Bending the Rules » (Original)

Susan Andersen grew up in a house filled with testosterone...and things haven't changed. Still in the minority in her own home, she's surrounded by her high-school sweetheart, her son and all-male pets.

According to Andersen, who grew up in Seattle, having two older brothers was a mixed blessing. "When anybody messed with me, my brothers were always quick with an offer to beat them up. That was sorta nice, although I personally believe it had more to do with the fact that guys just like to fight than with any towering concern for my welfare. You might think that's cynical, but guess who the target was if no one else was around and they were tired of fighting each other? I must've spent half my childhood locked in the bathroom, screaming, 'Dad's gonna get you when he gets home.' I know, nobody likes a stoolie. But it was either that or have my block knocked off on a regular basis, and trust me, Daddy was the best deterrent going."

Andersen started writing books later in life. "I wrote bits and pieces all my life, but I never really felt as if I had the life experience to string an entire book together until I turned 30," she said. When her son was young, a friend suggested series romances to Andersen and from that point on, she was hooked. She never intended to be a writer. "I actually wanted to be a dental assistant. I went to college to learn the craft, only to discover that as employers, I didn't like 99% of the dentists I worked for," Andersen admits.

Given her early training in dealing with men, she was a natural at the dynamics and pitfalls of the male/female experience. Susan's first novel, Shadow Dance, hit shelvesin1989. She reached bestseller lists with her book Baby, I'm Yours, which went on to be named one of Romance Writers of America's Top 10 Favorite Books of 1998 and also won the Romantic Times magazine Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Contemporary Romance of 1998. Susan has gone on to have her books appear repeatedly on the New York Times extended list. Today she continues to write stories where the guy gets the girl, as long as he's willing to bend a little.

While Hot & Bothered is her first novel for MIRA Books, Susan has published a total of 14 novels. Her fast-paced story lines, wry humor and edgy writing style have consistently placed her books on both the mass market charts and on bestseller lists including the New York Times extended, USA TODAY.. She currently lives in the Seattle with her husband.

Tall, dark and intense, Detective Jason de Sanges excites all kinds of fantasies in Poppy Calloway. But when she suggests the three teens caught spray-painting a Seattle neighborhood be given art-related community service and he just wants to see them pay—all bets are off.

With the men in his family always in and out of the slammer, Jase was raised in foster care. He knows what it takes to walk the line. And his number one self-imposed rule? Avoid his hunger for sexy, irresistible Poppy, who challenges him on everything. But it's a vow that's getting harder and harder to keep.…

Publishers Weekly

Anderson (Cutting Loose) creates a sexy, feel-good contemporary romance starring down-to-earth Seattle artist Poppy Calloway and handsome but rigid police detective Jason de Sanges. When three teenagers are caught defacing some neighborhood stores, Poppy suggests they clean up their mess and replace it with a mural. Jase, vexed by beautiful and unpretentious Poppy, scoffs at the mural idea, but his higherups agree to it and put him in charge of the teens. Poppy and Jase have met previously and seem perpetually at odds, but they can't deny sharing a visceral and intense chemistry. After some suspicious accidents, Jase leaps to protect the woman he once dismissed as "a damn bleeding-heart liberal." Palpable escalating sexual tension between the pair, a dangerous criminal on the loose and a cast of well-developed secondary characters make this a winner. (July)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.