Part of Series
NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Kathryn Shay spent five years riding fire trucks with a large city fire department, eating in their firehouses and interviewing hundreds of America's Bravest. Read the firefighter romance novels that resulted from her intense relationship with firefighters! “Kathryn Shay loves firefighters, and if you didn't love them before, you'll love them after reading some of her books featuring firefighting heroes and heroines.” Judith Arnold, USA TODAY Bestselling Author When Beckett Sloan, a war veteran turned firefighter on the elite Rescue Squad in the Hidden Cove Fire Department, falls for Lela Allen, the ex-wife of a PTSD sufferer, their relationship is doomed. Beck also has the malady and it caused the breakup of his marriage and the estrangement of his son. Lela is divorcing her army husband because of his inability to manage his own post traumatic syndrome. And worse, PTSD has greatly affected their sons. Will fate keep these two apart or will their feelings triumph? With storylines for two other veterans, IT HAD TO BE YOU combines realistic firefighting and war scenes with heart-wrenching emotion. Reader Praise for IT HAD TO BE “Wow...Such a well written, emotional, heartbreaking read. I just loved it. I was hooked from the start by such wonderful and lovable characters...these characters broke my heart.” “I never realized the extent of PTSD and how horrible it would be to have this. You also got in the mind of the firefighters and what they feel and see during a fire. It was also a different romantic story than usual.” “I really appreciated the realistic and honest approach the author took. I also liked the emphasis on the children and their reactions to a parent's suffering. The secondary characters were equally believable. Ultimately, the courage and resolve of the families and victims of PTSD are the messages that carry through this story. Well done.” “I loved all the fireman books written by Kathryn Shay. The continuing stories were some of the best romance series I have read. Written like Susan Mallery and Robyn Carr.” “IT HAD TO BE YOU was so much more than I thought it was going to be. I LOVED Beck's character and I loved him with Lela but I could totally see both their sides about not being able to be together. Kathryn certainly put their relationship through the emotional ringer!!” Also Don’t miss the rest of the firefighter romance series AFTER THE FIRE, ON THE LINE, NOTHING MORE TO LOSE, AMERICA’S BRAVEST, CHASING THE FIRE, THE FIRE INSIDE
Author
Kathryn Shay is a lifelong writer. At fifteen, she penned her first 'romance,' a short story about a female newspaper reporter in New York City and her fight to make a name for herself in a world of male journalists - and with one hardheaded editor in particular. Looking back, Kathryn says she should have known then that writing was in her future. But as so often happens, fate sent her detouring down another path. Fully intending to pursue her dream of big city lights and success in the literary world, Kathryn took every creative writing class available at the small private women's college she attended in upstate New York. Instead, other dreams took precedence. She met and subsequently married a wonderful guy who'd attended a neighboring school, then completed her practice teaching, a requirement for the education degree she never intended to use. But says Kathryn, "I fell in love with teaching the first day I was up in front of a class, and knew I was meant to do that." Kathryn went on to build a successful career in the New York state school system, thoroughly enjoying her work with adolescents. But by the early 1990s, she'd again made room in her life for writing. It was then that she submitted her first manuscript to publishers and agents. Despite enduring two years of rejections, she persevered. And on a snowy December afternoon in 1994, Kathryn Shay sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance. Since that first sale, Kathryn has written twenty-one books for Harlequin, nine mainstream contemporary romances for the Berkley Publishing Group, and two online novellas, which Berkley then published in traditional print format. Kathryn has become known for her powerful characterizations - readers say they feel they know the people in her books - and her heart-wrenching, emotional writing (her favorite comments are that fans cried while reading her books or stayed up late to finish them). In testament to her skill, the author has won five RT BookClub Magazine Reviewers Choice Awards, three Holt Medallions, two Desert Quill Awards, the Golden Leaf Award, and several online accolades. Even in light of her writing success, that initial love of teaching never wavered for Kathryn. She finished out her teaching career in 2004, retiring from the same school where her career began. These days, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children. "My life is very full," she reports, "but very happy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to pursue and achieve my dreams."
