Romance Billionaires: yes or no? by Alana Lorens

Welcome back, Alana! Always a pleasure to have you visit my little corner of the web.

Alana Lorens (aka Barbara Mountjoy) has been a published writer for over 45 years, including seven years as a reporter and editor at the South Dade News Leader in Homestead, Florida. She writes non-fiction, romance, adventure, and suspsense novels. She is the author of the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers series, which draws on her years as a family law attorney in the state of Pennsylvania. One of the causes close to her heart came from those years as well–the fight against domestic violence. She volunteered for many years at women’s shelters and provided free legal services to women and children in need. Alana resides in North Carolina, and she loves her time in the smoky blue mountains. She lives with her daughter, who is the youngest of her seven children, and five crotchety cats.

So do tell us (because curious minds want to know), why does it seem that so many romance stories are written about billionaire heroes?

I mean, sure, we’d all like to marry a billionaire, I suppose. (I did have a friend who married an honest-to-god millionaire once; it still didn’t give her a happy ending.) Money is nice if you want to have all the things, but the old saying is true: it can’t buy you love.

While it’s true that I can’t write about those men, because I know nothing about how they are—And one should write what you know—I really prefer to write stories about real kinds of people. Lawyers. Cops. Veterans. Autistic kids. Singers. Bloggers. Environmentalists. Even guys in drug store management. These are people we can relate to on common ground. I suppose their limited budgets and need to show up at work every day may not be as exciting as discovering a hidden pleasure room or jetting off to Italy on a whim…but I’m happy to find love for them on any level.

What do you think? Do you like reading about real people or do you want to experience only the fantasy?

(note from Jean: I am all with you, Alana! I prefer a regular ol’ Joe hero).

Up-and-coming mommy-blogger and single mom Marisol Herrera Slade returns to her old hometown in western Pennsylvania for her 20th high school reunion in 2005, reluctant and yet compelled to see her high school sweetheart, Russell Asher, who dumped her for the homecoming queen.

Russell's marriage to the golden girl, however, ended in a nasty divorce, and he has been systematically excluded from his sons' lives. In his Internet wanderings, he's found feminist blogger named Jerrika Jones, who glorifies single motherhood, essentially putting a stamp of approval on what's happened to him. His group of single dad advocates have vowed to take this woman down.

What Russell doesn't know, when he thinks to rekindle what he had with Marisol, is that Marisol and Jerrika are one and the same. When his group discovers the truth, will their drive for revenge derail any chance the couple have to reunite? Or will they find they have more in common than they ever expected?

Find A Rose by Any Other Name online:

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 Speed-dating round:

Oxford comma, yes or no?  Nope.

What does your desk look like? 

It’s my official work place for everything from writing to grocery lists to mending socks to a place for one (or more) of nine cats to nap. So it’s…indescribable…most of the time.

In an alternate reality, what would be your dream job (besides author)?

Actually, I’ve been fortunate to have it in this reality—while I was a practicing family law attorney, I had a Department of Justice-funded program that provided civil law remedies to low-income survivors of domestic violence. Through this program we were able to help a number of men and women escape hellish situations. It was very, very satisfying.

Beach, lake, or mountains?

We’re in Asheville now, in the heart of the Blue Ridge. It’s beautiful, and having mountains on all sides is fabulous. I used to live in Missoula, Montana—now THOSE are mountains.  On the other hand, I also lived in south Florida for a dozen or so years, just a handful of miles from the Florida Keys. So I’ve kind of had it all!

If you could meet one famous person, living or dead, who would it be?

Robin Williams. I would make him a cuppa, and give him a hug and tell him we understand, and he would be okay.

Now a bit more about the A Rose by Any Other Name:

An Excerpt ~

She started for the Sweet Spot coffee shop across the street, but hesitated when a silver Lexus squealed a U-turn in the center of Main, screeching to a stop and blocking her little rental there in its parking place. The door flew open, practically ejecting a tall, well-built man in jeans and a blue cotton shirt. His full attention focused on the vehicle in front of Marisol’s. 

She couldn’t move as she belatedly recognized his large dark eyes and something in the piqued set of his jaw. 

Russell Asher.

 His hair wasn’t as solidly black as she’d remembered from the summer she left town. The jeans, no longer slim cut, though he wasn’t overweight. But it was him. 

Nausea tumbled like panicked butterflies in her stomach. One hand slipped to her middle, almost trying to reassure her insides not to make her throw up right here. She never expected a sudden confrontation. She hadn’t prepared. But as she watched him, she saw she didn’t need to worry. He wasn’t interested in her in the least. 

He marched over to the SUV and parked himself against its shiny fender. After several tries, she forced her feet to move, at least far enough to retreat inside the gazebo. She sat on the interior edge of the fence, half hidden behind a painted support beam, the shade from the maples overhead helping to conceal her. She couldn’t help it. She could have walked away, just left her vehicle and come back for it later, but the situation was a car wreck waiting to happen. She could tell by the tension in his shoulders and his hands, clenched into fists. No way she would miss whatever occurred next. 

Soon after, Tiffany and the boys, one of whom looked about Mark’s age, one a little younger, returned from the shop. Tiffany, thin to the point of anorexia, stopped several yards from her car when she saw Russell there. The boys hung back behind their mother, affecting bored poses of crossed arms and blank skyward stares. “What do you want, Rusty?” Her voice carried clearly to the gazebo. 

“To say hello to Jon and Barret. Since you haven’t let them come see me for the last three months.” He didn’t move off the car. “Hey, boys, come give your old dad a hug, hmm?”

 The boys mumbled something Marisol couldn’t hear. If anything, they retreated toward the store, and finally the younger of the two, who looked maybe fifteen, bolted, heading back inside. 

“That’s fabulous, Tiffy, just fabulous. What a great mother you are. So much for what our order says, right? That we’re supposed to encourage the children to love and honor the other parent?”

 “What have you done worth honoring? Hmm?”

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Rise for Me by Kristal Harris

Welcome back to Visiting Authors, Kristal. I always enjoy having you. Let’s refresh our readers…

Do you find inspiration in your own life for your writing?

I do find inspiration from my own life, especially for Rise for Me. Mariah, the heroine, is afflicted with a hairy birthmark under her eye. My mother was born with a hairy, pink birthmark in the center of her forehead. It was later removed by a plastic surgeon, but she was embarrassed. I remember feeling so bad for her, but not truly understanding her insecurity until I became disabled. Long story short, I wear drop-foot braces to walk. People stare and it’s uncomfortable, but I’ve learned to ignore it and realized my disability makes me unique. For a long time, it bothered me and caused me to be insecure.

Vampire and warlock, Roman Lee, spent centuries alone as ringmaster of the carnival. After befriending and healing a scarred, young woman, Roman realizes Mariah is his mate. He waits for her, but when she departs from his life, his torture knows no bounds. Now he's risen, unforgiving and angry, forced from his grave by the one woman who captured his heart, but will another secret and the call of his mate change everything?

The steady call of Roman's blood and the promise of peace brings Mariah Stone home to the carnival and the vampire she left behind. He ignores her until she forces him from the grave with her blood. His anger crushes her already broken spirit, but she is determined to win Roman's forgiveness and free him from their bond. Denied passion leads them down a path of magic and desire, while a devastating secret threatens eternal love.

Rise for Me | Universal Book Links Help You Find Books at Your Favorite Store! (books2read.com)

Any new projects on the horizon?

Seduction by Blood is another vampire romance I cowrote with another author. It has been contracted with The Wild Rose Press, Inc., but doesn’t have a release date it. Watch for it!

What was the hardest/most unusual/interesting part of the story to write/research?

Although as a child I spent numerous weekends at an amusement park, I didn’t realize my favorite ride, the haunted house, would play such a role in one of my books. That amusement park closed years ago due to a fire, but while writing I pulled from the experience. Once I started researching carnivals, my curiosity took flight and I found myself reading anything I could find on the subject. Funny how that happens!

What was my muse for Rise for Me? A birthmark. Read more here.

As authors, we are expected/encouraged to develop relationships with readers as well as other professionals in our field. Just for fun, I answered another author’s prompt on Facebook that went like this: 

Create a fictional story about how we met.

My answer:  We met at the carnival. You were the creepy clown who snuck up on me and scared me half to death. I was angry, so I smacked with you with my corndog, got mustard in your hair, you got angry, we wrestled into the duck-pond booth, both got soaking wet, but it’s all good because we’re friends again. LOL

Not the best writing, I know, but that little answer sparked my imagination and I started thinking what a great idea to write a vampire story set at the carnival. It’s the perfect place for a vampire to hide. Of course, the idea developed into so much more once I started writing it!

Excerpt from Rise for Me…

Mariah stopped directly over where she knew Roman rested. Her own blood surged in her veins every time she stepped on the worn plank. She tilted her head, listening to the call of his blood and the beat of his heart. Lizzie said he wasn’t feeding as much as he should, so there was one sure way to bring Roman out of his grave. She searched the room for something sharp until her gaze landed on a small, jeweled pocketknife. She grabbed it off the table and pulled the blade out of its slot. It was dull, but it would work.

Mariah placed the small blade against her left palm, then held it over the spot where she knew Roman rested. With one downward swipe, the blade pierced her flesh, opening a one-inch gash. Blood poured from the wound and dripped onto the rough, wooden floor planks. She crouched and held her palm over the crack between the boards, making sure the blood reached Roman. With a deep breath, she gathered her courage as her blood continued to splatter in droplets between the planks. The room seemed to groan, and every trinket vibrated when she finally called to the other half of her soul in a loud, demanding voice. “Rise for me, Roman Lee.”

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Kristal Dawn Harris is an award-winning, Rone nominated, American romance author. She has been married for 27 years and has two children. Kristal finished a degree from Miami University in Accounting Technology, but quickly realized she preferred words over numbers. She is an avid reader and, in particular, loves darker paranormal romance. Her hobbies include coin collecting, physical fitness, stained-glass art (beginner), poetry, and song writing.

Kristal primarily writes for her publisher, The Wild Rose Press, although it should be noted she has self-released several books. She writes paranormal, fantasy, erotic, as well as contemporary romance in different lengths.

You can find out more about Kristal and her books at www.kristalharris.com.

Deerbourne Inn: Harmony's Embrace by Amber Daulton

Have you heard about the Deerbourne Inn yet?

No? Well, hop on over to The Wild Rise Press or Amazon and learn more.

I first shared about this novella series set in Vermont here. There are nearly 2 dozen now! I’ve personally read about 16 so far. I’ve fallen a little behind but plan to get back to picking up where I’ve left off. I love the quicker romantic reads that range in subgenres from contemporary to historical, paranormal to mystery. And now you can own them in paperback!

The latest book out in the series is Harmony’s Embrace by Amber Daulton (I’ve already read her other book in the series, Lyrical Embrace).

Tell us about what you write.

I write novels, novellas, and short stories all in the romance genre. I’m particularly fond of romantic suspense and contemporary.

What drew you to writing?

I read my first romance book when I was 12 after I snuck a Harlequin paperback out of my mom’s bedroom. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I wanted to create my own story about two people having an adventure and falling in love. I wrote with pencil in a spiral-bound notebook and finished that 200-plus-page story in about six months.

I published my first book when I was 26, and Harmony’s Embrace is now my fourteenth book to date. I have about ten more manuscripts on my computer waiting to see the light of day.

What was your inspiration for Harmony’s Embrace?

No inspiration, per se, but I fell in love with a secondary character when I was writing Lyrical Embrace, my first contribution to the multi-author Deerbourne Inn series. Birley Haynes was pretty uptight, and I was dying to loosen him up. Obviously, he needed a romance of his own.

When I started plotting Harmony’s Embrace, I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. There were so many options. The biggest challenge was figuring out who the heroine was going to be. I had it narrowed down to three women, but after I finally picked Birley’s high school sweetheart, Harmony Holdich, the rest of the story fell together seamlessly. Now I can’t imagine Birley falling head over heels for anyone else.

Words of advice for fellow writers in the trenches:

Make friends with other authors and readers via social media. Don’t be shy. Start a blog even if you aren’t published yet, so you can join blog tours. A tour is a great way to get a free ebook as long as you write a review and post it on your blog. The author’s readers will then come to your blog to read the review. They’ll know YOUR name, and that’s what you want—to get your name out there.

Just keep trying. I know it sounds cliché, but there’s nothing else to do. If you don’t try, you won’t succeed. Period. Keep your hopes up, take rejection letters in stride, and if a publisher or editor gives you feedback on why he/she rejected your work, listen to their feedback. They know what they’re talking about.

What was a tense part of Harmony’s Embrace to write?

I love writing intense, emotional scenes. Whether the characters are happy or sad, I get a kick out of what they’re feeling, but if I’m being honest, I prefer when they’re upset. (Yeah, I like tormenting my people. Don’t all authors enjoy that?)

(from Jean: why yes, we do)

Take this scene in Harmony’s Embrace: Birley, Harmony, and his kids are decorating the Christmas tree while cookies are baking in the oven. Everyone was acting like a big happy family until Birley’s manipulative ex-wife showed up. OMG! I know, right? The night was ruined, and the kids railroaded poor Birley into letting their mom crash on the sofa. Harmony was beyond hurt, and I couldn’t blame her for what she did next… And that’s the end of the tease! Told you, I’m mean. ;)

Here’s a bit more about this book:

Reuniting with the man who broke her heart has never felt so right.

Divorced dad Birley Haynes is too busy raising his children and running his family’s music academy to start a relationship. Then Harmony Holdich, his high school sweetheart, returns home to Willow Springs, Vermont for Christmas and falls into his bed. She brings light and fun back into his life, but he can’t brush aside the threatening incidents around his workplace.

Harmony hadn’t expected a complication like Birley, especially so soon after the death of her unfaithful husband. With her life a mess, she plans to move across the country and start over. All she can offer him is a fling, but her heart yearns for more.

When the threats rise, how will Birley keep his children safe and convince Harmony to give love another chance?

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About the Author

Amber Daulton is the author of the romantic-suspense series Arresting Onyx and several standalone novellas. Her books are published through The Wild Rose Press, Books to Go Now, and Daulton Publishing, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.

She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.

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