DESIRE - The Novel - Coming April 2021

 Dear Readers,

I have been faithfully working on a few projects here, amidst my full-time day job, and on weekends I devote my time to writing and music. "Love Walked In" has been another novel in the works, as well as "Falling For Saint Nick." The projected release for all three books is 2021. Thank you for your patience.

"DESIRE" -- my latest labor of love -- was conceptualized in January 2019. 

Just the tiny seed of it, the first love scene, took glorious form at that time, and I set it down for a while to let it marinade. In the Spring of 2020, I began writing again. It's been a tough year for all of us, with the pandemic, family stuff going on, life changes, work, other

stressors, and the collective of humanity going through a massive energy shift.

I felt it was only right to put the writing on the backburner for a bit. My readers deserve QUALITY writing, not specks of details jammed together. Also, I want my characters to fully develop and show up with truth and meaning in the pages of this passionate love story.

My hope is that you love this sexy, powerful novel featuring a loving, vulnerable woman named Reanna Mcleod who has escaped the abusive partner who sent her to the E.R. after a violent episode. She swore it was the last time, and has committed fully to her healing, when the abuser is locked away.

Longtime neighbor Grant Montgomery has always been the featured heartthrob in Reanna's diary. Through the years, she's kept her secret yearning under wraps, out of respect for Grant's wife and for him also. But when Jean Montgomery dies from cancer, Reanna can't help but face her feelings for the sexy professor who's owned her heart all these years.

When the contents of her torrid diary are discovered by a surprised Grant, he vies to unravel the secrets of the lovely woman who lived across the street for 15 years. Not knowing she was so enamored with him makes his pulse race even more. Grant is determined to pursue her, and soon the two are swept into a blazing love affair much hotter than the Sahara!

Will they find their happy ever after, or will Reanna's past rear its ugly head and destroy them both?

COMING APRIL 2021.

Thank you for reading my novels and supporting this indie author since 2013 when "LONGING" was first published and this blog was launched July 26, 2013. I am excited and thrilled to see what this year brings for my career.

Wishing love and peace to you all!

Stay passionate,

RR xo

DESIRE: The New Novel Coming Soon in 2020

Dear Readers,

The New Novel is halfway done!!

I am unbelievably STOKED as I write this from my "writing room" in the dark, with a cold beverage, air conditioning, Dirty Dancing soundtrack blasting and my Scentsy warmer on the desk (scent tonight is "Cozy Fireside." Thanks Julie Cooney!!)

My long weekend here in Ontario Canada is spent lovingly working on my fiction that claims my heart and soul.

DESIRE is like a personal diary of sorts for me, except for the domestic abuse that never happened on the physical level, but still...I have experienced abuse on another level, and it is equally disturbing. Write what you know -- best advice I ever received. I feel my books are enriched with stories, people and elements of what I've personally gone through.

BLURB:

Reanna Mcleod moved back to Silver Springs after her husband John Daly broke her bones and sent her to the E.R. He's in prison now and she decides to make a clean break, back to the charming town where she grew up.

But things have changed. Her parents sold off the "Ponderosa" aka the farmhouse and magical land where she flourished in her novel writing, and called it home for 30 years. When her mother's cheque from the realtor came, she nabbed her $1 million, leaving Reanna out in the cold. "You're on your own," her mother sneered, and Reanna scrambled for a place to live. That's when charming sociopath John came along, sweeping her off her feet and promising her a better life with him in a mansion in another city.

Moving back to her hometown, Reanna is blessed to rent the small room above the coach house her school teacher friend Tracy leases to her on her country property. It brings Reanna back to her roots; small town feeling, clean country air, and a chance to write again.

What she didn't count on was running into her former neighbor, Grant Montgomery. Reanna has carried a torch for him for 15 years, and had to stuff her feelings deep down where they couldn't be found. But now Grant's wife has passed from cancer, and Reanna sneaks into the funeral to give her quiet condolences and pay her respects to the lovely Jean, who was always sweet and welcoming to her.

Grant spies her running off as the funeral-goers leave the premise. When he finally locates her and confronts her, Reanna is reluctant to open her heart and tell him the truth about what she wrote in her diary so many years ago. But Grant isn't blind; the smart-as-a-whip History professor of Remington University can see the love and vulnerability Reanna has been trying to hide from him.

Soon, a blossoming romance is coming to life, and Reanna must face her demons or forever risk her chance of real love with the One Man who's been there for her since day one. Can she let go of the horrors of the past, open her heart to Grant, or will she forever blow her chance at true love?

DESIRE is the story of domestic abuse and a woman overcoming her trauma. It's the story of a narcissistic mother who did more damage than good to a loyal daughter. It is the story of friends banding together in hard times, but most of all, it is the story of a passionate awakening between old friends who never knew how deep a love could run.

******************************************************

With much love,

RR xo

100 Days of Gratitude Challenge -- Day #9 -- Forgive Someone You Feel Has Done Wrong By You

Dear Readers,

We've reached day number 9 of the 100 days of Gratitude Challenge. Today, your mission is to "forgive someone you feel has done wrong by you."

WARNING: this blog post is about to get personal. It contains information on horrors that I went through and lived to tell.

On January 4th, 2008, my second husband who I will name "Ken" for the sake of not receiving backlash from said person...well, he walked out on me and my young daughter, just days after New Year's and my seasonal job had ended. Yes, you read that right. I was broke, unemployed, penniless, and now, had to find somewhere new to live. The rent was paid up til Feb 28th, so I had about seven weeks to relocate.  Worse, he didn't give me a "reason" why he was leaving -- just that he suddenly "picked a fight" in the kitchen and threw kitchen items around and grabbed his 2 young sons, packed them in the car with a bag of clothes and he said "I'm out of here." Later, I would discover he had been cheating and being dishonest, just six months into the new marriage. Don't worry, he cheated on the first wife too, I soon learned through a mutual friend of many years.

Luckily, my family still had the old farmhouse and it was vacant. I would take Rachel, only, eight, and move "back home." Oh boy, was I bitter!! There I was at 30 years of age, thinking "Oh I have finally ARRIVED -- married (successfully?) a second time, and we had a blended family. Things were looking up for me, finally.

But that's where I made a fatal mistake. I'd gone into yet another marriage completely BLINDED and refused to see the RED FLAGS that were obviously there from the start. What was my excuse? Co-dependency. Being 30 and naive. Refusing to stand on my own two feet for fear and anxiety that I couldn't make it. Okay, i'm taking accountability right here and now for my own choice to get into this mismatched union.

Just ten days before the wedding ceremony, a man driving a van EN ROUTE to church around the corner from my designated church of my planned wedding...the man had a heart attack at the wheel and DROVE RIGHT THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR of the church, St. Stephen's, where I was to be married on July 7th! What an omen! How could I not see the warning signs right in front of my face? Because my own stubborn pride refused to see the truth.  I could have spared myself so much PAIN, if I'd only backed out, cut my losses and maintained my sanity.

Sorry for the long post. To summarize, it was a match made in Hell. He swept me off my feet with poems, roses, romantic dinners, talking on the phone til late hours in the night, bringing me coffee in the morning, wanting to INVEST in me. All the things that a woman wants to happen for her, right? But it was LOVEBOMBING -- the typical narcissistic behavior that one does-- COMES ON STRONG -- to blindside their victim, so they can't see the DECEPTION that is really happening behind the scenes. I was that "new supply" that narcs need to feed their ego and soothe their badly damaged self esteem.

Years later, with therapy, research, good mentoring and recovery, I realize I lived through horrors, shame, lies, slander, public humility, mental and emotional abuse, abandonment, financial control and abuse, and poverty. But still -- I don't feel hatred towards this person. I've run into him a few times over the past 11 years since he left. He is bashful, hangs his head, acts like a shy puppy dog, and tries to strike up conversation...I have been diplomatic and kind each time. One of those occasions was at my job at the mall, where I dodged him and hid behind a clothes rack and proceeded to help a customer. Ten minutes later, "Ken" the ex has the nerve to come back into the store and strike up a conversation - "what are YOU doing, working here?"
My reply - "I helped build the store -- and here I am."

All this time, I still felt ...NOTHING for him. No hatred, no emotion, no sadness, not even regret. I think it's safe to say I've reached the point of FORGIVENESS for this person who used to call me his "Queen" and "Goddess" and "the best thing that ever happened to me."

I wish him well, I really do. Last I heard, he'd moved onto a 3rd marriage. I'll leave that one alone.

This post is about FORGIVENESS, and I truly feel, after moving on and up to better things, I do forgive "Ken." He taught me to stand on my own two feet, to not easily trust people as I had back then, to OWN my power, to believe in myself and myself alone, and I became an entrepreneur of sorts, learning to sell furniture and household goods to feed myself and young daughter, so I've become a master of adaptability, tapping into my God-given gifts of sales, leadership, communications, etc.

That old girl back then in 2008....ugh...I don't even know her!! If I met her today, I'd actually feel ashamed and pity her big time. I'd tell her to pull up her bootstraps and GET THIS DONE, GIRL!

"Ken" -- thank you. I am grateful for you abandoning me. I found myself. I found self love. Self empowerment. I found FREEDOM, not being owned by anyone. I discovered I didn't NEED to be married to someone, to feel validation and worth. I was ALREADY somebody.

To all the abused women out there who think they can't stand on their own two feet -- I urge you to take back your power now -- pack up your things and leave that horrible wretch. God will provide for you, just as he feeds the sparrow.  He will make it possible for you and your children to be fed, sheltered and clothed.

Praying for you always,

xx RR xx