Character Spotlight ~ Deborah Raney's Bryn Hennesey & Garrett Edmonds

Bryn Hennesey & Garrett Edmonds

I have been a fan of Deb Raney's writing for years and am looking forward to her new Hanover Falls series, beginning with the just released, Almost Forever. Deb excels at characterisation and realistic stories so be sure to look out for her books.

Enjoy this insight in her latest characters, Bryn & Garrett:~

Brief physical description:

I always start my research of the characters with photos, so in my mind, Bryn and Garrett look exactly like these images. I was so pleased with how close the cover art got to Bryn’s appearance!

Strengths and weaknesses:

Bryn: Bryn’s weakness, initially, is that she is unable to admit the truth about herself, about her motives and her fragile human nature. She is willing to believe a lie that’s comfortable rather than face a tragic truth. Bryn’s strength, eventually, is a complete turnaround of her weakness: realizing the importance of honesty and being willing to place her life on the line so that the truth may be revealed.

Garrett: Garrett’s weakness is a result of his grief. He allows his longing for comfort and healing to cloud his judgement. Garrett’s strengths are many. He is a genuinely kind and selfless person, he is wonderful with children, he is generous and down-to-earth.

Your inspiration for the character:

My husband is always the hero of all my books. :) Of course, after 20 books, I’ve tried to create some leads with very different personalities than my husband’s, but Ken’s characteristics of honesty, selflessness, kindness and his ability to make me laugh usually show up in my hero. Come to think of it, I have been blessed with so many wonderful men in my life––my father, brother, our two sons––after whom to pattern my male characters.

Background to the story:

My husband is always clipping stories out of the newspaper that he thinks I’ll find interesting––that he thinks might hold the seed of an idea for a future novel. One day he placed a clipping in front of me––the story of nine heroic firefighters who were killed in a fire in Charleston, SC. That story and the career of my firefighter nephew, got me thinking about the lives of the survivors and how they would find the will to go on after such a tragedy. The Hanover Falls novels explore the questions I encountered that day.

Here’s a short synopsis of Almost Forever, the first book in the Hanover Falls Novels series from Howard/Simon & Schuster:

Unearthing a lost memory may cause her to lose everything she holds dear…but could it also set her free? Volunteer Bryn Hennesey was there at the Grove Street Homeless Shelter the night five heroic firefighters died at the scene. Among them was her husband, Adam. But a terrifying absence of memory has her wondering if she might, in some way, be responsible. Garrett Edmonds' wife, Molly, was the only female firefighter to perish in the blaze. He was supposed to protect the woman he loved. Now she's the one who's died a hero. How can he go on in the face of such unbearable loss? And what started the fire that destroyed the dreams and futures of so many? Investigators are stumped. But someone knows the answer.

Deb ~ thanks for sharing! I'm really looking forward to reading this series.




On Thursday, the spotlight shines on Bodie Thoene's Princess Kaiulani from Love Finds You in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Relz Reviewz Extras

Reviews of Remember to Forget and Leaving November

Visit Deb's website

Buy Deb's books at Amazon or Koorong