I love hosting debut authors on the blog, and we’ve got one with us today. Contemporary romance author Robin Covington has dropped by to tell us about her new book, A Night of Southern Comfort. I’ve read it and I can tell you it’s really good – sexy good! She’s been getting great reviews, and the book is climbing up the bestseller lists.
Without further ado, let’s turn things over to Robin!
You Can Go Home Again
I’m from Danville, VA, a small town surrounding the Dan River and punctuated by the rolling hills of the Piedmont. It was the kind of town you read about in nostalgic books and television shows and movies. I lived on the same street as my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and within walking distance of a family general store where we would get ice cold coca-cola in those little green bottles and a moon pie. Everybody knew my name and who my people were.
But, that place doesn’t exist anymore.
Like all things from childhood, the town has aged, changed, matured and improved over the years. We both wear our wrinkles and gray hair very well. *grin* But, it’s different and no matter how many stories I tell my kids or the Main Man—it only existed in my mind.
Until now.
When my book, A Night of Southern Comfort, popped into my head I knew it was about a woman who was looking for small, slower-paced location to start her new life. But, I also knew it was about a man—one of four—who had left their small town many years ago but were now forced by circumstance to make their way back home. I knew that the Danville of my memory could live once again.
So, I created Elliott, VA. It’s small, with a central diner, bouffant-haired gossipy women, farms, Main Street, and surrounded by the mountains. A wonderful place to force Jackson Cantrell and his buddies to consider the question of whether you can come home again—or if you want to.
In Elliott, Jackson not only faces his past but also meets his future in Dr. Michaela Roarke and that is where it gets really fun.
Stop on by.
Sit a spell.
Welcome Home.
One night of passion…
Detective Jackson Cantrell never imagined that one night with an irresistible stranger would turn his life upside down. He’s spent years living in the shadows, but Dr. Michaela Roarke awakened a passion inside him he’d buried years ago.
He never expected the woman would turn out to be the governor’s daughter…and his next assignment. The governor blackmails Jackson to secretly watch over Michaela and protect her from a stalker, or kiss his dream job at the FBI good-bye. Swearing to keep things strictly professional, Jackson moves in with Michaela. Too bad his heart can’t keep the same promise.
But when the stalker’s attacks quickly escalate beyond mere photographs to bodily harm, Jackson must race to save Michaela’s life. And he’ll have to figure out how to keep her once she discovers his lie.
I would love to see ANoSC reach the Top 100 list on either Amazon or Barnes and Noble and I’m running a contest on my blog to hopefully get it there. If I reach the target, I’ll give away a $100 Amazon or B&N gift card to a lucky winner. Please visit me on my blog!
Vanessa, here. What a great contest! Robin is also giving away a copy of A Night of Southern Comfort to one of my readers. Just tell us what you love about small towns for a chance to win! But before you do that, sit back, relax, and read this yummy excerpt from Robin’s book!
Mr. Sex-on-a-Stick took his last shot and accepted the congratulatory thumps on the back from his friends. He didn’t smile in response, just quirked his full, sensual lips and turned to face her head-on with an expression full of hot promise. Catcalls and low whistles from his friends drifted across the crowded bar.
Come on, handsome. Don’t let me strike out at my first real bar pickup.
The breath she didn’t realize she was holding whooshed out as he separated himself from his friends and headed over to her. His movements were precise, controlled, and deliciously predatory. He possessed the confident demeanor of either military or law enforcement. He definitely wasn’t a paper-pushing warlord or a politico. Years of experience trained her to spot those guys a mile away. No, his mask of control was one born of the need for survival, much like hers.
Okay, big boy. You let me peek behind yours and I’ll let you peek behind mine.
He stopped in front of her, his thigh brushing her leg and setting off a series of sparks underneath her skin. His chocolate brown eyes met hers, filled with the assurance of decadent possibilities.
Michaela opened her mouth and shut it again. Now that he was here, she had no idea what to say. What would Angelina do? Channel your inner Jolie.
She cleared her throat. The result was a sultry, sexy voice she didn’t know she possessed. “May I buy you a drink?”
He glanced at the glass in her hand and nodded.
“A Southern Comfort.” She spoke in the general direction of the bartender, unable to tear herself away from her companion. “Neat.”
He slid onto the stool next her, his leg still against hers and her temperature hovering near the boiling point. He leaned on the bar, creating their own intimate circle as the noise of the busy bar faded into the background. His lips curved into a slight smile.
“Is there something funny?”
“No. Not at all.” His deep voice rumbled in her ear, his warm breath grazed her cheek. “I didn’t take you for the whiskey type.”
“And what type am I?”
He leaned back, examining her ice-blue satin, strapless cocktail dress and matching Manolo Blahnik pumps. She squirmed in her seat as her body responded to the desire pulsing between them.
“Honestly?” He cocked his head. “You strike me as the chardonnay type. A proper drink for a proper lady.”
She laughed. Any other night, his description would have been close to the mark. “Whiskey’s a drink of control and power.” She took another sip and caught his stare over the rim of her glass.
“I see.” He lifted his glass and downed the contents, then turned his full attention back to her. “So…why are you drinking alone?”
“I’m not drinking alone. Now.” Michaela gestured toward his drink and ordered him another when he nodded.
“Okay, so you’re here…?”
“Celebrating my new life.”
“Aahhh.” He lifted his glass to her in salute. “Let me be the first to say that your ex-husband is an idiot.”
I love reading about small towns in books. Reading about them and growing up in one is to different things. I don’t mind visiting them is fine. However, I like the unique stores you can find in small towns.
Melody – Small towns do have wonderful little places that are so unique but I find that I am now addicted to my Target! ; ) And, Danville still doesn’t have one!
I love books about small towns. I love how everyone seems to think they know what’s going on in everyone’s life. They love gossip and sticking their noses in everyone’s business. They care forand protect each other. This book sounds really good and I’m looking forward to reading it.
lorimeehan1@aol.com
Lori – Yes! That was a good thing and bad thing abou growing up in a small town. Everybody knew me and it was hard to get by with anything and everyone thought they were entitled to comment on my life. It is something that Jackson struggles with when he returns to Elliott and I think that was a little bit of my experience shining through.
Oh, Moon Pies! Love those little details that make books– and life– so much richer and more wonderful. I’m also a big fan of the small town setting, in both what I read and what I write. There’s just something so characteristic about a place that brings your “people” together. Super enticing!
Kimberly, I grew up in a small town. There were things I hated about it growing up, but now I really miss it. That special intimacy that comes from living in a small town really provides great fodder for novels.
Robin, I grew up in a small town and couldn’t wait to shake the dust from my feet when I left. However, I think small towns are a wonderful place to raise a family and can see why my mother loved it so. One of my favorite memories of my dad is when he said he drug my mother kicking and screaming to the town where I grew up, and he was going to take her kicking and screaming when they left lol. We were Southern transplants to a small Pennsylvania town, and she lived there for forty years. She now lives in Florida and doesn’t know hardly a soul. Dad has passed on and she misses it so.
Your book sounds fantastic and was on my schedule to read this weekend. However, my mom is coming to visit, and I doubt much reaching will be done as we’ll be too busy laughing and talking. If I can sneak any reading in, believe me, your book will be the one I’ll be reading.
Debra, thanks for sharing those memories with us. Hope you and your mom have a great time this weekend!
Debra-LOL! Once a Virginian always a Virginian! I always tell my husband to make sure I’m laid rest inVA.
Have a wonderful weekend with your Mom. My book will wait. ; )
One more thing…..Moon Pies!!! YUMMMMMOOOO!! Did you include Goo Goo Clusters? lol And my family played a game with those green Coca Cola bottles. We would look at the bottom of the bottle to see where the Coke was bottled, and whoever got the bottle that was from furthest away won. Silly, but brings back happy memories. We also poured salted peanuts in the Coke. Did you do that?
Yes!!! Peanuts in our coke! I still do it and my kids think I’m crazy,
I grew up in a small town and, after living in several southern cities, I live in one again. Every Friday night through out the summer there is a band concert in the town square, complete with a Victorian gazebo. There is such a feeling of community and belonging that I never felt in the city.
http://christymckeewriter.blogspot.com
Christy, that sounds wonderful!
I love that! We have Friday nights on the square- sounds very similar.
I spent five years in a very small town, 3 square miles, five lakes, 500 kids in the high school including the 8th grade. Everyone had lived there since birth–wel, except for me. Everyone wore clothes from Bloomingdales–well, except for me. You get the picture. It was a beautiful town, I loved the sailing, swimming and skating I was able to do, but I never fit in. I guess it might be different if you lived there all your life, but the small towns I’ve known, don’t take kindly to strangers.
They can be rather insular, Robin. I remember a friend telling me that in little towns in places like Newfoundland, you were still considered to be from “away” after years and years!
Robin – Not great for you. Danville was a small farming and mill town and I think people were so country that they were pretty nice to newcomers – at least I hope so.
I miss it and I chose my current hometown b/c I wanted to give my kids the same experience.
I live in the big city, where it’s busy and loud. So I love to read books where small towns are the main target. The way everyone knows each other, help when someone is in need and where children can play outside without parents worry about them.
Your book sounds interesting, so I will definitely check it out.
Natasja – I love to vacation in a big city because it is the total opposite of where I live right now. I love the activity when I am on vacay.
Sounds like a great read. I moved to Virginia from Pennsylvania six years ago, and Danville has definitely had some hard times the last few years, as most of that part of the state seems to have. I think the recession hit them hard.
I hope to someday write a story that popped into my head a few years ago–one based in a fictional version of my hometown, a small, former steel town in Western PA. Perhaps, through fiction, we can go home again.
yes – Danville and has taken hit just like most other places. But, I still love going home and seeeign the old places.
Write your book! I want to read it!
I’m from a tiny wee town in New Zealand. Population ten. Well it was bigger than that but I bolted out of there and thought I’d never return. Fast foward many years and I love that small town. It’s my roots and the place that shaped me.
I adored A Night of Southern Comfort and highly recommend it to everyone! It’s fast paced, sexy with characters I loved.
Hayson Manning
Hayson, that IS a small town! Thanks for stopping by!
Hayson – thank you so much for your kind thoughts about my book.!
Everyone knows everything. And just as good, you never go thru bad stuff alone. Even if you wanna. haha Love reading and living small towns.
Lisa – so true!
Nice excerpt. I like the focus on family.
Me too, bn100!
It’s always lovely to get a coffee and something homemade to eat in a small town. It tastes better!
Agreed, Robyn!
So true! Make mine tea and a donut!
Still visit the small home town.. our moms kept pretty close tabs back in the 60s .. I can’t imagine what it would be like with today’s cell phones!!!