Welcome home

An author can’t help using her own life in her books. That’s a scary thought, considering that among my 80 novels are murder mysteries, a fantasy novel and even one horror tale dredged from the darkest corners of my usually sunny psyche. Of course, there are also romances set in Regency England, so maybe I was a friend of Jane Austen’s in another life.

If you’d like to visit my present neighborhood, you can do so starting this month, when my hometown of Brea, California provides the setting for my latest Harlequin American trilogy. The books begin with The Family Next Door and continue in August with Baby in Waiting. In January 2009, Million-Dollar Nanny concludes the trilogy.

Of course, fiction isn’t the same as real life – it’s much more organized (usually) and doesn’t leave loose ends. So I created the fictionalized development of Harmony Circle, a neighborhood populated by personalities I hope will keep you entertained.

In each book, a hero and heroine resolve their own issues. In The Family Next Door, widow Diane Bittner is distressed to discover that her handsome new neighbor, Josh Lorenz, was the holdout juror in the murder trial of her husband’s killer. Although he honestly believed the man to be innocent, she’s convinced Josh let a guilty man go free. But how can she resist when their preteen daughters begin making plans to bring the two of them together?

A subplot running through the three books concerns a small cottage that’s part of Harmony Circle’s history. When an heiress and her fiancé propose to tear it down and build a mansion, some residents see the plan as a disaster. Then an unexpected twist changes everyone’s perspective.

I hope you’ll enjoy your visit to Harmony Circle. There’s nothing like making new friends in a kind-hearted neighborhood!