My first Wild Rose Press release- One Enchanted Summer is out TODAY!

[Marguerite Arotin]

Available now @ The Wild Rose Press

Deana Curtis, a young law-school student vacationing in Manchester, England is shocked to find herself transported back to 1962 after she makes a wish on a golden amulet. There she meets her childhood crush—Tristan Wallace. Armed with the knowledge of Tristan's bleak future, can she stop the sexy spy/ rock star from mysteriously disappearing?

Tristan wants to believe that the golden-haired pixie is telling the truth, but her story sounds insane. Could she truly be a time traveler who made a wish to help him? As he grows closer to Deana, he not only believes her, but worries that he will be unable protect her from his evil enemy—communist spy, Sascha Pope.

I'm so happy and thrilled and I really hope this story does well since I adore Tristan and Deana . I'll post an excerpt below, but before I do, I want to share my contest info and guest blogging spot.

I'm always interested in comments and reviews on my work so ... I'm running a review contest. All you have to do is purchase One Enchanted Summer, e-mail me a review @ dana @ ozak.net (but remove the spaces)by July 25th, and the one I like the best I'll choose as the winner. The winner will recieve an enchanted summer fun pack filled with toys and goodies to make your summer fun ;-). So, I hope you'll pick up One Enchanted Summer and drop me a line with a review. It doesn't neccesarly have to be an ass kissing review to catch my eye, but it should be well written .

And also in honor of One Enchanted Summer's release date, I'm guest blogging today @ Marianne Arkin's Blog Hope you'll drop by and leave a comment on my topic of using background music to set the mood.

Okay last but not least, here's an excerpt from One Enchanted Summer. Now, this story was orginally written for The Wild Rose Press's Through the Garden Gate contest. When I read about where they wanted the story set, I did some research into the area. I soon learned that it was really close to Liverpool in Northern England. Then my mind starting working. I thought it would be so cool to write a story where my heroine could go back and time and meet the one and only Beatles before they were famous. Really, I had to write the tale because of that . Here's the scene below where Deana meets a young Paul, John, George, and Pete (This was before Ringo Starr took over on the drums. Pete Best was the original drummer.), and I hope you'll enjoy it :-).

Exactly twenty-three hours and forty minutes, after her conversation with Tristan in his kitchen, Deana sat in the passenger seat of his Ferrari, at the parking lot of The Rose and Crown. She smoothed her light blue skirt and adjusted the straps of her navy blue bodice.

She turned to Tristan and asked, "How do I look?"

"Beautiful, of course. Really, Deana, you didn't need to go overboard. The gold heart earrings are nice, but a bit much for a pub."

"I know." She adjusted her shoulder straps again. "I...I don't know. I guess..."

He placed his hand on her shoulder and she loved the warmth of his touch. "Remember, Paul and John are just two ordinary blokes who play music. No different from me. Treat them as such, and you'll be fine. They'll see you as you are—a witty, pretty, free-spirited girl."

She smiled. "You sure have a way with words." She exhaled. "All right, I'm ready."

He opened the car door, rose from his seat, and then opened the trunk.

She gasped when he propped his guitar case beside the car. "You brought along the fender strat? When did you sneak that in the trunk?"

"When you were in the bath this morning. I have a bit of a surprise for you."

"Ooh, I love surprises."

He opened the car door and took her hand. Even though she was just going to a common Brit pub, she felt like Cinderella, on the arm of her handsome prince. Tristan certainly knew how to play the part of a prince because he held the door to the Rose and Crown open and allowed her to enter first.

When they walked in, she noticed all of the Beatles, John, Paul, George, and the original drummer, Pete Best, setting up their gear on a small stage. "What?" She gave Tristan a playful nudge in the arm. "You didn't tell me they'd be playing here tonight."

"I wanted to save it for a surprise. And guess who they invited to play with them?"

Her legs wobbled beneath her, while she somehow managed to stumbled onto a barstool. This was too much—her favorite musicians on one stage. Deana only Marguerite Arotin

wished her brother, who also loved Acid Moon and the Beatles, could be here to see this. Damn it, if I told Mark, he'd never believe me.

Tristan gave her a wink as he walked to the stage with his beautiful guitar in his hands and did a sound check with the rest of the group. Her heart positively melted when they strummed the first notes of "Please, Please Me".

Tristan kept perfect time with the rest of the group and looked utterly delicious on the small stage. The lights made his wavy hair shine like black satin. All the other boys in the band wore the standard three button suits. Tristan looked so much cooler in his white sport coat, black button down shirt, and tight blue jeans.

Listening to Pete Best, she could understand why Brian Epstein eventually fired him. He didn't keep time as well as the rest of the boys. Pete was attractive, but he just didn't have the same level of talent.

She clapped along with the rest of the half-empty tavern when the song ended. Then Tristan gave her an even bigger surprise.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to a pretty girl I met yesterday named Deana. It is one of my biggest hits with my band, Acid Moon, and I taught it to my friends here tonight."

The spotlight shone down upon him as he played the first chords of Acid Moon's hit, "Starry Eyed Princess". She closed her eyes and listened to Tristan sing the lyrics in a sweet tenor voice, wondering if he wrote the love song for Katrina, but thrilled that he'd dedicated the song to her.

After they finished playing their set, Deana rushed into Tristan's arms and covered his face with kisses.

Paul chuckled. "So this must be the pretty girl you met yesterday."

"She certainly is. Deana, I'd like you to meet Mr. James Paul McCartney."

"You can simply call me Paul, love," Paul replied and kissed her hand.

She didn't know how to reply. Paul was absolutely adorable and so young. All the boys were. Even the newlywed, John.

Tristan invited all of them over to a corner table and ordered a round of drinks for everyone. After the first few beers, Deana was finally able to relax and joined in on the conversation.

She doubled over in laughter when Paul talked about their exploits in Germany. "I can't believe you nailed a condom to the wall and burned it at that club."

Paul winked. "It was Pete's idea. Our revenge for the owner snubbing us."

John and George seemed to be the two more serious boys of the band, while Paul and Pete were the jokesters.

Too soon, the night ended and she kept her promise not to spill the beans about any of their futures, although she almost slipped and said something about little Julian to John after the second shot of whiskey. All the same, she did want to give some sort of advice to the boys, who would all soon be musical legends.

She took a deep breath and said. "You guys are all very talented and I hope you'll book as many gigs as you can to share your talent with the rest of the world. Also, trust in your music and have faith in what you believe in."

John kissed her cheek. "Sage advice, Deana."

I'm never washing this cheek again. She waved farewell to the boys and then took Tristan's arm. "So what do I do now that you've made all my dreams come true?"

He leaned down and whispered into her ear, "All of them?" He caressed her breast. "Are you certain I've made all your dreams come true?"

"A...um...m-maybe there's one more." The heat raced through her body and her knees had the consistency of Jell-o.

"Perfect. Then let's get back to my cottage so I can take care of that last dream."

This is for real. Tristan Wallace is really going to make love to me. She had to keep reminding herself of that because she felt as if she'd wake up in her bed any minute in the year 2007, miles away from this handsome, romantic, dashing man.

[Lynda Coker]

Great excerpt. Congratulations. Lynda

[Marguerite Arotin]

Thanks Lynda :-). I'm still on cloud nine :-)