Meet the Characters, part 2

-- Eden and Barrett from The Allegheny Chronicles.

Welcome to part 2 of my character introduction. If you missed the first one, you can find part 1 by going to my Substack page.

February is celebrated as the month of 💘love!💝 But that’s not totally true — Every day, every month, has the opportunity to be Valentine’s Day so why save it for just one day? 🥰

Despite how you feel about the actual day itself or whether you intend to celebrate it, over the next week or so I will be posting about the characters I’ve created -- The couples within my stories. If you’ve read my books, you’ll recognize them and you can comment on your own views. If you haven’t, I hope these intrigue you to read more.

Now, I should remind everyone that I write closed-door romance. My reasonings were discussed in an earlier post (Feb 03 2025, titled “Where’s the Romance?“) but you can expect PDA and flirting at most in my books. Insinuations and innuendoes as well. But does that make for a crappy romance book? Nope. In fact, I doubt you’ll even miss the spicy scenes.

(NOTE: All photos below are AI representations of the characters created using various AI apps on Canva.)

So let’s get started!

Meet Eden and Barrett. They are an unlikely couple that just really make sense together. They were both in the Navy, both loved their careers, and both were very good at what they did. They met by accident, married two weeks later, and never looked back. The book The Allegheny Chronicles: Eden and the Alchemist introduces you to their story. I don’t want to give too many spoilers. Allegheny is, for all intents and purposes, a hidden military unit -- the best of the best, unknown to the world, mistaken often for special forces. They are indeed special operations, but often time their missions are to hunt those unexplainable things no one wants to deal with, the things that go bump in the night and take place in very dark places. At the start of this dual narrative book, Colonel Eden Magnuss is taking Allegheny’s teenaged prodigy to meet his next teacher, a mysterious mystical hermit known as the Alchemist. At this moment, Eden is at an emotional crossroads in her life. She is a widow, having lost her husband Barrett in a military helicopter crash. The seventh anniversary of his death is approaching, but even after all this time, she has refused to let him go. The grief of his loss transformed her into someone she barely knows. Sure, she dated a little but no one she was serious about. She loves her career, hides in it in fact, and welcomes it as a distraction.

But being seven years without Barrett... It’s a heartache she doesn’t want to face. When she is told the Alchemist holds the knowledge of what really happened to Barrett, she can’t believe that a mountain-dwelling being would know much of his death, after all, it happened a half a world away. The tragic crash that claimed Barrett’s life was cut and dried, it left no doubt.

But the Alchemist has a way of making people face everything they’ve been avoiding.

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The Allegheny Chronicles series is closed-door romantic suspense with thriller & suspense, magical realism, fantasy, alternate reality, secret military, mythology, action & adventure, and high stakes. This is my ‘boldest’ series because it was developed so that I could have my characters of Embers to Ashes discuss the TV show it represents and have it be consistent. I wrote Eden & the Alchemist in less than a week and wasn’t going to share it as it was intended to be background for a plot. TAC: Eden & the Alchemist evokes the vibes of second chances, small town, military romance, and speculative fiction. The characters are different than my other books and are more as you would see if you were watching a TV show. So sensitivities for this series includes insinuations/innuendos/PDA, swearing (but not gratuitous or overdone), some violence that involves military or law enforcement, drama, PTSD, bad guys vs. good guys, and situations that could be intense for some readers. But more importantly, there are zero spicy scenes.

They also have more works in progress, so the adventure is continuing. You can find the whole series by clicking here.

Author Q&A: ⚠️May contain spoilers!⚠️

(**This is obviously an earlier image of Barrett and Eden as opposed to when you’ll meet them in the The Allegheny Chronicles. **)

Q: How did you come up with Barrett and Eden?

Barrett and Eden were developed from Embers to Ashes, book 4 of my Portrait of an Unlikely Affair series. I have discussed this before in prior posts (Dec 04 2023, “Why Should You Read an Em Brooks book, part 4“) but in Embers to Ashes, the characters of Eden and Barrett were “created” by Seth Jacobson as a book series turned television series. Avonlea already had the role of Colonel Eden Magnuss and Brian took on the role of the Alchemist to give credit to his portrayal of Cade Bennett. I wrote the story as a character background so that I could have my Embers to Ashes characters easily discuss it. Like Portrait of an Unlikely Affair, I had never intended to share the story but it turned out to be worthy of sharing.

Q: What makes Barrett and Eden unique?

Eden is no damsel in distress. She holds her own and is strong in more ways than one. She is often the serious type, the puzzle solver, the researcher, and the keeper of national secrets. She is smooth. She hides her weakness and her emotions within. She was the only child of two military officers, raised in the Navy, and set up to go places in life. She knows her worth an doesn’t settle. Her love for Barrett is the ‘stupidest’ and most rash decision she ever made. Barrett lives in the moment. He’s unassuming with his rural upbringing and uses that to his advantage when he needs. He comes from a long line of law enforcement and EMS, family who run toward the fight and mend the broken. He broke the tradition going into the Navy but he only sees that as bringing him to where he needs to be. Eden caught his interest, his being, his heart, and he’s willing to give her everything she wants. Eden loves a nice kitchen, a cozy home, and Barrett. He loves jalapeño potato chips, beer in a glass, and Eden.

Q: Why did you decide to have their story be so drastically different from Portrait of an Unlikely Affair?

Writing TAC: Eden and the Alchemist, I intentionally made it different because I knew it was a story from a story, a story that would be a TV television series in the book. So I considered what I have seen on television these days and wrote it from that perspective. The Allegheny Chronicles series in general will have more insinuations and swearing in it than my Portrait series, including a little more passion, a little more “impossibilities,” and some ‘supernatural’ action. Having said that, the relationship between Barrett and Eden was different from the beginning of the story, one that is uniquely them. Although Avonlea and Brian play Barrett and Eden, they are not the same characters.

Q: How did you come up with their names? How are the two series similar?

It all just fell together. I had a ‘mad writing session’ where I wrote half the book in a day. The names just flew from my fingers. I did try to give some connection between Portrait of an Unlikely Affair and The Allegheny Chronicles with the Magnuss last name -- In Portrait, Avonlea’s biological great-grandfather was Admiral Magnusson. Of course, an admiral is a naval rank so I chose to have both Eden and Barrett be in the Navy. Are the events of the book 100% accurate and in accordance with with how life and the military does things? Nope. That’s why I write fiction. There is also a link with the Agency in both books. And the secrecy. Both the Firm and Allegheny are national secrets.

(Above: AI Generation of Colonel Eden Magnuss and the Alchemist, aka Barrett “Bear” Magnuss, about the age where you meet them in the novels.)

Q: Would you have changed anything about their story or their romance?

In many ways, their story is heartbreaking and somewhat cruel in the introduction but it becomes a true love story. There is nothing I would change about their romance or their story. They click and are consistent in their love, admiration, and respect for each other.

Q: It’s Valentine’s Day. What songs are Eden and Barrett going to dance to?

Um, I’m not sure dancing is something they get to do a lot but because I know where their story goes I’m going to say “Stand by Me,” the version by Bootstraps. And probably “Fall on Me” by Needtobreathe. I’m sure there are several more that could also fit but those are the first two that comes to mind today.

If you have read any of The Allegheny Chronicles, what sticks out to you about Eden and Barrett? Who are your favorite characters and why? What surprised you about their story?

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There is always an adventure in an Em Brooks book -- Get started today! You can find The Allegheny Chronicles series at Amazon in paperback, hardcover, and kindle, as well as on Kindle Unlimited.

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