Thanks to SmexyBooks for hosting me and letting me talk about my newest book, Slow Ride Home.

When you were a teen, did you ever do something that now you look back on and wonder “what the heck was I thinking?” Or is there a decision you made that you’d love to go back and tell your teen self that maybe it’s not such a good idea? (Would you have listened or forged ahead in spite of the advice?)

I am a plotter to a certain extent, but when I originally started writing Slow Ride Home, I hadn’t known the specifics of what had broken Allie and Ben up fifteen years before. The I wrote the first paragraph. I swear my brain works independent from the rest of me, but I wish it would give me advance warning. Because once I wrote it, I had to figure out, what the heck went on fifteen years ago?

If someone had told Allie O’Keefe fifteen years ago that she’d set even one toe on Bull’s Hollow Ranch again, she’d have cussed them out. After she’d decked them. Which explained why Allie jammed her foot on the brake when she reached the ranch’s wrought-iron gate.

Now I do not ever write a clean first draft. I write, and re-write and chop out paragraphs/pages/scenes and re-write again. It’s nothing for me to chop out 30,000 words and take the characters in a different direction. Or get them back on track. Yet that first line is one of the few lines that exist from the original manuscript. Because I had to know what made Allie want to slam on the brakes that badly.

A few scenes later, Allie finally revealed to me (and Ben) exactly what had happened to make her hate everyone associated with Bull’s Hollow. The last afternoon she spent on the ranch, Allie and Ben took a chance, one that backfired badly. It changes the course of Allie’s life, and while Ben is less affected and is unaware exactly what went on, it changed him too. Allie was already an exuberant teen, headstrong, unafraid. But “the event” changed her—made her more cautious, and changed her career path too. Oh, she’s still strong—heck, she became a lawyer, so she’d have to be confident still—but now she tends to question everything, is suspicious of people’s motivations. Including her own.

If Allie could go back and advise her eighteen-year-old self, she probably would have told her to slam on the brakes real hard that afternoon. But she still would have ended up kicked off the ranch, and if she’d continued with her original path, she may never have ended up being forced to face Ben, and their past, now.

Losing his father was hard enough, but now Ben Grady must face the fact that he and his brother may not be sole owners of their beloved ranch. To protect his family’s legacy, he’s forced to rely on the legal prowess of the woman who stars in his erotic fantasies: Allie O’Keefe. Ben’s never forgotten the illicit encounter they shared fifteen years ago—or forgiven himself for letting her go.

Allie thought she’d moved beyond the scandal that cost her Ben in the past. But working so closely with the seductive rancher arouses the wild child within the cautious woman she’s become. Though she tries to keep business and pleasure separate, Allie soon gives in to temptation, and discovers Ben’s sensual skills surpass even her X-rated memories…

Allie has every intention of leaving Bull’s Hollow forever after her investigation is complete. But there are a few complications. Not the least of which is that while saving the ranch, Allie’s lost her heart.

“Top Pick Review:…the romance couldn’t have been better……came together with passion and emotion.”  ~ Terri, Night Owl Reviews

“Slow Ride Home is one of those rare romance books that while you get romance and hot and oh so steamy sex, you get a complete story that keeps you hooked from beginning to end.” ~Slick Reads, Guilty Pleasures Reviews

The only woman in a houseful of men (even the cat and dog are male), Leah Braemel loves hiding away from all the dust bunnies while she writes sexy heroes and heroines finding true love. To read more about Slow Ride Home or any of Leah’s other books, you can visit her website, follow her on Twitter, or on Facebook.

Leah is giving away a $25 Lush gift certificate during this blog hop. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

And she’s also giving away a digital copy of the winner’s choice of one of her backlist books to a commenter—tell her what advice you’d give to your eighteen year old self—and if you think you’d have listened. I’ll pick a winner November 30. Open to all.

a Rafflecopter giveaway