Larch Valley

The first book in the Larch Valley series is also my first release of 2009.

Behind the Book....

If you look inside the this book at the Dear Reader letter, you'll see where the idea of this story came from. It all started with a camping trip to The Great Canadian Barn Dance in Hillspring, Alberta. We had such a wonderful time, and while my husband was the slightest bit (okay, a whole lot) skeptical about a dinner and barn dance, he thawed out enough to get on stage and play "the gut bucket" - a version of a washtub bass. After dinner we went on a wagon ride with the kids, and then, to my surprise, he learned to two-step - something we'd never done together before. We both learned the barn dance and something called The Butterfly which is so energetic you'd never have to worry about weight gain if you did it on a regular basis. I thought the evening was wonderful, but the best was yet to come. We sat beneath a huge sky loaded with stars and we danced the last dance of the night underneath them while our children slept.

A few months later I was talking to my editor about what I was going to be writing next. After the popularity of Hired By The Cowboy and Marriage At Circle M, she asked if I would write another cowboy. I knew right away where it would take place. I was already thinking of building my own fictional town in which to set a number of books. So that pretty much took care of the western end!

So how did the princess part fit in?

I can thank my children for this one. Many Sunday afternoons, especially in the fall and winter, my girls and I huddle under our fuzzy blanket, drink hot chocolate, and watch movies. I'd seen The Princess Diaries a number of times but I absolutely love the scene at the end where she attends her first ball, complete with an ethereal white ball gown and tiara.

The tricky part was reconciling those two worlds together, and taking an ordinary girl and somehow making her a princess. Lucy fit the bill just right. She's a rather reluctant princess and still trying to figure out exactly who she is. Brody, on the other hand, knows exactly where he belongs. What he doesn't expect, though, is to fall in love. And so the book was started.

I really enjoyed writing the royalty part of this book...it felt whimsical and magical and somehow really poignant for me...as much as I can relate to being a princess of a fictional Mediterranean principality! The last third of the book sped by...despite the fact that a week before my deadline I broke my wrist skating! I was making slow progress until I got a brand new cast...which the nurse shaped so I could type. My husband was in Hawaii on business and I was home, in a cast, in the cold and snow. I wrote the last 17,000 words in a single weekend...something I'm not sure I'll ever duplicate!

Playlist...

I admit that there are lots of times I hear songs and I think, my gosh, that's the song for my current book! It really all started with me finding a copy of the original recording of The Tennessee Waltz. The nostalgic, scratchy feel of the recording just seemed to fit the wistfulness of how the book felt to me. Over the weeks during the writing, I also ended up with lots of Rascal Flatts songs - My Wish was a big one, as well as a few others off of that same album.

The real coup happened close to the end though. Somehow it just wasn't coming together just right and it hit me - I had the wrong song! I went to Puretracks and found a Bing Crosby version of Let Me Call You Sweetheart, downloaded it and bawled my eyes out. I know it's a big reason why that ending came together the way it did!

Now check out an excerpt from the book - part of the scene that evolved out of that perfect moment!

Excerpt

Lucy closed her eyes, unable to look in his earnest face. He couldn’t possibly know how torn she was. She wanted to go home. She needed to see for herself what waited for her there. At the same time, she felt like Prairie Rose was home.

“What if I don’t know what that is?” Her voice was a whisper, carried on the westerly wind that was coming down from the mountains. “What then?”

“Then you look for the answer.”

She waited. If he asked her now she wasn’t sure she could say no. If he asked her to stay with him she might just do it.

But he never asked.

And he’d never said he loved her, she realized, her heart sinking. In fact, she distinctly recalled him saying that he didn’t believe in love any more.

There really wasn’t a choice to make. She couldn’t stay and love a man who didn’t love her back.

“Okay,” she answered.

She took a step back, but his hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Don’t go. Not now.”

“I’m cold.”

The chill was deepening as midnight approached. The stars hung close to the earth and as she looked up, a satellite streaked across the sky, a perfectly curved path through the inky blackness.

“Then dance with me.”

In the distance they heard the last dance start playing up in the loft; they both turned their heads towards the wistful strains of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” swaying towards them on the wind.

“Dance with me,” he whispered, “one last time.”

His wide hand was warm on her waist, her fingers enclosed in his as he started the box step to the waltz, their feet making shushing noises in the soft grass. She closed her eyes, knowing that somehow a million stars shone down on them and she would have wished on each and every one if she could have figured out exactly what it was she wanted.

Their steps grew smaller and shorter, and within a few bars of the song she was pressed against the warm breadth of his chest, listening to his heart beat against her ear and knowing that at least once in her life she had experienced a completely perfect moment.

As the fiddle faded away, they were no longer dancing but simply swaying to the one-two-three rhythm of the song. Somewhere the band said goodnight; voices became louder as the barn cleared out and people made their way to their vehicles. And still she remained in his arms, unwilling to pull away. Because she knew when she did it would be the last time he ever held her.

Reviews

"Alward has a gift for creating strong conflict, and the Alberta setting is gorgeous..." Romantic Times Book Reviews

"This book...caught me right into the story, and held my interest to the very last page." Pink Heart Society Reviews

"...a truly heartwarming story with an utterly charming ending that had me sighing in appreciation." Romance Junkies, 4.5 Ribbons

"Using the majestic Rockies as a backdrop, Donna Alward weaves lonely despair and heartbreak together into an emotion-packed story..." Anita Mae, reader

"...a tale of revelation and romance that is sure to capture readers' heartstrings...a passionate story that shows even the deepest secrets can be ferreted out by an inquisitive heart. Well done!" Romance Reader at Heart, 4 Roses

"A quick and enjoyable read that makes you fall in love with cowboys all over again...A great kick-off book to the Harlequin 60 Year Anniversary 'Western Wedding' series." Once Upon A Romance, 4.5 rating

"With a fairy tale ending, this is a classic romantic adventure." Joyfully Reviewed