GEMINI RISING by Author Bianca Swan

Today we are welcoming author Bianca Swan to Notes From a Romantic’s Heart. We’ll be taking a peek at her latest book, Gemini Rising, from Black Lotus Books.

Let me begin this post by saying, Gemini Rising is not for the faint of heart. It pushes all the taboos and—because it does—Amazon has so far refused to carry it. However, that doesn’t make it less of a book. If anything, it made it more interesting to me. Yes, it does push boundaries, but it also holds surprises that make it more than what it appears to be and definitely an interesting and entertaining read.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Is your book based on real-life experience or a figment of your imagination?

No, I don’t even have siblings to love too much, and, in the romance department, I’ve never survived such a poignant love story.  Not to say my love life has been smooth sailing. Far from it! There was this young man 20 years younger than I—ahem, back to Gemini Rising. Alain and Alina own a special place in my heart. Their story might be fictitious but they were very present and real, almost as if I’d known them, which I have not. Gemini Rising was a difficult book to write because I felt their pain.

If you could trade places with one of the characters from your book, who would it be and why?

The book is currently out of print. When the rights reverted to me, I’ve been busy with other projects and haven’t taken time to go through Hot Spanish Nights.  I’d like to possess Erica DeLongpre (meaning the way a spirit would possess a human), a Virginia sociatlite, who goes to Spain to purchase the perfect horse meets the perfect man. Damián Xérès is handsome, wealthy, and can ride a horse as if he were a centaur. He is heir to a sherry dynasty and a renowned rejoneador (mounted bullfighter).  Erica is a beautiful, spoiled brat. It is also a coming of age for a twenties+ young lady. In Spain, she knows lust and love like no other. Yes, I’d like to possess Erica and live the adventure. I love the Andalusian horse, which is featured in Hot Spanish Nights.

Is the setting for your book real? If so, have you been there? If it’s fictitious, is there somewhere real that you’ve used as a model?

The setting, an island castle off the coast of England, is purely fictional. A long ago visit to St. Michael’s Mount, which is a tidal island off the coast of Cornwall, is the inspiration for Alastair Keep (the castle in Gemini Rising) and the setting in general.  If you’ve never visited St. Michael’s Mount, it is a spectacular experience. The island is connected to the mainland by a man-made causeway of granite setts, only passable during mid-tide and low tide. There is no causeway in Gemini Rising. The rocky coastline of my imagined island can be approached by small watercraft.  In fact, the Alastair family own a yacht for crossing the channel.  

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About the Book

The Alastair twins are a scientific impossibility. To parents who’ve tried every way to have a child, their male and female identical twins are a miracle.

Isolated in their island castle, the Alastair twins, Alain and Alina turn to each other for friendship and love. But when their love shifts from fraternal to frighteningly deep, they’ll each dance with their lust in their own way.

A dark fantasy of forbidden longings and midnight pledges, spoken only to be broken or kept. How can these phenomenal twins possibly unleash their innermost desires? The answer will shock you.

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Read an Excerpt

Alain tucked the in-flight magazine into the seat pocket and gazed out the window. The distance from one life to another vanished with the clouds fleeing beneath silver wings. The new 777-200 transported him from a sunlit future to a misty past…from a black-haired beauty to a fair-haired princess. Sunlight broke through cloud striking steel, blinding him for an instant.

Someone was going to get hurt.

Already he hurt—a low throbbing like a toothache. If he returned to Portugal, Alina would be devastated. His father would disown him. If he picked up his discarded heritage, a part of him would die and Maritza would grieve. For a time. He wasn’t vain enough to think she’d pine for him forever`.

The choice lay in his hands.

Damn, life got complicated when he tried to declare independence from The Keep. He shifted his long legs cramped beneath the airline seat. He preferred not to think, but fragments of memory plagued the corners of his eyes.

A vivid picture of Alina supplanted images of recent days drenched white-hot by a Portuguese sun. His twin’s presence was more corporeal than the woman sitting to his left. Welcome or not, Alina was there inside him, the mere thought of her a compulsion. He sensed her anticipation mounting as the miles melted. Expectation tingled over him. In self defense, he grasped at a memory of riding the splendid Lusitano stallions, their beauty and majesty a temporary refuge. Like Maritza. As he pictured his lover framed in an arbor of roses, his heart dived. Grief mingled inseparably with the mounting excitement.

His seat mate muttered something. He smiled vaguely at the tiny movie screen where imaginary figures acted out their roles. The film would end happily; every desire fulfilled. He hated the silver screen people. Things never turned out right—except in the movies.

The roar of jet engines and the spattering of conversation became a distant echo. Alina was journeying. When his sister took flight, despite the distance, she’d lead him down the path her imagination chose. Alina had always been the leader. Or is that a cop out to ease my own guilt? He laid his head back on the seat and closed his eyes. Why fight the inevitable?

The rumble of the sea surrounded him. July sunshine warmed his face. The light of home was different from any other place, diffused, like sunlight filtered through a special camera lens. He stood on the top tier of the formal garden, looking down on another sweeping flagstone terrace. A brisk waterfall sprang from an aperture in rock to feed the swan pond. Even in summer the water rippled clear, green, cool.

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Watch the Trailer

 About the Author

Bianca lives in Houston, Texas with her Z3 and baby grand piano. She has been writing all her life and loves to tell stories about hot heroes and the sexy heroines who love them. Her favorite things: Her two sons, music, sports cars, symphony, theater, the ocean, mountains, horses and travel.

Bianca's Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook Page

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Another wonderful day with an equally wonderful guest! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow when we welcome the writing duo of Liz Crowe and Desiree Holt. Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay well read!

Nancy