WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Cate Beauman, Romantic Suspense Author

Cate Beauman, Author
REAGAN'S REDEMPTION, 8th book
The Bodyguards of L.A. County series

Welcome back, romantic-suspense author Cate Beauman who has just released REAGAN’S REDEMPTION, the eighth book in The Bodyguards of L.A. County series.

She features Reagan Rosner, physician—a profession requiring significant research by Beauman—who joins with her Ethan Cook Security bodyguard in Eastern Kentucky where they meet “a few mishaps.”

Beauman, who says she doesn’t “know how to tell a story that doesn’t weave romance and suspense together,” also appreciates  strong women, doses of humor, and protagonists with interesting careers. Reviewers of previous books in the series claim they have “a great balance of romance, action, and suspense” and that “the characters are developed very well and the story believable.”

When writing, Beauman MUST have music playing, and she creates a song list for each of her stories. You can see the REAGAN’S REDEMPTION list following her interview. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, their two boys, and St. Bernard’s, Bear and Jack.

See the giveaway opportunity following this interview.

Q: Your Bodyguards of LA County books incorporate some interesting backgrounds for your main characters. For REAGAN’S REDEMPTION, what drew you into the medical field? How much can you use a chosen occupation, such as doctor, to tell your story? Do you research a suitable occupation?

Cate Beauman: Since the men of Ethan Cooke Security are all close protection agents, I really like to give the heroines of each story eclectic careers. I think it’s important to the series as a whole to keep things fresh and exciting. For REAGAN’S REDEMPTION, it was vital that Reagan be a physician. The entire plot is driven by her work and the trouble she uncovers during one man’s physical examination.

Yes, yes and YES!! I research everything I write about. Authenticity is so important to a story. It’s hard for readers to get lost in an adventure if the facts don’t ring true. Sometimes I’ll skim over details if they don’t work for my plot, but I always try to keep things as reality-based as possible.

Q:  I believe REAGAN’S REDEMPTION is your 8^th Bodyguards of L.A. County book. How do you manage to keep each book fresh?

Cate Beauman: It’s really important to develop each character and their circumstances separate from the characters in the previous novels. Although the Bodyguards of L.A. County is a series, each book can technically be read on its own. That really allows me the freedom to “play” with each plot. There’s nothing from the novel before or after that rides on the current story I want to tell.

Q: Would you characterize the women in the Bodyguards of L.A. series as modern women? Independent? Or do they require a man in their lives in order to be successful? Likewise, are the men of the series “modern” men? Would they do the laundry or cook? Or do both men and women fulfill traditional roles?

Cate Beauman: I grew up in a single-parent household. There was never a “man’s work” or a “woman’s work,” there was just work. I myself am a strong, independent woman and expect nothing less from the characters I write. Men are not required to help these ladies through the trials and tribulations of their lives, but the Close Protection Agents of Ethan Cooke Security do offer a support system. All of the characters in the stories are facing some sort of crisis as each adventure unfolds. Often the men and women find themselves working together, growing and evolving to conquer their personal and external conflicts.

Q: I know you enjoy mixing suspense with romance in your stories. What other elements help engage readers? Does humor entice them? What about setting? Villains vs heroes? How important is credibility?

Cate Beauman: I honestly don’t know how to tell a story that doesn’t weave romance and suspense together. Both are vital to each story I share. I also believe that adding a good dose of humor and making each character as flawed and as human as you and me is paramount. No one wants to read about perfection because it doesn’t exist. If you have strong characters and a good plot the rest follows along.

Q: You typically provide a list of songs that you play while writing. How does music inspire you?  In general, do you think music jumpstarts creativity?

Cate Beauman: I can’t write without music. As I tell each story I get so excited when I hear the lyrics of a song that match perfectly with my characters’ situations. It’s motivation and validation that their story is exactly right. Music is vital to my career. I know some writers need complete silence to be creative but not this girl!

Q: What inspired REAGAN’S REDEMPTION?

Cate Beauman: I’ve wanted to tell Reagan and Shane’s story for quite a while now, but I kept putting it off, knowing where the weeks of research would take me. Reagan Rosner is a doctor, which is great for her but not so much for me as the writer. Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a hypochondriac who is afflicted with White Coat Syndrome. Typically, I stay as far away from anything “medical” as possible, but for Reagan’s Redemption I had to dig deep and conquer a personal demon or two. There were many days where I cringed, watching how-to videos on IV insertions and blood draws and hyperventilated my way through more than one resuscitation tutorial, but I did it, making Reagan’s character all the stronger for it.

After the days of dreadful research, I really knuckled down and got to work. I had so much fun with this story. Reagan is kind and dedicated and Shane extremely funny. This couple complements each other well, which is perfect because they’ll face more than their fair share of trouble in Black Bear Gap, Kentucky.

Q: I have to ask. Your bio says you have two St. Bernards. How do you manage? I assume they’re not lap dogs!

Cate Beauman: Jack, our one-year-old thinks he’s a lapdog! He’s more than happy to come and sit on us if we happen to be settled on the floor! I love our pups to pieces. They do drool quite a bit and eat A LOT, but they’re wonderful with the kids and are great protectors. I can’t imagine life without them.

About Cate Beauman

Cate currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, their two boys, and St. Bernard’s, Bear and Jack. She is the author of the best selling romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County.  Before her career as an author, Cate worked in special education for 12 years.

“I’m a pretty lucky girl; one day I woke up and my entire life changed. I saw the light, so to speak, and decided I was going to be a writer. Now, five years later, I’m working on my ninth novel, Answers For Julie, which I plan to release during the summer of 2015.  I remain so very grateful for the support and success that I have had.  Thank you!”  - Cate

About REAGAN’S REDEMPTION

Doctor Reagan Rosner loves her fast-paced life of practicing medicine in New York City’s busiest trauma center. Kind and confident, she’s taking her profession by storm—until a young girl’s accidental death leaves her shaken to her core. With her life a mess and her future uncertain, Reagan accepts a position as Head Physician for The Appalachia Project, an outreach program working with some of America’s poorest citizens. 

Shane Harper, Ethan Cooke Security’s newest team member, has been assigned a three-month stint deep in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, and he’s not too happy about it. Guarding a pill safe in the middle of nowhere is boring as hell, but when he gets a look at his new roommate, the gorgeous Doctor Rosner, things start looking up.

Shane and Reagan encounter more than a few mishaps as they struggle to gain the trust of a reluctant community. They’re just starting to make headway when a man’s routine checkup exposes troubling secrets the town will do anything to keep hidden—even if that means murder.

Excerpt

The front door opened and closed. “Shane?”

“Down here.”

Reagan hurried in, her eyes full of excitement. “How are things going?”

“Good. Faith is clean, eating, and will hopefully be sleeping in the next couple of minutes.”

“I can take a turn. I know I’ve been gone for awhile.”

He shook his head. “We’re fine. Looks like you’ve had a run today.”

She smiled. “Two patients—one ear infection and a strep throat.”

“Good stuff.”

She nodded, sitting on the edge of the mattress. “That’s not the best part. I was talking with Jodi, Josiah’s mother, about her gardens—trying to break the ice a little. She was telling me how she grows some of the best corn around but constantly has trouble with her beans. Apparently, Sue Anne’s family seems to have the opposite issue.” She swiped her hair behind her ear. “Anyway, while Jodi was talking, I got this idea. I was thinking we could organize an evening where families can get together here at the clinic and swap fruits and vegetables for a bigger variety of healthful foods—kind of like a farmer’s market. We can offer some simple snacks and drinks, and I’m hoping I might be able to throw in a few nutrition facts while we’re at it. There are so many kiddos with bad teeth. They’re drinking too much soda.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a plan. Go get ‘em, tiger.” He liked seeing her like this—her eyes bright, her hands punctuating certain words as they spilled from her mouth, caught up in her own enthusiasm.

“I will.” Her smile dimmed as she touched Faith’s toes peeking out from the blanket. “But I don’t know how many people will come.”

“So you won’t have standing-room only on your first try.”

She licked her lips. “They’re afraid.”

He frowned. “Who?”

“The people here. They’re frightened by either me or the clinic.”

“Why do you say that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. That was the sense I got when I spoke with Jenny’s mother and then again with Jodi.”

He remembered Mrs. Hendley’s weird spewings about heeding warnings and staying away, but she also seemed like a bit of a whack job. “I don’t know, Doc. When I look at you ‘intimidating’ isn’t exactly the first word that comes to mind.”

“Maybe not to you, but they were certainly uneasy. Maybe I’m trying to make sense of an unusual situation, but I don’t think so. Both women kept looking toward the trees, like they were being watched or something.” She shuddered. “It gave me the willies.”

“We’ll keep an eye on the situation, but things have been pretty low key so far.”

She nodded. “I just really want this to work. I can help this town if they’ll let me.”

The Unofficial REAGAN’S REDEMPTION Soundtrack

“Here are a few of the songs that I had on “repeat” while I created Reagan and Shane’s story!  You can listen to them on my website www.catebeauman.com.”

The soundtrack, of sorts, for Reagan’s Redemption:

·      Devil Town by Tony Lucca

·      So Easy by Phillip Phillips

·      Not A Bad Thing by Justin Timberlake

·      Science and Faith by The Script

·      Daylight by Maroon Five

·      Hazy by Rosi Golan ft. William Fitzimmons

·      Get Out by Casey Abrams

·      First Flight Home by Jake Miller

·      Human by Jon McLaughlin

·      Have A Little Faith In Me by Jewel

·      Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

·      Parachute by Train

Purchase Links

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REAGAN'S REDEMPTION Kindle

Barnesand Noble Author Page

Author Links

Twitter: @CateBeauman
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