Spring-When a Young (or Older) Woman’s Fancy Turns to Love

When I first sat down to write my latest novel “The Heart of War”, the lead female character ‘Alena’ was going to be your average sexy young thing; after all, that’s what hot romance is all about, right?

Ares is a God 5000+ years old so that idea worked for about two minutes when I found myself stuck in the song Hey Nineteen (Steely Dan).  I realized that in order to give them a real relationship, something based on more than just sex, Alena had to be older, she couldn’t be a woman/child she had to be a full-fledged woman.

I created Alena MacLeod a half-human and a half-fey woman, coming in at 245 years old.  I wanted her to look the part to some degree so that the Reader would have a constantly visual reference to her age. I gave her silver/gray hair and matching eyes.  I also gave her a personality that reflected her years and the wisdom she gained just being alive on Planet Earth so long. However, because she is a magickal being, I kept her face and body youthful.

I wrote my story. I put it up, free of charge in rough draft format, on the Internet. To my surprise, people loved it. They totally bought Ares as the reluctant Hero and fell in love with Alena.  With such encouragement, I gave it a good edit and sent it around to publishers.  I knew Ares was going to be a hard sell but I never expected responses such as;

1-This isn’t for us, Alena just isn’t sexy because she’s old, why would you write that?

2-This isn’t for us, no one wants to read about an old woman having sex

3-This isn’t for us, the heroine needs to be young and vibrant to even be interesting

4-This isn’t for us, Alena has gray hair for heaven’s sake! There’s nothing sexy or hot about gray hair

Huh?

I wondered a lot of things, first and foremost was; how old are these “publishers”?

I turned 40 (4 years ago) and while I’m not exactly hot and gorgeous anymore, I still feel quite youthful, vibrant, alive and above all, sexy.  In fact, now that my children are grown, my husband and I are having the best sex of our lives!  Sex is spiritual now and it is utterly fantastic.  Yeah, sex in your 20s is great, it’s hot , it’s heavy, you think it’s all that. But it’s not. After 25 years together, my husband and I have it down to an art form. You know what they say; Practice Makes Perfect.

Still, I had my doubts and I wondered if all of these “publishers” were right and my readers were wrong.  Perhaps just because I felt sexy and was still a sexual sensual being—with no thoughts of stopping!—didn’t mean other women my age felt the same way about themselves. That would be sad. I went over to Google, hit ‘images’ and typed in ‘beautiful older woman’. I suggest you try it right after you finish this.  I saw the most amazing pictures of the most stunning women in different stages of their lives that I could have ever asked for. No, they’re not Claudia Schiffer, their beauty is deeper than that, it’s more vibrant, wiser, and more alive.

I determined that those “publishers” were wrong in their assessment and they were too quick too judge and didn’t have the life experience required to understand that life beyond 30 is mighty fine.  In the end, what’s ‘sexy’ isn’t what someone looks like but how they perceive themselves at any age. Personally, I can’t wait until they turn 40 and get their first gray hair.  I think their tune will change drastically.  At least, I hope it will.

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Lisa Beth Darling is the author of The Heart of War a Dark Erotic Paranormal Romance novel.

Author: Lisa Beth Darling
Title: The Heart of War
Details:ISBN:978-0615424682
Pages: 516
Publisher Moon Mistress Publishing USA

Blurb: Meet Ares God of War, the greatest Warrior the world has ever known. He’s moody, grumpy, dominant, ravenously sexual, and above all, built like a Greek God.

Suspected of killing his Daughter in-Law, Psyche, and long in exile from Olympus, the solitude of Ares’ secluded Greek Isle is interrupted when Magdalena MacLeod a plucky little Fey washes up on his shore after believing she’s been shipwrecked. It’s not mere fate that has brought the unlikely couple together yet it may be what tears them apart.

Branded with a golden chastity belt bearing the mark of Cernunnos, Celtic God of the Forest and Death, Alena has been on the run from her husband the Great Horned God for 200 years.

When the Olympians discover her presence on Ares’ island, they send Apollo to the island while Ares is away with orders to bring her to Olympus. With nowhere to run and strikes a bargain with the God of War–her virginity for his protection.

Ares sees a sweeter deal; her in his bed and himself back in his rightful place on Olympus among the Gods. If it means turning Alena over to Zeus afterward, well that’s of no consequence to him…is it?

After Alena proves herself to the God of War in battle and in his bed, the Ares must choose between his Divinely Dysfunctional Family, his pride, and Alena.

Get lost in this sweeping dark saga of lust, rage, revenge, and redemption. Battle Ancient Gods while falling in love with Ares God of War and Alena MacLeod. They share a love that will rock the world from the heights of Olympus to the Celtic moors, but will it be enough? Will love triumph, or will revenge and rage win the battle for the Heart of War?

Short Excerpt:

“There must be some way to get this thing off of you.”  He huffed as he reached out to touch and examine it.

“Only Cernunnos, only a Go—“

Ares’ hand landed on the gold at her waist, it covered the entire space between her legs, the willow tree, the love knot, and the words I Await Thee.

Clink.

Both of them looked down to see the band had opened at his touch.

Staring at each other with their mouths hanging open for a moment, each of them not sure what had happened had truly happened, Maggie began to tremble and then to shake.

It opened!  It was OPEN!

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Ares stuttered almost apologetically.

**End Excerpt**

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