Burning Embers by Hannah Fielding (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Please help me give a warm welcome to romance author, Hannah Fielding!

Finding love in the heavens

There is something utterly spellbinding about having a bird’s eye view of the world – it is pure escapism from the humdrum that gives you a unique and powerful perspective on life, and it never fails to get blood rushing through your body. No wonder, then, that taking in a view with a loved one is a recipe for a romantic atmosphere.

In my novel Burning Embers, the scenery of wild and beautiful Kenya provides a colourful, vivid backdrop to the love story, so I could not resist taking my lead characters, Rafe and Coral, up high together to stir up the passionate feelings smouldering within them.

First, Rafe pilots a hot air balloon across the landscape, to afford Coral a chance to take photographs of the wildlife (and giving Rafe a chance to admire her at work):

Gradually the mist had lifted, and the sun burst forth, a ball of fire radiating the sky with unnaturally incandescent hues. Coral was reminded of the strident brushwork and wild colors of the Fauvist paintings that filled her mother’s gallery, which Coral had always loved. The scene was now set for the show to begin: the drama in which the broad, breath-taking landscapes of Africa were the stage and the animals the actors.

The balloon was still rising, its direction fixed by the whim of the wind. The air was crisp, a whispering light breeze hitting them in the face as the aircraft ascended. The passengers watched silently as the thrilling spectacle of nature’s daily life unfolded. They caught sight of a herd of elephants rushing toward a lake in the distance: massive, magnificent animals led by the female, their large ears flapping in the morning air…

Then, later, Rafe, who has a pilot’s licence, flies Coral to a secluded valley for a romantic dinner:

They took off straight into the sun, leaving a trail of red and blue dust behind them. It was a fine afternoon with no hint of cloud. Coral felt the excitement mounting in her as they rose over the Rift Valley, higher and higher into the sky. This was different than flying in the balloon, even more powerful and exhilarating. She took in with disbelief the spectacular panorama of plains, snow-capped mountains, escarpment, lakes, and ridges that went on for miles, all thousands of feet below.

A multitude of animals now came into view: giraffes, zebras, impalas, and hartebeest stopped grazing and watched, bunched together, as the aircraft approached and flew over, startling them into sudden flight. In whatever direction the plane turned, creatures were to be seen in astonishing numbers and varieties.

The exhilaration of both air-borne experiences, and the wonder of the sights taken in, have a profound effect on the couple’s developing relationship. Who could fail to be swept away by feelings following such wonderous moments?

To fly like a bird is the very epitome of freedom. And that is inspiring to the heart, which wishes to be free to love – without fear, without pain, without limitation. To see the world spread out below you with a lover at your side is to create a memory that will last forever. As Leonardo da Vinci put it: “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”

Coral Sinclair is a beautiful but naïve twenty-five-year-old photographer who has just lost her father. She's leaving the life she's known and traveling to Kenya to take ownership of her inheritance – the plantation that was her childhood home – Mpingo. On the voyage from England, Coral meets an enigmatic stranger to whom she has a mystifying attraction. She sees him again days later on the beach near Mpingo, but Coral's childhood nanny tells her the man is not to be trusted. It is rumored that Rafe de Monfort, owner of a neighboring plantation and a nightclub, is a notorious womanizer having an affair with her stepmother, which may have contributed to her father's death. Circumstance confirms Coral's worst suspicions, but when Rafe's life is in danger she is driven to make peace. A tentative romance blossoms amidst a meddling ex-fiancé, a jealous stepmother, a car accident, and the dangerous wilderness of Africa. Is Rafe just toying with a young woman's affections? Is the notorious womanizer only after Coral's inheritance? Or does Rafe's troubled past color his every move, making him more vulnerable than Coral could ever imagine? Set in 1970, this contemporary historical romance sends the seemingly doomed lovers down a destructive path wrought with greed, betrayal, revenge, passion, and love.

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Hannah Fielding is a novelist, a dreamer, a traveller, a mother, a wife and an incurable romantic. The seeds for her writing career were sown in early childhood, spent in Egypt, when she came to an agreement with her governess Zula: for each fairy story Zula told, Hannah would invent and relate one of her own. Years later – following a degree in French literature, several years of travelling in Europe, falling in love with an Englishman, the arrival of two beautiful children and a career in property development – Hannah decided after so many years of yearning to write that the time was now. Today, she lives the dream: she writes full time, splitting her time between her homes in Kent, England, and the South of France, where she dreams up romances overlooking breathtaking views of the Mediterranean.

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~*Giveaway*~

Hannah is giving away a print copy of Burning Embers to two readers! To enter, just leave a meaningful comment or question on this post for the author and then fill out the Rafflecopter below. Additional entries are available but not required. Good luck!

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