People ask authors all the time – where you do get your ideas? I usually say I don’t know. Bad answer, right? But it’s the truth.

However, after years of giving this bad answer – and you can always tell it really disappoints people – I think I’ve finally started to figure it out. I think I get my ideas – or at least some of them – from traveling. And maybe I’ve sort of, kind of known that for a while, but I guess I’m afraid it sounds a little … shallow.

Like I should have an answer that sounds deeper or more profound. Because some of my books are, indeed, pretty deep and serious. But the fact is, when I travel, I generally come home with ideas for stories I could place in that new setting.

I know very well that I came up with THE RED DIARY because I’ve visited the area of Florida where the book is set on many, many occasions. And I know I hit upon the idea for IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS in 2001 at the Harlequin Party at RWA National in New Orleans, which took place in a FABULOUS restaurant which become the restaurant aka brothel ; ) in the story.

So where did I come with the idea for SWEPT AWAY? This time, I can’t say it’s from any one place I’ve visited. In fact, I know I’ve had this idea in my head for quite a long time and am just now getting around to writing it. But, in general, I think the inspiration was just: the beach.

I LOVE the beach. I want to LIVE at the beach. I feel like I’ve come home whenever I go to the beach. And heck, doesn’t a story about two people stranded on a deserted island just scream SEXY ROMANCE? For me, it does – and I think that’s one reason I loved writing this book so much. Every part of it just felt “right” and the words just flowed from my fingertips.

So I hope readers will check out SWEPT AWAY, and that maybe it will inspire THEM in some way. Maybe you’ll want to take your boyfriend or husband to the beach when your done. Or maybe you’ll want to set sail for a private island where you can indulge your private fantasies, just like Brock and Kat do in the book.

Swept Away Summary and Excerpt

Five days before her wedding to a man she admires but doesn’t love, Katrina Spencer escapes to a private island. There, she can let the sun warm her body as she contemplates a future without the passion she craves. Then she lazily opens her eyes, only to see Brock Denton… muscular, half-naked, the one who got away – the one who makes her body tingle with arousal.How Brock arrived is a mystery, but it’s clear he’s in danger. Kat faces danger, too, in the arms of a man who is determined to free her from her every inhibition with his hands, his mouth, and more!

Kat has five steamy days and five sultry nights to make up her mind – return home to a man she doesn’t love, or satisfy her wildest passions with Brock and let her herself be… swept away.

EXCERPT