The Forbidden Man was written in 2015, and was Elle’s first novel – and what a first novel it was. The first thing that caught my attention was the title. The word ‘Forbidden’ just grabs you and pulls you in because it promises some illicit action and lots of passion. The book did not disappoint. Right from the start the book grips you and never lets you go until the end. It’s drama filled, has well-rounded characters and explores some interesting themes like betrayal, family and mental disorders.
Sydney is engaged to Den. The only problem is that Den loves to dip his stick in other pots. This isn’t the first time she’s caught him. You’d think that after getting caught and forgiven, Den would change. You’d be wrong. Den is just… I can’t even.
Lots of people would say that Sydney should have left Den the first time he strayed, but I can understand why she didn’t. She owes him; he helped her get through the most painful time of her life. To top it all off, Den has a mental disorder (I think it’s bipolar), and we all know how those disorders can screw with rationality. Personally, I felt like it might have contributed to his inability to ‘stick’ to Sydney.
Enter Morgan. Morgan had been Sydney’s rock through her problems with Den, and when she endd her engagement she runs to him. The same night – things happen. And that’s when the real drama starts. See Morgan is Den’s brother. Yes, you heard that right… he is Den’s brother.
Let me stop there before I ruin the book for you.
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When I planned the book, Worth was going to be completely in the dark about Sin’s nefarious plans. Right now, what you know is that Sin ditched her plan to marry and steal from him after discovering Claire’s dirty ways. But in the original manuscript, despite knowing Claire’s motives, she would’ve been unable to cut herself off from the woman.
Okay, the lady is already bad but at one point I considered making her worse. You know, zero remorse, just stealing from people because she can. The idea to make her a kind of Robin Hood came from a friend who always gives me advice after seeing my plans. Her thought was that she didn’t want to read a story about a woman without any sort of moral compass. Plus, as douche-y as Worth can be, he had moral fiber right from the start. It wouldn’t have been fair to him to give him someone truly bad. I agreed. Do you?
Yeah, I know what you just thought: “You’re kidding, right? She’s bad enough as a thief and now you want to make her an assassin too?”
You only saw the nightmares he was having. However, in my original script, he had schizophrenia. The man was broken, really broken. I could’ve gone with all that, but I decided not to. Why? It was too much for one person. He’s already been through hell during his childhood, I didn’t feel like making his adulthood troubled too. Can you imagine how A.J would’ve felt had she found out that she ignored him all these years while he was having all that trouble? It would’ve been a nightmare.
