Introduction
Ty and Mallory posed a special challenge for me. I’ve written romances for characters from their mid-twenties to their sixties. I’ve written interracial love stories and adventures for young teens.
But! Writing about Ty and Mallory was a particular challenge. First, a bit of background as to what I found so challenging.
To me a romance means happily-ever-after (HEA). A romance story is about the one true love that we all hope for (even, or perhaps especially, when we don’t believe it is really possible). There has been a trend of recent years, as the romance genre has so expanded, to include what is called “happily-for-now.”
When Bridget Jones’s Diary exploded chick lit onto the scene, it was bundled in with romances. And I took it as a romance…with a satisfying HEA—in the
