smuggling operation Project
Gemstone and she comes head-tohead with its founder, [Lena’s exfiancé] dark, mysterious Lucas
Ramone.
Do you have a favorite character in
the series?
I really do love all of my
characters equally but if I had to
pick a favorite I’d have to say Alec
Westwood. I really dug deep into
Lena’s psyche while I was writing
Dangerous Proposal, imagining the
man I’d want to meet were I in her
shoes. Alec is handsome,
charming, and he’s so funny! I still
laugh whenever I re-read his
dialogue, even though I’ve read
each of the books that he appears
in about a million times. I really
enjoyed writing scenes with Alec
in Dangerous Secret, because I got
to explore how he would have been
a few years prior to meeting Lena.
He’s a wise-guy, always confident,
and a ladies’ man through and
through. **Minor spoiler alert**
Having Alec pursue Abigail a little
bit and consequently push all of
Ryan’s buttons was one of my
favorite things to write about in
Dangerous Secret!
What comes first–characters or
plot ideas?
Character and plot are pretty much
simultaneous for me, but I
definitely work the plot out before
fully understanding my characters.
I plot out every story with an
outline before writing it, so my
focus at the beginning is on the
overall storyline, and not so much
on the smaller details. One thing I
do make myself do is to name the
characters as quickly as possible,
the hero and heroine in particular.
This gives me an idea of how to
visualize them, and to hear their
voices in my head as I go about
plotting their storyline in my
outline.
What motivates your main
characters?
In Dangerous Secret, protagonist
Abigail MacKenzie is strongly
motivated by her love for her
father and wanting to get him
justice for his murder. When she
learns that her father’s witness has
also been murdered and that the
shooting took place in the hotel
where she is going to be working,
she vows to do whatever it takes to
learn whether there is a connection
between the murders and bring her
father’s killer to justice.
After being laid off from his
previous job, Ryan Newberry is
desperate to hold onto his new
position at the Washington Valley
Hotel. But when mysterious clues
begin to show up in his new place
of employment, the very same
clues he believes he was fired for
discovering last time, he realizes
he must solve the mystery of the
hotel murders or else risk being
blacklisted for good this time.
When Ryan sees that his front desk
associate, the sweet pretty girl who
is quickly getting under his skin,
Abigail MacKenzie, is interested in
solving this mystery herself, he
realizes he must protect Abigail,
the way he failed to protect his
sister Rachel from a tragic
accident.
What is the central conflict in this
new release and how does it differ
from the previous books in the
series?
Central to Dangerous Secret’s
conflict, is not only who killed
Abigail’s father, John MacKenzie,
but why they did it. As Dangerous
Secret is the first book in the
series, we don’t yet know about the
secret criminal organization
Project Gemstone, which we later
learn that heroes Alec Westwood,
Colin Westwood and Lucas
Ramone have all been involved in,
in some way. It’s a mystery, and
Abigail and Ryan are each
desperate to solve that mystery for
different reasons. In the other 3
stories, we essentially know
Alec’s, Colin’s and Lucas’s
involvement with Project
Gemstone and we are dealing with
the aftermath of those heroes’ past
mistakes. Whereas in Dangerous
Secret, both hero in heroine are in
the dark as to what is the cause of
their surrounding danger.
What is your favorite aspect about
being a novelist?
I love being a novelist, more
specifically a romance novelist,
because I get to think about
romance all of the time. I’ve
always imagined how it will be
when I meet “the one” and I’ve
come to realize I’m very good at
imagining different ways that this
might happen for various people.
Throw in a bit of danger, and I
absolutely love coming up with
unique ways for couples to meet
and fall in love.
What draws you to this particular
genre?
Romance is at the core of who I
am. I never get tired of thinking
about it!
Are there any other genres you can
see yourself writing and why/why
not?