The decision to kiss for the first time is the
most crucial in any love story. It changes the
relationship of two people much more strongly
than even the final surrender; because this kiss
already has within it that surrender.
~ Emil Ludwig~revolve around the first kiss--the first truly intimate contact between two people who will become integral to each other's lives.Welcome To My Cyberhome
I write Romance because I love love. It is the root of human hope and the foundation for almost all of the classic tales ever told. It is the lure that pulls us together and the tie that binds us forever.
My stories evolve on the rocky road to winning the heart of another person. They
The first kiss . . . the beginning . . .
ABOUT ME:
A native New Yorker, I brought my family to the
Chesapeake Bay region years ago. I am still considered
a “come here” by the locals. I have been writing
since the days of the typewriter and have handwritten
novels tucked beneath my bed that will never see the
light of day.
My short stories and humorous articles on the writer’s
life have appeared in national magazines and publications.
A member of RWA and my local chapter, I have been
a judge for the Golden Heart and have won or finaled
in several prestigious writing contests. I write paranormal
and historical romance and romantic comedy when I'm
not fishing, yard-saleing or repairing my home after yet another hurricane.
I live with my husband, a dog, three cats, two parrots and enough wildlife to fill a zoo in a circa 1830 farmhouse surrounded by woods, water and a Civil War Cemetery.
That may explain why many of my stories are peppered
with animals and ghosts.
SIN IN SARAH'S CREEK, a historical romance, placed second in the WSRWA contest and won or placed in several other writing contests.
APPARITION, a gothic novel, won the Richmond National League of American Pen Women's contest and was a finalist in the Smoky Mountain Romance Writers contest.
ABRACA--UH--OH! won last year’s Thunder & Roses contest and honorable mention in this year’s National League of American Pen Women's contest.
DANCE WITH THE DEVIL, an erotic paranormal novella, won honorable mention in The Writers' Workshop literary contest judged by Kurt Vonnegut & Peter Mattiessen.
In Beyond Love, Sandra Rarey’s heroine Elizabeth is in love with the ghost who haunts her home, an old Victorian house standing on a cliff that overlooks a perpetually storm-tossed sea. Angus Aberdeen has been with her since the day she moved in three years ago and their relationship couldn’t be more perfect. Except of course, that he’s been dead for more than 100 years.
Except for the dead part, Angus is the ideal man. He may not be Mr. Right, but for Elizabeth, he’s Mr. Right Now. She looks forward to coming home to a house scented with apples and cinnamon and radiant with the glow of candles he’s lighted for her. He knows what she likes because he can read her mind, and he seems devoted to keeping her happy. Best of all, Angus is a safe man. That’s important to Elizabeth, whose last lover was abusive, leaving her with a deep fear and suspicion of men. She feels safe with Angus and has even spent lonely nights imagining what it would feel like to have his arms around her. So when Duncan Munroe comes knocking on her door in a raging snowstorm, claiming to be looking for his wife’s murderer, she’s more than a little unnerved.
She is also quite dismayed to learn that he believes Angus Aberdeen is responsible for the murder, which only happened four years ago. Duncan’s story is strange and stranger still is the knowledge that although they’ve never met, he seems to know an awful lot about her. Elizabeth doesn’t want to hear what he has to say about her beloved ghost, but Duncan is … persuasive. But so is Angus, who finally materializes physically to plead his version of the story and to prove to Elizabeth that he can be the perfect lover she’s been dreaming about.
Rarey does a fine job of keeping her reader guessing what Elizabeth’s choice will be as Duncan and Angus contend for her soul. This is a smart variation on the classic “Gothic” tale, and the author is pitch perfect in her telling of it.
Review by Kat Parrish ~ Bitten By Books
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