Merry post-Christmas all! Though this is my official “first” post to the blog, I’ve been here several times guest blogging so I shouldn’t be a complete stranger. (At least I hope not!) It’s very fun to be part of the group, and I’m thrilled to be here with you all!

It’s so hard to believe Christmas has already come and gone, isn’t it? Seems we wait and shop and wait and bake and shop some more…all in preparation for the big day and then it whizzes by. This year I admit to being somewhat distracted. You see, the third book in my Stolen Series - STOLEN SEDUCTION - releases next Tuesday, and in between promo stops, checking my Amazon ranking, finishing a book that’s due January 4th and other assorted holiday craziness, I’ve been amped more for the release of this book than anything else. Why? I’m not sure. It could be because this is the final book in the trilogy. It could be because I really enjoyed this story. But most likely, it’s because I wanted to kill the hero on more than one occasion and actually did.

Don’t worry…it’s a romance, so it has a HEA. But, it didn’t always. About 2/3 of the way through the writing of this book, I was so frustrated with the hero - Shane Maxwell - that I actually wrote his death scene. It happened after a particularly nasty grumbling session with my CP where she said, “Just kill him. You know you want to.” Little did she realize that I WOULD. (Don’t ever dare me to do anything.) I sent the chapter to my CP who emailed right back and said, “Um, E. About the chapter. I wasn’t serious. Killing off the hero of the romance kinda goes against that whole HEA thing you’re striving for.” Kill joy isn’t she? But she had a point. Now, I have to mention that my CP is usually right about these kind of things, so after lots of grumbling I edited the scene, considered letting him simply lose a hand (to which my CP - again - said, “That’ll make those sex scenes, yeah, interesting.”) and forced myself to go on with the book.

I’ll tell you flat out, this is not normal for me. I don’t generally want to kill the main characters of my books. I mean, I write romance, after all. A dead hero DOES go against the whole HEA thing. But this guy…wow. He was something else. I really struggled for quite a while, and it wasn’t until shortly after the near-death scene that I realized the problem wasn’t the book per se, the problem I was having was a relatability issue.

You see, I’m a  “glass is half full” kind of girl. If someone knocks you down, you get up, dust yourself off and keep going. If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I believe in redemption, second chances, that unless you are a psychotic serial killer, you can always change your life for the better. And deep down I believe everyone DESERVES good in their lives. But Shane didn’t. He was the first character I ever wrote who didn’t think he deserved to be happy, and that was a major stumbling point for me while writing this book.

Of course, like I said before, I write romance, so he got his HEA. And, I have to say, it was well worth the wait.:) But his redemption has stuck with me for a very long time. In ways the redemptions of other characters have not. Even now - while I’m working on different books - I still think about him. The nice part is that since I don’t want to kill him anymore (good news for him!) it’s with that “Aw” feeling that leaves a person all warm and fuzzy on the inside instead of with that “OMG…That’s it, buddy!” feeling that isn’t quite so appealing.

How about you? Have you ever read a book (or if you’re a writer, written a book) where you had trouble relating to a character, for whatever reason? I’d love to hear about it. And if so, what happened when you got to the end?

And before I go, I have to mention that in honor of the release of STOLEN SEDUCTION, I’m running a big contest on my blog with daily guests and giveaways. You could also win a $100 Amazon gift card just by entering! Click the image below for all the details!