Love Blooms Character Interview – Jo McNally

We’re delighted to share this latest piece for our Authors Interviewing Characters series!

Jo McNally is an award-winning author who writes contemporary romances with love, laughter and hard-won HEAs, her latest novel LOVE BLOOMS is out now!

Here’s what Love Blooms is about:

Tonight should be the best night of Lucy Higgins’s life. Tomorrow she’s finally marrying Owen Cooper. She’s been waiting to start a life of wedded bliss, like the happy marriage her parents have. Except…she just learned her parents are divorcing and she’s freaking out. Owen has been so distant lately, shutting her out. Suddenly this big wedding seems like a really bad idea. Packing up her car, Lucy bolts for Rendezvous Falls and finds work at a flower shop while she gets her life together. The last thing she expects is for Owen to show up, wanting her back.

Owen Cooper’s carefully planned out life is ready to begin. He’s home from the military to join the family business and marry the sweet girl who captured his heart…until Lucy runs out on him. That was not part of the plan. Armed with an article that promises to help him win her back, Owen heads to Rendezvous Falls. But from the moment he sees her again, she seems…different. Happier, more confident and at ease. Can he convince this new version of Lucy that he’s become the man she deserves? He might need a little help from the local book club to accomplish this mission.

OWEN/LUCY INTERVIEW

Today, yours truly, the local paper’s social editor, is chatting with Lucy Higgins and Owen Cooper. They’re Rendezvous Falls’ newest residents, and are both staying here at the lovely Taggart Inn, owned by my old friend, Iris Taggart. Rumor has it that Lucy is a real-life runaway bride, and Owen thinks he still has a chance with the woman who dumped him at the altar. 

Thank you for joining me, Lucy and Owen. Why Rendezvous Falls?  

Owen: [Readers, he’s looking at Lucy with the swooney-est eyes!] I’m here because this is where Lucy is.

Lucy: My best friend is Iris Taggart’s granddaughter, Nikki. She suggested I come here. I’m sorry, but I don’t have a lot of time. I’m covering for Connie at the flower shop this afternoon.  

Oh, that’s right…you got a job at Rendezvous Blooms right after you arrived. Were you a florist back in North Carolina? 

Lucy: I wanted to be. I worked in my aunt’s flower shop as a teenager and loved it. But Owen’s mother kept coming up with excuses why I couldn’t open a florist area inside the family landscaping nursery.

Why didn’t you support her, Owen?

Owen: I wasn’t there! I was serving in the army overseas. If I’d known, I’d have had Lucy’s back all the way. 

Lucy: That might be true. He’s explained to me that his last deployment was really tough and he just…disconnected himself from any drama back home. From me. 

Owen, is that why she left you at the altar on your wedding day?

Lucy: It wasn’t exactly the altar…

Owen: I was inside the church, Lucy. Nikki handed me your note in front of the pastor. 

Yes, but why did you run, Lucy? 

Lucy: It’s complicated. I don’t feel comfortable talking about this until Owen and I have had more time to figure things out. 

Owen: Don’t give up on us, Luce.

Lucy: I don’t hate you or anything, Owen, but…[Readers, Lucy looks so conflicted right now.] Look, I’ve gotta go. Connie needs to get to that appointment and I have to finish two bridal bouquets for the weekend. Sorry to bail on the interview, but I promised.

Owen: [readers, the love in his eyes when he looks at her!) And when Lucy makes a promise, she keeps it. She takes care of the people in her life.

Lucy: I…um…thanks.

Lucy leaves with a quick wave. Her eyes never leave Owen. 

Owen: I’m gonna win her back, you know. 

Uh…what if she doesn’t want you to?

Owen: She gave me a month here in Rendezvous Falls to win her heart, so she hasn’t shut me down yet. But if she tells me to go, I’m gone. All that matters to me is her happiness. Even if it breaks my heart.

Is that why you gave her a new car? To make her happy?

Owen: Technically, I didn’t give her a car at all. I had her old wreck of a car updated so it was safe. 

I heard it was her grandmother’s car. You gave it a new engine, new tires, seats and a paint job. That sounds like a new car to me. 

Owen: I was going to do all that anyway as a wedding gift, but it worked well as what they call a “grand gesture”.

Oh, that’s right. I heard something about you using a phone app for tips on winning Lucy back…

Owen: Lower your voice! You can’t print anything about that. I don’t want Lucy knowing about the app. 

Okay, we’ll take this off-the-record. But I’m dying to know…is it true?

Owen: A friend recommended using the Dr. Find-Love app for tips on how to grovel effectively. I know it might sound a little desperate but frankly, I am desperate. Remember, I only have a month. Between Lucy finding out her parents were getting a divorce and my mother turning into a monster-in-law with the wedding planning, and me being so–what did she call it?–disconnected…well, she bolted. Not the decision I would have made, but she’s been under a lot of pressure the past few years, and I hurt her by tuning her out. I’m trying to understand it all from her point of view.

And is this Dr. Find-Love app working? 

I like having a plan to follow, and the app helps with that. Lucy’s at least talking to me now. And smiling more. We’ve made it back to being friends.

So what’s the plan if you do win her back? 

The original plan was to go back to North Carolina together and take over my family’s landscaping business, but now I don’t know what’s going to happen. Lucy’s happy here in Rendezvous Falls. She loves working at the flower shop. She’s making friends. There’s no family drama here. But I have some big obligations back home. My parents are relying on me. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Step one is getting Lucy to love me again.  

What is Dr. Find-Love telling you to do next on the list?

I think I’ve said enough for now. If Lucy ever heard I was using a phone app, she’d think this was some kind of game. You’ve got to believe me–I love that woman. The one thing I’d never planned on was having a firecracker like Lucy Higgins walk into my life. I don’t want to lose her.

Well, good luck, Owen. I like Lucy, and I know she’s been a big help to Connie Phelps at the flower shop. The book club crew likes her, too, and that means something in this town. We’re rooting for you!

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Category: Interviews, On Writing