating kind of store. What are the teachers like at the high school? A couple of my heroines have gotten or used flowers in their stories...so, there's obviously a florist. Even though it's a small town, the possibilities for its growth are endless.

It will be interesting to see what happens when I write 'the end' for the New Year's Eve story. Will my little town be put to rest? Or will it show up again as the setting for another set of stories? Only time will tell I guess.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

M is for Maggie

Maggie Pearson is the heroine in Debra's Christmas at The Corral.

Maggie is a character I created for the first book in my holiday spin off series. The hero, Van, was mentioned in This Can't Be Love, so he's the 'tie-in', but Maggie was brand new. I made her the administrator for the Reed Adoption Fund, a fund Sharlie and Logan (from This Time for Always) started to help with the financial burden involved with adopting.

Maggie is a planner: organized, precise, focused. She gives fully to others and always puts them first. As a result, she's never found time in her busy life for love. When a last-minute change in plans threatens the success of the Fund's annual Christmas dinner, Maggie is none to pleased. She's got a crisis to resolve, and definitely doesn't have time to be hit on by a mysterious stranger at The Corral. But as it turns out, even business-comes-first Maggie isn't immune to the laidback charm of one Van Rawlings.

Here's where we pick up the story in Maggie's perspective:

Maggie Pearson sighed. Finally. Message received.
After finding out Zach wouldn't be home in time for Christmas, the last thing she needed, or wanted, was a random stranger hitting on her.
She snuck a glance. Slightly wavy but neatly trimmed hair. Not brown, but not blond either: that indescribable in between shade. Wide shoulders filled out a light blue denim shirt worn untucked from faded jeans. Snake skin cowboy boots peeked from the slightly frayed hems. She checked his profile again.
Odd. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on where she knew him from. And what was with the third degree about her man troubles? Trying to figure out if she was available?
Well, she wasn't, thank you very much. Plus, he was right about the trouble. She had plenty without inviting more.
She'd been counting on Zach. Her carefully laid plans were crumbling. Would everything fall apart without him? Of all times to go traipsing off to Vail with his wife.
She chided herself for the uncharitable thought as she stared at her reflection in the evergreen-bough draped mirror behind the bar. Pathetic puppy dog eyes gazed back. She frowned at the image. No sense feeling sorry for herself. ‘Twas the season of giving and sharing…not moping.
She centered both glasses of wine, one half empty, in the exact center of the coasters. She inched the square pieces of cardboard into perpendicular alignment with the back lip of the bar.
Did she wish Zach hadn’t flown off at this particular time? Yes.
Was there anything she could do about it now? No.
Would everything work out fine in the end? Of course.
Time to stop sulking and move on to plan B? Definitely.
First step, getting off the barstool.
After she finished her drink…s.
Before she could raise the glass to her lips, a hand, palm up, appeared in front of her. She glanced up. Mr. Twenty-Questions smiled. Emerald eyes twinkled at her. A strange, fluttery sensation quivered in her stomach.
"Would you care to dance?"


Christmas at The Corral is being released on November 4.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com