Dear Reader,
There are two things in this world that I love almost as much as dark chocolate. One of them is a striking pair of blue eyes framed by thick black lashes, with equally dark hair just long enough for a woman’s fingers to run through… Excuse me for a moment while I compose myself.
And the other is fried pie.
Okay, I just threw that last part in as an FYI. But what I’m really doing is tucking that useless tidbit away for a future project. That’s just how my weird mind works, folks.
But in all seriousness, while I really do love a blueeyed man, even more than that I love a wounded soul. Because I love to fix things. In my books. In real life I kind of suck at it.
Way back when I first started writing the Trouble series, as was kicked off with
Yes, I’m talking about a wounded heroine. I know that sounds kind of strange. Most romance readers love a scarred hero who gets his butt kicked into shape by some head-strong Miss Fix-It. Not that I don’t love that also. But I also knew
Lacy Taylor needed her own story with her own hero. And not only her own hero, but one with an extra tough brand of love that could break through her well-built defense mechanisms.
But make no mistake. Lacy Taylor isn’t as much of a tough cookie as she’d like everyone to think. Oh, no. She has a much softer side that only Chase McDermott could bring to the surface. Of course, she tries to keep Chase at arm’s length like everyone else in her life. But he’s too good for her defenses. Too good-looking. Too loosehipped. Too quick with his melt-your-bones smile. Not to mention his blue eyes. Gotta have those baby blues.
But Chase underestimates Lacy’s power. And I’m not talking about her tough-girl attitude. Never in Chase’s years as an adult would he have expected Lacy Taylor to get under his skin so quickly. Not only that, but nothing could have prepared him for his reaction to it.
Or to her.
You see, Chase and Lacy have known each other for a long time. And that’s another one of my weaknesses—childhood crushes turned steamy love stories. And Chase and Lacy can cook up steam faster than a drop of water on hot pavement. But it wasn’t always like that for these two. You see, Lacy blew out of Trouble years earlier, and after that Chase hardly gave the tough blonde a second thought.
But then she comes back. Now
Mostly because Lacy had to all but beg Chase for a job, which, in Lacy’s opinion, was almost as painful as a bikini wax. So then they’re working together. Seeing each other often. Subtle brushes here and there… you get the picture.
It gets hot.
But the most fun part is seeing how these two wear each other down. Lacy thinks she’s so tough, and Chase thinks he can charm the habit off a nun. Well, actually he probably could.
Needless to say, heads butt, tempers flare, and the clothes, they go a-flying.
But which of these comes first? It’s all in HERE COMES TROUBLE. Because every woman needs some Trouble in her life.
Especially the blue-eyed kind.
Steamy readin’,
Dear Reader,
History has always been my thing.
Boring? Never! I’ve always viewed the subject as a colorful, dynamic puzzle of moving pieces, fascinating to analyze and relive, in whatever way possible. I used to have a history professor who often raised the question, “What if?”
For example, what if Ragnar Lodbrok and his naughty horde of Vikings had decided that they adored farming, so instead of setting off to maraud the coast of England in search adventure and riches, they had just stayed home? How might that omission from history have changed the face of England?
And jumping forward a few centuries: What if historical bad boy Henry VIII had not had such poor impulse control, and had instead just behaved himself? What if he’d tried harder to be faithful to Catherine? What if he’d never taken a shine to Anne Boleyn? There wouldn’t have been an Elizabeth I. How might this have changed the path of history?
At the heart of history, of course, are people and personalities and motivations.
Just like Vane Barwick, the Duke of Claxton, and his estranged wife, the duchess Sophia, who stand on the precipice of a forever sort of good-bye. Though the earlier days of their marriage were marked by passion and bliss, so much has happened since, and on this cold, dark night, understanding and forgiveness seem impossible.
Of course, in NEVER DESIRE A DUKE, the “what if?” is a much simpler question, in that the outcome will not change the course of nations.
Hmm. Now that I’ve forced that difficult question upon us, I realize I don’t want to imagine such an alternate ending to Vane and Sophia’s love story. Being snowbound with someone gorgeous and intriguing and desirable and, yes, provoking, is such a delicious fantasy.
Well… thankfully, dear reader, there was!
Hugs and Happy Reading,
www.lilydalton.com
Twitter@LilyDalton
Facebook.com
Dear Reader,
So there I was, sitting in my office in the middle of a heat wave, staring at a blank page waiting for inspiration to strike. I typed Chapter One. Nothing. Nada.
And the problem wasn’t that I was writing a Christmas story in the middle of July. I had the air conditioner cranked up, holiday music playing in the background, a pine-scented candle burning, and a supply of Hammond’s chocolate-filled peppermint candy canes on my desk. FYI, best candy canes ever!
No, the problem was my heroine, Madison Lane. I didn’t get her, and honestly, I was afraid I wasn’t going to like her very much. Because really, who doesn’t love Christmas and small towns? At that point, I was thinking of changing the title from
