Guest blog: Hannah Fielding - 'Indiscretion'

Introducing… Hannah Fielding

Hannah Fielding is 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: writing full time at her homes in Kent, England, and the South of France, where she dreams up romances overlooking breath-taking views of the Mediterranean.

To date, Hannah has published four passionate, evocative novels: Burning Embers, a ‘romance like Hollywood used to make’, set in Kenya; the award-winning Echoes of Love, ‘an epic love story that is beautifully told’, set in Italy; and books 1 and 2 of the Andalusian Nights trilogy, set in sultry Spain, entitled Indiscretion and Masquerade. She is currently working on her fifth book, Legacy, which will publish this spring.

A glimpse of Indiscretion

‘La Pena de los Enamorados is attached to a local legend about an impossible love affair,’ Salvador said. Alexandra drove her gaze towards him. For an instant, something warred in his eyes as he looked at her; was it longing, regret? The force of his personality struck her like a hurricane, sending her head spinning. She struggled not to betray the effect he had on her, conscious that everyone’s attention was on them both.

He tapped a finger gently on the side of his glass and looked down into its contents as he continued. ‘Lover’s Leap is an enormous crag of limestone that overlooks the town and valley of Antequera. The rock provides the setting for the tragic finale to the lovers’ story. The legend goes that a young Christian man from Antequera and a beautiful Moorish girl from nearby Archidona were driven to the top of the cliff by Moorish soldiers. Rather than renounce their love, they chose to hurl themselves into the abyss. The rock remains a symbol of their eternal love.’ His eyes were on Alexandra again, his features brooding. It felt as though his gaze was scorching her skin and she put a hand to the base of her throat, where she felt her pulse thudding beneath her fingertips.

Salvador paused, taking his time as he lit a cigarette. The air filled with the aromatic smoke, creating a halo around him. At this point, the others began chatting about the bullfight. Under his breath, Salvador went on: ‘A romantic novelist’s dream story, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Yes,’ Alexandra conceded, lifting her chin. ‘There’s nothing more romantic than eternal love.’

‘And nothing more foolish perhaps.’

‘Passion and fidelity are foolish?’ She shot him a fierce look. ‘Being prepared to die for love only makes it more powerful.’

‘It is the stuff of romantic fables. And even there, the obstacles of real life soon show themselves. Those soldiers of misfortune chase most poor unfortunates to ground in the end.’ He drained his glass and set it down abruptly without looking at her. ‘Passion can be an affliction.’

Win a Rafflecopter giveaway.