Truth and Solace
Love at Solace Lake Series (Book 3)
Where did you get the idea for your new series?
Jana: This series is a long time coming. Back in the 1980s, a politician in my home province was convicted of killing his ex-wife. They had three children, and I always wondered how it affected them. So, many years later, I came up with the idea of a murder/suicide that resulted in the deaths of the Lindquist sisters’ parents. The sisters are left with issues of abandonment and guilt, and many questions, like why?
What was the most difficult thing about writing this book?
Jana: The most difficult thing about writing this book, and the other two books in the Love at Solace Lake series, was that a) I decided to publish them myself, and b) I decided to complete all three books before publishing. Writing three books and editing them all at once is a huge job in itself, but add to that the work, the expense and the myriad of decisions that needed to be made to self-publish a series, and I had a mammoth project on my hands. I felt like I gave birth to triplets!
When were you first published and how did that happen? Was it a long or short journey?
Jana: It was a long and winding journey to publication. I started writing romance in the early 1990s, and began sending my stories to Harlequin. Unfortunately, they weren’t interested in anything I wrote. When I look back now, I know why. I wasn’t ready for publication. I had to serve a long apprenticeship (over twenty years), working hard and learning my craft, before I got the call (an email, actually) that someone actually wanted to publish my work! Uncial Press published my first book, HER BEST MAN, in February 2007.
What comes first for you – plot or character? And why?
To be honest, I usually start with plot, or with what if questions, but once in a while a character will speak to me. Before I started writing SECRETS AND SOLACE, I had a vision of a man pushing a woman up against a wall. I knew he was hurting. Something terrible had happened to him, and he tells her she should go, but she won’t leave him. I had to figure out what that terrible thing was.
What do you like best about your hero in SECRETS AND SOLACE?
Cameron Hainstock has bent but he hasn’t broken. He’s struggled with alcohol but he’s overcome his addiction. He’s a fiercely loyal brother and a loving father. When he loves he loves completely and forever. Despite his outward alpha male tendencies, Cam is a sensitive and very talented artist.
What do you like best about your heroine in SECRETS AND SOLACE?
Scarlet Lindquist is funny, smart and loyal. Family means everything to her. Before she met Cameron and his daughter Tessa, she didn’t believe she had staying power because she’d already ended two engagements. But she overcomes her fears because she wants a second chance at love, not just for her, but for them.
The truth could destroy them. Or set them free.
Maggie Lindquist left Solace Lake determined never to return. Circumstances have pulled her back and she’s helping to restore her family’s dilapidated fishing lodge. When she agreed to the plan she didn’t expect to have to work side by side with the man who abandoned her ten years earlier. She didn’t expect to like him, or want him ever again. But can she trust him as she once did?
Luke Carlsson rushes home to tend to his ailing mother. Her lengthy illness means he needs to stay, at least temporarily. And to stay, he needs to work. Solace Lake Lodge offers him a job and an opportunity to work with the woman he’s never stopped loving. But the restoration is unleashing secrets hidden for decades and no one is left unscathed. Especially not Maggie and Luke, whose love needs to be resilient enough to forgive, and strong enough to build a future together.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Keywords: contemporary romance, small town romance, mystery, touch of paranormal
ISBN: Ebook ISBN 978-0-9952791-2-4
Length: Novel
Heat Level: Spicy, fully described love scenes
Release Date: March 28, 2018
Cover Artist: Angela Waters
Excerpt, Truth and Solace:
“Luke?” Maggie’s voice was husky with sleep.
“It’s all right, baby. Go back to sleep.”
The sheets rustled and the bedside lamp snapped on, creating a small pool of light that illuminated her tense face. “You’re leaving?”
He heard the disappointment in her voice, saw it in her dark eyes, even in the dim light.
“If I don’t leave now, my grandmother will know I’ve been with you all night. Harper and Ethan will see my truck here in the morning, and they’ll know we slept together.”
“Harper and Ethan are staying in Minneapolis tonight, but even if they were home, it wouldn’t matter. I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks, not even my family. We’re grownups now. We don’t have to sneak around to be together like we did when we were kids.” She lowered her gaze, her hands clutching the sheet to her breasts. “Unless you don’t want anyone to know. Unless you’d rather not be here.”
“Maggie—”
“It’s okay, really.” She looked away and shrugged a small shoulder. “It’s no big deal.”
He couldn’t leave her like this. He sat on the bed beside her and stroked her hair. “It’s a big deal to me. There’s nothing I want more than to stay, but it wouldn’t be fair to you.”
Her eyes flashed in disbelief. “Wouldn’t be fair to me? What are you talking about?”
“In a few weeks, after my mother is…gone, I’ll go back to my job in California. And you’ll be here.”
“And never the twain shall meet?”
“It’s not what I want, but it’s reality.”
“What about what I want, right here, right now? Maybe we don’t have forever. Nobody does. If I’ve learned anything from your mother’s illness, it’s that we can’t take anything for granted. We can’t let uncertainty and fear stop us. If we only have a short time together, so be it. At least, we’ll have had that time. I won’t regret it.”
She was amazing. She was still the strong, forthright, vibrant girl he’d fallen in love with that summer.
And he had loved her. Deeply. They’d been far too young to sustain a lasting relationship. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t loved her.
I still love her. I never stopped.
The sudden insight rocked him.
When Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in lengths ranging from short story to full length novel. Just for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of the paranormal. Her paranormal romantic suspense “Seeing Things” was a 2008 EPPIE finalist.
Looking forward to reading Jana’s books.