Arianna Massena

Arianna Massena is a quiet and incredibly smart young woman. The daughter of a ruthless and vindictive mafia boss. But she’s totally the opposite of him. She’s sweet. Caring. And head over heels in love with a man more than twice her age. Arianna is as strong as she is smart. Want to learn more about Arianna? Read on to find out!

Of all my characters, I think Arianna is probably the most like me. While all of my female characters have pieces of me, Arianna’s personality is the most like me.

When I wrote her, she was originally going to be closer to Ryan’s age. I knew that she needed to compliment him. But the more I worked out her personality on paper, the more I decided that everything I wanted her to be was so far from what who she really is.

Author’s are always saying that their characters talk to them. That if they aren’t writing the characters the way they wanted to be written, then the characters fight them and refuse to talked to them. That couldn’t be more true when it came to Arianna. I hadn’t experienced it with any of my other characters. But her… Arianna was one fierce competitor in my brain.

So I listened to her. Arianna wanted to be young. So it became an age gap romance. She wanted to take on the issue of bullying that so many kids face in high school. So I researched bullying and used some of my own experiences to really make my readers feel Arianna’s pain. She wanted to show her weaknesses and vulnerabilities. So I gave her a stutter that she was truly embarrassed of. Something that made her feel like something was truly wrong with her. She wanted to show her strength. So I gave her an epic scene in which she fought, won, and survived.

Arianna wasn’t done with me, though. She needed to prove that she was 100% Ryan’s equal. That she complimented him. She needed to prove that she could keep up with him. That she could be part of his world. She wanted to show everyone that she is Ryan’s light in his dark world. She needed everyone to see that she is his other half. She is what makes him whole.

I had absolutely no intention whatsoever of writing anymore of my characters as pregnant. But Arianna… Well, she felt like she needed to be. That even despite being pregnant, she could still be everything I had written her as. And for some reason, Jessa was in the back of mind telling me that it was time for her and Jason to start a family. What better time then when his brother was also going to become a father?

Of all of my female characters, I think Arianna is probably the closet to my heart. I love her. She truly ended up being the mafia queen to Ryan’s mafia king that I intended her to be. I couldn’t be more proud of her if I tried.