Blog Tour: Guest Blog with Ashley March {Romancing the Countess} & Giveaway!

Lonely No More

Thanks so much to Among the Muses for having me on the blog today as I continue the celebration of my latest release, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS!

As I prepared for writing this post, I went to my website and read the first chapter excerpt of ROMANCING THE COUNTESS. As I read through the POV of the heroine (Leah), something struck me that I had forgotten since writing this book.

As a woman who learned of her husband’s affair a year ago and kept it secret until his death, Leah George is relieved to not have to live a lie anymore. She wants her independence, the ability to do whatever she wishes whenever she wishes without regard for anyone else’s desires. She is a strong woman who is desperate to take charge of her own life. But she is also lonely.

When writing this book, this loneliness and her desire for independence proved to be the key conflict for Leah’s love story with Sebastian Madinger, the Earl of Wriothesly. As her husband’s best friend and also the widower of her husband’s lover, Sebastian wants nothing more than for Leah to act the proper widow so no one will ever suspect that their spouses were having an affair before they died. But, of course, this wish comes into direct conflict with Leah’s longing for independence. Thus, on the outside, we see the hero and heroine battling over the actions she takes to pursue her own happiness. On the inside, however, Leah is a woman whose soul longs for someone to cherish her, for someone she can confide in. Because she and Sebastian are the only two people who know of the affair, it just so happens that Sebastian is the one person she can allow to truly see the heartbreak and pain she’s been living with since learning of her husband’s infidelity.

I’ve heard that there are people out there who say that they are truly happy being single, that they don’t need another person to complete their lives. I don’t doubt that this may be true for them, but I can tell you from my own experience that before I was married, I always longed for that someone special. I knew that I was meant to be in a relationship, that I was meant to love and be loved. I think this is why the issue of loneliness is a powerful one for me as both a romance reader and a romance writer. I don’t see it as a weakness (unless the heroine starts being whiny about it, and then I’ll just shut the book =), but rather as an impetus for the heroine to keep her heart open to love. And when she finds the man that eases that loneliness, the man who she can confide in and be herself with, I think perhaps that’s how she knows that she’s found love.

What about you, dear reader? How do you know when you’ve found love? There are the obvious signs of attraction, but what helps you to know that what you’re feeling is eternal? And if you haven’t yet found love, what do you think you’ll feel when you do find it?

One random commenter will be chosen to win a copy of my newest book, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS (open internationally)! Also, find out how to win the ROMANCING THE COUNTESS Book Tour Grand Prize of 50+ romance novels by visiting www.ashleymarch.com!  

* Make sure to answer Ashley's question along with your email addy! *