At My Place - Author Doris Lemcke

On a windy, overcast Sunday, I welcome talented author Doris Lemcke who tells us not just about one, but two fabulous releases, Passion's Spirit and Passion's Secret.

Handing over to Doris...

The Passion’s Legacy Series is the realization of dream that began a loooong time ago, after I became hooked on historical fiction back in the 4th grade. There was, of course, “Gone with the Wind”, that made me wild about romance and the War of the Rebellion. And through John Jakes’ Bi-Centennial series, “The Americans”, I fell in love with the Family Saga. From authors too numerous to name, I have followed the loves and lives of many a beloved family through generations, and even centuries. My heartfelt thanks to Kathleen Woodiwiss, Jude Devereaux, and Belva Plain! 

I devoured their fabulous books until I finally told myself, “I can do that.” Of course I couldn’t do that…at first. So I set about learning, and achieved my dream of publication in 1993. It was a dream that faded too quickly when Kensington cancelled the line and I became an orphan in the publishing industry. But the Langesford family wasn’t finished with me. Not even Georgia’s founding family can keep their secrets hidden forever. Those brave and passionate characters, who risked everything for love, demanded their stories to be told, baring their secrets, their sins—and their hearts to the world: 

Flora, the beloved quadroon servant from New Orleans whose secret enslaves her; Camilla who pays dearly for deserting the faded dream that was “The South”; Sean, whose untamed spirit yearns for the freedom of the West; Lily, the musical prodigy who dreams of being the next Lily Langtry—but must help free a nation first. Through war, betrayal, love and loss, this brave and passionate family leads us through the physical and cultural expansion of our great country, into a new century.

My Place:

Since time travel hasn’t been invented yet (or has it?) I take my inspiration from old diaries, letters, and period fiction. A particularly valuable treasure trove was an old trunk my grandfather bought at a railroad unclaimed freight sale (and stored for a generation in the rafters of our garage).  Among those books, Seven and Nine Years Among the Comanche and Apache, written in 1837, yielded inspiration and authenticity for both Passion’s Secret, set in 1866, and Passion’s Spirit in 1892.    

I feel that the location/setting is both a character itself and a part of each character in any story. It’s the world that makes it a story, the place where they’re tested and refined, where they change from characters into people. People we don’t want to forget. In order to do that, I love to take my characters’ WAY out of their comfort zones. I use the setting as a vehicle that drives them on a journey to places that will heighten their passion for life (and each other), and strengthen their souls. Places like:

Georgia, with moss-weeping oaks, pink sunrises, warm breezes and the song of life humming in the moist summer air; where the land served man and the slave master’s whip kept the world level—until a war turned it upside down.  

New Orleans, where the French Creoles kept their secrets behind elaborately hand-wrought iron gates, their mistresses walked the same streets as their wives, and where French, Spanish, and African blood mixed as naturally as wine and music.  

New Mexico – Sacred resting place to an ancient people, now scarred and ravaged by war, greed and violence.  

Cuba – A pawn in the game of world politics, echo of the American fight for liberty, and the gateway for America’s entry into world affairs.  

I strive to create the right mix of characters and setting to weave a story that, like a great meal, leaves the reader satisfied—and wanting more. 

Blurbs:

Passion’s Spirit 

Untamed Hearts, Worlds Apart - 1892 Santa Fe, New Mexico
Raised by Santa Fe missionaries, half-Apache orphan Elena Santiago has vowed to avenge their murders the Apache way. But first, she must masquerade as a white woman to deliver a dangerous message across the country, into the land of her enemies. And more dangerous than the warning she carries, is her heart’s response to the untamed spirit behind Sean O'Grady's smoky grey eyes in a body that reminds her more of an Apache warrior than a soft, white “gentleman”.

Sean O’Grady has always dreamed of exploring the Wild West, but at 25, he’s put aside his dreams to run his family’s Georgia plantation and wed his neighbor. When Elena arrives looking and speaking more like a Spanish lady than an Indian mission girl, he wonders if she's really who she say she is. Is she a virgin or a vixen? The question taunts him as he struggles with feelings he’s never felt for a woman before. Feelings that could get them both killed. 

Passion's Secret
Release Date: 04.20.2012

The Wild Rose Press

Haunted by the sins of their fathers, searching for the treasure of a lifetime

1866 Georgia

She’d never give in…Camilla Langesford has no intention of letting her ailing father’s new Yankee partner steal their plantation. But Patrick O’Grady isn’t like other carpetbaggers. His pewter-gray eyes speak of a dangerous past. And his soul-searing kisses melt her frozen heart—until a deadly secret shatters them both. 

He’d never give up…Langesford Plantation is the former Pinkerton agent’s last chance to solve a mystery that’s haunted him for four years. But he didn’t plan on the chestnut-haired virgin with smoldering, green eyes and a fiery temper, who dogs his every step. And after a secret tryst in a hot-spring grotto, he discovers a treasure worth more than a cache of gold bars—until one night changes everything. 

Excerpts:

Passion's Spirit

When Sean pulled away, Elena looked into his eyes wondering, is this what love feels like, or is it only lust? She decided that nothing as beautiful as the moment they’d just shared could be evil. But it could never be love, either. She had felt his passion press against her and ached for him to fill her. Now she was grateful that he hadn’t. They were from different worlds that still warred against with each other. He could never survive in her world and she refused to live in his. 

As if he read her thoughts, he leaned into her, whispering so close to her ear that it could have been a kiss, "Why can’t you be Mary Louise? And I the Apache brave who will eventually claim you?” Then he turned to stare at the stream that patiently followed the course nature had carved out for it. 

The question echoed in Elena's mind. For a moment, his heart had beat to the rhythm of hers. The curves of her body had melted into the angles of his as they breathed the same breath and tasted each other’s souls. For a moment, they had truly been one body and one soul. 

Now separated, the chilly breeze that stirred the pine needles at their feet told her that when she was with him, even angry, she was whole. And though he changed his moods faster than the mountain gods and was promised to marry a weak and silly white woman, part of her would always belong to this loco Gringo. 

She also turned her gaze toward the river. "We can only be who we are."

Passion's Secret – April 2012

Patrick talked to her from the other end of the pool as he bathed, his deep voice young and carefree. “I've heard of hot spring pools, but never thought I’d enjoy one in private with a beautiful woman washing my clothes,” he chuckled. 

“Just your shirt, Mr. O’Grady, and this is an emergency situation.” But Camilla couldn't forget the sight of his bare chest, the corded muscles defining his strong arms, or his soft voice when he’d called her beautiful. Suddenly, she ached to reach out to something, or someone. 

But certainly not a Yankee! She shouldn’t have brought him to her secret haven where she could lay on the fresh grass and dream of far away places. Now, the position of the sun told her it was well past luncheon. 

“You better hurry,” she called. “Or we'll be late and my honor will be severely compromised.” 

“We wouldn't want to do that, would we Camilla?” warmed her ear, and her neck tingled from the caress of his breath. She turned to meet his smoldering gray gaze and wide smile. A heartbeat later, she was in his arms, her palms resting against the still-damp, curling hairs on his chest. 

Her heartbeat quickened at the feel of his warm, moist skin against her fingers, his strong thighs pressing against hers through the thin, cotton dress. And when he kissed her, his lips suckled hers, top lip first, then the bottom, while his tongue tickled them into a smile. 

She knew she should stop him, but the heat that spread though her body wouldn’t be denied. She’d never felt anything so...right. With her eyes closed, the curves of her body molding against the sharp angles of his, her hands slid up the rugged landscape of his chest and her arms wrapped around his broad, sinewy shoulders. Then her lips parted to taste him.

Links:

www.dorislemckeauthor.com

www.thewildrosepress.com

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