What is love – a happy coincidence? A connection created out of luck? The creation of destiny? Or a product of hard work?

Consider the lead characters in my novel, Burning Embers:

Coral Sinclair, a young and fiery English photographer, is on her way to Kenya, the land of her birth, to take ownership of Mpingo plantation, a legacy from her recently deceased father. Handsome and charismatic Rafe de Monfort, a mature French widower and owner of a nightclub and the Whispering Palms plantation, holds a dark secret deep in his heart. The two meet on board the ship that is taking them both to Kenya, and feel an immediate attraction, and so begins the first connection that will grow to a fiery, passionate love affair.

What of this first meeting? Is it luck that they are aboard the same ship, that Rafe happens upon Coral, crying at the guardrail and looking out to sea? Perhaps. But I prefer to think they were destined to be together. Destiny has so much more gravitas to it than luck; such romance. I like to think that life would have kept pushing Coral and Rafe towards each other until a spark was created to kindle the flame.

Once in Kenya, Coral discovers that Rafe is her closest neighbour, but she is warned off him by her old nanny. Gossip has it that Rafe is a notorious womaniser who counts among his mistresses Morgana, the dusky night club dancer, and Cybil, Coral’s stepmother with whom it is believed he was having an affair – an affair that might have contributed to her father’s death. Yet despite herself, Coral finds herself falling in love with this man who shows her only kindness.

What is she to think when a witch doctor tells her that Rafe killed his heiress first wife and that he is now pretending to care for her simply to get his hands on Mpingo? When beautiful Cybil says that Rafe has been her lover for over ten years and Morgana assures her that Rafe will never be hers? What is the secret in Rafe’s past that colours his every move and makes him more vulnerable than Coral could ever imagine?

Now, good luck seems to have given way to bad luck – this handsome man no longer seems someone to whom Coral could give her heart. This is where luck or destiny gives way to hard work. Because in love, some higher power affording fortunate happenings only takes you so far – after that, you have to fight for your love. Coral must face her fears, and find the courage to uncover the truth; and Rafe, in turn, must be brave enough to let her into the shadows in his heart.

And so, I believe that both luck and courageous work play a part in love. But the luck bit is certainly the most fun part!

TO WIN A COPY OF MY NOVEL, BURNING EMBERS, SIMPLY COMMENT ON THIS POST TELLING US WHAT PART YOU THINK LUCK PLAYS IN LOVE. BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.

And now for the Lucky in Love Big Prize:

Lucky in Love? Well, are you? It’s a time of luck and wealth…or not. With each romance we find ourselves in a new world of love and memories. Are these just by chance? Is it luck? Welcome to your second annual Lucky in Love Blog Hop where we want to hear about your love, your romance, and how much you love St. Patrick’s Day! Are you wearing green? Ready to get pinched…or wait…do you like that?

Almost 300 bloggers have giveaways and posts about those men we love!

But that’s not all….

We have TWO grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card (INT entry)

2nd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more! (US entrants only)

To join the hop, visit http://carrieannbloghops.blogspot.com/