What is there in my DNA that makes me, in middle-age, suddenly enjoy reading a good contemporary romance novel? There’s that word “good,” for starters. For the second time in a year—and despite being the antithesis of her target audience—I succumbed to reading a Jane Peden novel cover-to-cover with few, if any interruptions. JANE PEDEN podcast excerpt: "I think the Trump era will be a boon for romance novels because everyone wants to escape from everything that's going on in real life... All romance novels have one similarity: you know you're going to have a happy ending. If it doesn't have a happy-ever-after ending, it's not a romance novel." Her latest, The Millionaire’s Convenient Arrangement, is the second in her “Miami Lawyers” series, taking us inside the life of one of the high-flying attorneys in the fictional South Florida law firm of Flanagan, Berrington & Perez. It follows closely on the heels of The Millionaire’s Unexpected Proposal. Peden, herself a Florida trial lawyer, tells a fast-moving tale of people who feel real. Their public and private lives are challenged by issues with which most of us can identify, although their sex lives are probably a little hotter and more creative than most. Honestly, I liked Peden’s first novel so much, I published her second under the Mr. Media Books imprint. How’s that for commitment? This is her second appearance on Mr. Media. JANE PEDEN podcast excerpt: "People really like to watch TV shows about lawyers and read books about lawyers. That's because you're only seeing the exciting parts of all lives! So I try to keep the dull, boring stuff out of my books, too." Key interview moments: • 2:50 Lawyer by day, romance novelist by night Jane Peden explains the public's attraction to lawyers in fiction, TV and film; • 14:00 Peden compares writing her novels to giving birth; • 25:40 Thoughts on what the President Donald Trump era will mean to romance novels. Jane Peden  •  •  •