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Cole Bishop had appeared in her hour of need and she'd done
it--hired him--a male housekeeper! Perhaps now, with her twin boys in his care,
she could get back to her demanding career in advertising.
In no time her chaotic household was running smoothly. The boys were in heaven. But Kelly Connors hadn't counted on Cole insinuating himself into her life so personally...so passionately. Nor was she prepared for her ex-husband's intrusion on their newfound domestic bliss or his vicious threats to take the children from her. And when the boys suddenly vanished, Kelly was terrified, torn.
Had she asked too much, wanting her children, her career, her independence--and the man she loved? Could Cole--a journalist doing "undercover" research on house-husbanding--help her find both her boys and all the answers?
In no time her chaotic household was running smoothly. The boys were in heaven. But Kelly Connors hadn't counted on Cole insinuating himself into her life so personally...so passionately. Nor was she prepared for her ex-husband's intrusion on their newfound domestic bliss or his vicious threats to take the children from her. And when the boys suddenly vanished, Kelly was terrified, torn.
Had she asked too much, wanting her children, her career, her independence--and the man she loved? Could Cole--a journalist doing "undercover" research on house-husbanding--help her find both her boys and all the answers?
Back in late 1981 I wanted to write a couple books that I
called role reversal. One idea was a bodyguard heroine who was former military wand
I knew I wanted her to take a bullet for her boss, the hero. Back then it wasn’t
done.
My other idea was writing a book with a male housekeeper. Who
doesn’t have the dream of a good looking guy cleaning our houses? I didn’t want
to make it easy for either heroine or hero, so I threw in mischievous twin boys
and a rambunctious sheepdog. When I pitched the two ideas to my Silhouette
editor I was told that just wasn’t done. But I wasn’t going to stop, so I urged
my then agent to submit the synopses to Dell Candlelight Ecstasy. The books
sold and I was let loose.
I always like to put at least one true event in a book. This
one had two. A fantasy love scene was courtesy of a friend who told me about
her experience with the perfect man and the boys were based on a little girl in
my preschool church class. And I only used a fraction of what she did! Here was
this adorable five year old girl who loved frilly dresses and looked like an
angel but thought nothing of flushing her brothers’ action toys or dog kibble
down the toilet.
Some books are more fun to write than others. Caution – Man At
Work was one of the fun ones. I may not be a mom, but I have my share of kids
to borrow for material and I’ve done just that. I had a woman with a demanding
job and an attraction to the guy who was keeping her house in order. And I had
a man who had no clue how to use a washing machine, but did it because he was a
writer working undercover. And the ladies in the neighborhood really enjoyed
watching shirtless Cole mowing the lawn!
One of the funniest things was sitting at the movies much
later on and seeing a trailer for Mr. Mom. My friend stared at me and said “you
already did that”.
I only hope everyone else will see Caution – Man At Work as
a fun read too.
You can find it at Amazon and Smashwords and will soon be
available at BN for Nook and iTunes.
