Allie Pleiter on Tough Heroes with Soft Centers

One of my favorite types of romance heroes is the tough guy who struggles with “a soft center.”  I love a man of strength and honor who can never quite figure out how to shoulder the depth of his caring.  And I love the woman who brings that affection out from under his crusty exterior.

My hero for The Rancher’s Texas Twins has just that dynamic.  Lone Star Cowboy League President Gabe Everett is a serious man of duty.  The two mischievous little girls who end up staying on his ranch, however, don’t see “Mr. Boots” that way.  Their non-stop onslaught of “tiny pinkness”  opens this cowboy’s heart in a way that is sure to melt yours. Children have such a gift for tearing down the walls we build around ourselves, don’t you think?

It was great fun to wrap up the popular Lone Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch series with this book. Gabe, and the lovely young mother Avery who holds the key to saving the boys ranch, are a perfect match—even if it takes a pair of adorable twins to convince them.

What about you?  What heroes are your favorites?  If you’ve enjoyed the Lone Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch series, which books have the heroes who have won your heart?

Book Covers

This is Merrillee , and I've been thinking about the statement, "You can't judge a book by its cover." Do you think this is true? Does a cover influence you to pick up a book and see what it is about? Do you like covers with people or covers that feature landscapes or still life?

I think that Love Inspired does a wonderful job with the covers they put on our books. I've had people covers and landscape covers. Here are a couple of my favorite covers.






The artists did a wonderful job depicting the people who had lived in my mind and eventually came to life on the pages of a book. It is always an exciting moment to see the cover for the first time. I often wonder what images will be chosen to represent the story inside that cover. In my most recent book, the hero coaches youth baseball. The cover paints a perfect picture.



For my upcoming January 2012 book, Montana Match, I sent in a number of photos to portray characters and scenes in the book. I haven't seen the cover and probably won't for several months, but I'm eager to see which images they may use. Here are a couple.


The story takes place on a Montana ranch in the winter, and this snowy scene depicts it well.


There are identical twin girls in the story, and I thought this picture showed what I had imagined they might look like. I'll have to see what winds up on the cover of the book.

Please tell us what you like to see on the cover of a book.

Double the fun

Hello from Carolyne Aarsen.
When I was in my baby-having years, I always wanted twins. I never thought of the challenges of shopping with two toddlers, washing two sets of dirty diapers (I didn't use disposable diapers), toilet training two children. I just imagined myself dressing them up! But I never got twins. So I inflicted my twin-yearning on my daughters by dressing them alike. they put up with it until they realized they had clothing options and then they each went their own sartorial way. However, I never got past the fascination with twins. But now, as a writer, I get to play out certain dreams and wishes. So in my book, coming out in November, I couldn't resist putting in a set of twin boys. Of course these twin boys have their own personalities. And they cause trouble for their exasperated uncle and guardian. But as the writer, I can just enjoy! I hope you can pick up Cowboy Daddy, the story of Kip Cosgrove, his twin nephews and Nicole Williams, the aunt who wants to take them away from the ranch and the only home they've known, to her wealthy father's home in the big city. And you can find out just how much fun I had writing about twins.