By
Helena Stone (Guest Blogger)
“If
I ever get married, it will be to a girl like her.”
That
line appears in Little Rainbows and was plucked from
real life. In fact, when I first thought about writing a book, that
line was the only thing I had. Whatever my story would end up being
about, I needed that line to be in it.
You
see, when I was fifteen years old, somebody used those words while
referring to me. He didn’t say them to my face, but they reached my
ears anyway and I’ve never forgotten them.
Never
mind that I wasn’t in love with the boy in question. Never mind
that I haven’t seen him since that summer. When somebody likes or
admires you enough to say something like that – especially when
you’re not around to hear the compliment – it gives you the sort
of confidence boost to last a lifetime.
Of
course, in Little Rainbows the man who used the words
and the woman he said them about, do meet again and are given a
second opportunity to create something beautiful together. Their
journey is riddled with obstacles though, so it is by no means
certain that Jason will get his wish.
The
second thing to inspire me was a geological phenomenon I encountered
a few weeks before I started writing. Up until that moment I hadn’t
known there were such things as blowholes. I’ll use Jason’s words
to try and explain what a blowhole is:
“A
blowhole is a deep opening in the ground a short distance away from
the shore. There’s an underground connection between the sea and
the hole where water gathers. Every so often the water erupts. It is
a powerful sight when a huge column of water shoots straight up into
the air, only to disappear again.”
Jason is right. It
is a powerful and mesmerising sight. Once I’d seen the blowhole
near Belmullet and the spouting water, I knew I had to set my book on
the west coast of Ireland just so I could get that magical experience
into my story. I can only hope my words do the beauty and magnitude
of an erupting blowhole justice.
Little
Rainbows by Helena Stone
MF
BDSM Erotic Romance
General
Release Date: 20th March
Heat
Rating: Burning
Book
Length: Super Novel
Blurb
When Jason and
Heather first meet they are young and sure they are wrong for each
other. As a result they spend a summer admiring each other from a
safe distance.
Twenty years later
Heather is coming out of mourning, having lost her husband and Dom
eighteen months earlier. Jason, now the owner of an exclusive sex
resort on the west coast of Ireland, struggles with the loss of his
desire to dominate.
Jason’s resort is
about to celebrate its first anniversary and party planner Heather
has been hired to create the perfect celebration. Their reunion comes
as a big surprise to both of them.
Old and familiar
attraction battles with new and conflicting emotions as Jason and
Heather work together to organize the ultimate BDSM event. Overcoming
the issues between them isn’t the only obstacle Jason and Heather
face. In the background lurks a threat both to Heather’s
independence and Jason’s livelihood.
Excerpt
There it was, her
opportunity to kick-start her life again. And, as restarts went, it
made quite an impression. The hotel or club—she wasn’t quite sure
how to label the building—looked rather grand at the end of the
long drive. The Atlantic Ocean, throwing up a spray in the distance,
only enhanced the picture. Even on this bright summer’s day she
could see small rainbows in the watery mist the waves were producing.
It would be easy to confuse this place with any of the up-market
tourist traps the west coast of Ireland was peppered with. This could
be any other posh resort catering to Americans trying to find their
roots and golfers looking for an opportunity to try the links courses
littered along the coastline. The heavy gate blocking the entrance
told a different story. She knew too much about this place, its
purpose and what happened behind those gates to confuse it for
anything except what it was, a dream from the past and—if
everything went according to plan—the start of the rest of her
life.
She’d
been looking at the building, the grounds, the gate and the little
buzzer on the intercom box for a few minutes. If anybody on the
inside happened to be keeping an eye on the entrance through those
security cameras, they would have decided she was either scared or
crazy by now—and they’d be right. She was apprehensive. Her hands
were clasped together, her fingers worrying her wedding ring. After
eighteen months of virtually living like a hermit, coming here felt
like diving in headfirst. Still, if she’d had any doubts about
leaving Dublin, that surprise visitor two weeks ago and his shocking
proposal had taken care of those.
The
bastard. She refused to even think his name. It still bothered
her he’d had the nerve to show up at her door like that. Where
would he have gotten the idea she’d be open to his suggestions? It
had been clear that he’d expected her to embrace his offer—or
should she call it an order—with open arms. His delusions of
grandeur must have gotten the better of him, or he’d confused her
with someone she clearly wasn’t. She didn’t get it. Even before
her self-inflicted confinement, she’d made a point of staying away
from him. Why would he think she’d changed her mind about him just
because she was on her own? She didn’t know but lingering on that
memory right now didn’t serve any purpose. She didn’t want him in
her thoughts, especially not now. It would only make her more nervous
than she already was.
She’d
thought this place would be the perfect setting for her return to the
BDSM world she’d been ignoring for well over a year. Now that the
moment was close, now that she had to take this last step out of her
confinement, the first step into her future, she couldn’t help
second-guessing herself. Was she really ready to move forward? Could
she do it on her own? She’d never been a part of this lifestyle
without her husband and his loving support.
With
a sigh she lifted her hand and pressed the little button. She’d
come this far. She hadn’t driven the five hours from Dublin only to
turn away at the last hurdle. If she gave up now, it would be the end
of the business they’d built together. If she chickened out of
this, there would be no way of ever going back on her own terms.
Going forward scared the shit out of her but going back frightened
her even more. She could do this. She’d promised she would take
this step. Breaking her word was not an option, no matter how scared
she was.
About
Helena
Helena
Stone can’t remember a life before words and reading. After growing
up in a household where no holiday or festivity was complete without
at least one new book, it’s hardly surprising she now owns more
books than shelf space while her Kindle is about to explode.
The
urge to write came as a surprise. The realisation that people might
enjoy her words was a shock to say the least. Now that the writing
bug has well and truly taken hold, Helena can no longer imagine not
sharing the characters in her head and heart with the rest of the
world.
Having
left the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam for the peace and quiet of
the Irish Country side she divides her time between reading, writing,
long and often wet walks with the dog, her part-time job in a
library, a grown-up daughter and her ever loving and patient husband.
Helena
Stone can be found in the following places:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/HelenasHeat
Website:
http://helenastone.blogspot.ie/
Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/helenastone735/
Email:
helenastoneauthor [at] gmail [dot] com
Buy
link:
9 comments:
Hello, Helena,
Welcome to Beyond Romance, and huge congratulations on your new release. This sounds like a great story.
Congratulations on your first book. Welcome to the rollercoaster.
Alexa
Congrats, Helena I'd like to welcome you to Ireland as well as BR and "the rollercoaster".
ANYTHING is possible in Ireland: it was the inspiration (and the setting) for my first novel, and a few more which have followed directly from it
Congrats, Helena! Love hearing about inspirations for stories. :)
Thank you so much for allowing me to visit your blog, Lisabet. The post looks wonderful.
Thank you Alexa. A rollercoaster indeed and I haven't yet made up my mind whether it's more fun than scary or not :)
Thank you Paul, and I love your name. I don't think I mentioned the husband's name is actually Dermot, did I?
I've got a feeling Ireland will inspire me for several books to come. There's no end to the possibilities.
Thank you Aurelia, I'm so glad you liked my post.
Great blog post, Helena!
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