I may have already mentioned that my February book, Able-Bodied, is part of a 12-book miniseries called Uniformly Hot, where each month features a hero from a different branch of the military. My hero, Ransom Bennett aka Mr. February, is a Delta Force operator. His character had been demanding to have his story told for more than a year, and all the time I was writing the book, I could picture him clearly in my imagination. So when Harlequin sent me the cover for Able-Bodied, I just about fell off my chair.

It was him! My hero! Every heart-stoppingly gorgeous inch of him was exactly as I'd envisioned.

Maybe it's wrong, but I consider this cover model to be Delta Operator Ransom Bennett. My Ransom Bennett. My guy.

Mine.

He and I have a relationship, where I write his story and he lures my readers in with his sexy expression and killer abs. I don't mind that other women find him attractive, so long as they're admiring him on my cover. I've had female readers write to me, telling me that they can't get Ransom out of their heads, and how can they find an upstairs neighbor like him? Am I jealous? Absolutely not, because I know that in the end, he still belongs to me.

So imagine my surprise when, on February 22nd, I walked into my local bookstore and found my book had been pulled from the shelves and replaced with the March books. Worse, I picked up a copy of the March Uniformly Hot book, Always Ready by Joanne Rock, and who do I see on the cover? None other than my own hero! Realistically, I knew this might happen, but I never expected to find my guy cheating on me so soon! I mean, our relationship was technically still on-going. It was still February! How dare he show up on bookstore shelves, on the cover of another woman's book, while he should still be promoting my story!

Has he done this before? I mean, I wouldn't expect to be his first (after all, he's a gorgeous, healthy, all-American male), but I thought we really had something. I thought maybe I'd be his last. So to find him cavorting on another woman's cover--without any warning to me, and so soon after our own relationship had begun--well, it was a little disconcerting.

So I'm saying good-bye to Mr. February. But just remember, Joanne Rock, that he might be yours this month, but don't be surprised if he pulls the same stunt with you that he did with me. A guy like him is bound to show up on other covers...and although it will pain me to acknowledge that he's no longer mine, I'll look forward to each mouth-watering appearance!