One part politics. One part yoga. One part ocean breezes. And all heart.

Politics was Ryan Williams' life. The ebb and flow of the campaign. The adrenaline of Election Day. The thrill of watching his candidates win time and time again. Then it all falls apart.

Maggie Roberson understands loss like few others. Widowed in her twenties, she has rebuilt her life in Del Mar, California, where she owns a yoga studio and practices along the water.

When Ryan and Maggie meet in a chance encounter, both recognize the spark between them. But can these two opposites move beyond their tragic pasts and find common ground?

If you like the character-driven narratives of Liane Moriarity and Mary Alice Monroe, you will love Where the Campaign Ends, a modern-day love story so real you will forget the characters are fictional.

Where did you come up with the idea for Where the Campaign Ends?

I've had different characters running through my brain forever. Then, one day at lunch, my wife asked her to write her a love story. I knew a traditional romance was not in my wheelhouse, so I decided to write in a direction I knew well.

You write about yoga realistically.

There's no real way to do justice to the practice of yoga unless you have practiced it, or at least tried to do it. My wife and I both were in yoga programs for about a year and I've kept up with it on and off since. But unless you've felt the joy that comes through pain fleeing in the midst of a challenging pose, it's hard to convey that experience.

You also write about politics realistically.

I spent a few years at the Arizona Legislature as a reporter, so those aspects of that world came easily. But I didn't want to spend too much time talking about politics since, especially these days, it's a turn off. So I set the structure to introduce Ryan to the reader and ran away relatively quickly.

Why Del Mar, California?

My wife and I were heading to California to see a mouse when she suggested we take a detour and spend a night by the ocean. She found the most adorable motel and, after one night there, I was hooked. We've been back several times since and love everything about it. The restaurants, the laid-back vibe and, most of all, a beach without the crowds of San Diego.

Have you been to the racetrack?

Actually, no. We've never been there during the racing season. But I couldn't set a book in Del Mar without at least one scene there, so I improvised. Thank you, Google.