It’s so much fun to have a romantic suspense author with us this week. Please help me to give a warm welcome to Laurie Wood. Before we jump in, here’s a little bit about her book Northern Deception.

After a savage attack in university, Kira Summers fled to northern Canada and her work as a polar bear scientist. When her brother dies in a mysterious car crash, she returns home to bury him and pack his belongings. Unaware she’s carrying evidence someone’s willing to kill for, she must rely on the one person she never thought she’d see again.

Lukas Tanner, a single father of a special need’s toddler, moved to Churchill five years ago. The owner of a wilderness tour company, he and his daughter lead a simple life. But when Kira comes crashing back into his world that’s over. Now, they must confront a merciless killer as their past and present collide in a deadly race against time.

That sounds fantastic! What inspired you to write the book?

I set my romantic suspense NORTHERN DECEPTION in a small sub-arctic Canadian town because polar bears are a Canadian icon. I loved researching Churchill, Manitoba, polar bears and the conservation efforts to preserve them.

But the main “story behind the story” is how my two main characters evolved as I wrote. I was a police officer in the mid-1980’s so I started with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer hero. I figured a “Mountie was also a Canadian icon and might hook an editor or agent’s attention.

I envisioned my heroine jumping up from a restaurant meal and walking out on the hero after he proposed to her. And I thought, what would make a woman do that? At that point, I didn’t have her as a polar bear scientist.  But once I came up with the “WHY” of her painful story, the “WHO” of the hero transformed.

He wasn’t a police officer anymore. He became a spoiled rich kid who’d had every advantage in life. A lifelong Christian who’d been raised with all the answers to life but hadn’t tested those “answers” until real life hit him in the face.

Before you say, “Well, HE doesn’t sound like much of a hero!” remember that heroes aren’t all alpha males who carry guns and can fight off three bad guys at once. Real heroes are the guys who learn from their mistakes. Who fall down and get up again even if they fall more than once.

So, why did my heroine not want to marry this guy in the first place? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out. She has her reasons: fear, shame, a huge secret. And when she ends up with something in her possession that other people are willing to kill her for, things take a dangerous and dark turn.

Laurie Wood is a military wife who’s lived across Canada. She and her husband have raised two wonderful children with Down Syndrome to adulthood, and their son and daughter are a wonderful blessing to their lives. Her family lives in central Canada with a menagerie of rescue dogs and cats. If the house were bigger, no doubt they’d have more.

Website:  https://www.lauriewoodauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauriewoodreadersgroup

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/LaurieJeanWood

Laurie is giving away an ebook copy to any North American winner. If you already have this book, she’ll be happy to send you her Christmas novella. To enter, follow the directions below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for joining us, Laurie!