HER HOLIDAY FIREMAN - Kathleen Y'Barbo - One Free Book

Welcome back to my blog, Kathleen. As an author, I know it takes a lot of people to birth each book. Who were the people involved in the birthing of this book, and what were their contributions?

My editor Emily Rodmell was instrumental in every step of the novel from its inception to the final publication. My husband, Robert Turner, read every word of the novel and helped greatly with characterization and edits.

If you teach or speak. What’s coming up on your calendar?

I am on holiday hiatus, but I do have some events on the calendar for 2013. In February I will be teaching on social media at the Oklahoma Chapter of ACFW, and in March I am teaching two workshops at the NOLA Conference in Shreveport.

If you had to completely start over in another place, where would you move, and why?

I already did this, actually. In 2010, I left Houston—my home of 15 years—to marry my Tulsa-based husband.

I remember that wonderful time. If you could only tell aspiring novelists one thing, what would it be?

Write. It is so easy to get involved in the other aspects of writing—meetings, critique groups, and conferences—and forget that until you actually complete a book, you have no chance of seeing it published. So write. Regularly.

You’ve been asked to be in charge of a celebrity cruise. Who would you ask to take part, and why? (AS in what program, singers, etc. [it doesn’t have to be writing related])

Wouldn’t it be fun to do a television show themed cruise? Something with the cast and possibly an interactive with those on the boat. So, what about a Castle cruise? Maybe NCIS or Dr. Who? The possibilities are endless, aren’t they?

Tell us about the featured book.

HER HOLIDAY FIREMAN (Love Inspired) From his first encounter with the feisty redhead, widower and fire marshal Ryan Owen knows he's in trouble. He's in Vine Beach to heal, not to find romance. As for Leah Berry, she's come home strictly to lay claim to her family's restaurant and fend off developers. Leah is infuriated when Ryan shuts down the restaurant on violations. Both are determined to have their way, even as something unexpected starts blossoming between them. They'll need to learn the hardest thing about love and faith-letting go.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Chapter 1

            “Leah, somebody needs to tell the guy at table seven that we closed twenty minutes ago. He just ordered another plate of fried shrimp then had the nerve to ask me to bring him a dessert menu.”

            Leah Berry looked up from the list she was making to see the offending customer. Dark hair, muscles, and a leave-me-alone expression marked him as a guy who wasn’t expecting company.

            Or, apparently, to hurry even though the sign on the door was clearly marked with the news that Pop’s Seafood Shack was only open for lunch on Wednesdays from the first of November through the end of the year.

            Much as Leah needed to get over to the stables and see to the horses, it wasn’t worth losing a customer over. If she’d learned anything since she left her curator’s job at The Galveston Preservation Society last spring to run the family restaurant, it was that the customer came first.

            “Be nice and go fill his tea glass,” she said firmly. “And smile when you hand him that menu.”

            The waitress, barely out of her teens and more set on a modeling career than one in food service, opened her mouth to complain then obviously thought better of it. While Kate had been a star pupil Vine Beach High, she hadn’t taken to the skill of being a waitress with the same gusto.

            But she was local to Vine Beach and willing to work for what the restaurant could afford to pay her during the winter season, two qualities that insured she would have a job, at least for the foreseeable future. Then there was the fact that her father was the mayor of Vine Beach and an old friend of Pop’s. Much as Leah hoped Kate Murdoch made a success of her modeling dreams, she didn’t wish for it to happen soon.

            Grabbing a menu with one hand and the tea pitcher with the other, Kate wound her way through the maze of tables to where the stranger sat staring out at the view of the Gulf beyond the wide expanse of windows. By the time Kate sat the menu down, he’d offered the waitress a nod then gone back to gazing out at the water again. Leah watched to make sure the future super model offered no evidence of her irritation before going back to her counting.

            “I told you we needed a rule about ordering all-you-can-eat in the last hour before

closing,” Kate said when she breezed past to deposit the empty plates. “He’s picking at the shrimp and staring out the window. Seriously. I’m so over this.”

            “He probably just doesn’t realize we’re only open for lunch on Wednesdays,” she offered to Kate’s retreating back.

            Orlando, her father’s best pal and the only cook Pop’s Seafood Shack ever had, stepped into her line of sight. Arms crossed over his barrel-chest, Orlando seemed to study the US Navy tattoo on his forearm before lifting his gaze to meet Leah’s stare.

            “What?” she asked softly as she once again set her work aside. “We hold the kitchen open until the last diner’s done. House rules, even on Wednesday. You know that.”

            “Don’t get all riled up, Lee-Lee.” The cook went back to studying the inked insignia as he managed a shrug. “Just thinking of the bottom line. Overtime for the two of us plus all that food the guy’s putting away means you’re losing a whole bunch of money. I’d put up the closed sign and flash the lights, if it were up to me.”

            Leah sighed.

Oh, goody, a story set on Galveston Island. I love that setting. Where can we find you on the Internet?

www.kathleenybarbo.com, on Twitter at KathleenYBarbo, and on Facebook

Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this new book with us.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Her Holiday Fireman (Love Inspired) - paperback
Her Holiday Fireman (Second Time Around) - Kindle


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