Nothing Sweeter (Sweet on a Cowboy) (24 page)

Dear Reader,

Enemies to lovers is a concept I’ve always loved. Yes, it’s a challenge, and maybe that’s what I like most. It’s a given that the couple is going to have instant chemistry—it is a romance, after all! But they’re going to fight it harder because they have history and a good reason. Each person believes they’re in the right.

That’s how Kade Kavanaugh feels. Being a member of the Guard, my supernatural world’s police force, he has had plenty of run-ins with Violet Castanega’s family. They live in the Fringe, a wild and uncivilized community of Dragon shifters who think they are on the fringe of the law as well. And mostly they are, except when their illegal activities threaten to catch the attention of the Muds, the Mundane human police. Because Rule Number One is simple: Never reveal the existence of the Hidden community that has existed amid the glitter and glamour of Miami for over three hundred years. Mundanes would panic if they knew that Crescents—humans who hold the essence of Dragons, sorcerers (like Kade), and fallen angels—lived among them.

Violet is fiercely loyal to her Dragon clan, even if it does sometimes flout the law. But when one of her brothers is murdered by a Dragon bent on firing up the
clan wars, she has no choice but to go to the Guard for help. There she encounters Kade, whom she attacked the last time he tried to arrest her brother.

My job as a writer is to throw these two unsuspecting people together in ways that will test their loyalties and their integrity. And definitely test their resolve to resist getting involved with not only a member of another class of Crescent, but a sworn enemy to boot. Juicy conflict, hot passion, and supernatural action—a combination that truly tested my hero and heroine. But their biggest lesson is never to judge someone by their name, their heritage, or their actions. I think that’s a good lesson for all of us.

We all have magic in our imaginations. Mine has always contained murder, mayhem, and romance. Feel free to wander through the madness of my mind any time. A good place to start is my website www.jaimerush.com, or that of my romantic suspense alter-ego, www.tinawainscott.com.

Dear Reader,

While writing MOTORCYCLE MAN I was in a very dark time of my life. An
extended
dark time, which is very rare. Indeed, it’s only ever happened that once.

In fact, I wrote nearly an entirely different book for my hero, Tack. He had a different heroine. And it had
a different plot. Completely. But it didn’t work for me and it has never seen the light of day. I abandoned it totally (something I’ve never done), gave it time, and started anew.

I had thought it was rubbish. Of course, on going back and reading it later, I realize it wasn’t. I actually think it’s great. It just wasn’t Tack. And the heroine was not right for him. But never fear, I like it enough; when I have time (whenever that is in this decade), I intend to rework it and release it, because that hero and heroine’s story really should be told.

Nevertheless, when I finally found the dream woman who would belong to Kane “Tack” Allen in MOTORCYCLE MAN, I was still questioning my work because things in life weren’t going so great.

You see, sometimes I battle my characters. Sometimes they urge me to take risks I feel I’m not ready to take. Sometimes they encourage me to glide along an edge that’s a little scary even as it is thrilling. And when life is also scary, your confidence gets shaken in a way it’s tough to bounce back from.

But Kane “Tack” Allen is an edgy, risky guy, so he was pretty adamant (as he can be) that he wanted me to just let go and ride it with him. Not only that, but lift up my hands and enjoy the hell out of that ride.

But as I was writing it, I still fought him. Particularly the scene in Tyra’s office early on in the book, where they have a misunderstanding and Tack decides to make his feelings perfectly clear and in order to do that, he gets Tyra’s attention in a way that’s utterly unacceptable.

I fretted about this scene, but Tack refused to let me soften it. I even sent it to my girl, a girl who knows me and my writing inside and out. If I remember correctly,
her response was that it was indeed shocking, but I should go with it.

Ride it out.

In releasing MOTORCYCLE MAN, I was very afraid that my life had negatively affected my writing and the risks Tack urged me to take would not be well received.

As you can imagine, I was absolutely
elated
when I found I’d done the right thing. When Tack and Tyra swiftly became one of my most popular couples. That Tack had rightly encouraged me to trust in myself, my instincts, my writing, and give myself to my characters to let them be precisely what they were, let them shine, not water them down, and last, give my readers the honesty. They could take it. Because it was genuine. It came from the soul.

It was real.

And because of all this, MOTORCYCLE MAN will always hold a firm place in my heart. Because that novel and Kane “Tack” Allen gave me the freedom I was searching for. The freedom to ride this wave. Ride it wild. Ride it free.

Lift up my hands and ride it being nothing but me.

Dear Reader,

Here are two things about love I took from my own life and used in TEXAS HOLD ’EM:

1. Love can make us stupid.

Sexy PI Austin Brook is a smooth-talking good ol’ boy Texan. Where women are concerned, he wings it. Why not? He’s got charm to spare. But one glance at Leah Reece and he’s a stumbling, bumbling idiot. First he accidentally blows his horn as she’s passing in front of his truck, causing her to toss up her arms and drop her groceries. Wanting to help, he snatches up a plastic bag containing a broken bottle of wine and manages to douse Leah with Cabernet from the waist up. And since he likes wine and wet T-shirt contests, it only makes her more appealing and him more nervous.

For myself? On a first date with a good ol’ Texan, we were both jittery. I’d dressed up in a short skirt. The guy, thinking he should be a gentleman, pulled my chair out in the crowded restaurant. I had my bottom almost in the seat when he moved it out.
Way out. He
might’ve looked like a gentleman, but there was nothing ladylike about how I went down. All the way to the floor, legs sprawled out, skirt up to my yin-yang. Laughter filled the room. Snickering in spite of his apologetic look, he added, “Nice legs.”

Later when he dropped me off at my apartment, I struggled to get the door of his sports car open. Forever the gentlemen—hey, that’s Texans for you—he rushed to open my door, and then shut it. Standing close, he heard my moan, and completely misunderstood. He dipped in for a kiss.

I stopped him. “Can you open the car door?” “Why?” he asked.

I moaned again. “Because my hand’s still in the door.”

With a bruised butt, and three busted fingernails, I eventually did let him score a kiss. It’s amazing I married that man.

2. Love is scary.

Divorced, and a single mother, I wasn’t looking for love when I met Mr. Craig. Life had taught me that love can hurt. And I’m not talking about a sore backside or fingernails. I’m talking about the heart.

Neither Austin nor Leah is open to love. Isn’t that what makes it so perfect and yet still so dad-blasted frightening? We don’t find love; love finds us. And like me, Leah’s and Austin’s pasts have left them leery.

At age six, Leah realized her daddy had another family, one he obviously loved better because they had his name and he called that home. Oh, when older, she still gave love a shot, got married, expected the happily-ever-after, and instead got a divorce and a credit card bill for all his phone sex. It’s not that Leah doesn’t believe in love; she just doesn’t trust herself to know the real thing.

Austin, abandoned by his mother at age three, passed from one foster home to another, and learned caring about people gave them power to hurt you. His last and final (he swears) heartache happened when his fiancé dumped him after he got convicted of a murder he didn’t commit.

As scary as love is, Leah and Austin give it another shot. Not to give away any spoilers, but I think it’ll work out fine for them. I know it has for me. I’ll soon be celebrating my thirtieth wedding anniversary. So here’s to laughter, good books, and getting knocked on your butt by love.