You might not know this but I can see the search engine terms entered that lead people to my site. Some are pretty amusing (AKA today’s search for “well hung cowboys”, some are bizarre (last week’s search for “covered parking structures”), some make me angry (I won’t list those here) and some are valid questions that I’ll be happy to answer such as the search for “do Trey and Carly ever go back in Cat Johnson’s books”. Yes, they do!

Below I tackle your burning questions regarding the Red, Hot & Blue series (originally released by Linden Bay Romance) currently rereleasing through Samhain Publishing. In addition to the questions answered below, there are more on the page for JARED and on the page for the SERIES READING ORDER.

Q: Do we see Trey and Carly (TREY RHB #1) again in future books in the series?

A: YES! They both appear again in JACK (RHB #2) and Trey is seen in JIMMY (RHB #3). When I get around to reworking the currently out of print stories for the Commander, Bull and Matt, all the guys will appear again.

Q: Will the stories in the Red, Hot and Blue series ever be in paperback?

A: YES again! TREY, JACK and JIMMY will be bundled and sold in the trade paperback RED BLOODED. I don’t have a release date yet but here’s the cover.

Q: Are there more RHB stories?

A: Yes, including three full length novels: A FEW GOOD MEN (releasing June 2012), MODEL SOLDIER and A PRINCE AMONG MEN.

Q: What happens with the reality show after the end of JARED? ARe you leaving us hanging?

A: No. I would never do that. What you need to realize is the Red, Hot & Blue stories were never meant to be separated. They were written and published originally in 2006-7 as a series of trilogies. So Trey, Jack and Jimmy’s stories were meant to be read together, in one book, in succession, immediately one after the other. And so were the three stories about the filming of the reality show in Pigeon Hollow which begins with Jared’s book, and continues seamlessly through Cole’s and then Bobby’s story. Do the stories suffer from being released individually with months separating them? Yes, I think they do, and reader comments on sites such as Amazon prove it. Do they feel incomplete when read separately. I’m afraid though the individual story’s plots and romances are tied up by the end of each story, the larger over-arcing plot is incomplete for the first two of the three in each trilogy.  I believe the stories are far stronger together than apart, that’s how I wrote them to be read, but it’s not my decision to make and I am grateful they are being bundled as they were meant to be, even if it is a year after eRelease.

Q: Who the hell is Cole? I don’t remember seeing him in the previous books in the series.

A: Remember sexy Deputy Bobby from JARED? Remember Bobby and Jared discussing Bobby’s sister Lizzie? Cole is the love of Lizzie’s life. He’s been gone for ten years but now, a famous pro-baseball pitcher, he’s back, and the filming of the reality show during his homecoming and reunion with Lizzie proves to be a big thorn in all of their sides. I just got the cover art for Cole (releasing in eBook this December).

As I said, there are more answers to questions regarding the RHB series on the Series Reading Order page, and I will continue to update that page as I get new contracts and release dates for the series. Thanks for being fans of the series. Thanks for understanding my dilemma as an author as I delicately navigate decisions made by my publisher. Most importantly thank you for not bashing the separated RHB stories in reader comments because of it.