I grew up in farm country, in the Midwest. One of my favorite summer activities was picking blackberries, raspberries and black raspberries with my family. We used to have competitions to see who could get the fullest bucket—and avoid the spiders and ants and chiggers that lived in those wonderful bushes. When we got the berries home, we cleaned and froze most of them for use during the cold winter months. But we also made blackberry jam, and my favorite--blackberry cobbler.

I've added my favorite recipe for blackberry cobbler to my recipe page. Click here to check it out. You can also download a recipe card.

Dear Reader,

During the eighteen years my husband and I and the kids lived in Austin, Texas, it snowed only twice—and melted the next day in both cases. So you can imagine our excitement our first winter in North Carolina, when we learned a major snowstorm was on the way. Unfortunately we couldn’t have been less prepared. We had no rock salt or sand for the sidewalks, no shovel to clear them and perilously few supplies.

Gamely, we ran out to get milk, bread and a bag of rock salt. (We didn’t get a shovel because we didn’t really think we’d need one.) We put our eldest daughter on a plane back to college. And settled in with our other two children, for a “few inches” of snow.

Those “few inches” turned into a record-breaking blizzard delivered in three separate back-to-back storms that closed schools and businesses for a week. During that time, as my family and I struggled to dig our way out of the driveway with a garden shovel, a hoe, a rake and other assorted garden tools, I found myself doing plenty of daydreaming. What if a runaway bride, a schoolteacher on a fieldtrip and a young mother with her baby got stranded in a snowstorm, at the worst possible times, in the best possible places, with the men of their dreams? The result: Three new romantic comedies— SNOWBOUND BRIDE, HOT CHOCOLATE HONEYMOON and SNOW BABY.

Since then, there have been other storms, and other series—the famous McCabes of Texas, among them. But every time we do get back- to- back winter storms in North Carolina, I think about the stories I wrote that might not ever have come to fruition had it not been for all that snow, sleet, and ice. And the beautiful winter days that followed, when thanks to the still-bad-roads and mountains of accumulation, everything was still at a standstill. I hope you enjoy reading all three books in my trilogy, BRIDES, BABIES & BLIZZARDS, as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Best wishes, always. And stay warm!
Cathy Gillen Thacker

Dear Reader,

I’m delighted to announce Harlequin has reissued two of my most popular romantic comedies in e-book format.

MISS CHARLOTTE SURRENDERS is set on a lovely southern estate that has been in Charlotte Langston’s family for generations. It’s up to Charlotte to save the family home from foreclosure, and bring the lovely old mansion back to life. The main thing standing in her way? The hot new caretaker—who seems a lot more adept at seducing her, than helping out in any practical way…. READ EXCERPT

HONEYMOON FOR HIRE takes place in picturesque Connecticut. Dillon Gallagher hires Hayley Alexander to cook and clean for him in the white elephant he has just purchased as an investment. It’s the ideal set-up for the confirmed bachelor and feisty widow. Hayley can have her baby with her while she fixes up the neglected Colonial, on Dillon’s dime. Dillon can assuage his secret guilt. At the end of the year, Hayley will have enough money saved to buy the newly transformed dream home for herself and her baby daughter. Neither count on the neighborhood gossip that soon forces them to marry. Never mind the intimacy of such close quarters…. READ EXCERPT

Happy reading!
Cathy Gillen Thacker

Out Today! A Proposal at Christmas, a 2-for-1 containing classic holiday romances. One by Leanne Banks, A Maverick for Christmas. And my contribution is A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe from my TEXAS LEGACIES: THE MCCABES series. Click here to read an excerpt.

Dear Reader, We’ve all found ourselves in a mess of our making and wanted nothing more than to run away and leave all the trouble behind. This is exactly what happens to Magnolia McCabe. She and her twin sister Calla have always done everything together. So when it comes time to get married, Maggie and Callie want a double wedding. They spend months planning the romantic ceremony. Not until the very last minute does Maggie realize that she’s thought much more about the wedding, than the marriage. And that’s a problem, a big one.

Ex-soldier Hart Sanders is on hand that day to help his folks out with their wedding business. Restless to the bone, he has always chafed at life in rural Texas. And he absolutely detests the diva drama that often accompanies weddings. So when he’s forced to chase runaway bride Maggie McCabe into the woods atop Sanders Mountain, the only thing he feels is aggravation. Until they come face to face with each other. And then a very different kind of drama starts.

I had tons of fun writing this story. It’s the first of a six book series called McCabe Multiples. (About the six daughters of Drs. Jackson and Lacey Buchanon-McCabe. A set of twins, triplets, and the only daughter of a single birth. All of whom have baby fever…!).

For information on this and other McCabe/Laramie Texas stories, please visit me on Facebook, and at www.cathygillenthacker.com.

Happy reading!
Cathy Gillen Thacker

Available in just a few days, A Family Man, is a special release containing two of my classic cowboy stories in one book. Part of Harlequin's Cowboys and Babies Collection.

Dear Reader,

Life would be pretty boring if nothing ever altered. On the other hand, unexpected change often causes havoc in our personal and professional lives.

Such is the case for environmental engineer Rand McCabe and wildcatter Ginger Rollins. Neither plan to marry any time soon. Never mind live in a honeymoon cottage with each other for the rest of the year! Yet unexpected circumstances quickly force them to do both.

And there the fun begins. Ginger vows sharing quarters with the sexy McCabe heartthrob will not alter her feelings or feisty, independent outlook in the slightest. For her, it’s business first, last, and always. The family-oriented Rand wants their relationship to grow into something much more satisfying, but only if the maddeningly elusive Ginger will let down her guard, and open up her heart.

Neither Ginger nor Rand understand that when life changes, they must change, too. For more information on this and other books, please visit me at www.cathygillenthacker.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

Best wishes, and happy reading!

Cathy Gillen Thacker