Duets: double trouble or twice the fun?

by Michelle Douglas

Gentle reader, I know you’ve heard I have a duet out during July and August as I’ve been shouting it from the rooftops for months now. :-)

July: Her Irresistible Protector
August: The Rebel and the Heiress

The thing is, though, I never set out to write a duet. I sent a proposal to my editor for Her Irresistible Protector with an the off-the-cuff comment of, “It’d be fun to write Rick’s story next.” Rick being a secondary character in the story. Well, now…apparently this was the best idea I’d ever had and could I write it in a month? Uh, no.

So I thought I’d share some of the behind-the-scenes titbits that led to the creation of my duet.

As mentioned, I couldn’t meet the deadline for Her Irresistible Protector and then write the second book in a month. I mean I wasn’t even sure what Rick’s story was yet…I just wanted him to have one. So we jiggled my schedule a bit and I wrote a different book first -- Road Trip With the Eligible Bachelor if you wanted to know -- and then I dove into the duet.

In the first version of Her Irresistible Protector I had the climactic scene at the end of the novel occurring in Chapter 8. My editor asked me to rearrange the last 3 chapters so the story ended with that climactic scene instead. It was a lot of work, but in hindsight I’m grateful for the advice. I think it works much better.

Tash, the heroine of Book 1. is really angry at the beginning of the book. I was worried she might be too angry and alienate the reader. So I toned it down. The revision suggestion that made my heart sing was when my editor asked me to ramp that anger up. So I did. :)

The Rebel and the Heiress challenged me to stretch myself. You see there’s a family mystery in the shape of a treasure hunt that needs to be solved. Initially I was intimidated. How could I create halfway decent clues—believable clues and ooh-what’s-going-to-happen-next clues that would keep readers on the edge of their seats? I’m not a mystery writer. Reciting, “I am a goddess” over and over, I sat down one afternoon and created said clues. From then on the book wrote itself. It was a gift of a book. The revisions were ludicrously light. I loved writing that book.

And some fun facts:

* I originally wrote Her Irresistible Protector as a novella in some down time when I was between books. I was playing with the novella form. Unsuccessfully as it happens as these characters needed a full-length book. :-)

* I always have a theme song for my books. For Her Irresistible Protector it’s the Crowded House song “Don’t Dream it’s Over.” For The Rebel and the Heiress it’s Martika’s “Toy Soldiers.” But in this instance I also had a theme song for the Duet itself, which is a celebration of Tash and Rick’s friendship. Click here if you'd like to listen to it. This is my favourite line: "Cuz you still have my heartache and I still have your sweater." Don't you just love that?

* The Rebel and the Heiress has my favourite cover of all my books. I think it’s not only the most gorgeous cover I’ve ever received, but the most gorgeous cover ever. Full stop. But then I’m probably biased.

* I didn’t create the tag line for the duet but I love it: The Wild Ones—what will it take to tame these rebels?

* Also, The Rebel and the Heiress should come with a cupcake warning. You will want to eat cupcakes while reading it. I promise.


What about you, do you love duets?  Do you, like me, think they’re twice the fun?

You are so beautiful…to me

by Michelle Douglas

 A person unfamiliar with the romance genre asked me the other day: Do the main characters of romance novels conform to traditional western ideals of beauty?

It got me thinking, because the answer is: Mostly, yes.

Without exception my heroes are hottest men on two legs. They have broad shoulders, tight butts, and smiles that can melt a woman to a puddle. Their masculinity, beauty and vigour are never in doubt. After all, these are my ideal fantasy men. :-)

Want an example? Here’s how Mitch from HER IRRESISTIBLE PROTECTOR is described when Tash answers the knock on her front door:

Officer Mitchell King stared back at her like some upright holy warrior. From the top of his close-cut blond hair to the tips of his scrubbed-to-within-an-inch-of-their-lives boots. Even out of uniform he looked like he should be wearing one. Everything about him shouted clean-cut hero—the strong square jaw, the not quite even teeth and the direct blue of his eyes. A man on a mission. A man who knew right from wrong. No shades of grey here, thank you very much.

There’s a lot a reader can unpick from that description, but one thing is clear—Mitch is masculinity personified.

As a general rule my heroines are pretty with nice figures (be they slim or curvy). In THE LONER’S GUARDED HEART I have the hero initially thinking the heroine is a mouse—all quiet and small and nondescript. But the more he gets to know her the more attractive he comes to find her. In THE NANNY WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS the heroine is trying to shed a few pounds and tone up, but she’s still pretty…and her curves drive the hero wild. ;-)

As a rule, these are the kind of characters we find in romances, but there are exceptions.

What about LADY OF QUALITY by Georgette Heyer? The heroine describes the hero as one of the ugliest men she’s ever met. It doesn’t stop him from also being the one man who can make her laugh and feel alive. She isn’t the kind of woman to be swayed by physical beauty or she’d have been married long ago. So the hero has to use his wit and intelligence to win her over.

Then there’s Liz Fielding’s THE BRIDESMAID’S REWARD with its plus-size heroine who is desperately trying to lose weight before her sister’s wedding. Her struggles touched a chord with me…and probably hundreds, if not thousands, of other women. A woman that many would describe as “fat” discovers her own beauty and comes to accept the love of a seriously hot hero. A hero who appreciates her for who she is… who finds her irresistible.

I love these stories. I love them for their quirkiness and I love that they force the characters to address any self-esteem issues they may have and to grow. I love that these stories refuse to package beauty up into a neat little box, but explore the greater meaning of beauty. I love these stories because truly heroic souls, who are often overshadowed by those more physically beautiful who surround them, win happiness and that once in a lifetime love.

So, tell me, do you enjoy a romance where the heroes and heroines may not be necessarily beautiful by society’s standards? Do you enjoy reading stories with plus-size heroines? And, if so, let me know if you have any favourite books exploring these themes because I’d love to read them? :-)

Her Irresistible Protector is on the shelves now!

"Are you here to arrest me, Officer King?"

When Officer Mitchell King--her ex and the only guy Tash Buckley has ever loved--arrives on her doorstep, claiming she needs his protective custody, Tash is more concerned by the heart-fluttering, pulse-racing effect he still has on her!

Confined to Mitch's beachside cabin, Tash finds it increasingly difficult to resist her delicious protector...

Sunday Smooch…with Michelle Douglas

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  Her Irresistible Protector but first 

... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is samstillstanding

Can you please contact melaniemilburne (at) gmail (dot) com to receive your copy of At No Man's Command.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Michelle Douglas...

When Officer Mitchell King - the only guy Tash Buckley's ever loved - claims she needs his protective custody, Tash is more concerned by the effect her delicious ex still has on her than the danger she might be in! Confined to his cabin, resisting her protector might prove to be too difficult

Scene set-up: Tash and Mitch have a history…a rather fraught one, but stuck at Mitch's seaside cabin they've formed a truce. On a hike through the gorgeous native coastal forest, Tash is forced to concede that Mitch has a redeeming feature or two...

‘You’ve made me forget the bad stuff,’ Tash said.

‘That was the plan.’

She moved closer and she suddenly felt more alive than she ever had before. ‘I don’t think I will ever be able to thank you properly for that.’ She lifted her hands, flattened them against his chest. She couldn’t mistake the way his breath hitched or the way his heart pounded against her palm.

‘Tash.’

Her name growled from him and she had a feeling he’d meant it as a warning, but it came out as a caress. When she stood on tiptoe to touch her lips to his, his hands shot to her shoulders as if to put her away from him, but his lips opened to hers and their tongues danced. He tasted of the sea and summer and shady glades and she forgot who was kissing who as their bodies crashed together, needing the contact and seeking more.

Eventually he held her away from him, breathing hard as if he’d been sprinting. ‘That’s not the way to thank me, Tash.’

She gripped his forearms to try and find her balance. ‘It stopped being a thank you after the first kiss.’

‘You said this was a bad idea.’

‘When?’

‘This afternoon you said friendship was all that was on offer. This morning you backed away from a kiss.’

The words emerged through gritted teeth and she could see how tightly he held himself in check. She sympathised. She hadn’t wanted him with this kind of physical ferocity eight years ago. She could see now how careful he’d been with her back then. If he’d chosen to, he could’ve created this kind of heat in her. She wouldn’t have been ready for it. She wouldn’t have known how to deal with it. But there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she’d have succumbed to it.

He hadn’t let that happen then, but she was more than ready for it to happen now. ‘I must’ve had rocks in my head.’ Her fingers curled into the material of his shirt. ‘Besides, I understand it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.’

He groaned. ‘I’m supposed to be guarding you, protecting you.’

‘Correction—you’re making sure I’m out of harm’s way. You said the danger wouldn’t follow us here.’

‘It won’t, but—’

‘Then the idea that you need to be hyper-vigilant is nonsense and you know it.’

He didn’t say anything.

‘You know there is something that could make my holiday truly unforgettable.’

‘What’s that?’

‘A holiday fling.’

He swore. It came out sounding like an endearment.

‘I know most people consider me a tough customer with attitude to burn. That translates in some circles as me being considered something of a…bad girl.’

His eyes widened. His nostrils flared.

‘The fact of the matter is the opposite is true.’ The very opposite, in fact, but she had no intention of sharing that.

His body was beautiful and utterly beguiling and everything inside her arched towards it, aching to explore it.

His eyes gleamed in the light of the rising moon. ‘Are you telling me, Tash, that you want to do something wild and reckless?’

She smiled back at him. ‘I’m glad to see you’ve finally got with the programme, Officer King.’

If you had to go into protective custody would you choose a beachside cabin like Tash gets, a remote mountain retreat, a dilapidated vineyard nestled in rolling hills, or an outback cattle station? Or maybe you'd choose something altogether different?

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Rachel Bailey's The Summer of Jake will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver