Last Rose of Summer
Last Rose of Summer is The Wild Rose Press's mature contemporary line.
Guidelines
Some roses wither and die without the proper nourishment of sun, food and water. Then there are those roses that defy convention. They bloom and flourish despite flood or drought. These are the heroines and women for our line. They are lush, vibrant, and when the cold comes, they cling tenaciously to the vine until they are the Last Rose of Summer. This line celebrates strong, sensual, smart heroines and solid dependable heroes. Give us characters worth cheering for and love that makes us sigh with contentment. Please review the following for more involved criteria.
Hero/Heroine MUST be mature. While an exact age isn't so much the factor as their emotional maturity and life experiences, heroes and heroines should be at least 30 years old or more.
The Wild Rose press does not publish women's fiction; only romance. Not love stories involving married couples who hit rocky times; not family stories or women's friendship stories, we only want romance. For a full definition of what is a romance please click here to read an article in our FAQ section.
The majority of the story must be focused on the romance even if it has a subplot.
POV should be limited to the hero and heroine.
Hero/Heroine must be well developed; show the reader their warts as well as their beauty marks. The author should know their h/h as well as they know their best friend.
The hero/heroine must have clear cut (believeable and logical) goals and motiviation.
Bring the hero/heroine together in the first 10 pages and keep them together. If they aren't together they should be on each other's thoughts.
Secondary characters, including pets and children, must remain in a supporting role only. Do not let them overshadow your hero or heroine or the story of their romance.
Location, location, location. The setting is a secondary character; make your reader want to go there, live there, get back there.
If there is no conflict, there is no story. While not every story will have a strong external and internal conflict, keep in mind that a misunderstanding is not a conflict. If the couple can work things out in a 10 minute conversation there is no conflict and no story.
If there is a sub-plot it must propel the story along, the romance has to be what the book is about.
The relationship must develop in a logical time sequence so the reader can easily identify the stages of love. It must make sense to the reader when the hero/heroine comes together.
The hero/heroine can not have sexual relations with any other character once they meet each other.
Hero/Heroine must be legally and emotionally free to participate in the relationship. Adultry is not accepted under any circumstances.
There must be a happy ever after (HEA) ending. This doesn't have to mean a wedding but the reader must feel as if the couple is committed to one another at the end of the story.
Although sexuality is at the author's comfort level, there does need to be chemistry or sexual tension. There does not have to be a fully depicted love scene unless it fits the storyline.
Great examples of authors to read for what we are looking for in LROS would be Kathleen O'Connor, Dara Edmondson, Lainey Bancroft. Another good solid read from this line would be The Model Man.
