Backstory

Sometimes the story idea you start with is not the book you get in the end. This is one of those books.
A couple of years ago, I read a short article about Safe Haven locations. These are places where you can legally abandon your infant anytime in the first few weeks of life. Most states have Save Haven laws. In Texas, for example, fire stations, police stations and hospitals are all designated “Save Havens.”

After reading the article, I became fascinated by the idea of Save Haven babies. What happened to the children after they were abandoned? Why would a parent do such a thing? I just knew there was a story there somewhere.

At the time, I between contracts. Desire had just changed their guidelines and I didn’t know if my writing was what they were looking for. Nevertheless, I wrote up blurbs for several “Save Haven” ideas. Of the four ideas, this was the one my editor liked. Two brothers who happen to be living together find a baby on their doorstep with a note that says, “She’s yours. You’ll have to take her for a while.” The only problem is they don’t know who the mother is, so they don’t know which one of them she belongs to.

Ironically, I didn’t get to use the Save Haven element at all. Babies have to be brand new to be Save Haven babies and I decided to work with an older baby. So in this book, baby Isabella is five months old, well past the Save Haven age, but old enough to have her own personality and be more fun to interact with.