The Twisted Oak by Sarah Hadley Brook

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Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

I write in the MM Romance genre for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve always found it more natural to write from the male perspective. I’m not sure why, but it’s the way I’ve written since I was a child.

Secondly, I credit my uncle. Damon was the fun uncle, the one I adored. Watching the love between he and his partner is what taught me about unconditional love. He was open about his relationship and who he was, even when he was diagnosed with AIDS and lost his job. He wasn’t going to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. He taught me you stand up for what’s right and treat everyone with respect. Everyone. When he passed away, I felt like we lost a light in this world. But I tried to live by what he taught me and put love out into the world.

What research is required?

With The Twisted Oak, I did a lot of research on cattle, small towns, and ranches. I created a fictional small town called Ruby, Wyoming and tried to fill it with colorful characters. I wanted Ruby to reflect a close-knit town, with a touch of nostalgia.

When writing, I create a Pinterest board, which really helps me with research. I am a very visual person, so seeing examples always helps me.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

As I was writing this, the character Wade developed and changed from being afraid of showing his feelings to just going all in on love. He realizes that love is what makes us stronger!

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I guess I’m pretty boring! Although I do like having my rainbow Snoopy on my desk.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

I’m a bit of both, although I’m leaning more toward a pantser. I used to write out an outline and try to follow it, but I realized that my characters didn’t necessarily follow the plan and I would end up writing something completely different. Now I tend to write the first few chapters and get a better feel for my characters before laying out an outline. Even then, I allow myself the flexibility of changing it.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

Hmm, well, since I’m at my day job, writing while on a break, I have an office phone, stapler, pictures of my sons and grandson, a picture of Captain Janeway pinned to the wall and a Snoopy calendar. Oh, and a Diet Coke!

Anything new coming up from you? What?

I’m working on the sequel to The Twisted Oak right now. I also hope to have a holiday novella out in December.

Wonderful! Do come back to see us then! Do you have a question for our readers?

Would love to know what your readers think makes a hero in a romance! Sex appeal? Loyalty? Strength? Intelligence? What do you look for in a main character?

Wade Dwyer's life is turned upside down when his father dies and he learns he must marry or he and his siblings will lose the ranch. One last jab of the knife from his father. On top of that, his father's only friend knows about the stipulation and is determined to own the property by any means necessary.

He's facing the very real possibility of being the reason his family loses their home when his brother's best friend, Lance Matthews, offers to walk down the aisle with him. A faux marriage to the man he's loved for years is a torture he isn't sure he can endure.

Can he keep the ranch ... and the man of his dreams, too?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Over an hour later, covered in dirt and grime and smelling like cattle, Wade walked through the back door into the kitchen and was immediately met by a furious Allyson.

“What the hell? Do you know people are already arriving? The wedding starts in fifteen minutes, Wade.” She stood in his way, her hand on her waist. Her purple dress clung to her small frame, ending just above her knees, and Wade couldn’t help think that Casey was a lucky man. Allyson was beautiful in a wholesome, girl-next-door kind of way. Her auburn hair, more red than orange, hung down in ringlets around her shoulders. Her cornflower blue eyes sparked with anger as he met her gaze and he wanted to take a step back, but refused to cower to someone standing barely over five feet.

“Well?”

He lost the battle and took that step back. It didn’t matter. She took a step forward.

“Cattle got out. I texted,” he explained, his eyes flitting around the kitchen. Something smelled really good, like apples and cinnamon, and his stomach rumbled. He was starving.

“Lance and Casey have already brought everything over from Lance’s and they’ve dressed for the wedding,” she accused, pointing a finger at him. “You know you could have let Charlie handle this.”

His hackles up, he straightened and looked her in the eye. “He’s got some people fixing the fence right now, but no, I needed to handle this. Milton Randle tried to steal some of our cattle. A Dwyer needed to be there.”

Her shoulders sagged a little and she let out a huff. “Fine, but you owe Lance an apology. He thinks you don’t want to do this.”

Wade stared at her. “It’s a fake wedding. Of course I don’t want to do this.”

She pressed her lips into a thin line and looked at him hard. “Go get ready, Wade. And you better think about what you just said. This man is uprooting his life to ensure you and your brothers can keep your land. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never known anyone that kind. Have you?”

No. Definitely not. Properly chagrined, he nodded. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am.”

Wade smiled. She may not be married to his brother yet, but she was already part of the family.

“What?” she asked, obviously not quite ready to let go of the mad.

“Casey’s lucky.”

She blushed and shook her hair. “Right again. Now go get ready. You’ve got maybe ten minutes, tops. Your suit is laid out in Casey’s room. Use his shower—your room is a mess with the move right now. I’ll stall for as long as I can, but you make sure you look and smell good when you come downstairs.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied and watched her turn on her heels and leave the kitchen, mumbling something under her breath—something that sounded suspiciously like “idiot,” but he didn’t have time to dwell. He took the back stairs two at a time.

About the Author:Sarah Hadley Brook lives smack-dab in the middle of the Heartland and is the mother of two wonderful young men, as well as two cats. During the day, she works in the non-profit world, but reserves evenings for her hobby-turned-passion of writing, letting the characters she conjures up in her mind take the lead and show her where the story will go. When not working or writing, she can be found reading, working on dollhouses, trying her hand at new recipes, or watching old movies and musicals. In her ideal world, Christmas would come at least twice a year, Rock Hudson and Doris Day would have co-starred in more than three movies, and chocolate would be a daily necessity to live. She dreams of traveling to Scotland some day and visiting the places her ancestors lived. Sarah believes in “Happily Ever After” and strives to ensure her characters find their own happiness in love and life.

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