Unwrapping a Review of TO LOVE A DUCHESS, an All For Love novel by Karen Ranney

I have been reading Karen Ranney’s exceptional historical romances for years but TO LOVE A DUCHESS took me by the heart and wrung me out. Emotion is something we enjoy in romance…it’s one of the main reasons we read it...TO LOVE A DUCHESS gives it to us in spades. This first book in the new All For Love Trilogy is a great start and I can’t wait to see what comes to us in the next two.

***print copy provided by author and in return, I am sharing an honest and unscripted review in thanks. 

Blurb for TO LOVE A DUCHESS:

From New York Times Bestselling Author Karen Ranney comes the first book in a royally romantic and deeply emotional new series about taking risks and allowing the power to love satisfy the questions of the heart...

Undercover as a majordomo, spy Adam Drummond has infiltrated Marsley House with one purpose only—to plunder its mysteries and gather proof that the late Duke of Marsley was an unforgivable traitor to his country. At the same time, Adam is drawn to a more beguiling puzzle: the young and still-grieving duchess—a beauty with impenetrable secrets of her own. For Drummond, uncovering them without exposing his masquerade will require the most challenging and tender moves of his career.

That a servant can arouse such passion in her is too shocking for Suzanne Whitcomb, Duchess of Marsley, to consider. Yet nothing quickens her pulse like Drummond's touch. It's been two years since the duke lost his life in a tragic accident—and even longer since she's been treated like a woman. But when Drummond's real mission is revealed, and the truth behind Suzanne's grief comes to light, every secret conspired to tear them apart is nothing compared to the love that can hold them together.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Suzanne Whitcomb, the Duchess of Marsley, lost her husband in a tragic accident and since that day, she has simply been making it through each day, surviving. She feels no joy, no inspiration in living until a new man enters her life—her new majordomo. For the first time in her life, she feels as though she exists. He listens to her, hears her opinions, and when her story comes to light, believes her. As a companion, he makes her feel less alone but as a man, he awakens something in her she’s never experienced before. But she’s a duchess and he, only a servant.

Adam Drummond is a spy. He is a member of the Silent Service. Growing up in Glasgow was hard so as a boy, he joined the army which provided him with food, safety, and place where he could feel he belonged. Still his life wasn’t easy even as his career was successful. A decorated hero, he obtained the rank of Lieutenant. But then grief visited him in the form of losing his wife in a truly horrible attack. Now as member of an exclusive part of the War Department, he has been given the mission of gathering proof that the late Duke of Marsley was a traitor to his country. Going undercover as the majordomo in the home of a man he despised in life proves to be one of the most difficult assignments of his career. Positive the duke was guilty, he knows it’s his grieving duchess who will pay the ultimate price and now Adam is torn between his duty and his growing affection for the beguiling and puzzling widow. How can such a lovely, deserving of better woman grieve so desperately over such a horrible man as the Duke of Marsley?
More so, how can he ever leave her once his mission is done? A lowly boy from Glasgow can never have a duchess.

I loved this story, I inhaled this story. It was an emotional heart-breaker from the start. The depth of emotions these two lived with was so incredible that I worried neither would ever open up to the other but when they did, the journey to falling in love and their eventual HEA was worth the perils.

Tragedy, history, secrets, along with twists and turns, danger, suspense, and the determination of these two extraordinary characters, Suzanne and Adam, create a compelling, page turning experience that makes the ending all the sweeter. This is now my favorite Karen Ranney read. She poured so much heart and sorrow into these two lovers that their attraction was a must or they would surely have been swallowed by their own deep sadness. Plus, Adam is now very high on my book boyfriend list. 

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a read where they become so wholly engrossed in the emotions of a story and the love lost then newly gained that they will sit down with a full box of tissues and not stop reading until they get their HEA. This is one of those reads. I can’t wait to see what the rest of trilogy brings us. Huzzah, Karen.

Happy Reading Everyone!

TO LOVE A DUCHESS, an All For Love novel by Karen Ranney, Avon Romance, available now in print and ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.

Don't forget to check out my debut romance!
Folks are loving it and I think you will too.

Unwrapping a Stop on the SECRET BURDENS by Suzanna J Linton Blog Tour with #Excerpt & #Giveaway

 SECRET BURDENS

Stories of Lorst #3
by Suzanna J Linton

A New Adult Fantasy

Available Now at

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

Secrets can heal — and destroy.

Jarrett failed everyone close to him.

In disgrace, he resigned his position as Captain of the Royal Guard and entered self-imposed exile in the Eastern Forests. As a common soldier, he fought the remainder of Marduk’s monsters.

A surprise summoning, though, brings Jarrett back to Bertrand. He finds Clara nearly bedridden from an assassination attempt. Tension between Lorst and Tier runs high. In need of someone she trusts, Clara appoints Jarrett Captain of the Seer’s Guard over his protests.

He searches for both her enemies and his sense of honor. However, his investigations threaten to expose secrets that could ruin them all and shake Lorst to the core.

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

EXCERPT:

Jarrett scrubbed himself with the long-handled brush. Satisfied that every part of him was sudsy, he stepped down into the cold pool. His breath caught at the icy water. It was almost too late in the season for outdoor bathing. The poplars ringing the spring wore the bright gold plumage of autumn. But being able to put his whole body in water, no matter its temperature, was really the last luxury allowed to him.

Besides, the cold water helped rid of him of a worry that had been crouching in the back of his mind.

Once rinsed, he climbed out and dried with a scratchy towel. He shivered as cold wind swept over his bare skin, raising goosebumps in its wake. The trousers he fumbled with nearly slipped out of his half-numb fingers.

“Sergeant?”

A soldier from the outpost stood at the rise over the spring.

“What is it, Walter?” Jarrett asked, pulling on his wool tunic. The warmth felt glorious against him. He ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair.

“The captain summons you, sergeant.”

“Tell him I’ll be right there.”

Walter saluted and walked away. Jarrett jammed on his gloves, pausing long enough to examine the mottled, scarred flesh of his left hand. Once again, the memory of the salamander’s scream echoed through his mind. He shoved on the glove and buckled on his sword.

During the walk to the outpost, the worry he’d been carrying since summer rose in his mind. And there was nothing to kill or a task to complete to help him ignore it.

Clara had not answered his letters. He wondered if she was angry with him for leaving, despite his best efforts to explain it to her. Stubborn woman.

The thick wooden walls of the outpost rose before him as he came up the path. It sat on the edge of Vernon’s Luck, a small town deep in the Eastern Forest. Not far away, Lord Stanley lived in his estate. From there, he ruled his small fiefdom. Jarrett had never met the man. Rumor had it that he was fair and honest.

As Jarrett passed through the gate, he nodded at the soldiers on guard duty. No one there recognized him as the former Captain of the Royal Guard. To everyone, from armorer to scullery maid, he was only Sergeant Jarrett and he thanked the Mother for small mercies.

It was bad enough that his own memory didn’t let him forget about his failures. He didn’t need other people reminding him.

After swinging by the barracks to drop off his toiletries, he walked into the big main building to the captain’s office. Jarrett knew men who loved to decorate their offices and sleeping quarters with every comfort. Captain Andrew worked out of a room stark in its simplicity.

A spacious desk, a table with chair by the window, a bookcase with battered volumes, and a series of cubby-holes bristling with rolled papers were the only items there other than the man himself. It looked almost incongruous against the deep red paint applied by its last occupant. Andrew, a large man with the shoulders of a bull, sat in the chair by the window, taking advantage of the brilliant sunlight. He held sheaves of paper: reports from patrols, no doubt. Jarrett saluted him.

Dropping them onto the table, Andrew saluted back. “You’re a lucky man, sergeant.”

“Sir?”

“I received an order to relieve you of duty immediately and send you to Bertrand as quickly as your horse can carry you. With it came this letter.” He held out a thick, folded letter.

The moment Jarrett touched it, he recognized the weight of the paper. It was the kind especially made for the Palace. The handwriting addressing it to him appeared familiar. He flipped it over and surprise lit through him. Clara’s seal, a star surmounting an eye, stared back at him.

“As of this moment, Sergeant Jarrett, you are relieved of all duty and are ordered to leave tomorrow morning. A caravan is going in that direction, so you’ll go with them.”

“The roads are quiet,” Jarrett replied. “More or less. I should be able to make the journey on my own.”

“Maybe so, but it’s never a good idea to tempt destruction. You’ve been a good soldier. I hate to see you go.”

“Did the orders say where I’m to report?”

“To the Lady Clara, with full rank of captain restored. That’s all the orders said. I assume details are in the letter. This is your copy of your orders.” He held out another folded piece of paper.

Jarrett took it. “I’ll miss risking my life in this damn forest, sir.”

Andrew snorted. “I’m sure you will. You may go. I’m sure you have plenty of packing to do.”

“Thank you, sir.” Jarrett saluted and departed, barely waiting for the captain to return it.

In the two months spent toiling and bleeding in the Eastern Forest, he had written Clara three letters. He knew it was odd. Normally, only very close friends, relatives, and lovers exchanged informal correspondence. However, after everything they’d been through together, Jarrett felt he’d earned the privilege. Besides, he’d left her still suffering from the after effects of her spirit journey. Surely letters full of the funny antics of soldiers would be welcome to a sick person.

However, none of his letters were answered. After the third one, he stopped trying.

Friends from among the Royal Guard, who occasionally wrote, said Clara was rarely seen outside her quarters. Her father died mere weeks after arriving at the Palace. Whether old age, a consequence of his long journey, or the sudden change in diet, no one knew for sure. And the betrothal between Clara and Emmerich still remained unofficial: the Council sat in deadlock over approving it. According to Jarrett’s contacts, King Precene of Tier wanted Emmerich to marry one of his daughters. Such a marriage made for a military and political alliance that could bring an end to centuries of war and uneasy truces. Half of the Council wanted to grasp at it while the other half supported Emmerich, mostly out of a desire to spite Tier.

Now with a letter in hand, Jarrett wasn’t sure what to think. He certainly didn’t expect concern and anticipation to turn his stomach inside out.

Privacy not being in abundance in the barracks, he found a measure of it in the outpost’s chapel. Only a few of the more devout of the servants and soldiers ever went there. He entered the narrow room, to find it occupied only by the statue of the Mother at her spinning wheel, with the Child standing by her knee.

Jarrett sat in a pew in a far corner, by a stained glass window. Red and blue light streamed over the worn, dark wood. He broke the letter’s seal and unfolded it.

Jarrett,

Bertrand is as alive and bustling as the day you left. The Palace prepares for winter. Bruin says it’s still weeks away. The harvest festival will be soon and it’s all my maidservants can talk about. Mistress Catriona has begun making her amazing apple and pumpkin turnovers. She asks me about you but I can’t tell her anything.

I’ve written letters but have received no reply. If you suffered misfortune, I’m sure I would have been informed, so I can only conclude that you’re too busy killing monsters and stealing pastries from the outpost kitchens.

Emmerich granted me the temporary ability to issue military orders. Please don’t be angry that my first one was to bring you back. Don’t dawdle. I have a task that requires your immediate attention.

Your friend,

Clara

As Jarrett folded the letter, he wasn’t sure what to think or feel.

First, the letter was little better than a note and it left him feeling underwhelmed. After two months, he thought there would be more to say. Secondly, it didn’t explain why no one saw her outside her rooms or if she’d recovered from her illness. It certainly didn’t explain why she wanted him back, given what she knew about his leaving. Thirdly, it only strengthened his concern.

She really had written him. How could Lady Clara’s letters become waylaid? Despite the monsters, letters and packages flowed freely. He certainly hadn’t missed any from his friends. Missives from a noble of Clara’s prominence would have higher priority. In fact, they would come through with the Royal Messenger, who visited the outpost once a week, while Jarrett’s regular correspondence ran through the merchants. Suspicion arose but he wasn’t sure who to direct it toward.

Instead of making him feel better, the note only brought a new chill to his spine.

 

 

Other books in the Series:

  

About the Author:

Suzanna J. Linton was born in Charleston, SC but grew up in rural Orangeburg County. At age eight, she tried to read The Secret Garden by herself. After following her mother around for a day, asking questions about the Yorkshire accent, she gave up, but that didn’t deter her in developing a deep appreciation for books and the worlds to which they open. A few years later, she wrote her first poem, which eventually led her to try writing fiction.

In 2002, she went to the summer program at the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, where she refined her poetry and wrote her first decent short story (before this, she mostly wrote novels along with her poetry). In 2003, Suzanna began attending Francis Marion University, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in English.

Today, she continues to live in South Carolina with her husband and their menagerie of animals.

You can read more about Suzanna and her current projects at suzannalinton.com.

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon

TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the release of SECRET BURDENS by Suzanna J. Linton, we’re giving away a $25 Amazon gift card!

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:  Open internationally. One winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR.  Giveaway ends 7/27/2018 @ 11:59pm EST. Pure Textuality PR is responsible for the delivery of the prize(s). Limit one entry per reader and mailing address. Duplicates will be deleted. 

CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

 This promotion is brought to you by Pure Textuality PR.

Unwrapping Release Day for SEEKERS OF THE PAST by Amy Valentini with #Excerpt

SEEKERS OF THE PAST

A Seekers of the Past Novel

by

Amy Valentini

Available NOW at

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords
iBooks

Introducing a series like no other—the Seekers of the Past series will take you on a journey where the past meets the present and love lives forever.

Seeking the Past...

Emma Wells has uncovered clues that might prove an old family tale as being true. Strange things lead her to question whether her grandfather’s death may not have been an accident and goes in search of something worth killing him for buried on her property. When she asks an old friend to assist, the man who comes in his place is the last person she ever wanted to respond to her call for help.

Seeking a Second Chance…

Sam Martinelli has been hoping for a reason to get close to the woman he still loves since he destroyed their relationship five years ago. His foolish actions drove her away then, but now he’s hoping his expertise as well as time working with her allows him another chance.

Uncovering Secrets...

When Emma’s suspicions prove to have substance, she convinces Sam to help her even if he still carries doubts. Being with him again, she begins to question her heart and past as well as her foolish pride. When things take a dangerous turn, Emma realizes she must trust the man she trusts least, especially when the past collides with the present and the truth of it all is uncovered.

Be sure to add SEEKERS OF THE PAST to your Goodreads shelf

Excerpt:

Upon returning from the Jeep with more supplies, Emma discovered Sam digging dirt away from a fallen tree blocking part of the entrance to the tunnel. She noticed he’d removed his shirt and tossed it over a nearby bush. Dressed only in his denim jeans, which hung enticingly low on his slim hips, his muscles worked beneath smooth skin now shiny from the sweat he’d worked up with his exertion. The sight of his lean, muscular body took Emma’s breath from her for a moment. She stood at the edge of the clearing, holding the gear she’d retrieved from the Jeep. Frozen to the spot, she knew she was staring at him but couldn’t seem to tear her eyes from his broad shoulders, and arms as he worked. Her breathing had become even more ragged the longer she stood there, but she couldn’t seem to regain her thoughts. Even the weight of the gear didn’t seem to bother her anymore. She licked her suddenly dry lips.

As if he sensed her presence, Sam suddenly stopped his work, turned toward her and smiled. He rested his hands on the top of the long handled shovel. She watched his muscles relax in his shoulders and arms. Lifting his right hand, he swiped the back of his arm across his forehead.

“I hope you brought the water with you, kiddo. This is mighty hot work,” Sam said, his voice breathless from the strenuous work.

His words snapped Emma out of her trance. Setting the gear down on the ground near her feet, she reached into a thermal bag and pulled out a jug of cold water. She had made sure to freeze a couple of jugs, and chill the first of many she was sure they’d use. It was important to stay hydrated on any dig site, but even more so in the summer heat. She carried the jug over to Sam and reached it out to him, keeping a full arm’s length from him. Emma didn’t trust herself too close to Sam while he was looking so incredibly sexy.

Sam watched her and his dark brow furrowed. He leaned forward to take the jug. She wondered if she looked as uncomfortable as she felt. When he grinned and let out a small chuckle before taking a long drink of water, she knew he’d realized his state of half undress was making her uncomfortable. She wanted to kick him and herself. She hated still being attracted to him.

“It’s too hot to work with my shirt on. I hope you don’t mind my working without it?” Sam asked with an innocent smirk before lifting the opening of the water jug to his lips once more.

While taking another long drink of water, he wasn’t very neat about it and she felt herself scowl wondering if he was deliberately spilling water out of the sides of his mouth so it trickled down over his bare chest to his tight abdomen, and onto the legs of his jeans. Emma watched every trickle of water as it slid down Sam’s body and hated wanting to lick every drop from his skin. She could feel a flush of heat race over her body starting at her cheeks and rushing right down to that deep place buried between her legs. She watched as he finished quenching his thirst, lowered the jug, and wiped his mouth on the back of his arm. Of course, he did nothing to wipe away the droplets of water, which lingered on the mat of curly dark hair at the center of his broad chest. The drops slid down to travel along the line of hair, which snaked across a washboard belly before disappearing into the top of his jeans hanging entirely too low on chiseled hips. Emma thought her knees were going to buckle.

In an attempt to get her mind off Sam’s body, she turned her attention to the tunnel. “So, Martinelli, do you think this might be the old slave tunnel used by escaping slaves, or not?”

She noticed him watching her and hoped he thought the flush of pink on her cheeks was from carrying the supplies. She also hoped he wouldn’t notice how her voice shook because of her breathlessness when he moved closer to her. She tried not to inhale his masculine scent accentuated by his perspiration.

Lord, help me! If he took her in his arms right this moment, she was sure she would give herself over to him without hesitation.

When he turned his back on her to face the opening of the tunnel, she nearly sighed with relief. He put his hands on his hips, and took a deep breath before exhaling.

“Emma girl, I do believe this is it,” he said, breaking a branch off the fallen tree he’d been working on clearing when she returned.

“I knew it. I just knew it,” Emma exclaimed joining Sam at the opening. Having totally forgotten her discomfort over his state of undress, she came to stand beside him and almost hugged him with the excitement of the find. Discovering something like this was more powerful even than lust. “When do you think we can go in?”

—SEEKERS OF THE PAST by Amy Valentini

I hope you all will read SEEKERS OF THE PAST and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. I’ve added a sneak peek at book two in the series, FOR THE SAKE OF HONOR, at the end to give you an idea of how this series will proceed. I’m very excited about it, and I hope you will be too.

Happy Reading Everyone!

SEEKERS OF THE PAST, a Seekers of the Past novel by Amy Valentini, indie published, available now in print and ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and wherever digital books are sold.

 

Unwrapping a SEEKERS OF THE PAST by Amy Valentini Character Interview Promo

Introducing a series like no other—the Seekers of the Past series will take you on a journey where the past meets the present and love lives forever.

Seeking the Past...

Emma Wells has uncovered clues that might prove an old family tale as being true. Strange things lead her to question whether her grandfather’s death may not have been an accident and goes in search of something worth killing him for buried on her property. When she asks an old friend to assist, the man who comes in his place is the last person she ever wanted to respond to her call for help.

                             

Seeking a Second Chance…

Sam Martinelli has been hoping for a reason to get close to the woman he still loves since he destroyed their relationship five years ago. His foolish actions drove her away then, but now he’s hoping his expertise as well as time working with her allows him another chance.

Uncovering Secrets...

When Emma’s suspicions prove to have substance, she convinces Sam to help her even if he still carries doubts. Being with him again, she begins to question her heart and past as well as her foolish pride. When things take a dangerous turn, Emma realizes she must trust the man she trusts least, especially when the past collides with the present and the truth of it all is uncovered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited that my debut romance, SEEKERS OF THE PAST, is releasing everywhere next week on July 10^th. I hope you’ll all give it a try in either digital ebook or print version. This series is going to take you on a journey into a family’s history in search of the answer to a question first asked in SEEKERS OF THE PAST. Sam and Emma are those Seekers of the Past. I hope you’ll enjoy the adventure, the romance, and of course, the happily ever afters.

In the meantime, I’d like to introduce you to the hero of SEEKERS OF THE PAST, Sam Martinelli.

When I first conjured up Sam, I gave him several other names until I realized

how much he reminded me of one of my favorite actors—Sam Elliott. I knew right away that he had to be named Sam and it turned out to fit him perfectly. I hope you’ll agree.

I asked Sam - Sam Martinelli, not Sam Elliott - to join me here today to talk a little bit about his history with Emma. At least, I hope he’ll open up to us about her. They have had a troubled time together, and for the past five years been separated. Perhaps we can get him to open up to us and tell us how he feels about her.

I hope you’ll make him feel welcome. So without further ado, please help me welcome, Dr. Sam Martinelli to Unwrapping Romance…

A tall, dark-haired man with a mustache and a bit of scruff on his jaw enters the room, wearing a light gray T-shirt, with the letters U – V – A across the front, a pair of jeans that fit him just so, and athletic shoes that have seen better days. With a smile, he extends his large hand to me and a little bit of me suddenly fan-girls when his honey-colored eyes framed by long dark lashes sparkle, and he gives me a sexy wink.

Amy: [taking his warm hand] Dr. Martinelli, welcome to Unwrapping Romance. It’s a pleasure to have you here today. Please, have a seat.

Sam:  Please Amy…you know you can call me Sam. After all, you and I are already very well acquainted.

[As if his deep voice, laced with a southern drawl, hasn’t already captured my attention, he leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek. I think my knees wobble a bit]

Amy: [chuckling] This is very true but I want everyone to know that you carry a title as a Doctor of History and Archaeology at the University of Virginia.

Sam takes a seat across from me and squirms a bit in his chair while he runs his long fingers through his thick wavy dark hair.

Sam:  I appreciate that, darlin’, but that’s my everyday life. I believe you asked me here today to talk about another Doctor of Archaeology.

Amy:  Well, yes…I did want to talk to you about Dr. Wells. If you’re willing, that is?

Sam shifts in his chair again and leans back. With an audible sigh, he smiles and nods.

Amy:  I know this is a touchy subject since you two parted under rather adverse conditions.

Sam:  Adverse! [laughing]

I’d say adverse is a good descriptor for her walking in on me in bed with another woman. To say she wasn’t happy about it would be an understatement. I’m lucky she didn’t rip the hair out of the blonde I was with, and didn’t cut some important parts off me with her favorite and scary looking knife she carries strapped to her leg when she’s working a site.

Amy:  Oh my…well, can you blame her?

Sam scowled, ran his fingers through his hair again and sighed.
He’s obviously uncomfortable with that idea.

Amy:  So tell me about her, Sam. You will be seeing her again soon. Isn’t that true?

Sam:  [smiling] Yes, I will. Of course, she doesn’t know it yet but I’ll heading to her family farm in a few days. She wanted our old friend, Dr. Walt Bingham to come but he’s recovering from a medical issue and so has asked me to go in his place. I will tell you this…I don’t expect a happy welcome.

Amy:  Then why go? Why not just have Dr. Bingham tell her he can’t come?

Sam:  [chuckling] Because I want to go. I want a chance at making things right between us. I admit it. I screwed up five years ago. Not only that night…you see, I got really drunk after her father’s funeral because I was hurting too even as I knew she was hurting. Only when I offered to comfort her, she told me to go away. That hurt. I didn’t intend to get drunk, and certainly didn’t intend to pick up one of the coeds from the university. She was just there and offered me a ride home. I hadn’t even thought I had drank that much but I was really out of it by the time we got back to my apartment. I honestly barely remember getting home much less what happened after that. I do slightly remember Emma coming in, standing in the doorway, and seeing the pain in her eyes. Then everything went black.

Amy:  Did you go to her the next day and apologize? Beg her even.

Sam:  That was my second mistake. I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined it in my drunken state or it had actually happened…any of it actually. When I woke in the morning…with a killer hangover, by the way…I was alone. It wasn’t until I sought her out later in the day that I found out from her roommate that Emma had left town. She’d accepted a dig out of country. I wasn’t even sure about that until much later when my friend, Walt, filled me in. Her roommate told me all about her walking in on me with this girl. Seriously, I didn’t remember much of anything about the night before.

Amy:  Don’t you think she’d have understood that, if you had explained?

Sam:  I tried. Once I found out where she was, I tried contacting her. She wouldn’t take my calls. She blocked me on email and text. I was at a loss as to how to make things right. After my obligations at the university were done that school year, I considered traveling to Central America and just showing up at the site, but then Walt told me she had a new guy in her life. I was done. I had blown it big time and knew if she wanted me in her life, she would’ve let me explain.

Amy:  So why do you think she will be willing now?

Sam:  [laughing aloud] I don’t. She’s liable to throw me off the property or even have me arrested for showing up, but when I went to her grandfather’s funeral with Walt…well, I stayed back so she doesn’t know I was there…but I watched her. She still needs me, I know it. She was alone…no guy there to comfort her so I’m hoping she’s still single.

Amy:  Well, Sam, hope can carry you far especially when you lead with your heart. Do you still love her?

Sam:  Oh yeah! More than life itself. There is no one else for me and there hasn’t been a day since she left that I haven’t thought about her. I can only help it’s been the same for her.

Amy:  Well, I’m crossing my fingers for you, Sam. I believe in true love and if you two are meant to be together, it will happen. You have to believe and take a chance. Nothing worth having is easy but if you give up, you’ll never know.

Sam:  Kind of like you finally making the leap into publishing and sharing our story with your friends, right?

Amy:  [laughing] Yep, exactly like that, Sam.

Sam leans forward, rests his strong looking forearms on his denim-clad thighs and grins at me with a sexy and inquisitive lift of one dark eyebrow.

Sam:  So…are you going to clue me in on whether or not I succeed with Emma?

Amy:  [laughing] Sorry. No can do, Sam. If I do that, it will ruin the story for everyone now…won’t it?

Sam:  I guess you’re right. Besides, it would probably take all the fun out of it too. Right?

Amy:  Most definitely. Trust me when I say you’re both in for an adventure.

Sam:  I like the sound of that. [Laughing]

Coming to his feet and his full height, he takes my hand and pulls me to stand in front of him. I have to look up and trust me, that’s no hardship.

Sam:  Thank you, Amy.

Then he pulls me into a big bear hug and I envy my heroine, Emma Wells, her good fortune that this man loves her so and is willing to fight for her one more time.

When he leans away, he smiles down at me.

Amy:  I wish you great luck, Sam, and thank you for coming to talk with us. It’s been a delight and I’ll just say that if Emma doesn’t want you, you just come on back and see me.

Sam laughs, presses a kiss to my cheek then releases me.

Sam:  I’ll keep that in mind, darlin’. Have a good one and I hope all of you will read my dear friend’s story about my Emma girl and me—especially me, most likely making a fool of myself. I believe Amy even has a chance for a couple of you to win a copy of the story. Isn’t that right?

Amy:  It is, Sam, it is. I know you have to get back to pack for your trip to see Emma so I’ll let you go but please, I hope you will come back and visit again. Maybe next time, Emma will be with you.

Sam:  From your lips to the gods’ ears. Have a good one. Bye y’all.

[Sam waves as he heads out the door, closing it behind him as he leaves]

Amy:  If Emma is smart she won’t turn that one away, don’t you think?

Well, Sam mentioned about my having a couple of copies for two lucky people and he’s absolutely correct. I haven’t held a giveaway in a very long time but there is no more appropriate opportunity than the debut of my first romance novel, SEEKERS OF THE PAST, the first in the series by the same name. So on to the giveaway and its rules.

GIVEAWAY

Two Signed Print Copies of

SEEKERS OF THE PAST by Amy Valentini

Cancelling this GIVEAWAY
because of lack of interest. Please see Unwrapping Romance's FB page 
for another chance to win. Thanks!

Have a great day and Happy Reading Everyone!

SEEKERS OF THE PAST, a Seekers of the Past novel by Amy Valentini, indie published, available for pre-order now and releasing on July 10, 2018 in ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobobooks, and Smashwords.

The full-length print version, 394 pages, is available now at Amazon.

If you would like your purchased print copy signed, please contact me for suggested instructions. I’d love to sign it for you.

Don't forget to add SEEKERS TO THE PAST to your Goodreads shelf as well.