G is for Guy Sinclair

Paula introduces you to the hero of Irish Inheritance.

I have no idea where the name came from. It was one of those that just popped into my head when I started thinking about the story, and I had no problem picturing him in my mind. When I was about half way through the story, I saw a photo someone had posted on Facebook, and immediately thought, ‘That’s Guy!’

He’s an American artist who is working as a sign writer. When he hears he has inherited money and a half-share of a house in Ireland, he knows what he wants to do:

He had no idea what the house might be worth but, with a bit of luck, there’d be enough for him to employ someone to look after his father’s sign painting business for a few months. Then he could take some time out and forget the clients who ignored his advice and insisted on their own ideas for signs. Forget, too, the computer programmes, which had taken over from the old skills of sign painting and forced him to sit in front of a screen instead of an easel.

Instead, he’d concentrate on the subjects he longed to paint. The panhandler, the street musician, the pushcart peddler, and all the wonderful images he saw every day in New York City. People, real people. Not signs advertising auto sales, or cafes, or tattoo parlours. Maybe he could even rent a small gallery to exhibit his work…

To begin with, Guy is only interested in the money, but Mist Na Mara, the beautiful Victorian house in Connemara, captures his imagination, especially when he and Jenna open the locked bedroom, and find out more about the original owners of the house.

When he discovers Jenna is an actress, he’s wary because of a past experience with an actress – and he and Jenna have a few other problems to resolve before they get their HEA ending!

Guy only plays a small part in Irish Intrigue, the second of my Irish books, as this centres on Charley, Jenna’s best friend, but he has a more important role in the third book, Irish Secrets (released 3 days ago!). Kara, the heroine of Irish Secrets, is Guy’s cousin, and by the time she arrives in Ireland, Mist Na Mara is well-established as an Arts Centre.

Here’s the info about Guy from the POV of Ryan, the hero of Irish Secrets:

In his mid-thirties, the owner of Mist Na Mara Arts Centre retained the appearance of a bohemian artist with his youthful features and longish dark hair that reached the collar of his polo shirt, but Ryan had heard enough locally to appreciate the fact that Guy Sinclair was an astute businessman who had worked hard over the last few years to build up the reputation of the Centre.

Surely he wouldn’t risk all that by becoming involved with a stolen goods racket? Unless he needed the money and was receiving a substantial pay-off for allowing his premises to be used? Ryan made a mental note to ask Declan to check the financial status of the Arts Centre.

I’ll leave you with that teaser!