Denise Swanson is a versitile author, penning the Devereaux's Dime Store mystery series, the Scumble River mystery series, and now the Change of Heart romance series. She is celebrating the release of LUCKY GIRL HITS THE JACKPOT and SMART GIRL SWEPT AWAY. Denise joins us for cozy chat ...
Denise Swanson lives in Illinois with her husband, classical composer David Stybr and their cool black cat Boomerang.
Kim: What is your favorite sight, sound, and smell of the Illinois, the Prairie State?
Denise: I love seeing the fields of corn and soybeans as you drive south on I-55. Everyone thinks of Chicago when they hear Illinois, but once you're 30 miles south of the city the rest of the state is pretty rural. My favorite sound is the rustle of the leaves on a breezy evening. And the as for the smell, I'd have to say a good old fashioned cookout.
Kim: What is your favorite sight, sound, and smell of the Illinois, the Prairie State?
Denise: I love seeing the fields of corn and soybeans as you drive south on I-55. Everyone thinks of Chicago when they hear Illinois, but once you're 30 miles south of the city the rest of the state is pretty rural. My favorite sound is the rustle of the leaves on a breezy evening. And the as for the smell, I'd have to say a good old fashioned cookout.
Kim: I have a cool black cat, too! His name is Kono; we adopted him in Hawaii. Why is your cat named Boomerang?
Book 2, Lucky Girl Hits the Jackpot, is Delaney & Spencer's story.
The last place Delaney Smallwood ever expects to find herself is at the Illinois State Lottery office, holding a check with more zeros than she’s ever seen before. The last person cynical attorney Spencer DeWitt ever expects to be attracted to is a quixotic millionaire schoolteacher. The last thing either wants is a relationship. Can kisses hotter than a Midwest July thrust two such opposite people into a forever kind of love?
Book 3, Smart Girl Swept Away, is Sheridan & Ridge's story.
When feminist author Sheridan Davis is forced to return to Sutton Falls, Illinois, to care for her estranged father, the last person she wants to run into is Ridge Sutton. Meeting Ridge, who has matured from handsome to gorgeous, while she looks as if she’s spent the night in a cardboard box is so not how Sheridan pictured seeing her high school crush again. Especially not after what he and his friends did to her the night of their senior prom.
Sweet Girl Undone, is a prequel novella featuring Lucy & Curt
Special education teacher Lucy Wheeler is sick of being taken for granted. Sick of people thinking that they know what’s best for her. And sick of being the sweet one. It’s time to break free from that role. It’s time for a do-over. But no matter what her best friend says, dating her ex-boyfriend, Reverend Curtis Campbell, is not the kind of do-over she has in mind.
Kim: What's next for Denise Swanson?
Denise: I'm currently finishing book #19 in my Scumble River Mystery series which will come out in September of 2016. Earlier that year, Between a Book and a Hard Place, #5 in my Devereaux's Dime Store mysteries will debut. Meanwhile, I'll be writing book #4 in my Change of Heart romance series.
Denise: Boomerang was a stray who darted into my house one day when I opened the door to get the mail. He had a collar so I thought he was a neighbor's cat and I put him back outside. We repeated this twice, before I decided to call his owner. The number on the tag was disconnected and when I did a little research the town was a good thirty miles away. I call the vet on the tag and he had no info on the owner. So after my local vet fixed him up the little black stray became Boomerang since he kept coming back to me.
Kim: Tell us about your Change of Heart series and your new release?
Denise: The Change of Heart series features small town friends who all need a fresh start and a change of outlook in order to find their forever loves.
Good Girl Overboard which is book 1 and came out in March of 2015 features Darcy & Mitch. Darcy, cruise ship reviewer, has decided it's not blondes, but bad girls, who have more fun, and she is determined to become one of them. Captain Mitch James has a firm no-messing-with-female-passengers rule. But when he discovers Darcy’s true reason for taking the cruise, he decides to use his charm to get a thumbs up for his ship. Breaking his own rules, he sets out to seduce her. Now, if he can just convince himself that his only interest in Darcy is a good review, he might make it back to port with his heart intact.
Kim: Tell us about your Change of Heart series and your new release?
Denise: The Change of Heart series features small town friends who all need a fresh start and a change of outlook in order to find their forever loves.
Good Girl Overboard which is book 1 and came out in March of 2015 features Darcy & Mitch. Darcy, cruise ship reviewer, has decided it's not blondes, but bad girls, who have more fun, and she is determined to become one of them. Captain Mitch James has a firm no-messing-with-female-passengers rule. But when he discovers Darcy’s true reason for taking the cruise, he decides to use his charm to get a thumbs up for his ship. Breaking his own rules, he sets out to seduce her. Now, if he can just convince himself that his only interest in Darcy is a good review, he might make it back to port with his heart intact.
Book 2, Lucky Girl Hits the Jackpot, is Delaney & Spencer's story.
The last place Delaney Smallwood ever expects to find herself is at the Illinois State Lottery office, holding a check with more zeros than she’s ever seen before. The last person cynical attorney Spencer DeWitt ever expects to be attracted to is a quixotic millionaire schoolteacher. The last thing either wants is a relationship. Can kisses hotter than a Midwest July thrust two such opposite people into a forever kind of love?
Book 3, Smart Girl Swept Away, is Sheridan & Ridge's story.
When feminist author Sheridan Davis is forced to return to Sutton Falls, Illinois, to care for her estranged father, the last person she wants to run into is Ridge Sutton. Meeting Ridge, who has matured from handsome to gorgeous, while she looks as if she’s spent the night in a cardboard box is so not how Sheridan pictured seeing her high school crush again. Especially not after what he and his friends did to her the night of their senior prom.
Sweet Girl Undone, is a prequel novella featuring Lucy & Curt
Kim: What's next for Denise Swanson?
Denise: I'm currently finishing book #19 in my Scumble River Mystery series which will come out in September of 2016. Earlier that year, Between a Book and a Hard Place, #5 in my Devereaux's Dime Store mysteries will debut. Meanwhile, I'll be writing book #4 in my Change of Heart romance series.
Mahalo, Denise, for sharing your series with us! I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,
1. Leave a comment about Illinois, the Praire State - what do you know about it? Both my husband and I were assigned to Scott AFB in Southern Illinois across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. My son was born on Scott AFB and roots for the Rams and Cards.
2. Comments are open through Saturday, October 10, 10 pm in Baltimore.
3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 11.
Mahalo,
Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City
Learn more about Denise and her books at deniseswanson.com.
All I know is that my friends were stationed at Scott AFB....that's about it.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Illinois, but isn't that where Abe Lincoln lived?
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Illinois, but I know that Chicago is the largest city in the state. Wrigley Field and Navy Pier are two very popular tourist attractions there.
ReplyDeleteI've been there twice and know that the Shedd Aquarium is there and it's the largest indoor aquarium in the world.
ReplyDeleteN I have not visted
ReplyDeleteKimh
I don't know a thing about Illinois. I should learn more.
ReplyDeleteKnow very little
ReplyDeleteSadly I don't know anything about Illinois :(
ReplyDeleteI have been to some of their amusement parks.
ReplyDeleteWell since I was born and raised and still live in the Prairie State --- great food!!! Pizza and Italian Beef! but also cold and windy!
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about Illinois really. Have only changed planes at Chicago's O'Hare or driven through on the way to someplace else.
ReplyDeleteI have been thru Illinois on our way to Oklahoma for my son's BCT graduation at Fort Sill last year.
ReplyDeleteLand of Lincoln.... grew up listening to WLS from rural Indiana... also a land of soybeans & corn.. been to Northern Illinois Univ for football games!
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about Illinois, did not even know that it is called the Praire State... *blushing*
ReplyDeleteGreat interview! We live in MI so we know quite a bit about Illinois and its areas. We travel around and to Chicago every now and then, also. It has lovely farmland!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I've never been and don't know very much about it except Chicago.
ReplyDeleteVery little bit windy
ReplyDeleteKimh
little about it
ReplyDeleteI've only ever been in the Chicago airport never the rest of the state.
ReplyDelete