Lorhainne Eckhart - Emotional Romances Surrounding One Family

With flawed strong characters, characters you can relate to, New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Lorhainne Eckhart writes the kind of books she wants to read. She is frequently a Top 100 bestselling author in multiple genres, and her second book ever published, The Forgotten Child, is no exception. With close to 900 reviews on Amazon, translated into German and French, this book was such a hit that the long-running Friessen Family series was born. Now with over sixty titles and multiple series under her belt her big family romance series are loved by fans worldwide. A recipient of the 2013, 2015 and 2016 Readers’ Favorite Award for Suspense and Romance, Lorhainne lives on the sunny west-coast Gulf Island of Salt Spring Island, is the mother of three, her oldest has autism and she is an advocate for never giving up on your dreams. As our Author of the Day, she tells us all about her boxset, The Friessens.

Please give us a short introduction to what The Friessens Book 1-5 is about.

The Friessens Books 1 – 5 is a 5 book box set of emotional romances, the Friessen family siblings find their relationships tested, lay their hearts on the line, and discover lasting love!

Tell us more about the Friessen family - who are they as a group of people?

The Friessen family is a family of three brothers, a cousin, and all their wives and children. Alpha males from a ranching family, they are the kind of men that stand by their families through thick and thin. Strong-minded, strong-willed. This has been a long-running series, which is now focusing on the next generation, the children who follow in their parents' footsteps.

You are a top 100 bestselling author in multiple genres. What, would you say, is the secret to your success?

Marketing, marketing, advertising and writing a new book a month. Seriously, it’s a lot of work to stay in front of mind now in a saturated market. But creating the Friessen Legacy Series, three brothers and a cousin a set of long-running big family romances touched something in my fans that they fell in love with this family, and have asked for this series not to end. But it’s not enough anymore to be a successful author. I had to learn how to make social media my best friend, answer emails from my fans, be on twitter, facebook and build a newsletter list. I offer a few of my older titles for free to give readers a taste of my writing. And of course, writing a new book a month.

How do the Friessens book tie in with one another? Can they be read as standalones?

All my books can be read as standalone, but as fans will tell you they prefer to read in series order. The Friessens now spans three different series, with over 44 books and short novella’s that follow the Friessen family and now the next generation.

Please give us three good-to-know facts about you?

I’m a morning person, love the peace and quiet of the country. Love the ocean and being on it, and an espresso machine because I can’t live without that first cup of Italian coffee in the morning.

Which of the books in this bundle is your personal favorite and why?

I love each of the books in this bundle, The Reunion, The Bloodline, The Promise, The Business Plan, The Decision, but if you ask what my all-time favorite is, I would have to say likely The Bloodline. There is just something about Andy and Laura, the dynamics of their relationship and how protective Andy has become of Laura.

How many books do you plan to write in this series?

The Friessen Legacy Series started with The Forgotten Child in The Outsider Series and was to end with The Wedding, but there was such a huge outcry from my fans that I continued the series with The Deadline, The Price to Love, A Different Kind of Love, A Vow of Love and then The Friessens continued with The Reunion, and now 30 books later there is no plans for this series to end.

Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do to combat it?

I just had this conversation this morning with family I was visiting across the country. Writer’s block for me is when there is an incredible amount of distraction and it pulls me from my writing, you know those everyday demands, house repairs, kids, anything where people are calling for my attention. What happens then is it pulls from my creativity and I shut down. So I’ve learned to minimize distractions, I have my writing time and I’ve had to really put my foot down with others I’m not available in the mornings, or for weeks when I’m writing. I try to schedule everything that needs to be taken care of when I’m done a book and will take a few days just to take care of what personal stuff that could be vying for my attention and take care of loose ends that could turn into something if not taken care of.

What are you working on right now?

Currently, I’m working on a brand new Friessen Family novel Long Past Dawn, which is Andy and Laura Friessens daughter Sara and her love interest Devon, a man who’d saved her from a brutal attack.

Two years ago, Sara Friessen’s life was changed forever when a young man from the wrong side of the tracks saved her from a brutal assault. To her, he is brilliant, her savior, the man she plans to marry and spend her life with, the only man she has ever given a piece of her heart.

But to Devon Reed, Sara is the girl he shouldn’t love. No matter how much he tries, Devon, now a young law student, believes he isn’t the kind of guy who should be with the daughter of Andy Friessen.

As he sets out to find justice for a mother who abandoned him when he was a child, struggling to undo a wrong and set the record straight, his life begins to unravel, and he finds more questions than answers. The ultimate cost could be his relationship with Sara, the love they have, and the future they planned together, which seems to be slipping away.