Cat Johnson’s Hot SEALs world is part of Amazon’s Kindle Worlds. That means the characters that you love are being joined by more characters in new books by some of your other favorite authors. Cat Johnson has more information about the Kindle World on her website, there is also FAQ’s section.
Thanks so much for agreeing to be with us today, KaLyn!! What 5 things should readers know about you?
- I write factual-fiction, meaning my books are based in fact, but I leave it up to the reader to figure out what is true and what is imagination. All too often, truth is stranger than fiction.
- I write deep personality. As a military wife with four brothers, I think I have a good grasp on men’s attitudes and language.
- I conduct a LOT of research and believe it comes through in my writing. My goal is to make the reader feel like they are there with my characters.
- I’m a gun-girl. I own several weapons from shotguns to pistols. I’m often carrying, and yes, I do have a concealed weapons permit. We have a range here on our micro-plantation.
- I give away diamond jewelry quite often. It’s a great reason to follow me on social media and sign up for my newsletter.
Wow—great list!
Tell us all about your main characters—who are they? What makes them tick? Most importantly, what one thing would they need to have with them if stranded on a desert isle? 😉
In Claimed by a SEAL, Jeff Lennon is a former SEAL working undercover for Homeland Security with Stacie Vandercoy, who is also a former U.S. Navy officer. For both, the job had been everything and fraternization was against the rules so they’d been hands-off during the six months they’d been undercover together in Iraq. That mission hadn’t ended well. This time they are to be husband and wife in a terrorist cell in Norfolk, Virginia where the stakes are exponentially higher for their deception to be believable. It’s a tough decision for each of them as to how far they will go to assure the success of the mission.
Since both are highly trained in survival, if stranded on a desert island, the one thing they might need is a referee. Finding food and water wouldn’t be a problem for either of those two, but their methodology would rarely be the same, thus creating extreme conflict. But when they make up, the tropical heat wouldn’t compare to their lovemaking.
LOL! But what would the poor referee do while they were making up? 😉
Where did the inspiration for this book come from?
To be honest, I had a completely different story all plotted. When I told Cat Johnson about my intended book, she suggested I read a book released with her first Kindle Worlds. It was so close to my story, all I could do was start over. While discussing he situation with Macho Marine (hubbie) I explained that it should take place in Norfolk. Since he’d deployed out of Naval Station Norfolk several times, he quickly came up with the action plot line involving the Hampton Roads Bridge & Tunnel system. I amped up the suspense by adding Fleet Week since MM and I had been to the event several years ago.
Claimed by a SEAL is a crossover to my Cancun series. I was writing Captivated in Cancun when I contracted for this book so I was able to write the characters, Jeff and Stacie, more deeply into my series. “Knowing” them from the series books made writing their love story much easier.
Nice! I like the husband/wife collaboration here!
How long have you been writing, and what (or who) inspired you to start?
I have always written stories. I won a creative writing contest in sixth grade and never stopped, but I did change directions after college when making money became important. Most of my public relations career I wrote non-fiction. Okay, there were times I had to stretch the truth and carefully select each word to give the client what they wanted while still maintaining that legal line of truth in advertising. I ghost wrote a couple books and was paid to write a few travel and tourism books, but I always knew there was a novelist deep within.
In late 2010, while Macho Marine was building schools in Haiti after their earthquake, I sat down one night and started to write a romance novel. I’d read hundreds of them and knew I could this. After pounding out 125,000 words, I searched out advice from local romance authors. Over the next two years, I learned a lot. First, I wrote like a journalist. Imagine that. I’d used AP style for over thirty years reporting the unemotional facts. Second, writing romance is hard. There are so many unwritten rules that only those authors in the industry know and understand. Third, there was way too much happening in that first book. Fourth, I had one hell of a unique story.
That original book has morphed into my new series coming in June. The Ladies of Black Swan are the five women who successfully passed the secret military test program to prove women could be effective in special operations. Since they could not return to their respective services because women are still not allowed in SpecOps, they are assigned to Section 7 of Homeland Security, the terrorist division. With their unique skill set, it takes a very special man to love them. (Don’t forget I write factual-fiction.)
I love that you were able to do something with that first draft—the new series sounds awesome! Can’t wait 🙂
What do you like best about being a writer? What is the most challenging part?
The best part is that I can work in my pajamas if my muse kicks in first thing in the morning. The most challenging part of being a full-time author is that I often lose myself in writing a book. I’ll look up and it’s mid-afternoon, I’ve forgotten to eat, I have no clue what to cook for supper and I really should clean the house.
Oh, house, schmouse… (but eating occasionally is probably a good idea!)
What are you working on right now? What can readers look for from you in the next year?
My work in progress is the first book in the Black Swan series. It has been written, and completely re-written, at least five times. During the last round of edits, my editor told me I needed to cut 30,000 words because it was simply too long. In thinking through what to cut, my brain replotted the whole book so that means another re-write. It should still be out by June, though.
Within the next year plan to see books #1 and #2 in the Black Swan series, Book #3 Crisis in Cancun, and I’ve been asked to write another novella in an all new Kindle World releasing in October.
Wow, you’re busy! Sounds great! 🙂
What authors and/or books have inspired you?
I aspire to be as good an author as Elizabeth Lowell. Her books maintain that wonderful balance of love story and suspense.
Oooh, yes—you can’t go wrong with a good romantic suspense!
What are you currently reading? What are your thoughts about it so far?
I read about 125 books a year, many on my iPod since I spend a lot of time on the road. I follow several series and almost exclusively read romance and mystery and suspense. I just finished J.D. Robb’s Brotherhood in Death and I recently read Gennita Low’s Sleeper. I’m currently working my way through Jamie Begley’s Last Rider series (which to be honest, pushes my heat level limit) but I’m entrenched in the series and want to see each of those motorcycle club bad boys get their HEA. Next on the TBR list is Lori Foster’s Fighting Dirty.
Great list!
If you had to “sell” your book in a single Tweet, what would you say?
Fraternization is against the rules but sometimes you have to break the rules for the mission to succeed
Sex with Stacie was against the rules but sometimes a SEAL had to break the rules for the success of the mission
Nice work!
Keep reading to find out more about KaLyn and her Hot SEAL Kindle World book, Claimed by a SEAL, as well as the other KW books and authors! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end 🙂
KaLyn Cooper – Born and raised in a small town in New York close to the Pennsylvania line, we water skied in the summer months on the lake and snow skied all winter. One a cold January night while clomping through the lodge I literally ran smack into the man I’d eventually marry. His high school was ninety-six miles from mine but we made the long-distance relationship work.
While I was at Penn State, he went to the United States Naval Academy and chose the Marines upon graduation. I followed him throughout his military career living on Army, Air Force and Marine Corps bases, making sixteen moves and meeting some of the most wonderful people in the world.
Working in Public Relations all over the country and in Japan, I’ve written for international, regional and local corporations, non-profits and was a ghost writer. I won national awards for travel and tourism books and ghost written several self-help books but I hadn’t written fiction since college.
When we moved to East Tennessee for the second time, we built our house-and I mean we, my husband, our son and I-built this house from the studs in. As I hung insulation, painted, tiled and planted, I plugged into audio books and discovered I really enjoyed romantic suspense. In the evenings I read romance novels. By the time the house was ready for occupancy, I’d read over 300 books, mostly in the romance genre and suspense.
One night while my husband was working out of the country, I sat at the computer and started writing a book. I entered it in several writing contests and learned a lot from the critiques. I met romance writer Deborah Grace Staley who helped me tremendously. She told me my 125,000-word tome wasn’t one book but three and none were the first in what has become The Black Swan series.
I attended many conferences and craft workshops over the next year while pitching every chance I got. The Black Swan series garnered interest and notice enough to convince Emily Kim, owner of Prospect Agency, to become my agent. When I’d finished Explosive Combination, it had gained a life of its own in the Romantic Suspense genre. Emily and I separated it from the Black Swan series, which is in the Contemporary Romance category, and I sold Explosive Combination to Liquid Silver Books in November 2013. The first of the Black Swan Series should come out in 2016.
In December 2014, Christmas In Cancun was published by Liquid Silver, the first of a new series of Romantic Suspense books based in Cancun, Mexico. In April 2015 I self-published Conquered in Cancun followed by Captivated in Cancun in January 2016. I was honored to be invited to write in Cat Johnson’s Hot SEAL Kindle World and wrote Claimed by a SEAL – Cancun Crossover novella 2.5 released January 2016.
I have been married to the same man for over thirty-seven years. Our two children are grown but our son lives with us. Our daughter and her husband blessed us with a granddaughter a few years ago.
I still read over 100 books a year, mostly audio books, and write every day.
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About the Hot SEALs Kindle World
With years of dedication to the Navy, SEAL Jon Rudnick and his teammates have confirmed one thing – they are not afraid to risk life and limb for their country. But when navigating military red tape begins to present more challenges than the enemy, this band of combat-hardened veterans is divided. While some remain actively serving, others take their drive, skills, and expertise to the private sector, where they form GAPS (Guardian Angel Protection Services). In these roles, will the SEALs fight for the women they love with the same vigor they use to seek out enemy threats? Which battlefield will you have them face next?
Claimed by a SEAL by KaLyn Cooper
Three years ago, Stacie Vandercoy was stuck undercover in Iraq for six months with Jeff “Rock Star” Lennon, the arrogant SEAL who thought he was God’s gift to women. But he couldn’t have her. Fraternization is against the rules. And still is as they infiltrate home-grown terrorism in Norfolk, Virginia. Can she continue to resist him? Does she have to?
Jeff Lennon had been forced to do things he didn’t like as a Navy SEAL, and now as an agent for the terrorist division of Homeland Security’s Border Patrol. For years, his only real regret has been what he couldn’t to do to Stacie back in Iraq. He’s been given another chance to claim her heart, body and soul. In the meantime, they have to stop a terrorist attack somewhere in the Norfolk area, during Fleet Week.
Even the agency’s psychologist isn’t sure Stacie can pull off pretending to be Jeff’s wife. What lengths will Stacie and Jeff go to assure the mission’s success? And what will they both lose in the process?
My SEAL Bodyguard by Paige Tyler
She writes about danger for a living and now she find herself in it. Only a Navy SEAL can save her.
When someone breaks into romance author Peyton Matthews’ Virginia Beach home to steal her newest manuscript, her publisher hires Noah Chase, a former Navy SEAL and the newest member of GAPS to be her bodyguard.
Peyton thinks the idea of needing a bodyguard is ridiculous, but she can’t help appreciating how gorgeous Noah is. And while she thought that having a stranger hanging around 24/7 would mess with her creativity, the Navy SEAL definitely comes in handy when she’s choreographing fight scenes. All that hand-to-hand action and rolling around on the floor with him gets her pulse racing, but while Noah is falling for Peyton too, he doesn’t act on it. He needs to keep his head in the game and focus on the job or he could end up getting her killed. She might not think she’s in danger, but his gut tells him differently.
The threat to Peyton is closer to home than she realizes however, and it will take all of Noah’s SEAL training to save her life.
Revealing Love by Maryann Jordan
Saints Protection & Investigation
A private investigation business, pulling together men from the CIA, FBI, ATF, DEA, Border Patrol, SEALs, and police, devoted to the missions that no one else wanted or could solve.
Jude Stedson was a SEAL…at least until an injury while on a mission left him with an honorable medical discharge and no direction. He even relegated his girlfriend to friend only status until he could decide what he wanted to do with a life that had been dedicated to the SEALS.
Sabrina Taggart loved the man…not the career title. But until she could prove that their love would continue, she took the role of friend…just to stay close.
When a con artist set his sights on her family, Jude steps in, willing to work with her cousin, a member of the Saints P&I. Keeping Sabrina safe gave him a new mission. Discovering that mission gave him purpose. When her life was threatened, Jude knew that nothing would stop him from saving her…or admitting his love for her.
Can he prove that he has what it takes to be a Saint?
**Due to adult sexual scenes and adult language, 18+ readers only!**
Buy on Amazon
SEALed in Texas by Marissa Dobson
After sustaining injuries in the line of duty, Trever Alexander was forced to leave his SEAL team and all he worked for. In the midst of considering a job offer with GAPS, he was thrown into an assignment, one that brought him face to face with the woman he’d left behind.
One day Allyson Mason is living a normal, quiet life, and the next she is on the run. She doesn’t know who or what she’s running from. All she knows is that if she wants to stay alive she has to keep moving. She calls the only person she knows that might be able to help.
Chased by both physical and mental horrors, Trever and Allyson must put their emotions aside and work together.
A Daye with a SEAL by Donna Michaels
A DAYE with A SEAL by Donna Michaels/Dangerous Curves/Hot SEALs KW Crossover
Medically discharged after a mission gone bad, Navy SEAL Gabriel ‘Hawk’ Barrett regains his sight, and when hired by GAPS and the Knight Agency, most of his self-worth. Assigned to go undercover as a gun for hire, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to complete the mission, but his restraint is tested when his buddy’s hot sister becomes mistakenly involved.
When her brother disappears, coffee shop owner Gina Daye seeks help from his former teams members, only to have the almighty Hawk turn her down. But before she realizes he’s in the middle of an assignment, she’s embroiled in the mission.
Sequestered together to avoid an international incident, the pair face down the enemy, a multitude of bullets, and even more dangerous—their long denied attraction.
The scorching sequel to Guard Dog
A Hot SEALs/Stone Hard SEALs Crossover Novella
It’s insane to want him, this beautiful, strong, sexy man. Not just because her hot bodyguard is tasked with herding her safely through the exotic night markets of Hong Kong. And not just because she’s his boss. But because they are worlds apart. What they have can only be a fling. It can’t last forever.
But Garrett has other ideas.
Scorching military romance adventure featuring a woman who thinks she’s too old for him and a hot alpha bodyguard who won’t take no for an answer
Buy on Amazon
Protecting Julie by Susan Stoker
Julie Lytle is working hard to turn her life around. Being kidnapped by sex traffickers changed her drastically, but having grown up the spoiled daughter of a senator, Julie wishes she could’ve changed just a little sooner. Shamed by her behavior toward the woman rescued alongside her, and further embarrassed and guilt-racked over the way she treated the SEALs who risked their lives on her behalf, Julie is desperate to make amends.
With help from Missy Greenwood, a D.C. acquaintance who’d endured her own harrowing experience, Julie connects with Patrick Hurt, Commander of the SEALs who’d saved her life. If she can prove she’s not the same person who mistreated his team, he’ll grant her request to meet them—but not before the protective, sexy man makes a surprising request of his own.
**Protecting Julie is a Kindle World crossover novella with the SEAL of Protection Series and Cat Johnson’s Hot SEALs Series. It can be read as a stand-alone, but we recommended reading the other books in the SEAL of Protection Series in order to get maximum enjoyment.
Darwin’s Evolution by Siobhan Muir
Sometimes retirement is a helluva lot of work…
Retired Marine Master Sergeant Sadie Hawkins is ready for a quiet life with her mother in northern Arizona. No more recon, no more shots fired. Hell, she might even give romance a try if she finds the right guy. Like the one asleep on her shoulder on the train.
Cyrus “Darwin” Finch retired from the Navy SEALs and now runs Ultimate Recon, a security, surveillance, and rescue company employing retired members of the four branches of the U.S. military. He’s on “forced” vacation and is supposed to relaxing, dammit. Until he meets Sadie.
When they discover a foreign enemy setting up a domestic retreat in Sadie’s backyard, romance and vacations take a backseat. There are no calm seas or clear skies with bullets flying, and no time for a Happy Ever After. But SEALs never give up and Marines never surrender.
Surrender to a SEAL by Normandie Alleman
Recently retired Navy SEAL Luke Paulson feels strangely comfortable in a war zone—it’s adjusting to the real world and all its challenges where he falls short. When his sister becomes ill and his mother’s Alzheimer’s care lands solely on his shoulders, Luke needs cash. Protecting an international law student who is as intelligent as she is beautiful seems the perfect fit.
In Washington, D.C., Chief Justice Thornhill is being threatened by a domestic terrorist group, and his granddaughter Charlotte is their target. Initially she seems none-too-pleased with her new bodyguard shadowing her every move, but a night on the town with a few too many cocktails quickly changes the way she views the sexy SEAL.
But when Luke deceives her to get the upper hand, he realizes too late he’s risked losing it all, including the girl who has turned his life upside down by stealing his heart. His toughest mission yet may be convincing her to trust him again.
About the Authors
Cat Johnson – A top 10 New York Times and 7 time USA Today bestseller, Cat Johnson is known for her creative marketing. She has sponsored bull riding cowboys, promoted romance using bologna and owns a collection of cowboy boots and camouflage for book signings. A fair number of her research consultants wear combat or cowboy boots for a living.
Since 2006, Cat has put approximately one million digital and print stories in readers’ hands. Never miss a new release, sign up for alerts at catjohnson.net/news.
Paige Tyler – Paige is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sexy romantic suspense and paranormal romance. She graduated from The University of West Florida with a degree in education in 2000, but decided to pursue a full-time career as a writer in 2004. Since then, she’s written over fifty books in several genres, including paranormal, contemporary, western, sci-fi and erotica. She loves writing about strong, sexy, alpha males and the feisty, independent women who fall for them. From verbal foreplay to sexual heat, her stories of romance, adventure, suspense, passion and true love will leave you breathlessly panting for more.
She and her very own military hero (also known as her husband) live on the beautiful Florida coast with their adorable fur baby (also known as their dog). Paige graduated with a degree in education, but decided to pursue her passion and write books about hunky alpha males and the kick-butt heroines who fall in love with them.
When not working on her latest book, Paige enjoys reading, jogging, P90X, Yoga, Pilates, going to the beach, watching NFL football, watching movies and hanging out with her husband (not necessarily in that order!)
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Maryann Jordan – I have always been an avid reader. I joke that I “cut my romance teeth” on the old bodice ripper romance books. Last year I started a blog to showcase wonderful writers. In 2014, I finally gave in to the characters in my head pleading for their story to be told. Thus, Emma’s Home was created.
I work as a counselor in a high school and have been involved in education for the past 30 years. I have been married to a wonderfully patient man for 32 years and have 2 adult, very supportive daughters. When writing, my dog or one of my cats will usually be found in my lap!
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Marissa Dobson – Born and raised in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, Marissa Dobson now resides about an hour from Washington, D.C. She’s a lady who likes to keep busy, and is always busy doing something. With two different college degrees, she believes you are never done learning.
Being the first daughter to an avid reader, this gave her the advantage of learning to read at a young age. Since learning to read she has always had her nose in a book. It wasn’t until she was a teenager that she started writing down the stories she came up with.
Marissa is blessed with a wonderful supportive husband, Thomas. He’s her other half and allows her to stay home and pursue her writing. He puts up with all her quirks and listens to her brainstorm in the middle of the night.
Her writing buddy Cameron (a cocker spaniel) is always around to listen to her bounce ideas off him. He might not be able to answer, but he’s helpful in their own ways.
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Donna Michaels – It’s all my mother’s fault. She read to me before I could read and opened up that magical world where I still reside today. Then came television and movies. Now I had three avenues that fed my imagination…and boy could I eat! As you no doubt figured out, this lead to my writing career. I’m a NY Times, USA Today, and Amazon Bestselling Award winning author. Phew, that was a mouthful! Multi-published in e-book and print with several publishers, I certainly have a ton of voices in my head.
I’m happily married to a military man for 28 years. We have four children and several rescued cats. Michael’s been in the Army National Guard since before he graduated. The Guard has been a part of our lives right from the start. It was only natural for the military to spill into my writing. God bless the military and their families. Thank you all for your sacrifices.
You already know my mom inspired my love of reading, but it was my dad who got me hooked on movies. Even now, if I had the time, I could happily go from one movie to another all day long. They are the reason I love mixed genre and why I can’t just stick to just one in my writing, although, as you can tell, I have a soft spot for cowboys and the military.
Well, that’s about it. Thanks for getting to know me a little better. Remember, keep reading to your children. The journey you’re igniting is precious. And the next time you’re at the movies, turn around. I just might be the person sitting behind you. No, not the one throwing popcorn (it’s too expensive to waste). I’m the one already imagining the sequel. Have a great day and thanks for reading!
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Sabrina York – Her Royal Hotness, Sabrina York, is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of hot, humorous stories for smart and sexy readers. With over 25 titles her books range from sweet & snarky to scorching romance. Visit her webpage to check out her books, excerpts and contests. Represented by Lane Heymont with the Seymour Agency.
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Susan Stoker – New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives, but this all American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She’s married to a retired Army man who now gets to follow her around the country.
She debuted her first series in 2014 and quickly followed that up with the SEAL of Protection Series, which solidified her love of writing and creating stories readers can get lost in.
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Siobhan Muir – Siobhan Muir lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with her husband, two daughters, and a vegetarian cat she swears is a shape-shifter, though he’s never shifted when she can see him. When not writing, she can be found looking down a microscope at fossil fox teeth, pursuing her other love, paleontology. An avid reader of science fiction/fantasy, her husband gave her a paranormal romance for Christmas one year, and she was hooked for good.
In previous lives, Siobhan has been an actor at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, a field geologist in the Aleutian Islands, and restored inter-planetary imagery at the USGS. She’s hiked to the top of Mount St. Helens and to the bottom of Meteor Crater.
Siobhan writes kick-ass adventure with hot sex for men and women to enjoy. She believes in happily ever after, redemption, and communication, all of which you will find in her paranormal romance stories.
Siobhan’s latest release, Darwin’s Evolution, is book 1 in the Ultimate Recon series. Bronco’s Rough Ride, The Navy’s Ghost, Rimshot’s Hard Target, and Bam-Bam’s Inked Hart belong to the Bad Boys of Beta Squad series. She has published A Hell Hound’s Fire (a free read), The Beltane Witch, and Cloudburst Ice Magic in the Cloudburst Colorado series, Second Chance Succubus and Order of the Dragon as stand-alones, and Take the Reins and A Centaur’s Solstice Wish in the Rifts series. Siobhan has also published Not a Dragon’s Standard Virgin and Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack through Siren Publishing, and Her Devoted Vampire through Evernight Publishing. Siobhan has published through Evernight Publishing, Siren Publishing and Three Lakes Books.
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All Romance Ebooks – Amazon – Bookstrand
Normandie Alleman – A former psychologist, Normandie has always been fascinated by human behavior. She loves writing quirky characters that are all too human. Fiber arts, baking, and Pinterest are a few of her favorite pastimes. A shamelessly proud basketball mom, Normandie lives on a farm with a passel of kids, an adorable husband, and a pet pig who’s crazy for Red Bull.
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Amazon Author Page – Newsletter – Goodreads
*Note by entering the giveaway you agree to allow each author to add your email address into their newsletter mailing list. A copy of all entries will be given to the authors. No email address with be sold or spammed. *
Thank you sooo much for hosting me today!
Love your books. Look forward to reading even more.
Thank you for visiting!
Kalyn I really enjoy reading your books.
Thank you so much for sharing!
My pleasure 🙂
😀