CASE FILE: CANYON CREEK WYOMING

Recently on Twitter one of my favorite Romantic Suspense Authors, Paula Graves was live tweeting from the hospital. I tweeted to her that she need a hunky bodyguard like her very own character, Riley Patterson from the Canyon Creek Police department. Riley is the hero of  CASE FILE: CANYON CREEK WYOMING which is Paula's RITA nominated Harlequin Intrigue and is the first book in her Cooper Justice series. Riley first meets Hannah Cooper the heroine in the hospital in a less than ideal situation. Paula tweeted back "When I meet the Intrigue hero of my dreams, I'd like to have clean hair and no oozing wounds." This tweet started me thinking that the whole premise of most Intrigue's is that the couple meets during a crisis, usually loaded with enough personal baggage to keep the average human being away, and often with little time for social niceties such as clean hair. The ability to move past these obstacles and find love in the face of impossible odds is the very reason I enjoy reading Harlequin Intrigues.

CASE FILE: CANYON CREEK, WYOMING

Heroine:

Hannah Cooper is a fishing guide from a large family, who is vacationing in Wyoming.

Hero:

Deputy Chief Riley Patterson a widowed police officer.

First Meeting Location:

They meet at a hospital in Jackson Wyoming, after Hannah has been attacked and peppered sprayed by a serial killer who posed as a police officer. Riley come to the hospital to question Hannah about the attack because he has a very personal interest in finding out who attacked her.

Hannah's Initial Impression:

Riley Patterson walks into the hospital room wearing a badge, and gets the following reaction."Her heart rate doubled in a span of a second, she opened her mouth and screamed.

Riley's Initial Impression:

"Bandages, blotchy skin and red rimmed eyes disappeared, revealing how pretty she was beneath her injuries." 

Paula Graves

Not an ideal meeting, nor an ideal location, but certainly the perfect setting for an Intrigue to start. This was the first book of  Paula Graves  that I had read. I was instantly hooked, by her cinematic style and carefully crafted stories. I've subsequently read everything else that she has written except for her most recent release from Harlequin Intrigue Major Nanny, which I am saving for a rainy day. 


So, I started thinking which locations and circumstances would make the least desirable romantic meeting places. Personally, I would not enjoy meeting my Intrigue hero at the dentist office, and if that dentist office was on a submarine, well that would be the worst possible romantic suspense scenario for me. Yet an Intrigue heroine might easily find love there, as the dentist would turn out to be a spy and their mission on the submarine dangerous and top secret.


My question for you is, what circumstance would you prefer not to meet your Intrigue hero or heroine in? *

*Everyone who  leaves a comment below before 9pm on December 27th, 2011 (PST) will  be entered in a random drawing and one person will  win a copy of Major Nanny by Paula Graves, and a ten dollar gift card to Amazon. Also, leave an e-mail  for me to get a hold of you. The winner will be posted on December 28th here and on Paula's Facebook page.

http//www.facebook.com/PaulaGravesBooks

Paula Graves upcoming March 2012 book - Secret Identity