Shelly Alexander | A Not-So-Cute-Meet

Just because Ella Dennings and Cooper Wells from IT'S IN HIS HEART are far better acquainted than most enemies should be doesn’t mean they want a showdown in the middle of the night, both armed and dangerous and mistaking each other for intruders. It doesn’t mean they want to face off, him swinging a baseball bat named ‘Old Faithful’ and her wielding a sparkly pink bottle of pepper spray. And it doesn’t mean they want to come to the other’s rescue after she’s been stuck in a muddy ditch on a deserted road and he’s dressed in nothing but snug-fitting boxer briefs.

When these two frenemies find themselves stuck in the same cabin in the middle of a raging rainstorm, the unfortunate reunion isn’t the best way to start off their new living arrangements. Coop would rather give her a wide berth like he would a skunk on a country road, but that’s hard to do when they have to co-exist under the same roof in a cabin the size of a Post-it note.

This confrontation between Ella and Coop was one of the most fun scenes to write because it set up the perfect opportunity to confront the very core of their personalities with a situation that neither would likely handle well. Coop sees himself as an alpha man but is taken down by a five- feet-five-inch redhead using nothing but a small sparkly bottle of pepper spray that’s dangling from her keychain. Ella’s obsession with cleanliness and pre-planned schedules is stretched to it’s inflexible breaking point when she has to climb out of a muddy ditch in the dark of night, walk a mile to the cabin in the pouring rain and is surprised by a baseball bat that crashes into the wall, barely missing her head—none of which were part of her structured and well-orchestrated plan.

This ill-fated encounter also throws them together when both never expected to see each other again. After all, neither wanted to see each other again…or so they thought. After starting off on the wrong muddy foot—because Ella did lose a shoe in the ditch and had to hike all the way to the cabin minus one blingy flip-flop—they have to learn to co-exist regardless of their difference. And it’s the stark differences in their personalities that turn their heated animosity toward each other into undeniable attraction and sizzling passion.

My inspiration for this chance encounter and its volatile result was humor. I love writing funny confrontations between the characters in my stories. In real life we often meet up at the most inopportune moments with that certain someone we’d rather avoid. The situation might upset us, scare us, or even anger us. But later, when our nerves have settled and our mouths have stopped gushing foolishness, we can often find humor in the memory of it. We can laugh, cry, or let the memory grind on us for years. It’s our choice, and I’d rather laugh.

Although I reserve the right to cry at first…at least in private…after I’ve mumbled a few colorful words under my breath and eaten at least one

About Shelly Alexander

A 2014 Golden Heart finalist, Shelly Alexander grew up traveling the world, earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing, and worked in the business world for twenty-five years. With four older brothers, she watched every Star Trek episode ever made, joined the softball team instead of ballet class, and played with G.I. Joes while the Barbie Corvette stayed tucked in the closet. When she had three sons of her own, she decided to escape her male-dominated world by reading romance novels and has been hooked ever since. Now, she spends her days writing steamy contemporary romances while tending to an obstinate English bulldog named Lola.

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About IT'S IN HIS HEART

She has a secret. He has a scandal. And they both have an attraction they can't deny.

Ella Dennings is furious. Soaking wet, muddy, and furious. All she wants is to enjoy a quiet summer retreat in her Red River Valley cabin. Maybe she can finish healing after the death of her husband, Bradley. Maybe she can even finish writing that third book in her anonymously written bestselling series. But when she arrives at the cabin in a raging rainstorm, who does she find holed up there but Cooper Wells, Bradley sexy best friend man capable of seducing women within seconds and a man Ella has never liked.

Coop's got his own baggage. He's engulfed in a nasty legal battle, and after selling his home to cover his legal fees, he's got nowhere to go but the cabin. He and Ella will just have to coexist under one roof...but is their heated animosity boiling over into attraction? And when Ella's racy new book rocks the sleepy town, will her secret identity spell scandal for both of them?