Before Aidan found his love, in that nebulous period before the College Rose Romances start, Aidan had a broken heart. Broken by Michael. His response was to search out meaningless encounters—pleasure. He used two boys from his lit classes for that purpose. Both closeted. I assumed, initially, that the two characters were a lot alike.

Oh, how wrong I was!

I couldn't write Andrew at first. Lawrence (Rory) insisted on pushing his way in. Then, when I was deeply stuck in writing Becoming Rory, Andrew's Prayer came, all in a rush. Drew is the sort of character I really like. We see a bit of him in the first two books, enough to get a picture of who he is and what he is. And I love showing everything that's underneath those impressions. 

Because readers of the first two stories probably don't like Drew very much. Unlike Lawrence, who was very much in the background, Drew is up front. He's taking money to talk to reporters and give up the goods on Aidan. He's pushing Steven to join him in the tunnels and drown his sorrows in Drew's body in just the way that Aidan had. He's not a character that you wanted to like.

Yet, inexplicably, you find out very fast that there is a whole lot of unexpected in Andrew Tuttleman. And, of all my characters, a whole lot of distance to travel. Because Drew doesn't even believe love exists. Not romantic love. Not what Aidan and Steven were desperately searching for. 

Finding that place where he could believe in love wasn't easy for Drew. And indeed, that's the joy of Andrew's Prayer, discovering that capacity and desire for love that he didn't even realize he had. To give you some hope for Drew, I'd like to share a little extra I wrote for the story, that pairs up Drew with one of my favorite side characters, the ever delightful Melinda Marie.

Steven's Heart wasn't supposed to happen. Not exactly. My original concept for the first book required that Sammy, Aidan's love interest, get jealous. Over the course of the story, this blossomed to a love triangle, and eventually the balance tilted in such a way that I had serious conversations with my editor over whether to abandon the original romance and go with Steven. He was light and hopeful and romantic. He was exactly what you hope for in a romance—readers loved him.

While many readers never forgave me for it, I stuck with my original concept. Thousands of words of the romance between Aidan and Steven were chopped to make the balance of the romance work better, to allow Sammy to shine more. I still believe that ultimately, Aidan made the right choice. I still agonize over whether there's some nugget of story I could have shared to help readers understand what was in Aidan's heart—and to see the depth of the love in Sammy's.

After I finished Loving Aidan, I knew the story couldn't end there. Too many readers had invested in Steven, and they wanted to know what happened. I wrote Steven's Heart. It's a gut-wrenching, angst filled story. But I love Steven more than any of my characters, because he pulled a gotcha on me. There's a surprise midway through the book. And Steven never told me. Even though he left little hints even in Loving Aidan. I love when characters live like that.

There's a moment early on where Steven's confused. He loves Aidan. But he has these feelings for Michael, and he's not sure what to do with them. When the story had its original release from Torquere, I wrote a brief extra where Michael's sister Adrienne gives him some advice. In the book, this scene would fall between chapters four and five.

When Loving Aidan was first released, one of the pieces that didn't fit into the story was the actual scene where Aidan met Sammy. The scene is referenced in the story. As readers we know what happened—that when Aidan moves in Sammy protects him somehow. But as readers we never experience it.

I wrote the scene where they meet as an author extra to share with readers, and while the blog where it was originally shared is, I believe, long since gone, I am happy to share it here again.