Author Spotlight: Welcome Back, Kris Bock!

We have a winner! Congratulations, Laurie Beach, you’ve won an ebook of Charming the Billionaire Cowboy from Kris’s Accidental Billionaire Cowboy series. Kris will be in touch! 

I’ve fallen in love with Kris Bock’s Accidental Billionaire Cowboy series from Tule Publishing and have been waiting breathlessly for the next title to release. It’s here! The Billionaire Cowboy’s Proposition released April 6.

Kris writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. Her Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona. Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Get a free cat café novella, mystery stories, and more when you sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter.

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Kris stopped by for a quick chat about the new book.

N: Welcome back to the blog, Kris. Your latest book with Tule Publishing is book 3 in the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series, part of their Texas Born imprint. You have a lot of animals in these books, but they’re not necessarily the typical ranch animals, right?

A: Yes. In this sweet romance series, a Texas ranching family struggles to maintain their privacy and work ethic after an enormous lottery win. What would you do if you had unlimited money? Lots of people I know would fund animal rescues. This is a ranching family, so they are used to having all kinds of animals, from chickens and rabbits to cattle and bison.

Book 2 stars the second oldest brother, TC Tomlinson. He uses the money to finally follow his dream of building a ranch with alternative livestock, including llamas and ostriches. Meanwhile, the female lead, Hallie, is a former vet tech who moved to Last Stand to heal from an attack. She works at her aunt’s wildlife rescue, where they have mountain lions and bears. I love including these unusual animals.

In book 3, which comes out tomorrow, Cody left the ranch to become a crop duster pilot, and Mallory is a high school English and theater teacher. Mallory agrees to be Cody’s fake girlfriend to help him ward off all the women who are after his money. Ranch animals play less of a role in their book, but they do spend some time at TC’s ranch, such as in the scene where they’re playing corn hole:

To even the match a little, Cody started pestering Mallory. He stood right behind her and whispered in her ear when she was trying to throw. She retaliated by bumping his arm right as he released a beanbag. That called for escalation, so he tried to tickle her during her turn and barely avoided an elbow to the gut. During his next turn, she grabbed his butt and squeezed. His beanbag went flying into the air and landed halfway between the two teams. He turned and stalked toward her as she backed away, hands held up in defense.

“You wanted to convince everyone we’re dating,” she choked out between laughing.

He snagged her around the waist, swung her around, and dipped her as if they were on the dance floor. She was laughing too hard to do more than grab his shoulders.

“Witch,” he said.

She grinned up at him. “You asked for it.”

“Hm. You know there are other ways to make it look like we’re dating.” He leaned toward her slowly, giving her a chance to turn her head away or scold him. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in a little gasp before he closed the distance between them and pressed his mouth to hers.

The kiss only lasted a couple of seconds, a gentle brush of lips. Cody straightened and set Mallory on her feet. She clung to his shoulders. He held her waist. The world seemed to be spinning. They’d backed the patch of darkness, away from the light spilling out from the house. Mallory’s face was in shadow except for a slight glint reflecting in her eyes. They stared at each other.

Something moved a few feet away, hissing. They jerked apart and turned to look at an ostrich thrusting its head over the fence.

“Someone doesn’t approve,” Mallory said.

“No, that just means she wants a treat.” Cody ran his hands through his hair. It’s possible he got a little carried away there. Should he apologize? But she hadn’t stopped him, and she wasn’t complaining now, merely standing two feet away with a look he could best interpret as a wary. Maybe she assumed the kiss was merely part of trying to trick other people.

It hadn’t felt that way.

I also gave Mallory rescue ferrets. My husband and I have had ferrets for years, and I’ve been waiting for a chance to include them in a book!

Here’s a picture of our current cuddle bugs, Bear Bear and Panda. I always include a photo or two of them in my weekly newsletters, and I get more comments on those pictures than anything else.

N: what are you working on now?

A: I’ve finished the last two books in the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series. Book 4 features the youngest brother and a pregnant, runaway bride. In Book 5, their widowed mother gets her own romantic happy ending. I’m delighted that Tule was up for a romance featuring a woman who is almost 60!

I’m also writing my mystery series for Tule. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. It begins with Something Shady at Sunshine Haven and has four books out with two more scheduled. I’ve loved writing this humorous mystery series full of quirky characters, and so far readers seem to love it too.

Giveaway! Kris is giving an ebook of Book 2 in the Accidental Billionaire Cowboy series, Charming the Billionaire Cowboy to one lucky commenter. Just tell her if you have a pet and what it is to enter. We’ll draw a name at random Friday morning. 

The Billionaire Cowboy’s Proposition

Cody Tomlinson and Mallory Moore have struck sparks off each other since high school theater, where she was sunny and talented while he was injured and angry. A decade later, Mallory is working to save Last Stand’s movie theater and convert it into a performance space for live theater and music. Thanks to his family’s lottery win, Cody has plenty of money to help. But Mallory’s the only woman in town who doesn’t want Cody’s charity.

It’s bad enough that Cody is sexy as sin with his tough, scarred cowboy looks. Now he’s rich and Mallory refuses to be another woman fighting for his attention. She won’t accept a financial gift for her business, but she’s not above a fair trade. Mallory offers a deal: Cody can invest in the theater if he volunteers on the renovation. Meanwhile, she’ll play the part of his fiancée to ward off fortune hunters.

But Mallory immediately realizes her mistake. Cody’s always driven her crazy, and now they’re spending all their days—and nights—together.

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