Love In Bloom – Renee Wildes

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The warrior in her was ready for anything. But she never saw him coming…

Guardians of Light, Book 5

Verdeen is on the brink of becoming an elite warrior ranger until the ultimate humiliation—no war mare chooses her for advanced training. King Loren’s consolation prize isn’t much better. Journey to the Isle of Ice as bodyguard to a human riever. Daq Aryk. Barbarian. Prince of thieves.

Aryk dreams the impossible: unite six fractious clans into a peaceful nation. Failure means they are all doomed to kill each other off—and the nightmares of his son’s death by sword will come true. The new elven ambassador rouses his ire, not because she’s female, but because she’s inexperienced. Her possibly needless death weighs on his already overburdened soul. Her beauty is a distraction he can’t afford.

In a fragrant, moonlit garden, Verdeen dares yield to an irresistible compulsion to kiss the mortal riever. The heat shakes her to the core, and frees a desire that should occur but once in her life. With a mate.

As their quest twists down ever more dangerous paths, though, their bond is the asset that could assure peace…or the liability that could send a dream down in flames.

Warning: This tale illustrates what happens when adventurous dreamer meets seen-it-all cynic. Contains hot, no-holds-barred sex, voyeurism and some self-loving. Also betrayal and some graphic (but never gratuitous) battle violence.

I’m a hard-core plotter. My worst fault is I have a terrible compulsion to edit as I write, hence I’m slow, but I’m getting better at that.

• Pantsers make me nervous. So do characters who refuse to follow a synopsis.
• I have pictures all over my kitchen wall of various people and animals for the characters in my books. All my books feature nonhuman characters, and sometimes sentient jewelry.
• I have to write to music. My every-book musical standbys are Enya and Kate Price for love scenes and Axel Rudi Pell for the action and battle scenes.
• I have to write love scenes longhand first.

I never met a unicorn or elf I didn’t like. LOTR, not Keebler. So why I started my serious writing career with short series contemporaries, only the weird, twisted dragon soul who drew the short straw and became my muse knows. And she’s not talking. I actually wrote two – “Second Chances” and “An Angel For Gabriel”. Then I learned POV, and that red dragon grabbed me by the throat and said to knock the whole contemporary-thing off. Very direct creatures, dragons. And so the “Guardians of Light” series was born.

Renee the Author:
Renee Wildes grew up reading fantasy authors Terry Brooks and Mercedes Lackey and is a huge Joseph Campbell fan, so the minute she discovered romance novels it became inevitable that she would combine it all and write fantasy romance. Renee is a history buff, from medieval times back to ancient Greece and Sparta. As a Navy brat and a cop’s kid, she gravitated to protector/guardian heroes and heroines. She’s had horses her whole life, so became the only vet tech in a family of nurses. It all comes together in her Guardians of Light series for Samhain – fantasy, action, romance, heroics and lots of critters!

Visit Renee at:
Website
Samhain Author Page
Blog

Renee in Real Life:

(The Working Mom)

I live in central Wisconsin (paper mill central!) 2 hours north of Madison. I ’m the married mother of two, with a calico cat who rules the roost, a diva Chow who’s trying to depose her and two gray half-Arab mares who think they’re people and are teaching my daughter to ride.

I’m a study in contrasts. I’m a Navy brat and a cop’s kid. I’m the lone vet tech in a family of nurses. Growing up all my friends were boys and Arabian horses, but I’d stand a date up to go horseback riding in the mountains. My ideal weekend is
caving, the muddier the better, or rappelling, but it takes me

twenty minutes to lean back over that cliff – every single time. Steve Irwin was my hero, but I’m deathly afraid of snakes and spiders.

When I’m not writing, I’m running between my day job as an insurance customer service phone rep, figure skating lessons, football practice & games. I drive a red PT Cruiser. I HATE to shop, unless it’s horse stuff. I own 2 pairs of shoes, 3 skirts and 1 dress. I live in jeans in the summer and sweats in the winter. I have pierced ears but never wear earrings. I love the Dark Ages, Medieval Renaissance fairs, and scrapbooking. My favorite flowers are lilies.

When I get time to read, I love fantasy, action, and dark paranormal. My favorite book is The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly. I want to be Mercedes Lackey when I grow up. I love reading Suzanne Brockmann, Lori Foster, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan & Angela Knight. In non-fiction I love history from Ancient Egypt & Greece through the Dark Ages, also New Age/Magical Arts. I’m a writing book junkie. I could start my own reference librarian/research business.

I will have to die in my current house because all my friends refuse to haul my book collection another foot. Not even one little box.

I’ve always loved writing. In school I was the only kid to have a MAXIMUM word count. My Grandma Jeanne is my inspiration; she was the first writer in our family. My children write, also. Watch for “The Adventures of Robin Hood and Flame Girl” and “Lambie and Sparkle Go To The Woods”. They’re going to be the next big thing!