Kristina Knight: What the Heiress Wants

The Write Way Café welcomes Kristina Knight and her Billionaire Cowboys series, in which cowboys sometimes prefer nice cars to trucks.

Tell us a little about What the Heiress Wants, and your Billionaire Cowboys series.
The Billionaire Cowboys are three brothers, raised on a ranch outside Las Vegas. Their mother was a gambling addict, and their father chased her all over trying to bring her home/separate her from the casinos...so they all have conflicted feelings about Vegas, casinos, development, etc. Connor, in What the Heiress Wants, is the least 'cowboy' of the brothers - he prefers suits and nice cars to trucks and boots - but he is cowboy in one perfect (I think) way: when he sees something (or someone) he wants, he goes after it, no matter what! Miranda, Connor's new VP at his publishing company, is everything he wants, and he goes after her. It's a fun romance!

If What the Heiress Wants was made into a movie, who would play your main characters, and why? 
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone! I love their chemistry on screen (Crazy, Stupid, Love for the win!), and they are part of my pin-board for the book, tool. Hopefully they're free when the movie is options (hey, wishful thinking is fun!). :D

What “keepers” are in your home library?
Our keeper shelf is a hodge-podge of favorite romances, sports books (Radioman's), and early readers (I canNOT give away bebe's copy of Goodnight Moon, I just can't!).

What book do you wish you could have written?
There are books that I absolutely love - Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume, Ramona the Great by Beverly Cleary, The Girl with the Silver Eyes, Legend by Jude Deveraux, Palomino by Danielle Steel...pretty much anything by Nora Roberts. But I love those books because I got to experience them as a reader, and I got to let them sweep me away into another world for a little bit. The books I wish I could have written? I'm writing them right now!

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment? 
I'm pretty good with criticism usually, having worked in TV news for 10 years, I developed a thick skin. I've had several readers tell me they can see my books playing in their minds like movies as they read...and that is the best compliment, I think. Because if a book comes to life for a reader, that's the magic, don't you think? As for criticism, any time someone tells me the book *didn't* come to life, that's hard, and I wish I could fix that for them.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve been given?  What’s your best writing advice for others? 
To get the story down. A lot of writers start a story and then skip to another one and then skip to another...and they never finish. I had a bit of a case of that as a beginning writer, and a very smart lady sat me down and told me I'd never be an author if I couldn't tell a complete story. So I focused on finishing one story and then the next without the skipping around part. So far, it's working! As to my advice: don't stop. Ignore those people who tell you that you can't do it, that you don't have enough life experience and just keep writing. I'm a girl from a very small town (graduating class of 47 people, thank you very much), I've never been to New York or Paris or London, I live in a small-ish town in the midwest now...and yet I have stories to tell...and so do you. So tell your story!

We’re adding books to our Café menu.  Would your book be a drink, an appetizer, an entrée or a dessert?  What would you call it? 
Dessert! All three of my Billionaire Cowboys books are on the shorter spectrum (60,000 words), so they're a little lighter, but the romance and smexiness is definitely decadent...like your favorite dessert!  I would call it Cowboy Shortcake...not that my cowboys are short, they're just the right amount of sweet and a little tart, as strawberry shortcake can sometimes be.

What is your favorite social media?  Why?
Instagram is quickly becoming a favorite! I just love all the pictures.

Do you have any compulsions you must do for no particular reason? 
I have to separate my M&Ms into color groups, I have to eat in even numbers...my bucket of pens are arranged like a color wheel and none of them can be out of place...there are *many* things about me that are slightly OCD! lol

Tell us about the book in your closet.
I've had a book in my closet since I started writing, and it's very close to my heart, but I just don't think it's going anywhere. I love the characters, but the plotting is just...blech! It's the first book I wrote, and I sometimes think about dusting it off and fixing it up, but I never do. I think of it as my dream book, my when-I-have-time book...Maybe. Someday!

And now for the fun stuff!  

If you were a punctuation mark, what would you be? 
Exclamation mark because I get excited by a LOT of things!

What is your biggest shopping downfall?
Shoes...the answer is always shoes!

Are you a glass half empty or glass half full personality? 
Half-full. My friends say I have a Pollyanna complex, and I probably do..but what's wrong with that?

Are you a dog/cat/other person? 
Dog, for sure! I love the cuddles...and I'm a recent Betta fish Mom and I'm loving them, too. Bettas are funny little guys.

What is your favorite season and why?
Spring/summer - I love the greenness of new grass and those pops of color from the first flowers of the season...and long afternoons in the pool and my flip-flop tan. If every day could be a spring or summer day, I'd be in heaven!

The Billionaire Cowboys trilogy by best-selling author Kristina Knight continues with What the Heiress Wants.

Denver publishing heiress Miranda Clayton craves more from life than society parties and shopping sprees, but her tycoon father refuses to take her seriously. Her solution? Beat him at his own game by going to work for his top competitor, Connor Reeves, in Las Vegas.

Connor isn't fooled by Miranda's new plan for a second. He knows exactly who she is; what he doesn't know is why she's pulling him into her games. After their first meeting, Connor knows what he wants - Miranda in his bed! But the more he's around his new vice president, the more he wants something deeper than a short-term fling. The question is does the lady want Connor - or his business?


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Excerpt:
     Connor tilted his head to the side. “Ground rules like?”
  “No public displays of affection. When we’re at work, we work. There is a lot to do with the new magazine launch, and we’re still not out of the woods with the existing publications.”
“So you won’t be coming into my office at odd moments with empty file folders and a desperate need for my body?” His beautiful mouth twisted in a wicked smile.
“As the male form goes, yours is quite good. But I think I can control myself between the hours of nine and five.”
“So no nooners. Bummer. Any other rules we should abide by?”
“No nicknames.”
Connor blinked. “I shouldn’t call you Love Muffin within earshot of anyone in the office. Got it.”
“You shouldn’t call me Love Muffin anywhere.”
“No love muffins?”
Miranda wrinkled her nose. “Definitely not.”
“No nooners. No love muffins. So far, so good. Rule number three?”
“We shouldn’t advertise the fact that we had dinner tonight, or any other night. And we shouldn’t mention the kisses from before, either.”
“Damn it, I was planning on talking about that with the pressmen tomorrow.”
Miranda pursed her lips. “I’m serious. This doesn’t have to be a state secret, but we don’t need to advertise the fact that we’ve been on a date, either. At least, not until we know where this is or isn’t going.”

About Kristina:
     Once upon a time, Kristina Knight spent her days running from car crash to fire to meetings with local police--no, she wasn't a troublemaker, she was a journalist. Her career took her all over the United States, writing about everything from a serial killer's capture to the National Finals Rodeo. Along the way, she found her very own Knight in Shining Cowboy Boots and an abiding love for romance novels. And just like the characters from her favorite books, she's living her own happily ever after.
     Kristina writes sassy contemporary romance novels; her books have appeared on Kindle Best Seller Lists. She loves hearing from readers, so drop her a line!

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