Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Curses, Foiled Again! by Laura Haley-McNeil #villains #wicked #series

WICKED WEDNESDAY

Villainy Wicked Wednesday is the best. Please welcome Laura Haley-McNeil with a great post about villains, and she has a series that you'll want to read.
Recently, I was a guest on a blog that wanted to know about my villains. Of course, my favorite villains are the least expected. We’ve seen so many hunched men wearing capes and twirling a mustache that we’re conditioned to know that no matter how pure, this man is the villain. Writers have tried to be more creative by making the least suspicious character the villain, but I believe audiences are becoming conditioned and aren’t surprised when the police officer or the minister is the villain. 
One of my favorite villains is the character that always gets away with a crime. The headlines are filled with well-known people who have skated through life and because of wealth or notoriety, they manage to escape conviction. But their not guilty verdict, never an innocent verdict, doesn’t seem to surprise us. They have the money and/or the prestige to pay the high price for their freedom. Too often we’ve seen these perpetrators commit another crime, commit another heinous act against another innocent victim. When their past catches up with them, how satisfying is it to know that there is justice in this world? Maybe not in the legal system, but even if someone can skirt our legal system, they won’t go unpunished. Maybe not in the time frame we’ve set for justice, but at some point justice will prevail. 
As someone once said, what is legal isn’t always fair. 
That’s why fiction is so satisfying. We can give a promise to the reader or the viewer that some sort of justice will prevail. I’ve read the book The Lovely Bones, but I saw the movie and that had a satisfying ending for the viewer, though I was sad that the characters were never aware of the verdict. I don’t know if the movie followed the book. As long as I know the villain received his just reward, I can live with that. 
Now to a topic that’s much more joyful—springtime! Hope yours is starting out lovely and that enjoying fresh air and blossoming trees. Have a fabulous week! 
Love, 
Laura

DEFENDING HER HEART

Book 6 of the Crystal Creek Series
JT Whitloch can’t close his eyes without seeing the body of the woman who drowned in his swimming pool two years ago. Though he doesn’t remember that night, he blames himself for her death and walks away from a life that gave him everything he ever wanted…almost everything. His move to Crystal Creek gives him the solitude he longs for, but still he can’t find peace. 
Then Gretchen Moore moves to town, and she doesn’t just stir up his desire. She stirs up his past, a past with a secret so deadly it could destroy her. 
Gretchen wants nothing to do with JT. Because of him, someone wants her dead. The terror from his past forces them into an alliance that soon ignites their passion. Fighting these feelings leads them to the secret of the woman floating in JT’s swimming pool, but the knowledge doesn’t ease JT’s inner turmoil. Instead, it reveals an answer that could destroy him and Gretchen. His own destruction he could accept, but he’ll defend Gretchen to his death. 
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