Alexia Banks Talks about The Perfect Setting for Romance

 SWAN CREEK: THE PERFECT SETTING FOR ROMANCE

Back in the summer of 2006, I spent a lot of time in Swan Creek, a booming grape growing region in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Over the course of several months, I combed the area, traversing some of the most spectacular scenery in the nation in search of the perfect spot to start a vineyard-winery of my own. Even though the venture didn’t materialize, I never forgot what a beautiful and romantic place it was. During my frequent trips to the area in 2006, I had occasion to visit all of the wineries in Swan Creek, and discovered that the townspeople were charming and sophisticated, only adding to the ambience of the place.

When I sat myself down in 2011, to finally fulfill my dream of writing a paranormal RomCom trilogy, I didn’t have to wrack my brain to come up with the perfect place to set the story. Yadkin Valley wine country was perfect, and confirmed to me that no endeavor in life is ever wasted. I finally had an opportunity to share my experiences and the fascinating history of the area. I used these fond memories as the setting for the first book in my Swan Creek paranormal trilogy Forgotten Dreams, in which I pair a beautiful urban heroine and a brooding and handsome Cherokee farmer.

Little known facts about North Carolina Wine Country

• French explorer Giovanni de Verranzano was cultivating grapes for wine in the state as far back as 1524.
• North Carolina was a leader in wine production until the cultivation of the grapes and the sale of alcohol were outlawed in the nineteen-forties.
• The Raffaldini family, who began growing grapes in Italy in the thirteenth century, selected Swan Creek to establish their first and only US operation because of the unique climate and terrior (the French word for soil composition for wine grapes).
• Five vineyards have been established in Swan Creek in just the past decade and all are within a few miles of one another. One of them, Shadow Springs Winery, produces a unique “shortcake” strawberry wine.
• A new order Amish community has lived in the region since the 1980’s and members can be seen traveling around the area on horse and buggy.

Surrounded by the rising mists of the Yadkin River and nestled in the foothills of the Brushy and Blue Ridge Mountains, Swan Creek is made to order for romance. And if you can’t make the trip to experience it firsthand, you’re in luck. Just pull up a comfy chair, pour yourself a nice glass of North Carolina wine, and be transported into a world of mountain views and gothic romance with Forgotten Dreams.

About Alexia’s Swan Creek Trilogy

Released on August 6, 2012, Forgotten Dreams follows Miami private investigator Shane Connelly, a successful young business woman at a crossroads in her life. She pulls up stakes and heads for Swan Creek in the heart of North Carolina wine country. But when she arrives, she discovers it is anything but the perfect spot to while away the summer months. Her newly acquired home is a burned out hovel and she has reason to believe it is haunted. Discouraged, she plans to head home when a handsome stranger arrives at her doorstep. Before she can beat a trail back to South Florida, Shane and her dashing neighbor Jesse are inexplicably drawn together as they dodge bullets, unearth ghosts, and unravel a dark town secret.

The next book in the trilogy, Night Whispers, is the prequel to Forgotten Dreams and follows the Buchanans and Blackfoxes as they struggle to carve out a living on the unforgiving land atop Joley Mountain. Stubbornly refusing to cave in to adversity, both families learn that death can be swift and cruel, and life on their ancestral lands is as fleeting as the whispering winds.

The third and final book in the series, Frankie on the Rocks, places Shane’s friends fellow investigators Taryn Langley and Carol Ann Bates at center stage as they join her in the high country. Soon after the settle in, though, they are thrust headlong into an undercover operation that threatens to blow the lid off the sleepy little town of Moravian Falls. With the help of a mysterious Uruguayan farmer and a dashing NASCAR driver, the two ladies find themselves knee-deep in blackmailers, dead bodies and psychics as they romance their way to a decidedly happy ending.

Title: Forgotten Dreams
Series:  Swan Creek Trilogy  #1 

Author:  Alexia Banks
Reading level: Adult

Genre:  Romance

Release Date: August 6th 2012

Publisher: Crimson Romance

Find It: Goodreads | Amazon  | Barnes & Noble

Itching for adventure, Miami private investigator Shane Connelly heads for Swan Creek in North Carolina wine country. But she quickly discovers it's anything but the perfect spot to while away the summer months. Her country home turns out to be a burned out hovel that she suspects is haunted. Discouraged, she plans to head home when a handsome stranger arrives at her doorstep. Before she can beat a trail off the mountain, Shane and her handsome neighbor Jesse are inexplicably drawn together as they dodge bullets, unearth ghosts, and unravel a dark town secret. In the end, Shane realizes it's not the high altitudes that are making her head spin, but her brooding lover with the penetrating dark eyes.

 

Alexia Banks is the author of the critically acclaimed paranormal romance Forgotten Dreams. She is currently published by Adams Media/Crimson Romance.

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