• Suspense

    A Villain for Vanessa a new #RomanticSuspense by @AliceOrrBooks #RLFblog

    This quick interview includes info about the author, and introduces the story.

    About the Author

    “Alice Orr is a brilliant writer who has a number one best seller in her pocket,” says one Amazon reviewer. Alice loves to write. Especially romantic suspense novels and blog posts. She’s been a workshop leader, book editor and literary agent. Now she lives her dream of writing full-time. So far she’s published fifteen novels, three novellas and a memoir – both traditionally and independently. Alice wrote her nonfiction book, No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells, as a gift to the writers’ community. A revised edition is now in progress. Amazon says, “This book has it all.” And calls her novels, “Delicious well written suspense spiced with a love story.” Most of all, Alice is thrilled to hear from readers. Visit her website at http://www.aliceorrbooks.com. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and lives with her husband Jonathan in New York City.

    Interview with Alice Orr

    Why did you write this book?
    I’m fascinated by complicated families. You might call them messed-up families. I come from one. Many people I know come from one. The Kalli family is central to my Riverton Road series. They are definitely complicated, but they aren’t what I’d call messed-up because they’re all about love and loyalty. Vanessa (the heroine of A Villain for Vanessa) is a Kalli on one side, but she’s a Westerlo on the other. The Westerlo family is a mess in some pretty bizarre, maybe even evil ways. There’s been a murder in their midst after all. I wanted to find out how Vanessa would deal with being thrust into such a situation. Plus how she’d handle the added confusion of falling in love at the same time. Something similar once happened to me, minus the murder. Vanessa copes better than I did. Creating her and her story was my do-over opportunity.
    What is your favorite genre to read?
    My Suspense love affair began very innocently with reading Nancy Drew by flashlight under the covers. I’ve been a late-night reader ever since, and danger has always felt like the natural companion for darkness. The stakes are much higher in the stories I read now than they were for Nancy Drew. I also like a love story in the mix these days. Life or death? Happiness or heartbreak? That’s what keeps me turning pages, with or without a flashlight.
    Who is your favorite character from fiction (not including your own)?
    She comes from the romantic side of my bookshelf. Though there’s suspense in her story and a lot at stake too. My favorite character is, and probably always will be, Katie Scarlett O’Hara. I have no excuse for it. I know she’s a bad girl. She’s selfish and willful. She’s a liar and a man-thief. She’s also strong and determined, and she refuses to give up no matter what obstacles are stacked in her path. Not even those dirty Yankees can stop her. I love her fire and her courage most of all. Like I said, I know she’s a bad girl. But I’ve heard that good girls go to heaven while bad girls go everywhere. Maybe I just want to go everywhere, or at least imagine I have.
    What are you working on at the moment, and will see from you in coming months?
    I’ve begun to write Book 5 of my Riverton Road Romantic Suspense series. It’s called A Time for Fear and Feasting. In Book 3, I introduced a second Riverton family, the Millers of Miller’s Inn. Amanda is the middle daughter of that family. The solid, dependable daughter. Even through almost five years of widowhood, she could always be counted on as the chef at the Inn kitchen who never caused any personal heat for anybody. Now she’s ready to break away from all of that, especially from being taken for granted. A friend in serious danger gives Amanda one reason to explode out of the expected. An irresistible man named Jack gives her another.
    Please tell us about your latest book.
    A Villain for Vanessa by Alice Orr
    A story of tangled roots and tormented love.
    Two families are shaken to their roots. Vanessa Westerlo must find her roots. Bobby Rizzo is torn between Vanessa and his true roots. They are all tormented by love – past and too present. Meanwhile a man has been murdered. And that’s the most tormented tangle of all.
    Alice Orr is known for “Delicious well written suspense spiced with a love story.”
    She does it again in A Villain for Vanessa.
    A Villain for Vanessa is Book 4 of the Riverton Road Romantic Suspense series set in Riverton, New York. This book features the Kalli family and the fortunate people who find safety and welcome at the Kalli homestead on Riverton Road. A Wrong Way Home is Book 1 of the series and A Year of Summer Shadows is Book 2. A Vacancy at the Inn is Book 3 and introduces the Miller family of Riverton Road Hill.

    About the Book

    Title A Villain for Vanessa – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Book 4.
    Genre Romantic Suspense
    Author Alice Orr
    Book heat level (based on movie ratings G, PG, PG13, R) R.

    Buy This Book

    Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1123789673
    CreateSpace https://tsw.createspace.com/title/6265209  

    Author Social Media

  • Cancer Awareness,  Memoir

    #Cancer Awareness: Lifted to the Light @AliceOrrBooks #RLFblog

    Lifted to the Light 
    From Kayelle Allen: This week on Romance Lives Forever I’m sharing
    stories by authors who have faced cancer either in themselves, or a family member.
    The importance of friends and family, and having a support system is vital. One
    key to success is being able to ask for help — and then being willing to accept
    it. It’s a lesson I’ve had in my own life during various times. I don’t accept help
    well. It’s something I fight with all the time. I’d like to think “I’ve got
    this” but sometimes I don’t have as good a grip as I thought I did. I have
    a friend who’s dealing with cancer right now. A friend’s brother died from cancer
    last year. Cancer affects all of us. I hope I’m even half as good a friend as those
    you’ll read about in this series.
    I’m presenting these posts as an opportunity for the authors
    to share their real life stories, as well as their fictional ones. There’s a short
    list of ways you can show your support at the end of each post.

    From Lifted to the Light

    A Story of Struggle and Kindness. a Memoir by Alice Orr.
    I’ve always loved the Statue of Liberty
    because she stands so powerfully erect even though she’s profoundly alone. She holds
    the lamp for others to see and guides them to a life of possibility. She does all
    of that from a tiny island surrounded by rip tide currents and she does it on her
    own. That was the woman I thought I should be.
    I also thought I should be like my
    grandmother Alice Jane Rowland Boudiette. She was a role model closer to home than
    Liberty Island and warmer than copper and stone. My grandmother exemplified two
    things for me. The first was service. “If you’re not making the world a better
    place why are you here?” she’d say. The second was stoic strength. She did
    everything for everybody – including me – and hardly anybody did anything for her.
    This was my vision of strong womanhood
    and what I should be. I should stand strong and steadfast. I should press on always
    forward and I had to do all of that by myself. I didn’t resent this. I simply assumed
    it was the way of things and kept on going – until I was stopped in my tracks by
    a reality too formidable for me to power past in solo drive.
    That reality was breast cancer and
    in its clutches I would learn the most valuable lesson of my life so far – that
    I am not on my own after all.
    When I could no longer do for myself
    others did for me. By accepting their deeds and my need of them I became more than
    I’d ever been in all my years of prideful independence. I emerged from the experience
    with a startling new vision of myself and of life.
    I’m no longer the lone warrior woman
    I once aspired to be. I no longer believe I have to wage solitary battle to make
    my way. I know now that I have an army around me – an army I’ve come to think of
    as my angels in human form. They’ve been with me always from Grandma on. I know
    now that I haven’t been alone after all.
    By the grace of that knowledge I have
    been Lifted to the Light.
    Alice Orr

    Lifted to the Light, a Story of Struggle and Kindness

    A Memoir by Alice Orr
    At the beating heart of this moving story a woman struggles –
    most mightily against herself.
    All her life, Alice has taken care of herself and believes she
    must always do so. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. She
    fights anyway with all of her strength, until that strength is gone. Caring individuals
    appear, one by one, determined to help. As they reach out, she learns to reach back
    and comes to think of these generous souls as her angels. When she’s too weak to
    lift herself, they carry her through on wings of kindness.
    Lifted to the Light is a real-life story of resilience and growth
    in the face of terrifying circumstances. Each thread of powerful storytelling leads
    to another in a dramatic, emotional read.
    Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O99L7I2

    About Alice Orr

    Alice Orr loves to write. Especially Romantic Suspense novels
    of danger and romance. She’s well known as a workshop leader, book editor and former
    literary agent. Now she lives her dream of writing full-time, especially romantic
    suspense. Alice has published thirteen novels, three novellas and a memoir. About
    her novels, Amazon says, “Alice Orr turns up the heat.” Alice also presents
    workshops on writing for publication and/or pleasure. She is a former book editor
    and literary agent. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and
    lives with her husband Jonathan in New York City. Most of all, Alice wants to hear
    from readers.

    Author Social Media

    Other Alice Orr Books

    A Wrong Way Home – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book
    1 – the eBook – is free at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T9RVGGC
    It is also free at Barnes and Noble and iTunes and KOBO and other online platforms.
    A Year of Summer Shadows – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series
    Book #2 – is $2.99 at those same platforms including http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZBOTH5O
    These are my 12th and 13th novels. Writing this series Lifts Me to the Light. Alice
    Orr – www.aliceorrbooks.com

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