We find a reason to believe in our keeper books

Today's featured authors: Toni Blake, author of All I Want Is You; Linda Francis Lee, author of The Glass Kitchen; and Tia Louise, author of One to Hold series. We're talking keeper books and movies that inspired our writing.

Toni Blake, author of All I Want Is You

Three books on my keeper shelves:

• Reason to Believe by Kathleen Eagle, in which the hero cheats on the heroine and in which Kathleen Eagle performs a writing miracle — because by the time you're done reading, you actually FORGIVE him! Like, REALLY forgive him, and believe in him. This book very much inspired MY book, Tempt Me Tonight, because I wanted to set up a similar writing challenge for myself. To this day, Tempt Me Tonight is a fan favorite, so I thank Kathleen Eagle for the inspiration. Plus, it's just a great book!

• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. Long before I wrote romance novels, I was a fan — and then became a friend — of Sherman Alexie. His lyrical prose, combined with a rare sense of depth, humor, and originality, touched me as I read this book, and moreover, it stirred my own creativity and made me struggle between whether to continue reading or stopping to go write something (hopefully) beautiful of my own.

• Manhunter by Jennifer Crusie. In 1995, a friend handed me this book and said I should be writing romance. I scoffed. Then I read the book. And after Jennifer Crusie showed me how smart, funny, sexy, and empowering romance could be, I never looked back.

Here's the blurb for All I Want Is You:

Paste BN bestselling contemporary romance author Toni Blake kicks off a brand-new heartwarming series set in the beachside town of Coral Cove.

Sometimes you have to create your own Destiny...

Christy Knight grew up in Destiny, Ohio, but lately she feels that her future lies elsewhere. Her parents are gone and the beautiful jewelry she creates doesn't pay the bills. Maybe it's time for Christy to grow up and find a guy who's smart, sexy, and solvent. Her rugged handyman neighbor fits the first two categories, but he's all wrong for her. If only he didn't have such captivating blue eyes.

Wary of trusting others, Jack DuVall hasn't been entirely honest with Christy. He's not really a handyman. He's not really broke. And sharing the long drive to visit her beloved grandpa isn't just about gallantry-he finds gorgeous, feisty Christy completely irresistible.

When secrets are exposed, Jack and Christy struggle to find their way back to each other, but the quirky seaside town of Coral Cove could prove the perfect place to find a red-hot destiny of their own.

Find out more at www.toniblake.com.

Linda Francis Lee, author of The Glass Kitchen

Three movies that have inspired my writing:

In every movie that speaks to me there is a singular moment that so clearly changes everything.

• In An Affair to Remember, it happens when Cary Grant walks into Deborah Kerr's apartment and sees the painting. Understanding comes to him instantly. You feel the gut punch as much as Cary Grant does up on the screen.

• In The Last of the Mohicans, when Daniel Day-Lewis says, "You stay alive, no matter what occurs. I will find you," you feel the intensity of the plot shifting. You know that Madeleine Stowe is no longer a headache to him, and he will do whatever it takes to find her.

• And in The Hunger Games, when Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her sister's place in the Games, you understand in that moment who she is as a person.

Here's the blurb for The Glass Kitchen:

Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan . . . and never cook again.

But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets Gabriel, a widowed father with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, and what seems so simple on the surface is anything but when secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream.

Find out more at www.lindafrancislee.com.

Tia Louise, author of One to Hold series

Three books on my keepers shelf:

• Tangled by Emma Chase. I love love LOVE a sexy hero who makes me laugh, and the humor in this book is wicked smart. Plus, it's always fun to see a sexy bad boy meet his match. I could read this one again and again.

• Truth by Aleatha Romig. This is the second book in my friend Aleatha's popular Consequences series, but it's always been my favorite. In the first book (Consequences), we see an abusive relationship at its worst. But in Truth, we see the main character evolve into a strong female we can get behind! Also, it's very steamy (rawr!).

• The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher. I love reading unique stories, and what a fantastic premise — your ex-boyfriend has amnesia and doesn't remember your breakup? Yet, we can't really trust this broken narrator. All in all, it's just a gorgeous, raw, emotional love story.

Here is the blurb for One to Protect (book three in the One to Hold series):

One scar.

One betrayal.

No escape.

When Sloan Reynolds beats criminal charges, Melissa Jones stops believing her wealthy, connected ex-husband will ever pay for what he did to her.

Derek Alexander can't accept that—a tiny silver scar won't let him forget, and as a leader in the security business, he is determined to get the man who hurt his fiancée.

Then the body of a former call girl turns up dead. She's the breakthrough Derek's been waiting for, the link to Sloan's sordid past he needs. But as usual, legal paths to justice have been covered up or erased.

Derek's ready to do whatever it takes to protect his family when his partner Patrick Knight devises a plan that changes everything.

It's a plan that involves breaking rules and taking a walk on the dark side. It goes against everything on which Alexander-Knight, LLC, is based.

And it's a plan Derek's more than ready to follow.

Find out more at www.facebook.com/AuthorTiaLouise.