Darlene Franklin – Fictional Romantic Interview – Part 1 of 2

Shannon here: Historical romance author, Darlene Franklin interviews her heroine from her latest release, A Bride’s Rogue in Roma, Texas. Comment on any post dated Sept 24 – 26th to get your name in the drawing for a copy. Deadline: Oct 6th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Darlene:

Interview with Blanche Lamar from A Bride’s Rogue in Roma, Texas by Darlene Franklin:

• What’s the number one quality you’d require in a mate?

Faith in Jesus Christ. That’s such a number one quality that I find myself shocked when I am drawn to our agnostic gambler.

• Where is the worst place you can think of to find a mate? 

Probably the place where God brought me—a riverboat! In the boat’s theater. I refuse to mention the gambling parlor.

• What type of character traits are you attracted to?

I’m not sure what type of character traits attracts me. My father abandoned my mother and me before I was born, and she was always warning me against men. I suspect I might look for a husband and end up with a strong father figure.

• If you could order a carbon copy of an actor with the perfect character traits and beliefs for your mate, who would it be?

Stepping out of character here, because this actor wasn’t born at the time of the story! But James Garner as Bret Maverick is the quintessential riverboat gambler. Maybe add in a bit of his character from the movie The Notebook for balance. 

• What would be the best gift a potential mate could buy for you?

Something beautiful and totally impractical, like flowers or chocolates. And that’s exactly what Ike gave me the first time he took me out to dinner.
About Darlene: Award-winning author and speaker Darlene Franklin lives in Oklahoma near her son’s family.
Darlene loves music, needlework, reading, and reality TV. She has published several titles with Barbour Publishing, including her two latest releases, A Bride’s Rogue in Roma, Texas, and Merry Christmas, With Love, in Postmark: Christmas. She has also written two books in the Texas Trails series with RiverNorth Fiction, Lone Star Trail and A Ranger’s Trail. She’s a member of Oklahoma City Christian Fiction Writers. 
About the book: A Bride’s Rogue in Roma, Texas
Love and faith collide in a RIVER OF DOUBT.  
Penniless and brokenhearted following her mother’s death, Blanche Lamar is surprised to receive a mysterious summons from a father she’s never met. Then ship purser Ike Gallagher informs her that her father, Captain J.O. Lamar, has died and left her the steamboat Cordelia as her inheritance.
In spite of her reservations about life aboard a steamboat and without other resources, Blanche agrees to travel downriver from Roma, Texas, and talk with her father’s lawyers. She soon discovers a different side to her father as she’s befriended by the curmudgeonly pilot, Old Obie. As Obie teaches her to pilot the steamboat, he also encourages her to trust her growing feelings toward Ike, something she’s resisting. 
But as circumstances conspire to tear Blanche and Ike apart, they must act on faith or sink an possibility of a future together.
Come back Sept 26th for more insight into Ike & Blanche’s romance.