Despite the main characters in Melanie's romance novels being human, her readers will likely meet animal characters as well since they are a central theme in her life. Her other career is in environmental science, and she and her husband live on a farm at the edge of a forest where they can provide a spacious and rowdy home for a handful of rescued animals. Melanie and her husband love kayaking around Florida and traveling, but she believes her best writing happens from her front porch.