Three powerful merchants, two independent women in love, one masked vigilante.
Florentina, set on revenge for her father’s murder, creates an alter-ego known as the Night Flyer. Madelena, whose husband was also murdered, hires Florentina as a tutor for her children and love blossoms between them. However, Florentina’s vendetta is fraught with danger, and surprising developments threaten both women’s lives.
Merchants of Milan is the first book in Edale Lane’s Night Flyer Trilogy, a tale of power, passion, and payback in Renaissance Italy. If you like gadgets and gismos, rich historical background, three-dimensional characters, and fast-paced action with a slow-boil lesbian romance, then you are sure to love this series. Buy this one of a kind novel today and let the adventure begin!
Edale is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour. For a chance to win, enter via Rafflecopter:
What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it.
Hum, that would depend on which “me” we are referring to. MY first published novel was Heart of Sherwood which won the Rainbow Award for best historical lesbian romance. It places the Robin Hood story directly in the center of actual English history but with the twist of Robyn being a woman who disguises herself as a boy to hide from the Sheriff of Nottingham. If you mean the “other me,” that would be Vlad, a Novel, by Melodie Romeo, 2002. It is a historical thriller about Vlad the Impaler and the unlikely couple who end his bloody reign. It is a graphic, fast-paced thriller featuring a mf romance.
Do you use a pseudonym? If so, why? If not, why not?
Speaking of pseudonyms… Edale Lane is the pen name I choose to write my lesbian romances under. I did this primarily so my audiences would know what kind of book they are buying. Since I was already established with several titles under Melodie Romeo in the historical thriller/horror genre, I decided writing my LGBTQ works under a new identity would help the readers to not be confused. Someone wanting a “two women live happily ever after story” may not be thrilled with corpses hanging on wooden stakes… but if you are, check out Vlad or Terror in Time.
What inspired you to write this particular story? What were the challenges in bringing it to life?
With the Night Flyer Trilogy I was trying to create something different, which is an extremely tricky process with so many fabulously creative works out there. Since few historical lesbian romances are set in Renaissance Italy, I thought that would be a good start. Then I came up with this idea of a 16th century “super hero” with the concept of “Batgirl meets Leonardo da Vinci.” There had to be a catalyst for this intellectual to don a costume and fly through the night, and naturally she had to meet the woman of her dreams. The most challenging aspects lay in making everything she invents and does believable. I hope I have accomplished that goal.
Tell us something we don’t know about your heroes. What makes them tick?
Florentina is very confident in her intellect and physical prowess, but feels oafish and inept in social settings. She didn’t tell her father that she was attracted to women instead of men, but merely made up excuses why she did not wish to wed. Madelena is devoted to her children and her brother. She had a satisfactory enough marriage and was torn with mixed emotions when her husband died. While she never wanted ill to come to him, she also felt somewhat freed. As a widow, she could pursue whatever life she wished having met her obligation to society. The guilt accompanying those feelings drives her to discover who killed her husband and see them punished… unless it really was just an accident.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Everything! But as I grew into adolescence music became my life and being a band director my passion. I practiced hours a day and earned a degree in music education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1982, never to stand on the podium lifting my baton to give the downbeat. Life got in the way, but I did spend many enjoyable years as a church choir director and playing my French horn in the Mississippi Wind Symphony. I have also always written stories and books and hoped to one day make that pursuit into a successful career!
What qualities do you and your characters share? How much are you like them, or how different are they from you?
I have a sharp mind quick to learn and good at building and fixing things like Florentina and was also a teacher for 24 years. Like Madelena, I am devoted to my children–even though they are now grown up with families of their own. I share a calm confidence, patience, and control over my temper like Alessandro and I love the adventure of life as do little Betta and Matteo. But I’m better at keeping a secret than Florentina; I kept my identity as lesbian secret for more than half my life… until like Madelena my husband died leaving me with two young children (unfortunately no rich brother, though).
Star Trek or Star Wars? Why?
My whole life has coexisted with these two worlds, Star Trek from my young childhood and Star Wars since my adolescence. While I love and cherish both worlds, the character I most identify with is Luke Skywalker, therefore I must choose Star Wars. Also I am really drawn to the spiritual aspect of that universe that is lacking in Star Trek.
What’s in your fridge right now?
Dave’s Killer everything bagels, quinoa bread, spinach, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, baby carrots, 4 salad dressings, strawberries, blue berries, yogurts, creamers, potato salad, 2 dips, fruit spread, garlic cream cheese, olive oil mayo, dill pickle relish, cheese, and real butter.
What are you working on now, and when can we expect it?
That would be Secrets of Milan, book two of the Night Flyer Trilogy! And while I don’t wish to keep my fans waiting too long, I do have a “day job.” Additionally, I am meticulous with research, rewrites, and editing, so I hope to have it finished by this fall, maybe August but more likely September or October. Want a teaser?
The Night Flyer had brought Florentina and Madelena together but now threatens to drive them apart. While Florentina searches for a mysterious underworld organization that has attempted to murder the woman she loves, Maddie struggles to deal with the danger Florentina is courting. Her brother, Alessandro, has become the most prominent merchant of Milan, but the Night Flyer uncovers a secret so shocking it could destroy them all.
When Madelena withdrew she whispered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep.”
“Sorry?” Florentina’s heart sank and her head spun. How could she be sorry? “Why? I’m not.”
“You’re not?” Maybe Maddie was as uncertain as she, as overcome with raw emotion and not knowing how to express it. “It’s just that–and I have contemplated this–with me being your employer and all, I don’t want you to expect you must do something you aren’t comfortable with. I would never pressure you-”
It was Florentina’s turn to be impulsive. She silenced Maddie by repeating the gesture, tasting again those full, cherry lips that flooded her mind, body, and soul with sensations. When it broke, they gazed into each other’s eyes looking for confirmation. “I understand I am only a servant in your household.”
“Don’t say that!” Maddie replied firmly. “That is not how I view you. Please, Fiore. How can I explain?”
The earlier butterflies began to settle in Florentina’s stomach and the fog of trepidation evaporate. She could perceive that the beautiful wealthy widow did regard her with esteem, did have feelings for her. This was not a mere dalliance she realized. “I care for you also,” she spoke softly and stroked Maddie’s luxurious strands. “Do not think you press me to do something I have not wanted to do since the moment I first saw you.”
Relief engulfed Madelena’s expression, and she brushed her cheek to Florentina’s then nuzzled her neck with moist, eager lips. A euphoric sigh escaped Fiore’s mouth at the intimate touch and she pulled Maddie closer. When their lips found each other’s again she opened to the honey-sweet tongue that was impatient to delve into it. Without willing them to do so, she realized her fingers were wound in those silky red strands while her other hand slid down Madelena’s back as far as the bench would allow. She could perceive her heartbeat against her own heated breast. This is what she had dreamt of and it surpassed her expectations. All she wanted to do was touch, caress, explore, and please this singular woman. Even as she was rendered breathless from the physical passion, her heart was telling her head that what she felt was far more, endlessly deeper. It was a very dangerous cavern, a bottomless pit that could spell her doom; she was falling in love.
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Madelena realized she was making a mistake. She had acquired a good tutor for her children and a new friend to share meaningful experiences with, but a romantic affair? Where could that possibly lead? What would her brother think or do when he found out, and she knew he would, eventually. Hadn’t she lived a well-disciplined life? Could she not control her desires for more than a few weeks?
As her mind was blaring at her all the reasons to say no, her heart had been pleading an opposing case. Yes, she had found a teacher and a friend, but in Florentina she had discovered abundantly more. She was interesting, witty, talented, intuitive, and compassionate. She opened whole new worlds to the widow whose entire education was meant only to prepare her to be a merchant’s wife. For the past six months she had felt lost, as if she had no place and no purpose. She had helped Alessandro with the bookkeeping and personal relations with customers, but she had also spent her nights alone speculating on what the future may hold for her. She still could not answer that question, but she had spoken honestly when she said that Fiore made her feel real and alive. Since growing closer to the dark-haired inventor’s daughter she had begun to experience so many things. And today–today had likely been the best day of her twenty-eight years on this earth! Then the emotion of sharing her story, it was just all too much to expect her to maintain self-control. But now that she had initiated this passionate encounter, what would she do next?
Presently, she drew back from those sultry lips trying to regain some restraint. “Have you ever been with a woman before?” she asked to fill the silence.
Florentina shook her head. “If you mean sexually, I am quite inexperienced with anyone, male or female. Years ago when Cesare told me he was attracted to men, I mentioned that I was more drawn to women. I didn’t think he’d ever say anything; it’s not like we talked about it much, but now,” she paused casting starry eyes at Maddie, “I’m glad he did.”
She smiled and stroked Florentina’s cheek. “So am I.”
“I know you have experience,” she noted. “So, what do we do next?”
What indeed! Madelena considered. “Take one step at a time. May I suggest we try to get some sleep and take a night to process it all? I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment.”
“You’re overwhelmed?” Fiore laughed. “I’m not certain my legs will carry me upstairs!”
Maddie hesitated to move, as the tug of an invisible cord was drawing her back to her newfound treasure. Neither was Florentina was moving away. One more kiss and you must move. Give both of us time to think. She touched her lips to Fiore’s and closed her eyes. What makes one kiss a sloppy flop and another a driving, sensuous pleasure? Is it one’s mental perception or a physical current that connects two individuals who are similarly charged? I can feel the energy pass between her and I unlike any other before.
“I shall see you in the morning.” She released Florentina and pushed herself to her feet with a sheer force of will. Florentina followed saying her good-nights and Madelena closed the bedroom door behind her as she left. Alone once more, she glanced around her empty chamber and wished her lover could have stayed all night.
Ms Romeo is a retired school teacher who currently travels the country as an over the road truck driver. Her first book, Vlad, a Novel, an historical thriller, was published in 2002. She has had short stories published in anthologies by Seventh Star Press, Charon Coin Press, Alban Lake Press, Less Than Three Press, and Past and Prologue Press.
Edale Lane’s first novel, Heart of Sherwood, is an historical retelling of the Robin Hood story supposing that the hooded outlaw had been a woman: https://pastandprologuepress.lpages.co/heart-of-sherwood1/
In addition to driving and writing, Melodie is also a musician who plays the French horn, composes, and has spent many years as a choral and instrumental director. She aspires to be a successful enough author to quit driving and devote herself to writing fulltime. Melodie resides in Utica, MS with her longtime partner, Johanna.
Some of her works can be found at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00WFFFEA4
In 2019 Melodie founded Past and Prologue Press. Please visit her website.
Author Website: https://pastandprologuepress.lpages.co
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