WHY? BECAUSE I CAN by Tena Stetler

Roses and Readers, please welcome our guest, Tena Stetler.

Hello, everyone!  Glad to see you could make it.  I’ve been asked why I write paranormal romance more times than I can count.  My cheeky answer –  because I can.  Really, I enjoy taking my readers to places they may not have been, doing things they may not have done, with creatures they may not know walk among us.  Basically, I love whisking them off from their normal hum drum life to a romantic adventure.

Some of my werewolves are from the frozen tundra of spectacular Alaska.  Others are only half werewolf, spent most their lives using their preternatural abilities in the special forces, defending our country. Now they find themselves in a new phase of their life.

Vampires, demon’s, witches, oh my --  reside in Washington DC.  Now come on you already knew that.  Didn’t you?  Bet you didn’t know one of them owns and operates a upscale multi-species hair and nail salon in DC. That explains at lot. (At least it did in A Demon’s Witch)

These preternatural creatures have inhabited my mind since before I could read. While others had normal imaginary friends, now that’s an oxymoron. I played with vampires, werewolves, witches, demons and unicorns. If you don’t think my mom was worried.  Yep, always fit the definition of weird kid and embraced it.  But my real friends loved my stories growing up, their mothers, not so much.  When the night frights got bad, mom took me to the doctor who told her, I had an overactive imagination and would grow out of it.  Nope, never did, just wrote about.  LOL

My romances are meant to rip me, oh I mean you away from reality and plop you, my reader, into the middle of fantasy.  A bit on the spicy side the romances are meant to entertain, create a memorable love story with characters that will grab hold of your heart, hang on long after you’ve read the last word and closed the book with a sigh.  So next time you pick up a book, I hope you’ll lose yourself inside if for only a little while, it’s a stress reducer and can be just plain fun. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Remember the magic to happily ever after!

Tena

Candy Heart Romance - Charm Me  -  Blurb:

Summer Dawn Riley’s an extraordinary elemental witch whose troubled past haunts her. She’s created a calm life for herself teaching yoga and keeping people at a distance. Her life takes a one eighty degree turn when she enrolls in a women’s weapons class and meets ruggedly handsome Devlin Sawyer.

Devlin, a former Navy Seal, has sworn off women after two long-term failed relationships, but there is no denying his attraction to Summer. She intrigues him like no other woman ever has. Despite her attempts to ignore him, Summer is drawn to Devlin. His magic signature is strong, but he’s no warlock. Will Valentine’s Day magic find them a future together?

Excerpt:

Getting to her feet, she brushed the dust from her black yoga pants, tugged at the bottom of her bright orange tunic, and flipped the light switch on. A soft glow of florescent lighting flooded the large room, soothing Summer’s nerves. Guess she would never be the same carefree individual she was before the incident. Oh, shake it off. You’re safe and it’s time to get on with life. “Come on Pip, let’s get this place open.”

A massive stone fireplace towered in the corner.  She picked up an arm full of wood and flung it in the general direction. Logs landed in the fire pit and neatly arranged themselves in a tepee shape. With a magic flick of her finger toward the hearth, flames raced up the aspen logs. “That’s better.”

She raised her arms, about to send the yoga mats back to their proper place when the heavy wooden front door creaked open. Piper rushed toward the door, teeth bared and a growl rumbled in her throat. Summer whirled around and yelped as Devlin ambled into the room, black hair tousled and glistening with melting snowflakes. His nonchalance at the dog’s approach surprised her as he slowed to a stop. Piper sniffed around him, backed up a few inches, then stood at alert in front of Devlin.

“You scared the bejeebers out of me.” Summer held her hand to her chest as her heart thundered.

“What are you doing here?”

“Call your guard dog off and I’ll tell you.” The corners of Devlin’s mouth curved up into a smile, a faint light twinkled in the depths of his dark eyes.

“Piper, leave it…come.” The dog gave Devlin a last sideways glance, trotted back to Summer and sat at her side.

Buy Links:

http://amzn.com/B018L2U904

http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=6579

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/charm-me

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/charm-me-tena-stetler/1123082834?ean=2940157816506

About the Author:

Tena Stetler is a paranormal romance author with an over-active imagination.  She wrote her first vampire romance at the age of twelve, to the chagrin of her mother and the delight of her friends. Colorado is her home; shared with her husband, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-year-old box turtle.  Any winter evening, you can find her curled up in front of a crackling fire with a good book, a mug of hot chocolate and a big bowl of popcorn. 

Here’s where you can find me: (I love to hear from readers and other authors!)

Website: http://www.tenastetler.com

Blog: http://www.tenastetler.com/my-blog

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/tenastetler.author

Twitter Page: www.twitter.com/TenaStetler

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14187532.Tena_Stetler

Amazon:  www.amazon.com/author/tenastetler

A Woman's Role by Diane Burton

When my mother was growing up, a woman’s role was pretty much cut in stone. She graduated from high school, got married, had kids, and took care of her home and family. If her family was wealthy enough, she went to college after high school, then the rest followed. It was relatively rare that a woman had a career. If she didn’t get married, she worked as a secretary, telephone operator, maybe a nurse or teacher. If her family/husband were well-to-do, she had Junior League and her volunteer work. Her life was planned out for her.

During World War II, women were told to step up. Remember Rosie the Riveter? What about A League of Their Own about women’s professional baseball? Women had to do “men’s” work because the guys were off fighting a war. When the men returned, it was “get back to the kitchen, ladies, you’re not needed anymore.” I often wondered how those women felt. They’d gotten independence, earned a good living, then—wham!—back to the old ways. I would've resented the heck out of it.

Television in the 1950s showed what life was like for a woman. Father Knows Best, June Cleaver, Harriet Nelson. Mom wore an apron and high heels while keeping an immaculate home.

Everything changed in the 1960s. Women decided to plan their own lives. Many of those who came of age in the 60s were torn, confused. We’d been taught (by our mother’s example, television, etc.) a certain way of life then expected by our peers to raise our sights higher. As if raising a family wasn’t enough. As if that job had no value.

I certainly don’t want to return to the days of my mother. Where women had no choices. What is great about these days is choice. Our careers are unlimited. Want to be an astronaut? Go for it. Want to be a teacher? It’s your decision. If you want to be a stay-at-home mom, your choice.

When my daughter was growing up, I taught her she could be anything she wants. As my granddaughters grow up, I hope their opportunities will be even greater.

Diane Burton writes romantic adventure . . . stories that take place on Earth and beyond. She blogs here on the 8th and 30th of each month and on Mondays on her own site: http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/

TEXT ME by Erin Beven

Please welcome Erin Beven to The Roses of Prose today. Be sure to enter her Rafflecopter drawing a the end of the post. You could be a winner!

Thanks for having me on your blog today. This story came to me last year when The Wild Rose Press did a submission call for short and sweet romances for their new Candy Hearts Romance line. The title of the story had to be one of the cute sayings on the sugar candy hearts people eat around Valentine’s Day.

Text Me popped into my mind. The new way of communicating now is through texts, tweets, and emails, so I decided to mix a little old school with a little new school so to speak. My heroine seeks the newspaper classifieds for a date avoiding the Internet, but decides to stick strictly to texting her date scared for the actual face-to-face meeting. What if he’s a killer, or crazy, or heaven forbid ugly! He turns out to be exactly what she’s dreamed about.

I had a lot of fun writing this short and sweet romance. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Thanks again for having me!

Blurb:

When Erika’s ex becomes her boss less than a year after dumping her by text, she gets desperate to find a date to the corporate Valentine’s dance so he doesn’t suspect she still has feelings for him. Though not a fan of texting for the obvious reason, she doesn’t have much choice but to tap the keypad in order to gain the attention of the only viable candidate from the classified ads.

Grayson made the mistake of listening to his brother a year ago and has regretted what he did to Erika ever since. But his brother’s next suggestion just might be his salvation when he takes out an ad for a Valentine’s date…and Erika answers.

Using a pseudo name and keeping contact to text messages only, Grayson’s plans to make Erika fall back in love with him appears to be working…until the date of the dance draws near, and she pushes a meeting—face to face.

Excerpt:

Valentine’s Day

She sank deeper into the couch. What was she going to do? She couldn’t show up alone to the company dance. Not with the chance of Grayson being there. No way.

“Maybe go to another speed dating session?” She grabbed a tissue off the coffee table and wiped the excess slime from her fingers.

“My hairdresser’s single. You want me to ask him?”

“Your hairdresser’s gay. I don’t think he’d be interested in me.”

“Really?” Megan gave her a funny stare.

“Really.” Erika snorted. “Have you not seen the picture of him and his ex-partner at his station?”

“That was his partner?” Her friend’s mouth gapped open. “I thought it was his brother.”

She shook her head. Her friend was one of the smartest people she knew, but common sense eluded the girl.

Megan popped more hearts in her mouth. “That explains so much now,” she mumbled around the candy. “No wonder my hair always looks good.”

“Yes, it does.” Erika sipped her wine.

Her friend swallowed. “Well, I’m sorry, honey. I don’t know any single guys. If I did, I’d try to date them myself.”

“That’s okay.” She sighed and slumped back onto the sofa.

“Is Grayson single?”

“I don’t know. Why are you asking?” She narrowed her gaze. “You want to date him?”

“No.” Her friend said “no” as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

“I’m thinking about you. You wouldn’t go back out with Grayson again, would you? Please say no.” Megan’s shoulders sagged.

Go back out with Grayson. She never thought she’d be given another chance. Would she go back out with him after the way he treated her? Of course not. She deserved better, despite how wonderful he had been.

“I don’t think so. He really hurt me. I can’t give him that privilege again.”

“Good for you.” Her roommate perked up and patted her on the back. “Stay strong. You’ll find someone.”

“You’re right. I’m going to have a date for that corporate Valentine’s dance, even if I have to search the classifieds.”

“Surely, it won’t come to that.” Megan held up her glass for a toast.

Erika clinked hers with her friend’s. “Yeah, surely.”

Her roommate sat her glass down on the table and reached for more hearts.

“Here, give me one of those.”

“I love reading the little sayings.” Megan passed her a heart and tossed her dark hair behind her shoulder. “What’s yours say?”

She flipped over the candy to see the phrase. Bright pink letters stared back at her. Oh, you can’t be serious. “‘Text me’. Seriously?”

Megan burst out laughing.

“You would find that funny.” Erika popped the heart in her mouth and obliterated the little saying she had grown to hate so much.

 

Erin Bevan is a wife and mother of three. An avid reader, one day she decided to try her luck in writing stories of her own, and the idea paid off. She spends her days deep in the heart of Texas, fighting mosquitoes, cleaning dirty faces, and writing when the kids nap. If it's a really good day, she even finds time to brush her hair.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/erinbevanwrites/

www.erinbevan.com

https://twitter.com/ErinBevan

Twitter @ErinBevan

Buy Link:

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