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Anna Broche is at the cusp of adulthood as a Shaker woman while the nation suffers through the upheaval of the Civil War. Her life is her community and the dancing that frees her spirit. A vision from an angel calls her to serve God, but the voice of a dying soldier who manages to crawl to safety makes her question her future.

Anna nurses wounded soldier Daniel Greenleaf back to health, and their forbidden attraction grows in her celibate, Shaker community. She is unsure of Daniel's feelings for her with only a stolen kiss between them. He returns to his home and waiting sweetheart and she to her life. But with a change of plans, Daniel ends up back in Anna's life again, and jealousy and calling war with love.

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An Amish Gothic Romance... Really?

What does the contemporary Amish romance genre have in common with gothic romance? Nothing at first glance. That's the challenge and fun of being a writer. I get to make the link between the two and create a story that is a little unique.

            Gothic romance is usually dark and spooky, and sometimes the hero isn't as sweet as you would find in contemporary romance novels. Think Heathcliff from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and you've got the picture of a common gothic romance hero-- an obsessed man with inner darkness, secrets, and turmoil. That doesn't have to be the case, though, and in Cries from the Past, the hero, an Amish guy named David Fisher, has a sad past, but he is far from a Byronic Hero.

            Setting is another component of gothic romance that fans of the genre recognize and love. Mist, murder, mouldering castles, abandoned graveyards, and ghosts all populate the landscape in the genre. In Cries from the Past, the setting of an old farmhouse where the heroine, Amity Frost, hears strange cries in the night, fits the bill. Other details of setting come into play, but I don't want to give everything away before you've read the novella.

            Another component of gothic romance are the secrets that must be uncovered by heroine and hero. In the novella, secrets from the past threaten the present and those in it. The relationship between David and Amity hangs in the balance as do their very lives. The living also try to thwart the hopes of the lovers in the present in order to protect their secrets or fulfill their own wants.

            So, what can an Amish romance story and gothic romance have in common? I hope you'll read Cries from the Past and find out.

Excerpt:

            The   only   thing   she   had   planned  tomorrow  was  that  a  local  Amish  carpenter  was  going  to  come  out  and  take  a  look  at  some  furniture  Gram  had  put  upstairs  in  storage.   She   didn't   know   anything   about   the   man,   but   she   had   set   it   up  through   the   Fishers'   store.   Amity   wanted   to   sell   the   old   pieces  rather   than   see   them   go   to   ruin.   Gram's   pack   rat   ways   were   clear,  and  the  furniture  could  be  better  used  as  money  for  repairs  on  the  house  as  needed  or  for  getting  it  ready  to  sell,  if  that's  what  Amity  decided  to  do.  She   realized   as   she   lay   in   bed,   listening   to   her   watch   tick,  that  she  wasn't  sure  she  wanted  to  leave  here  at  all.   

            Sometime   in   the   night,   she   awoke   to   crying.   Tonight,   the  sound  came  to  her,  muffled  and  terrible,  and  she  whimpered  under  her  comforter,  praying  for  the  first  time  in  a  long  time. 

Please,  God,  make  it  stop.  Grant  him  or  her  peace.  She  fell  asleep  with  the  sound  of  crying  ringing  in  her  ears,  tears  on  her  cheeks. 

Lisa Greer

Moonlight on the Palms by Lisa Greer Now Available!

Hi, Lisa Greer here! My gothic romance novel, Moonlight on the Palms, is out now. If you like Southern settings, a sultry and twisted but sweet romance, and a mystery, I think you'll enjoy it. The novel is set in Brownsville, Texas, where I currently make my home. I've included a short excerpt below where the heroine, Astrid Kent, meets her ex-lover, Juan Marquez, again after eleven years.

Astrid's   brain   felt   like   a   lump.   Nothing   made   sense.   She  

leaned  against  the  marble  topped  island  for  support.  

“I   was   married   to   your   mother.   I'm   her   widower   now.”   He  

said  these  words  as  if  speaking  to  a  stupid  child.  “You  look  like  you  

need  to  sit  down,  Astrid.  Come  with  me.”    

Juan   came   to   her   side,   putting   his   hand   on   her   back   and  

steering  her  back  down  the  hall  to  the  dim  sitting  room.  The  touch  

of  his  arms  around  her  brought  even  more  pain  as  did  the  sound  of  

her  name  on  his  lips.  How  she  had  longed  to  hear  it  again,  and  now  

she   realized   it   had   all   been   a   fantasy.   He   had   belonged   to   her  

mother  during  all  those  years  she  had  dreamed  of  him.  Juan  placed  

her   on   a   white   brocade   couch   that   had   been   there   since   Astrid's  

teen  years.  His  hand  lingered  a  beat  too  long  on  her  shoulder.  

“What  are  you  talking  about?  How  could  you  have  married  

my   mother?   You   can’t   be   serious.”   She   kept   thinking   she   would  

wake  up  from  what  must  be  a  nightmare.  

Astrid  looked  at  him  closely  for  the  first  time,  tears  standing  

in   her   eyes   despite   her   attempts   to   will   them   away.   His   face   was  

burned  into  her  heart.  She  would  have  known  it  anywhere,  and  she  

had  dreamed  about  it  over  and  over  in  the  past  eleven  years.    

His  long- lashed,  ink  black  eyes  were  backlit  by  the  last  rays  

of  light  coming  through  the  huge  window  in  the  sitting  room.  His  

hair,   straight   and   cut   short,   glowed   blue- black   in   the   lamp's   rays.  

His   skin   gleamed,   flawless   and   the   color   of   mocha,   but   she   could  

see  lines  around  his  eyes  that  had  not  been  there  before.  He  would  

be   thirty- two   now,   but   he   looked   older   than   that   somehow.  

Unaltered  fine  features,  the  classic  Roman  nose  and  sensual  mouth  

made  her  breath  catch  in  physical  pain.  

Buy  Link:http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=3906042