USA Today, Interview with Dominique Burton’s mother, Rebecca Winters:

A best-selling author of more than 100 romance novels, Rebecca Winters wrote as Rebecca Burton before joining the Harlequin family, where she now writes for both Harlequin American and Harlequin Romance. “Multi” comes to mind when I think of Rebecca. She’s multilingual, has written for multiple Harlequin lines (including Superromance, M&B and HQN) and, as a mother of four, we know she can multitask. Top that off with the multiple honors her stories have earned, including the National Readers Choice Award, RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, a double nomination by RT in 2010 for Best Harlequin American, Utah Writer of the Year and RWA’s Centennial Award … just to name a few. It’s truly an honor to have Rebecca here today. Read more here…

The  winners of the two autographed books are: Marissa D. and Bina B. Congratulations and I hope you enjoy The Firefighter’s Cinderella. 

Find The Firefighter’s Cinderella on Google Books

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Firefighter_s_Cinderella.html?id=tAWmIJo3eqoC

Sizzling Hot Book Reviews:

Four Hearts for The Firefighter’s Cinderella.

http://www.sizzlinghotbooks.net/2011/10/firefighters-cinderella-by-dominique.html

Read what RT has to say about The Firefighter’s Cinderella and Harlequin book titles.

 Here’s the link:

 http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-daily-blog/talking-titles-harlequins-new-trend

 MY HEROES OF ALASKA

This month I ask all of you to read my blog and sign up for my newsletter.  I’ll be giving away two autographed books to the two best replies.   Please look for the  S.A.S.E  section, so you can receive a free book plate signed by me.  Keep checking back for more surprises throughout the month.

         In a mere couple of days my second book THE FIREFIGHTER’S CINDERELLA comes out as an October pick.  It’s the sequel to my first book, A DAUGHTER’S DISCOVERY, found in the novella entitled A MOTHER’S WEDDING DAY. 

I personally like to call these books my HEROES OF ALASKA SERIES.  Another book in the series is due out next year. 

         THE FIREFIGHTER’S CINDERELLA features C.J. Powell, the twin brother of Ranger Jake Powell from A DAUGHTER’S DISCOVERY. 

          Captain C.J. Powell of the San Francisco Fire Department, the ruggedly handsome man who has broken many women’s hearts, is trying to escape the past he left in Alaska years earlier.   

          It’s been a year since his best friend and fellow firefighter Tim McGuiness died from cancer.  During a marathon set up to honor Tim’s memory, C.J. helps the other firefighters cut off racing tags from the runners crossing the finish line.    

          One runner crosses the finish line who looks vaguely familiar and collapses in his arms.  He rushes her to triage where he learns that the beautiful woman he’s caring for is none other than the one girl he could never have, Natasha Bennington.  She loved his deceased best friend Tim without ever expecting love from him in return.  Instead of being the heavier set woman C.J. remembers, she’s turned into a slim swan.    

          The sparks fly between these two friends who were friends of Tim’s. Now they unite and find out they really were meant for each other. Only Natasha’s work as a Pro-bono attorney has become dangerous.  The people she’s trying to protect are working for a dangerous drug cartel ring leader named Mendez who’s  making threats against her life. 

          Now C.J. must take Natasha and their new found love up into the wilds of Alaska until Mendez can be caught.   Can their love survive ?  Or will they fall prey to the dangers lurking in Alaska?  Find out in this exciting read. 

I’ve loved writing this book.  The elements of the Cinderella story are all here as Natasha becomes the beauty that she always was on the inside, making this such an exciting part of the novel.  I hope you fall in love with C.J. and Natasha’s story just like I have.

Ciao,

Dominique

www.dominiqueburton.com 

A woman asks little of love: only that she be able to feel like a heroine-  Mignon McLaughlin

A dear friend of mine sent me this quote and I knew instantly this was a quote that described me and the reasons why I write.  Romance, love and of course happy endings.

Now on to harder stuff; Blogging!  To me this is a terrifying new concept.  I know many of you savvy women blog like it’s second nature.  To me it’s a whole a new world.  As an author I have spent the last six years writing books so intensely that I have fallen behind the times.  My mother has spoken to me about blogging, and as all children do, we just don’t listen.  Shame on me.  I have to admit I’m a little embarrassed.

Once you learn about blogging, you find out who blogs.  Then who blogs well.  For instance I have this amazing friend Kate who does my hair.  If you look at my pictures, she is the magician behind the scenes, truly the only reason my hair looks good.  Kate has two young children.  She runs a beauty salon and also blogs.   If you want a great laugh, I highly recommend following it!

http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/domestic_goddess_and_co._smug_marrieds_and_2_little_chicks?ref=mf

My question now is, how do all of you have time?  I’m absolutely amazed at the sheer genius so many women exude on their blogs.  I just recently watched the movie, Julie and Julia.  If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing an uplifting, moving and empowering show.  It spoke to me as a writer in so many ways. First of all it gave me the courage to blog.  The character of Julie who wants to be a writer and get published was utterly relatable.  I have been there and let me tell you, it’s hard and it hurts.  Julie portrayed how cathartic it is to write through a blog even if just one person hears your voice and that person happens to be you.

Then there’s Julia Childs!  At Harlequin we need to write real life characters, not stereotypes or caricatures.   Who would ever believe that a human being would be as fabulous as Julia Childs.  Seriously, who says, “I love eating.”   And she means it and isn’t ashamed of it at all.

On top of that, she makes fabulous comments like, “I love getting out of bed at six in the morning to go to school.”   What a gift for her to love life that intensely.  Of course the crux of the movie that utterly thrilled me as an author was when they offered to buy her book.  Even better, she’s got paid!   To do what we love is the greatest gift of all.

I know I am one of those lucky souls who gets to do my passion, but of course it’s not always easy.  Bumps and jumps come along the way.   Last week I had the privilege of being contacted by a local TV news anchor.  He asked to interview my mother and me for his blog.   As he spoke to me, he thought the story was big enough to go on the news that night.  So mom and I scrambled to get our hair done, I bought a new suit, put my make-up on, all to find out there had been a murder in the city and our story got cut.

It made me think of Julie and the beouf bourguinonne she prepared for the Christian Science monitor and how they didn’t come because it was raining.  She continued to persevere and so did I.  Fortunately the TV anchor still thought our story was interesting and put us on his blog.  Here is the link to our story.

http://oursouthvalley.com/?s=south+jordan+author

So to all you who read this, thank you for being interested in what I have to say.  It’s a whole different kettle of fish to write fiction and definitely a lot easier.  My hope is that all of you who read this blog will know your dreams can come true.  Life throws curves, road blocks and walls, but if you persevere, anything can happen.  Especially love!

Ciao,

Dominique Burton

Dear Reader,

Words can’t express the honor and privilege it has been to work with my mother on this project we’ve called A Mother’s Wedding Day.

As a child I grew up hearing the tapping of the typewriter as a new book was being written. My mom is my hero and my best friend. Since I can remember, I’ve loved reading, plotting and brainstorming ideas with her. Little did I know that the day would come when I’d be given the opportunity to have my first book come out simultaneously with one of hers. She’s truly the most amazing mother in the world, one who has believed in me all my life, who has taught me that my dreams are only as big as my imagination.

This book has been nothing but a joy to write. Andrea and Sammi, the mother and daughter in our stories, have had great love for each other but there has also been pain and betrayal. It was a fascinating process to write how they find their way back to each other, and in the process meet and fall in love with the men of their dreams. I hope you love these books as much as we do.

Dominique Burton

P.S. The only thing I can add as Dom’s mother is to say that it’s been my joy to raise a wonderful, talented daughter I love to pieces. I used to tell her she had an editor’s eye and never led me wrong. She has always lived her adventures. Now she’s writing them and I marvel. We’re both very grateful to our editors for making this special Mother’s Day project possible.

ENJOY!

Rebecca Winters

Harriet Klausner just posted her review for A Mother’s Day Wedding: A Mother’s Secret\A Daughter’s Discovery.  You can read the full review  on Amazon.

“These two interrelated charming family dramas, ironically written by a mother-daughter duet, hook the reader throughout due to a strong cast. Character driven readers will relish A Mother’s Wedding Day as Rebecca Winters proves once again how talented she is and her daughter Dominique Burton displays the gene pool with an equally strong entry.”

-Harriet Klausner

I’m excited to be part of this amazing group of writers.

love,
Dominique Burton