Y'all, I just can't believe that Colonel Mendez's story is almost here! Which means, of course, that I've finished writing it. But I'll tell you a secret – I wish I'd written it twice as long.

I did NOT want to give Mendez up. I can't believe that it's over. I'm SAD. How crazy is that? But I love this character. When he first appeared in HOT PURSUIT, I had no idea he'd gain a following. He was just some old crusty full-bird colonel with gray hair who oversaw the Hostile Operations Team and ran it with an iron fist.

Little did I know how SEXY he was. How that gray hair was salt-and-pepper gray, and how he was really in his 40s rather than his 50s. That's right, I DID NOT KNOW THOSE THINGS WHEN HE FIRST APPEARED. He was a minor character to me, but with a lot of mystery. Matt didn't really know him. Nobody did.

And then he appeared in other books, always so cool and in control, always with more knowledge than his guys had. More experience. If that's not sexy, I don't know what is! And y'all started asking for his story. That amazed me, but then I started thinking about it. WHY couldn't the sexy, 49-year-old colonel have a story? WHY NOT?

For years, New York publishers told us what we could do. I wrote for Harlequin Presents (and loved those books!), and it's possible they would have let me write a 49-year-old. But most publishers wouldn't. Too old, they'd say.

Well, hell, really? Because y'all ladies certainly have wanted Mendez's story. What amazes me about that is at least half of you have told me he's old enough to be your dad, but you don't care. 😉 You wanted him anyway.

He'll be here on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. And I'm so thrilled! But I miss him. I just can't tell you how exciting his story was for me. The scenes – oh, the scenes! The things I got to write. Some of those scenes unfolded and I could barely keep up. I had the playlist on a loop (see below) and I could not write fast enough! It happened too quickly. I want to take it all back and keep spending my days and nights with the colonel.

Mr. Harris began to wonder, I'm certain, if I'd ever finish. Or if I'd keep telling him night after night that I was too busy to watch television with him. I wasn't sure I'd finish either. I kept pushing my editors off, kept on working. I hated to let go.

But I finally did. I'm happy with the result — though don't be surprised if Mendez gets more adventures in the future. For the first time ever, I understood wanting to write a character who gets multiple books. And he might — who knows! With Kat, of course, because they deserve their happily ever after.

I hope you love him as much as I do! I'm bereft it's over. But proud of the result. Not everyone will agree — but I hope most of you will. Hugs and love. 🙂