In keeping with the theme of the book, we have been transported
tethers her horse to a branch.
Sir Oliver struts off to answer the door, cradling a bouquet of fragrant orange roses. When he thrusts open the heavy mahogany door, Lady Deanna saunters in on a gust of jasmine-scented air, looking lovely in a dark green silk gown. Extending his arm, Oliver escorts her into the parlour where Lady Sharon sits, donned in a brushed copper gown with black beaded applique. The women hug and air kiss as they exchange greetings. Slipping into Queen Anne chairs in front of a crackling fire, they catch up.
Sharon: How are you, Lady Deanna?Deanna: Lady Sharon, I’m so excited about this book but first I want to thank you for having me here today. The setting is gorgeous and so are the orange roses! You’re so thoughtful.
Sharon: Oliver, I dare say we’re ready for refreshments.
Oliver struts off, pumping his biceps. In no time flat, he returns, white Russians and hot buttered popcorn poised above his head on a silver tray. With a sweeping bow, he presents the drinks, scooping up a handful of popcorn and feeding it to Lady Deanna with a wicked wink.
Deanna: Oh my, Oliver, you are wonderful to bring in my favorites. *licking the butter from my lips and taking more popcoren*
Sharon: That will be all, Oliver. Lady Deanna, do tell us about the setting of No Turning Back and how you researched this particular era in time.
Deanna: I’ve always loved reading historical and love England. Growing up, I read Victoria Holt novels and as you know, those were set in England, Johanna Lindsey and Virginia Henley used England for many of their novels and those authors are my favorites. So when I decided to write, I had to do my novel in England and include the ships and pirates and sword fights. *sigh* I just love them and I hope the readers love my settings. I do take Nathan and Vanessa on a few adventures, that’s for sure.
Sharon: I love the name Vanessa. It’s old-fashioned with a royal ring, yet timeless and romantic. Do you have any personal ties or connections to this name?
Deanna: No connections, I’ve just always liked it.
Deanna: I think that was part of the fun of writing Vanessa. She goes against society and does what she wants, though she still dresses proper for the balls. Her maids had an awful time with her when they helped her get dressed because she would take the breeches and put them on anyway, which made sense if you’re working with the horses. She also knows how to use the whipcord! I wanted to give her a few special talents!
Sharon: And how does Nathan feel about a woman who marches to the beat of a different drum?
Deanna: Ah, Nathan….mmmmm……oh, I’m sorry! Nathan loves a strong woman who also knows how to be a woman when the time presents itself. Vanessa has a mind of her own and uses it to continue the business and stand up to those who get in her way, which gets her into trouble also.Sharon: And for the true romantics out there, this book is all about second chances. How do you feel about that?
Deanna: I had to write about second chances because I had my own second chance at love and now - I live in my own fairytale. Those who know me will attest to that! *big smile* But there are so many men and women out there who lose the love of their life and think they will never again find that one special person who makes life worth living again and that’s just not true. If nothing else comes through in my novel, I hope the reader takes that note with them – love will happen again for them. I’m also a firm believer in the concept of ‘attracting what you think’. I didn’t come up with that line but there is so much truth to it. I’m writing a short book on that which should be available in a month or so. If one wants to be happy, one can not depend on others to make them happy. It has to come from inside! But I ramble on…..I just feel very strong about that.
Oliver saunters into the room, treating Deanna to a beguiling smile. With great articulation, he sets down a tiered mint green candy dish overflowing with lemon bars. After freshening her drink, he plucks up a pastry and feeds it to Deanna, watching her eyes glaze over.
Deanna: Oliver, those are to die for! I commend you on your talents. Lady Sharon, how to you stand it with such perfection in his culinary talents?
Oliver removes his copy of No Turning Back. If I might be so bold as to ask for your autograph, Lady D?
Deanna: Thank you, Oliver, I’d love to sign that for you. I do hope you enjoy the story. You’ll make some lucky woman a wonderful husband with your talents in the kitchen.
Sharon holds up her empty crystal glass. I wouldn’t mind a refill, Oliver…or do I have to “duke” you?
Oliver pours, his eyes on Deanna.
Sharon picks up her copy and reads the blurb and excerpt whilst Deanna signs Oliver’s copy.
Blurb – No Turning BackWhile avenging the death of his fiancé years earlier, Nathan learns that he can love again but is he willing to chance another broken heart? Will the woman he wants also open her heart again?
Vanessa is heartbroken over recent events in her life; she’s also head-strong, flaunts London aristocracy and takes on breeding horses, something unheard of in the society circles of London. She finds herself trying to put the pieces of her life back together, but can she do it alone? With a child on the way, she is forced to do just that - their future depends on her strength. Then a friend offers to help. Dare she trust a man sworn to carry out a vow taken on a death bed? She refuses to accept that his love is true when his honor of sticking to his word is also at stake.
North Yorkshire, England, 1775
Michael ‘Nathaniel’ Clairmont, the Fourth Duke of North Yorkshire, crumpled the missive he’d received from his fiancée’s parents as he raked his fingers through his shoulder length hair. Fear tightened his chest as he stepped to the door and called to his squire. “Prepare Caesar, now!”
Stepping back into the room, he addressed his longtime friend, Anthony Faulkner. “I’m going to see Lady Stockholm’s parents. Clarissa is missing. Are you with me?”
Faulkner jammed his tricorn hat atop his head. “Bloody right I am!”
Moments later, after meeting with the Stockholm’s, Michael urged his bay Barb to greater speed along side Anthony’s. An unnatural scattering of branches and leaves strewn about the road ahead caught his attention. He reined Caesar and dismounted for a closer look. Footprints of horses and men marred the dirt and led deeper into the woods where the underbrush lay trampled and broken.
After tethering Caesar to a branch, he motioned for Faulkner to follow him along the path. A piece of green silk shimmered atop a briar bush, and Michael grabbed up the soft material. It was the color he’d last seen on Clarissa. The fragrance of jasmine assailed his senses. His eyes widened in recognition of the scent...the same one Clarissa wore!
He gripped the material in his fist. Bile rose in his throat as fear knotted his gut. Though afraid of what he’d find ahead, he pushed forward; low-hanging branches slapped at his face and caught at his shoulder-length hair. He pushed the foliage out of his way and tromped the underbrush in his desperate search.
When he reached out to block another branch, a silk stocking skimmed his face and he grabbed the stocking for inspection. Michael looked at Faulkner’s worried face, swore under his breath and moved on but a foreboding feeling ate at his senses, almost like being watched.
He couldn’t miss a gown strewn atop the bushes. The shock that tore throughout his system stopped Michael dead in his tracks, his muscles recoiling in reaction. Meticulously arranged over the waist-high bushes, as if in preparation for wear, lay a dark green silk gown, a vicious tear low in the neckline. His gaze moved slowly over the material. Tightness gripped his chest, feeling as though someone had reached in and squeezed his heart, the pain so intense it burned. He touched Faulkner’s arm, and gritted his teeth. “It’s the gown Clarissa wore at the ball last night,” he said in a gut-wrenching rasp. His gaze searched the area until the very thing he wanted to avoid seeing lay before him. His body froze.
A bare, delicate ankle peeked from beneath the underbrush.
Lunging forward like a wild beast, ravaging the area, throwing branches and uprooting ferns, he uncovered her body...clad only in her white satin chemise, splattered with her own blood.
His tortured scream echoed throughout the surrounding forest as he fell to his knees beside her battered body. Praying she might hear, he whispered her name. Touching her bruised cheek--he found it still warm. A flicker of hope ignited within his heart as he pressed his fingertips against the slim column of her throat. Moments later, finding no trace of a pulse, that slight flicker of hope extinguished itself. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts at who could be her killer.
Thunderous applause explodes through cyber space.
Sharon: (Holds up her copy) This is a wonderful and intriguing book, Lady Deanna. Congratulations! I just love it!
Deanna: You are too kind, but thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Lady Sharon.
Sharon: What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Deanna: Writing the book was fun but the hardest part was the editing. This was the first novel I’d written, though it got published second because there were so many things that had to be ‘fixed’ because I’d learned so much writing this. I took it out of the drawer so many times in the last ten years that I lost track of the number of times. I got discouraged that it couldn’t be fixed and would put it back in the drawer, yet something kept taking me back to the story. Maybe the characters wouldn’t let it die, who knows, but finally it did make it past the edits, got fixed and here it is.
Sharon: And the part you enjoyed the most?
Deanna: The love between the characters, setting the sexual tension and the attraction….mmmmm……I do love sexual tension in a novel. Without that, there would be no reason to continue reading!
Sharon: Sadly, Lady D, our hour is nearly up. Parting is such sweet sorrow. But before you go, you must treat my fetish for collecting legends or superstitions from my guests. Do you have one to share with me?
Deanna: Hhmm….that’s a tough one. Can ghosts be a superstition? Because I do believe in ghosts, that they are around us all the time. Some of us have the ability to sense them and some don’t and that leads me to my next novel that includes a ghost in an abandoned lighthouse who takes on the task of bringing two lovers together who were lovers in a past life.
Sharon: And finally, if you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Who would you like starring as Vanessa and why? And last but not least, who do you fancy playing the role of Nathan and why?
Deanna: Perhaps I would like to try the English countryside in a castle of my own, but let’s include running water for baths and showers! Haha! Who would play Vanessa and Nathan in a movie? I haven’t really thought that far – maybe Julia Roberts for Vanessa? Now Nathan….maybe Hugh Jackman? I’ll have to give that more thought or your guests can leave their recommendations! *wink*
Sharon: Tell readers where they can get in touch with you and where they can purchase No Turning Back.
Deanna: I love to hear from readers and fellow authors and they can email me at Deanna.jewel@yahoo.com and my novels are available on my website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and I’m sure many other online bookstores out there.
Sharon: Thank you so much for being my featured guest today, Lady D! It’s been great fun! And as a special treat, Lady D is graciously giving a copy of her book to one lucky blogger. So don’t forget to leave a comment!
As The Power of Love by Celine Dion plays on the Victrola, Oliver sweeps Lady Deanna into his arms as they glide across the burnished cherry wood floors, their feet never touching the ground.
Author Biography
She is married to a retired captain of the fire department who has also owned his own businesses for 28 years and they have two Siamese cats: Zoie and Sinbad. She has a grandson in Idaho, two daughters still living back East, one granddaughter and another due in November. Deanna has enjoyed reading historical romance novels for over thirty years, camping with her family, and traveling. A trip years ago to Dubois, Wyoming, south of Yellowstone, inspired her time-travel novel. The landscape and town locations described in NEVER SURRENDER are real. Jon Daley, a professor at Boise State University, translated the Shoshone language that you will find in the book.
