Cari BlakeCari Blake is a former firefighter and EMT turned emergency room nurse, with a weakness for strong coffee, stubborn heroines, and fiery love stories with a pulse. After years of witnessing chaos, heartbreak, and moments of raw humanity in the ER, she started writing the kind of stories she wished she saw more of: honest, hopeful romances grounded in the real world.She never planned to be an author-until her husband (also an ER nurse and an aspiring sci-fi writer) tried to write a romance scene for his novel. It... wasn't great. When he jokingly challenged her to "do better," she did. Much better. The result became Under Southern Stars, Book One of her Code Blue Hearts series.When she's not writing or saving lives, Cari is usually drinking strong coffee, wrangling family life, or walking with her loyal sidekick, Sunny the dog. Every story she writes is a promise: heat, heart, and a happy ending worth believing in. Read More Read Less