A Story is Born

BURNING LOVE is the first book I sold to The Wild Rose Press. It began its life as an exercise at a meeting of my writing group. We put names of heroes in one hat, names of heroines in another, and occupations in a third. I picked the names Iris and Osmond. I picked travel agent as Iris’s career and firefighter as Osmond’s. The point of the writing exercise was to come up with some background for the characters and a possible conflict. I made Iris a woman who longed to see the world. The male character (who was soon to
be renamed) yearned for home and family.

I liked the possibilities of these two characters so I carried on with their story after the writing exercise was over. I did, however, change the male character’s name to Riley. No offense to the Osmonds of the world, but I just couldn’t see a character with that name as a romantic hero.

Then I read on MySpace (remember MySpace?) that The Wild Rose Press had a call out for light hearted romance with a paranormal bent. I was really interested in selling to TWRP so I added two angels to Iris and Riley’s story. Angelica and Hildegard work in Heaven’s relationship division, matching mortals with their soul mates. Angelica, a student angel, is anxious to earn her wings by making her first match. Unfortunately, she’s something of an inept angel and causes destruction wherever she goes. Angelica gave me the
opportunity to add humor to the story.

After some editing, The Wild Rose Press accepted BURNING LOVE, and it was published in 2009. I’m thrilled to call myself a TWRP author! BURNING LOVE is on sale at Amazon from April 7 to 21 for .99 cents. I hope you’ll check it out!

Blurb:

After causing three cooking fires in her apartment, Iris Jensen finds herself evicted and homeless. She lands on Riley Benson’s doorstep, looking to rent a room in the beautiful old home he’s restoring. It’s only for six weeks until Iris leaves Portland, Oregon for her new job on a cruise ship. Firefighter Riley knows firsthand what a bad tenant she can be.
But he needs money to finish the work on the house he loves. And something about Iris pulls at his heart…

Meanwhile, in Heaven, two angels watch over the young lovers. Angelica and Hildegard work in Heaven’s Relationship Division, where angels match mortals with their soul mates. The angels believe so strongly in Iris and Riley’s love that they break Heaven’s rules to help them. Can the angels convince them their love will last a lifetime?

Excerpt:

Riley looked into her beautiful blue eyes and her smiling face and did the only thing he was capable of doing at the moment.

He kissed her.

Maybe later, he told himself, when sanity returned, he’d think of a hundred reasons why pulling Iris into his arms, holding her snug against his body, and plundering her soft, sweet mouth was not a good idea. But for now, right now, as she wound her arms around his neck and made tiny sounds of excitement deep in her throat, it felt exactly right.

Heaven. Having Iris in his corner made him believe everything was possible.

He stepped backward toward the stairs, pulling Iris with him, intent on taking her upstairs to his room. He suddenly tripped, nearly losing his balance. He glanced behind him and saw the object he’d stumbled over. A set of luggage sat next to the stairs, still bearing tags from the retailer.

“What the hell is this?”

Iris kissed his neck. “I’m sorry. I should have taken them up to my room.”

Iris had bought new luggage for her trip. Her plans hadn’t changed.

She’s leaving me.

The thought acted as effectively as a bucket of cold water tossed over his head. What was he doing? She was leaving in three weeks and didn’t plan to return. The calendar in the kitchen reminded him of that every day. Why start something that would only lead to heartache?

He’d already lost too many people in his life.

And Riley instinctively knew that if he let himself get close to Iris, let himself love her, a part of him would not survive when she left.

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Burning-Love-ebook/dp/B003552TVU

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B003552TVU

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003552TVU

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/burning-love-jana-richards/1019776929?ean=2940043317179

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Jana_Richards_Burning_Love?id=wVTYBAAAQBAJ

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/burning-love/id858279768

Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/burning-love-21

Kobo
CA: https://www.kobo.ca/ca/en/ebook/burning-love-21

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