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Once upon a time, in a small town in Oregon, a boy and girl fell in love. It was not, as their parents insisted, “puppy love,” but the real thing. Time passed and one day the boy took the girl to the coast, where he bought her a bag of salt-water taffy. Then proposed. The girl, of course, said yes. And years later, I’m still so happy I did.
This is one reason my new SHELTER BAY series is so close to my heart. A spin-off of my New York Times best-selling High Risk series
, the books bring those sexy military heroes back home in stories of community, family, love, and the universal choice between what is. . . . and what could be.
One of the things I enjoyed exploring in my High Risk series was life after war. Yet since those books were romantic suspense, the heroes had to deal with a lot of murder and mayhem. Which can be exciting, but as a writer, living with killers 24/7 tends to get more than a little depressing. Which is why I decided I wanted to return to my roots of writing more emotional, family-centric stories where good things happen to good, but flawed people.
As more and more of our troops begin returning home (including, hopefully this year, our own nephew Kyle, who’s currently a medevac in Afghanistan, and my own personal hero), there are some wonderful stories just waiting to be told, and I, for one, can’t wait to write some.
There’s been lot of talk these days about the “sudden” appeal of small town romances, but having grown up in a remote timber/ranching community on the Oregon/California border, I’ve always preferred to set my stories in more closely knit communities such as Blue Bayou, Louisiana; Coldwater Cove, Washington; Whiskey River, Arizona (where our mountain cabin was located); and now Shelter Bay, Oregon.
Although I’m hugely grateful to all those readers who’ve made it possible for me to live my life’s dream for twenty-eight years, I also understand that reading is subjective. If I tried to foresee what’s going to be hot, or what’s not, I’d still be stuck on my first book. So, all I can do is write what I personally want to read and hope my stories find a home.
During these difficult days of wars, the largest ever oil spill, and worldwide financial problems, I suspect I’m not alone in fantasizing about being swept away to a quieter, easier place. A place where everyone knows your name, there are no exhausting commutes to work every day, the biggest traffic tie-up might involve waiting for the bridge to lower after a ship’s passed through and you can always find a parking place. Needless to say, parking is always free, without a meter in sight.
In Shelter Bay, life moves at a slower pace. People stroll on the beach, exchange greetings, watch colorful fishing boats chugging out to sea, and share conversation at outdoor cafes while enjoying the sight of the town’s pod of local whales. Residents have pride in their town and a genuine interest in one another. Which is why they’ve decided to celebrate the return of a local hero.
Former Navy SEAL Sax Douchett has returned to Shelter Bay determined to put war behind him and get on with his life. Which is easier said than done when nearly everyone in town is hailing the former bad boy as a hero. Suffering from survivor guilt after a failed mission that killed his SEAL teammates, the last thing Sax feels like is a hero. Adjusting to a new beginning becomes even more difficult when he unearths a long-buried secret that in turn reunites him with a cherished part of his past that he’s never forgotten.
Drawn back into his life is Sheriff Kara Conway, the girl who has held a special place in his heart. But as Sax cautiously reconnects with Kara and bonds with her young son, Trey, another long-held secret in Shelter Bay threatens their second chance at a forever-after love.
In The Homecoming, Sax and Kara, each in need of emotional healing and closure, have returned to their hometown. As my husband and I plan our own eventual move back to Oregon, writing their story was, in a sense, an emotional homecoming for me.
So, my question for readers today is, do you have some special place, perhaps where you grew up, or found later in life, which makes you feel sheltered and comfortable? As if you’ve come home?
When New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross was seven-years-old, she had no doubt whatsoever that she’d grow up to play center field for the New York Yankees. Writing would be her backup occupation, something she planned to do after retiring from baseball. Those were, in her mind, her only options. While waiting for the Yankees management to call, she wrote her first novella — a tragic romance about two star-crossed mallard ducks — for a second grade writing assignment. The paper earned a gold star. And JoAnn kept writing.
She’s now written ninety-nine novels and has been published in twenty-six countries. Two of her titles have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine and her books have also been published by the Doubleday, Rhapsody, Literary Guild, and Mystery Guild book clubs. A member of the Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll of best-selling authors, she’s won several awards, including Romantic Times’s Career Achievement Awards in both category and contemporary single title. In addition, she received RWA’s national service award and was named RWA Pro-Mentor of the Year.
Although the Yankees have yet to call her to New York to platoon center field, JoAnn figures making one out of two life goals isn’t bad.
Currently writing for NAL Signet, JoAnn lives with her husband and three rescued dogs (who pretty much rule the house) in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
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I grew up in a small town. Reading books like these is always a bittersweet experience for me. They transport me back home, which is wonderful, but also leave me a little homesick when all is said and done.
Thanks for visiting today, JoAnn!
Interested in reading The Homecoming
Hi JoAnn,
I love your intro – at first i thought you were recounting the storyline of your book :). I read two of the High Risk books and have the other two at me which i will soon get to. So I am really intrigued that The Homecoming is a spin off from this series!
Regarding your question – my answer will be different from that of other people since Malta is such a small island. Where a person grows up is just a few minutes (60 at most) far away from where he/she lives as a grown up.
I would probably say that I find comfort wherever my mother is even though at the end of the day I don’t feel as much at home as in my own.
Wishing you lots of luck with your new book!
Love your books and I can’t wait to read this one. I don’t have any special places that offer me comfort other than my own home.
Where I feel most comfortable and at peace is in my office, surrounded by my books and all the little things that make me feel like this is home.
Shelter Bay sounds like a wonderful story and I’m looking forward to reading it.
The Homecoming sounds like a great book.
My place o;f comfort is the lake near my home.
This book sounds wonderful.
I am an older lady and am at home right now where I live. I used to love as a girl going out east as we called it to visit my family.
Helen L.
I’m comfortable at home or outside reading one of your books which I enjoy for I love reading about guys in the military, they are my heros. I hope I get picked but I still can’t wait to read The Homecoming. carole
I live in the Big Apple so I’m used to crowds & city living. I do hope to move to a smaller, less dense area one day soon. I have always loved Seattle for some reason, the Pacific Northwest is simply beautiful.
I can’t wait to read The Homecoming 🙂
Luci — What can I say? I live a real life romance. LOL
Wow, I think you’re the first reader I’ve “met” from Malta! That’s definitely a different life, being so close to everyone you grew up with. I can see positives and negatives of that. That’s a lovely comment about your mother! Thanks for taking the time to comment and the good luck wishes!
kris ~ I love that you love my books. I hope you enjoy Sax and Kara’s story and think it’s special that your emotional home is your actual one!
Barbara E. ~ Anywhere with books is definitely a good place to be. I hope you enjoy your visit to Shelter Bay!
Lori ~ Okay, that’s really sweet that hubby is home. Thanks for the nice words about my earlier books. I’m just so happy to be back to the slower paced stories, too. They’ve always been, going back to my category days, where my heart is.
Chey ~ Lakes are a peaceful. I drive along from our house to the grocery store and sometimes I see a great Blue heron wading, or geese flying overhead and it just makes me feel good. Thanks for commenting!
Helen ~ I think it’s always best if you can create home where you live. While a large part of my heart will always be in the Pacific Northwest, there’s also much about living here in the foothills of the Smokies I’ve come to love. (If you saw the movie, Last of the Mohicans, that’s pretty much what it looks like around here.)
Carole — Thanks so much! Our military men and women are my heroes, too!
Scorpio (is that your sign? My sweetie is a Scorpio.) ~ Every time we go to NYC, we fantasize about living there because of the wonderful vibrancy. Then we get home and decide that maybe it’s best, for us, to stick to visiting. 🙂 I LOVE (!!!) Seattle. I’ve been going there since I was a little girl. It’s a super special city, but then, all the Pacific Northwest is gorgeous. I hope you enjoy Sax and Kara’s story!
I am comfortable at home, near my family.
Home to me is the water and I am so blessed to live on a lake. Books have always given me a sense of home and security as well. Reading on my pier is the ultimate in feeling at home to me.
Home! Just like you, Joanie, Oregon. Last time I went to Klamath Falls as I was driving in I was impressed with the beauty. I think I may have missed that when I lived there. But, now the Oregon Coast… could it get any better?
JoAnn, I live in the UK, in Nottingham but the place I have come to love and where I feel very much at home, albeit second home, is in Dartmouth, Devon, which is in the South West of England, and where the great big Naval Training College is located.
Dartmouth and Kingswear both face the River Dart which continues out to the ocean. Such a picturesque pretty place to be and feels almost Mediterranean at times. I love to sit with a book on the harbourside.
I am just comfortable in my own home, and reading a good book on my couch in particular.
This book looks very good and I would love to win a copy.
Believe it or not I am most at home when I am in my husband’s arms. Wherever we are as long as I have his arms around me I know that I am safe and home.
For me – comfort can be relative – but certainloy when I return to our hometown of Klamath Falls, Oregon – I like to visit Lake of the Woods which just seems like a natural place to recall/reflect upon events growing up in and around the area. Also visiting my parents graves at the “Catholic” cemetery gives me comfot. Tom Schiff in San Diego
there’s no place like “HOME, SWEET HOME”…A long time ago when family would vacation in Ft Lauderdale FL, my sister and I would go GAGA when the Fleet was in town!!! No “Lady” around then! Needless to say I’ve been married to a “sailor” for 43 years!!! Look forward to reading both books! Mickey Mac
Estella, oh, that’s so sweet! I especially love your response because The Homecoming is so about family ties as part of the coming home aspect of the book. It wasn’t so much the place they were coming to, but back to their families.
Oh, Genie, color me green with envy. Reading on your own pier on a lake. LOVELY!
Marianne — I always thought K.Falls was gorgeous (not the town, which so wasn’t, but the scenery) , but then again, I spent just about every weekend, even in winter snow out in the woods, hiking to fishing spots or swimming at Diamond and Crescent Lake or driving up to Crater Lake. We used to swim at Diamond a couple weekends a month, then drive up to Lake of the Woods then play in the snow in our swimming suits. I cried my entire first year in Phoenix.
When I’m with my family. They just make you feel comfortable.
Can’t wait to read The Homecoming. I always enjoy your books.
Google’s been not letting me on. Hopefully I finally gave it a password it’ll accept. First of all, I want to thank Holly, at Book Binge, for inviting me here today. It’s always exciting celebrating a new book! And what a lovely review, which is icing on the cake!
Jane ~ I love visiting the city. As I told Scorpio, we fantasize about living in NYC whenever we’re there, then decide that for us, it’s probably better to visit. But I can see how it could be home. Cities are, in their own way, comprised of many small communities, much the same as a small town.
Diane ~ that sounds so lovely. There’s a place on the northern WA coast where the river flows into the sea. We love escaping to there. It’s so very peaceful. And having spent a LOT of time on Coronado, where the SEALs train, I gotta tell you that I’m definitely a fan of Naval training centers, LOL.
Pat ~ there’s a LOT to be said for sitting on the couch reading. Our dogs are always crowded up there with me, which adds to the comfy feeling.
Heather ~ I LOVE that answer. And know the feeling. Which is how I ended up spending so many years in the desert after my husband chose the graduate school with the least amt of rainfall a year after all his years at Oregon State! Never fell in love with the desert, but I sure love him, so it made it home. 🙂
Tom — Gotta admit, I never liked Lake of the Woods, where I’d only go for Camp Fire Girl Camp every summer. The sun never seemed to shine there and the bottom was so rocky for swimming. Much preferred Diamond, Crescent, or Big or Little Cultus. But the drive out there was sure pretty.
Mickey Mac — Having spent my 17th summer living in San Diego, surrounded by sailors, I so understand the GAGA aspect! LOL How lovely that you’ve been married to a sailor of your own for so long!
Stacy, thanks! I hope you enjoy Sax and Kara’s story.
I have to agree with many of the ladies here – nothing like Home Sweet Home. Good luck with the book and it looks like a very good read.
Rosie G.
Hi JoAnn, my safety and comfort is definitely snuggled up next to hubby, wherever that may be.
I absolutely love your earlier books, so I for one, am thrilled to see you getting back to the slower pace and small town life.
My home is my place that makes me feel sheltered and comfortable.
Wouldn’t mind going back to Hawaii where we honeymooned.
But after all is said and done, there is no place like home.
Natalie’s Mama
My heart belongs at the country home that I have lived in all of my life which is 66 years. My parents died when I was 20 years old. My father was a farmer and my mother was the farmer’s wife, so you know how hard both of them worked. They gave me all the support I needed to become an independent woman. I married at 21 years old to an amazing, thoughtful, caring man who treated me like a Queen. We were together for 36 years before he passed away nine years ago. I feel most comfortable in my home with my memories. I have never moved, not many can say that.
The Homecoming sounds like a great read. I am at the only home I’ve ever know, but I am content here with wonderful neighbors and my son and grandson close by.
This sounds like a great book I think it’s going to be a great read. When I’m done the only place I want to be is at home.
sstrode@scrtc.com
I luv being on our back porch in the nice weather. It’s a rather secluded area and my hubby and I watch the birds and butterflies. I have flowers everywhere tempting hummingbirds to come entertain us. We have our morning coffee outside starting in early Spring and usually stop in October. Thanks, Sue
Congrats on the new release, JoAnn. I grew up in the city and am most comfortable with city life where everyone and everything is constantly in motion.
Yes, I do have a special place that makes me feel sheltered and comfortable. It is my childhood home where I grew up, and my parents still live. Sounds like a great book.
ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net
Hi JoAnn
I don’t travel much (afraid of flying). I love to play tennis & read & I can do that here at home.
Even when I do venture away from home, I’m always glad to get back to my own bed & pillow. We live in a suburb of Toronto in Canada. We have the best of both worlds. We have conveniences close by, but we’re not far from the city.
My special place is my veranda that overlooks my fishpond and the fruit trees in my backyard! Really nice during the summer!
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