Forever Your Heart

I'm a journalist--Adam Kincaid, BBC reporter, to be exact, so I'm not going to bury the lead. I'm about to see the woman I never got over. I know that because I've been back in America for years now, and I still don't date American girls. My dad would say I've come to my senses, sticking to my own British patrician kind, but that's crap. Mum, the psychologist, would more wisely say it's my unresolved issues around Nicki. My teenage years are long behind me, yet my guilt over her remains. So I've avoided all things Nicki, though the irony is she's the one avoiding me. Maybe if we see each other, we can both move on. Could she ever forgive me? Can you forgive yourself when you hurt someone you love? But please, don't answer yet. I've jumped ahead of the story, and as a reporter, I should give you more background to get to the root of it all. So let me tell you my story. Then you can be the judge.

Mary Whitney blames Laura Ingalls Wilder and Margaret Mitchell for her obsession with romance novels. At an early age, Mary fell in love with the Little House series and its dreamy hero, Almanzo Wilder, who only wanted Laura to be Laura. Like many women, Mary later graduated to the ultimate, tall and dark bad boy, Rhett Butler, who loved Scarlett despite her flaws. Mary has lived around the U.S., and after a first career in the non-profit world and politics, she's settled in Northern California with her husband and daughters. She spends her days writing characters she hopes somehow capture the romance of Rhett and Scarlett and Almanzo and Laura. She's a firm believer in what Rhett says to Scarlett: "You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how."