What a Reckless Rogue Needs (32 page)

Dear Reader,

As most of you know, I love dogs. I have six of them. I see your eyes bugging out. Six?? Yes, six precious tiny Chihuahuas and all together they weight approximately twenty-seven pounds. I’ve had dogs my whole life—big ones, little ones. So it’s not surprising that I would want to write dogs into my books. This time I went big: 140 pounds of big.

In THE SEDUCTION OF MISS AMELIA BELL we meet Grendel, an Irish wolfhound mix, who along with our hero, Edmund MacGregor, wins the heart of our heroine, Amelia Bell. Grendel is the son of Aurelius, whom some of you might remember as the puppy Colin MacGregor gave to Edmund, his stepson, in
Conquered by a Highlander
. Since this series is called Highland Heirs, I figured why not include the family dog heirs as well?

I loved writing a dog as a secondary character, and Grendel is an important part of Edmund and Amelia’s story. Now, really, what’s better than a big, brawny, sexy Highlander? Right: a big, brawny, sexy Highlander with a dog. Or if you live in NYC, you can settle for a hunky guy playing with his dog in the park.

My six babies all have distinct personalities. For instance, Riley loves to bark and be an all-around pain in the neck. He’s high-strung and loves it. Layla, my biggest girl, must “mother” all the others. She keeps them in line with a soft growl and a lick to the eyeball. Liam, my tiny three-pound boy, isn’t sure if he’s Don Juan or Napoleon. He’ll drop and show you his package if you call him cute. They are all different and I wanted Grendel to have his own personality, too.

Much like his namesake, Grendel hates music and powdered periwigs. He’s faithful and loyal, and he loves to chase smaller things… like people. Even though Edmund is his master and Grendel does, of course, love him best, it doesn’t take Amelia long to win his heart, or for Grendel to win hers, and he soon finds himself following at her heels. Some of my favorite scenes involve the subtle interactions between Amelia and Grendel. This big, seemingly vicious dog is always close by when Amelia is sad or afraid. When things are going on all around them, Amelia just has to rest her hand on Grendel’s head and it completely calms her. We witness a partial transformation of ownership in the small, telltale ways Grendel remains ever constant at Amelia’s side.

Even when Grendel finds Gaza, his own love interest (hey, I’m a romance writer, what can I say?), he is still faithful to his human lady. We won’t get into doggy love, but suffice it to say, there will be plenty of furry heirs living in Camlochlin for a long time to come. They might not be the prettiest dogs in Skye, but they are the most loyal.

This was my first foray into writing a dog as a secondary character and I must say I fell in love with a big, slobbering mutt named after a fiend who killed men for singing. I wasn’t surprised that Grendel filled his place so well in Edmund and Amelia’s story. Each of my dogs does the same in mine and my kids’ stories. That’s what dogs do. They run headlong into our lives barking, tail wagging, sharing wet, sloppy kisses. They love us with an almost supernatural, unconditional love. And we love them back.

I hope you get a chance to pick up THE SEDUCTION OF MISS AMELIA BELL and meet Edmund and Amelia and, of course, Grendel.

Happy reading!

Dear Reader,

Years ago, I was walking to the local shops and, as usual, I had my headphones in. As I was walking, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s “You’ll Accomp’ny Me” came on and somehow, even having heard this song dozens and dozens of times before, the lyrics suddenly hit me.

This isn’t unusual. I have to be in a certain mood to absorb lyrics. But when I am, sometimes they’ll seep into my soul, making me smile, or making me cry.

“You’ll Accomp’ny Me” made me smile. It made me feel warm. And it made me feel happy because the lyrics are beautiful, the message of love and devotion is strong, the passion is palpable, and the way it’s written states that Bob definitely has Kristen Ashley alpha traits.

I loved it. I’ve always loved that song, but then I loved it even more. It was like one of my books in song form. How could I not love that?

At the time, however, I didn’t consider it for a book, not inspiring one or not to be used in a scene. For a long time, it was just mine, giving me that warm feeling and a smile on my face at the thought that there is musical proof out there that these men exist.

Better, they wield guitars.

Now, from the very moment I introduced Hop in
Motorcycle Man
, he intrigued me. And as we learned more about him in that book, my knowing why he was doing what he was doing, I knew he’d have to be redeemed in my readers’ eyes by sharing his whole story. I just didn’t know who was going to give him the kind of epic happy ending I felt he deserved.

Therefore, I didn’t know that Lanie would be the woman of his dreams. Truth be told, I didn’t even expect Lanie to have her own book. But her story as told in
Motorcycle Man
was just too heartbreaking to leave her hanging. I just had no idea what to do with her.

But I didn’t think a stylish, professional, accomplished “lady” and a biker would jibe, so I never considered these two together. Or, in fact, Lanie with any of the Chaos brothers at all.

That is, until this song came up on shuffle again and I knew that was how Hop would consider his relationship with Lanie. Even as she pushed him away due to her past, he’d do what he could to convince her that, someday, she’d accompany him.

I mean, just those words—how cool are they? “You’ll accompany me.” Brilliant.

But Bob, his Silver Bullet Band, and their music did quadruple duty in FIRE INSIDE. Not only did they give me “You’ll Accomp’ny Me,” which was the perfect way for Hop to express his feelings to Lanie; they also gave me Hop’s nickname for Lanie: “lady”.
And
they gave me “We’ve Got Tonight,” yet another perfect song to fit what was happening between Lanie and Hop. And last, the way Bob sings is also the way I hear Hop in my head.

I interweave music in my books all the time and my selections are always emotional and, to me, perfect.

But I’ve never had a song, or artist, so beautifully help me tell my tale than when I utilized the extraordinary storytelling abilities of Bob Seger in my novel FIRE INSIDE.

It’s a pleasure listening to his music.

It’s a gift to be inspired by it.