Tag Archives: Raven’s Cove

Dani Collins talks about the final installment of her Raven’s Cove series.

Welcome back to Raven’s Cove

The third and final book, Wanting a Family Man, releases today. Hooray! 

The release of a final book in a series is always bittersweet. I’m so happy you can finally enjoy the full scope of Raven’s Cove. This book ties everything into a beautiful bow so there’s a wonderful sense of satisfaction in that for both of us. 

But it’s hard for me to let go of this special place. If you’ve been following along, you know that these books set in the wild Central Coast of British Columbia have been very personal to me. 

My Auntie Honey was the first to encourage me to visit my cousin, Lorne, who worked in the real-life village that inspirated this fly-in fishing resort and marina. The character of Art was based loosely on my grandfather, “Grampy”. And in this third book, Trystan’s mother carries the trace memories I have of my grandmother’s sister, Auntie Jen. 

So what is this final story about? Well, it’s youngest brother Trystan’s turn to find his true love. He’s a loner by nature and by trade—he has a successful wilderness survival series and needs to get back to filming it. For the rest of the summer, however, he’s running whale-watching tours and helping his brothers look after their baby half-sister, Storm. 

The one thing the Fraser brothers have dreaded since taking custody of Storm is a visit by Storm’s aunt. They don’t know much about her except that she’s been in trouble with the law. They fear she’ll sue them for custody. 

So of course Cloe turns up! She’s broke and still grieving the loss of her sister, unable to take custody, but she’s determined to ensure her niece is well cared for. She longs for a relationship with her only living relative. 

The Fraser brothers are tough sons of guns, but they can’t turn her away. As they contemplate what to do with Cloe, Trystan gets roped into offering her work on the whale-watching tours—which is one of the biggest reasons you should read this book. You get a virtual cruise in one of the most beautiful places on earth! 

Cloe is cute and funny and orphaned and broke. Trystan is strong and protective and wry and rich in family if a little bit broke himself right now. Cloe works for him so he absolutely must keep his hands off her, but that turns out to be a challenge for both of them. 

They agree that a summer fling could be their little secret, but like their hands, they struggle to keep their hearts to themselves. Soon things are tangled as a gillnet on a snag. But maybe that’s exactly what will keep them from drifting apart? 

If you’ve been visiting Raven’s Cove all summer, I hope you’ll come back for this final installment. If you haven’t visited yet, you don’t need to read the books in order, but you’ll probably enjoy it more if you do. 

Then please share your thoughts with me. I can’t wait to hear how you like Wanting a Family Man.

If you like to read in order, all three books are now available:

Book 1: Marrying the Nanny

Book 2: Forgiving Her First Love

Book 3: Wanting a Family Man 

Here’s what early reviewers are saying about Wanting a Family Man:

“A good romance that will make your heart happy.” ~ Kathy, Goodreads

And

The family dynamics and storyline just pulled me in.” ~ Donnajo, Goodreads

Want to start reading Wanting a Family Man? Read the first two chapters here


About the Author.

Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. While she is best known for writing contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule Publishing, she also writes historical and erotic romance. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. Dani is married to her high school sweetheart. They’re empty-nesters living in Southern BC, Canada.

I limit my time on social media, but you can find updates on my books here: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X.

Nine new romances to ring in our October releases at Tule!

GIVEAWAY: Because who doesn’t love FREE books?

We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the October romance releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected and announced at the end of the month.

Good luck and happy reading!


Check out our new romance releases for October!

Wanting a Family Man by Dani Collins
Raven’s Cove, Book 3
American Heart | Releases: Oct. 1, 2024


The Cowboy’s Christmas Wish by Kristine Lynn
The Marshall Brothers of Texas, Book 3
Texas Born | Releases: Oct. 3, 2024


Texas Cowboy Flame by Rebecca Crowley
The Stars of Texas, Book 4
Texas Born | Releases: Oct. 10, 2024


Christmas with the Texas Cowboy by Sinclair Jayne
The Texas Wolf Brothers, Book 4
Texas Born | Releases: Oct. 16, 2024


Last Christmas Crush by Mia Heintzelman
The Fortemani Family, Book 3
American Heart | Releases: Oct. 17, 2024


The Raven’s Lady by Kate Moore
The Duke’s Men, Book 2
Muse | Releases: Oct. 21, 2024


A Cowboy’s Pursuit by Anne McAllister
Cowboy, Come Home, Book 5
Montana Born | Releases: Oct. 22, 2024


Made for Mistletoe by Nan Reinhardt
The Walkers of River’s Edge, Book 3
American Heart | Releases: Oct. 24, 2024


Wish Upon A Christmas Star by Elle Douglas
The McCarthy Sisters, Book 1 (Novella)
Holiday | Releases: Oct. 29, 2024

Dani Collins shares her Raven’s Cove characters most likely to…

Whether you’ve started my Raven’s Cove trilogy yet or not, with the release of Book Two, Forgiving Her First Love, I thought you might enjoy getting to know some of the characters you’ll meet in these books by way of a ‘most likely to’ scenario. Here goes:

Most likely to steal every heart? Storm is the adorable baby who brings the three estranged Fraser brothers back to Raven’s Cove, their father’s fly-in fishing resort in BC’s central coast. She’s not yet a year and I promise she’ll steal your heart, too.

Most likely to tell someone where they can stick their heart? Sophie would really only say that to Logan, the middle Fraser brother. She’s mad. She loved him her whole life, had a fling with him after graduating high school, then he left Raven’s Cove without her, breaking her heart. 

Most likely to grovel for an entire book? Okay, maybe it’s not the whole book, but Logan figures out pretty quickly that he messed up. The night Storm has a fever and Sophie helps him is a turning point. He starts to realize exactly how unforgivable his actions were and knows he has a long way to go just to earn her friendship again. 

Most likely to win your heart by saying something goofy? Sophie’s son, Biyen, is eight. He loves dinosaurs. He is relentlessly cheerful and he is not Logan’s son, but Logan sure wishes he was. (This author may or may not have wanted to punish Logan for taking Sophie for granted.) 

Most likely to get excited about a free meal? Sophie’s grandfather Art is modeled very loosely on my maternal grandfather who absolutely loved a free meal. It is a family joke that he would always show up if invited and would always leave as soon as he’d eaten.

Most likely to keep the three feral Fraser brothers in line by making them work together? The brothers have different mothers, but Logan’s mother Glenda did her best to turn them into a family when they were under her roof. To keep them from fighting, she put them to work. She’s diabolical that way. 

Most likely to plot his life on a spreadsheet? Reid is the eldest. His mother had mental health issues so he is not comfortable in chaos. See Book One, Marrying the Nanny, where he learns babies are agents of chaos, but falls in love with Storm (and Emma) anyway. 

Most likely to tell Logan he reminds her of her ex? Ouch, right? Emma had her work cut out for her when Storm is orphaned and three grumpy bears show up. In Marrying the Nanny, she falls for Reid, but she learns to love Logan and Trystan like brothers. She loves them more than her real brother, if you want the truth. He’s a real turd. 

Most likely to develop millions of fans while living in the woods alone? Trystan is the youngest Fraser brother and a midlist celebrity for his wilderness survival series. He comes across as the brother who actually has his act together, but wait until you get inside his head in Book Three, Wanting a Family Man. Things aren’t exactly as they seem with him. 

Most likely to cause everyone distress until they actually meet her? This is a tiny *spoiler* so skip it if you want to, but Cloe is Storm’s aunt. She looms as an unknown quantity and therefor a threat to the men’s custody of their baby sister. Then she turns up in Wanting a Family Man and she isn’t what they expected. She is Storm’s family, however, so they have to make room for her. Lucky Trystan, the loner, has to make room on his boat for her. 

Most likely to want to visit Raven’s Cove in real life? You! Fun fact, you technically can because Raven’s Cove is loosely based on a real place. Look up Denny Island, BC. It’s hard to get to, though. Visiting within the pages of these books is probably cheaper and easier. 

Forgiving Her First Love 

They have a past they’d both rather forget…

When Logan Fraser arrives to save the marina she manages, Sophie Peterson is skeptical that she can count on him. She spent her childhood crushing on Logan, and they even had a brief affair when he came back to Raven’s Cove the summer she graduated high school, but he left again, breaking her heart.

Logan escaped Raven’s Cove to design luxury yachts. He was done with the relentless rain and a childhood of feeling responsible for other people’s unhappiness. His mother stuck out her difficult marriage for Logan’s sake, even when his father had yet another affair. By the time Sophie looked to Logan for happiness, he knew it was every man for himself.

Now Logan’s profligate father has died, leaving him an orphaned sister and a financial mess that demands a Herculean effort with his estranged brothers to resolve. He needs Sophie’s help, but her priorities are her son, grandfather and sanity. Still, she needs the job, but she’ll never trust Logan again.


About the Author.

Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. While she is best known for writing contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule Publishing, she also writes historical and erotic romance. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. Dani lives in Southern BC, Canada with her high school sweetheart husband.

Tule Author Q&A: Dani Collins shares some tips and advice for writers leading up to her latest Tule release!

Tule Author Dani Collins stopped by the Tule Blog leading up to her upcoming release of Forgiving Her First Love, book two in her Raven’s Cove romance series for Tule.

Can you share the story of your journey to becoming an award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author? What does that mean to you? The journey starts when I was in high school. I found romance and wondered how you got a job writing those books. I rented a typewriter when I was twenty-one (yes, I’m that old!) and quickly discovered writing is hard. Also, rejection sucks. 

I submitted to every publisher I could find for 25 years and sold in 2012 to Harlequin Presents. Coincidentally, that’s about the time Tule Publishing was born. I feel very blessed to have started out my published career surrounded by the many amazing authors and fabulously supportive team at Tule. 

As far as what it means to me? It’s genuinely a dream come true. I spent many a dull hour at a boring day job dreaming of one day being a fulltime author and here I am. The awards and bestseller status are wonderful, but I’m most grateful that I get to write every day, see my stories get turned into books, then hear from the readers who love them. It’s incredible. 

You’ve written a wide range of romance sub-genres. What inspires you to explore such diverse themes and settings in your novels? When I was chasing my first sale, I tried every new market that came along. I’ve always read nearly any type of romance so it was always fun to try writing something different—a ghost, erotic romance, a romcom or a medieval fantasy. 

Once I began publishing, I found that writing the more grounded emotions of Marietta was a nice change-up from writing the glitz and billionaires of Presents. It exercises different storytelling muscles and keeps each type of story feeling fresh. 

You’ve written rancher romance for Tule’s Montana Born imprint, what do you enjoy most about this genre of cowboys and ranchers and how does it resonate with your small-town roots? I’ve lived small town most of my life so it just feels like home. I love neighborly chats when you bump into someone at the grocery store and I adore the lighthearted gossip that is not mean-spirited, but more like keeping up with family. I love the sense of belonging and community that always shines through in the Montana Born books. 

How do you create such compelling and relatable characters across your books? Do you have any particular methods or inspirations for character development? I don’t do a ton of preparations, but I always write 3-4 paragraphs about the character that lists their baggage. Eg. Three years younger than Logan, Sophie was in love with him from the moment he picked up her dropped sweater and brushed off the grass. … At eighteen, she followed him to the ferry slip, bag packed, but he made clear he wouldn’t take her with him. He didn’t want to marry her. He had bigger plans. (Forgiving Her First Love, Raven’s Cove Book 2, July 16, 2024)

It’s less about hard details, more about identifying the layers that will drive the character through the story. They are chasing or avoiding something. Why? What hole in their soul are they trying to fill? 

I know it’s tough to pick a favorite, but do you have a favorite genre to write? I always include some humor in my books. Lately I’m leaning into that more and more and loving it. 

How does living in Canada with your high school sweetheart and two children influence your writing? Do any real-life experiences sneak into your stories? My Raven’s Cove trilogy is a love letter to my roots on the Westcoast of Canada. My dad and both of my grandfathers were commercial salmon fishermen. Raven’s Cove is based on a real place where my cousin lived and worked as a tugboat operator for twenty years. By the time I got to book three where Trystan’s mother is canning peaches, I was channeling my grandmother. These three books are deeply influenced by my life. 

I don’t consciously draw on specific memories of our family life. Our kids are grown and thriving, living with their own spouses. Doug and I are trying to get some travel in before they start having grandkids so I’m constantly looking at where we can go that I might set a book. 

What did it feel like to win your first writing award and achieve USA Today Bestselling status? The award was for one of my very first books so imposter syndrome hit me pretty hard. I thought they’d made a mistake! Of course, it’s wonderful to win and see that bestseller tag, but I try not to get too hung up on accolades or reviews and focus instead on the things that I can control like which book to write next. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a writer, and what have been some of the most rewarding aspects of your career so far? The biggest challenge by far was persevering through twenty-five years of rejection. Perimenopause was no picnic, either. We lost my mom in 2021 and, at first, I wrote to escape the grief, but that eventually caught up to me. I went through a period of struggle, counselling helped, and now I’m in a really good place. 

The rewards are endless. I marvel over the fact I get to invent people and situations and worlds for a living. I love when a story takes me down a rabbit-hole of learning something new. I love when an editor reads my book and gets what I’m trying to say and is as excited for the story as I am. I love, love, love when I get a note from a reader who says something in my story resonated with them. To me, that’s pure magic. 

What advice would you give to aspiring romance writers who are just starting out? Are there any specific tips for writing across multiple genres?

Tips for New Writers:

You learn how to write a book by writing a book. Workshops and craft books can be helpful, but they offer tools and you learn how to use those tools by actually writing. You learn to find your voice by trusting your instincts. Accept that your first book probably won’t come out the way you hoped and just write it. 

Also writing is rewriting. I know authors who spew out an ugly first draft then do massive revisions. Other authors essentially turn out a finished manuscript in one go without ever looking back. I fall somewhere in the middle, preferring to fix and polish as I go. You have to write a few books before you discover your process. Just keep writing.

Finally, the writing is yours. Embrace the joy of creating! No one can ever take that away from you. Publishing is a business. If you choose to publish, there may be rejection and compromise and bad reviews. Always remember they’re two different things and keep writing.

Tip on writing multiple subgenres:

It’s worth considering different pen names. Aside from one project, I’ve always used my own name. Readers know that I deliver sexy, humorous books with complex emotion. I always trusted that they could figure out and decide for themselves whether they were in the mood for a particular subgenre. 

However, algorithms are not as smart as readers. Marketing has become very complicated. If I was starting my career today, I might consider using different names for different subgenres. Might. I’m just saying it’s worth some deliberation.

Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming projects? What can your readers look forward to next from you? I am *so* excited for Forgiving Her First Love, which is coming out on July 16th. It’s Book Two in my Raven’s Cove trilogy, which had a working title of Three Men and a Baby on an Island. 

That pretty much sums up the concept for these books. You don’t need to read the first book, Marrying the Nanny, but you’ll probably want to. 

In Forgiving Her First Love, Logan has come back to Raven’s Cove with his two half-brothers to look after their orphaned, infant sister and rescue their father’s fly-in fishing resort from bankruptcy. The men oversee different portions of the operation. Logan’s purview is the marina, where Sofie is the manager. 

Sofie loved Logan her whole life, until they had a week-long fling when she was eighteen. Then he rejected her, leaving her on the ferry slip. She promptly went out and made some mistakes—not that you will ever catch her calling her son a mistake—but now she’s focused on being a mother. Logan can take a long walk off a short pier as far as she’s concerned. 

Here’s a peek at exactly how mad she is at him. Logan has just asked her about her relationship with her son’s father. He’s hurt that she went straight from giving him her virginity to having a baby with someone else:

~

“Since when did you bring home men from the bar?” Logan’s brows crashed together.

“That smells a lot like judgment when I know for a fact that at nineteen, you spent your weekends in the bar, picking up girls. Trystan told me that’s what you told him you were doing when I asked him if you were enjoying university. Sauce for the goose.”

Trying is the operative word,” Logan said through his teeth. 

Trystan had been trying to help her shake off her long and useless crush. She had not appreciated him for it. 

“Either way, I’m guessing that behavior continued more or less nonstop until you got the call that Wilf was gone and had to leave your condoms on your yacht while you moved in with your brothers. So I’ll say a polite f-you to you and your double standards.” She rose. “What did you want me to do, Logan? Sit here and pine for you some more?”

“No.” His jaw was locked, his mouth grim. “I’m saying it seems out of character to the woman I knew.”

The one who had saved herself for him. As if he had ever really known her or cared one way or another what she did. 

“I was getting over you, Logan.” Screw him and his stirring up of all her old baggage. Now her tortured, angry emotions were leaking everywhere, especially out of her mouth. “I had an empty hookup with a stranger because I thought that’s how I deserved to be treated. Because that’s how you treated me.” 

“Sophie.” He pressed back in his chair with shock.

“I hate you for the way you treated me,” she spat, letting the poison squeeze out at last. “But I hate myself more for allowing it. For spending so many years waiting for you. For not seeing that you never actually cared about me.” 

“That is not true.” He shot to his feet. “I have always cared about you.” 

“You didn’t care about anyone but yourself! But I don’t care about that. I’m furious with myself because I treated myself badly. I punished myself for being stupid over you, and I wound up derailing my future. That’s not your fault. I did that to myself.” She tapped her breastbone where it was throbbing as though fractured all the way through. “But I won’t do it again, Logan. I won’t do this.” She motioned between them. “I won’t have cozy chats with you where I share my feelings and you convince me I matter. Never again. Understand?”

He stood very still, fists clenched as though he were withstanding something unbearable. 

“We work together. For Storm’s sake, I’ll help you with her if you need it. Stay in my house and wash my dishes and give Gramps a laugh. He needs it. But we both know you’re leaving as soon as you can. We are not friends. We never were and we never will be.” 

BONUS: What is one book that you would consider to be your comfort read that you will always reach for? I’m going to say Pride and Prejudice, but it’s my comfort *watch*. The Colin Firth version. I watch it at least once a year.

Summer Romance Releases for Hot July Summertime Reads (Plus a Giveaway!).

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the July romance releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected and announced at the end of the month.

Check out our new romance releases for July!

Summer Heat: A Sexy, Steamy Summer Romance Anthology
Texas Forged by Eve Gaddy | Hot Mess by Amy Andrews | Nursing the Flame by Shelli Stevens | Her Texas Ex by Katherine Garbera |Strictly Off Limits by Stella Holt | Catch Me by Michele Arris
Release Date: July 2, 2024

Rumors, Ruin and the Duke by Karla Kratovil
The Lost Lords, Book 1
July 11, 2024

Forgiving Her First Love by Dani Collins
Raven’s Cove, Book 2
July 16, 2024

One Lucky Cowboy by Kristine Lynn
Marshall Brothers Ranching, Book 2
July 23, 2024

Hot, Hard and Impossible Cowboys: Anthology
Most Dangerous Cowboy by Megan Crane, A Doctor for the Cowboy by Amy Andrews, The Cowboy’s Redemption by Paula Altenburg, The Rebel and the Cowboy by Sarah Mayberry, Her Cowboy Baby Daddy by Jeannie Watt, The Cowboy Doctor by Leah Vale
July 29, 2024

Sworn to Defend by Charlee James
Sworn Navy SEALs, Book 3
July 30, 2024

Bear’s Heart by Jane Porter
The Calhouns & Campbells of Cold Canyon Ranch, book 2
July 31

A Fictional Place Close to Author Dani Collins’ Heart: MARRYING THE NANNY RELEASE DAY

My real-life connection to fictional Raven’s Cove began when my Auntie Honey, my mom’s sister, showed me photos from her visit to the tiny village called Shearwater on remote Denny Island. It’s situated in the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia’s central coast and her son, my cousin Lorne, worked there for over twenty years. 

There was something very nostalgic for me in Auntie Honey’s photos. My father and both grandfathers had been commercial salmon fishermen who had stopped there as they sailed north to fish. I immediately smelled the salty breeze and the evergreens and the specific earthy-damp that permeates the air from constant rain. I was hooked (pun intended). I had to set a book there. 

My husband and I decided to visit. Getting there involved flying to nearby Bella Bella, taking a shuttle to the wharf, then climbing on a water taxi to cross the strait to Denny Island. After that, you rattled your luggage up the ramp, across the graveled frontage road, and into the beautiful, rustic lodge. 

 

The village itself had everything you need, but only one of everything: a grocery store that doubles as liquor store and post office, a pub/restaurant, a hardware store, a laundromat and a gift shop that sold housewares. There was even a mill and an airstrip, but the dominant feature was the full-service marina, since there was nowhere else to get your boat repaired within a day’s sail. 

It was perfect

I had been noodling a Three Men and a Baby take-off, one with three half-brothers who are estranged and must collectively take custody of their infant half-sister. This fly-in location where the brothers must rely on each other while they rescue the resort was a great way to add pressure. 

I called it Raven’s Cove and started working on their back stories, which included a complicated relationship with their profligate father and his recent making of yet another baby with yet another woman. Reid, the eldest, had a particularly sticky relationship with his father and swore to never go back to Raven’s Cove again. Good luck with that, Reid!

When it came to his heroine, I reached for another memory from my youth, when our neighbor hired a nanny from New Zealand. Back then, I didn’t know much about the country except that they called gumboots ‘wellies,’ (but I became intrigued enough that I’ve since visited NZ twice.) 

I made Emma a Kiwi. She’s escaping her painful divorce and takes the first job she can get—nanny to a May-December couple in Raven’s Cove. She’s caring for their baby, Storm, when the couple’s small plane goes down. 

Enter the three bears—Reid, Logan and Trystan. They’re willing to work together on repairing Raven’s Cove so it can be sold and provide Storm an inheritance, but they treat their baby sister like a hot potato. Emma loves Storm and wishes she could keep her, but how? 

Practical-minded Reid sees the ideal solution in Marrying the Nanny, but Emma promised herself she would only marry for love next time. Is her love for Storm enough? Or could they turn a marriage of convenience into something more?

Book your trip to Raven’s Cove today with Marrying the Nanny. Then look for:

Book Two: Forgiving Her First Love, July 16, 2024

Book Three: Wanting a Family Man, Oct 1, 2024 (Coming to the Tule site soon!)


About the Author.

Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. While she is best known for writing contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule Publishing, she also writes historical and erotic romance. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. Dani lives in Southern BC, Canada with her high school sweetheart husband.

Author links:  Website Facebook X  |  Instagram TikTok BookBub Amazon Goodreads Linktr.ee