#NewRelease ~ Texas Girls Trilogy by Kristina Knight

Being a writer is the most amazing job in the world. No, I'm not curing cancer but I do get to help people find love, find themselves, and begin living happily. The people in my head are very real to me as I'm writing and my hope is always that something in my books (or any authors books) will connect with 'real' people and help them figure things out.

There is one drawback to all of this, however: I sit in a chair for long hours each day writing my words, editing sentences and some days just trying to figure out what to say. That sitting? Not great for the metabolism or the derriere. Plus, when things aren't going well, chocolate is involved.

Here's how I keep things together in the health department when I spend most of a given day on my ... well, you know: Exercise. 

3. Taking a walk. Wherever I am in the writing, if I'm stuck or just need to clear my head, I'll take a walk. Somedays it's a quick lap around the neighborhood with my book playlist going. Some days it's a longer sweat-inducing walk/jog program. Depends. But walking is a great way to get moving (literally and figuratively).

2. Getting in the water. Most of you know I teach deep water running at our local Y two nights each

week. And I fill in as needed for other classes. And I've been known to hit the pool on my own when I need to clear my head. Water (whether its a beach or a pool) has always been an inspiring place for me.

1. Dance. The picture above is one of my favorite video games - it's sweaty, hard work (Yes, you have to get OFF the couch or office chair) with one massive benefit: if I trip over my clutzy feet no one will see me. I love Zumba - it's works the core, legs and arms. Plus, it's dance so it's over and you're hot, sweaty and feeling great before you even realize its work. The Just Dance games also now have a workout section, so thats another way to get moving and dancing away from the computer.

Okay, what's your favorite way to get moving? 

Kristina’s Texas Girls are back! What a Texas Girl Wants, What a Texas Girl Needs, and What a Texas Girl Dreams are releasing this month! 

About the Books

What a Texas Girl Wants: The last thing Jackson Taylor wants in his life is a down-to-earth girl like Kathleen Witte, so why did he just wake up next to her on a Mexican beach with a ring on his finger? Once they’re back in Texas though, this all-business marriage might just turn into an all-consuming love. Purchase on Amazon

What a Texas Girl Needs: Matias Barnes knows all about society women like Vanessa Witte. It’s part of the reason he left his wealthy family behind and took a job on a ranch. But while Mat knows she’s so not right for him, can he resist her charms long enough to really let her go? Purchase on Amazon

What a Texas Girl Dreams: They are opposites in so many ways, but the more veterinarian Trickett Samuels gets to know footloose and fancy free Monica Witte, the more he wonders if he can convince this Texas girl that having roots will only help her soar higher. Purchase on Amazon

Fall Favorite: Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

I have a ton of fall favorites, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: none of them are pumpkin spice. I do like a slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving (although Sweet Potato Pie will always beat Pumpkin to my tastebuds!), but other than that, pumpkin is just kind of meh for me. 

I do love a cozy, soft fall sweater. A comfy blanket for sofa snuggles. A crisp fall afternoon spent in the football stands. Funnel cakes and apple cider and caramel apples also top my fall favorites list. But at the very top?

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup! It’s a fall favorite for us, although we will make it year round through the colder weather months. But that first pot of fall? It’s always the best because our taste buds have been missing it through the summer heat! I thought I’d share the recipe with you today. 

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 Cups chicken broth

2 Cups of Cheddar Cheese, shredded; if using Velveeta, cube it

2 Tb butter

¼ cup Maseca (a cornmeal flour … you can sub regular flour if you don’t have Maseca on hand)

3 tortillas, cut into thin strips of about 2 inches

1/3 Cup Taco blend cheese, used as a topping, optional

2 Tsp cumin

3 Tsp chili powder

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained

Directions

Bake the chicken at 350 for about 20 minutes (until done) and then cut into small cubes. Set aside. In a 5 quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and then add in the maseca, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. Slowly add in the chicken broth until well combined. Add in the cheese, again stirring constantly until well blended. Add in the seasonings and rotel tomatoes. Stir until blended. Add in the chicken, again stirring until blended. Put the lid on the pan and simmer all ingredients together for another 20 minutes or so. Heat the oven to 450 and bake the cut-into-strips tortillas for 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, top with a sprinkling of the tortilla crisps and the taco blend cheese (this cheese is optional). Serve!

This makes about 8 bowls of soup.

If you try this recipe, I hope you love it as much as we do! And happy FALL!!  

Kristina Knight’s sweet romance, Moonlight Match is available now! 

Moonlight Match is part of the Resort to Romance continuity project ~ 10 sweet romances, all set during a week-long matchmaking event in the Bahamas! 

Aster Harrington believes in love but love doesn’t seem to believe in her. She’s hoping Goldie and Ginny, the matchmakers who’ve matched on two generations of Harringtons, can work a little love magic for her…

Some call Ethan Talbot rigid, but he prefers to think of himself as prepared. Unfortunately, when he’s matched with Aster Harrington at Joy Island’s Matchmaking Week, all those carefully prepared plans go out the window. He can get back to finding a suitable wife once he’s home in New York. After all, how much damage can one week in the Bahamas do to his plans?


Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time swim-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

What I Love About a Small Town ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

Some of my favorite books - ever - are set in small towns. From childhood favorites like the Little House books to my friend Liz Flaherty's  Back to McGuffey's or One More Summer. As much as I love La Nora's city-based In Death series, its the books that are set in small towns - like Northern Lights or her Bride Quartet - that keep me coming back for more. I could list more small town authors, but I'm sure you know where I'm going with this. I love a small town romance.

I’ve finished up a 4 book series set in a small Missouri town on a lake...very similar to the town where I grew up. There are dairy farms and orchards around it, the lake type of stuff, and there are five men who grew up together. Each of them left town for a while, but they've all come home, and are finding that even life in a small town can be filled with twists and turns.

I’m getting started on a new 4 book series, also set in a small town, but with a hint of danger and suspense - and I’m super excited about it. 

One thing I started doing differently with my first small-town-series is keeping a series bible going - there are character lists and business lists and some general plotting information. I'm going to include blurbs of the different books when I get to that stage, too.

Setting up my town with the series bible is always one of my favorite parts of putting a series together. Figuring out how the town is laid out, where things were located, how those locations might feed into the plots of the different books...there is always a moment at the beginning where it’s just plain overwhelming, but once the town has its boundaries, I find it's much simpler to write without overthinking the location of the local bar or the grocery store in relation to the heroine’s neighborhood or how the residents would get from downtown to a local nature preserve.

I'm also having fun setting up my pinterest boards and finding hero (and heroine!) inspiration for the new series...I've also found some housing inspiration that is making me consider more real-life home renovations for next spring!

Mostly, though, I'm finding myself falling back in love with small towns and farmers and orchard owners...and all the lovely and cantankerous and (sometimes) obnoxious people who live there...and I can't wait to share the books with you all!

Are you a fan of small town romances or do you prefer big cities and a more jet-set lifestyle? And, in either case, what keeps you invested in the hero and heroine?

Kristina Knight’s sweet romance, Moonlight Match is available now! 

Moonlight Match is part of the Resort to Romance continuity project ~ 10 sweet romances, all set during a week-long matchmaking event in the Bahamas! 

Aster Harrington believes in love but love doesn’t seem to believe in her. She’s hoping Goldie and Ginny, the matchmakers who’ve matched on two generations of Harringtons, can work a little love magic for her…

Some call Ethan Talbot rigid, but he prefers to think of himself as prepared. Unfortunately, when he’s matched with Aster Harrington at Joy Island’s Matchmaking Week, all those carefully prepared plans go out the window. He can get back to finding a suitable wife once he’s home in New York. After all, how much damage can one week in the Bahamas do to his plans?


Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time swim-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

#AuthorInterview: Liz Flaherty's Window Over the Sink

Hi, there, readers! I am honored today to bring you an author interview. Liz Flaherty's books are some of my favorite because of her amazing character building, but just before the holidays she took on a new endeavor: a book of essays. You see, one of Liz's first publishing forays was as a columnist; she has kept writing her column and her books for years, but for the first time, a book of just her columns is out in the world. I had to ask her how that came about. 

Kristina: How did your column come to be?  

Liz: I took a creative writing class from the late Vicki Williams and made the discovery that I loved writing essays more than anything else. When I went to work as a stringer for the local newspaper (come to find out I didn’t like writing the news—what a surprise) I finally gathered up a few and asked the editor to give me a try. Thirty years later, I was touched when he agreed to write the foreword for Window Over the Sink.

Kristina: What do you like most about it? 

Liz: It’s the instant gratification of writing. Writing them is quick because you only have one subject, one voice (your own), and usually limited time. 😊 While I love writing books, it’s angsty for me; writing essays is just fun.

Kristina: When did you decide to put the column into a book? 

Liz: I promised my husband, and 20 years or so later, I kept the promise. He’s supportive of my writing in all ways, but the column—that’s the me he knows and understands (sort of.)

Kristina: How did you choose which essays to include? 

Liz: I chose ones that mattered, that held my heart, that readers had liked most and mentioned often. Ones that made me laugh or sniffle.

Kristina: What makes you the most proud of this book? 

Liz: Well, its cover, for one thing. Maddie James designed it, and I am completely in love with it. If I
could paint my column, that would be what it would look like. Other than that, though, I told someone the other day that the picture my grandson took of me had all the wrinkles left in it because he was photographing his nana, not some author. That lady with the wrinkles is who I am at 70 and I like her. She’s the one who wrote Window Over the Sink. And, yeah, I’m proud of her.

Liz's cover is beautiful, isn't it? You can pick up her book - print or e version - at the retailers below. Thanks for joining me today, Liz, and readers, thank you for joining in, too!

Buy Window Over the Sink: Amazon   D2D

How to Make a Vision Board ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

For those of you who have been around here for a while it will come as no surprise that I stopped making resolutions a few years ago. I don't really believe in resolutions, although I do think they can be helpful for people whose minds are wired that way. My mind just isn't. Making a goal? I can totally do that. Picking out a word for the year? Yep, doable. But resolutions, while they sound good as I'm coming up with them are just not something I can stick with. I'm not quite sure why.

Last year, for the first time, I made a vision board to go in my planner and I liked that a lot. Having a vision of what I want for my career and family that I saw every day? That was really helpful to me in making decisions and saying yes to a few things that came my way. So I decided to make another board this year - only I ended up making two: one for Writer Kristina and one for The Family Knight. I thought I'd share a little bit about how I make a vision board, just in case any of you would like to make one.

First, the supplies you'll need: a two-page spread in your planner (two pages means plenty of space but not too much...you could use a single piece of paper, though, if that suits you better). You'll also need several old magazines, preferably those with lots of pictures. Travel magazines work well, women's magazines, even some kids magazines can be a good choice. If you don't have a bunch sitting around, hit up your local thrift store or call your local library. They usually have tons of magazines that they eventually have to toss...I picked up a stack of about ten magazines at our thrift store for $1. You'll also need a pair of scissors and a glue stick, double sided tape or those sticky tabs that scrapbookers use to tack down pictures. Some fun/inspirational/quote-type stickers would be good, too.

Kristina's 'family' vision board

The next step is simple: you're going to go through the magazines, cutting out pictures and headlines and quotes that speak to you about your vision for the coming year. Do the same with the stickers - pick out a few that speak to you. Maybe there are beach pictures and the beach makes you feel creative. Maybe there are pictures of a small town street and that speak to the settings you choose for your books. Maybe it's a phrase that makes you feel peaceful or excited. Go through your supplies and cut out anything that inspires you or makes you smile or makes you think YES!

When you're done cutting you'll probably have a stack of clippings that you feel is way too big to use, that's okay. Go back through the stack and choose just one image or quote that is your absolute favorite/top of your line. Put it right in the middle of the planner page (or printer or notebook paper, if you don't use a planner) but don't tape it down yet. Just let it sit there while you start going through your stack looking for other images or quotes or ads that speak to you.

You want things to be in different sizes and in some cases you'll just want a little piece of a bigger ad, image, or quote so don't be afraid to cut things down. I tore out a full page ad of a purple night sky with the word 'wonder' on it. I love the whole ad, but I couldn't fit a full page magazine ad on a planner page so I cut around the word wonder, leaving just enough of that night sky there for inspiration. Another thing I did: there was a full-page ad with packs of pens and little notepads. I tore out the entire ad and then cut down the pens and pencils and papers from it. Anything goes, just start with one image and add to that.

Part of Kristina's 'author' vision board

Once you've filled your page with clippings, it's time to embrace your inner tweenager and start taping or gluing things in place. Again, there is no set way to do this so just start with one image and build out from there. Add in stickers as you go, washi tapes if you like them, quotes and headlines. I like that main image to stay in the middle and everything else builds out from that core piece.

When all your favorite clippings are on the page, you'll probably still have a stack of clippings. That's okay. You can keep building your vision board, filling in every single stretch of white space on your page or you can toss them in the trash - after all, they've already served their purpose. They helped you find your favorite images or quotes to build a vision board for the year.

Do you make vision boards or resolutions or goals for the year? 

What's your process like?    ~ Kristina Knight  

Kristina Knight's latest release, Jase, Nevada Cowboys Book 3, is available now in paperback or e-format:

Hot Las Vegas nights get even steamier for these three powerful, wealthy businessmen with cowboy roots and the strong, independent women who fall for them. What happens in Vegas certainly won’t stay there as these successful tycoons win at love.

Jase Reeves lives his life by rules: never get emotional at the poker table and never get emotional with women. But when he meets self-help author Sabrina York all bets are off. Sabrina enjoys fame and fortune writing her female-empowerment books, but she could do without the reputation – that of the Oldest Living (Supposed) Virgin in Vegas. Blowing up her entire life because sexy gambler Jase Reeves has shown an interest in her? Sabrina has already written the book on that, but staying away from Jase isn’t as simple as closing the cover of her favorite book. And for Jase, melting the heart of the Vegas Virgin might be his greatest gamble yet…

Buy Jase: Amazon  B&N  iBooks  Kobo

Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time TKD-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

A Messy Desk is a State of Mind? Maybe...Then Again....

Albert Einstein once said, "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?" I like that quote. Probably because my desk if forever in a state of chaos, at least according to RadioMan. To me, my desk is home. it's filled with things that make me happy, in addition to the things that I need to work on.

However, sometimes, I realize I need to clean it up a bit. This week was one of those clean up moments. Probably because I have a book due. ahem. My editor can ignore that sentence, it wasn't because of a deadline it was. . .some.other.reason.

Anywho. Here are a few things that I found on my desk that are making me happy lately.

The first is a stack of books. Why are they making me happy? Well, because they were all really interesting books - all were part of my reading list for a recent contest...and a couple are now one-click authors.

It's the Year in a Jar

Then, there is our Year in a Jar. My family whined interminably about this project immediately jumped on board with this project a couple of years ago and now it's just something we *do*. When something fun (like a vacation) or cool (like a new book contract) or exciting (like bebe's swim championships) happens, we write down the event on a piece of paper and put it in the jar. On New Year's Eve, we'll open the jar and read all about our year. I've seen some Year in a Jar projects that are filled with calligraphy and mementos. We use ticket stubs and scratch paper and usually abbreviations and really messy handwriting...but it works for us!

These bookends are new(ish). I bought them late last year because, owls. Yes, that's also a spool of thread and a
needle, I had to perform surgery on a beanie baby a couple of weeks ago. At some point, the thread will go back where it belongs, it's just that I have a feeling more surgery is going to be needed. Soon(ish). I keep print copies of my books here, because it's a nice reminder of where I've been...and of where I want to go next.

And I haven't found a single thing that needs to be tossed.
Although, I should probably put those books on the actual bookshelf instead of the corner of my desk. But, look, it's not all that messy...I mean, there's a whole foot or so of un-cluttered space to my right. Although my lapdesk could probably be put away. And so could my tablet sleeve. And, as I'm typing this, I realize I have about seven post-its and to-do lists to my left that aren't relevant any more. Okay, the old post-its and the to-do lists can go...but the rest of the clutter stays! I mean, Einstein was a smart dude...I don't want an empty mind, so I can't have an empty desk. Right?

So, spill, is your desk messy? Perfect organized? Somewhere in between?

Kristina Knight's latest release, Jase, Nevada Cowboys Book 3, is available now in paperback or e-format:

Hot Las Vegas nights get even steamier for these three powerful, wealthy businessmen with cowboy roots and the strong, independent women who fall for them. What happens in Vegas certainly won’t stay there as these successful tycoons win at love.

Jase Reeves lives his life by rules: never get emotional at the poker table and never get emotional with women. But when he meets self-help author Sabrina York all bets are off. Sabrina enjoys fame and fortune writing her female-empowerment books, but she could do without the reputation – that of the Oldest Living (Supposed) Virgin in Vegas. Blowing up her entire life because sexy gambler Jase Reeves has shown an interest in her? Sabrina has already written the book on that, but staying away from Jase isn’t as simple as closing the cover of her favorite book. And for Jase, melting the heart of the Vegas Virgin might be his greatest gamble yet…

Buy Jase: Amazon  B&N  iBooks  Kobo

Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time TKD-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Kristina Knight's Playlist for Jase, #NevadaCowboys

It's no secret that music plays a big part in all of my books, whether they are stand-alone books or parts of a series. Music actually plays a big part in my life - from the time we wake up in the morning until we go to bed, music is usually playing somewhere in the house.

What kind of music is the best music? All of it, really, depending on what else is going on. When I'm cooking, I'll shuffle through all 1432 songs on my iPhone. I have a playlist for when I'm working out, another for when I'm waiting in the carpool pick-up line at bebe's school. When I'm drafting, I'll either have my white-noise app playing (a mix of nature and mellow guitar music) or turn on the light classical station on our TV.

As I'm drafting, though, I'm thinking about pop, country, oldies, rock, and even holiday songs that fit my characters or the plot or a specific scene. And, when the draft is turned in and I'm beginning to think about polishing and revising, those songs become a new playlist - one that gets a pretty heavy workout of its own.

I'm just finishing up my Nevada Cowboys trilogy - book three, Jase, released April 17 - and for that series I actually had a series-specific playlist, and each book had it's own playlist, too. Some of the artists that made the series playlist include Elvis (how could he not? the books were set in Las Vegas, after all!), Kenny Chesney, Smokey Robinson, Train, and Wilson Phillips. Here's a peek into the songs that spoke to me while I was writing What the Gambler Risks:

Brothers Osborne - 21 Summer

Zac Brown Band - Beautiful Drug

Ashes Remain - On My Own

A Thousand Horses - Smoke & This Ain't No Drunk Dial

Chase Rice - MMM Girl

Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble

Dierks Bentley - Riser

But the song that got the most play? Sugarland's Run - here's the video, which I absolutely love...it really evokes both Jase and Sabrina, for me:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RaqiW3rNT58" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Do you have a favorite song right now? 

Kristina Knight's latest release, Jase, Nevada Cowboys Book 3, is available now in paperback or e-format:

Hot Las Vegas nights get even steamier for these three powerful, wealthy businessmen with cowboy roots and the strong, independent women who fall for them. What happens in Vegas certainly won’t stay there as these successful tycoons win at love.

Jase Reeves lives his life by rules: never get emotional at the poker table and never get emotional with women. But when he meets self-help author Sabrina York all bets are off. Sabrina enjoys fame and fortune writing her female-empowerment books, but she could do without the reputation – that of the Oldest Living (Supposed) Virgin in Vegas. Blowing up her entire life because sexy gambler Jase Reeves has shown an interest in her? Sabrina has already written the book on that, but staying away from Jase isn’t as simple as closing the cover of her favorite book. And for Jase, melting the heart of the Vegas Virgin might be his greatest gamble yet…

Buy Jase: Amazon  B&amp;N  iBooks  Kobo

Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time TKD-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

On Cowboy Heroes ~ @AuthorKristina Knight & The Nevada Cowboys

Cowboys have been near and dear to my heart since I was a little girl. The only times I was allowed to skip bedtime were Saturday nights when, more often than not, my grandpa (we called him Big Daddy) would find an old spaghetti Western on television. It might start at 10 and not get over until midnight, I might yawn and snooze my way through Sunday School and Church the next morning, but I was always allowed to stay up and watch.

From John Wayne and Gary Cooper to the cowboy-types played by James Dean, I watched them all. Some I've found on DVD, some live only in my memory but they all hold a special place in my heart. As I got older I realized very few of them actually had a love story – sure, the cowboy would get the girl, but we never saw them falling in love. So when more modern Westerns started to come out, I was once again enthralled. I wanted to see the cowboy beat the bad guys but I always  wanted to see the love story.

Movies like 8 Seconds, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys and Wyatt Earp have been added to my favorite's list and have lengthened my favorite Cowboy Moments, too. But there are three movies – from the modern era – that take cowboys to a whole new level. At least for me.

Here are my top three cowboy movie moments:

#3: Please don't throw rotten tomatoes because in my top three is John Travolta in city-slicker-cowboy garb. It was the 80s, people! And you have to admit John Travolta was it in much of the early 80s. For me John's Urban Cowboy mode was ohsomuch better than his Saturday Night Fever mode. And I absolutely love when Bud finally tells Sissy he loves her. And I even found a clip for ya:

<iframe width="360" height="215" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6L2vbdpG-4g" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

#2: This one was hard for me to put in number two because Tom Selleck is just so…Tom. Quigley Down Under is probably one of my favorite cowboy movies, even though it takes place in the Australian Outback instead of the American West. But when Quigley finds Cora in town, when he says his name is Roy – not Quigley – I just melt a little. Every. Single. Time. Because he's had a hard road – he isn't Roy and he shouldn't want to be Roy…and yet because it will save both their lives, he accepts the name.

<iframe width="360" height="215" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b7wurDomuVs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

#1: I love the movie Walk The Line, because nothing is sweeter to me than a real life love story – and Johnny and June Cash certainly had that. So, even though Johnny isn't technically a cowboy, I have to give him the top slot. Because he might not rope cattle or ride horses but he certainly had the attitude of a cowboy: he took care of business, he spoke his mind and he stood up for the people and things that he believed in. So, to honor him, here's my favorite clip from the movie:

<iframe width="360" height="215" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dvloIUSHogs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Kristina Knight's latest release, Connor, Nevada Cowboys Book 2, is available now in paperback or e-format:


Connor, Nevada Cowboys Book 2: Hot Las Vegas nights get even steamier for these three powerful, wealthy businessmen with cowboy roots and the strong, independent women who fall for them. What happens in Vegas certainly won’t stay there as these successful tycoons win at love.

Vegas Nightly publisher Connor Reeves is close to meeting a big-time career goal: making his magazine a state-wide must-read. The only problem? His biggest competition, a larger publisher based in Colorado seems to know his every move. Miranda Clayton is tired of society parties and shopping, but her tycoon father refuses to take her seriously. Her solution? Beat him at his own game by going to work for his top competitor, Connor Reeves. Connor isn’t fooled by Miranda’s act for a second. He knows exactly who she is; the question is what does the lady want?

Pre-order Connor today: Amazon  BN.com  iBooks  KOBO

Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time TKD-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

The Nevada Cowboys are Coming

Publishing is a weird thing. We write our books and send them off to our editors and a few rounds of edits later we send our little book babies out into the world. And they are out there. We don’t really have the opportunity to make changes or adjust little bits or bobs that maybe our readers caught but we didn’t.

That, I think, is as it should be. Because, I don’t know about you, but I could pick a book to death changing this comma or that incomplete sentence (used for emphasis, of course) or that spelling oops (seriously, how did we miss that oh-so-obvious misspelling?).

When I turn that final edit in, though, it’s like a release for me. That book is still mine, but it’s a signal to my writer brain (and heart) that it isn’t just mine now. It’s my editors and my readers and, yeah, even the haters.

But every now and then, authors get the chance to do something a little different. We get to re-release books. And that’s what I’ve been working on for the last month or so.

A couple of years ago I had a cowboy trilogy out: three brothers, their ranch outside Las Vegas, their stories. I loved that series but my publisher (Crimson Romance) was bought out by a bigger publisher (Simon & Schuster) and they allowed us (not just me, all the authors) to request rights back on our books at a certain time.

The time for my cowboys – it’s now! And I’m finding that digging back into their stories is so much fun. I’ve fallen in love with Gage and Connor and Jase all over again…and with Callie, Miranda and Sabrina, too. I’m so grateful to my editors Jess Verdi and Julie Sturgeon who helped me get these books ready for the world back in 2016 and I’m so glad I’ve had the chance to re-read their stories and clean up those last few typos (that I swear some word processing gremlins had to put in there because the three of us couldn’t have just missed them!) and develop new covers for them.
Today I’m sharing those new covers – and blurbs – with y’all! Book 1 of the trilogy releases this month, but you can order book one now and pre-order books two and three!

Here's a bit about the series: Hot Las Vegas nights get even steamier for these three powerful, wealthy businessmen with cowboy roots and the strong, independent women who fall for them. What happens in Vegas certainly won’t stay there as these successful tycoons win at love.


Gage, Nevada Cowboys Book 1: Hot shot property developer Gage Reeves is taking Vegas by storm – that is, until his brother makes him the face of desperate bachelors everywhere. Enter Callie Holliday, who is trying to get a new, upscale spa off the ground. Callie’s connections in Vegas run just as deep as Gage’s, but unlike Gage’s family past Callie’s is pristine. They make a deal: her business venture, his building but what starts off strictly professional turned decidedly personal. Will Gage and Callie risk their professional success for a shot at love?

Buy Gage today: Amazon  BN.com  iBooks  KOBO


Connor, Nevada Cowboys Book 2: Denver publishing heiress Miranda Clayton is tired of society parties and shopping, but her tycoon father refuses to take her seriously. Her solution? Beat him at his own game by going to work for his top competitor, Connor Reeves. Connor isn’t fooled by Miranda’s act for a second. He knows exactly who she is; the question is what does the lady want?

Pre-order Connor today: Amazon  BN.com  iBooks  KOBO

Jase, Nevada Cowboys Book 3: Twenty-something ice queen Sabrina York enjoys fame and fortune writing self-help books for a largely female audience—but she could do without her reputation as the Oldest Living (Supposed) Virgin in Vegas. Jase Reeves knows Sabrina’s not nearly as cold as she would like people to think. He didn’t intend to have a one-night stand with the Vegas Virgin, but now he can’t get her out of his head. Now Sabrina has one goal: stay away from the handsome gambler before he melts her career—and her heart.

Pre-order Jase today: Amazon  BN.com  iBooks  KOBO

Kristina Knight's latest release, Gage, Nevada Cowboys Book 1, is available now in paperback or e-format! 

Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time TKD-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

#WriteTip: On Story & Voice ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about voice.

Barbara Kingsolver once said, "Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer."

For a very long time, I thought that quote was about theme...and maybe it partly is. We all have themes that we navigate to. I love friends-to-lovers and reunion tropes, and if I can throw in a loving/finding yourself theme that makes it all the better. That's why I've come to believe this quote is also about voice.

We all have unique experiences in roughly the same place. I blog a lot with a group called WordWranglers; we're all over the 35 mark in age, so we have some of the same references, but we aren't in the same country (shout-out to our Canadian, Jana!) or region (hey, Margie, how's life in the PNW lately?). I have a group of writer friends within about an hour's drive from me and we meet for coffee and every year we have a writer's retreat. We're mostly from the same area (northern Ohio/southern Michigan) and we're (mostly) also over the 35 year mark. But, ask us who the hottest 1980s actor was, and we'll all have a different name (I call Tom Selleck because...well, short-cargo-shorts). Ask which is the best spring flower (I call Nemesia because of the color and resemblance to Orchids). Ask us why we are writers, you'll get another unique answer. And its the same within every writer group I've known. Different people, unique experiences, singular feelings.

All of that uniqueness creates a voice, a frame of reference that we bring to every book, be that a friends-to-lovers romance or a mistaken heir romance or a were-being meets Darth Vader space comedy. Voice includes our syntax, our slang, punctuation and even diction.

A writer's voice also covers the things we care about.

Step One in finding voice and story is to think about what makes you you and not your brother, sister, best friend, or spouse.

Here are just a few of the things that make me, well, me: I'm a soapbox-standing proponent of adoption and advocate for kids in foster care because of our experiences adopting bebe. I'm a die-hard Kansas City Royals fan (but never the Chiefs. Never. Okay, fine, they're in the Super Bowl and *my team* isn't so I'll root for them), lover of Cadbury Caramel eggs who also has a slight addiction to tuna-on-wheat, peanut-butter-on-white and mustard-and-bologna sandwiches. I am also a day-dreamer, and once the letters and numbers combined I couldn't do math to save my life. I was raised on a farm but was afraid of the goats and cows in our fields, and although I love to ride, I could never remember how to cinch the freaking saddle correctly...mostly because when my family would demonstrate, I'd get lost thinking about my books again. For a very long time I felt like I didn't fit in my own family.

So a big part of my voice, of the stories I tell, is finding home. Finding safety and security and coming to terms with who you are...and who you aren't. My core story, and my voice, are suited to optimism and embracing differences and learning to love yourself so that you can love others.

Once I figured out what my voice brought to the table, writing books became so much simpler...because I knew what I had to say.

Step Two in finding voice is ... well, just to think about these things some more. How are your experiences already influencing your writing? Are you digging deep enough into YOU to dig deeper into your characters? If you can't see the connections between yourself and your writing, take that deeper look. Sit down with a notebook and write about you. Then write about your favorite character (one you didn't write) and what makes them stand out to you. Then write about a favorite character you've created. What things do you and these characters have in common?

Have you found your voice? What is it that your stories bring to the table?

Kristina Knight's latest release, Moonlight Match, is available now in paperback or e-format! 

Moonlight Match is part of the Resort to Romance continuity project ~ 10 sweet romances, all set during a week-long matchmaking event in the Bahamas!
Aster Harrington believes in love but love doesn’t seem to believe in her. She’s hoping Goldie and Ginny, the matchmakers who’ve matched on two generations of Harringtons, can work a little love magic for her…

Some call Ethan Talbot rigid, but he prefers to think of himself as prepared. Unfortunately, when he’s matched with Aster Harrington at Joy Island’s Matchmaking Week, all those carefully prepared plans go out the window. He can get back to finding a suitable wife once he’s home in New York. After all, how much damage can one week in the Bahamas do to his plans?

Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time swim-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

The Editing, It Never Ends ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

You Can't Edit a Blank Page.

Sometimes I feel like there hasn't been a time I haven't been editing. In journalism school we edited and edited to get our news articles just so and once they were perfect on the page we printed them out and pasted up the paper. When I moved into TV news I learned that kind of editing was simple. In television they send you out in the big, wide world, tell you to shoot good pictures and get good interviews...and then come back and make the hour of footage you just shot into a story of a minute or less. And then I started writing my own stories and learned all that editing would stand me in good sted...because writing the perfect story the first time through is truly a myth. At least for me.

But I've learned a few things along the way and editing isn't the heinous crime against creativity it once was.

First, don't tackle it all at once. There are layers to my editing. As I'm writing the first draft, I read through the previous chapter before starting fresh with a new chapter. During that pass I correct small misspellings or grammar issues. I don't allow more than that. Once the book is finished I allot time for 3 full passes: 1 to check on grammar issues, 1 to check continuity - is that character's name really Reginald? WTF was I thinking?!? - plot and flow issues (this sounds like a lot but I've found they work well together), and a final pass to see what I've overlooked. On that final pass I print out a copy in 14ish point type and some kind of color ink (lately I like blue). I find the bigger font and color change helps me catch little issues I haven't to that point.

Second, time is my friend. You know those editing layers? I don't tackle them on the first, second and third day after finishing the draft. I wait at least 2 weeks before starting any kind of editing. And I try to let at least a few days slip by before going from one draft phase to another. Those built-in waits help me 'forget' the story so each time it's like looking at it with fresh eyes.

Third, new projects are a great carrot. During those wait times, I'm not twiddling my thumbs. I'm reading - out of and in the genre I write. I'm writing - sometimes on a new book, sometimes researching a new book, sometimes just free-writing some really, truly, horribly bad poetry that will forever be locked under my bed. But I'm still working on the creative side of my brain.

The subject line up there comes from La Nora herself. She said something to that effect a few years ago and it's kind of caught on in writing circles. Because she is 100% right. You can't edit a story that hasn't been written. In some cases you can't tell a story that hasn't been edited.

Do you have an editing tip that you live by?

Kristina Knight's latest release, Moonlight Match, is available now! 

Moonlight Match is part of the Resort to Romance continuity project ~ 10 sweet romances, all set during a week-long matchmaking event in the Bahamas! 
Aster Harrington believes in love but love doesn’t seem to believe in her. She’s hoping Goldie and Ginny, the matchmakers who’ve matched on two generations of Harringtons, can work a little love magic for her…

Some call Ethan Talbot rigid, but he prefers to think of himself as prepared. Unfortunately, when he’s matched with Aster Harrington at Joy Island’s Matchmaking Week, all those carefully prepared plans go out the window. He can get back to finding a suitable wife once he’s home in New York. After all, how much damage can one week in the Bahamas do to his plans?


Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time swim-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

The Most Important Part of Writing ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

If you read many ‘how to’ type of posts you’ll find a lot of different answers to the question ‘what is the most important part of writing’.

This is one of those posts, but it’s also not one of those posts.

For me, the most important part of writing is simply to write.

On any given day, there are about a thousand things that crop up that I’m not ready for. Whether it’s my daughter coming home from school with marker on her shirt from art class, or my husband calling to say he won’t be home for dinner, which also means I’m on homework duty. To having a non-fiction assignment come up. To having first round edits and final read-through documents come in from my editors on the same day.

And all of those things can seem, in the moment, to be more important that getting the two or three thousand words on paper that I’ve set for my goal.

What I’ve found, though, is that putting off the writing has a snowball effect. Because the next day not only do I still need to write those words, I also need to write the current day’s words. And there are more last minute emergencies to deal with: like learning my mother-in-law is coming over for dinner, and that I have to fill out an art fact sheet for my cover designer, and I have blog and promo posts to write for my upcoming book release, and I haven’t updated my social media sites in too many days. And. And. And and and and and.

That’s why, no matter what else I have going on, what other items are on my to-do list, what little emergencies have come up that day, at 1 PM every day, I’m at my computer. Writing the new words. The emergencies wait. The to-do list waits. The new words get written, and then I go back to the errands and emergencies and to-do list items. Because if the new words aren’t on the paper, I can’t edit them. If I can’t edit them, I can’t turn them in to my agent or editor. If I can’t turn them in, I can’t perfect them. If I can’t perfect them (at least as much as I can perfect them), I can’t publish them to share with readers.

What about you? What is the most important part of writing, for you?

Kristina Knight's latest release, Moonlight Match, is available now! 

Moonlight Match is part of the Resort to Romance continuity project ~ 10 sweet romances, all set during a week-long matchmaking event in the Bahamas! 

Aster Harrington believes in love but love doesn’t seem to believe in her. She’s hoping Goldie and Ginny, the matchmakers who’ve matched on two generations of Harringtons, can work a little love magic for her…

Some call Ethan Talbot rigid, but he prefers to think of himself as prepared. Unfortunately, when he’s matched with Aster Harrington at Joy Island’s Matchmaking Week, all those carefully prepared plans go out the window. He can get back to finding a suitable wife once he’s home in New York. After all, how much damage can one week in the Bahamas do to his plans?

Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time TKD-kid wrangler, and full-time Thin Mints enthusiast. You can find out more about Kristina and her books on her website. To get even closer, stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

On Celebrating Art ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

Photo Courtesty Paul Gilmore on Unsplash

"art is more than a product of your efforts - it should be about feeling, life, attitude, soul..." ~Sergio Bongart

I love this quote, and it seems to me to go with the picture over here. Because it's all about frame of mind. If you focus on the long, slippery, empty road, it's a rainy day...but if you focus on the sky, you can see the sun beginning to break through the clouds, the lushness of the green grass and trees, and you can see that the day is about to change.

Around here, this would turn into a muggy, humid yukky afternoon. The kind that requires a lot of cold beverages and a cool pool to float in. I imagine, with the mountains in the background, that maybe it wouldn't be so humid in the picture. Maybe the ground would remain wet and maybe the leaves on the trees would make that slippery sound as I walk through, and maybe the road would make that swooshy sound if a car were to pass by.

Back to the quote. To me, art is an amazing painting or a great photograph or a really well made quilt. It is something that I can look at, something I can't touch (because museums frown on that sort of thing), and that ability to only look and imagine might, in turn, change the way I look at things.

Which, I suppose, means the books I read (and write) are, in fact, art. Because while I can touch the cover, I can't reach out and touch the sunrise or the first kiss or that horrible, terrible black moment when all is lost. I can experience those things, but I can't touch them. Like I can't touch the paintings at the museum or the quilts on display at the county fair. However, if you ever hear me say something like, "I'm an ahhhtist", please feel free to slap me about the head, mmmkay? Back to the topic of art.

There are days when I look at my computer and I am the rainy, slippery, lonely road: I need to be avoided. I'm focusing on what is wrong with my book or characters or whatever kerfuffle abounds on the interwebz that day. Lately there seems to be a new kerfuffle every day and it's maddening and its tiring and I'm getting of the subject really quickly, aren't I? Those are the days when I'm in the wrong frame of mind. I'm missing that beautiful moment when the sunshine (a review, a new contract, a kind word from my agent or editor) breaks through  to change the day.

Those are the days when I remind myself to change my frame of mind. Not to focus on the slippery road of a bad review or another writer whose career seems to be going places faster than my own. Instead of that negative focus, I look for the sunshine breaking through. Maybe it's a new freelance job or maybe it's a "OMG, how did you make me like *him*" comment from my critique partner. Sometimes it's something wonderful happening for a dear friend. Sometimes it's a bebe moment of triumph. More often than not, that sunshine is as simple as re-reading a sentence that I wrote a week or a day or a month ago that makes me see a character (or something happening in my real life) in a different light. And I realize, even if things aren't all roses and success, that I get to do this wonderful, amazing thing. I get to tell stories and the stories that I tell might change the way someone looks at their corner of the world. Maybe just for a moment, but maybe, that change will be longer lasting. In either case, I've done my job well.

What is your art? How will you celebrate it today?

Kristina Knight's latest release, Moonlight Match, is available now! 

Moonlight Match is part of the Resort to Romance continuity project ~ 10 sweet romances, all set during a week-long matchmaking event in the Bahamas! 

Aster Harrington believes in love but love doesn’t seem to believe in her. She’s hoping Goldie and Ginny, the matchmakers who’ve matched on two generations of Harringtons, can work a little love magic for her…

Some call Ethan Talbot rigid, but he prefers to think of himself as prepared. Unfortunately, when he’s matched with Aster Harrington at Joy Island’s Matchmaking Week, all those carefully prepared plans go out the window. He can get back to finding a suitable wife once he’s home in New York. After all, how much damage can one week in the Bahamas do to his plans?

Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time swim-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.