Cover Reveal

As Darkness Gathers

         When their plane goes down in the Canadian wilderness, Finch Rhodes’s and Clay Gandy’s lives become entwined. Together they face the unforgiving elements of unfamiliar terrain in winter. With their lives at stake, Finch and Clay are forced to rely on one another to survive, and they forge a bond that lasts even after they are rescued.

           Finch struggles to adjust to normal life upon returning home, hindered by seemingly harmless mishaps that soon escalate into brutal attacks. She once again comes to rely on Clay, but as the connection between them deepens, the threat against her grows.

           With her life in jeopardy, Finch must decide whether those she loves are the ones she can trust.

Our White Knights

            There has always been the hero archetype in literature:  one who displays courage and is self-sacrificial in the face of peril for what he or she deems the greater good. The hero usually has characteristics of nobility—not in terms of royalty, but rather of integrity—bravery, and resilience. They are usually warriors in some manner. The word hero, integrated into the English language in 1387, comes from the Greek "ἥρως," which literally means protector or defender.

            Virtue in action is a phrase that could epitomize heroism, and there’s always a price for such inherent valor, for the role is an uncomfortable one in society. Many feel a bitterness toward the heroic and a shame when faced with their own lack of such inclinations. Few run toward danger.

            In today’s fiction, though, the term hero has less of a classic connotation and now denotes the role of the main character. However, the reader still expects a certain quality of character from modern fiction’s heroes.   

            There is, of course, the physical aspect. In romance novels, I’ve yet to read of a short, paunchy hero with a hairy back. But even more than that, we have an assumption of honor, of a personal moral code, and of a stalwartness in our heroes. If spineless, unscrupulous cruelty is evident, we want—perhaps even need—an evolution, a redemptive growth into a figure we can admire.

            For fiction is, at heart, a study of the human condition. And in romance, in which the ending is nigh upon guaranteed to be uplifting, we want to be given examples of qualities we can hold as standards:  the power of love, the resilience of humanity… The inviolability of the hero and his quest.