Guest Post with Author Tracy Solheim and Giveaway

Meet author Tracy Solheim.

Author Tracy Solheim has written her share of best sellers and note-worthy books. Unfortunately most of them line the shelves of dusty government offices around the world never to see the light of day. She hopes to change that with her series of contemporary romantic fiction novels published by Berkley Books.

“I guess you could say I’m a frustrated sports writer at heart, but I love writing—and reading—books centered around sports. I can thank my dad for that. He introduced me to Dick Francis novels when I was a teenager and I was hooked. I am also a big fan of the happily ever after endings of romance novels, so it was only natural that I combined the two elements in my fiction debut.”

Places to find Tracy:

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THE ART OF CREATING A SECRET BABY

I love the concept of secret babies. (Author’s note: Just to clarify, I love secret babies that are in books. Secret babies in real life, not so much.) As I was saying, the plot twist of a secret baby is one of my favorite in the romance genre to read. Writing one, particularly in contemporary romance, is a lot trickier than it sounds, however.

The first hurdle in crafting a good secret baby scenario is to make the whole accidental pregnancy believable in an era when our characters should be practicing safe sex. In the case of my upcoming book Foolish Games, I used the double whammy of a broken condom and migraine medicine that rendered the heroine’s birth control ineffective. Overkill? Maybe. But either one of these scenarios on its own might not result in pregnancy, so I decided it was best to make the plot as strong as possible. I’m thorough that way. Just ask my kids!

Next, it was important to me that the “encounter” between the characters not be interpreted by the reader as cheap or meaningless. I didn’t want readers to think either Julianne or Will were shallow or reckless. Sure, it’s easy to write a guy who has no trouble with meaningless sex—it’s kind of in their DNA, right? But I wanted Will to be different. That’s why I made him the product of a one night stand. He was illegitimate himself and therefore, really cautious. It’s harder to make the heroine not come off as being…well, “easy”. In Julianne’s case, I simply made her a hot mess of neuroses. Really, she didn’t know what she was doing. Wouldn’t we all love to use that excuse once in a while?

Finally, there’s the whole “secret” part of the plot. What incentive does Julianne have for keeping her son a secret from his high profile—not to mention, wealthy—professional athlete father? It’s not like jocks aren’t fathering kids with multiple women fairly regularly. Seriously, there’s actually a website devoted to coming up a list of the top ten most…um, shall we say, prolific, Baby Daddies. The title holder? A pro basketball player who has fourteen children with ten different women! In Julianne’s case, she has the most fundamental reason—among others—for keeping her son’s paternity a secret: embarrassment over a one-night stand. I figured most of us women could relate to that one.

So there you have it, my secrets to the secret baby plot. Many authors have pulled it off using a variety of scenarios. Do you have a favorite book with a secret baby plot? I’d love to read it!

SOMETIMES THE BEST DEFENSE IS A STRONG OFFENSE….

Bridal gown designer, Julianne Marchione knows better than to lose her head at a client’s wedding. But much to her embarrassment, a mix of migraine medication and a smoking hot football player lead to a steamy one night stand resulting in a surprise pregnancy. Julianne has every intention of leaving her NFL hookup far in the past until her son, Owen, is born with a life-threatening blood disorder that requires a transfusion—and Julianne is not a match.

Will “William the Conqueror” Connelly grew up tough shouldering the stigma of being a bastard child born on the wrong side of the tracks. He refuses to let any child face the same discrimination. When he finds out about Owen, he’s furious that Julianne kept his son a secret. But when he sees her again at the hospital, he realizes that his feelings for her go far beyond anger.

Will insists that Owen recuperate at his home in North Carolina, and he’s adamant that Julianne become his wife—even if it’s only a temporary marriage in name only. But will their simmering attraction ever lead to a real connection? Or are they just playing foolish games?

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | iTunes |

Check out the Out of Bounds series:

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Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 $50 Amazon Gift Card + signed copies of Game On and Foolish Games

To Enter: 

• Leave answer Tracy's question: Do you have a favorite book with a secret baby plot?
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Tracy Solheim & Romance Wrangler for sponsoring this tour-wide giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway