New Book Available

My newest book, Dark Hero, is now available on Smashwords.com. Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble E-Book Stores. Print copy available on Amazon.com

This book is a Historical Romance with a Paranormal twist. It is actually a Gothic Historical Romance, but genres are hard to define so it is listed as a Gothic Romance on Smashwords.  The book is set in both England and the West Indies in 1798.  It is book one in my Reluctant Hero Series. (Book two will be available in September 2012.)  

About Writing:

It took me eight years to complete this manuscript, as I wrote most of it while in college while pursuing two majors, both in the History and Humanities disciplines. Ah, the double major means Double Research and double the research papers! I could not work on the book while trying to keep up with all my writing and research assignments during the school year. This meant I would work on my manuscript during summer breaks, then put it away for eight months at a time, take it out again the next summer, and start to re-read what I wrote so I could work on it again until the next semester began.  Then, after graduating college, I was lost in a whirlwind of job hunting and moving for two years, so it sat unfinished on my laptop.  My new years resolution for 2012 was to finish the book! Well, I did it, and now I have several other manuscripts to work on.    

About the Lovers:

Since I usually talk about lovers in either history or myth, let me tell you a little bit about my fictional lovers.  Both are deeply scarred. I begin the book with this quote: 

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;

The most massive characters are seamed with scars.”

Edwin Hubbell Chapin

And this sets the tone for the book rather well.  Elizabeth O'Flaherty, the daughter of an Irish lord hanged for treason,  has emotional scars, from living with a drunken, abusive stepfather. She has learned to put up a bold face to the world, and to not show fear or tears. She is a survivor, plain and simple. With a younger brother to protect, she has become adept at reading the enemy and discerning any perceived threat to herself of her sibling. She has learned to stay one step ahead of her stepfather. As the men in her family have either let her down or caused her harm, she is mistrustful of men, and prides herself on being able to take care of herself instead of looking for a man to rescue her. Elizabeth is a descendent of the Druids, and as such, she inherits the gifts of the seer, and is able to converse with the dead.

Donovan Beaumont, the hero, has deep scars as well. He has been physically tortured, and since escaping the torturer's den in France he has learned not to trust those about him. He uses disguises and false identities to keep people at a distance. He is a doctor, an anatomist and a scientist. As a recluse, he longs only to be left alone so he can pursue his medical studies and bred horses on his isolated island estate. 

These two might seem as if they would be the most unlikely lovers, as each has deep emotional and psychological scars that make them distrustful of others. But, Elizabeth's Irish Grandmother casts a spell that brings Donovan to their home. Once they meet, they are fated to be together, and nothing can tear them apart, not family, kidnapping, amnesia, sexual abuse, or their own stubbornness.    

Here is a link to the book on Smashwords. It is available in every E-book format: Dark Hero, a Gothic Love Story 

Also available on Amazon.com in E-book format and print,  Apple I-Books, Barnes and Noble Stores