This historical romance is a May 2022 release. Yes, I’m just dedicating a page to it in June 2023. See, in June 2022, I had a series of falls that laid me up for several months, and I didn’t even realize I hadn’t listed it here!
Now correcting this huge oversight.
This book comes of my long romance with the Florida Keys. For a dozen years, I was fortunate enough to live in Homestead, which is just a few miles from the northernmost island in the chain, Key Largo. Even in law school at U of Miami, I’d drive down to one of the beachfront campgrounds and study civil procedure in the sand and surf.
It’s 150 miles from Miami to the end of the road, Key West. But Key West is actually closer to Cuba, at only 90 miles. Hence the reason Key West was indispensable during the Spanish-American War in 1898–and how this story comes about.
Tamsyn McKiernan thinks her dreams have come true. She’s engaged to a dashing Key West bachelor and finally in her widowed father’s good graces. But in her heart, she knows something’s wrong. She loves the ocean and the quiet pleasures of nature—so what does the aristocratic life she’ll lead truly hold for her?
Mercenary captain Drake Ashton is neck deep in preparations for the Spanish-American War, running guns and other supplies to Cuban natives who want out from under their Spanish masters. He and his brother Freddie risk their lives daily, focused on saving his friends on the island. Nothing else matters but his mission.
A chance encounter with a spiny sea urchin brings the two together, and neither of their lives will ever be the same again.
EXCERPT:
He said, “An old Cuban woman taught me one evening as we sat around a fire at a rebel camp, drums beating in the distance, smoke in the air. She leaned close to me and took my hand, just as I’m holding yours now, and told me my future, showing me how the lines of my palm intersected and moved apart.” He examined her face, more serious. “I never believed a word until now.”
Tamsyn was thoroughly intrigued, her curious streak in high gear. “What did she say?”
“She told me a time would come when a young woman would rescue me. That woman, she said, would be…” He stared at her, intently watching her face.
His deep gaze hypnotized her. She could almost smell the camp smoke, so taken was she. “Would be what?”
“Would be—” He shook his head. “It’s not important. Something about love.”
Tamsyn pulled her hand back sharply. “I’m sure it had nothing to do with me, then.” She turned and walked away in the direction of her carriage. But she lost one of her sandals in a sudden rush of water and stepped hard onto white coral rock. “Ow!”
“Allow me,” he said behind her. Before she could argue, he scooped her up in his arms. As she protested, he replied, “I told you I was in your debt. Please permit me to repay you.” Ashton’s boots easily traversed the rocks, his arms strong around her. He smelled of salt water and the ocean breeze, and she felt gentleness within him as he carried her.
Ready to get your copy? Here you go!
Buy Links
B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prophecies-and-promises-alana-lorens/1141068092?ean=9781509241446
Or see your local indie bookstore to order a copy–here in Asheville, that’s Malaprops! https://www.malaprops.com/
Tags: #sweetromance, #pirates, #KeyWest, #SpanishAmericanWar, #badboy
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFWs54EUJeU
Alana Lorens, author 