Guest Blogger, R.C. Ryan

I’m please to welcome New York Times bestselling author R.C. Ryan back to Thoughts in Progress today as the special guest blogger on her blog tour with the next installment in her series.

MONTANA DESTINY is the second installment in the McCord trilogy featuring three rugged, sexy cowboy cousins. MONTANA LEGACY was the first book in the series.

Thanks to R.C., Anna and the folks at the Hachette Book Group, I have five copies of MONTANA DESTINY to give away. Please see the giveaway details at the end of her post.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the latest book, “Emergency medic Marilee Trainor likes her freedom and lives for trouble. But when she stumbles upon a clue to the legendary McCord gold, she 's suddenly in a mysterious killer's sights--and the arms of irresistible playboy Wyatt McCord. This McCord cousin has been everywhere, yet the ranch is the only place he feels at home. Now Marilee's courage and independence make him want to protect her, win her heart, and finally settle down. But trust is the one thing Wyatt and Marilee can't easily give. And their survival and everything they cherish depends on whether they can surrender to each other--to fight for their…”

R.C. stopped by today to talk about her western romance series. During a BlogTalk radio interview on her first tour I asked why she made the McCords cousins instead of brothers. For this tour I asked why one of the cousins wasn’t a female.

I enjoy writing series about families. Most of them are brothers and sisters. But in this particular series I felt that cousins worked better than brothers, since they would bring diverse backgrounds and family histories with them. 

Brothers wouldn't have been separated at such a young age, wouldn't have had different sets of parents, and such different life experiences. I thought those different backgrounds would add color and flavor to my characters. 
 
I've been asked why I don't have a female cousin in this mix. One of the cousins could have been female. That would have worked as well as three male cousins. 

Honestly, I just didn't think of it at the time. In my mind, I saw them as a band of brothers, only closer. Best friends, raised in the same household until their separation, and forced to work very hard at re-establishing that old bond now that they were reunited as adults.
 
These three, with such very different backgrounds and temperaments, just worked well for me. I had such a great time telling their stories. I hope all of you had as much pleasure reading about them.

R.C., thanks so much for guest blogging here today. I can see where cousins work better than brothers would have. Looking forward to seeing what’s next for the McCords.

Now for the giveaway, I have five copies of MONTANA DESTINY (ISBN: 9780446548632) to giveaway. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only and no post office box addresses can be accepted. The deadline for entering the giveaway is 8 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday, May 25. To enter, send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with “Win Destiny” in the subject line and include your name and address in the body of the e-mail.