Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Guest Author -- Anne Hope

We are happy to have author Anne Hope dishing with us today! Her debut book, Where Dreams are Made, met with much success in many writing contests, including being an RWA Golden Heart Finalist in the single title category. It was eventually bought by Samhain and released both as an e-book and in print last August. Please welcome Anne Hope to The Romance Dish!

And so another year begins, ripe with promise. Everyone looks toward the future with tempered hope. 2009 broke a lot of spirits, left many struggling to make ends meet and keep their optimism alive, something that’s not easy to do in today’s world, where success is measured in dollar signs and everything has a price. Sometimes, while endeavoring to keep up with the pace society has set, we lose touch with the things that matter most—friendship, love, family.

Romance novels are there to remind us that all is not lost, that hope always remains, and that love can heal even the most ravaged soul. In Where Dreams Are Made, the heroine, Jenny, has fallen as low as a person can fall. Destitute and indebted to a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to own her, she must fight for her freedom, while battling to hold on to the optimism that has seen her through some pretty rough times. Everything is at stake—her dreams, her self-respect, even her life. So when an elderly gentleman offers her an impressive sum of money to spend two weeks with his grandson on a remote island in the heart of Puget Sound, she has no choice but to agree.

The last thing she expects is to fall in love with the very man she’s been hired to deceive, a scarred, reclusive toymaker with dark demons of his own. One whose heart is as damaged as hers. As Jenny struggles to help Daniel heal and carve a place for herself in his lonely world, she uncovers a well of strength inside her she never knew she possessed and finally finds the courage to take control of her life.


Where Dreams Are Made is a story of hope and redemption. It is the ultimate fairy tale, where Cinderella finds her prince, the Beast is saved by love, and the evil lord is vanquished. In a world where good doesn’t always prevail, where darkness lurks around every corner and love often wilts before it has a chance to bloom, romance novels keep our spirits bright and our hope alive. They show us that the past is dead and buried, the future still only a dream. All we really have is this one moment, and we must make the most of it.

In Where Dreams Are Made, a woman running from the past and a man hiding from the future realize that, sometimes, today is all that matters.

Pink-tinged clouds rolled overhead, scudding across an orange-streaked sky. Despite the glowing sun, the fast-approaching dusk was chilly, a cold wind whistling through the towering trees. Daniel had just finished cleaning the mess on the porch when Jenny wandered outside.

“What did you do with the squirrel?” She scoured the surroundings as if searching for it.

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters. We have to bury it.” The expression on her face told him she was dead serious. “A few hours ago this creature was alive. It was climbing trees or scouting for food. We can’t just toss it out with the trash.”

Daniel had never met a person who had such deep-felt respect for life. Even though a part of him believed it was silly to have a burial for a squirrel, another admired her all the more for it. “Fine, I’ll get a shovel.”

When he returned, he noticed a single tear sliding down her cheek. Instinctively, he wiped it away with his thumb.

“I’m sorry.” She covered her reddening cheeks with her hands. “It’s just that this place seems so peaceful, so perfect. The sound of the waves, the smell of the ocean, the birds singing in the trees… For a while there I believed nothing bad could happen here. That nothing bad could find me.”

The sight of her slightly upturned chin, her damp cheek, the blend of hope and despondency in her eyes struck him like a bowling ball to the chest. He wished he could promise her that he would keep her safe forever. But finding the mauled squirrel today had worried him more than he’d admitted to her. He’d tried to make her believe an animal had done the deed, but after carefully examining the slaughtered creature, he was no longer convinced that was the case. The cuts had been too clean, too deliberate. The squirrel hadn’t been chewed or clawed, it had been sliced open.

“What are you running away from, Jenny?”

She turned to him, her features glazed with desperation, brimming with sincerity. “My life. My past. How about you?”

He reflected for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the quiet, empty land surrounding him. Jenny was right. There was nothing but the waves and the birds to listen to. Nothing real to touch or hold. Nothing but the clouds floating across the sky to indicate that time continued to inch forward. “My future,” he finally said.


Post a comment and you could win an electronic copy of Where Dreams Are Made. Thank you for dropping by. I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

Where Dreams Are Made is available from Samhain Publishing and at all major bookstores, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Chapters. For more information, please visit me at http://www.annehope.com/.

Samhain Publishing
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Borders
Chapters

13 comments:

  1. Hi Anne,
    Congrats on your debut release. I love stories about redemption. What are you working on now?

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  2. Hi Anne,
    Love the sound of your story, I will have to boogie on out and find it.

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  3. Hi Anne.
    Your story sounds great! I look forward to finding and reading it. Wishing you continued success!

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  4. Hi Anne and welcome to The Romance Dish!

    I have to say that your book sounds wonderful. I am a sucker for a hero who is a recluse, one that is tortured in some way.

    Are you working on anything new?

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  5. Hi Anne, the Dishies greet you (I just decided that everyone who visits here should be a "Dishy", how's that? C'mon, I know you love my stupid ideas, you just don't want to admit it! *g*) and congrats to your release!

    I love what you write about hope and that all we have is that moment. Very poetic!

    I agree with Buffie on the recluse hero thing - there's little I love more than that!

    You know why I must have that book? Because I want to know whoever is cruel enough to slice open a poor, defenseless squirrel! *grrrrr, Lisa, defender of sweet, helpness animals*

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  6. Hi, Anne. Welcome to The Romance Dish! Congrats on your debut--it sounds great!

    I love a tortured hero! :)

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  7. Congratulations on the release! it sounds like an interesting story.
    Margay

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  8. Thank you all for your interest and encouraging comments.

    I'm working on a couple of projects right now. One is a romantic suspense called Broken Angels, tentatively scheduled to be released by Samhain Publishing on August 24th, and a paranormal series that will feature a whole new breed of heroes and heroines. I also have a free read available at All Romance E-Books, a paranormal comedy entitled The Seduction of Evelyn Hyde.

    I did feel really bad about that squirrel, but it just goes to show how nasty the villain is! I'm a great animal lover myself (at the moment, my house is overrun by a school of fish, a cat, and a brand new puppy). Rest assured anyone who hurts a defenseless animal in one of my books is sure to get his just desserts.

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  9. Hi Anne,
    Your book sounds wonderful. Jenny sounds like Meg from Disney's Hercules. I've always found Meg endearing so i look forward to finding and reading your book.

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  10. Hi Anne,

    Your book sounds like it has just the right amount of Drama!

    Which Island? I grew up in the Puget Sound!

    Looking forward to reading your books, and congratulations on the release!

    Jessica

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  11. Thanks for being with us today, Anne. Where Dreams are Made sounds like just the kind of story I enjoy. I'll be picking up a copy!

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  12. Hi Jessica,

    Actually, it's a fictitious island near San Juan. When I was researching the area, I read that there were hundreds of small islands scattered there, so I picked one, gave it a name, and made it my own!

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  13. Hi, Anne! So glad to have you with us today! And like everyone else, am intrigued by WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE. I will definitely be picking a copy up on my next trip to the bookstore!

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