Weekend Wind-down : Why I write romance

This weekend, Pink Heart Society columnist Kate Walker gets back to basics with just what romance means to her

Last month had Valentine’s Day in it and lots of people were talking about love and romance. There was the Harlequin Romance Report, there were all the interviews for Mills & Boon’s 100th anniversary, and over on Romancing the Blog Christine Wells talked about the fact that ‘Romance is a dirty word.’


Of course, M&B Centenary has created some interest in the media. Some of it has been the usual mockery that Romantic Fiction writers have had to grow used to over the years. The comments about ‘silly novels’ and the descriptions of romantic fiction and romances being ‘pink and fluffy’ – and generally not worth bothering with. Many journalists certainly seem to take the lazy way out and condemn romances as being all the same and that they’re stuffed full of clichés like chocolate and roses and heaving bosoms and moustache twirling villains and manly-chested heroes.

I suspect that this comes from a very poor – and very limited understanding of just what romance/romantic fiction actually is. So I thought I would take time this weekend to take a look at why I wrote romance and what it means to me. Some of you may have read some of this before, but I make no apologies for repeating it - in the light of some (but not all) of the newspaper coverage Mills and Boon and romance writers have had, I want to nail my flag to the mast and say just why I write romance.

I’m often asked me the question 'Are you a romantic person.' I usually answer yes, but add 'if being romantic means caring deeply about things and about the other person - it doesn't necessarily mean hearts and flowers and all those things that the stores would like us to buy for Valentines's Day.' The problem is that then when the quote appears the second half of it is usually missed off.

Then once in a Q&A I was doing, I was asked what was the most romantic thing that has ever happened to me and I found that incredibly difficult to answer. I couldn't think of something that was truly romantic to me and that would sound romantic to other people and that was when and I realised that, deep down, the most romantic things are often not the ones that people might really expect - and that got me thinking about Romance and what it means to me and why I write it.

You see, I think one of the reasons why I ended up writing Presents is that I don't find hearts and flowers and boxes of chocolates truly 'romantic'. Don't get me wrong - they're all very nice in their place and I'm never going to turn down a beautiful bouquet. But they are not at the heart of romance.

Let me tell you a story - a real life story - a real life romance story.

Once upon a time there was a lovely lady - she was beautiful, intelligent, generous, hard working - and very lonely. She had married young to a man she adored but the marriage had broken down irretrievably and they had parted very bitterly. She had young children to care for and she focused her life on them. She was a deeply committed Catholic and never thought of divorce - it just wasn't possible for her. But she got on with life, she bought a little house, she had a tiny garden and in that garden she grew roses.

She'd been brought up in Ireland, in the countryside and she always said that the best thing to fertilise roses was donkey manure. So if anyone ever asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she would always say she's love a load of donkey manure for her roses. But because she was a lady and elegant and stylish, everyone laughed and thought she didn't mean it - and they gave perfume or chocolates and that sort of thing as gifts.

Some years later she met a lovely man - he came to work where she did and they fell for each other. But the lady's husband was still alive, and she still believed that she couldn't get a divorce. And the new man was a Catholic too so he understood. Eventually there came a time when he couldn't bear staying and not being able to be with the person he loved. So he applied for a job a long way away and he got it and prepared to leave. But just before he left it was the lady's birthday and on the day he left he came to her house in his car - and in the car was a sackload of donkey manure for her roses. Those roses grew beautifully ever after.

That's romance. That's caring for the other person more than for yourself. It's giving the person you love what they need - what they want - not what you think they want. It's understanding that, no matter how much you might want to get something for them, it will not be right for them and it will make them unhappy even if you make them go along with it. True romance finds a way to love the person as they need to be loved.

So when I'm writing a romance, I'm not writing the sort of book that people describe as ' a soppy love story' or 'hearts and flowers' or 'chocolate box' romances where the heroine is moping around without a man in her life and then when she meets the hero she 'swoons away' or her heart races in her 'heaving bosom'. I try to write real relationships between people who really could exist. (Okay in a Presents novel the hero is usually a billionaire - but take away all the money and the power and the success and he's just a MAN underneath it all - and it's that man's problems I like to deal in.)

When I think of romance, I think of the way it originated as stories in mediaeval times - when knights of old used to court ladies - and act as her champion and fight for her honour at a tournament or in a duel or in battle. That meant really fight. A knight could be injured, maimed, killed - he took great risks for his lady and often she took them for him too - because women had very little choice in who they could marry and dreadful things could happen to her if she fell in love with the wrong man.

Modern romance is very different and yet very much the same. The heroes and heroines I write about today aren't likely to be executed or killed in a hand to hand fight (though there might be a risk of that in some suspense story) so perhaps the physical risks are less violent.

But the emotional risks are every bit as dangerous - the emotional stakes every bit as high - or they should be.

Love is something we all crave - something we all nned, we all hope for, dream of, work towards. It's what adds a special value to life and puts a whole new light onto each day. But love can bring those dangers as well - the loss of someone you love is the most devastating blow you can suffer. But often love also gets trivialised - 'If you love her buy her XXXX chocolates' or 'show you care - with a bunch of red roses . . .'

Anyone can put on the trappings of romance these days - there are cards for every event, flower arrangements you don't have to think about, perfume or jewellery advisors in every shop. The soaps are full of characters who say 'I love you' and then move on to someone new when the script writers believe that the story has got boring - because happiness is boring! It's when the chips are down, when the hard times come, when loving is a struggle, that real romance shows itself.

And that's why I write romance. I write about characters who are faced with difficulties, with problems that could destroy their love- and they hang in there, fighting for what's important. For their love and the love of the other person.

And all the clichés in the world - all the money, power, red roses, perfume . . . can't solve those problems for them - it's only by going into their own hearts and having the courage to be honest and open that they can win this particular battle. They might not risk death like those knights of old - but they do risk the death of their hearts and that's the real danger for a human being, no matter what century they live in.

So romance isn't in the things that can be faked - it's in staying with someone through good and bad 'for richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health.' It's in working at it and dealing with the hard stuff and caring enough for the other person to find ways through the darkness to the light.

Okay, I'd better get off my soapbox now,

But this is what is in my mind when I'm writing - that I need to show that this particular heroine is the love of this particular hero's life - and if I don't convince my readers that they're right for each other then I've failed. If they are going to be blown apart by some trivial problem or bicker so hard all through the story and then say 'Oh, I'm sorry - I love you' - it doesn't convince me - so how can it convince any reader? And if he treats her appallingly and doesn't have very good reasons for it - and she lets him walk all over her without a protest - then what sort of future would they have together? That's not love - and it's certainly not romantic, not in my book. My heroes sometimes make terrible mistakes and behave badly as a result -but the heroines fight back. And when whoever made the mistake ( because it can so often be the heroine as much as the hero) realises what they've done they do the best thing they can to put it right - because all the grovelling and apologising in the world is really pretty self indulgent - it not saying I'm sorry/I love you/I'll change over and over and over again - it's doing it. Or refusing to do something if you know it's wrong. Sometimes the hardest thing you have to fight for love is the person that you love!.

That's what I try to put into my books - strong passions, strong characters, strong love - which I hope creates a strong romance That's the main reason why I write romance because the books offer me the chance to write about the things I believe in.

Kate's latest Modern Romance Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife is on sale in the UK this month. You can find out more about it and about her by visiting her web site or her blog

Film on Friday - The Winslow Boy

This Friday Pink Heart Society editor Natasha Oakley brings us David Mamet's 'The Winslow Boy'.

First it was a real court case, then a Terence Rattigan play, then a movie and then another movie. There's a reason for that. It's a brilliant story.

David Mamet's version is its latest outing, released in 1999, and it's an absolute gem. It's just perfection. Definitely one for the DVD collection, particularly because you get the 'Director's Cut'. The romance turns on a 'look'. Wish I could write that look.

The real life case concerned a boy, George Archer-Shee, who was accused of theft in 1908 while he was a cadet at Osbourne Naval College on the Isle of Wight.

Terence Rattigan changed the names, the politics, created a sister, moved the date closer to the start of WW1 and made the boy younger. The play opened in 1946 and was last performed in the West End in 1994.

The first movie, directed by Anthony Asquith, was released in the UK in 1948. It's classy and well worth watching, but the 1999 version has Jeremy Northam in it so that gets my vote.

A little bit of fun movie nonsense is that Neil North, who played the First Lord of the Admiralty in the 1999 version, played Ronnie Winslow in the 1948 one.

Ronnie Winslow, a thirteen-year-old cadet at the Royal Naval College is accused of the theft of a five-shilling postal order. An internal enquiry, conducted without informing his family and without legal representation, finds him guilty. His family are asked to 'withdraw him from the college'.

Primarily the movie is about Arthur Winslow's fight to clear his son's name and the consequences to his family of that decision. Nigel Hawthorne, as the dad, is typically wonderful. You see him tire before your eyes, his health broken.

It's a fight for the case to be heard at all. Under British law Admiralty decisions are official acts of the government, which cannot be contested without its consent— if, and only if, there is a just cause at stake. 'Let right be done'.

Daughter Catherine, played by Mamet's real life wife Rebecca Pidgeon, considers it highly unlikely 'star' barrister and ambitious Member of Parliament, Sir Robert Morton (played by the oh-so-sexy Jeremy Northam), will take the case. Watch for the look during the scene in his Chambers.

As a suffrogette Catherine is everything Robert dislikes in a woman, but one look and the boy's in trouble.

Contrary to her expectation Sir Robert, convinced Ronnie is innocent, does take on the case and argues the need to bring the case to trial in the House of Commons. Catherine, in a very 'fetching hat', watches from the Ladies Gallery throughout. She remains sceptical of his motives, but it's his impassioned performance which finally get's the case heard. 'Let Right Be Done'.

But it comes at a cost. Elder brother Dickie, played by Rebecca's real life brother, has to leave Oxford. Catherine's marriage settlement is spent and her fiancé John Watherstone breaks off their engagement when she refuses to allow her father to give up the case.

Think O J Simpson in Edwardian clothes and you'll get the idea of the media circus which surrounds the trial.

As their evidence crumbles, the Admiralty abruptly withdraws all charges against cadet Ronnie Winslow and proclaims him innocent.

Far from being the cold manipulator Catherine thought him throughout, Sir Robert declined appointment as Lord Chief Justice rather than abandon the case. When Catherine challenges him on it, Sir Robert stutters. In the Director's Cut commentary Jeremy Northam cringes but it's just perfect.

Sir Robert Morton: I wept today because right had been done.
Catherine Winslow: Not justice?
Sir Robert Morton: No, not justice. Right. Easy to do justice. Very hard to do right.

And don't you just know these two are going to have a fiery, exciting marriage.

Sir Robert Morton: Oh, you still pursue your feminist activities?
Catherine Winslow: Oh yes.
Sir Robert Morton: Pity. It's a lost cause.
Catherine Winslow: Oh, do you really think so, Sir Robert? How little you know about women. Good-bye. I doubt that we shall meet again.
Sir Robert Morton: Oh, do you really think so, Miss Winslow? How little you know about men.

All in all I've decided to give 'The Winslow Boy' a Pink Heart Society Warm Fuzzy Rating of 9 out of 10. I've taken away a point because the romance isn't the centre of the story but I defy you not to think about it long after the credits roll.

And it's got Jeremy Northam in it. Just watch it!

With love
Natasha



Natasha's next Harlequin Romance, 'Wanted: White Wedding' is out in NA and the UK in May.

To find out more about Natasha and her books visit her website and her blog.

Thursday Talk-Time - Who Needs Therapy?

There are definitely some benefits to being a writer -as our guest, author Ann Roth points out. Welcome to the Pink Heart Society, Ann!

I'm a writer- who needs therapy?

When I was about 14, I was a serious student in several honors classes. In homeroom I sat near a girl from the popular crowd. Let's call her Diane. For some reason Diane carried my picture in her wallet. I was thrilled. Until I saw what she'd written across the bottom: Persimmon. At the time I didn't know what a persimmon was. A sour fruit, a friend said. Years later I learned that persimmons are actually sweet and quite tasty. But at the time...

Diane thought I was sour? I was devastated. Silly as it seems now, I carried that pejorative image with me for years, berating myself for my lack of humor when I thought I was too serious. Never mind that I sometimes laughed until I cried and often made my friends smile.

Then there was Larry, a man I worked with. I'd just earned my MBA and had landed a job in the finance department of a bank. Larry was one of those guys who smile while they sling cutting remarks your way and do what they can to make you feel inferior. Because I was no longer a 14-year-old girl, I refused to put up with Larry's b.s. My work proved him wrong, and several times I told him to shove it. Which shocked and even silenced him for a day or two. Still, the man and his comments rankled, and I spent more than a few sleepless nights, wondering if maybe he was right.

I'm sure everyone can relate. There isn't a person among us who hasn't been insulted or hurt and emotionally scarred by someone.

Where is that biach Diane now? What's mean Larry doing these days? Who knows, but you can bet she got hers and he got his-at least in my novels. When you're a writer, you control the world you create. Some characters triumph, and others fail. I don't mind sharing that both Diane and Larry have suffered fictionally for the pain they caused me. Sure it's all made up, but in dealing with them through my writing, I was able to work through my hurt and frustration and move on.

I think that's pretty darned cool.

Until later,

Ann

Ann's current release, THE PILOT'S WOMAN, is a Romantic Times TOP PICK!

To find out more about Ann and her books, visit her site at http://www.annroth.net/.

Thanks for being with us, Ann!

Writers Wednesday - Getting The Creative Juices Flowing

This week at The Pink Heart Society our very own Trish Wylie talks to us about getting the creative juices flowing and how a picture can tell a thousand stories...

There are two reasons for my subject this week. Well there are probably four but I'm trying to control my ability to waffle on at length off-topic. Yeah, I know - Good luck with that Trish...

Anyhoos the first reason is I'm starting a new book for Modern Heat and the second is this weekend I teach my very first workshop. So for those reasons I've been looking at how I do things. Every writer has their own methods during that initial creative period. For me it comes down to three things - thinking time, pictures and music. I think out a very basic plot (cos I'm on the panster rather than the plotter team - if I plot it all out then I get bored...) I find pictures that inspire a scene or two in my head. And then I make up a soundtrack to give me a *feel* for the tone of the book. Now two out of three of those methods I'll be talking about at my workshop but one of the two - the PICTURES - is what I'll be talking about here.

A picture can tell a thousand stories. It's why so many authors who use pics can use the same actor/actress/singer etc and come up with completely different stories - even if we playfully fight over those character pics online - *cough* Ally and Natasha*cough* In my workshop I'll be using pics I used for the characters in my May Modern Heat and once all the new writers have told me who they are in their heads I'll tell them who they were in mine. See - method in my madness!

And for this new Modern Heat of mine I started out with a hero inspired by one of our Male On Monday's here at The Pink Heart Society - they're a gift those things - so no problem - gorgeous - definitely the guy I needed for my first ever Italian. But the heroine? Hmmm... she wasn't quite right. And how did I know this? Cos when I made up my collage she wasn't telling me anything. Now THIS is a B-A-D sign. So I fired her and hired a new heroine. And when I found the look I wanted I went searching for pics online.... and THATS when the pictures start to fill in the gaps in my head...

Now this time I've been lucky, cos the lady I'm using as my heroine Tess Flanaghan has had LOADS of pictures taken of her. This is why choosing actresses/singers etc makes the job so easy. And in this case I spent a good half hour googling and websiting and collecting pictures that had not only the look I needed for my plot, but that might kick the creative juices into gear along the way...

My heroine has four brothers so she grew up a bit of a tomboy - so the pics of her in denim with messy hair and wearing huge boots while sitting in a row of chairs gave me the look I wanted for the beginning of the story. But a big part of the story is her transformation into cover girl. So I knew at some point I was gonna need pics that were a tad more glamorous. But a tomboy isn't necessarily gonna be terribly comfortable in that role is she? Particularly if she's conned into it!

So when I found pics that showed real personality I knew I was onto a winner with this gal. Being a Modern Heat heroine she's gonna have sass and confidence and an irreverant outlook on life. Wellll she is if she's one of my Modern Heat heroines ;) And I think you'll all agree we have pics here that demonstrate that admirably. Go me.

Then we have the random pics that hint at scenes I might use... there she is in a nice quirky car I'll more than likely give her now. And looking like she has some attitude girlfriend! So the chances are it might end up a scene where they have a bit of an argument...

And then we have her looking girlish and playful in a huge great closet with shoooeeessss and pupppppiiieesss! Now if I put that pic together with my storyline then maybe that might be the point where my hero realizes he's not dealing with the usual model-types he's used to dating... I see a break through moment there. And if she can make him laugh as well as attract him to her physically? Yuh-huh.... poor alpha male Italian is in trouble with a capital T.

See where I'm going here?

Now obviously I had to have a girl who would be capable and believeable as cover girl material so it was important I find pics that added to the glamour some too. But I wanted her to still have that joie de vivre (sp?) and irreverance about the whole thing so she could not only make my hero insane, but she could also stay true to who she was. And again I had pics that showed that. The bubble gum one in particular is an absolute gem of a find! And yup - you've guessed it - stands a jolly good chance of making into at least the first draft of the story...

Then we have pics where she's starting to look like she can fulfil her role. Where we see just what she's capable of in front of a camera and we see the glamorous, beautiful, sophisticated woman she can be. And of course, naturally, so does the hero. Score again. The conflict might then come from whether or not she wants to be the woman she's been turned into or the tomboy/happy-go-lucky gal she was out of the media spotlight.

So when I went looking for these pics I had a basic story outline. I had named them and given them some background and had a backdrop for the story. I knew what my conflicts would be. But when it came to where to start or when to start or what these people were really like I was fairly flexible. This doesn't work for everyone. And like I've said every author has their own methods. Maybe they'd pop by and let us know what they are??? Guys???

Cos it's just as fascinating for us authors to find out what other authors do as it is for new writers to maybe stumble across something that might work for them or for readers to discover how some of the books they loved might have started out in the authors imagination...

Me. I'm an adrenalin junkie kinda writer. I like to know who the characters are before I start. I like to live with them in my head for a while. I like that basic outline I mentioned. And then I LOVE the thrill of the ride. I LOVE when a pic shouts a new scene at me or when that scene tells me something I didn't know before and when that something leads to the story taking a twist I might NEVER have thought of way back at the beginning I positively GRIN with excitement. It's all about flexibility I think. And has proved a useful learning curve for me when it comes to things like revisions and re-writes. Cos by that stage I'll know these people pretty darn well and I'll have a fair idea of what they would do when I move things around some. Flexibility is a very important part of writing. TRUST ME.

For a very small example of that. In my story, Tess Flanaghan's brothers are all dark haired and dark eyed. I therefore cast a dark haired dark eyed heroine to begin with. I fought against a blonde. Genetically speaking. But then I thought - hey - it's a Modern Heat... she can dye her hair for Pete's sake! And not only that but she can make a joke about it at some point. Like someone being as genuine a person as she is a blonde maybe? See - another little thing I might have missed out on! Flexibility. Letting the creative juices flow... fairy dust.

So when you look at all these pics you might see one heroine, you might see a different one for each pic. But can you see scenes to go with them? Can you see what they're saying and doing? Does it make them more real to you - even the teensiest little bit??? If it does any of those things then my work here is done I feel ;) Maybe for fun in the comments you could tell us about what you see or who they are or what they might be doing in one of those scenes??? Keep it clean please - we're a family blog doncha know!!! I'll even fire a copy of one of my latest books at the best one...

If you're anywhere at all on my wavelength after all this then maybe you'll understand why my little muse rubbed her hands together with glee and got the pencil out from behind her ear when she had not only this lying down pic of my heroine - but a matching one with my hero... I see them on the floor... maybe some plush apartment somewhere... lying in opposite directions but face to face while they have a conversation steeped in sexual undertones... and it being a Modern Heat...

Well. I can work with that. And that's before I even touch on the subject of his hands...

Now I could talk to you about the influence music has on my writing... but that's a whole other blog that is!

To see what I did with a couple of pics recently and how they inspired my short story for The Sun then pop by my Blog for a look see. And if you follow the link there to the story itself you'll even find a voucher UK and Ireland readers can use to get a FREE BOOK from Mills & Boon!!! Worth it for that alone I'd say ;)

H's & K's

Trish

Trish's latest release is part of the Harlequin Presents Taken By The Millionaire mini-series. At The Billionaire's Bidding, the story of Tess' brother Connor is available right now both online and in stores.

To find out more about Trish and her books you can visit her Website or Her Blog.

Male on Monday :: Aussie Blokes

Okay, so Trish reckons Irish men are the bees knees. I kinda agree, I do so love the dark hair blue eye thing Gabriel Byrne does so well. Then along came Natasha waxing lyrical about English fellows - actually doesn't she seem to do this EVERY month? Well, okay I do have the English to thank for Christian Bale and Richard Armitage. While our Jenna seemed to think American guys are the way to go.

But... I'm here to tell you that I think that even though they paraded some very nice man flesh for us to feast our eyes, and hearts, and of course our reading and writing brains upon, Aussie blokes are the be all and end of of hero inspiration.

ERIC BANA

So this guy started out on a comedy skit show , famously playing a bogon in a flannel shirts, with an okker accent and a mullet haircut. I still can't quite get "Poiter" out of my head when watching him in a movie, but there have been moments when he's played above himself. Take the topless scenes in the forgettable Troy. And then there was his magic performance in the wonderful Black Hawk Down.

urrently in the process of building a multi-million dollar pad in melbourne's glam beachside suburb of Brighton for himself and his lvoely wife, this is a local lad who has done veeeerrrrry well for himself. And I think I could do a lot with this picture come to think of it...

MEL GIBSON

Okay, so if you can ignore the politics and opionions and just look at the face and listen to the voice, then this guy has sumpin sumpin going on. In 1985 he was voted People's inaugural Most Beautiful person and despite the dated hair in this pic you can see why. Those piercing green eyes can do sexy and they can do sad. Hmmmm....

VINCE COLOSIMO

Most of you won't know who this guy is as he's worked pretty much only in Austrlaia. But he's big, tall, gorgeous, sweet, talented, married with a beautiful baby girl, and just delicious. I based a great deal of my hero Danny from MILLIONAIRE TO THE RESCUE on an interview with Vince in a local news magazine.

And I quote: "Meeting Colosimo is like meeting a fast-talking, knee-slapping, frequent-swearing, long-lost cousin. He walks into the room unaccompanied by publicists or entourage and sends the seen-it-all stylists into a fit of giggles. He’s wearing a simple white T-shirt, jeans and a brown leather coat. He looks everyone deep in the eye, asks their name and holds their handshake just a little bit longer than necessary. Is it hot in here or is it just Vince?"

Read the rest. Seriously.

JESSE SPENCER

Dr Chase, the Aussie guy in House. Or as House says, "the Brit - you have the Queen on your money you're British". Sorry, I know that has nothing to do with anything but I just loooove House ;). Young, blonde, gorgeous, making it in the big pond. And recently jilted by his pretty little co-star. Another on the right track to becoming true blue hero material I reckon. Especially when in this pic you can see he doens't always have to be the clean-cut pretty boy. There's an edge there which could be really fun to play with...

RUSSELL CROWE

Can you get a more Aussie Aussie bloke? A true man's man. A man not afraid to wear singlets in public or show off his hairy legs. He loved his footy club so much he put in millions of his own dollars to resurrect the South Sydney Rabittohs from the dead. Aussie, Aussie Aussie!

Okay so he was born in New Zealand but has worked here since he was in his teens. He would class himself as a bit of both. He is a talented, dark, brooding, passionate, and again with the voice. What is it about our Aussie men and those voices? Rasping, deep, laid-back, tickle down the middle of your spine voices.

THOSE IN OUR HEARTS AND OUR MEMORIES...

HEATH LEDGER

A Knight's Tale is wonderful and our Heath in it was highly sympathetic even with a heroine below what he deserved. In 10 Things I Hate About You he was fantastic, even though his crazy hair could have made a lesser man seem a lesser hero. Blonde, rugged, with a strong nose, cheekbones to die for, a voice that would melt chocolate and an untameable air.

Heath Ledger was growing into becoming a fine hero indeed. I only wonder how long it might take before one can seperate the inspiration from the man...

HONOURABLE MENTIONS...

JULIAN MCMAHON of Nip/Tuck fame. MARTIN HENDERSON (right) - a Kiwi to be sure, but he's so cute and comes from practically the same parallel I thought him worth an honourable mention. 'Cause he is so gorgeous. And did star in my sixth book as my hero Harry! Handsome JUSTIN MELVEY (left) who played Dr. Colin Murphy of Days of Our Lives. Then there's an old favourite of mine, ANTHONY LAPAGLIA, the star of Without a Trace and he owns the Sydney soccer team that brought David Beckham and his LA Galaxy side to Australia. GUY PEARCE who starred alongside Russ in LA Confidential.

And we gave you HUGH "in a towel"JACKMAN.

I rest my case.

Ally's latest novel FALLING FOR THE REBEL HEIR stars one heck of a gorgeous Aussie bloke. Think rugged good looks, too long dark hair, three day old growth, battle scars and that long, lanky, laid-back thang Aussie blokes do all to well.

To read more about Hud Bennington, check out Ally's website or better yet buy the book!