I am so happy to be here at Tina's Book Reviews so I can introduce you to Sera and Andrew, the main characters of Rosethorn, a breathtaking new contemporary romance of love lost and found again that culminates in stunning end you won't soon forget.

Andrew is based on a real person who for some strange reason doesn't want his real face and identity to be known. (Privacy, shmivacy.) So I always had a very clear image of him as I was writing Rosethorn. I'll do the next best thing and present to you Paul Bettany who, although he resembles my inspiration and is nothing to sneeze at, I can assure you doesn't compare to the real Andrew.



Sera, I had a little more trouble finding until I saw the cast for last season's The Bachelor. The moment I saw Catherine Guidici, I knew I found my Sera.



They make a beautiful couple don't they?

For more pictures of Sera and Andrew and other characters from Rosethorn, please visit my Pinterest board.

Excerpt:

She said nothing as Andrew walked towards her, unhurried, gleaming with sweat, disheveled and unreal. She saw at once that he had grown taller, if that was possible, and wondered if there existed in the world a pair of shoes with heels high enough so that she could one day be eye level with him.

It seemed an eternity that he walked toward her, silent as she was silent, with that steady gaze, head tilted slightly so that she saw the full measure of his deep blue eyes.

With all her power she tried to summon just an ounce of the cool and imperious demeanor she had perfected in college, fueling her courage with how she must appear to him, in her black dress and high heels, her sunglasses and hair upswept in an elegant chignon. She liked to think that her worldliness would have made her unrecognizable to anyone who knew her back in the day.

That Andrew had seen through it all was a fluke. In a moment she’ll realize how boorish he’s become, perhaps how boorish he had always been, and she will finally be rid of the past.

As he came closer to where she was still standing, unmoving, Sera noticed without wanting to that Andrew had finally grown into his body. He was lean and muscled, his bare chest reddened by the sun. The way he moved showed no trace of the gangly boy he had been. No longer self-conscious of his height, he strode with an economy of grace. He wore old blue jeans with dried paint splatters and a tool belt slung low on his hips, his long torso rising above it, reminding her of Bernini’s David released. A marble statue come to life.

She saw all this in a moment for suddenly he was standing two feet in front of her. It was hard for her to breathe.....................

In my childhood, I used to ride water buffaloes and wade in swamps. When I discovered books, I would go adventuring with Anne of Green Gables, the Pevensies, Bilbo Baggins, or Alanna of Trebond. I incurred my mother's displeasure for reading too many romance novels, so I learned to hide them and read underneath covers with a flashlight late at night. Nowadays, I travel and write dark fairy tales and romantic novels about adventurous women. And I still stay up too late reading, even though I don't get in trouble for it anymore.