I’d like to talk today about perfection, in particular perfect heroes. Surely, perfection is overrated. I can hear what you’re thinking! Elaine, you say, what are you going on about? I love perfect heroes. How can a romance author not believe in perfect heroes? What about those broad shoulders? Six pack abs? Penetrating eyes? Noble nature?
Yeah, yeah, I get all that, and I like it myself, but can’t we deviate from the pattern for the sake of a good story? We can? Super! You won’t be disappointed.
Hank Lovinggood, the hero in my novel Blue 52, has the shoulders, the abs, the eyes, and the noble nature, but he has a bad case of low self-esteem. Who wouldn’t in his place? He spent his entire life standing in his father’s shadow. Who was his father? Oh, he was the President of the US. The history books say Hank’s mother shot and killed him toward the end of his first term in office. Hanks’s grandparents raised him, but his grandfather can’t let go of the past. Hank knows that in his grandfather’s eyes, he can’t live up to his father. Hank never sought public office. He works as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office.
Due to an unforeseen turn of events, Hank comes to believe wholeheartedly in his mother’s innocence. Aided by the brilliant and beautiful physicist Kathryn Sinclair, Hank sets out on a quest to prove his mother’s innocence and to find and punish the real killers, a quest that will be more dangerous than anything he’s ever done before. Along the way Hank matures and discovers reserves of strength, bravery, and honor that will change his character forever.
In this excerpt, Hank meets Kathryn Sinclair for the first time.
Hank rose to his feet. He didn’t know what he had expected, a person his grandfather’s age maybe, but the woman who appeared in the door behind his secretary looked almost as beautiful as his mother. In fact, as impossible as it seemed, she might be even more beautiful. She was about five six and had dark hair and eyes even bluer than his own. He guessed she might be about his age. Her figure would make a blind man stare. But the expression on her face attracted him as much as her physical appearance. Intelligence, curiosity, and life shone from her eyes. She glowed with an eagerness he didn’t understand.
As she approached his desk, she held out her hand. “Mr. Lovinggood, how are you? I’m Dr. Kathryn Sinclair. Thank you for seeing me.”
She had a firm handshake and looked him right in the eye. “Not at all Dr. Sinclair. Please, have a seat. May I get you a cup of coffee?”
“Yes, that would be lovely.”
Hank filled a disposable cup with coffee. The cups biodegraded in three months time, so nobody hesitated to use them. The trashcans overflowed with cups by the end of the day. “Cream or sugar?”
“Black, thanks.”
He handed the coffee to Dr. Sinclair and got a good look at her legs in the process. Nice. She wore a well-cut, red suit that looked expensive. He liked her short little skirt, but the neckline of the jacket didn’t plunge quite enough.
Hank flushed. He was no hormone-riddled teenager. The woman didn’t come here for him to ogle her. “My secretary told me that you wanted to talk to me about a crime,” he said as he seated himself behind his desk, unconsciously smoothing his tie and sitting up straight.
“That’s right, I do.” She didn’t wait for him to prompt her to tell her story. “The crime was committed a long time ago, but there’s no statute of limitations on murder, right?”
Hank nodded. “You want to talk to me about a murder?”
“Oh, yes. A man and his wife were brutally murdered, and the murderers framed the wife to take the blame.” Dr. Sinclair paused to take a sip of her coffee. “Their names were Lovinggood.”
That would be a shocker, wouldn’t it? Does Kathryn really have evidence that Hank’s mother is innocent? Will Hank believe her story and act on it? All excellent questions that are answered in my favorite book Blue 52.
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