Dear Maristella (comment #17)

Thank you so much for reading CRY FOR PASSION. Isn't history wonderful? I'm glad you enjoyed that part of the story.

I think in romance we are used to the hero and heroine loving each other exclusively with no previous attachments. Occasionally we encounter a story where the heroine is a widow who loved her husband, although generally not as much as she loves the hero. As if we only have so much love in us. And only one kind of love.

Rose DID love Jack, and Jack loved Rose. But they would also always love the lovers who came first. And they would always experience a certain amount of pain . . . and regret . . . at their memories. Because neither - in the past - had been strong enough to change the relationships. But I don't think always loving their first lovers makes Rose and Jack's love any less worthy, nor do I think it makes their love weaker. We are capable of many types of love. Rose loved the past she had shared with Jonathon. As she said in the end, she did not love the man he had become, but she would always love the boy he had been in the past. In other words, she loved the fantasy. Whereas Jack is the reality. The love she bears Jack . . . and that Jack bears Rose . . . will not be destroyed by mumps, or anything else. It is lasting, because it is based on the knowledge of their strengths and their weaknesses. They like each other. They KNOW each other. To me, that is what makes a relationship lasting.

I hope that answers your question?

Alas, I do not have any news as to when or if Mondadori will publish any of my other books. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I hope you do, too!

Grazie,

Robin Schone