THE INSIDE STORY

Rodeo cowboy meets big city girl.

The original version was written over ten years ago, early on in my writing career and long before I sold my first book. But The Cowboy and the Ice Princess didn't have what was needed to make it to print. In fact, it was never submitted to an editor, but it did well in contests, which gave me hope that someday I might discover what was needed.

Fast forward ten + years and several unsuccessful attempts to find what was missing. I wanted a heart-tugging second book for Harlequin American, and this one came to mind. After brainstorming sessions with my best brainstorming partners, Kathie DeNosky and Kristi Gold, we hit upon the reason for Jules's fear of horses and riding accidents. That's all it took for Tanner's Prize to take off and become The Rodeo Rider, set in the fictional small town of Desperation, Oklahoma, a town with a heart as big as the state.

Don't miss Tanner's best friend's story, Bachelor Cowboy, in January 2010. If you don't fall in love with Dusty McPherson, Kate Clayborne won't have an excuse not to fall in love with him.