Roses in December
R. L. Mosz
Author Bio
R. L. Mosz was born in Buffalo, New York, but currently lives in southwestern Montana. She enjoys hiking, writing, reading, feeding the birds, and the great outdoors. Having self-published two novels, she is busy working on a third.
The author’s foremost hobby is writing. Her first novel, The Keeper, chronicles the long-term effects of abuse and is dedicated to victims of trauma. Her second novel, Roses in December, is dedicated to unloved girls and explores the topic of falling in love with the wrong person and the resulting consequences. She is currently completing a third novel, Freewheeling, about terminal illness, and the book will be dedicated to the very sick.
Despite her love for the solitary pursuit of writing, R. L. Mosz also enjoys working in the social services field and presently works full-time in a rehab center and also part-time with autistic teenagers. Working directly with people in this field is challenging and rewarding. She is temporarily on hiatus from her part-time job to rest up and reserve more time for her current writing project.
With plans for a fourth book, it is always a challenge to accomplish her goals. She takes time out for reflection and daily prayer and always tries to remember that life is mysterious and uncertain. It’s important to be grateful and enjoy every day.
Description
The blue rose has long been a literary symbol of perfect, yet impossible or unattainable, happiness and love.
Roses in December, told in an unassuming, narrative-based storybook style, is a simple tale set in the early 1970s. Decades before the onset of texting, Annie Aldridge and her poetic, whimsical boyfriend, Ethan Jackson, conceal notes of affection for each other in secret hiding places. But Ethan is a man in search of himself and is unable to decide with whom he wants to be. Just across the street, police detective Al Tortino, admires Annie from a careful distance. But for Annie, their handsome neighbor is little more than an increasing annoyance, despite his being close friends with her uncle and young niece, with whom Annie lives in the imposing old Graystone house.
The harder Annie struggles to win over the elusive Ethan, the more hopelessly entangled her life becomes with the caring, classically handsome detective. Soon, despite the lamentations of her family, she loathes the very sight of her neighbor and refuses to speak to him at all.
Yet as Annie pines for Ethan, Al has the case of his career to solve: A maniac is attacking people on the streets of North Park. Al’s deepening love for Annie wears away at his pragmatic nature; but when the detective’s judgment finally slips, a terrible price may come for all to pay.
Roses in December is about falling in love with the wrong person and the resulting consequences. Annie mistakenly assumes that if she just tries hard enough, her relationship with Ethan will blossom and grow. She fails to realize that true love is reciprocal on every level and ultimately places her own life in jeopardy with her stubborn unreasonableness. As she struggles with her own traumatic past, she ultimately chooses maturation and is able to change and grow. Life typically allows us many chances and Annie at last makes the choice to see truthfully.
Book excerpt
“Hi, is Annie here?” Ethan Jackson knelt down to Nestle’s level where she stood in the entryway after having answered the front door.
“You don’t have to get bent down,” Nestle scolded, scratching at a tuft of hair self-consciously. She turned in the direction of the stairwell. “Annie!”
“Be right down!”
Ethan straightened up, feeling oddly foolish as he had in the past when confronted by this unnerving young girl. Nestle made no effort to leave, instead she began burrowing the point of a sharp pen she held into a tiny scratch in the side of an antique phone desk.
“How’s your roller skating coming?” Ethan asked at last, folding his arms across his chest and tossing his hair back from his eyes.
Nestle pursed her lips as if the question required careful consideration. “Just fine,” she admitted, pushing at the pen. “Al’s taking me skating at Don’s Chalet.”
“That’s nice.”
“He’s a policeman. He arrests people and puts them in jail.”
“Really.” Ethan nodded, watching her destructive progress on the costly desk.
“Hi, Ethan.” Annie stepped down from the dark stairwell, suddenly brightening the gloom of the Graystone with her beautiful smile.
“Hi.”
Nestle ducked her head, pulling on a jacket and reaching for her skates.
“I have to drop Nestle across the street,” Annie explained, feeling heady with joy as she always did when the object of Ethan’s attention. She had known he would call her! Now they planned to spend the day together in North Park along the marina.
“I can go by myself,” Nestle insisted, her elfin face now a scowl.
“Nestle…”
“Well, I can!” She pushed open the heavy door and trotted down the wide flagstone steps.
“Nestle, wait up!” Annie turned to Ethan. “I’ll be right back.” Feeling silly, she charged after her young cousin. To Annie’s further embarrassment, Nestle simply wrenched open Al’s front door without knocking and slammed it closed behind her. Annie remained outside, a trifle baffled by Nestle’s behavior. The door immediately opened again, and Al looked out, regarding her pleasantly.
“Hi, Annie, come in.”
Shaking her head, Annie spotted Nestle inside, already curling up on Al’s couch with a book. “I can’t. I’m in a hurry. I just wanted to thank you for watching Nestle on such short notice. I should be back around four.”
“It’s no problem; Nestle and I are great skating partners,” he insisted, glancing back at Nestle.
“She’s going out with that dumb ‘ol Ethan!”
“Well, I have to go.” Whirling around, Annie made a quick exit, anxious to get back to the Graystone.
It was past seven when Ethan pulled up in front of the Aldridge home again, with Annie basking in the exhilaration of a beautiful day. He had taken her to the coast where they had walked for miles along the stretching shoreline, dining on fish and chips from a little stand by the marina while they talked endlessly about hopes and dreams.
Annie glanced over at Al’s house a trifle uneasily. It was dark now, but Gregory was obviously home; the Graystone’s lights were on. “Well, I should go in.”
“All right.” Ethan smiled, relieved that all was right between them. His eyes glowed with a tenderness that seemed to pierce her innermost soul. “I’ll…I’ll see you tomorrow.” He kissed her lightly several times on the lips and she felt breathless.
Book Cover https://everywritersresource.com/selfpublished/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/rosesindecember.png
Genre Fiction
Author Website
http://www.rlmosz.com/