I love the cover. Thanks to design artist Diana Carlile for this beautiful cover. Visit her blog to see her work.
Sarah Lawson's fiancé Logan Miller died in Afghanistan. She
receives a text from a war buddy, Brandon Perdue, who wants to meet and deliver
a message from Logan.
Physically and emotionally scarred, Brandon values Sarah's
friendship. In time Sarah finds
herself attracted to him and wants their relationship to deepen, but he
fears she's projecting her feelings for Logan on to him.
Excerpt:
“I’m
sorry, mister. I didn’t mean nothing bad about what I said.”
“I
know you didn’t, young man.” Would he ever get used to his changed voice? The
heat and gasoline fumes had permanently damaged his vocal cords. “No offense
taken. I realize my face is hard to gaze upon, especially by someone so young.”
He
shuffled his feet. “Ah, you don’t look so bad.”
Brandon
couldn’t hide his grin, though his mouth twisted in a grotesque way when he did
so, but the kid didn’t flinch. “That’s mighty kind of you to say.”
“Was
you in the war?”
He
cleared his throat. “Yes, I was.”
The
boy hung his head. “I’m sorry.” He looked up giving Brandon a clear view of his
innocent brown eyes. He chewed on his lip a minute. “Can I give you a hug?”
Tears
stung Brandon’s eyes and a knot formed in his hoarse throat. “I’d love a hug,
especially from a fine young man such as you.”
The
child launched himself at Brandon and two skinny arms squeezed his neck tight.
Brandon hugged him close, shut his eyes, and breathed in the little boy smell—a
mixture of soap, dirt, and chocolate milk.
Brandon
released him. “Thank you. That hug was better than an ice cream cone.”
“Really?”
“You
bet. Now run along and tell your mom we’re square.”
He
grinned, waved, and ran to the door where his mother waited. Brandon nodded to
the woman. She smiled and mouthed “Thank you.”
He
watched them cross the street, heat radiating off the pavement. His heart
ached. How he’d love to have a child or two, but there was little chance of
that now. With his ugly facial burns, no woman with sight would marry someone
with his horrid scars.
I hope you'll order your copy of Wounded Hearts and please leave a review when you've finished reading. I value your opinion.
Happy Reading and Writing!
Linda, this looks wonderful and exciting. And your website is one of the best I've seen. You are a girl of many talents, and a good friend. God bless.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Reba! I enjoyed writing Wounded Hearts as different for me. And thank you on the website. Mine became out of date and I couldn't make many changes on it, so had to update with a new template. I do so value your friendship.
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