Get Lost in An Exotic Romance
Even paradise demands a price for love and happiness in this Historical Romance set in Hawaii, 1888…
Even paradise demands a price for love and happiness in this Historical Romance set in Hawaii, 1888…
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Glass Beach by Jill Marie Landis
Widowed Elizabeth Bennett believes her troubles are over. Her loveless marriage is at an end. The death of her much older husband leaves her free to raise their daughter, Hadley, alone on her beautiful Hawaiian ranch…until the handsome Spence Laamea, her husband's heir and illegitimate son from a liaison with a native woman, arrives. Spence takes the estate--and Elizabeth's fate--under his control.
Despite her distrust and against a backdrop of disapproval among the island's strict nineteenth-century white society, passions erupt between them. Elizabeth and Spence struggle to build a life for themselves and her daughter. When a deadly hurricane bears down on the island, it tests the bonds of love and loyalty they've tried to deny.
Excerpt:
Mauna
Noe Ranch
Kaua‘i,
Hawai‘i, 1888
A YOUNG BLOND WOMAN with haunted blue eyes stood alone at the edge of the cliff, staring at the waves that battered the black rocks below with nightmarish force. Trade winds buffeted her from behind, coaxing her long fair hair free of the tight knot at the nape of her neck, teasing the hem of her worn and outmoded burgundy gown until it rose and tangled about her ankles and calves. Behind her, open pastureland rose gently, caressed the foothills that bordered lush green mountains etched with silver ribbons of falling water and crowns of mist.
Situated between the mountains and the sea, a rambling ranch house stood surrounded by lush tropical gardens. A whitewashed fence protected the profusion of blooms and greenery from the cattle scattered across the land. The house had been designed to face both the sea and the mountains. A wide, shaded veranda, called a lanai by the natives, wrapped all the way around the structure. Anyone inside the house or on the lanai could see her, could watch what she was about to do.
If anyone was watching, she did not care.
A YOUNG BLOND WOMAN with haunted blue eyes stood alone at the edge of the cliff, staring at the waves that battered the black rocks below with nightmarish force. Trade winds buffeted her from behind, coaxing her long fair hair free of the tight knot at the nape of her neck, teasing the hem of her worn and outmoded burgundy gown until it rose and tangled about her ankles and calves. Behind her, open pastureland rose gently, caressed the foothills that bordered lush green mountains etched with silver ribbons of falling water and crowns of mist.
Situated between the mountains and the sea, a rambling ranch house stood surrounded by lush tropical gardens. A whitewashed fence protected the profusion of blooms and greenery from the cattle scattered across the land. The house had been designed to face both the sea and the mountains. A wide, shaded veranda, called a lanai by the natives, wrapped all the way around the structure. Anyone inside the house or on the lanai could see her, could watch what she was about to do.
If anyone was watching, she did not care.
Get Lost in Historical Romance with Jill Marie
Glass Beach is one of those books you never forget, and it's one of the most unique "Westerns" I've ever read. Maybe you're like me, and would like to have Glass Beach available to reread anytime you want. Or maybe you've never enjoyed this book, or other classic historical romances by Jill Marie Landis. Many are available now in e-format.
Go to www.jillmarielandis.com for the complete list of titles and links. While you’re there, sign up on the HOME page for her newsletter to get the latest news on new releases.
Glass Beach is one of those books you never forget, and it's one of the most unique "Westerns" I've ever read. Maybe you're like me, and would like to have Glass Beach available to reread anytime you want. Or maybe you've never enjoyed this book, or other classic historical romances by Jill Marie Landis. Many are available now in e-format.
Go to www.jillmarielandis.com for the complete list of titles and links. While you’re there, sign up on the HOME page for her newsletter to get the latest news on new releases.
JILL MARIE LANDIS writes novels that
earn distinguished awards and slots on such national bestseller lists as the
USA TODAY Top 50 and the New York Times Best Sellers Plus. She is a seven-time
finalist for Romance Writers of America's RITA Award in Single Title Historical
and Contemporary Romance as well as a Golden Heart and RITA Award winner.
She resides in Hawaii with her
husband. When she's not writing or sitting on the beach reading, she enjoys
visiting with family and friends, raising orchids, working in her garden,
occasionally quilting, but most of all dancing the hula.
Some of
her recent releases include the Irish Angels Series, inspirational historical
romance from Zondervan, and MAI TAI ONE ON, TWO TO MANGO, and THREE TO GET
LEI’D, the first three titles in her hilarious “Tiki Goddess Mysteries” set in
Hawaii from Belle Books. Coming in June, TOO HOT FOUR HULA.
Q&A
E.E.: Glass Beach is set in Hawaii, yet you still call it a Western?
JILL: In the 1830s, long before the American cowboy
ever rode the range in our western territories, Californio vacqueros were
sent to Hawai‘i to teach Hawaiians to round up the wild cattle introduced to
the islands by British captain George Vancouver in 1793.
Unable to
pronounce their colorful tutors’ names, the Hawaiians changed the word Español
to paniolo and ever since, that word has become synonymous for
cowboys all over Hawaii even today. One of the biggest cattle ranches in
America is in Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii.
The hero
of Glass Beach, Spence Laamea, is a paniolo,
tall, dark, exotic and devastatingly handsome. And don’t forget, Hawaii is
about as far West as you can get in the USA.
E.E.: So tell us a little more about the
storyline and how you came up with it.
JILL: They say “write the book of your heart” and
this one, for me, might be just that. I live on Kauai and love stories of the
island’s past and present.
Writing GLASS BEACH allowed me to combine a lot of
things that I love in one story: cowboys, ranching, tropical settings, the
1800’s, strong dark heroes and heroines facing incredible challenges. I tossed
in a few elements that make the plot different. The hero is a bit younger than
the heroine, he is her late husband’s illegitimate son, and the fact that he’s
half-Hawaiian would have been an obstacle to any future they might have
together. In re-reading the book when it was put into e-formats, I realized how
much I loved the story because it’s apparent in the descriptions I wrote of the
island and way of life and traditions in Hawaii then and now.
GOTTA ASK:
Is Hawaii really paradise?
JILL:
Weather-wise, it is most of the time. Hawaii is like anywhere else,
really, but the sky is blue and smog free (though when the winds shift we do
have “vog” which is volcanic smoke and steam that comes up from the Big Island)
and because of the tropical flora, there is green everywhere you look.
The
populations of each island can double with tourists. That leads to traffic when
there is only one main highway around the island as there is on Kauai. Goods
and groceries from the mainland cost a lot more since they have to be shipped
by sea or flown in. Gas is the highest in the nation. It hovers around $5 a
gallon no matter what prices do on the mainland. But the upside is we don’t
need to heat our homes in the winter and even if you can’t see the ocean you
can usually get there within minutes from wherever you live.
People on
vacation can’t imagine what we do to keep from getting island fever. I’m often asked, “What do you do there?” My response is, “What do you
do where you live?” Work, hobbies, join organizations, garden, clean, shop.
We’re not just sitting around on the beach 24/7. At least we don’t admit it.
Website: www.jillmarielandis.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jill.m.landis
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Twitter: www.twitter.com/JillMarieLandis
Journey
back to Kauai 1888
If you enjoy reading historical
romance, have you ever wished you could travel back to the 1800’s to see what
life was really like? Do you think you’d like living longer than week without
modern conveniences?
Comment today to win one of two
e-book copies of Jill Marie Landis’s GLASS BEACH.
