I'm delighted to welcome Victoria Vane to The Romance Dish. Victoria has brought along a special surprise for our readers today - the hero of her new book, SLOW HAND, Wade Knowlton!
Victoria Vane is an award-winning author of smart and sexy romance. Her works range from historical to contemporary settings and include everything from wild comedic romps to emotionally compelling erotic romance. Her books have received more than twenty reviewer awards and nominations to include the 2014 RONE Award for Treacherous Temptations and Library Journal Best E-Book romance of 2012 for The Devil DeVere series. She lives the beautiful upstate of South Carolina with her husband, two sons, a little black dog, and an Arabian horse.
Contact info:
Hi Wade! May I call
you Wade? Welcome to our little corner of the world. That’s a mighty fine
looking Stetson you have there. Gorgeous
crystal-blue eyes too. Oh, and that adorable chin dimple. ::Sigh:: *whisper
whisper* “Huh? I’m what?” *whisper whisper* “Oh. Yeah. Guess I got a little off
track there. Sorry, Wade. Okay! On to the first question!”
So Wade, cowboys are known for
rescuing damsels in distress and you sure did that the other night at the Denver
airport. Please tell us about giving up your seat to the woman having an
emotional meltdown at the gate and the unexpected results of that kindness.
“Nice to meet you, M’am.” (He doffs his hat). “Now about Denver. It was a real mess that
night with the foul weather and all. There were people piled up all over that
airport. I was just sittin’ back bidin’ my time with my iPod when I looked up
and saw this beautiful…er…girl talking to the gate agent. I couldn’t hear what
she was sayin’ but it was evident she wasn’t getting on the flight. When she turned around with tears streaming
down her face, that just about did me in. I had a court date in the mornin’ but
figured I could still make it back if I drove through the night, so I gave up
my seat and rented a car. A few hours later I got a phone call from another
damsel in distress who’d come all the way from Georgia to Montana to bury her
father and lost her I.D. I was headed to
Bozeman anyhow so I told her I’d pick her up. You can imagine my surprise to
find the very same woman from the night before!”
I imagine she was pretty surprised too! At first glance, a
Georgia peach seems an odd choice for a man firmly entrenched in the wide open
spaces of Montana. What is it about Nicole that caused you to take a second
look?
He grins. “Couldn’t help looking. Nicole Powell is mighty easy
on the eyes. But she’s a lot more than that too. Smart and sassy and just plain
easy to be with. Something between us really clicked.”
Sometimes it just happens that way...if you're lucky.
You grew up in a
ranching family but chose to leave the range for a legal career in town. Why?
“Ranching is a damned hard life with little reward. Hell,
most people are barely scraping by these days. I wanted more than that from my
life, but I still can’t bail out on my family, so now I find myself burning the
candle at both ends. Don’t know how long I can keep on. Selling seems the
smartest thing. I’d like to see my parents comfortable in their retirement not still
working themselves to death but my brother and I don’t see eye to eye on this.
It’s a major point of contention that almost always brings us close to blows.”
You up for a fast
five?
Sure thing!
Boxers or briefs? Boxers.
Easier to breathe.
Hugs or kisses? Long
slow kisses.
Dinner or breakfast? Breakfast…in
bed.
Mmmm...I like the way you think!
Sassy or sweet? Sassy.
Love a woman who can hold her own.
Tux or jeans? Jeans
and boots fit most every occasion.
So Wade, are there
any more at home like you?
“No M’am.” (He flashes his dimples) “I’m one of a kind.”
::Sigh:: Then let me just say Nicole is one very lucky woman.
Victoria, we sure
appreciate you bringing Wade along to visit with us today. If he’s an example
of the men in Montana, I’m booking the next flight out! Do you mind if I ask
you a couple questions also?
Absolutely!
What is it about
Montana that enticed you to set Slow Hand there? Will all of the books in the
series be set in Montana?
Many elements of this story are somewhat biographical. Like
Nikki, I was estranged from my father. He had moved to Montana with plans of
retiring but shortly after was diagnosed with lung cancer. This whole
experience inspired my story. He passed away in 2008 and his ashes are scattered
on a river near the Beartooth Pass. I went to Montana in 2013 to research my book
but also to say my final good bye.
ROUGH RIDER,
featuring Wade’s brother Dirk, also takes place in Montana but the third book
in which my hero is a marine scout sniper from Wyoming has several settings
(Southern California, Iraq, Alaska and Wyoming). The fourth book mainly takes place
in the Nevada desert where they are gathering wild horses and then the story
moves back to Montana. All of the characters are connected in some way which
allows old characters to make cameo appearances which I think readers love.
You have a
fascinating cast of secondary characters I’m hoping we’ll see again. Are you
able to tell us about any of the future books you have planned and who the lead
characters may be?
ROUGH RIDER
features Wade’s bitter and antagonistic brother Dirk, and a minor secondary
character named Janice. This is a character-driven story with a lot of
emotional intensity as I also pick it up in the present when Dirk is struggling
to get his life back on track after some serious war injuries. Janice has some
scars of her own but she’s exactly what he needs. Here’s the blurb:
Two wary hearts
... Janice
Combes has two loves, bucking bulls and Dirk Knowlton. But Dirk only has eyes
for a dazzling rodeo queen. How can Janice ever compete while mired ankle-deep
in manure? Exchanging playful banter with Dirk is all Janice can expect-until
the stormy night he knocks on her door dripping wet and needing a place to
crash.
Different Dreams... Dirk Knowlton is living the cowboy dream. Life should be
good-roping, branding, backing broncs, riding bulls, but there's a void he
can't seem to fill. After getting hung up by a bull, he wonders if this is
really the life he wants. Restless and rebellious, he bolts...but there's a
certain cowgirl he can't forget.
When a battle-scarred Dirk returns to his Montana ranch
he's determined to hang on at any cost. Janice has come back home to lick her
own wounds. When old dreams turn to dust, can two wary hearts take another
chance on love?
SHARP SHOOTER,
the third book in the series, features a hero introduced in book #2. Reid
Everett is a marine scout sniper from Wyoming and one of Dirk’s old rodeo
buddies.
SILVER TONGUE also features
an interesting character, a Native American horse whisperer who is mentioned in
book #2 and book #3 but the reader doesn’t actually meet until #4.
Readers might be seeing Allie again as I am working on a
potential storyline, and I also have plans for Nikki’s sister Shelby but this
will probably be a spin off book.
Thanks so much for visiting with us today. Would you or Wade
like to ask our readers a question?
In this series, I
used several settings for the sake of variety. What is your favorite setting
for a romance novel?
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