Spoilers Post for One in Vermillion

~ Jenny

Come here to say anything you want, ask anything you want about One in Vermillion (or Lavender or Pink, if you’d like).

And because Ashley asked:

If you haven’t read Vermillion (or Lavender and Pink) and intend to, it’s probably a good idea to stay away from the comments. Just a suggestion.

142 thoughts on “Spoilers Post for One in Vermillion”

  1. Such a great series! Thank you both! Will be rereading these, and looking forward to Rocky Start. 💜

  2. I ended up rereading the last chapters of Rest in Pink and One in Vermillion because things were moving so fast and I was speed reading to find out how events ended. That is masterful writing. It reminds me of the end of Love, Actually at the point where the airport scenes come in. Everything speeds up and comes together for all the characters, at once.

    Thanks for the updated chart! That really helps. I loved that Liz is now an actual Blue in the “First Family”, and that her biological father did well by her.

    I worry that the little house may not have a railing around that back porch! The drop from there is murderous. Maybe I missed a reference to a railing in my speed read?

    I wonder where Faye will end up, too. That’s a loose cannon that could really cause trouble. And I wonder how Lobo escaped being arrested. Did he separate himself from the other Wolves in time? Evidently. That little book of Cleve’s certainly has a future in a follow-up. Annie disappeared, and I was hoping for more from her.

    We already discussed the repainting of the new bedroom in the diner. I wanted to hear about the rings Molly and Raina exchanged. I’m sure there are details in your research.

    These are just random thoughts. I am waiting for sager minds to contribute.

  3. Jenny, I loved reading One in Vermillion. It was wonderful on so many levels. The series just went from strength to strength. You and Bob are the best.
    I did notice a few typos, so I have emailed them to you and Bob just in case you were not aware of them. Hope you don’t mind. Can’t wait for Rocky Start.

    1. I also saw about three typos and four missing words which were in common phrases that the reader could easily fill in. But it was pretty clean!

  4. Loved Vermillion! Looking forward to reading all three books from the beginning. I can’t remember if you told us whether or not you had all three substantially done before you published the first book. I’m just curious if you guys went back and changed anything major in the preceding book or books after writing the second and/or third books. And on that note, doesn’t the above chart have to be updated yet again to reflect Liz’s latest father? Actually, you probably need a different chart for each book, lol. Found a couple of unimportant punctuation typos in the ebook. Do you want to know about them? I always hesitate about whether to mention minor typos to an author.

    1. Oh, always mention them on here.

      We finished Lavender, wrote Pink and rewrote Lavender, finished Vermillion and rewrote Pink. Then I looked at Vermillion and had a meltdown and we rewrote that, too. So we cycled through all of them. We’ll do the same for Rocky Start.

  5. I have Vermillion, but I’m saving it for the weekend, lol.

    In the meantime, I have several people I’ve recommended the series to who have asked me if there is going to be an audiobook anytime soon?

    Thanks!
    ~Chelle

    1. We’re trying to get Brilliance to make a decision. They have the rights to Lavender’s Blue and they haven’t let us know whether they’re going to give us the rights back, in which case we’ll do the audio, or if they’re going to do Lavender and whether they want the next two. We went to them in August, so this is annoying us, too.

  6. I will do a bigger post later but I’m really curious how Cleve knew he was Liz’ father when her mom thought it was Day. And I’m unclear why he deeded her the factory but then hid the deed where it probably wouldn’t get found if he died.
    I assume he didn’t want a fight with his wife / kids but why not leave it with his lawyer or in a safe deposit box?

    And I loved Liz saying “ don’t be a hero. Billy.”

    1. All good points. Cleve was not big on banks or trusting anyone else. I’m sure that quote is from a movie, but I am not familiar with it. Please enlighten me.

        1. Thanks. Now, how does Liz know an anti-war song from the 70’s? Maybe she has a T-shirt with that quote?

          1. Good point considering her age; but at the time it was played on the radio with such frequency that even people who liked it became tired of it. So it’s very possible that she would know it in the same way that I know a lot of songs from the 50s and first lines from many songs of the 40s even though I wasn’t born yet.

          2. Liz had this insane grandmother. She got cut from the trilogy, but if we do a second trilogy, she’ll probably show up. A lot of Liz is powered by fury, but she also got her grandmother’s strength and determination which Mary Beth pretty much missed out on. Unfortunately, ML did not.

    2. I think Cleve just did the math. Probably there was only a limited about of time that MaryBeth had to sleep with both him and Day and he just worked it out. Obviously, she had been with Day in the same month as she was with Cleve since she thought he was the father but if she was with Day earlier and then not for a while because of the whole finding-out-he’s-also-screwing-my-sister thing, he could have just counted backward from 40 some time after Liz was born. He probably just paid Jack Danger to marry her to save her going after Day for child support and making a scene.

      Also, I just realized that I was 18 in the fall of 1988 and that I’m the same age as MaryBeth.

    3. I think Cleve could count. Day obviously couldn’t. And Mary Beth was also obviously not the most analytical eighteen-year-old. Plus they were all caught up in the drama.

      He deeded her the factory and put the deed with the other important papers in the safe. Then he died young. Stay tuned if we do three more books.

      Oh and why didn’t he leave it with his lawyer? He kept all his important papers. He was a crook, he didn’t trust anybody.

  7. I just read again the whole series. I am amazed at how good it is. I too cannot wait for Rocky Start, I bet I will love it just as much

  8. Oh I forgot to ask this, since her aunt hates her so much, I couldn’t understand why she made the phone call to Liz to get her to come home. Did I miss something there?

    1. I thought she was making trouble— trying to make it look like her sister was drinking . And possibly already trying to set up murdering Liz—needed Liz to come back so she could kill her.

    2. She wanted Liz home so Day would stop spending the night and she could humiliate him into stopping the affair.

      But the bigger picture is that she was losing it, not really completely sane any more (see attempted murders). Menopause can really kneecap you if you weren’t exactly sane before that.

  9. Love One in Vermillion.
    Particularly ~
    the progression of commitment between Liz and Vince, the questioning, trying to find solutions bc they love each other, and acting on them, the separate but together life,
    the door open into Vince’s bad stuff and verbalizing it,
    is partly why he sits on the railing over the ravine?
    Arresting Vince, heart pounding scene,
    the Calvary’s arrival at the station, so satisfying,
    Liz seeing the potential in the factory, what it could be, Cleve’s office. Love the ceiling and the architecture,
    the force of nature, Anemone, the gentle yet fierce talk w/ Honey,
    Logan/Lobo and Patsy, hoping her autograph isn’t going to used against her,
    Peri, love her, like my youngest granddaughter, always questioning, thirst for knowledge,
    Liz is Cleve’s daughter, yes it can happen even one time, good twist in the plot,
    George, good man, the take down of the Wolves, excellent,
    George on rigged elections, excellent laugh out loud line,
    That’s just a few thoughts.

    I want to stay at The Shady Rest in that bed. Nothing like a great hotel bed w/excellent linens and pillows. I won’t compromise on hotels now. My hips will greatly protest.

    Such a good book.

    1. I really hate the Big Misunderstanding, first because it makes the characters look like idiots, but also because it always happens late in the book when the characters should be trusting each other. If you want to sell a happy ending fifty pages later, don’t do the Big Misunderstanding.

    1. I did, too. I get angry any time I read of cops abusing their power, and hurting or killing people, without good cause. The portrayal of Vince as such a good cop really puts all that in perspective. I hope he will be an example for how manly men should behave.

    2. That was a callback to the first book when Liz was arrested and Anemone and Vince showed up to get her out.

      I loved that whole scene sequence, especially the arrest part. It’s so awful that it’s happening, and Vince’s reaction later when he goes into the alley alone and Liz follows him, all that vulnerability from such a silent man. Bob is a really good writer.

  11. I really enjoyed One in Vermillion, and felt satisfied with how everything cane together at the end. So even though it feels like there are still plenty more stories to mine for the series, if there are no more books, I’m really happy where everyone ended up.

    I love Liz and Vince planning their lives together, but in separate places. I used to joke, back when I still dated, I want my significant other to live in the townhome next to me with a connecting door, that locked on my side😊.

    Anyone else really sad Jim Pitts didn’t get the chance to turn his life around? I had such big hopes for him at the end of Lavender’s Blue, and was still rooting for him at the end of Rest in Pink, even with the bonehead choices. I still understand why he choose his dad. A parent, even a bad or troubled one, is hard to give up on or walk away from… I was really hoping Vince would win him over in the end. Who knew I was so naively optimistic.

    1. We really wanted the trilogy to stand on its own, to have a satisfying ending. I’ve always thought of the three books as one big story, with the romance arc and the saving Burney arc completed. I think readers deserve that.

      So if we do another trilogy, which we are seriously considering because we like the characters, it’ll be a different arc. Liz and Vince started Lavender fairly powerless and alone, and now they’re powerful with massive support and in a committed relationship. So the next would be about them adapting to that power and figuring out their future together. There are enough people racketing around in there–the senator and Meathead, in particular–plus all the people coming into the development, and the higher a profile you have, the more power you have, the more people come for you. So there’s a lot of potential there. And we have three titles, and I know who dies in the second one, so . . .

      But first Rocky Start’s three books.

          2. A very minor character who becomes a real problem as Liz and Vince become powerful in the town.

            That’s really the reason I’m seriously thinking about more. Liz and Vince started out powerless and now are two of the most powerful people in town. That’s a new story arc right there. I’m just not sure it’s enough to justify three more books.

          4. Gary has a good option with the waitress. I was think Brenda Roarke, the gossip. Or Faye. It would be nice to have Faye bumped off.

    2. Reading your idea brought back old dreams about a significant other being in the next residence over with a connecting door (my version could lock on either side and was a house on each side instead of a townhome). I wanted that from my twenties through my early fifties. My “Third Time Was the Charm” guy was actually so easygoing and easy to live with that being in the same house was not a problem.

      I also had hopes for Jim Pitts to be able to turn his life around, although my optimism has a short half-life. Taf

      1. I, too, thought the perfect marriage would involve a duplex. I have, however, remained single for about fifty years of adulthood.

  12. I just watched the podcast and I love how Bob dropped the Arresting Anna bomb on you, Jenny. That was priceless. Also, can I just say how much I love Maybe This Time. So if that’s the book with the change in genre that your publishers were doubtful about, I think they were wrong.

    1. I absolutely agree. That book is fascinating, and the ghosts are a cohesive part of the whole.

    2. Bob does that a lot. Along with zombies and Vikings.

      My publishers were doubtful about supernatural in general and all collaborations.

      1. I disagree with the publisher as well since I love both Maybe This Time and Wild Ride!

        Heck, I love Dogs and Goddesses- and that one took a bit for my mind to wrap around.

          1. I know you don’t listen to your books… I think I read that somewhere- but the dog voices on the audiobook was just charming!!

      1. The collaborations are such fun to read. Publishers don’t always get it right. And you and Bob are a literary dynamic duo. Please keep writing your marvellous stories. The world is a brighter place for them.

  13. Well they may have treated like a queen but they are wrong. Readers like your writing and any genre. Not a big supernatural reader but I read yours. And have them away to others. My niece discovered you this year and is reading all your back list. So there you go.

    1. I buy your books new and give them away as presents, just because gifts and I think you will really like this story. Very glad you are self publishing, we get the books much quicker.

      Q: has publisher contacted you to reconsider publishing your work or has that ship sailed for good now that you self-publish? Curious. We are grateful you self publish.

      1. We’re still flying under the radar. Nobody in publishing has noticed, I think. Which is fine, I don’t think we’d go back to trad publishing for the trilogies now, it’s too good putting the three books out close together. I know publishers have asked self-pubs for the rights before, but we’re pretty happy with the way things are. We’re hoping word of mouth will build–and thank you for giving the books to people, that’s huge–but we’re not career-building any more so the best seller lists aren’t a goal, at least not at this point.

        But really, thank you for telling people about the books, that’s the best thing you can do.

  15. I’ve broadcast loud and clear that I hate series, but that’s because, at best, the first and the last book are strong. Take Lord of the Rings. The middle book is very good, but it’s mostly an arc to the third. Also, I hate to finish a book and not be satisfied.

    But Lavender’s Blue, Rest in Pink, and One in Vermillion build beautifully. At the end of Lavender’s Blue I was happy that you and Bob were writing again. By the end of Rest in Pink I was totally absorbed in the story and characters. Now, having finished One in Vermillion, I’m a happy camper.

    The best part is that at the climax of the action of each book, Liz swings herself & laptop or shoots a guy in the back three times or punches someone who then falls out the window. Especially in One in Vermillion, where Vince really doesn’t want to shoot Cash in front of Peri. Brilliant.

    1. We really wanted each of the three books to stand alone, that you wouldn’t have to read all three of them. But I do think they’re best read as a series.

      1. I think they could stand on their own, but for my personality type, it wouldn’t work. I also think they work SO MUCH better when read in order.

    1. No, at the start of Vermillion, Liz and Day both think he’s her dad. That’s why there’s the disclaimer at the top that some of the list is incorrect because people lie, or in the case, are deceived.

    1. YES! I got fairy godmother vibes, but I knew she reminded me of another character. Wife of Bath is it!

      1. Really? I didn’t get the Wife of Bath at all. Uncertain about aging, chasing younger men, telling dirty stories . . . I mean, I love the Wife of Bath, I think she’s brilliant characterization (well, Chaucer), but I’ve always seen her as fighting her age, bawdy and sex obsessed. Anemone was sure of herself, not looking for a man, and except when she was talking with Liz or in private, polite and politically adept.

        But if she’s your Wife of Bath, go for it. Definitely one of the strongest characters in Endlish Lit.

        1. You know writing books really is a collaboration with the reader. I’ve had readers say my/our heroes are Alpha Heroes, and I don’t get that either. But if that’s what they read, that’s what they are.

  19. Loved the books, but why Costco? Why not Sam’s club?
    Costco is the best place for vanilla extract and rotisserie chicken. I also think they treat their staff better then most.
    I really like Costco.

      1. One Christmas, when all the family were gathered, SIL remarked that if everyone would give her a quarter every time someone said Costco, she would totally break even on her Christmas shopping.

      2. Is there any concern that CostCo may resent being used and abused in the book? Enough concern to change all references to “big box store” or some similar euphemism?

        I had no such concern while reading, but in hindsight, it worries me a tiny bit.

  21. I really want to re-read Maybe This Time, but can’t find my copy. Trying not to bring more books into the house (though the latest pile of 8 discards is going out today so maybe I could allow it … ). Can’t find it on Kindle (UK) – I’m not missing it am I?

    2. I can’t find it on Amazon UK as an ebook either – and I had to do an internet search to find their advanced search for books (which they seem to have hidden) before I could find it at all. They only have it as an audiobook or a hardback.

      2. Oh no. I just looked up Maybe This Time on Kindle Australia. The audio is there ( great listen) but no Ebook. 😱. Outrageous and incomprehensible. Who makes those decisions???????

        2. And Kobo Aust don’t have MTT or ATHM as ebooks either although apparently Kobo US does. However it is greatly appreciated that the Liz Danger books are available.

    3. I have a SIGNED hardback which is not going anywhere even though I only have 1 shelf of actual books these days and some of the space is taken up by my books.

      Maybe This Time is available is on Kindle in a The Jennifer Crusie Collection & as a stand alone book here in the USA.

      I understand your frustration. When Sarah-Kate Lynch from New Zealand writes a new book I hear about it long before it is available in the states. (Actually I haven’t heard about anything new from her for a while. Hope she is alive, well & still writing!)

      1. The plot thickens: the only Jennifer Crusie Collection on Amazon UK’s Kindle store is in German, and doesn’t include Maybe This Time.

        (Thank goodness I have it in paperback.)

        1. Amazon Uk never had the kindle version of Maybe This Time so I had to buy the audio book when it was released in 2010 and I waited six months and then had to get my local book shop to buy the book in America. You can’t buy it through the Apple book shop either.

        2. Good grief. England should be Macmillan, too. Of course all my stuff is old now, so maybe they’re just letting them all die. I did ask my agent from my HQ years if she thought I could get my old Harlequins back, and she laughed. Evidently they’re still selling enough that they wouldn’t let them go. I had big plans for those.

          1. On the one hand, it’s nice they’re still selling. But on the other hand it does make things more difficult.

          2. Yeah, they’re still selling but one of my last six-month checks was for $183. They’re not exactly popular . . .

  22. I have one burning question. Are the t-shirts actual t-shirts and if not can you launch a line that ships to the UK?

      3. I love the water bottle, and did go on a tee-shirt binge earlier. I got a red shirt with black printing for the “Attempted Murder” shirt (probably my favorite). Way to have fun with collective nouns! Taf

  23. Loved the series. Made a display of your books at my library branch. I have a M1911 and belong to a shooting club. I’m a little different from my coworkers. Also looking forward to the new series.

  24. When I read Lavender’s Blue I thought it was great. Then I read Rest In Pink & thought it was better. And, I thought, I bet One In Vermillion will be best – it was!!!

    I laughed for awhile after Olivia said she wanted to climb Mac like Everest 5 seconds after she met him!

  25. I have mixed feelings about Vermilion. There was so much tension, so many believable bad guys and situations, that I couldn’t quite believe that everything got settled so quickly and without major bloodshed.

    Great characters, enjoyed Vince presenting Liz with a t-shirt.

    1. I think a lot of Vermillion was foreshadowed in the previous two books. If Vermillion were a standalone, I’d agree, that was a lot that happened fast after that midpoint. But I think it could happen fast because they’d spent the previous two books understanding the people they were dealing with, what drove them, so that when it was time to act, they knew where the weak spots in the opposition were. It was also two teams–Liz and Anemone plus Vince and George–so they divided the work and did what they felt was necessary. And then the wheels came off when Cash struck back.

      I really wanted each book to be a stand-alone, no loose ends at the climaxes, and Bob did, too, but I also saw them as one huge romance novel, arcing over all three.

      But absolutely, I can see how the weight of the previous books pushed Vermillion into a faster ending.

      1. I’m looking forward to rereading the three as one story, straight after each other. I think it’ll be a slightly different experience.

        1. Let us know what you think, please. This was a real experiment, and one of the reasons I wanted to go self-pub was that no trad pub would put them out a month apart. I think that dragging them out over three years would have been a mistake.

          We do have a vague plan for three more, but not until we figure out how the next three make a new three-part story that ups the stakes. We have titles and I know who dies in the second one and Bob has something he wants to do as the main plot for the third one, but that’s not enough. So it’s going to stew for a year and then we’ll know.

          1. Two things. First, is one of those titles Yellow Brick Roadkill?

            Second, I’ve mentioned that I like collections and compendia and I have the software to create them. On my computer there will be a Liz Danger Collection with a few added illustrations (all the t-shirts, the diner, etc.) 🙂

          2. Yes. Yellow Brick Roadkill, Blood Curdling Green, and Blue Blood (at least as I write this, it’s gonna be a while until we get there).

            I had the t-shirts as chapter breaks until we published because I hadn’t asked RedBubble for permission to use their photos.

          5. I loved having the books come out so fast. And very happy to have a Bob collaboration where his character didn’t have to kill anyone, and didn’t much want to either.

            No notes. I really liked the books and thought each one was better than the last. I look forward to reading them again as one long book, or as I like to call it, murderbotting.

  26. The two things that bugged me were:
    that I couldn’t reconcile Cash reassuring Liz about her mother early in the first book with the person he would already have to have been based on what we know later he was already doing at that point (he was already involved with money laundering by then, no?). Didn’t apparently bother anyone else, so.
    Meathead was so stupid and mean in book 1 but smart enough to get the situation at the end of book 3, which didn’t seem to go together to me. though still mean – that part was believable.
    And this is actually a compliment that a bit of inconsistency in a minor character bugs me because everyone else is SO congruent (the one Cash bit excepted).
    I know I will be rereading these books for the rest of my life, so thanks for both the present and the future.

    1. The thing is, Cash really was charming once, and he knows what works on Liz. So telling her that ML was gaslighting her was Cash’s way of getting inside her defenses. And it works because she thinks she’s come back in town to find out that he’s finally matured into a nice guy and now he’s getting married. But he hasn’t. He’s hitting on her two days before his wedding. If Cash isn’t charming in the beginning, if you can’t see what she ever saw in him, you think she’s an idiot in high school. (Well, we’re all idiots about love in high school, but still . . .). So I needed a moment in the beginning where you warmed to him, so later you could think, I know why she fell for him, I almost did back there in the bar.

      Meathead was bored in the first book, and he also didn’t give a damn what Lavender was doing. Then everything went down and he stonewalled Vince and got the senator out of there.

      The thing you have to remember (or not, your choice) is that you’re seeing these characters through the eyes of Liz and Vince. Liz is still a little hung up on Cash when she meets him again, so she’s going to see him as a great guy; it’s not until she sees him in action and has Vince as a foil that she realizes what a mess he is. Same with Vince: He sees Meathead as just hired muscle, doesn’t pay attention to him or try to find out what his deal is because he’s pretty sure he didn’t kill Lavender. It’s a mistake on Vince’s part that comes back to bite him later, but it’s understandable, Vince is human and he’s dealing with a fresh corpse. In the same way, Liz hears Lavender call him Meathead and figures she must know him and just goes with that.

        1. He had to go to rehab in college, but I think he was a social user, and then as his world started to fall apart, he upped his intake.
          He was always a narcissist, but he was also very good looking and very charming. The problem is, that doesn’t work as well in adulthood as it does in high school, and he never quite realized that. So he was a narcissist solipsist. Which may be redundant, but it pretty much ended him.

  27. Just finished. Very much enjoyed them. I like the way Bob’s character has gotten less gun-ready and military-forward, and the way Jenny’s character figures out she needs her own space, and that’s not a problem. I like Peri, and I hope we see more of her someday.

  28. Randomly recently, I came across a news brief about how often men think about the Roman Empire, and only DAYS later, there’s Vince and Franco, in One in Vermillion, talking about the First Triumvirate, because yes.

  29. Been quite a while since I’ve checked in at Argh Ink. Just want to say I’m pleased to see new books from you. The Liz Danger series sounds like fun.

    Any chance of audiobook versions?

    1. We are trying, Bruce, but Brilliance is dragging its feet. One way or another, yes, there will be, but until Brilliance decides what it wants to do (it has the rights to Lavender), we’re stuck.

  30. I love a snarky T-shirt! I don’t have as many fun ones as Liz, but we do both have the Boynton “Ready, Willing, and Vaguely Competent” one.

    What a great series.

  31. Reading One in Vermillion now and enjoying it. Just want to say your Red Box is alive and well in Ephraim, Wisconsin. Only it’s called Wilson’s Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor: https://wilsonsicecream.com/ Established 1906, red and white, it’s full of memorabilia, plus those cool in-booth juke boxes, and it serves the best burgers, fries, and ice cream. A mandatory stop for us in Door County.

  32. I was struck by Liz’s cottage in Vermillion. I felt like it was a tribute to your NJ digs – you were on the edge of a ravine, and had trees all around, and basically lived out on that porch. You also were doing things with a small kitchen (like the mini fridge).

    I loved the reference to the “Big Misunderstanding”. That was an excellent way to show these two were grown ups who could communicate.

    I did feel like the ending of Vermillion spent some time tying up loose ends from all three books. So, it while it moved quickly, it was longer than the ending of just a single book – or maybe it just felt like that because I was already up too late! I just had to finish!

    1. I didn’t like the two (?) chapters at the end, I like to get out fast, but there was a lot to cover there.

      1. I actually appreciated them because I often find that in a rush to end books on a satisfying or quippy note, they get out too quickly and leave a lot of things unsettled or unresolved, and then I just get frustrated because it ruins the landing. Of course, some authors manage to ruin their books with sickly sweet or completely incongruous (to me) epilogues, but in general, I prefer to have all the loose ends tied off, even if that has to happen after the climax of the last major scene.

  33. Like Nancy H., I also thought of Jenny’s cottage in NJ when hearing about Liz’s, except Liz’s didn’t have any mold.

    I loved the series and Vermillion did a fabulous job of tying up most of the loose ends. I was up until 1 am last night so I could finish it.

    Questions…
    Why was Faye in the Pink/Blue house in Vermillion? No one liked her. Peri was actively kept from her in Rest in Pink. I know her house was blown up, but it really struck me as odd that Anemone would let her in. Was it just so she was findable?

    The DNA test… how did Liz get samples of Cleve’s DNA? Did she submit samples from him and Day and Jack? Because they have to compare her DNA to the Dad’s DNA to determine a match. I’m truly hesitant to believe that the company she used already had everyone’s DNA on file and ran a comparison to every male in their database.

    I’m hoping Logan/Lobo turns over to the good side and has fully left the wolves.

    I’m super happy for Mac that Oliva is in his life!

    I’m also happy that Peri has so many wonderful women in her life to compensate for Margot and Faye. I think she’ll turn out as strong as Anemone, Liz, and Olivia.

    I still am wondering why Day married MaryLou. Obviously, he and Mary Beth cared for each other. What forced that to go sideways?

    1. Faye ended up back there because after Margot’s house burned, she had nowhere to go. Margot and Peri were there, and that’s all the family she had left except for Skye who has an apartment in Cincy and who wouldn’t let her in the door. I’m a little shaky on the timeline–I’m immersed in the first week of Rocky Start–but Anemone bought the house from Margot and Peri, understanding that Ken was going to help them find something in the village and that Faye would either find something else or move in with them. But the Anemone realized that Faye would lead to Margot drinking again, and that Margot really wasn’t capable of fighting back and protecting Peri from her, so she told Margot she should stay (and then later gave her a job), made sure that Peri was covered either by her or Liz, and then waiting until Faye pushed her luck too far and kicked her out. It was the right thing to do–the woman had no home to go to–and the right thing to make her move out; she still had an allowance from Cleve’s will so she was going to have scale back but she wasn’t going to starve.
      She had Day’s DNA, definitely, he’d give it to her. And she could get Peri’s. I think Day’s would be enough to tell that he’s her uncle, and since he only had one brother, I think they could tell from that. But the big tell is the office ceiling.

      Lobo is Bob’s character, and I don’t know what he has planned for him (if anything at this point) but I’m all for him. I have biker friends, so I’m not comfortable with them all being awful.

      Yes, we could have a good time with Mac and Olivia. One of the many things we’re toying with if we do three more books is doing a wedding in each one as a callback to Lavender’s Blue, all at the country club again, with new disasters this time. So we need people who are about ready to tie the knot. Anemone would play a large role there; she’s a wedding expert.

      I’m still thinking through Peri’s arc. She loves her mother and I am not killing Margot, but Liz is already a surrogate mom and I think Vince is at least a surrogate uncle, so I have to make sure I balance all of that. Not worried about it now since we’re not even sure we’re doing those books, but that’s going to be tricky. Peri is Margot’s daughter, and I’m not messing with that. But Margot needs a lot of help. She’s so young for one thing.

      Day married MaryLou because ML figured out that MB was pregnant before MB did and decided that her little sister was NOT going to marry a Blue, especially since Cleve had just married Faye, so she slept with Day, told him she was pregnant and he had to marry her right now, and dragged him off to KY or Reno, or somewhere. By the time MB figured out what was going on, they were married. Day is a get along kind of guy, not much backbone, charming but easily led. Clive who was stronger, could also count, so when Day told him MB thought he was Liz’s father, he let him carry that can while providing child support through Day to MB. Day and MB really thought he was Liz’s father, but Cleve knew the numbers were wrong.

      There’s a lot of stuff we’ve kicked around for the last trilogy and a whole lot of back story that wasn’t in the books because I hate back story dumps.

      1. Thank you!

        I knew Molly was younger so it hadn’t made sense that Day would marry ML due to pregnancy when he already had knocked up MB.

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