Some of you know
that my recent release, Just For Fun, is book 4 in the Bradford series.
Some of you also know that when I wrote the first book, Just Right, I didn’t
intend for it to be a series at all. The characters took that first book
and ran and I’ve just been trying to keep up ever since.
But I’m thrilled
that it is a series. I’ve loved writing these books. It’s been fun
knowing these characters this long and this well. It’s been fun finding
them all true love. I’m especially thrilled by the reception that Just
For Fun is getting and the new covers for the original three books and how
excited everyone is about the fifth book, Just A Kiss, which will be out in
October.
But I will say
that I would recommend planning a series versus having it just
happen. Because, well, everything you put in that first book has to stay
true through the other books. You’re not only stuck with the people, but
you’re stuck with their actions and the things they say. And the thing
is, in that first book, you are so focused on the main couple that you develop
the secondary characters around them, not thinking about how that might come
back to bite you in the butt if you were to make him or her the star at some
point.
I’ll give you
some examples. Dooley (Doug) Miller is the hero in Just For Fun.
He’s been a part of all the other books and he’s been a distinct
character. I’ve needed him and I’ve enjoyed the hell out of him.
He’s been a great source of trouble for the other guys, some light moments, and
even a couple of pieces of great advice. But now that it was his turn to
be the hero, I had a few things to contend with.
1.
His name. Dooley fits him, I won’t lie. It’s a goofy
name for a goofy guy. But I think I might have chosen differently if I’d
known he’d eventually be trying to win a classy girl over. Then again, it
kind-of works for him anyway. Or he makes it work.
Morgan
sucked in a quick breath as he leaned in. “I don’t think I can call you Dooley
in bed. Is that what most women call you?”
“That or
‘oh, God’. I answer to both.”
2. His
irreverence for… almost everything. Even, or maybe especially, when his
friends fall in love.
(Talking about Danika, his friend
Sam’s new love interest, in Just Like That)
“I could date her,”
Dooley volunteered. “I’m not completely opposed to commitment.”
Sam
scowled at him. “Excuse me?”
“I’m just saying…if you think she should date
someone else, then maybe it should be someone you know and can trust to
be good to her.”
“Your
idea of a romantic dinner is buying her two hot dogs at the baseball game instead
of one,” Sam said.
“And
the last time you bought a woman something to wear it was a tattoo,” Mac added.
“Didn’t
you once tell me that your biggest turn-on is a woman who can drink
straight Jack Daniels without shuddering?” Kevin asked.
“I’m
not good enough for her?” Dooley asked, feigning offense, but grinning as he
said it.
(From, Just My
Type, with Sara his friend’s little sister and another’s friend’s new
wife)
“Hey, Sara, tell me more about this
body powder,” Dooley said, stepping close to her.
“What about it? You put it on.
Easy.”
He took her hand and turned it palm
up. Then he bent and licked the skin just above her wrist.
Sara giggled. Mac saw red.
He shoved Dooley back, pulling Sara
behind him. “What the hell was that?” He glowered at his friend.
Dooley looked at him and licked his
lips. “Yum.”
Mac leaned toward him menacingly and
Dooley had the nerve to smile. “Knock it off.”
“Hey, a girl doesn’t wear edible
body powder if she doesn’t want to be licked. Right, princess?”
But that was also kind of fun,
actually, because then Morgan comes along and suddenly Dooley is in the same
type situation he’s enjoyed seeing his friends in so much.
“So let me
get this straight,” Mac said, leaning in on his elbows. “You got her arrested
for suspicion of solicitation, which didn’t stick, and then for indecent
exposure, which almost did. In fact, if Judge Rickman hadn’t been such a good
friend it might have been a different story. And she still wants you to go to
Chicago with her to a work thing based on how you look in a tux and what you
can do in bed?”
“Elevators
anyway,” Sam said.
Yeah,
they’d never made it to a bed. Dooley took a long swig of beer and shrugged.
“Guess so.”
“You’ve
known her for what? About an hour total?” Ben asked.
Four and a
half. Not that it mattered. “I guess it doesn’t take long for me to make a good impression,” Dooley said.
The more
they talked about it, the better he liked the whole thing. She’d remembered
him. For over a month. She wanted him enough to track him down, even with a
fake name.
Women like
Morgan James didn’t have to work for what they wanted very often. She was
gorgeous, confident, and damned classy herself. That she’d tried to find him
rocked.
He grinned
and tipped onto the back legs of his chair.
“Then
there are only two questions left,” Mac said.
“I’m
ready.” He was feeling strangely full of himself.
“When’s
the plane leave?”
“Thursday
afternoon.”
“And are
you Richard Gere or Julia Roberts?”
3. His tendency
to always say exactly what he’s thinking, when he’s thinking it, no matter the
subject or the audience.
(To Jessica, his friend’s older
sister, in Just Right)
“Damn,
girl, you look like a wet dream in that dress.”
(About Danika, his friend’s new
girlfriend, in Just Like That)
“She’s
definitely ogle-worthy,” Dooley agreed. “And as long as you’re just friends you
don’t get to put up anti-ogle rules.”
But it turns out that Morgan really
likes that about him.
(From Just For Fun)
“On the
bed, Sugar. Naked and spread out. You have fifteen seconds.”
She wanted
to ask or what? but her body was throbbing and she wanted him to make her beg
as promised.
She shed
her dress the moment the door opened and she was on the bed ten seconds later.
Doug came
toward her, his eyes roaming over her greedily. “I didn’t think it was possible
to get even harder, but I just did.”
Morgan smiled. It wasn’t flowery and romantic but it was the gritty real stuff
Doug made so damned sexy. There were no practiced words, nothing to
infer—he just laid it all out there.
4. The
fact that he can’t help but give his friends a hard time, any chance he gets.
(from Just My Type)
Mac
breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently his taking Sara to bed last night had
been monumental only to him and Sara.
His peace
lasted until four minutes after they stepped into the locker room at the
hospital to change into their uniforms.
Which just
happened to be when Sam came in.
“Oh, hey,
Mac, I found this on the steps and forgot to give it back to Sara. You better
take it home tonight.” Dooley tossed Mac a hot pink thong.
She’d
probably dropped it on the way into the house last night.
It wasn’t
a big deal. Except that the tossed thong nearly hit Sam in the face.
Mac caught
the scrap of lace and put it in his pocket, bending to tie his shoes without a
word. He was going to kill Dooley. He was pretty sure Dooley knew it so it
didn’t need to be said out loud.
But, again, that really did make
writing his book a lot of fun, because the guys owe him… big. Of course,
nothing goes exactly according to plan with these guys.
(From Just For Fun)
He scowled
at the TV and chewed harder. In the past when Sam and Mac had been idiots about
Dani and Sara they’d all made sure the guys knew how they all felt. They’d all
known Sam belonged with Dani and they’d made sure he faced how he felt. Dooley,
in particular, had seen how Mac was screwing up with Sara and he’d been sure to
let Mac know.
Because he
cared about them and wanted them to be happy.
So what
the hell was this?
Did they
think Morgan wasn’t the right woman for him? They were stupid if they thought
that. She was definitely the right woman. Did they think he didn’t love her?
That was even more ridiculous. He’d never felt, or acted, this way for anyone
else. What did they think that was? Was it that he wasn’t good enough for her?
That was… Well, that was possible.
“Dammit, I
thought you were my friends,” he finally said, smacking the arm of his chair
with his open palm.
Mac
reached for a handful of popcorn, seemingly unfazed by Dooley’s outburst. “Hey,
man, we’re good as long as you don’t cry or sing.”
Dooley
raised an eyebrow. “If I did, real friends would sit through it.”
Mac seemed
to think about that for a moment. “’Wind Beneath My Wings’? I’m not sitting
through that. Unless I had my phone so I could record it and put it on
YouTube.”
“How about
‘Lean On Me’?” Sam piped up. “That’s a good one.”
“Okay, I
might listen to that,” Mac said.
“Or
‘Friends in Low Places’,” Sam said.
Dooley
groaned. Country music gave him hives.
“At least
go with the Beatles,” Kevin said and launched into
“With a Little Help from My
Friends.”
Dooley
waited as Mac and Sam joined in for a verse. When they finally shut up he
asked, “None of you are concerned about it at all?”
“Concerned
about what?” Mac asked, tossing popcorn into his mouth. “Sam’s singing voice
has always sucked.”
“Oh, yeah,
and you’re American Idol material,” Sam said.
“Me and
Morgan breaking up,” Dooley said through gritted teeth. Seriously? Why did he
hang out with these guys?
“Oh,
that,” Mac said.
Dooley
waited. No one said anything more. “Yes, fucking that. Where’s the ‘hey, sorry
buddy’ or the ‘I’ve got a cute girl you should meet’ or the ‘what the hell are
you thinking’? You’ve got nothing to say about it at all?” he demanded.
Sam
shrugged indifferently. “We figured you knew what you were doing.”
Dooley
scowled at them. “Since when has anyone in this room known what they were doing
where a woman was concerned?”
So, I guess looking at it now, I
didn’t mind dealing with this guy after all. Maybe I wouldn’t have done
any of it differently. Dooley was a great secondary character in those first
three books but, you know what? He made a pretty good hero too. And thank
goodness I found Morgan. Not just any girl could handle a guy like
Dooley!
Check out the free short story about
the Bradfords, Just the Way I Like It, and
all the Bradfords in Just Right, Just Like That, Just My Type and Just for Fun now!
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