Confession time: I love the cover for The Montana Sheriff. The model looks almost exactly the way I imagined Dan McKillop to be when I was writing him, although it’s more about the attitude than his physical appearance. Dan is easygoing and friendly, and everyone likes him.
But Jazz believes she has his number. That’s the thing about competitive people—they’re always sizing up others.
This is how I picture Jazz in my head:
Jasmine “Jazz” O’Reilly is a firefighter, not a cowboy, but she shares a lot of their characteristics, especially when it comes to hard work. Unfortunately for Dan, Jazz also has a strong aversion to men with money:
“And then there was Dan McKillop. He had the whole affable, “regular guy” routine down pat. Men like Dan liked to pretend their wealth didn’t matter, but they cared about image. They didn’t simply write checks—they got involved in the charitable activities they supported. They got their hands dirty helping with the construction work on their own mansions too, or wrangling the breed stock on their purebred horse ranches along with the hired hands, always secure in the knowledge they could take that three-week vacation in Tahiti whenever they liked. Even his job as sheriff was little more than a popularity contest disguised as public service. Jazz had no patience for the Dan McKillops of the world, no matter how much they looked like Keith Urban.
“Because money did matter. She doled out enough of it to her family to know that for a fact.”
Jazz doesn’t trust easily. And yet Dan is completely trustworthy.
PS. Dan has his faults and really does need to clean up his image.