by Abby Green, author of The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain (Harlequin Presents Extra, June 2009)
I’m very excited to have The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain out on the shelves in the US this month. I can’t remember exactly where the idea sprang from originally, but I know that I was thinking something along the lines of: what would be one of the most unforgivable things a woman/mother could do? For me, it would definitely be to walk away from her baby, or child.
Men seem to get away with doing that a lot easier than women in many cases, but for a woman to turn her back on her baby? It’s extremely hard to forgive, after all, women are all hardwired to be the nurturers aren’t they?
Well, of course we all know it’s never as black and white as that.
In my story it’s a very grey area. My heroine did the unthinkable; she walked away from her newborn baby and left him with his father. But now, two years later she’s back and wants to get to know her son.
The reason she did this thing is revealed in the book, but in the beginning, it’s not something that she finds easy to talk about. Especially when she has to deal with her husband’s understandable mistrust, anger and antipathy.
I liked the idea of turning things around a bit. It seems to me that the Alpha male hero gets hard done by in many of the secret baby plots when he has no idea he’s fathered a child until much later. I love secret baby stories so I thought it might be interesting to have the hero be the one who has had to take care of his child, and then deal with his wife coming back on the scene, making him feel threatened that she’s going to try and take his child away from him.
Of course the hero, Isandro is furious when Rowan turns up again. He thinks she’s been off living a hedonistic life, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He doesn’t trust her an inch, and especially not with his son. But, he can’t deny her right to see their son, and so takes her back to his home in Spain where he can keep an eye on her, and try to figure out the best way forward.
Little by little he sees that she is genuine about wanting to get to know Zac, and things aren’t adding up. Why did she leave two years ago? Where was she all this time? And why, when their marriage was just a marriage of convenience, is Isandro finding it harder and harder to deny the passion he feels for her?
I hope I do justice to all these questions in the story, I know that not many can forgive a heroine for walking away from her baby, but when you read Rowan’s story and her reasons for leaving, you might be able to forgive her, as Isandro does…
I’d love to know from the other authors out there — what would be your favourite well loved theme that you’d like to mess around with and spin on its head? (Is it obvious I’m looking for ideas for my next book?!!)
Rowan had been Isandro Salazar’s bride of convenience. But knowing that the Spanish billionaire would never love her as she loved him, her choice was to make her unborn child her priority and then, once he was born, make her dark journey by herself….
But in Isandro’s eyes, Rowan’s decision rendered her a gold digger who had committed the worst possible crime. However, he couldn’t stop her seeing her baby son—or deny that the passion between them was as raw and intense as ever….
Ah I have some very happy memories of sitting in your house in Dublin and discussing this book – I knew then that it would be a great success and I loved the book when I read it. It’s a very powerful and emotional read.
Themes to turn on their heads? I can’t think of a new one right now – but I’ve done a couple – like the hero who was the one who agreed to the marriage of convenience his heroine proposed because he was the one who was in financial difficulties rather than the other way round. But the one I had most fun with was Captive Lover which was written at a time then there were a lot of books around with the hero kidnapping the heroine. Why did it always have to be him doing the kidnapping, I wondered – and so I wrote a book in whihc she kidnapped him. I got a lot of fan mail about that one, I remember so maybe it touched on a lot of people’s fantasies
Hi Abby, how haven’t I got to Isandro and Rowan’s story yet? It sounds absolutely fab! I love the idea of turning conventions on their head. In my next (August) Presents, The Desert King’s Bejewelled Bride, I decided,
***spoiler alert***
that I wanted my heroine to propose to the hero, rather than the other way around. It was fun working out what would induce her to do so, and give her the courage to ask a sheikh, no less!
I loved one of Sarah Morgan’s Presents in which she played with the amnesia plot (Public Wife, Private Mistress?) and gave the hero’s sister amnesia rather than the hero, which tends to be more typical. It worked brilliantly with the hero and heroine having to act as though they were still happily married for her sake, and the tension was explosive.
Hmm, now you’ve got me wondering what other themes might work well with a new spin…
Thanks Kate – and yes I have a lot to thank you for for this book, not least of which was the extremely valuable research material in the form of a biography of a certain opera singer. Now there’s a clue in that! Thanks again for all your help. And thanks for the reminder of your Captive Lover…I know I have that somewhere…any excuse to get away from these accounts – argh!
Sabrina I’m so looking forward to your next release and I’m dying to see your heroine proposing to your hero. I love all these different takes on well-loved themes. I must hunt down that Sarah Morgan book too. (Accounts? What accounts?)
x Abby
I’ve read it! I’ve read it! And you pulled it off, too, Abby! Good for you. It was a tricky proposition and had to be handled just right, and I think you did it brilliantly. Memorable book. (I would have put an exclamation mark after that last sentence, but I thought maybe I’d already put in too many).
I’m going to be looking for this book. I like romances with twists and this one sounds like one I would enjoy reading. It should be on the shelves here in the US by now.
Abby, this is an interesting one! I think it’s a demonstration of your skill as a writer than you can motivate and make Rowan a sympathetic heroine in such an explosive situation – I read The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain last week and I thought it was absolutely fantastic. As for turning themes on their head – the heroine in my current manuscript has to be the naughtiest girl I’ve written and I’m having a lot of fun with her. I think sometimes themes can be given an interesting twist just by having original characters behaving in an unpredictable way.
Anne you can never have too many exclamation marks!!!!!!! But thanks for the very kind words, and Sarah too – thanks to Sabrina, I’ve just ordered Public Wife, Private Mistress on the internet, that one seemed to somehow slip through my net – shocking! Loving the sound of a ‘naughty’ heroine. Think I might want to do one of them next myself..
Ellen I love books with twists too, I hope you enjoy it if you find it.
Oh my heavens, Abby, I’ve heard such incredible buzz about this book!
I’ve been dying to read it for months, and now it’s finally available in the U.S. I just ordered it 2 minutes ago on amazon–and just in time. I think I might have gotten the last copy in stock!
Ooh, Abby, I love a sexy Spaniard and I just love the sound of your story. A woman walking away from her child, that is a really hard one to pull off, but I just know you’ll do it brilliantly. That one’s definitely on my to read list. Twists? hmmm. That’s a hard one on a cold wintry morn, but ah, I see Anne McAllister is here and talking of memorable books – Anne’s to blame for me starting work late today. I was snuggled up in bed reading the last few pages of Savas’ Defiant Mistress and even the impending deadline wasn’t going to make me put it down. Fabulous book, Ms McAllister, I ADORED it, in fact everything about it, the hero, the heroine, the menagerie, the sisters, the parents, the houseboat, Harm. Thank you. And that’s kind of a twist on Presents isn’t it – that you have the focus on this fabulous alpha guy and this feisty heroine and their developing relationship, while surrounding them with a fabulous cast of characters who elevate that romance to something amazing. Just awesome!
And now I have to hunt down Abby’s! The poor wip probably won’t get a look in (sorry ed, but ihearts does keep advertising these great stories!)
Gosh, more exclamation marks. Have we used today’s quota you reckon?
Abby, you know I ADORE Rowan and Isandro’s story. It’s just packed with such emotion and you bring it off so well. It was another of those stories I just sank into with a sigh of delight. Like Kate, I remember chatting to you about this story and knowing it was going to be an absolute ripper. I’ve read all of yours and this is one of my faves.
I love it when themes get turned upside down. Sarah, I’m so looking forward to reading your naughty heroine! And Kate, the kidnapped hero works for me. What fun that notion is. Occasionally I’ve read a story where the hero has little or no sexual experience but he’s such a sexy beast anyway, and determined to learn (G!) that he’s been an amazing hero and definitely not your average hero.
I’d like to write a book someday where it’s the heroine trying to be ruthless instead of the hero, but it all coming unstuck.
Annie
Trish I was exactly where you were when I was coming up to my deadline, hmm, do you think Anne McAllister is trying to consciously distract us with her stories?! I loved Savas’ Defiant Mistress, a brilliant book. Annie -the idea of a ruthless heroine is great, there could be any number of reasons she’s ruthless and out to get revenge…oooh I smell a plot!
p.s. For anyone looking for a really ruthless and unforgiving hero with a gorgeously feisty heroine, check out Annie’s ‘The Billionaire’s Bought Mistress’.
x
Jennie – I just loved your ‘Innocent’s Dark Seduction’, really delicious. Roark was so dark and hard and ruthless, but he got his dues in the end!
Hi Everyone
I know Abby asked for author’s to reply to her question about turning theme’s around, but as Abby already know’s, this incredible book she’s written, will always stay in your memory.
As a reader and huge fan of Abby, this book will rip your emotions to pieces, but it is so heart wrenchingly gorgeous, I guarantee it will make you cry, it did me. In my own humble opinion, Rowan will prove to be one of the best heroine’s ever written, and that’s no exaggeration. She is incredible!
In case you hadn’t guessed, I love this book.
I’m not too gushing am I? Nahhh, if you haven’t read it yet, you are in for a treat.
Congrats Abby, and looking forward to reading your next.
xx Karen
Karen thanks so much and I’d love to know what themes everyone would like to see played around with – I wonder are there any readers out there who have read something lately that’s made them see a theme differently and liked it? And are there any aspiring writers coming up with a new twist on an old theme? Would love to hear your feedback…
x Abby
I’m late and rushing as always, but I had to stop by because I LOVE this book (Exclamation marks not enough to emphasise that enough– I need flashing neon lights, balloons and a big brass band!) To me it was an example of the perfect Presents, with a really gorgeous, sexy, powerful hero, a heroine you just adored so much, sensuality and enough emotional power to run the national grid. I cried buckets at the end, and I knew the twist that was coming!
I’m with Karen– it’s a real treat. I kind of envy people who haven’t read it yet and still have it to look forward to!
First off, Abby, I’ve got to gush a little bit about Rowan and Isandro’s story. I remember you telling me the plot Abby, over lunch in San Francisco last year at the RWA conference (aren’t we the glamorous ones!!) and I was thinking, is she flipping nuts!! she’s never gonna pull that off…. And not just the baby-abandonment thing, there are a few other really challenging themes in this story that until you’ve read it you won’t know about. Ah ye of little faith, I read it, devoured it and thought my god, not only did she pull it off but she did it with such emotional intensity it was breathtaking. So well done you. I highly recommend this book.
Okay, gush over. Themes to play about with? Here’s one (well, you did ask). What about making the Hero the virgin for a change??
I know, I can’t see it working for a Presents (and I’m certainly not going to attempt it) but I did love the movie Blast from the Past with Brendan Fraser as a guy who’d grown up in a fall-out shelter and ended up stumbling into modern-day LA after living in a fifties time-warp for 30 years. A virgin in more ways than one he ends up romancing cynical girl-about-town Alicia Silverstone.
And don’t forget all those fantastic Frank Capra comedies of the thirties and forties with the likes of Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart as small-town guys (innocents in the best sense of the word) charming the pants off (although not literally of course) hardened city girls like Jean Arthur. Delicious.
I agree with Kate, powerful and emotional with twists and turns thrown in and I adored this book. I think I went through a whole box of kleenex! Keep them coming Daisy! xxoo
Heidi – at least we had San Francisco, I liked it so much that I set a scene there in my book that’s out this September – Mistress to the Merciless Millionaire. I’m very jealous of everyone going off to the Washington conference this year, they’re going to have a blast.
I don’t think I could do a presents hero who was a virgin. I’m biased in favour of reading about someone who knows exactly what to do and how to do it to the best of his ability…!
On that topic however, I would recommend that people read ‘Untouched’ by Anna Campbell. That book should come with a cold shower nearby, one of the hottest most passionate I’ve ever read.
x
I never thought a virgin hero could work until I read a couple by Susan Napier – Secret Admirer (which I know Annie West loves too) and The Mistress Deception – which is probably my favourite Presents ever, just fabulous!
But it’s definitely about giving your characters a very credible reason for being an exception to the rule that makes a twist really work.
And of course Susan’s heroes were no less alpha for being inexperienced, in fact, that they naturally knew what to do when the moment came only added to their appeal…
Abby, don’t talk about that darned Anne McAllister being a distraction. That’s happened to me too!
Glad you liked my idea for a ruthless heroine. Hm, maybe we could discuss plot ideas some time. Wouldn’t that be fun? So glad you enjoyed The Billionaire’s Bought Mistress so much. Yes, Rafe is ruthless, but he learns the hard way his mistakes.
Annie – And then the scene in The Savakis Mistress that had shivers running up and down my spine because it was so gorgeously deliciously ruthless and heartbreaking. Don’t think I’ve seen an alpha male be so darned horrible and yet get away with it like that for ages…!
x
Abby, I loved this book.
I must say though, the first time I read the back cover blurb I put the book back on the shelf.
Hmm, a mother who leaves her infant? That’s a tough act to sympathize with. But, I kept thinking about the book and went back and picked it up. And I’m so glad I did.
You really made me sympathize with the heroine and I enjoyed how, even after all she endured, she was a very strong woman. And the hero was fabulous. I love an emotionally intense story with a happy ending.
Anne, thanks for going back and picking it up!
x
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