Joyce, a Berkley author, and I hadn't seen each other in a while, so she wanted to know all. "Cool title, Susan," she said as she sipped her rum and coke. "Primal Obsession. Romantic suspense, of course. What does the title mean?"

"Glad you like my title. Primal because the story takes place in the wilderness, in northern Maine on a canoe and camping trip. All of the main characters have an obsession. The Maine Guide hero Sam is a former pro baseball player with an injured hand. He's obsessed with proving he can be a success at something. The investigative reporter heroine Annie is obsessed with identifying the killer, dubbed the Hunter, who murdered her friend and several other women."

"Love it," said Joyce, also an author of romantic suspense. "It sounds full of conflict and tension. I may be afraid to ever go into the woods if I read this story. Just kidding. Tell me about the romance part of the story. Is Annie blown away by this hunky jock hero?"

I waggled my head as I pictured Sam. "Well, she knows he's sexy right away, but a bad experience with another pro athlete has made Annie consider jocks self-centered and arrogant jerks. She rebuffs Sam's flirting and teasing at first but he's hard to ignore for long. Sam wants Annie but has too many self doubts to think they could ever hook up."