Goodreads
The only thing rock star Marcus Troy loves more than making music is his kids. So finding just the right nanny to take on tour with them is important—as is proving to his ex he deserves joint custody. Falling for his employee wouldn’t just be fodder for the paparazzi: it could ruin everything.
Too bad the perfect nanny turns out to be beautiful, vibrant Ryan Evans. Ryan’s never left her small Montana town before, so she jumps at the chance to see the country. And as much as accidental fame doesn’t gel with shy Ryan, what does is her relationship with her capricious, smoking-hot, shockingly good dad of a boss. Marcus is nothing like what she expected. But when the whole world’s watching them, will life in the spotlight be too hot to handle?
Q) What inspired you to write this story?
I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’m a celebrity-gossip addict. And of course, it’s not a stretch for a writer of romance to follow celeb news closely, because so many of the tropes of the gossip blogs are identical to those in romances.
“In Love with the Nanny” has been a well-worn trope in romances since at least the mid-nineteenth century, when Jane Eyre set the bar very high, indeed. A century later, The Sound of Music was another great one, and I’m a big fan of Robin Williams’ hilarious gender flip in Mrs. Doubtfire, too.
Now, I’m not saying this is the only quality shared by these three classics, but notice that in all three cases, the father in question wasn’t committing adultery. Rochester is a bachelor, Captain Von Trap is a widower, and Mrs. Doubtfire is…well, you’ve seen it.
I was interested in writing an in-love-with-the-nanny story that didn’t involve any moral transgression on either his or her side, a sweet romance that would also offer a peek into what it might be like to fall in love with someone whose every move is scrutinized by the media. I feel sorry for celebrities sometimes in the age of Facebook and Twitter, when everyone comes out of the woodwork to offer their unsolicited opinions. How would that affect a real-life relationship between two good people? That was my driving question while writing the book.
Q) How long did it take you to write?
That’s a tough question to answer, because I didn’t work continuously on the book for an entire year, but I first thought of the idea in February 2013 after a fun chat with my editor, Stacy Abrams. I wrote most of it between June and August, 2013, with one more big push in November to get the manuscript in publishable shape. All told, probably about four months of intensive writing. I wish I could write faster! Or better! One or the other, though probably not both.
Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
Thinking I know where a story is going, and being wrong. Having a character (or an editor!) suggest a better direction than I would have thought of on my own.
Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
How one small change can create an avalanche of revisions. How hard it is to keep track of all the little details.
Elmore Leonard, the great crime writer who died in 2013, supposedly read his entire manuscript, every day he sat down to write, from page one. I’d like to try to do that next time. Now that is commitment!
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
I’m glad you said “for one day,” because that’s pushing the time limit for me when it comes to out-of-body experiences.
This is going to sound a little Mrs. Doubtfire-y, but I’m going to go with Bruce Springsteen, sometime during the Born to Run Tour in 1976. I can’t imagination the elation I’d feel as a visionary musician or writer at the very moment of hitting my stride, becoming part of something larger than myself. What a feeling it must be, to witness your own talent culminating so powerfully.
Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
Something called “ice wine.” It’s wine, obviously, in a slender bottle. A friend of my husband gave it to us. But what is it? Dessert wine? I can’t tell, and I don’t like the marketing, so it’s been sitting in the back of the fridge for going on two years.
Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
I’m working on a young-adult novel now. I don’t want to share too many details about it, but the main character was born blind, and there are two love interests: the alluring new girl at school, and the girl who is right under his nose, all along.
