Her Bedroom Surrender - Behind The Scenes

This one started with current events I guess and with a friend I know who has found himself caught up in the whole thing. And from his descriptions of life as a professional 'bodyguard' in the Middle East came every idea for the kind of conflicts Rory, my hero, would experience in this story... Maybe having someone I could ask candid questions meant that Rory became so real to me that he almost wrote his own story.

Rory is a very strong character and yet he lives, fictionally speaking, in a country that has been 'fortunate enough' not to have gotten involved in too many battles off it's own soil - so I had to think long and hard about why someone like him would seek out so dangerous a job - what would motivate him to put his life at risk? And the answer came from my real life friend - it's the people Rory works with...

And knowing that meant that Rory's character took on a very real depth. He takes his responsibilities very seriously and so, when he met my heroine, it was very natural that he took on the responsibility for her 'well-being' too.  With a little help from my friends over on My Blog, I cast an equally strong personality as my potential hero (Colin Farell no less) when I started writing - one who was also devastatingly sexy, with a good dose of bad boy thrown in... And suddenly Rory Flanaghan became my kinda guy!!!

A hero like Rory was therefore gonna need one heck of a heroine to stand up to him... and here my inspiration started with an unusual source... exercise...

At the time I had bought a Swiss Ball to encourage me to do a work-out every day. And it hurt. Not in a bad way, but in a using muscles I hadn't used before way. Which, me being me, led to a lot of raucous joking... Then my imagination kicked in - and I thought - what if my heroine was in a similar situation? What if she had to lose some weight but really hated the whole working out thing? What if she had to work out with an incredibly sexy guy watching over her? How embarrassing would that be! And just how many one-liners would she come out with to cover up that embarrassment???

Add one heroine casting of an actress who can carry off sarcastic, self-depreciating humour with the best of them and Cara was born...

It was a match made in heaven! And OH MY the one-liners!

But what I think I loved the most about writing Cara, was the fact that she's very 'normal'. She has body issues, like nearly every woman on the planet. She has had a disastrous love life, like nearly every woman on the planet has at some stage. And yet she has dreams of changing her life and making herself over, like so many of us would love to do. Consequently, for me, Cara is the most real heroine I had ever written at this point in my career...

LOCATIONS:

Due to the fact that Cara meets Rory when she goes to hire a personal trainer, the location was easy - and mostly set in the Gym that Rory co-owns with his younger brother Connor (who became the hero of my next Modern Extra - The Return Of The Rebel aka At The Billionaire's Bidding in Presents) The Gym lent itself to many of the scenes - and had a swimming pool that features on the cover of the book in the UK and in many of the sex scenes (!!!)

And the whole thing is centred once again around Dublin and a little bit in the outlying town of Dun Laoghaire...(pronounced dun-leer-ee)

The thing I'll remember most about my location when writing this book was the summer heat-wave we had! It was just too darn hot to write during the day, so I waited 'til the wee small hours when it was cooler and then I put on the music, opened a bottle of wine, and wrote tag-team style in a word-count race with my bestest buddy Natasha Oakley...

I played the one album on constant repeat while writing this book. Ex- Boy-band member Duncan James has some truly gorgeous lyrics on his Future Past album and in particular there were two or three tracks that just summed up Rory and Cara's story to perfection (and a hidden track that could have been written solely as the soundtrack for this book! - even if it did mean waiting eight flipping minutes at the end of the album to hear it every time!)

You can order a copy of the album here if you'd like some romantic inspiration of your own...

REVIEWS:  

"Breathless! Is simply fantastic! Trish Wylie’s heroine, Cara, is funny, sassy and adorable while Rory is a simply divine! Trish Wylie blends hot sex, intense character development, laugh out loud moments and heartwarming romance into an unforgettable story so good that you’ll guzzle it down in a single sitting – and then wish you hadn’t! Sexy, funny and simply unputdownable, Trish Wylie’s Modern Romance Extras are books fans of Jennifer Crusie and Lori Foster should add to their lists. " Julie Bonello -   Cataromance

"The banter between Rory and Cara is laugh out loud funny, but with a dramatic undercurrent signature of Wylie’s novels for the Romance line. This story packs an emotional punch by weaving tenderness and passion into searing love scenes that sizzle on the page. Sensual, fun, and incredibly sexy." Jenna Bayley-Burke -   Modern Extra Author

"By the end of this book you will have shared a journey that changes Rory and Cara forever. They are both believable characters and it's sad when it's time to say goodbye to them. A truly emotional, sensual and fun read!"                      Sue aka MsCreativity - Romance Reviewed
 

"Self-help author Cara Sheehan realizes the irony when she can't seem to help herself after being dumped by her boyfriend. She hires a trainer to get her back into shape, but almost backs out when the gym's co-owner, Rory Flanaghan, who's home on a leave from his overseas job, decides to work with her. While attracted to Rory, Cara is afraid of being hurt, so she throws up defenses. Soon Cara realizes she's ready for a new relationship. But Rory's headed back overseas and doesn't want anything permanent. Or does he? ... an enjoyable tale of someone coming out of her shell and taking charge of her life. " Romantic Times

RT REVIEWERS CHOICE AWARD WINNER 2008 for RESCUED: MOTHER-TO-BE

HER BEDROOM SURRENDER - Harlequin Presents - May - BOOKSELLERS BEST FINALIST as BREATHLESS!

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