Guest Post: Drop Dead of an Estrogen Coronary Gorgeous… OR IS HE? By Grace Burrowes

Readers, being the savvy folks they are, easily pick up on how an author’s description of a character points in two directions at once. The reader gains a sense of the described character’s appearance, but also—and usually more interestingly—a sense of where the describing character is coming from.

In my newest romance, A Single Kiss, Hannah Stark is a new hire at the law firm of Hartman and Whitney, and she’s trying to get out the door by 5 p.m. to pick up her daughter at day care. Some guy is setting up what sounds like a date for later that night and using the boss’s phone to do it. Hannah needs to return a book to the boss’s shelves and dithers a moment too long over whether to interrupt.

The door opens, and she confronts the man whose social calendar is putting a stick in spokes of Hannah’s tight schedule. She resents that nobody has warned her Trent Knightley is “drop-dead-of-an-estrogen-coronary gorgeous,” and further describes him as “a walking assault on a woman’s composure.” Tall, dark, and handsome, “three for three.”

Clearly, this lady is not impressed by a guy’s good looks. She likens them to a heart attack or an assault. Tall, dark and handsome might as well be a list of criminal charges, all of which Trent must plead guilty to. 

And yet, Hannah does notice other characteristics besides Trent’s handsome profile. He takes time to talk to her, to chide himself for not making introductions sooner, to welcome her to the firm.

With those actions, the wariness and resentment Trent’s first impression made begin to fade. He’s a well-favored gentleman. While his good looks had Hannah’s dukes up, his good manners earn him a second chance… and a third.

This tells us Hannah has been burned a time or two, isn’t fool enough to let handsome features turn her head, and values actions over words or appearances. She is, in other words, a woman of some experience where men are concerned, not much of it happy.

Trent will have to work to keep Hannah’s interest, though when he does earn her trust, he’ll know she values him for characteristics more permanent and meaningful than his manly physique or dimpled smile.

She’ll become fond of those too, of course, but she’ll fall in love with the gentleman—not his appearance.

What do you recall about the heroes on your keeper shelves? Their looks or their deeds? Both? Something else entirely?

***

Book Information

Book: A Single Kiss
Author: Grace Burrowes
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Summary

Hannah Stark has set her sights on corporate law to assure her a career of paperwork, predictability, and conservative suits. Contracts, finance, and the art of the deal sing to her, while the mess and misery of the courtroom do not. But her daughter needs to eat, so when Hannah is offered a temporary position in a small town firm's domestic relations department, she reluctantly accepts.

Trent Knightley is mightily drawn to his newest associate, though Hannah is as protective of her privacy as she is competent. When their friendship and attraction heat up, Hannah's secrets put her heart and Trent's hopes in double jeopardy.

Buy Links

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/13FY6tY

Author Biography


New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes' bestsellers include The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish and Lady Eve's Indiscretion. The Heir was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010, The Soldier was a PW Best Spring Romance of 2011, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish won Best Historical Romance of the Year in 2011 from RT Reviewers' Choice Awards, Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight was a Library Journal Best Book of 2012, and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid was a PW Best Book of 2012. Her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Grace is branching out into short stories and Scotland-set Victorian romance with Sourcebooks. She is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland.

Social Networking Links

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GraceBurrowes

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