Fearless Destiny by Annette Bower (VBT, guest post, excerpt and GIVEAWAY) GFT

It is my pleasure to have a guest post by author Annette Bower, who answers my question:

ELF: What do you think is the strongest attraction about the genre(s) you like to write in?


AB:  My strongest attraction to write in the romance genre but closer to women’s fiction with romantic elements is women’s stories. I like to tell stories about a women’s journey in life. My first Soul Mate Published book, Woman of Substance, came out of my Women’s Studies university classes. As a mature student, it was then that I realized in more detail about how advertisers have aided women in feeling badly about this wonderful package of bones, organs, nerves, and skin we habit. We can reproduce another life and in doing so, we place that small life a head of our own. But if we merrily went along and accepted our bodies as wonderful, companies wouldn’t sell much of the potions and lotions, that we in weak moments purchase, searching for the women we were prior to the little ones entering our lives.

It was then, that I learned about women who would rather smoke cigarettes and suffer the consequences than be fat. It was then, that I learned about women dying to be thin. I wanted to write about a woman brave enough to do the opposite, and dress to appear larger, experiencing an inkling of the challenges women larger than designers have designed spaces for, and manufacturers have produced clothing for encounter daily.

I wanted to bring forward that some of the negative feelings we have about ourselves, are not justifiable. Just because a chair doesn’t fit our backside, or a pair of pants don’t close around our abdomen, does not mean it is our fault, and we should change ourselves, rather we should try and change the things we can and not judge someone for their girth.

Then I needed to find a man who would love brave Robbie and have a HEA. And I found Jake.

In my second book, Moving On, published by Soul Mate Publishing, I wanted to write about loss in a woman’s story. Anna had been a trauma nurse and when her fiancé was dying due to a work related accident, she couldn’t save him. Eventually, she packed up that life and moved to a small town where no one knew her secret and wouldn’t look at her with pity, or not know what to say when they did see her. She had also lost her faith in her nursing ability. Many women around me were young widows and were on their own discovering ways through that loss. They were brave women. I needed to find a man who would give Anna her HEA. I found Nick, who also experienced loss.

In my third novel, Fearless Destiny, published by Soul Mate Publishing, I wanted to explore that place where many women find themselves caught between doing their art, whether it is writing, painting, music, or dancing, etc, and being the responsible adult in a family and a community. Women usually have to put these desires on hold until they are older. Tiffany has always been her father’s helper in the family business. Her brother had asthma and therefore couldn’t help Dad. Tiffany became a qualified plumber and felt she could be happy-ish marrying a man from town, raising their children in Apex, and eventually being the owner of the plumbing business. But things changed, and she had an opportunity to explore her art. In the beginning of the story she is on her way home for a week’s rest and to share her good news that she has a commission. But she is pulled right back into her plumber boots. Her parents’ expectation is that she will drop the art and return. And she questions if it had always been this way but because she was a pleaser, she hadn’t noticed. It’s hard to control your destiny when the ones you love want the old you back.

I needed to find a man who would guide Tiffany toward her future because he’d been down the road of pushing boundaries. I found Will, the man ready to accept Tiffany on her terms.

Thank you E.L.F for hosting today and asking this question that made me recall why I love writing women’s stories with a HEA ending.

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Fearless Destiny

by Annette Bower

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GENRE: Women's fiction with romantic elements

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BLURB:

From the Romance Review Readers Choice nominee, Annette Bower, comes a new small town romance, Fearless Destiny.

Tiffany George, riding high on her commission as a fresco artist, returns home for some deserved rest and relaxation.

The drive is uneventful until she rescues Will Cleaver on the side of a highway. While savoring memories of a kiss and a well formed butt, her future goals do not include a romance.

Once in town, she discovers the hopes and dreams of her community hinge on the development of a new resource mine and Will Cleaver’s designed neighborhood. Her parents demand she give up art and resume her working partner role in the family business.

Tiffany George is pulled by her community roots and stretched by her newly discovered independence.

Will Cleaver knows about taking charge of destiny. He models the courage she uses to become the woman she needs to be.

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EXCERPT

Turning onto the highway that led into the town of Apex, Tiffany George saw an abandoned gray compact car. Her father’s voice rang in her ears, Don’t drive by stalled cars on the highway. You never know who needs you. Slowing to a stop, she grabbed her flashlight and tucked her cell phone into her pocket.

She expected to see an empty vehicle. Tiffany felt like an unprepared Girl Scout when the light illuminated dark eyes. A hand pushed through black hair. The man’s discomfort was obvious. His shoulders braced against the seat.

“Can I help you?” she called through the window.

“I’m not sure.” His jaw muscles tensed, while he shaded his eyes against the flashlight.

“I’m going to open the door.” Her forearms and biceps bulged, and her sandals skidded on gravel but the driver door wouldn’t budge.

“Locking system jammed.” His speech was slurred.

“That doesn’t happen. Have you been drinking?” She sniffed for alcohol.

“No. Pain.”

“What kind of pain?” She watched him with first-responder alertness. “Heart attack?”

“No.” He bent down toward the floor.

Growing up as her father’s helper in the family plumbing business, Tiffany knew her way around vehicles.

The man’s head slumped onto the headrest. “Okay, Mister, tell me what’s happening.”

“Muscle cramps in both legs.” He sucked air through his teeth. “Need to get out of this sardine tin.”

“Push on your knees,” she said calmly.

“Thanks, Nurse Nancy. I’ve tried. I need out.”

Amazon link

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Annette Bower sets her romance novels in Saskatchewan because she believes home can be as exotic as anywhere else in the World. Annette travels extensively, but always returns home to Regina, Saskatchewan. Born in Regina, her experiences as a nurse, administrator, town councillor, teachers’ assistant and student inform her stories and reflect the experiences of many readers. Annette’s stories are read around the world and have been shortlisted on many national and international stages.

Annette Bower writes about women’s roles in families, in communities and women’s emotions at the beginning and end of love in her home office in Regina, SK. Her short stories are published in magazines and anthologies in Canada, United States, and United Kingdom.

Her women’s fiction novels with romantic elements, Woman of Substance and Moving On are published by Soul Mate Publishing.

Annette Bower’s day-to-day experiences as a nurse, administrator, town councillor, teacher’s assistant and student means that her stories are the real thing because they are about you and your neighbours. Her short stories and novels are read around the world. Her romance novels are set in Saskatchewan because she believes home is as exotic as anywhere else in the wide world she has visited.

Links to be included:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

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