AccessRomance interviews author Katherine Garbera.

AR: Let's start with your new Brava release, BODY HEAT. What is it about?

Katherine: Andi O’Rourke is a small town fire chief who is very competent at her job and comfortable bossing around her mainly men-only crew, but when she meets Tucker Fields she has absolutely no idea how to handle him. He refuses to follow orders or to view her as just one of the guys.

AR: The heroine of this story is a fire chief. What made you decide to write a heroine with such an unusual occupation?

Katherine: I’d read an article in LIFETIME magazine about a female fire chief (at the time there were only 37 in the U.S.) and I thought, how cool is that?! The fire fighting community welcomes women in their ranks now, but it’s a physically tough job, and there are still more men than women in the field.

AR: What else can you tell us about this novel? Is there a story behind the story?

Katherine: Not really much of a story behind the story... once I had the idea for Andi I decided to use her occupation as a source of her internal conflict. I made it so that she was totally comfortable being one of the guys until she meets Tuck who knows she’s not a guy and refuses to treat her like one. I set the story in Auburndale, Florida, where I went to high school. It’s a nice small town in central Florida.

AR: Your new Desire series, What Happens In Vegas, is currently being released as well. Could you give us a quick summary of what these books are about and how they're connected?

Katherine: The books are all connected by the heroes—they are all friends from way back and by the hotel they stay in...The Chimera. Hayden MacKenzie in His Wedding-Night Wager owns the Chimera. Scott Rivers from Her High-Stakes Affair is in a reality TV poker tournament that’s being filmed at the Chimera, and Max Williams comes to the Chimera to unwind when a business deal is going to hell. Each of the stories have a Vegas angle, quickie wedding, outrageous bet, high-stakes romance.

AR: Why did you choose to set these books in Las Vegas? Which idea came to you first--the location or the characters?

Katherine: I think the dichotomy of Vegas is fascinating. It’s this place where you can get anything you want if you’re willing to pay for it, and yet at the same time it’s total fantasy. I started with the location first and then used the location to create the characters. I wanted to play up the differences in Vegas when you have money and are on a winning streak as opposed to being poor or desperate to get money.

AR: How do you usually decide on the settings for your stories? Do you ever pick locations you've lived in or visited before?

Katherine: I pick a place that fits the characters. I tend to pick places I’ve visited enough to feel comfortable using the setting. I’m a native Floridian so I like to use Florida for a setting. It’s important to me that people realize there’s more to Florida than beaches and theme parks. I also like California. My husband and I both feel like we’re destined to end up there one day! I’ve set books in the South where I’ve traveled a lot and in Chicago where I lived for 18 months.

AR: Do you prefer writing locations you're familiar with or those you have to research?

Katherine: I like both. I just finished a book that’s set in Charleston. I’ve only been to the area once but it left such a strong impression on me. I had to do a lot more research for the book, but I knew the mood I wanted to capture with that setting.

AR: And finally, you have another Bombshell book coming out in June. What can you tell us about this story?

Katherine: EXCLUSIVE, my June Bombshell release, is a sequel to EXPOSED. It’s part of the Athena Force series and features the same heroine Tory Patton and hero Ben Forsythe as the first book. The story is set in the high-pressure world of 24 hour news and involves terrorists and kidnapping. It was a lot of fun to write!!

AR: Thanks for answering our questions!

Katherine: You’re welcome!