Today it is our great pleasure to welcome to Book Lovers Inc. Candis Terry, author of one of my favourite contemporary small town romance series the Sugar Shack series! If you like Jill Shalvis’ Lucky Harbor series and want more sexy and funny light romances you should definitely give a chance to the Sugar Shack series, I’m sure you’ll love it! Candis stops by today on her tour celebrating the release of the 3rd novel in the series, please give her a warm BLI welcome and answer her question to win a copy of Somebody Like You!

THE CHALLENGES OF WRITING A SERIES

I’ve never done things the easy way. Just ask my mother. I guess that’s one of the reasons it took me 22 years to become a published author. I started out writing a regency romance that took several years—only to discover I didn’t exactly have a historical romance voice. I tried writing for category romance—only to discover I had a heck of a hard time writing shorter books that had to fit inside a mold. Finally I came up with this wacky idea of writing a series based in a Podunk town in Montana that included a bakery, a ghost, and three siblings with highly successful careers who had to come back home . . . and stay.

Easy cheesy, right?

Did I mention I happen to do things the hard way?

What I set myself up for was a roller coaster ride without a seatbelt. I had no idea the work involved in maintaining details because they would inevitably be carried over into book two or three. I had no idea that some secondary characters in book one would become important in book three. On top of that I’m an only child. I had no clue what it would be like to have opinionated siblings.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

Thank god for ignorance!

Throughout the Sugar Shack novels I explored restoring relationships—even after someone had died–, the challenges of keeping a completely open mind, the loss of trust, and the complete obliteration of high-paying careers. Most of all I learned how people deal with and overcome guilt.

In my newest release for Avon Impulse–SOMEBODY LIKE YOU–the heroine, prosecuting attorney Kelly Silverthorne, loses the biggest case of her career and a murderer walks free.

Here’s a quick excerpt when Kelly explains what happened to the hero–reformed bad boy and now a deputy sheriff, James Harley.

He turned to his side and propped his gorgeous head up with his hand. “So what made you want to be a prosecutor?” he asked, obviously ready to redirect the conversation.

“I’m sure you’ve heard my nickname. Sister Serious?” She shrugged. Smoothed her fingers over a wrinkle in the blanket. “I think somewhere along the way I stopped fighting the image. Since I can’t carry a tune to save my life, I knew I’d never be the next Madonna. Waiting tables at the Grizzle Claw Tavern didn’t seem like a good career choice. So I started looking at other possibilities. I got hooked on Law and Order. And when I realized that practicing law was for serious people I got the fever pretty bad. So I studied hard. I gave up a lot of play time. And as soon as I earned my degree I began to intern for the state attorney’s office. It took me a while to figure it all out, but I became very good at it. They hired me, and since the day they gave me an office, I’ve only lost one case.”

“That’s quite commendable.”

“Is it?” She took a drink, and suddenly the wine didn’t taste as sweet.

“Hell yes. How many criminals have you put behind bars? You can’t let one take all that away. You should be proud of yourself.”

“It was a murder trial. The Colson case.”

“I read about that.”

“I let everyone involved down.” Her heart gave a hard thump against her ribs.

“How do you figure?”

“I pushed for the prosecution. The state attorney was sure we would never get a conviction, but I’ve never been one to back down when in my heart I knew it was right. This time I was wrong, and the loss devastated me.”

“That’s understandable.”

She sipped the wine then shook her head. “I don’t know how I could have been so wrong. My instincts have never let me down before, not even in high-profile cases. My intentions all along have been to help people. To stand up for someone who may not be able to stand up for themselves.”

“So basically we’re in the same business.” He reached across the blanket and covered her hand with his. “Helping people.”

“Yes. We have that in common.”

He smiled. “Good to know.”

“Only I think you have way more fun at it than I do,” she said.

“I will admit …” His gaze searched her face. “There are some pretty cool tools of the trade. Handcuffs for instance.”

Handcuffs?

Amazing how quickly he could move her thoughts away from being Sister Serious.

When I came up with the idea for the Sugar Shack novels, I didn’t know how much I would fall in love with the characters, or the conflicts, or the town. While I’m sad this episode in my writing has come to a close, I have to admit that I left the Sugar Shack door open for a return someday. I just couldn’t completely say goodbye.

And that is the biggest challenge of writing a series!

I’m currently working on a new series about Sweet, Texas, a town I introduced in the FOR LOVE AND HONOR anthology with bestselling romance author Cathy Maxwell.

Do you prefer reading stand-alone books? Or do you choose to get invested in a series?

SOMEBODY LIKE YOU by Candis Terry

Strait-laced . . .

Chicago prosecutor Kelly Silverthorne has a perfect record in the courtroom and a big fat zero in the bedroom. When she loses her first case ever, she returns home to Deer Lick, Montana, to regain her confidence and shake off the “Sister Serious” moniker she’s been strapped with since childhood. Only a few hours into her repentance karma thrusts her face-to-face with yet another of her major fiascos—a one night stand with the hottest cop in the county.

Rebel with a Cause . . .

Deputy James Harley has always played with fire. When smart and sexy Kelly pops back into his life, he doesn’t mind going for a full burn. And that might be exactly what happens when his past threatens to catch up with his future.

A Match Made in . . .

Heaven only knows what Kelly’s dearly departed mom has planned from the other side. But even heaven knows that when love comes knocking there’s no stopping the good things to come.

Buy at Amazon – B&N – Book Depository

Candis Terry is the author of the Sugar Shack novels—a trio of small town romances rich with memorable love stories, quirky characters, and tons of fun. Born and raised near the sunny beaches of Southern California, Candis now makes her home on an Idaho farm. She’s experienced life in such diverse ways as working in a Hollywood recording studio to chasing down wayward steers. Only one thing has remained constant: Candis’ passion for writing stories about relationships, the push and pull in the search for love, and the security one finds in their own happily ever after. Candis loves to chat with readers at her website, Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

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~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Candis has an e-ARC copy of Somebody Like You by Candis Terry for a lucky commenter!

All you have to do is answer Candis’ question: Do you prefer reading stand-alone books? Or do you choose to get invested in a series?

(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment).

This giveaway is open to all!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, 28 July 2012; we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

About Stella

Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

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