Living through a hurricane on a Mexican jungle mountaintop...and what I shared with my characters
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In October 2022, my husband and I traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a destination wedding. Days before we left on our trip, weather reports indicated a tropical storm was headed to the Puerto Vallarta area. We don't mind a bit of rain—and we adored the wedding couple and their families—so we jetted off to Mexico. Soon after our arrival, the storm was upgraded to a category 2 and then a category 4 hurricane.
Many of their friends decided to cancel their flights. The bridal couple worried about what to do. They decided to stick with the plan.
Initially, we stayed at a Hilton hotel. It was about 20 minutes from the wedding venue, a fabulous villa at the top of a mountain in the Mexican jungle in Sayulita. Hours before we were to leave for the wedding, the Hilton closed its doors and sent guests to Guadalajara by bus, about a five-hour ride away. We were moments away from boarding the bus when the bride's mother called: There's a room at the villa for you. You can ride out the storm here.
We decided to go for it. The dirt road up to the villa was one of the craziest drives I have ever taken with more twists and turns than a roller coaster. Once there, we got situated in our casita (our guest house) and dressed for the wedding. The wedding (held five hours before the scheduled time) was fabulous. And the reception was wonderful too. A mariachi band played, and a cigar roller (a torcedor) made handmade cigars. Later, a DJ played music, and we danced for hours.
Around 11 p.m., we headed back to our casita, and soon after that the rain started. At first, it was a drizzle like a light summer rain, and then the wind and rain picked up. Hurricane Roslyn had arrived. My husband and I stood at the French doors of our casita (hoping they would hold) as we watched 100-foot-tall palm trees slam back and forth. We finally went to bed. Soon I felt a drip, drip, drip on my forehead. I grabbed some towels from the bathroom and placed them where my head and pillow had been and moved to the edge of the mattress. (My husband—a very sound sleeper—never woke up.) Thankfully, the leak in the ceiling didn't get any worse, and I made it through the night without getting soaked.
The next morning, the sun shined again, but there was no power anywhere at the villa. Unfortunately, the plumbing, including the toilets, required electricity. My husband checked out the crazy dirt road leading to the main street, and luckily it wasn't covered with too much palm tree rubbish. He arranged for a car, and we headed back to the Hilton—with our fingers crossed. The main gate to the Hilton was locked, and they weren't admitting guests yet. We did a little begging/sweet talking, and the manager let us in, apologizing that rooms wouldn't be ready for a while and all they had for lunch was turkey sandwiches. All we said was thank you so much.
For the next day and a half, we had the hotel to ourselves. It was an experience I will never forget. (Check out the fabulous real-life villa we stayed at in Sayulita: Villa Valentin.)
Because I will never forget, I decided to place my characters Charlotte and Sam at a mountaintop villa in Sayulita right before a hurricane.
Here's a snippet from Stuck in the Jungle with Someone Like Him (available in the That One Summer anthology, a collection of sizzling summer reading):
It began with a light pitter patter on the dome roof, no stronger than a gentle summer rain. Then the wind whipped up, and the rain did too.
Charlotte stood at the French doors leading out to her private balcony and wrapped her arms around her middle. This was just a summer storm, but a category 4 hurricane was on its way. She had no idea what a category 4 hurricane would look like, but this—just a summer storm—was coming down hard.
She touched the thick wooden frame encasing the French doors. Would this hold during a hurricane? She shifted slightly, trying to determine how close the casita was in relation to the edge of the cliff. The view had been breathtaking hours ago, but could this little structure—and her along with it—end up debris at the bottom of the cliff? How far down was down?
She shivered and said a little prayer. Please. Hold.
But there was no point in standing by the doors and staring at the rain. Charlotte swallowed hard as she got into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, gripping the thin bedding so tight her fingers ached. She squeezed her eyes shut then covered her head with a squishy pillow.
Unable to pull in a comfortable breath, Charlotte lifted the pillow from her face.
And then she felt it…plop—right on the center of her forehead.
Then plop, plop, plop.
Oh no!
Charlotte glanced up but couldn’t detect any problems with the ceiling. Then plop again.
She jumped up, dashed to the bathroom and gathered the neat stack of white towels on the shelf. Quickly, she moved her pillows from the center of the bed to one side. She flipped the damp one over and placed two folded towels where her head had been.
Okay. That would work. She’d simply stay on her side of the bed for the night. The towels would get damp, but she’d be fine over here.
Then the plopping began again, but faster and heavier this time. She wiped at the wetness on her arm. What the hell. Maybe the towels wouldn’t be enough for all this dripping.
She glanced up and stared as a large hole in the ceiling appeared, and water poured in like a runaway hose.
She screamed.
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Craving my Roommate: a sexy friends-to-lovers/enemies-to-lovers anthology
MY Story: Sharing a Bed with Someone Like Him
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Finding a roommate should be simple. Easy as pie, right?
The roommates in this steamy collection will discover just how messy things can become. Not looking for love, but stuck in close quarters, and with undeniable chemistry, things will get complicated quickly.
**My story takes place in a resort that was the location for a secret government fallout shelter, built in the early 1960s. I'm modeling it after the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.**
For Sci-fi alien romance fans: Coming soon
Get ready for the Beyond Starlight anthology (and MY story Captive Heat)
Fated mates happen once in a lifetime, but will their bond be strong enough to stay together until the end? Find out by reading this limited edition box set filled with space, adventure, and fated mates between species never seen before on Earth.
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