Today's Special - - Tracy Solheim

Tracy Solheim is the international bestselling author of the Out of Bound Series for Penguin.  Her books feature members of the fictitious Baltimore Blaze football team and the women who love them.  In a previous life, Tracy wrote best sellers for Congress and was a freelance journalist for regional and national magazines.  She’s a military brat who now makes her home in Johns Creek, Georgia, with her husband, their two children, a pesky Labrador retriever puppy and a horse named after her first novel.  See what she’s up to at www.tracysolheim.com.  Like her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TracySolheimBooks



PJ here. I've said it before but it bears mentioning again; overcoming one's natural shyness and speaking to fellow elevator riders can bring the nicest people into our lives. I'm so happy for the spontaneous conversation in an elevator at the 2013 RWA national conference that introduced me to Tracy Solheim. She's a delightful woman who just happens to write terrific contemporary romances. Please give her a warm welcome as she returns to TRD to tell us about her new novella for Tule Publishing, Holiday at Magnolia Bay. 

I have a confession to make and a tiny apology. My latest release, Holiday at Magnolia Bay, may be a little misleading to readers expecting the novella to be laden with Christmas references.  In fact, most of the story takes place well before the holiday season—but you’ll find a very satisfying ending that takes place at Christmas time!  Since it’s not “technically” the Christmas season yet, I hope you’ll forgive me.  I had a good reason. 

You see, my story’s heroine, Jenna Huntley, is a marine biologist with a passion for sea turtles.  She meets Drew Lanham, a battle weary Navy SEAL, while trying to protect a nest of loggerhead sea turtle eggs.  Those big sea creatures only nest during the summer, so you can see my dilemma, right?  The novella—and the relationship between Jenna and Drew—had to start at the end of summer when the turtles hatch.  Of course, there’s still plenty of Christmas cheer during Drew and Jenna’s happily ever after moment, you’ll see.

So why did I write the book this way?  Because I’ve always been fascinated with sea turtles and I couldn’t imagine a book taking place in coastal Carolina without mentioning them.  Like Jenna, growing up my family gravitated to one beach on the North Carolina coast for years—and I’ve continued the tradition with my own children.  We’ve been fortunate enough to see these great turtles in “the wild” and also stranded on the beach.  Turtle nests along the shore are as much a part of our vacation spot as sunburn and seagulls.  I’ve been lucky to be able to watch under a late summer moon as a nest of loggerhead turtles bubbled up from the sand and sprinted into the ocean.  It was awesome!

A few years ago, my family and I took a trip to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll

Island, Georgia.  The day-long backstage tour was the basis for my description of the fictional Magnolia Bay Turtle Center.  If I made any errors, it’s totally my fault for not taking proper notes.  (In my defense, other books were drowning this one out in my head at the time!)  The tour was fascinating.  We watched the giant beauties swimming in large salt water pools.  My son even got to feed some.  They allowed us into the incubation room, the operating room and a smaller “triage” suite where one of the biologists was fixing the flipper of a young loggerhead.  It was a trip I’ll never forget.  If you’d like to learn more about the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, here’s the link: http://www.jekyllisland.com/jekyll-island-foundation/conservation-programs/georgia-sea-turtle-center/   It’s worth the visit.

I brought back a keepsake from that trip that hangs on my Christmas tree every year—see, I got us back to Christmas!  It’s one of my very favorite ornaments.  And, in the spirit of the holidays, I’m giving a sea turtle ornament away to one lucky person who comments on this post along with a Tule gift bag.

Tell me about one of your favorite holiday decorations or mementos. Does it have a story behind it?   It can be any holiday throughout the year, too!

After a mission goes terribly wrong, ending in the death of a teammate, Navy Seal, Drew Lanham, is forced to take a leave from active-duty. Retreating to his godmother’s beach house in coastal Magnolia Bay, Drew plans to spend the three weeks R&R licking his wounds and catching some rays while the nightmares from his failed op fade. The last thing he wants to do is mingle with the locals. What he doesn’t count on is an early morning encounter with a goddess rising from the sea. His interest is piqued and his body put on alert when he finds out that same woman may or may not be after his godmother’s money. 

Marine biologist, Jenna Huntley, has been searching her whole life for a place to call home and Magnolia Bay is that place. Unfortunately, she’s underutilizing her education giving tours at the town’s turtle rescue center. With the help of an octogenarian patroness, she maps out a proposal to develop a turtle hatchery on-site. Everything is going as planned until the older woman’s godson arrives. Suddenly, nothing is as it seems and Jenna’s future is hanging in the balance, with a sexy warrior pulling all the strings. Her natural tendency is to help the damaged hero, but she’s sworn off letting military men in her life ever again.

Will Drew and Jenna be able to put their pasts behind them and learn to trust their hearts long enough to enjoy their Holiday at Magnolia Bay? 

Buy it here: -Holiday in Magnolia Bay - http://amzn.to/ZvVHRv

Southern Born Christmas series
Book 1: Holiday in Magnolia Bay by Tracy Solheim - October 20th
Book 2: Just in Time for Christmas by Kim Boykin - October 27th
Book 3: A Very Married Christmas by Erika Marks - November 3rd
Book 4: The Trouble with Christmas by Kaira Rouda - November 10th