Kaye Dacus creates double the romance in the third and final novel in her Matchmakers series.
In Turnabout’s Fair Play (Barbour), love blossoms not only between the charming Jamie O’Connor and skeptical Flannery McNeill, but also their octogenarian grandparents who conspire to pair up their grandchildren. Kaye admits, “Being single at forty myself, it was fun to imagine what it would be like to fall in love at age eighty-five.”
With nine romance novels published in just three years, Kaye acknowledges the prime ingredient in any romantic story is appealing characters. “Without characters readers can connect, identify, and sympathize with, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the language is or how exquisitely plotted the story is,” she shares.
But that’s not the only essential ingredient in Kaye’s novels: “For me, humor must play a role in the developing romantic relationship of my books. Because why would you want to spend your life with someone who doesn’t make you laugh?”
While only recently published, Kaye began her writing journey 20 years ago, penning love stories with no conscious intention that they be “Christian” or “inspirational” stories, a fact that hasn’t changed. “Even though I’m published in the Christian fiction market, I still don’t consciously think about writing an ‘inspirational’ novel when I sit down to write. Because my faith is so ingrained in who I am as a person, it naturally follows that it’s a big part of my characters’ lives.”
Kaye’s characters are always the driving force behind her novels and her spiritual themes flow from their development. “It’s usually something I’m dealing with in my own life at the time, which over the years has been forgiveness, trust, letting something go, and most recently, self-identity. I find that it’s through my writing that God speaks to me and shows me what I need to know to continue on my path with Him.”