Why my characters don't say I love you by Kara Lockharte

(originally posted over at the Science Fiction Romance Brigade and at Kara Lockharte's blog)



In my books, I avoid having my characters say “I Love You.”
Why?
Because “I love you,” can take on many different meanings and forms.
A man can say “I love you,” to his sister (though if you’re my brother, you’re more likely to say something like, “you actually know what you’re talking about for once!”) and then turn around and say the same words to his girlfriend.
Most likely (at least in my books!) those words will mean completely different things.
Instead, I’d rather have the actions of my characters speak for themselves.


In the first Space Shifters novel, WANTED BY THE WEREWOLF PRINCE, when Prince Ral is trying to win back fighter pilot Captain Skye, does he send her flowers?
Nope.
Candy?
Nope.
Jewelry.
Nope.
Instead, he sends her an envelope. With blueprints for the next generation of deep space fighter jets.
With her name on them.
Because Ral knows fighter pilot Skye, knows precisely how to target her deepest desires.
And by sending her those blueprints, he’s saying to her:
-I don’t care how much it costs (because honestly deep space fighter jets are pretty damn expensive).
-I know who you are, who you truly are.
-I’m going to make a place for you in my life.
It’s also a challenge.
As far as Skye knows, only the Coalition makes those fighter jets.
So if foreign Prince Ral has them, does that mean he stole them?
It’s a conundrum that Skye’s morality won’t let him get away with.
And that’s precisely what Ral’s counting on to bring her back to him.
That’s the kind of gesture that says, I KNOW YOU.
Which for Ral, means I LOVE YOU.

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Featured Read: Resist

 EXCERPT included below 



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 My name is Cam, and yes, I'm a vampire. At the worst possible time, I meet a human woman who hates my kind.  Despite the inconvenience, I agree to help find her lost sister, no strings attached, to prove that not all vamps are bad.  Some are very, very good...


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~ ~ ~ EXCERPT ~ ~ ~


He wasn't going to forgive me?
I’m not the one who kidnapped my aunt, tortured her, and then left her to die in her own front yard. According to my dad, the autopsy proved she’d been beaten, raped, sodomized … basically, the last few hours of her life had been straight up hell.
And Cam made a statement—I don’t think it was a vampire who killed your aunt—and I was supposed to change everything I’ve believed for the last fifteen years? I was there. I saw them push her out of the truck.
I saw it.
“You know what, screw this. I don’t need your help. I came here to find my sister, not to hang out and drink wine with a vampire who wants to give me a load of crap and expects me to believe him with no proof.” I stood and then leaned over the table, glaring at him despite that glamour business. “I have proof. I know what happened. You weren’t there. Or were you?”
The thought hit me like a bucket of ice water. Vampires lived forever. Those guys who’d killed my aunt, from what I recalled, had looked about Cam’s age. Shit. Was he—?
“Stop it and sit. Now.”
I didn’t. He sighed.
“I did not kill your aunt. I know that’s what you’re thinking. Tell me the date it happened, and I can tell you exactly where I was, likely produce a few witnesses. And I’m sure you won’t believe me, but I’ve never actually been to Oklahoma. No offense to your family, but there is nothing in that state that intrigues me enough to travel there.”
I remained standing, but a little of the tension seeped from my stance. I wasn’t remotely ready to believe everything he said, but it did seem farfetched that he had been in Oklahoma fifteen years ago, killing my aunt, and now sat in a pub in Chicago, sharing a bottle of wine with me.
“Tell me about your sister.”
“How do you know my sister?” I shot back, instantly defensive again.
He, on the other hand, was exasperated, like he was trying to reason with a five-year-old.
“You said you were here to find your sister. What happened to her?”
“You don’t know?”
Carefully placing his glass on the table, he straightened and leaned toward me. He remained seated, yet the power emanating from him was as strong as if he were standing over me, attempting to intimidate me with his excessive height. Was this what it felt like to be glamoured?
“I am not known for my patience, Anya. I am known for making intelligent decisions, sometimes on the fly, occasionally with little information with which to use to my advantage. I also have little tolerance for judgmental people who refuse to open their minds to information other than the bullshit they’ve been fed for most of their lives. On top of all that, I happen to be quite hungry, and your attitude is on the verge of making me—what is that slang term, when one is both hungry and angry?”
“Hangry?”
“Yes, thank you. Your attitude is making me hangry. Trust me, you do not want to see that side of me.”
“Why?” I challenged. “What will you do to me?”
“Send you on your way without my protection, to fend for yourself against those two men who had trapped you in the alley. And any others who might be out and about tonight.” 

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Featured Read: Lure of the Alpha

 EXCERPT included below 



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 Magnum, PI with a shifter twist! Nothing is forbidden to this elite corps of shifter bodyguards and private investigators...except falling in love.  3 great romances + 3 exclusive bonus scenes featuring dragons, wolves, bears, tigers - and undying love, all set on a luxurious seaside estate in sunny Hawaii.


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Tessa took two shaky steps toward the ornate gate of the private driveway and stopped. Was she really going to do this?
You can trust them, Ella had said. Ella, the neighbor who’d come along at exactly the right moment and saved her life.
Tessa bit her lip. The fabric at the shoulder of her shirt was ripped, and her throat ached from the attack. Her fingers were still shaking, and her mind was haunted by visions of a terrifying beast. How could she trust anyone after what had happened less than twenty-four hours before?
You have to trust them. No one else can protect you from that monster.
Crickets chirped from the lush foliage, and a bat flew overhead, a splotch of black against the dark night. Tessa shivered in spite of the balmy night, unwilling to trust her own senses. Sure, the sea was whispering over the shore in a reassuring way. And yes, the moon’s rippling reflection over the Pacific should be soothing, like the sweet scent of hibiscus. But even the island paradise of Maui could try to deceive her. Nightmares could break the deepest peace — real-life nightmares she couldn’t block out of her memory no matter how hard she tried. She could still see the glowing eyes of the creature that had attacked her.
Mine. You will be mine, his voice boomed in her mind.
She drew a deep breath and looked over her shoulder, wishing she hadn’t sent the taxi away. She was alone at night in a remote corner of Maui, far off the beaten track, about to knock on the door of a complete stranger for help.
A very rich stranger, she decided, inspecting the gate. There was an elaborate design in the middle, but she couldn’t quite make it out. Something swirly. Toothy. Wait — was that a tail? Shit, was it a dragon, or was she seeing things?
She shook the thought away and told herself to think. A gate that massive must protect a hell of an estate — a seaside estate in Maui that had made the taxi driver whistle when she gave the address back at the airport.
“Koa Point Estate,” he’d said. “You’ve got the right friends, miss.”
Tessa gnawed on her lip. These weren’t friends. They were complete strangers. And anyway, the man who’d attacked her in Phoenix was rich, too. Rich didn’t mean trustworthy — or even human.
She shook her head and turned back for the road. Who knew what secrets lay behind that gate? It would be safer to head back to Lahaina and find a hotel for the night. After a good night’s sleep, she could—
The beams of twin headlights blinded her, and a powerful engine purred into the driveway. Tessa froze as a vintage Jaguar approached then stopped. The driver’s door opened, and a tall man climbed out. His dark hair and bright blue eyes contrasted with the pure white of his dress shirt, open at the neck. Sharp, angled features cast their own sub-shadows over his face. Tall and imposing, he seemed perfectly at home in the night. Despite the fine cut of his clothes, this man exuded an untamed, animal feel, like a lion or a wolf. A predator just as capable of ripping an enemy limb from limb as he was of protecting the one he loved.
A little shiver went down her spine.
“Have you decided yet?” His deep voice boomed, making her jump.
“Decided what?” she asked, taking another step back.
“Whether you’re coming or going.”
Coming, part of her brain said. The part that couldn’t help noticing the ripple of muscles under the thin fabric of his shirt.
Going, the terrified part of her soul screeched. Go, quick.

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