Monday, January 9, 2017

THE HEROINE'S STORY by Patricia Preston


MUSE MONDAY
Please enjoy my guest blogger, Patrician Preston. Welcome, Patricia!

When I started working on Everything His Heart Desires, I thought the story would belong to the hero, Dr. Brett Harris, aka Hot Rod Harris. Hot Rod had come from the wrong side of town, raised by his uncle, no parents, no money but he was gifted and ambitious to a fault. So I thought the story would evolve around his coming to terms with love over ambition. To an extent, that did play out but the muse took over when the heroine, Natalie, came into being. 

In contrast to Brett, Natalie came from a powerful, wealthy family, but she is not the golden girl that Brett thinks. Once her character started developing, I knew she was going to be dealing with a tragic past. A photographer, she had almost died in a hotel bombing in Kabul two years ago and her story is a story of her reconnecting with her family and the hometown she had left behind fifteen years ago after her mother’s death. She had gone to England to fulfill her mother’s dream of touring castles in search of Camelot. Natalie had found Camelot when she met her husband at a castle and they were married there. A few years later, he was murdered during a robbery and late one night in London, Natalie took her camera out to photograph the dark side of life. She ended up as a photojournalist working in the Middle East where she photographed horrors that Brett and her family could not even imagine. After the bombing, she has a new face and no clue what to do with her life. The muse said this is Natalie’s quest and how she comes to terms with finding a future that she can own. 

Although Natalie is a dark, complex character, the story is not grim. There are a lot of fun moments in it. Natalie is pretty and witty. She’s not a depressed or miserable character. She and her fellow BFF from high school, Amber, who is a beautician, were so much fun to write. Of course, Natalie takes pleasure in seeing her old enemy from high school, Brett Harris, struggle to win over her haughty grandmother. 

Everything His Heart Desires will be released on January 10th and is available for pre-order. If you love single title romance/women’s fiction with picturesque settings, some humor, colorful characters and warm romance, you might enjoy the Love Heals All series. The first book in the series, One Week in Your Arms, is available now and the third book, Not Through Loving You will be out in June. I’m currently working on the fourth book. 

Author bio 

Patricia Preston loves writing mainstream romantic fiction with picturesque settings and a host of unforgettable characters whose lives entwine in feel-good stories about life, love and finding happiness.  She also writes short stories and historicals. She won William Faulkner Award for Short Fiction, the Lone Star Writing Competition for Historical Romance, and Harlequin’s World’s Best Romances Short Story Competition. She is repped by the Seymour Agency.

Besides writing, she’s also worked as a librarian, medical office manager, and in a cosmetic department where she played with makeup all day. Her favorite place to hang out is her writing cave where must-haves are iced tea and epic music. She also enjoys photography, movies, and research trips to New Orleans. Plus she’s a fangirl of Supernatural and Walking Dead. 

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Everything His Heart Desires 

The man most likely to drive her crazy…

Growing up in Lafayette Falls, senator’s daughter Natalie Layton hid her sorrows behind a bright smile that charmed everyone in high school—except Brett Harris. Hardworking and highly motivated, Brett dismissed Natalie as a slacker. Instead, she’s become an acclaimed photographer. And when Brett, now a successful cardiologist, needs her family’s help to secure a coveted position, Natalie’s more than happy to prescribe a little payback…

Hailing from the wrong side of the tracks, Brett believed he could never win the school’s popular princess. Now he’s intrigued by the complex and compassionate woman Natalie’s become. Gaining her grandmother’s goodwill is the key to becoming chief cardiologist—and Natalie has no intention of making it easy. But as mutual mistrust gives way to pure chemistry, there’s more at stake than either ever expected—and much more to learn about matters of the heart… 

An excerpt from Chapter 1 

Talk about the opportunity of a lifetime. If he could become Anna Layton’s physician, he would literally have it made. He would have Harry and Sheldon’s support and gratitude, which meant he could create a superior cardiology program at LFMC. Perhaps, someday, there would be a heart center named after him and he would be remembered for all posterity. Yes, he was definitely Type A.

“Do you want to speak with your mother and then give me call?” he asked Harry.

“Well, we have a little something different in mind.” Both Harry and Sheldon looked at Natalie as if it were her turn to speak up.

She tapped her fingers on the table. “I’m home for a few weeks, and I’m staying with my grandmother.” She managed to choke out the rest, “You can come over as my dinner guest tomorrow night.”

It took him a moment to process that. “Okay. So I’m not coming over as a doctor. I’m coming over as your date?”

A date is kinda stretching it,” she said as if to say that was never gonna happen. “An old friend from high school.”

“Friend,” he repeated, meeting her gaze. “Seriously?”

“It was Uncle Harry and Aunt Lorraine’s idea.” She was quick to clarify, and she frowned at her uncle, who had a mouthful of cheese Danish. “And it’s not a good idea. It’s not going to work. Not with Nana.”

“Natalie, you promised us you’d help out.” Harry took a swig of coffee. “We’re counting on you.”

She shook her head, and Brett realized she was totally against the idea, which might cost him the chief of cardiology position.

He sat up straight. “Natalie, you do understand what’s at stake here?”

“Besides your ego?” She didn’t blink as she looked him straight in the eye. It appeared that, since high school, she had developed a Terminator stare.

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