Old Age Ain't for Sissies!

An interview with Cindy McDonald

Vic Deveaux’s glory days as a winning jockey have ended, but he refuses to accept that pile of horse hockey!

When the West family asks Vic to take an easier position at their Thoroughbred farm, Westwood, he becomes enraged and teams up with two greedy stable hands in a scheme to kidnap the youngest son, Shane. 

Things turn ugly when Vic discovers that his new-found friends have murder on their minds. Suddenly Vic finds himself between a rock and a hard place. He has betrayed his good friend, Eric West, but will he participate in his son’s murder as well?

Not content to sit at home and wait for her men to bring her brother home, Kate West convinces homicide detective, Carl Lugowski, to check out a hunch at an old abandoned mansion. Soon they’re trapped in a hornet’s nest of a notorious biker gang.

Oh yeah, Vic’s deception has placed the West family in more danger than they know what to do with!

Who is the protagonist; their background? What makes them them?

There are quite a few protagonists in the Unbridled Series, that said let’s just focus on one: Mike West. Mike is the oldest son of Eric West, the imposing patriarch of the successful Thoroughbred farm, Westwood. Mike grew up at the sprawling farm caring for the horses with his two siblings, Kate and Shane.

Mike tends to be on the OCD side. He has a “must win” attitude, and he takes being the eldest of the West children very seriously. He was married to Ava—Unbridle’s resident antagonist—for five years. But her wandering eye and vagina destroyed the marriage.  Regardless, she still owns a piece of Mike’s soul, and no matter how he tries not to, he still has feelings for Ava.

Mike deals with his loneliness by caring for the horses and the stable that he loves.

What are their likes/dislikes? Why do they hate/love character A or B?

Mike has a healthy dislike for Lieutenant Carl Lugowski. Why? Because he is the man Ava sleeps with. Much to Mike’s disgust he finds himself having to tolerate Lugowski more often than not. It seems the two men are thrown together when bad situations arise, and in the Unbridled Series those situations are always a heartbeat away.

MEMORIES OF PRESQUE ISLE

by Jen Fleming a character from Dangerous Deception (Unbridled series)

by 

Cindy McDonald

It is late fall. I have never visited the beaches of Presque Isle this late in the year, after the leaves have abandoned the trees, and their sinewy branches reach toward the grey skies like dark skeletons. The waves crash into the shore, as the seagulls dip and dive over the vast water of Lake Erie. I loved this place growing up. I still love this place—almost as much as my mother loved it. There is something mysterious about Lake Erie, especially standing here among the silent beaches, void of children’s laughter, lifeguards blowing whistles, and parents calling after their youngsters to stay within a certain distance of the shore. It is surreal. It calls to me.

My name is Jen Fleming, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled when Eric West suggested a trip to Erie, Pennsylvania to visit the wineries, stay at a lovely Bed and Breakfast, and walk the beaches of Presque Isle during the off-season. Eric is an imposing man. His life at Westwood Thoroughbred Farm leaves him little time for such getaways. He is also a very observant and caring man, and I have no doubt he could see my melancholy. He wrapped his arms around me in my office at the racetrack where I am a nurse, and whispered in my ear, “A trip through Pennsylvania wine country and a walk on the beach should perk you right up.” Hmmm, as a matter of fact just the suggestion was enough to perk me up. I hugged him tightly swallowed up by his warmth and sensitivity to my needs.