A Goodreads user asked Holly Bargo:

What was your inspiration for Russian Lullaby & Russian Gold?

Holly Bargo I'd recently read Roxie Rivera;s books and liked them tremendously. I also read some absolutely horrible books and thought, "I can do better than that." A few nights of subconscious noodling brought forth Gia and Vitaly. I did not want to write a fanfic of Rivera's work; I wanted this to be original. Russian Lullaby was never intended to be a series starter. However, readers like you convinced me to write stories for Gia's two college roommates.

Each of the heroines,in these books is,a very distinct and separate personality. Gia has a mob tie through her grandfather. Cecily has none whatsoever. She's a typical, conservative, Midwestern farm girl for whom the mafia and such things are relegated to TV and movies. Latasha is different yet, an inner city girl who has seen the deleterious effect of street gangs upon her family.

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