Hearts of Desperation: How Two Books Became a Series

Things happen for a reason.  At least that's what I find myself saying more often than I realize.  And maybe it's more true than I thought.

Back when being published was a dream, I wrote a book about a rancher/bull riding hero, who had found himself in a battle of wills with the teenage nephew he was raising.  The title of that book was The Cowboy and the Ice Princess.  It did well in writing contests, but I always had a feeling something wasn't right with it.

There was a companion book, The Cowboy Ropes a Wife, about Tanner O'Brien's best friend, and it also did well in contests.  But like the other, there was something missing that kept me from submitting it to a publisher.

Fast forward more than ten years.  The Silhouette Romance line, for which I'd written five books, had closed, and I'd finally found a new home at Harlequin American Romance.  That first book for HAR, Family by Design, had been rejected for Silhouette Romance, but I felt it just might do the trick for HAR.  It did!  And then I had to come up with another book.  It was time to find out just what the problems were with Tanner's story and Dusty's, too.

It took more than one try and included moving one hero from eastern Oklahoma to a town now called Desperation, not to mention switching their rodeo events.  And thanks to some great brainstorming with writer friends Kristi Gold and Kathie DeNosky, both books--now The Rodeo Rider (book 1) and Bachelor Cowboy (book 2)--made the cut.  A long held idea was to someday write a book about Tanner's brother Tucker, who had left the Rocking O Ranch when he was fifteen.  But I didn't know where Tucker had gone or what he'd been doing, so when my editor mentioned that she was eager to see a story about the sister of the heroine of Bachelor Cowboy, I started work on Morgan and Trish's story, The Lawman's Little Surprise (book 3).

I'm still not sure where the idea of Tanner's sister Nikki came from, but once it took root, there was no stopping it.  One of the best things about writing The Reluctant Wrangler (book 4) was being able to redeem Tanner and Nikki's mother and discover why she left.  And still I didn't know where Tucker was or why he'd left.  Not until I was near the end of writing Nikki and Mac's story and thinking about how their wedding would be held outside at the Rocking O did I have a clue.  That's when Tucker walked into the reception scene in my mind, with a cane in his hand and a lot of questions to be answered.

The Maverick's Reward (book 5) was a difficult book to write.  While tortured/damaged heroes are the favorite of many readers, making sure they aren't "too hard to love" can be a trick.  Tucker was in pain, both emotionally and physically, and the only woman who could break through his resistance just happened to be a doctor.  To make things even better--and more writing for me--the doctor had come to Desperation because of her brother.

That brought me to Bachelor Dad (book 6) in a series that was never planned but that I've come to think of as Hearts of Desperation.  If writing a tortured hero was hard, a heroine who'd endured spousal abuse in her past took me into uncharted territory.  But even a damaged woman can fall in love.  Isn't that what romance is all about?

And that's how two stories that might have never seen an editor's desk became a series.  Will there be more stories about Desperation, Oklahoma?  I hope so.  And I hope readers are looking forward to more, too. Only time will tell. :)

For a little more about Hearts of Desperation, the characters, and the Inside Story of each of the books, visit my website.

Happy Ever-Aftering!