By
Zrinka Jelic (Guest Blogger)
My
5th novel is titled Rose
of Crimson
and it was released by
Secret
Cravings Publishing
on
December 23rd, 2014. This is a prequel to Bonded
by Crimson
which
was published on January 15th, 2012. I’ve started working on the
prequel the day I was offered a publishing contract for Bonded
by Crimson.
Then it got pushed to the back burner while I worked on other
projects. Since then I’ve wrote and published Treasured
Chest,
a pirate romance,
Love
Remains,
a
time
travel
romance and
Deck
the Halls,
a
Christmas novella.
Rose
of Crimson
is based on a
Croatian
legend from late 17th century.
Local
people like to refer to the tragic love story as their Romeo and
Juliet, only in this version the young lovers (Miljenko &
Dobrila) are from feuding aristocratic families who would stop at
nothing to keep them apart. Even when Dobrila’s father accepted the
offered hand of peace, he couldn’t live with the fact that Miljenko
won and took his daughter.
However,
Rose
of Crimson
is not a historical romance. In the book the hero, Miles—he
shortened it from Miljenko—telepathically projects his story onto
heroine, Kate—who has a special connection with him through her
ancestor. I wanted to present the passages of his past life
differently than just jump from past to present from one chapter to
the next. I wanted a reader to know when we’re entering and exiting
his story. Because, he sought her out to write down his story. Both
books are stand alone, though the ending in Rose
of Crimson
may not leave you satisfied, Kate and Matthias do find their happily
ever after in Bonded
by Crimson.
Blurb
KATE
ROKOV‘s grades are plummeting. She needs to get the voice out of
her head or she will flunk her finals.
MATTHIAS
ZRIN, a three centuries old immortal, born into an aristocratic
family as
Miles Rušinić, is enthralled with Kate. It is his voice preventing
Kate from sleeping and her ignorance is testing his limits. He wants
her to write down his story to settle his wife’s earthbound spirit.
His tragic love story has become Kate’s obsession since fifth grade
during her summer trip to Rušinić castle.
Their
coming together settles the old spirit and breaks an ancient curse,
and in doing so, a flame spanning over three centuries reignites and
burns with wild desire. In this tale of two life times and desire
versus emotional need, both know some dreams will have to wait for
the right time, but the magic between them is impossible to
withstand.
And
now the excerpt:
He
had pulled the door open and there she sat, on top of the steps.
Hadn’t he told her to go home and pack? Wait, something was
different about her. She was younger, a child almost. Her hair was
tied in a high ponytail, her clothes…God almighty! She was naked,
save for a few scraps. Could her breeches get any shorter? The
threads hung loose form the frail hem, as if she put shears to her
leggings. Her long, tanned legs were bare for all to see. Her shirt,
if one could call it such, sleeveless, backless even, held by two
thin straps tied around her neck, depicted a pony. Whoever put
animals on their attire and with glittering mane of all things?
“Oh
my God!” Kate screeched, but didn’t pull her hands out of his. “I
remember this encounter. That’s me.”
“That
is you. The last time I saw your great-great-grandmother was the
first time I saw you.”
“Wicked.”
Her voice carried her fascination. “It’s some kind of an omen.”
“Something
or someone tried to tell me something,” he said. Maybe they were
destined for one another, and nothing he did would keep them apart.
“Now
I know why you scrutinized me as if I came from some other world. In
your eyes, I did. To me you didn’t appear out of place. I thought
you pulled your clothes from your grandpa’s chest for the local
festivity. I figured the weakness that poured over me as a sign of
heat or sunstroke.”
“How
do you explain the rose I gave you?” He snickered at her last
comment, the old clothes stored together with moth balls in squeaky
chests with rusted hinges and used on occasions such as festivity to
resurrect the old traditions and attract visitors.
Her
long gaze and soft smile settled on him. If she was trying to play
cool and not show how much she wanted him, her pretending failed. “My
memory has faded a little since then, but I clearly remember you
picking the flower and offered it to me. My mom is adamant that I
picked it myself. She said good thing the custodian didn’t catch
me.”
His
heart sunk at the mention of the home he grew up in. It had been
decades since he last touched its stone walls. The once mighty
castle, closed for the family affairs, was now open for everyone to
roam about for the price of the admission. At least the money
generated was used to preserve the building and grounds, and employed
a few people.
Leave me a comment with your email address and you could win a copy of any of my ebooks. I'll give way THREE books, so you've got a very good chance of winning!
Leave me a comment with your email address and you could win a copy of any of my ebooks. I'll give way THREE books, so you've got a very good chance of winning!
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