The Templar’s Seduction by Mary Reed McCall

13 Responses to “The Templar’s Seduction by Mary Reed McCall”

1
Mary Reed McCall Says:

Let me start by saying I have a tendency to write pretty complicated (i.e. not easy to “capture” in a few short paragraphs) stories. It’s taken me many years to be able to condense them down myself (my own work with which I’m intimately familiar!), to deliver a “blurb” to my editor or anyone else who needs one.
With that said, Haven, you’ve done an EXCELLENT job of capturing the conflicts and complex set-up of characters in this book - and without giving away any spoilers that would ruin the story for anyone who hasn’t read it yet. That’s not easy to accomplish, but you did it. Brava - and thank you so much for your wonderful review, too!
Ok, on to my behind the scenes (which is also a little trickier this time, since the book isn’t out yet)…
I thought I’d start with the couple of paragraph set-up I produced for this book, the same as I did in the comment section below for Sinful Pleasures (so the paragraphs you’ll read here about Alex’s story were written sometime in 2002, just like the ones for SP, when I was first putting together the whole series). As then, the title is clearly different, as is the plot angle of the story (though I think you’ll see, if you read it - and the SP paragraphs - closely, how the resulting books are very, very similar to my original concepts of them, but often just from a slightly different angle (and you don’t have to have read The Templar’s Seduction to see this: Haven’s review would provide you with all you need, since the paragraphs I’m contributing here are only the set up of the story, just like she tried to convey, to not give spoilers that would ruin the book for anyone).
Ok, here it is; my mini-synopsis for Alex’s story, which at that point I thought I’d like named REDEEMED (to go along with the other one-word titles I’d come up with for each book in the series):
“In Honor and Passion: The Templar Knights “REDEEMED”
(This final book will center on arranged marriage, the weight of society mores, dangerous secrets, and, ultimately, redemption of the heart)
The hero is Alexander Ashby, who served as a dark, almost villainous character in Book One. At the end of that story, he is the clutches of the Inquisition once again due to an uncharacteristically unselfish action he’d taken to save his friend Richard and ensure the happiness of his lost love, Meg. Alex is the most rebellious of the four Templars of the series – a true “bad boy” who has managed to thrive by taking the easy way out his whole life (he is also the perfect foil for his younger brother Damien, who is the hero of Book Two and though damaged by life, of an angelic and pure character).
This time Alex chose to do what was honorable, and he suffered the consequences. Like his brother Damien, he has been tortured both physically and mentally by the Inquisition, but unlike Damien, he managed to escape before confessing again. Destitute and suffering in body and soul, he is a jaded, nearly broken man with little to live for…
Until a beautiful and seemingly fragile noblewoman in dire straights offers him the chance of a lifetime. She asks him to participate in a ploy in which he will pretend to be her long-lost and presumed dead husband. The ruse must be played before the eyes of high society, even before the king himself, in order to quiet the whispers of gossip and ensure her continued control over her missing husband’s wealth and lands. If it is successful, Alex will be granted a one-time sum of money generous enough to allow him to live in luxury without working another day for the rest of his life.
It all seems so perfect. He cannot believe his good fortune and considers his future felicity secured…until he has the despicable judgment to actually fall in love with his counterfeit bride.”
That’s it. Now granted, you’ll have to have read the finished product to see some of the fine points of what I kept and what I discarded - but I hope you can see, even with this, that Alex’s character stayed exactly the same (as did my early vision of Elizabeth, for the most part - though she’s not named as Elizabeth here, but as Alex’s “counterfeit wife”). And yet the *motivation* behind why Alex has a counterfeit wife - and whether or not she even knows about being that herself - changed drastically from this brief blurb and what I ended up writing into a finished book.
In part, I think this shift in story was because I got to know Alex’s character better in the subsequent writing of Richard’s and Damien’s books, and in part, I think it’s because when I was brewing and stewing over what his story would be “about” (more on that in a minute), I wasn’t overly thrilled with the set-up mentioned above. It seemed too bland for his character as I envisioned it - and the stakes weren’t high enough. I needed something life or death (ALWAYS the best stakes, if you can use them…I’ll do a blog next week on this topic as well, if no one else contacts me with any subjects they’d like addressed).
The brewing and stewing process was horrible for me with this book. Why? Because I wanted so badly to get it “right”. This character had been living in the back of my mind for so long - the longest of all the characters in the series, since his story was being written last…and he was such a different hero from any I had written before, because he had done some really, really bad things (as an adult, that weren’t accidents, but stemmed rather from weaknesses in his character). In other words, he was the least “heroic” hero, at the start of his story, than any I’ve ever written. He had little to no sense of honor (that he recognized himself, anyway), he had a tendency toward selfishness and self-protection above all else, and he’d made some God-awful bad choices in his life (sprinkled with one or too that were glaringly “good” by comparison, but were certainly exceptions to the rule of his life).
And yet I loved him as a character. Why? Because he was also mischievious and playful, and strong in ways he didn’t even know about himself (but that I did, because, heck, I created him in my mind! *G*), with a devil-may-care sense about him….all wrapped up in a powerful, sexy, dark-haired, blue-eyed package of dangerous, damanged knight. And wow, did I want to get it right!
So I’d have to say that the conception - and then execution - of this story gave me the most trouble of any book I’ve ever written. Not only did I need to tie up the series in an emotionally satisfactory way, but I also needed to capture and then realistically redeem this hero, unlike any I’d ever written before.
It was a tall order. I hope I achieved it. I suppose time (and reviews) will tell.
So there’s my behind the scenes for The Templar’s Seduction. I’ll be glad to field questions and explain anything in more depth. And as always, if there are any topics that come to mind as a result of these backstories I give you, that you’d like to see me expand upon in some way in my blogging next week, please don’t hesitate to tell me. Otherwise, you’re going to get whatever I can pull out to talk about with you, that I haven’t already covered in our chatting here. *G*.
Thanks again, Haven, for a wonderful review of The Templar’s Seduction…and thanks to Isabel, Lacey, Laura, Andrea, Emily, and Stacey for your wonderful reviews as well. This has been such a fun a fabulous week for me here at Romantic Inks, and I truly have felt so special, having you all reading and discussing my books. I’ve been wandering around with a permanent little smile on my face, all week because of it!
Ok - I’ll check back later….
–MRM
April 21st, 2007 at 5:21 am

2
Laura Says:

Haven! I read this review.. and especially after reading all of the others-
and I am finding myself wandering off to the middle ages! I feel like I am watching movie previews to all of MRM’s books.
& Mary we were in a store yesterday, and a little gadget had the weather for Albany on it.. I said to my husband, oh look honey, Mary Reed McCall is having fabulous weather in Albany today.
He looked at me like I had two heads.. he said who? So I told him all about the books, inside scoops, and everything…
Also… this new hero in this book you wrote about! I can’t wait to read his story. He sounds fascinating- now, for that wait… :)~! I am going to read the other ones in the series while I am waiting. Great Spring Time reads!
April 21st, 2007 at 9:07 am

3
Mary Reed McCall Says:

Oh - I forgot to mention…
The “high concept” for this book is SOMMERSBY meets THE THREE MUSKATEERS (or the four Knights Templar *G*).
That may give you a hint of the kind of action/story contained in the pages.
–MRM
April 21st, 2007 at 11:33 am

4
Mary Reed McCall Says:

Laura said: “& Mary we were in a store yesterday, and a little gadget had the weather for Albany on it.. I said to my husband, oh look honey, Mary Reed McCall is having fabulous weather in Albany today.
He looked at me like I had two heads.. he said who? So I told him all about the books, inside scoops, and everything…
Also… this new hero in this book you wrote about! I can’t wait to read his story. He sounds fascinating- now, for that wait… ~! I am going to read the other ones in the series while I am waiting. Great Spring Time reads!”
Thanks, Laura!
And LOL about your hubby’s reaction. We’re not actually too far away from each other, geographically. You must be having some pretty nice weather out your way, too. For us, it’s 75 and sunny…a welcome change from the 7 inches of snow we got less than a week ago.
–MRM
April 21st, 2007 at 11:35 am

5
Isabel Says:

Ok, before I get into discussing today’s review, I’d like to ask all of you to please get up from your *virtual chairs* and give Mary Reed McCall a standing ovation. She had her very first Publisher’s Weekly review done for The Templar’s Seduction and it’s good one too!
McCall’s unconventional but engaging hero, strong heroine and fresh plot twists make this another winning historical. (June)
PW-MRM’s The Templar’s Seduction
Scroll down toward the middle of the page under “Mass Market” to read the review in its entirety.
April 21st, 2007 at 1:23 pm

6
Isabel Says:

It seemed too bland for his character as I envisioned it - and the stakes weren’t high enough. I needed something life or death (ALWAYS the best stakes, if you can use them…I’ll do a blog next week on this topic as well, if no one else contacts me with any subjects they’d like addressed).
Although I’m a vegetarian, I like my “stakes” well done. *G*
*Isabel who has had waaay too many cans of coca cola and it’s barely 12:16pm her time*
April 21st, 2007 at 1:49 pm

7
Isabel Says:

Thanks again, Haven, for a wonderful review of The Templar’s Seduction…and thanks to Isabel, Lacey, Laura, Andrea, Emily, and Stacey for your wonderful reviews as well. This has been such a fun a fabulous week for me here at Romantic Inks, and I truly have felt so special, having you all reading and discussing my books. I’ve been wandering around with a permanent little smile on my face, all week because of it!
Mary, at the risk of sounding like an overly emotional drama queen here, you made me cry.
It has been a special week for us too, I think I can say on behalf of the RI team that we have discovered yet another author with the power to move us emotionally and mentally with her words. Whether it is from a reader’s POV or a writer’s POV we’ve all learned so much from you. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us this coming week. Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll all find it helpful/useful in more ways that you can imagine.
To NY Stacey and my fellow RI girls, you all did fantastic jobs with your respective reviews. I’m very proud of all of you! Romantic Inks– formerly Romantically Inclined– has come a long way and it’s thanks to all the authors who have supported us from day one and along the way, the visitors, the readers, the lurkers, and each and everyone of you RI girls!
April 21st, 2007 at 2:02 pm

8
Andrea Says:

*standing up to give a standing ovation to MRM*
*also giving cheers and applaud to my fellow RI ladies for their wonderful reviews*
Great review, Haven!
Mary, I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to reading this series now!!! I am so very, very lucky to have discovered your books and I will be first in line to obtain The Templar’s Seduction on it’s release day–May 29th!! I think that I can speak for the rest of the RI ladies when I say that we have truly enjoyed you, your books, and your wonderful behind-the-scenes and synopsis snippets this week. And I have a feeling that next week will be just as great!
Isabel, I prefer my “stakes” medium rare. You had me LMAO! Luckily, I wasn’t drinking anything… *g*
April 21st, 2007 at 2:20 pm

9
Irene M. Says:

Isabel wrote: Although I’m a vegetarian, I like my “stakes” well done. *G*
Andrea wrote:”Isabel, I prefer my “stakes” medium rare. You had me LMAO! Luckily, I wasn’t drinking anything… *g*”
LOL! Ya’ see why WE get along so well?
April 21st, 2007 at 3:04 pm

10
Haven Rich Says:

These type reviews are always hard for me to write, because I’m always the type not to spoil anything for another person, not a movie ending and surly not a wonderful book.
Trust me ladies when I say that it would be so easy for me to gush about how much I loved Alex in the end or how many times I wanted to draw a sword and put it at Luc’s neck. Trust me you’ll want to as well!
I could feel the emotions that Alex and Lady Elizabeth were going through and I was thrilled how everything turned out..hehe no spoilers remember!
Thank you so much Mary for joining us this week, as I wasn’t expecting you to give us such wonderful “insider” details on each book. I’m so glad you did, because it’s so much fun to know the characters the way you do. As a reader we only get to see the finished product and rarely the history of building the wonderful H/H’s.
I’m in awe of your talent!
April 21st, 2007 at 3:31 pm

11
Irene M. Says:

Isabel wrote; “give Mary Reed McCall a standing ovation. She had her very first Publisher’s Weekly review done for The Templar’s Seduction and it’s good one too!”
Woo-hoo!!! CONGRATULATIONS MARY!!!
You go Girl—I’m so happy for you!
{{{HUGS}}} MARY!
And can I say…it’s about d*mn time!
But what the heck took them so long???
April 21st, 2007 at 3:55 pm

12
Irene M. Says:

And…Great review Haven. Having read this book too, so I agree with MRM, you did a terrific job giving readers a real feel for the storyline. And I also agree; it is REALLY hard to write a review without giving away too many spoilers, especially for a book that hasn’t been released yet. Ya’ did a great job!
MRM ~ I, too, am in awe of your talent! You ROCK!!!
April 21st, 2007 at 3:59 pm

13
Helen Sibbritt Says:

Fantasic review How much longer do I have to wait. The wait is killing me I need to read this book you ladies have made the wait even harder by all these fantastic reviews all week.
Congratulations to Mary and everyone here I have really enjoyed it.
Thanks Heaps
Have Fun
Helen
April 21st, 2007 at 4:36 pm

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