Hello to all my new friends at Writerspace! I'm thrilled to be here. Since this is my first blog with you, I’d like to talk about my debut book, WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY, the first tale in my Regency-set historical series from St. Martin's Press. It's no surprise to people who know me that WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY includes a contest. After all, I've been on two game shows, The Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud (and I'm happy to report I won on both of them).

Just as they do on Wheel of Fortune, I'd like to play a little bonus round with you. I’ll give you the most popular consonants, R-S-T-L-N, as well as the most popular vowel, E, and I'd like you to complete this phrase in...hmmmm, ten seconds, just as they do on the real show. Oh, and I want you to pretend there's a live audience staring at you and a huge camera trained on your face. Don’t forget that the camera's got a bright red light beaming on top of it, which means you're on the air in front of 30 million people. You're also not allowed to think about your family and friends back home, none of whom you want to embarrass. And please, don't even contemplate the shiny new car or large amount of cash you might win if you answer correctly!

Brains ready? I’ll count down from ten while you solve the puzzle. Let’s go!

_ _ _'R E  _ E _ _ _ _ E

All right. That's ten seconds. Some of you got it right away. That apostrophe helps, doesn't it? Others of you, however, might have got nervous and balked. Don't worry, it's all right if you did. Now you won't be as tempted to throw a rotten tomato at the TV screen next time you see someone on the actual game show mess up a seemingly simply puzzle!

We'll come back to the phrase at the end of this note, shall we?

Meanwhile, I have to say that nothing gets my competitive blood stirring like a bold challenge, which is why in WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY, a stubborn bluestocking named Molly has to participate in the scandalous "Most Delectable Companion" contest with four lightskirts if she wants to get home with her reputation intact. And Harry, a notorious rake (with what I like to call Second-son Syndrome) must do his best to help the fiery, fabulous Molly win--or find himself at the marriage altar with a prune-faced ninny.

It's difficult for Harry and Molly to act as if she's his mistress when the two can't stand each other. Good thing those kisses they're forced to share don't matter a whit--nor the scintillating tension arcing between them every time they act cozy in front of the others at the hunt party to keep their cover during the competition. Harry and Molly think they want her to win the contest at all costs, but are they willing to make that cost their hearts?

Yes, dear readers, we know what's bound to happen. And as for Harry and Molly? They've got a long week together, complete with all sorts of conflict and colorful friends, to find out!

Okay, then, let's pull back from talking about romantic stories that will help you forget all your stress and the words that compose them. It’s time to focus on the true building blocks of books: the letters of the alphabet.

In the puzzle at the top of this note, the answer is: "You're Welcome." It was the actual phrase I completed correctly on The Wheel of Fortune in the bonus round.

Easy, right? But at the time, dear readers, I was sweating bullets for all the reasons I listed earlier. In those tense moments on the studio set, it felt like winning that puzzle would mean everything in the world to me-—until I looked into the eyes of my husband in the audience and saw that he would love me no matter how well I did on the show.

And I calmed down. At that moment, I understood that love is the true prize. It's the currency we can all share freely, knowing that the more we give away, the more we'll get back. Winning a game show is fun, but that sort of glory is fleeting. Love lasts forever.

So on that note, I'd like to leave you, my new friends at Writerspace, with a more appropriate phrase (with R-S-T-L-N & E provided, of course):

_ _ _ N _   _ _ _.

It spells T H A N K  Y O U. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your precious time with me, a romance writer who is incredibly excited and happy to spread a little cheer around the world with my stories of love and laughter.

Hugs to you all,

Kieran

www.kierankramerbooks.com

I love stories where the main character is pulled back from the big city to her little hometown to deal with the family—and maybe the first love—she left behind. The drama, the relationships, the history…I can’t get enough of them!

So of course I wanted to write a homecoming story. But my version has a little twist: in TOO HOT TO TOUCH, the first book of my Rising Star Chef trilogy, it’s the hero, Max Lunden, who comes home after years wandering the world, learning exotic culinary techniques…and his tiny hometown is a village: Greenwich Village, to be exact, a neighborhood of Manhattan.

But Max does have to deal with his family and his family’s legacy, a steak-and-potatoes restaurant called Lunden’s Tavern. The Lundens need Max’s help to enter the biggest culinary competition in the nation…which brings us to Max having to deal with the girl he left behind.

Except Jules Cavanaugh was the one with the crush. And now that she’s all grown up and a talented chef at Lunden’s Tavern, she doesn’t think they need any help…even from the still-smoking-hot guy who made her teenage heart flutter. So despite their sizzling attraction, she’s determined to keep her cool—no matter how hot it gets…

Obviously, Max has a lot to contend with! To see how he juggles all those frying pans, pick up my latest release, TOO HOT TO TOUCH. In fact, one lucky commenter will be chosen at random to receive a signed copy, along with a set of my Rising Star Chef romance trading cards!

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