
MP-You have cowboys and firefighters. You like the rough type. What’s your favorite part about those professions?
KJ-Cowboys, firefighters, police officers… There is just something sexy and enduring about a tough, brave man who will risk everything for the one he loves. These men are protectors, too. The cowboy is looking out for the ranch, the animals and any employees, and firefighters and police officers protect and rescue people. In The Enemy’s Son, Nick is a lawyer who loves justice, and he stands up to his mob-like family to help Cora.
I also think women also like to “tame” a man, and I don’t mean change him. Rather, women like to have strong man who is tender and loving toward them.
MP-Is The Enemy’s Son your first thriller type novel?
KJ-I began working on The Enemy’s Son first, but I also co-wrote Kauai Spy Games (a spy thriller) and Recovery of Agent M (a Navy Seal thriller) with Jeff Ivanov, and A Miraculous Fate, a mystical thriller with Tommy Garrison.
MP-Let’s play a little game called Marry, Dump or Date. Chose any three characters from your novels and decide who you’d marry, dump or date.
KJ-Oh boy… The creepy Alexander Pierce from The Enemy’s Son is dump material, along with the spying neighbor in More Than Memories.
I guess I created heroes that I’d consider my dream guy, so I can’t imagine someone dumping any of them! Trent is a once-in-a-life time love that waits for Molly for four years, never giving up hope. She was the only girl he ever kissed, and he planned to keep it that way. So he’s marriage material for sure.
My other male characters all have a point when they’re “dumpable,” when the heroine could have walked away. Brent was cold and irritated at Missy when she showed up on his ranch in A Cowboy For Christmas, but he does warm up to her, whether he liked it or not! In The Enemy’s Son, Nick actually kidnaps Cora and tries to convince her it’s to protect her. She can’t decide if he’s trustworthy or she should steer clear!
MP-What opens your muse’s lips? Pictures, where you live, a song?
KJ-I often feel inspired by a country song about love, like “Remember When” or one that talks about finding the love of your life. Country songs sometimes tell an entire story in a song, and I love that too. I’ll use the feeling I get from a song to set a mood when I write, so I can think about an enduring love that both people want to fight for.
I know that choosing your favorite book is like choosing your favorite child, but there is always one that digs a little deeper in your heart. If people could only read one of your books which one would you suggest?
I’ve mentioned Trent and Molly in More Than Memories, and I think they have the most enduring love story. Readers tell me they fall in love with Trent.
I have to include Embers of Hope, Flickers of Passion too. I reached deeper and tried to capture a new level of emotional depth in this story. Savanna has hurts, secrets and baggage, she’s a single mom, her best friend just lost her husband, and she falls for a man who’s been knocked flat on his back. I know these people inside and out, from their insecurities to what their houses look like room to room. I’m working on a sequel right now for Cassie – set at Ocean View Stables from A Cowboy For Christmas. Readers will get to see how Cassie changes, and also how things worked out for Savanna and Jason, and even some couples from other books. I’m having a ton of fun with it and reconnecting with existing characters in a new way.
**Thanks for the fun and different questions!
Kristen James
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The Enemy's Son Cora discovers her father is in trouble… and the only person who can help her is the enemy’s son, Nick Holloway.
Her father couldn’t have stolen a million dollars, so how is he going to replace it? In one week?
Nick claims he wants to help Cora and says he’s deceiving the Hollways to keep her safe…but what if he’s playing both sides? He could be using her attraction to him against her. Nick is ordered to take Cora out into the wilderness to a remote cabin to keep her father in line. Cora can’t allow herself to trust Nick, no matter how sexy he is.
Nick isn’t the only one offering to help. Alexander Pierce could scare the devil but he can also track down anyone in a day. He warns Cora that if she wants to find her father alive, he’s the way.
Soon she’s running from her feelings for Nick, running from creepy Alexander and the rest of the Holloways, and trying to find her father somewhere in the city of Eugene. To make matters worse, everyone thinks she has access to the missing money.
The clock is ticking…