Dear Reader,

Welcome to the world of the Buchanans. This four book series is set in the beautiful city of Seattle, where high rises glimmer against a backdrop of mountains, ocean and forests that stretch nearly to heaven. 

There is still a pioneer spirit to be found here and it has changed your life. Seriously! Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks were born in this city.

It is a place were one can feel at home instantly, where rain gives way to incredible blue skies and a visit to the downtown Nordstrom’s takes one back to a time when shopping meant elegance.

But Seattle is more than great visuals and coffee. It is a place to eat amazing food and taste perfect wines. 

Over a meal so delicious it defies description, the idea for this series was born. I wanted to do something bigger, something bolder, something with a lot of wine in it!

I decided to write about a family that owns restaurants. Food is love in most worlds, as it is in mine. I liked the idea of the fast-paced business being a unique backdrop for my stories. 

The result is these four books. They are funny, sexy and heartwarming. My goal is to make you laugh, make you cry and make you want to visit Seattle. If you do, the Union Square Grill inspired Buchanan’s, and Kidd Valley (have one of their milkshakes, I beg you) made me want to have Burger Heaven in my book.

So here they are...the Buchanans.

Delicious (February 2006) – Cal’s book
Irresistible (July 2006) – Walker’s book
Sizzling (January 2007) – Reid’s book
Tempting (July 2007) – Dani’s book

Please, explore the web site. It’s lots of fun, and there’s plenty of information to be found. 

Happy Reading—

Buchanan History:

The Buchanan restaurant dynasty began modestly with Ian Buchanan selling seafood from a simple wooden cart in Seattle, WA, in the 1920s. He saved enough to open his first restaurant—The Waterfront—just before the stock market crash. 

For several years, he managed to hold the business together and when the economy finally took off, many wanted to celebrate at the popular restaurant.

Gloria Dawson grew up poor. One of seven children of a logger, she was determined to make something of her life. She left home at fifteen, lied about her age and got a job cleaning rooms in a downtown Seattle hotel. 

She read the papers, especially the financial section, and learned all she could about local businessmen. News about Ian Buchanan caught her eye. Successful, rich and much older, Ian was her ticket to the life she’d always wanted. At sixteen, Gloria became his mistress and at eighteen, she married his only son. Nine months and three days later, she gave birth to Ian’s first and only grandson, Franklin.

Gloria’s husband was weak. A drinker and womanizer, he had no interest in his wife, his child or the family business. But Gloria had enough interest and ambition for the both of them. She and Ian designed the next family restaurant and built it from the ground up. Buchanan’s became “the” steak house in Seattle. 

When Ian died, he left Gloria in charge of the family business. Gloria’s husband lost himself in drink and quickly followed his father to the grave. Gloria turned all of her considerable attention on her son.

Frank grew up in fear of his formidable mother. He became an expert at dodging her and her expectations. Gloria quickly realized that her dreams of a family dynasty were not to be realized through Frank, which meant she had to hang on for the next generation. 

Not willing to waste any time, she began searching for Frank’s wife when Frank was only seventeen. By the time her son was nineteen, she’d found the perfect candidate—a bright, pretty scholarship student who came from sturdy immigrant stock.

Gloria was a master at getting her way. She bullied Frank into proposing. Marsha Benton, only seventeen and very much in love with the apparently charming Frank, quickly accepted. 

Three grandsons followed in quick succession, with a daughter following a few years later. Gloria was careful to stay out of the newlyweds’ way for the first few years. But when the young family was established, Gloria moved in to take control.

Marsha found herself trying to protect her four children from the indifference of their alcoholic father and the bullying of their terrifying grandmother. She didn’t understand how her charming, fun husband could have changed so quickly. One minute he was her Prince Charming, the next he was emotionally distant and far more interested in getting drunk than having anything to do with her. Worse, Gloria was determined to get control of the children. 

But Marsha was a fiercely loving mother and she was willing to stand up to Gloria. Oh, but she was lonely. When a kind stranger helped her with her double stroller on a rainy Seattle afternoon, she couldn’t help responding to his smile. And when he invited her to coffee, she said yes. 

Three months later, she found herself in love with the stranger. Marsha knew the affair was wrong, but she couldn’t deny the joy that filled her heart when she was with him. Still, she did the right thing and broke off the affair. She had a family to think about.

But fate was not kind. Frank’s drinking finally killed him and not long after, Marsha lost her life in a traffic accident. 

At last Gloria had what she had always wanted—heirs to the Buchanan dynasty. Three fine boys and their sister.

She would rear the children and mold them. She would guide them to their destiny. The family’s restaurant chain consisted of four establishments—The Waterfront, a fine dining seafood restaurant on the site of the restaurant that started it all. Buchanan’s, an elegant, upscale steak house. Downtown Sports Bar, a trendy after-work hot spot, and Burger Heaven, a Mom and Pop burger place by the airport. One for each child.

But things didn’t work out the way Gloria planned. Her attempts to hold on to her grandchildren had her squeezing too tightly. They rebelled against the loss of their parents and their grandmother’s stranglehold. One by one the children grew up and left her. 

With each passing year, Gloria became more controlling, more determined to force them back into the fold. She would fail, of course. Marsha had passed on a strength of spirit that could not be broken, no matter how hard Gloria tried.