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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Guest Post and Giveaway: Loving Husband by Meredith Allard

Description:

Meredith Allard’s beloved bestselling paranormal/historical Loving Husband Trilogy is now available together for the first time, with bonus material about the series. The collection includes the full texts of Her Dear & Loving Husband, Her Loving Husband’s Curse, and Her Loving Husband’s Return, plus a Q&A with Meredith Allard, series inspirations, and discussion questions. The Loving Husband Trilogy Box Set will please the most devoted James and Sarah Wentworth fans as well as fans new to the series.

Her Dear and Loving Husband

How long would you wait for the one you loved?

Her Dear & Loving Husband, the new novel from Meredith Allard, is part literary fiction, part historical fiction, part romance, and part paranormal fantasy. With elements of Twilight and The Crucible, Her Dear & Loving Husband is a story for anyone who believes that true love never dies. 

James Wentworth has a secret. He lives quietly in Salem, Massachusetts, making few ties anywhere. One night his private world is turned upside down when he meets Sarah Alexander, a dead ringer for his wife, Elizabeth. Though it has been years since Elizabeth's death, James cannot move on. 

Sarah also has a secret. She is haunted by nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and every night she is awakened by visions of hangings, being arrested, and dying in jail. Despite the obstacles of their secrets, James and Sarah fall in love. As James comes to terms with his feelings for Sarah, he must dodge accusations from a reporter desperate to prove that James is not who, or what, he seems to be. With the help of their friends, witches Jennifer and Olivia, James and Sarah piece their stories together and discover a mystery that may bind them in ways they never imagined. Will James make the ultimate sacrifice to protect Sarah and prevent a new hunt from bringing hysteria to Salem again?

Her Loving Husband's Curse

And then, as if he could read her mind, he said, "We'll be all right, Sarah. Just the two of us. I'll never leave you ever." Finally, after many long and lonely years, James Wentworth's life is falling into place. With his wife, Sarah, the only woman he has ever loved, he has found the meaning behind her nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and now they are rebuilding the life they began together so long ago. But the past is never far behind for the Wentworths. While Sarah is haunted by new visions, now about the baby she carried over three hundred years before, James is confronted with painful memories from his time with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Through it all, the persistent reporter Kenneth Hempel reappears, still determined to prove that the undead walk the earth. If Hempel succeeds in his quest, James and Sarah will suffer. Will the curse of the vampire prevent James and Sarah from living their happily ever after?

Her Loving Husband's Return

What would you do to return to the only one you have ever loved?

Vampire James Wentworth’s secret is no longer a secret, and now he and his beloved wife, Sarah, have been separated. While suffering his own internment, James is reminded of his time with Japanese-Americans in the Manzanar Relocation Camp during World War II, and he cannot allow the past to repeat itself. With the help of his friends—Chandresh, Jocelyn, Timothy, even the irreverent Geoffrey—James learns what it means to return, and he is determined to return to his Sarah no matter the challenges—or the consequences. In the end, it may be up to Olivia, the most powerful of witches, to grant James’s most fervent wish. Will James and Sarah be reunited once and for all despite the madness surrounding them?

GUEST POST
True Love and Romance

What is it about romance that we love so much? Whenever I need a “Take me away from here” book I always turn to romance. There is something all-consuming about a good romance, something almost necessary, a respite from the world. We live in a time when there isn’t a lot of romance around, and we all need a brain break from the sometimes harsh realities of our lives. Romance does that. It’s a fun, sexy, sometimes very sexy escape into daydreams and fantasies.

I’m fascinated by how people fall in love and I enjoy exploring that in my stories. What happens—step-by-step—in his mind as well as hers? What first attracts them? What maintains their interest? And then is it lust or is it love? True love, I mean, the kind you’d wait for for over three hundred years. In my writing, I tend to focus on the love aspect of the relationship (though I am a big fan of the lust aspect). Physical chemistry is great, I have to say, but I’m also interested in the emotional connection that happens. 

It’s rewarding to follow a relationship from its tentative beginnings to a complete emotional, spiritual, and physical connection. As a person, I get to do that occasionally, but as a writer I get to do that often. I feel as if I’ve been privy to my characters’ most sacred moments. In Her Dear & Loving Husband, Book One of the Loving Husband Trilogy, James and Sarah have an awkward beginning. James mistakes Sarah for his long-dead wife, and Sarah is unnerved by his intensity. As they get to know each other, Sarah feels pulled to James, as he feels to her. Moment by moment, they learn more about each other and feel even more connected. But there are secrets to keep, for both James and Sarah, and while those secrets may tear them apart, they may also bring them together. What began as physical attraction (James is a tall, strong, handsome blond, and Sarah looks like his beloved wife) slowly becomes an emotional connection as the two drop their walls and look at the possibilities. When they’re willing to take a chance, on themselves and with each other, magical things can happen. 

In romances, love can be forever. In romances, we can see reflections of what many of us would like to find in our real lives. In romances, we can find an entertaining escape from the daily grind. As someone who writes romantic stories, I get to spend hours every day in the world of romance, and that is not a bad way to spend my time. In the end, it makes me hopeful that true love does exist after all.

About the author:
Since 2000, Meredith Allard has been the Executive Editor of The Copperfield Review, an award-winning literary journal for readers and writers of historical fiction. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from California State University, Northridge, and she has taught creative writing and writing historical fiction seminars at Learning Tree University, UNLV, and the Las Vegas Writers Conference.

Her short fiction and articles have appeared in journals such as The Paumanok Review, Moondance, Wild Mind, Muse Apprentice Guild, Writers Weekly, CarbLite, and ViewsHound. She is the author of the Amazon Best-Selling Loving Husband Trilogy, as well as the historical novels Victory Garden, Woman of Stones, and My Brother’s Battle.

Victory Garden and Woman of Stones have also been Amazon Best-Sellers in the Historical Fiction and Religious Fiction categories.

Author's Giveaway
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7 comments:

Joseph Hawkshaw said...

Covers look very good.

Nicole The Reading Rebel said...

These books look right up my ally.I love romance.I am a hopeless romantic.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Joe. I have a great cover designer who did a great job with the trilogy cover. Nicole, if you like romance, I think you'll like the Loving Husband Trilogy. It's all about true love.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for hosting the Loving Husband Trilogy on tour today. I really appreciate it!

Gaelicark said...

Sounds like they have a little bit of somethin' somethin'... I'm interested!

Linda Romer said...

This trilogy of books sounds great. I am a true believer in love everlasting.

Unknown said...

These books sounds so awesome! They hit every one of my must haves, all in one series! WOW! On my TBR!