In my Silver Bell series—which is holiday themed—I have mostly Christmas stories, also two at New Year’s, and one set with a bang on the Fourth of July. I started Trouble Never Knocks, my Fourth of July story, as a sweet beach read with the heroine galloping her horse along a sandy beach in Oregon. I switched to the hero’s point of view and had him on the top of a cliff nearby, watching her. A forest ranger, he was checking out the condition of the trails.
Then someone shot him off the cliff, and my story completely switched to include fireworks that come out of guns and a higher body count than most of my other books. As a romance, the hero had to keep the heroine safe, although she did rescue him more than once. So much for trying to write a sweet beach story.
Trouble Never Knocks is on sale for all of July at 99 cents.
My other high body count story, The Prisoner Returns, involved a bodyguard hired to protect an heiress who was expected to receive a fortune. Those people wanting her money had to wait until she got it. In the meantime, they needed to get rid of the bodyguard so that they could control her. This story also had horses in it, but took place on the opposite side of the US, in Massachusetts.
Gun laws switch according to state boundaries. Protecting yourself with a gun is better done in New Hampshire, or it was when I wrote the story. So when my hero had to face several killers, it helped that he was in New Hampshire at the time. It also helped that he was smart enough to wear body armor.
If you’ve read all my contemporary books, you might try my Trahern Series which is set after the Civil War. Most of them have “fireworks” also.
A USA Today bestselling author, Nancy Radke grew up on a wheat and cattle ranch in SE Washinton State. She attended a one-room country school through the eighth grade. She learned to ride bareback at age 3 (Really! It was a common practice.) and when she got off or fell off, she would pull her horse’s nose to the ground, get on behind its ears, and the horse would lift its head so she could scoot down onto its back. Nancy spent most of her childhood exploring the Blue Mountain trails that bordered the ranchlands. She and a friend once took a trail that turned out to be a two day trip. They always rode with matches and pocket knives, so made camp and returned the next day. These long rides worried her parents, but provided plenty of time to make up stories. Her first novel was set in the Blues, and is entitled APPALOOSA BLUES. TURNAGAIN LOVE was the first one published. It rated a four star review from Affaire de Coeur. Scribes World said “Turnagain Love has some fascinating twists and turns, unexpected complications, and charming scenes.” It is light and humorous. Nancy currently has over 30 books written, both modern and western. All her stories are sweet and wholesome.
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