DRAWN TOGETHER – Jonah
Sep
20
2013

javierbardem as jonah

 

UP front, I loved writing Jonah. I loved how bossy he was. I loved that he was a capital M man, grown up, established. He isn’t a manboy. He didn’t need taking care of but he was touched when Raven did things for him. He is driven by this need to know her, to get beneath that exterior that Raven sometimes uses to hold people away. He isn’t put off by her prickly and defensive manner – he knows there’s more to her, knows she’s how she is because of whatever she’s experienced and he wants her to reveal to to him. He’s protective. He knows what he wants and he’s a man used to getting it.

 

Raven doesn’t know what to do with a man like Jonah. She knows on some level she should probably run the other way, especially as she finds herself breaking her personal rules for him. Over and over. But she’s falling just as hard as he is and he knows she wants to and he’s so freaking patient with her, even as he pushes her to open up. I loved how she could be herself with him and he dug it. She’s charmed by him, disarmed. Jonah is the right man at precisely the right time in her life. She’s been on this journey and he understands that too. He loves that she doesn’t take any of his guff and that she’s got a spine of steel, even if she likes to submit in the bedroom. He does not mistake her love of giving up control with any sort of weakness and that knowledge is really what enables Raven to give over to him.

 

 She only had to tap it a few times before he opened it and stole her breath. He’d been dressed up for the party, but that night he had on a worn T-shirt that hugged over a broad chest and Levi’s with bare patches on the thigh and at the hem. No shoes.

His dark hair was a little tousled and he had a look. Oh my, that look. Like he was going to take a big bite.

 

 

They have this dance around one another. She’s testing him in her way. She wants him, but she wants him to understand what she is. Only he gets that more than she understands at first.

“Fine. But as you noted, I don’t like being told no.”

Her smile sent a shiver through him. “You’ll get used to it.”

He took her hand, turning it to press a kiss at her wrist. She smelled good. Warm. He liked the pleased surprise on her face and the indrawn breath.

“Or maybe you could get used to telling me yes.”

“You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “I’m told it’s a “aw. I’ll try to be worth it.” This woman was a challenge, yes. But one he had every intention of undertaking. He wanted in.

 

I waited several years to write Raven’s book for a lot of reasons. First and foremost because she wasn’t ready for the sort of vulnerability she has to open herself up to in this book. And then because she hadn’t met (and I didn’t know) the man or woman who could bring that change in her. Until Jonah showed up in Sway. I knew after I was about halfway through the novella that he would be the one – not to tame – but the person she would find a way to open up to. On the outside they’re very different. He’s elegant and classic,  highly educated, successful, powerful, old money. He does work hard for what he has, but his life has been relatively easy compared to hers. He’s got a strong family connection and he’s the kind of man people want to be around.

But while Raven knows she should run from that, she can’t. I’ll talk more about Raven next week and more about how she and Jonah fit.  But for today, enjoy this delightful picture of Javier Bardem in a suit looking gorgeous – this picture was one that inspired me when I was first writing Jonah and it’s stuck with me.

6 comments to “DRAWN TOGETHER – Jonah”

  1. Danielle H
    September 20th, 2013 at 3:18 am · Link

    Can’t wait!



  2. Angela
    September 20th, 2013 at 5:58 am · Link

    Really looking forward to this book! and omg that is definitely Jonah!!



  3. Christine
    September 20th, 2013 at 7:30 am · Link

    He definitely works for me as Jonah. I can tell Raven & Jonah are going to have a wonderful dance together.



  4. Robbie
    September 20th, 2013 at 7:50 am · Link

    I have a feeling Raven’s book is going to be my favorite. I can’t wait for this one to come out.



  5. Charlene
    September 20th, 2013 at 8:09 am · Link

    😉 Mmm, that is Jonah all the way up there. Looking forward to know more about Raven and Jonah relationship



  6. Jenn
    September 20th, 2013 at 9:06 pm · Link

    I loved Jonah. He’s such a contradiction in so many ways, but I was hoping from the moment we met him that he would figure in another book – so strong, so fun and so much a solid man — father, son, brother, lawyer.
    I had wondered who you had in your mind when you wrote him, but my guesses weren’t even close. Once I saw the picture though … wow, Bardem is perfect.
    Thanks for the insight!