J.S. marlo

J.S. grew up in Shawinigan, a small French Canadian town, attended military college, married a dashing officer, and raised three spirited children. Over the years, she enjoyed many wonderful postings in many different regions of Canada.

After her children left the nest, she began writing. She captured her dream of becoming a published author with her underwater novel “Salvaged”.

Many of her romantic suspense novels are set in Canada or feature Canadian characters. She has also written a few time-travel and cozy mysteries.

J.S. isn’t sure where time flew, but decades later, she ended up writing under the Northern Lights in Alberta while spoiling two gorgeous little granddaughters.

Uncaged welcomes J.S. Marlo

Welcome to Uncaged! Can you tell us more about your latest book, Wounded Hearts?

Glad to be here!

Wounded Hearts is a romantic suspense that takes place on Prince Edward Island, Canada, and in Iceland.

My main female character is an adventurous and resourceful woman named Rowan. She was first introduced as a minor character in Seasoned Hearts, but she begged me for an adventure of her own, so here’s what was revealed about her in Seasoned Hearts:

Rowan hails from the Canadian Rocky Mountains where she grew up with her mom and brother. She knows next to nothing about her paternal ancestry. And she studied geology in Iceland where she met a dude named Bjorn.

For reasons Rowan won’t share unless you read Wounded Hearts, she moves back to Canada and settles down in Buccaneer, a Bed & Breakfast on Prince Edward Island.

Rowan inherited Buccaneer from a paternal aunt she didn’t know existed. Her auntie’s death was quite tragic.

Despite knowing nothing about running a B&B— Rowan is a geologist after all, not a manager—she gives it a try. A bubbly cook, a taciturn handyman, and a charming family doctor lend a helping hand, but good intentions and excellent results don’t always go hand-to-hand.

Over the summer, many guests stay at Buccaneer. Some are interesting, others are annoying, a few are undesirable, and one moves into the attic room for an indefinite period of time. His name is Avery.

Avery came to Buccaneer to escape his past and forget his future, but despite his steadfast intentions not to get involved with anyone or anything, he can’t resist examining the bones exhumed by Rowan or looking into her auntie’s death.

Along with the strange bones, Rowan also uncovers increasingly complicated family secrets, but when she inadvertently unearths a murderer, fighting for her future takes a whole new meaning.

Now, if you’re curious about Bjorn, the Icelandic dude, I’m afraid he’s also dealing with a few family problems of his own.

What is the most difficult scene for you to write? What is the easiest?

In Wounded Hearts, the most difficult scene was the love scene inside a volcanic chamber and the easiest was... I wouldn’t qualify any scenes as easy, but some were definitely easier than others. Generally speaking I find love scenes harder to write than action scenes.

Where do you get your ideas for new plots and characters?

Ideas always spark from real life. A comment I overhear, a person I cross in an airport or meet for coffee, a picture I glimpse, a conversation I remember, an activity I witness... Everyday life is full of potential adventures, real and fictional.

This is the story behind Wounded Hearts:

Many years ago, hubby and I went on a two-week vacation on Magdalen Islands, a small archipelago in the gulf of St. Lawrence, not too far from Prince Edward Island. We stayed in a cozy B&B on one of the smaller islands.

The B&B’s hosts/owners were two charming guys. I was the first author they’d ever met, so they were curious. After sharing some interesting conversations, one of them suggested I wrote a story taking place in a B&B.

By the time we flew back home, Wounded Hearts was born, and I could finally give Rowan the adventure she deserved.

What are you working on now that you can tell us about?

A year ago, my son got married in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The ceremony was outdoor on a gorgeous autumn day. It was beautiful! Nonetheless, when I looked around, I couldn’t help thinking there were so many places where you could hide a dead body LOL So, I’m currently writing a murder/mystery taking place in the Rocky Mountains against the backdrop of an eventful wedding. All I can say right now is that one guest will encounter a mama grizzly and her cubs while another will stumble on a large sum of money.

Do you base any of your characters on real-life people?

There is some truth to the saying “Please do not annoy the writer. She will put you in a book and kill you.” ably surprise your readers the most?

That being said, most of my characters are fictional, but when a character is inspired from real-life, it rarely resembles a single person. It’ll be more like a blend of different persons—unless someone really annoyed me.

I learned English in my twenties, therefore I still speak with a French-Canadian accent. My granddaughter started correcting my English pronunciation when she was two years old, but I’m slowly turning the table on her as I’m now correcting her French pronunciation LOL

Which comes first, the plot or the characters in the planning stages?

It depends what pops into my mind first. I’ve written plots around characters, and I’ve written characters to fit the plots. They both work for me.

What are some things you like to do to relax when you aren’t writing or working?

I spoil my granddaughters, I do jigsaw and escape room puzzles, I read, I walk or hike, I snowshoe, I

What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would prob- travel, and I knit.

Do you prefer ebooks, audiobooks or physical books? Are you reading anything now?

I like to read physical books in my bath, but I prefer ebooks in bed. That way I can read in the dark and my hubby can sleep.

I’m reading lots of children and chapter books to my granddaughters, either in person or on Facetime, on a daily basis.

I also have three grown-up books on my night table with bookmarks in them: Origin by Dan Brown, Random Passage by Bernice Morgan, and The Apollo Murders by Chris Hartfield.

What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

I had a reader once who emailed me to say she stayed up until for 4:00 am because she couldn’t put my book down. She needed to finish it even though she had to get up at 6:30 am to go to work.

So, I’d like to apologize in advance if my books keep them up past their bedtime.

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Enjoy an excerpt from Wounded Hearts

Wounded Hearts

J.S. Marlo

Cozy Mystery

Faced with the impossible choice of hurting the man she loves, or leaving him forever, Rowan Kendrick flees Iceland for Prince Edward Island, Canada. Heartbroken, and unable to forget him, she finds refuge at The Buccaneer, a bed & breakfast recently willed to her by an estranged aunt.

Haunted by a fatal shooting, Avery Stone seeks his escape in Buccaneer’s attic room. Despite himself, he is drawn into the peculiar circumstances behind the previous owner’s death and the strange bones exhumed by Rowan. His dislike for the doctor befriending her turns to mistrust as matters unravel.

Rowan struggles to cope with difficult guests, the puzzling Mr. Stone, and her increasingly complicated family secrets. When she unearths a murderer, is she doomed to death like her aunt? Or will the men in her life, including the love she left behind, set aside their own troubles and band together to help her?

Excerpt

Awoken from his mid-afternoon nap by loud clatters and bangs, Avery left the bench near the stream and trekked through the garden in search of the disturbance.

As he peered around the corner of the house, he spotted a stranger in a fancy suit rushing across the lawn. The unidentified male headed toward the gazebo where— At the sight of O’Reilly perched on the roof like a reckless rooster waiting to be gunned down, Avery’s jaw dropped.

“Rowan?” The blond stranger yelled her name. “Have you lost your mind?”

The hammer slipped from her hand. She leaped back as if she had been hit by the tool and lost her footing. An invisible blow knocked the wind out of Avery. Too far to intervene, he squeezed his cane, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the body sliding down the roof.

Arms outstretched, O’Reilly reached up. Whatever she managed to grip near the edge halted her deadly descent.

“Rowan? Are you all right?” The brainless fool who had startled her stood where the hammer had fallen.

Looking haggard, she struggled to sit away from the void.

“Does she look all right?” Avery muttered under his breath, his stomach reeling from the near-tragedy. O’Reilly swayed her head, blood running down her face. “Doctor...Chris?”

The fool is a doctor? His dubious tactic to recruit new patients didn’t impress Avery.

“You shouldn’t be alone on a roof, Rowan.” The doctor crossed his arms. “It’s dangerous.”

How dare this Chris character admonish her after scaring her half to death? Tempted to have a word or two with the unsolicited doctor, Avery tapped the ground with his cane.

“Are you trying to kill me?” she snapped before wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. “In case you didn’t notice, I was doing fine until you yelled at me.”

The doctor dug his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry, but when I saw you, I pictured Mattie falling down and breaking her neck.”

Avery had never heard of a Mattie. Maybe Gail would know about the mysterious woman who had broken her neck.

O’Reilly crawled toward the ladder. “I’m not Mattie.” “I know. You’re much more beautiful.”

Smooth-talker. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Avery backtracked into the garden. If O’Reilly fell for the guy, she might as well drop dead.

As soon as Rowan’s feet touched solid ground, Chris led her from the gazebo to the terrace, where he coaxed her into sitting on a lawn chair. “You’re bleeding. Let me have a look.”

“It’s nothing...really.”

Despite her objections, he knelt by her side and gen- tly ran his fingers over her forehead. “The skin is bruised, but the cut is superficial. Just keep it clean.”

She could have told him that. “What brought you here?”

“I’m hurt, Rowan.” In an exaggerated motion, he placed his hand over his heart. “Do I need an excuse to come visit a beautiful woman?”

The term beautiful couldn’t possibly describe a bleeding girl with bright red curls and huge cucumber eyes like her. Besides, his previous visits had been strictly business-related. “I wasn’t aware that doctors made social calls.”

A disarming smile brightened his boyish face. “I didn’t come as a doctor. I’m off on Wednesday afternoons.”

Gail had hinted the doctor was interested, but Chris hadn’t given her any reason to believe it might be true. “You are?”

His blue eyes sparkled like the ocean. “You’re an intriguing woman.”

Another adjective that had never been used in her presence until now. “I am?”

“Yes.” From his pocket, he pulled a hankie and dabbed her wound. “Would you have dinner with me tonight?”

“Me?” Guilt over the incident had incited him to ask her out. It was the only logical explanation. “I—” The Jensens would be arriving, but she could always ask Gail to welcome them. “Are you sure?”

He slowly lowered his hand along her cheek, leaving a feathery caress in its wake. “I’ll pick you up at 7:00 p.m. Don’t be late.” authorcharlenemorris.com