A soldier, a Malinois, and a stuntwoman walk onto a TV set . . .
Former Special Forces operator Sergeant Crew Gatlin takes everything in stride, even the career-ending incident that separated him from the Army, half a leg, and his beloved working dog, Havoc K027. Putting his life back together and lying low, he takes a job with A Breed Apart and is unexpectedly reunited with Havoc. It’s too good to be true—and the proof is in their first assignment: to work as a K-9 team for a television drama in Los Angeles. Miffed at being relegated to TV fodder, he’s willing to pay the price when he sees the stuntwoman.
Being a stunt double allows Vienna Foxcroft to fulfill her acting dream—with a side of MMA—and stay out of the limelight. The same one that plagued her childhood and put her through a nightmare scenario. Now, her tight-knit stunt team are the only ones she trusts. Then in walks Mr. Mountain-of-Muscle and his tough-as-nails dog, and Vienna has a bad feeling her life is about to turn upside down.
Ticked as they head overseas for a location shoot in Turkey, Crew guts it up—after all, he has Havoc again. Okay, and yeah—Vienna is going, too. When an attack sends the cast fleeing into the streets of Turkey, Vienna must face the demons of her past or be devoured by them. And Crew and Havoc are tested like never before.
Experience the high-octane thrill ride that is the first book in the A Breed Apart: Legacy series.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Havoc by Ronie Kendig allows readers to get a three for one: a great plot, great characters, and a heroic dog named Havoc. This book is very appropriate since the 9/11 remembrance just passed.
The story opens when former Special Forces operator Sergeant Crew Gatlin had his career ended after his leg was blown up from an IED. Returning to the States he was separated from his working dog Havoc K027. Putting his life back together and lying low, he takes a job with A Breed Apart and is unexpectedly reunited with Havoc. Their first assignment is to work as a K-9 team for a television drama in Los Angeles. Miffed at being relegated to TV fodder, he’s willing to pay the price when he becomes infatuated with the stuntwoman.
Being a stunt double allows Vienna Foxcroft to fulfill her acting dream—with a side of MMA—and stay out of the limelight. Now, her tight-knit stunt team are the only ones she trusts after being assaulted by a former beau. Crew and Vienna form an instant attraction but are in denial until they are pushed together after a terrorist attack on location in Turkey. Havoc, Crew, and Vienna will have their wits and physical abilities tested like never before. This story has it all: banter, romance, action-packed pacing, and readers will not want to put it down.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series, story?
Ronie Kendig: From the first series that I wrote over a decade ago. They both are called “A Breed Apart” but the new one is called “A Breed Apart Legacy.” Each book will have individual characters. The common thread is a ranch in Texas called the Breed Apart Ranch with former military dogs and handlers.
EC: Why the Shakespeare quote at the beginning of the book?
RK: I always look for a quote that fits the story, and that one did, obviously because of the dog’s name—Havoc.
EC: Can you describe Havoc?
RK: Havoc is a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois who was a military working dog, qualified in patrol and explosives detection.
EC: What about those puppies that have washed out-did you adopt one?
RK: I have two dogs, an English crème Golden Retriever named after Fort Benning. I also had a military working dog that had washed out when she was a year old. I think she was too sweet, and she had stomach issues. We call her “Drama” because she moans like a person but her real name is Aandromeda. She puts us through the paces. She is very intense because of her pre-training. She has no fears.
EC: How did you get information about the scene in the beginning regarding Afghanistan?
RK: I’ve been writing paramilitary suspense for over a decade, so it’s mostly experience and consuming a lot of reads/listens related to our military. And anyone who’s watched the news knows how the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan. Takes just a few moments of looking at organizations or individuals who are trying to help to learn the hard truths about that rapid-withdrawal fallout.
EC: What do you want readers to know about “A Breed Apart?”
RK: First, that it’s called A Breed Apart: Legacy, the second/spinoff series to my original A Breed Apart series. Second, that each book focuses on a different MWD and handlers facing tough circumstances, and third, that all subsequent books were written by authors I mentored and advised throughout the entire process.
EC: How would you describe Crew?
RK: He is funny, confident, audacious, witty, tenacious, disciplined, intense, direct, and protective. I think the cover and the book copy perfectly portray him. He’s been dealt a tough hand in life, but as a Special Forces operator, he’s learned to roll with the punches and get back up when something knocks you down.
EC: Why write books on military handlers?
RK: I wrote the first series more than ten years ago. Back then there were not a lot of stories. In Trinity a military working dog frees his handler while in captivity. Back then working military dogs was a fresh concept.
EC: How would you describe Vienna?
RK: She is surly, tough, fierce, defensive, determined, thoughtful, and an inner warrior. Vienna is one who isn’t going to wait for someone to defend her. She did that once and it turned out terrible for her. But she also isn’t so obsessed with being a strong woman that she won’t accept help when she needs it.
EC: What is the role of her being a stunt person?
RK: It had not been done much. I wanted someone to be an equal to Crew. But also, the characters are not high on feminism and low on masculinity. I made sure there was a balance.
EC: How would you describe their relationship?
RK: They push each other’s buttons, are competitive, consider each a puzzlement, was not looking for a relationship, both visibly affected by their past relationships, both realize they help each other belong, have fun, and are passionate. Crew and Vienna are both strong personalities who bring their own force and baggage to the table. They know how to work together when it’s needed. They’re perfect complements to each other’s lives and fill gaps that neither of them knew existed. She swore off guys after a terrible incident a few years ago, and Crew was happily focused on regaining his career after losing a leg and getting back to work as an K9 handler and Special Forces operator.
EC: How did you get information about the boxing scene between Crew and Vienna?
RK: It’s not boxing but rather Krav Maga, and that information came from my husband who trained in Krav, and I had some minor training in it to complement my taekwondo training.
EC: Please discuss your charity the MWDTSA.
RK: It’s not my charity. It’s the Military Working Dog Team Support Association and is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports MWD dog/handler teams by sending support packages, writing letters, but they do so much more than that. I adopted a Military Working dog, Volt, and had him for a little over five years. These dogs are intense, and the bond is a lot deeper than a normal pet dog. When my retired military working dog Volt N629 seized the Rainbow Bridge after a years-long battle with cancer, MWDTSA sent me a card and a Fifty/Fifty stainless steel etched tumbler with Volt’s EOW date. That tumbler is super special to me, and I’m so grateful for the way they touched me during my grief.
EC: Next books?
RK: My next one after HAVOC’s release is LADY OF BASILIKAS, a standalone space opera, coming May 2024 from Enclave Publishing. Beyond that, you’d need a TS-1 Clearance to access that intel.
The next book in this series is titled Chaos written by Steffani Webb. All the other books are written by other authors with completely different characters. I mentored the other authors, helped them brainstorm, and go through the editing process. I made sure the books had the ‘Ronie Kendig flavor.’
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE VENGEANCE OF SMAUEL VAL (Project 613 Series Book #2) by Elyse Hoffman on this Black Coffee Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Samuel Val is blessed with a loving family and a tight-knit community in his Jewish village of Khruvina. He dreams of becoming Khruvina’s Rabbi, but his dreams are crushed when his family is slaughtered by Nazi Officer Viktor Naden, the Beast of Belorussia.
With Samuel left as Khruvina’s only survivor, he joins the anti-Nazi resistance group known as the Black Foxes. Determined to avenge his family, he swears to hunt down and destroy Viktor Naden. Samuel’s mission of vengeance, however, is put on hold when he is forced to escort a Jewish refugee to a safehouse operated by Black Fox Ten, a high-ranked member of the resistance.
While on his mission to save a life, Samuel discovers that the Beast of Belorussia might be closer than he thought. All at once, Samuel is given the chance to destroy Viktor Naden…but the cost will be high.
Will Samuel sell his soul for vengeance?
Award-winning author Elyse Hoffman offers a heart-breaking and thought-provoking WW2 story.
THE VENGEANCE OF SAMUEL VAL (Project 613 Series Book #2) by Elyse Hoffman is a powerful WWII historical fiction novella that may be short but packs an emotional punch. This novella features a young man who lives to avenge his family against the SS Beast of Belorussia. This story is a novella that is a bridge between the first book, Fracture, and the yet to be published third book, Black Fox One. It is easily read as a standalone, but it does carryover a main character from the first book.
Samuel Val loves his family and community and dreams of becoming a rabbi in the Jewish village of Khruvina in Russia. Then the Nazis, led by the SS Officer Viktor Naden roll into the village on the sabbath, nail the temple doors shut and burn the community, including all of Samuel’s family. When he attempts to save his family members, he is shot, left for dead, but ultimately the only person in his village to survive.
Determined to avenge his family, he becomes a member of the resistance group known as the Black Foxes. As he is escorting a Jewish man to safety, he discovers the home of the Beast and must decide if vengeance for his family is worth his soul.
I loved the brilliant concept of this novella that takes you on a young man’s emotional and spiritual journey in just 110 pages. Amos, the escaping Jew is carried over from book one and is used as the opposing voice to the blind vengeance Samuel is determined to carry out. The back-and-forth moral debate is beautifully executed between Amos and Samuel, not only for the discussion of redemption vs. repentance, but also because you can understand both sides represented in the arguments. Ms. Hoffman’s writing paints a picture of this time and place in history while also being lyrical and informative at the same time. I cannot reveal Samuel’s ultimate decision, you will have to read the novella to find out for yourself. I am anxiously looking forward to the next book in this series.
I highly recommend this WWII historical fiction novella!
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About the Author
Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. She loves to meld WWII and Jewish history with fantasy, folklore, and the paranormal. She has written six works of Holocaust historical fiction: the five books of The Barracks of the Holocaust and The Book of Uriel.
Boston PI Sunny Randall investigates the dark side of social media in this exciting new thriller in the bestselling series.
Sunny Randall’s newest client, Blake, seems to have it all: he is an Instagram influencer, with all the perks the lifestyle entails—a beautiful girlfriend, wealth, and adoring fans. But one of those fans has turned ugly, and Sunny is brought on board by Blake’s manager, Bethany, to protect him and to uncover who is out to kill him. In doing so, she investigates a glamorous world rife with lies and schemes…and ties to a dangerous criminal scene.
When Bethany goes missing and the threats against Blake escalate, Sunny realizes that in order to solve this case, she has to find out exactly who Blake and Bethany are, behind the Instagram filters. While digging into their pasts, she is also forced to confront her own, as old friends—and ex-husbands—reappear. With a combination of old-school crime-solving skills and modern internet savvy, Sunny will stop at nothing to catch a killer.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Robert B. Parker’s Bad Influence by Alison Gaylin brings to life his character Sunny Randall. Those who have read Gaylin in the past know she loves to have twisted endings that are very intense. This story is not any different as she takes readers on a roller coaster ride.
In this story Gaylin includes many of Sunny’s supporting characters and attempts to bring her into the modern world. Bethany Rose hires Sunny to protect one of the most popular influencer couples. She offers the services of her influencer couple, Blake James, and Alena Jade, to help Sunny’s BFF Spike gain new customers for his bar and restaurant. Bethany is willing to do it on gratis if Sunny finds out who is sending threatening messages to the couple.
Sunny must come to terms with social media as she tries to figure out who is the stalker. The problem is she must get up to speed because she did not use any online forums. Now she uses it as a tool to research her clients. She is trying to understand how people can base their entire careers on letting strangers into their personal lives.
She can be stubborn at times and is trying to figure out where she stands emotionally.
This mystery/thriller is riveting, and the readers also can learn about the world of influencers, which makes the story even more fascinating.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why write a Parker character?
Alison Gaylin: I have been a longtime fan of the Robert B. Parker books, although I did not read any of the Sunny books. I was offered to write twenty pages and thought this is a terrific opportunity. I had this idea regarding influencers. A month later I heard I got the job and will be writing a second book.
EC: Did you change anything regarding style?
AG: I tried to stay as loyal to Parker as I best I could. His style is different than my style with more dialogue, shorter chapters, and I have a little more internal dialogue. I did try to make it as “Parkeresque” as I could. All the supporting characters of his was like being given a toolbox to make some furniture. There is her good friend Spike, her father, her ex-husband Ritchie, his mob dad, and her dog Rosie. Parker books had more humor than I usually put but I wrote more intensity, especially at the end.
EC: Did you make any imprint on the Sunny character?
AG: It will always be a little different when a woman writes the character. It is a pleasure to be the first woman to write Sunny. I think the way women move through the world and relate to other women is different. In a lot of his books, she called in for help, but in this book during the climactic scene I had her do it on her own.
EC: How would you describe Sunny?
AG: Funny, tough, smart, strong, loyal, but vulnerable. She never let’s go of relationships. She had this dog Rosie who passed away and she got the same kind of dog and named it the same. She does not love change very much. She has been divorced from her ex-husband for years but still has feelings for him and they still maintain a relationship. Sunny is a solid person. In her profession as a private investigator, she is reckless, observant, and calm. She is in her late thirties. She is very good with a gun.
EC: Jesse Stone, another character of Parkers’ is mentioned on the page but does not appear?
AG: Sunny dated him for a while when Mike Lupica was writing this series. But in the last book, Revenge Tour, he broke them up. I decided they probably did not have a lot of contact now. He is still writing the Jesse Stone books and he has Jesse involved with someone else so I cannot write an alternative reality.
EC: What was the role of Rosie?
AG: She is a great companion for Sunny. I love dogs so Rosie will be in a lot of the stories. In this book Rosie is the go between for Sunny and her client, Blake, who she is guarding. His attitude towards Rosie showed a side to Blake readers would not otherwise see, caring and vulnerable. He was deprived of owning a dog during his childhood.
EC: Blake, Athena, and Bethany represent what?
AG: They are involved with the influencing world, and I wanted to show how things are not as they appear to be on social media and Instagram. As the book progresses there is more of a filter that will change people’s perception of them.
EC: Why influencers?
AG: I find them fascinating because I see them as a con. Everything is filtered and photoshopped. They have created a character of who they hope to be, not who they are. The goal is to be aspirational, not real. There is an element of artificiality. I thought how Sunny as a single woman in her late thirties she would have a social media imprint. But she does not, and I wondered why. Although she does find it fascinating. I think she wonders if followers have a mind of their own and maybe thinks of influencers as the modern-day commercials/advertisements. The influencers are getting paid with a lot of free products. Commercials have lost their power because people fast-forward them, so influencers have taken their place. They have a whole different level of fame.
EC: Idea for the mystery?
AG: I saw a Netflix documentary on con artists. This inspired me for the book, the different layers to the characters. The essence of the book is that these people were someone who they did not appear to be.
EC: Where are you going with the Sunny/Ritchie relationship?
AG: I put it to the test by having him move to New Jersey, six hours away. It has been on again/off again. Will absence make the heart grow fonder or will she decide to be on her own and independent? She relied a lot on his family. I put more change on her.
EC: Next books?
AG: The next Sunny book should come out this time next year. There is no title. It might involve the Energy Drink king who goes missing and Sunny is hired by his father.
For my next book, the tentative title is We Are Watching, out next summer. A normal family is targeted by a cult like group of conspiracy theorists.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BIG LITTLE SPELLS (Witchlore Book #2) by Hazel Beck on this HTP Books Summer 2023 Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Summary
A smart, modern Rom-Com about a witch banished from her coven who seeks help from the only person who can prove she’s not a threat to witchkind—her annoyingly immortal childhood crush.
Rebekah Wilde was eighteen when she left St. Cyprian, officially stripped of her magic and banished from her home. Ten years later she’s forced to return to face the Joywood Coven, who preside over not just her hometown, but the whole magical world.
The Joywood are determined to prove Rebekah is a danger to witchkind, and she faces a death sentence if she can’t prove otherwise. Rebekah must seek help from the only one who knows how to stop the Joywood—the ruthless immortal Nicholas Frost. Years ago, he was her secret tutor in magic, and her secret, impossible crush. But the icy and frustratingly handsome immortal is as remote and arrogant as ever, and if he feels anything for Rebekah—or witchkind—it’s impossible to tell.Now, she’s no longer a child…and this time what sparks between Nicholas and Rebekah is more than just magic…
BIG LITTLE SPELLS (Witchlore Book #2) by Hazel Beck is an entertaining mash-up of paranormal romance and rom-com in the witchy world of St. Cyprian, Missouri. This second book in the Witchlore series picks up immediately where the first book, Small Town, Big Magic left the reader. I do feel for the best understanding of this book and the Witchlore world, it is best to read these books in order.
Rebekah Wilde is banished on what should have been the night of her acceptance into adult witch society. Ten years later, she is forced to return by the coven that banished her and while she is happy to be reunited with her older sister and friends, there is a dark plot underway to eliminate them all permanently.
Nicholas Frost is a dark and dangerous immortal who secretly tutored Rebekah before she left and while she had a schoolgirl crush on him at the time, she finds he is even more captivating now as an adult. While he remains arrogant and aloof, he does help Rebekah and her friends once more, but there will be a high price to pay.
This is an enjoyable new witchy world with good vs. evil, romance, family, forgiveness, and a good balance of dire and serious scenes vs. fun and enjoyable scenes. Rebekah is a heroine who has a lot of emotional tripwires to face as she returns home. I feel her character arc is believably written because even though she was gone for ten years, she falls back into old behavioral patterns when she returns home. Her romance with Nicholas has two broken souls accepting each other and their pasts, but there are also strong threads of sisterly love and the love between friends and family woven throughout this story.
I have enjoyed both books in this series so far and I am looking forward to following this coven of friends as they continue to fight for their town.
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Excerpt
Chapter One
You don’t have to be an exiled witch under threat of the death penalty should you cast the faintest little spell to feel the magic in Sedona, Arizona.
But it doesn’t hurt.
The full moon is shining, high and bright, making the red rocks glow outside my little bungalow. The air is soft and dry instead of swollen with Missouri’s trademark humidity, which I’m not sorry to leave behind.
If it was up to me, I would never have gone back to Missouri at all.
Because one thing exile has taught me is that magic is as much a habit as anything else. Unnecessary at best. Dangerous at worst. An addiction, in other words.
These days I am all about recovery.
Except for tonight. Tonight, admittedly, has been a bit of a relapse.
I breathe out and try to blow away the past while I do.
I’m standing out in my little yard, my head tipped toward the Arizona sky and my shoes kicked off so I can feel the earth and as many vortexes as possible. Because I’m a hippie, I tell myself. Just a run-of-the-mill Sedona hippie. Hair down, feet bare, crystals hanging all around like every other New Ager around here.
Not magic, just vibes.
But before I manage to fully ground myself here, I feel something grab me, like a huge, magical hook around the center of me—but inside out. It’s dark. Hard. Kind of slimy, really—and it makes my stomach heave.
This particular magical tug is a summons, yanking me out of the life I fought so hard to build, all on my own. Not for the first time.
Not even for the first time tonight.
Though this summons is harsher than the one before. Meaner.
I know instantly it’s not him.
Because he yanked me back to St. Cyprian too, but it didn’t hurt when he did it. It’s not supposed to hurt at all, and he made it feel almost good—
But I stop thinking about the maddeningly beautiful, impossible immortal witch who ruined my life once already, and start worrying about me.
There’s only one reason for me to be dragged back home against my will. And it’s been a long night already. My sister, Emerson, who I haven’t seen in person in a decade, formed her very own coven made up of our closest friends and one obnoxious immortal. Then, together, we all fought off a major, magic-induced flood that would have submerged the town of St. Cyprian and most of Missouri.
The final jerk makes Sedona disappear into a blur of red, then there’s a whooshing sensation while whispered words fill the air around me.
Rebekah Wilde, come before us, the voices command me.
And I’m back.
Right where I don’t want to be.
I’m standing outside a farmhouse across the river from my hometown. And instead of the terrifying wave of water and my sister ready to dive into the middle of it all like the first time I showed up here tonight, the river has settled down. The fight is over.
Or…maybe it’s only just begun.
Because a quick glance around shows me that Emerson is standing outside in the cool April night, looking like the fierce Warrior she is, her eyes blazing gold with all her newly rediscovered power. Jacob North, our old friend and a Healer—and, I think, my sister’s new love—stands with her and doesn’t look any worse for the intense healing he did when we came much too close to losing Emerson earlier.
Behind them is Zander Rivers, my cousin, looking uncharacteristically grim for a guy who used to make the role he was born into—a Guardian—seem a lot more fun than the name suggests. Next to him is Georgie Pendell, Emerson’s best friend, whose entire family has been witch Historians—and actual historians who run the town’s local-interest museum—as long as anyone can remember. And last but never least, Ellowyn Good. My best friend. And also the Summoner who helped Emerson contact me once Emerson remembered she was a witch, despite the Joywood spell that took those magic memories away from her for ten whole years.
Across from them stand all the members of the Joywood, the ruling coven based here in my hometown of St. Cyprian, MO. The authoritarian, bullying, small-minded coven that cheated me out of the life I was supposed to have.
Seven dictatorial witches I had no intention of laying eyes on again.
I feel a rush of a very old, too-dark fury inside me—but stop myself. It’s practically a reflex at this point. I don’t do outsize emotion or high drama anymore. I don’t do dark. That would lead directly to my death, and I’ve always been pretty clear about wanting to stay alive.
If I hadn’t wanted to live—my life on my terms—I would have stayed here. I would have let these petty Joywood tyrants wipe my mind the way they wiped my sister’s, taking away any hint of ever knowing magic.
I tell myself that I’ve forgiven them. I chant it inside me, not like one of the spells forbidden to me, but like a mantra. They were only doing their jobs, following their laws, as stupid as those laws might be. I forgive them because forgiveness is mine to give. I don’t need to carry the bitter taste of St. Cyprian and its ruling coven with me. I chose to leave all of this behind. I still choose it.
Something—not quite a shadow—moves in my peripheral vision, and I see him too. Nicholas Frost, the one and only immortal witch. Some people call him a traitor.
I call him all kinds of things and unlike most, have done it to his face. But now is not the time to air all my oldest grudges.
His gaze from halfway across a field makes everything inside me…change. Not so much that dangerous black fury any longer. This is something else. A different kind of heat.
I don’t want to acknowledge it. Or him. Especially not with this audience.
Even if, for a moment, it feels as if the two of us are all alone here.
I have to remind myself that we’re not.
I forgive you, I think at him, in my smuggest internal voice. The best of a decade of recovery programs right there. And even though I can’t—won’t—use a witch’s usual telepathic version of conversation, I suspect he hears me anyway. Because his dark blue eyes gleam.
From all the way across the tall grass.
“Rebekah Wilde,” booms a voice I recognize entirely too well, even though I haven’t heard it in a decade. Carol Simon, the Joywood coven’s Warrior and therefore the leader of…everything involving witches the world over.
I force myself to look at her, hopefully without my feelings all over my face, and decide that teenage me was right. Her frizzy hair really is unforgivable.
“You have been summoned here, to the site of your infraction, to answer for your offense,” she intones.
I finally take note of the fact that she and her cronies hauled me into this field, but not into the group of my friends and family who also infracted tonight. I’m standing halfway between them and the Joywood. As tempting as it is to think that’s just carelessness, I know better.
They don’t do careless.
I slouch where I stand, because even being across the river from my hometown makes me want to behave like the sulky teenager I was when I lived here. That’s what Carol and her buddies likely see anyway, so why not live down to their worst expectations? I’ve always been excellent at that.
I lock eyes with Felicia Ipswitch, the Joywood’s Diviner and my personal nemesis, and smirk a little. And just like that, it might as well be tenth grade when Felicia was the high school principal and I was a problem. A problem she thought she could solve with draconian detentions and the kind of punishments that would send human teachers to jail—but witch students heal up better.
Turns out I’m not over high school, which doesn’t really do a lot for the sullen peace and love vibe I’m trying to exude here.
I look away from that evil old hag to find Emerson looking at me like I’m an answer. That’s not unusual. My sister always thinks there is one. And better yet, that she can find it and implement it.
I know better, because I made my own way out in the world, relying on nothing and no one but me. I learned the hard way that life and the world often have no answers, no neat little bows. For anyone, witch or human.
I tell myself that it gives me great internal peace to accept this knowledge, and maybe it will, someday. I grit my teeth and think peace, please.
Especially when Carol starts to speak again. Peace, love, light, I chant inside me. No spellwork here. No witchcraft. Just words of power that anyone could use while anointing themselves in essential oils and rearranging their houses for better feng shui.
“I know you must think you did something big here tonight,” Carol is saying, as if she’s never heard anything dumber in her life. Her voice is so persuasive that I have to pinch myself to remember that no, we weren’t giggling over a Ouija board, pretending we weren’t pushing it while we clearly were. We actually fused together the way all the books say true covens should, fought some gnarly dark magic, and won. Almost at the expense of my sister’s life.
“But I’m afraid all you really did, Emerson and Rebekah, is break the terms set down before you when you failed your pubertatum.” She glances around. “And the rest of you broke several laws aiding them.”
The word pubertatum has not gotten any less obnoxious in the ten years I haven’t heard it spoken aloud. It’s an ugly Latin word for a coming-of-age ceremony where witches in their eighteenth year are required to demonstrate their powers so they might take their places in witch society. Pass the test and you answer a few questions to be herded into one of the seven witchkind designations. Warrior, Guardian, Summoner, Healer, Historian, Praeceptor, or Diviner.
Fail the test, like Emerson and I did, and you get to be a zombie or an outcast.
“I have power, Carol. You can’t deny that,” Emerson says, with her usual bouncy forthrightness, like she’s flabbergasted at the possibility that Carol would bother trying to deny such a thing. When it’s so obvious.
I really have missed my sister.
“You told me I had none.” Emerson points to me now. “You told us we have no power at all. You were wrong. And then, all this power inside me you said I didn’t have fought off your obliviscor.”
I expect rage. Carol has never been one for being told she’s wrong. Her mind wipe spell wasn’t supposed to have failed. But Carol surprises me.
She titters, and her cronies all laugh along with her. I remind myself that it’s supposed to make me feel wrong and stupid and vaguely humiliated. That’s what they do. Better to rule us by making us hate ourselves.
“And you’ve turned a simple testing error into some…nefarious plot? I do worry, Emerson, that fighting off the obliviscor addled your senses.”
“We just saved St. Cyprian and possibly all of witchkind, Carol,” my sister says, and not angrily. Just like she’s reciting facts, inviting Carol to come aboard. She even smiles. “You’re welcome.”
And I know hate is for the weak. Forgiveness is power. Blah, blah, blah.
But Carol Simon makes the case for blood feuds, forever. Especially when she rolls her eyes.
“We saved witchkind with no help from you,” Emerson continues, as if she doesn’t see any eye-rolling. Because she won’t give up. Emerson never, ever gives up.
Even when she should.
“As a concerned, dedicated St. Cyprian citizen who also happens to be chamber of commerce president, I have to wonder,” Emerson tells Carol. But she also casts an eye over the rest of them, these fixtures of St. Cyprian and my witchy past that I did not miss at all. Like Maeve Mather, the Joywood’s Summoner, who used to go out of her way to be mean to my grandmother. Just because she could. “Why, I’m asking myself, did the ruling body of all witchkind not only turn a blind eye to the obvious imbalance in our power source that’s been making the rivers rise so dangerously, but also fail to help us fix it? Why did we have to stop it?”
“I assume because you wanted attention,” Felicia says. It is a familiar sentence, meant to be pure condemnation. She used to use it all the time as a precursor to her nasty little punishments. My gaze moves across the dark field to find Ellowyn’s, and I can tell from my best friend’s expression that she’s remembering the same thing I am.
All of high school, basically. When Principal Ipswitch dedicated herself to what she called our reprehensible, attention-seeking behavior.
What amazes me is how little I’ve thought about high school since leaving Missouri. Deliberately. And tonight, it’s like I never left.
“I saw the darkness at the heart of the confluence myself,” Emerson says with a great calm I certainly don’t feel. Especially since I saw it too. That terrible, encroaching dark, eating the world whole. It had hunkered there where the three rivers meet, waiting malevolently. And then, tonight, it exploded. Emerson, with our help, destroyed it. My heart starts kicking at me again, a riot of panic, like it’s still happening.
“Are you accusing us of something?” Carol asks, and she’s scarily good at this. She sounds on the verge of laughter, yet somehow almost hurt. As if she cares deeply what Emerson thinks of her. Of them.
I worry this will work on my sister. Because the truth is, Emerson has no power here. She’s too honest, and this is politics. Power. It’s ego and control. Emerson is a lot of things I roll my eyes at all the time, but she’s never been ruled by ego or greed.
Not like these witches.
“I’m pointing out facts,” Emerson says, sounding patient now. My sister has never met a windmill she didn’t try to charge head-on. “And the facts are, we saved St. Cyprian. You could have helped us, Carol. But you didn’t.”
“Oh, Emerson.” Carol sounds sad. Legitimately sad, which would require emotions on her part. And I’m pretty sure velociraptors don’t have emotions. “Why would we deliberately choose not to help save the place where we live? How does that make sense?”
Emerson blinks. “You tell me.”
I want to give a short TED talk on gaslighting and master manipulators, but this is not the time. It’s still not clear whether this is an execution or not. Carol did mention infractions of the pubertatum rules, and last I heard, me using magic the way I did tonight is a capital offense. Emerson wasn’t supposed to be able to do it. I claimed I could do it, but was exiled because they said I had no real power—only the shameful, unsafe urge to use borrowed force. Either way, using witchcraft as an exile is about as forbidden as you can get.
I can always be counted on to rebel when it will do me the most harm.
There’s a part of me that wants to turn to Nicholas Frost, the only other being here who isn’t standing with a group. He’s the one who came up with the goddamned pubertatum back when the earth was young, or so they taught us in school. He is considered the first Praeceptor—the teacher of all teachers, but not in a safe little classroom way. Praeceptors in his day taught armies of witches, then wielded them.
But I know better than to look to him for help.
Looking at him at all is fraught enough when you were once a teenage girl with a teenage girl’s unwieldy crush. Those things are hard to vanquish.
“We saved St. Cyprian,” Emerson says again, as if saying it enough will get through to Carol when as far as I know, nothing has ever gotten through to Carol.
“Maybe you did save the town,” Felicia says, with her little sniff of disdain that I remember all too well. “But if you did, it was for your own gain and nothing more.”
I want to say that at least that’s better than doing it for attention, but I don’t, because I’m evolved as fuck.
My sister’s eyes narrow. And here’s the thing that most people don’t know about Emerson Wilde. She expends a lot of energy trying to convince the people around her to see the error of their ways. She embodies the notion that if you lead a horse to water in the right way, it really will drink.
But when she’s done, she’s done.
As her little sister, I know this better than anyone. So, I step in to stop the impending storm. “This seems straightforward to me,” I say, doing my best to sound as if all this carrying on is a waste of energy, and I low-key resent it. And as if I’m some kind of authority here. “Emerson has some magic. Let her take the test again.”
HAZEL BECK is the magical partnership of a river witch and an earth witch. Together, they have collected two husbands, three familiars, two children, five degrees, and written around 200 books. As one, their books will delight with breathtaking magic, emotional romance, and stories of witches you won’t soon forget.
BROKEN COWBOY (The Montana Men Book #1) by Jamie Schulz is the first book in a new cowboy western contemporary romance series featuring a strong, but struggling owner of a run-down farm and the broken drifting cowboy who wants to help and protect her. This is a steamy, emotional romance that kept me curled up reading from the beginning to the end.
Addie Malory completely changed her life and bought a farm. It turned into more work than she expected and when the help she has make unwanted advances she fires them. Now on her way to town, she finds a cowboy walking down the road and when she finds out he has work experience on farms and the rodeo offers him a job on her farm.
Cade Brody is drifting after being betrayed by his brother. When his truck breaks down, he is grateful for the ride and the offer of a job. Cade is instantly attracted to his new boss, but he also has a lot of emotional baggage. His protective instincts kick in when the farm is vandalized.
Addie and Cade wrestle with their building chemistry as Addie is being squeezed financially and Cade, while wanting to protect her, also must deal with his past if he wants to move forward.
Addie and Cade are dealing with so much baggage and yet they are able to let their relationship grow. While I would have liked a little more honest communication at times, they do move from friends to lovers at a believable pace even with the instant attraction. I liked that Addie was a curvy girl who found a man who appreciated her curves and made her feel beautiful. Cade is a hero who needed Addie and her love to begin to deal with his past and forgiveness. The sex scenes are explicit and smokin’ hot, but not gratuitous. All the secondary characters are well written, and I am looking forward to seeing them in the coming books in this series. The suspense sub-plot kept me guessing and I was surprised at the resolution.
I can highly recommend this cowboy western contemporary romance for an emotional and engaging HEA read.
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Author Bio
Jamie Schulz is a contemporary Western romance and dystopian cowboy romance author. She loves to write about heroes with vulnerabilities and strong, feisty heroines who are a match for the men they love. To her, every one of her stories, no matter how dark, must have a happy ending, and she strives to make them impossible to put down until you get there.
Jamie has been writing and making up stories for most of her life and hopes to one day reach the bestsellers lists. Her book Broken Cowboy won the Global Book Awards Gold Medal for romance and was a RONE Awards finalist. Jake’s Redemption—a full-length prequel to the dark, dystopian world of the Angel Eyes series—was also an award-winner in the Global Ebook Awards.
Cowboys, ice cream, and reading almost any kind of romance are among her (not so) secret loves. She balances her free time between reading her favorite romance authors—in genres ranging from erotica and dark romance to sweet historicals and contemporary romance—and spending time with those she is closest to. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her family and their fur babies, and she enjoys hearing from her fans.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SUDDENLY THIS SUMMER Anthology featuring Susan Mallery, Synithia Williams, and Stefanie London on this HTP Books Romance Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book summary, my mini book reviews, an excerpt from the the book, and the author’s bios and social media links.
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Book Summary
Nothing is sweeter than the first kiss of summer…
SAY YOU’LL STAY by Susan Mallery. Shaye Harper has sworn off men for good. But when she meets army vet Lawson Easley during a pit stop on the road to a fresh start, she’s drawn in by the quirky town—and the handsome stranger she can’t resist. Lawson knows there’s no place better than Wishing Tree. Too bad the woman he’s certain is “the one” is just passing through…unless he can convince her to give him and his hometown a chance at forever.
THIS TIME FOR KEEPS by Synithia Williams. Home to care for her ailing father, Michaela Spears is on a mission: reconcile with the one man she can’t forget. She broke his heart years ago, so when Khalil appears on her parents’ doorstep in his scrubs, she knows it’s her last chance. Khalil Davenport shouldn’t have taken the job as her dad’s home nurse, but he couldn’t resist her. Their timing was never right, but now can he trust that she’s home to stay?
BEST MAN NEXT DOOR by Stefanie London. For Sage Nilsen, coming back to her small Massachusetts hometown for a family wedding feels like high school all over again. Except Jamie Hackett has gone from charming boy next door to handsome best man. And sparks are suddenly flying between the popular guy and the so-called outcast. As the wedding gets closer, Sage finds herself on the edge of something unexpected—a second chance in the town she left behind…with the guy she’s never forgotten.
Authors: Susan Mallery, Synithia Williams, Stefanie London
ISBN: 9781335004871
Publication Date: August 22, 2023
Publisher: Canary Street Press
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
SUDDENLY THIS SUMMER Anthology featuring Susan Mallery, Synithia Williams, and Stefanie London is an enjoyable combination of three contemporary romances that are all great for a quick read and a heartfelt bit of romance. I started these stories and could not stop until I finished all three.
Say You’ll Stay by Susan Mallery is an introduction to the wonderful small-town of Wishing Tree. This story has Shaye Harper just passing through, but Lawson Easley knows she is “the one” and wants her to stay. I have read all the Wishing Tree books and they are just wonderful and always leave me with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart.
This Time for Keeps by Synithia Williams has Michaela Spears returning home when her father gets a kidney transplant determined to convince Khalil Davenport she is home to stay and wants their relationship to be permanent. This is a new to me author who wrote about finding the balance that is important in life and love. This is a spicier romance than the other two.
Best Man Next Door by Stefanie London has Sage Nilsen returning home for her sister’s wedding to the hometown she could not wait to leave. Jamie Hackett is the best man and was the only man Sage had ever wanted but could not have. This wedding may be the second chance both are looking for if they can let go of the past. I loved this romance so much even though it reminded me why I hated high school.
Overall, three well written novella length, delightful contemporary romances that are relatable and satisfying on every level.
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Excerpt
Best Man Next Door by Stefanie London
CHAPTER ONE
Before today, Jamie Hackett had thought he’d already faced death.
Like the time he dove off a cliff on a dare, plunging into the ocean with the speed of a bullet. Or
the time he’d come face-to-face with a territorial goose who’d gone apeshit at him for getting too
close to her goslings. Or when his car skidded across a patch of black ice in the middle of winter
and he’d narrowly missed crash- ing into a big oak tree.
He’d been cool as a cucumber, every single time.
But it turned out he hadn’t really faced death. Now that he’d confronted it for real, he understood
what it felt like.
Jamie glanced around the sterile white hospital hall- way, feeling weirdly disconnected from it
all. If some- one had told him he was floating in the air, watching everything happen from above,
he would have believed it. Giving himself a shake, he reached one hand to his opposite arm and
pinched himself. Hard. He winced from the pain.
Still alive.
But the quicker he was out of here the better.
His mom stood at the administration desk, her shoulders hunched. Exhaustion seeped into her posture and made her look even smaller than usual. When she turned to face him, he noticed her blouse was buttoned wrong and her curly ginger hair was sticking out in all directions like it always did when she didn’t have time to style it.
“Ready to go, hon?” She tried to smile, but her eyes were watery and the dark shadows circling underneath made her look hollowed out.
You did that to her.
He nodded.
“Your dad has gone to get the car so he can meet us out front.” She slipped her arm into his and held him close, her fingernails biting into his skin, as if she was worried he’d float away like a discarded balloon if she didn’t hold on tight enough. “No need to rush—we’ll walk slow.”
“You didn’t have to wait around. I could have gotten a cab,” he said quietly. He kept his gaze averted from the goings-on around him, not wanting to see the people being wheeled about and the elderly folk shuffling along, walking their fluid bags like strange, lifeless pets.
It freaked him out.
He was thirty-two for crying out loud. Thirty-two with his whole life ahead of him. With decades ahead of him.
“Jamie Hackett, if you think I would let my child come home from hospital in a cab then I don’t even know…” Her voice broke as she shook her head, still clutching him tightly. He could hear the tears she was holding back, companions of the ones she’d been shedding ever since she’d arrived at the hospital yesterday. “Of course we were going to take you home.”
There was no point arguing. Patty Hackett was an overprotective mama bear at the best of times, let alone when one of her own was hurt. Although really, aside from a few stitches in the back of his head and some chest pain that felt like a couple of boulders had been propped there, Jamie was walking away from this situation a lot better than he could have.
A lot better than what would have been if his best friend hadn’t saved him.
When they made it outside, Jamie sucked in as much air as his lungs would allow, and even though doing so burned, he had to clear the hospital smells from his nostrils. It was warm and sunny out, with a clear blue sky and not a cloud to be seen. The perfect early summer day.
Perfect like it had been the previous evening when he’d decided to get a good sweaty workout in. Perfect like when he’d jogged across the gym floor, warm sunshine streaming in through the windows and the high-quality shock-absorbent flooring cushioning his feet. Perfect like when his fists had sailed at the heavy punching bag, the repetitive pounding motion better than any form of therapy he’d found to date.
Perfect…until he’d almost died.
Jamie shook the dark thoughts from his head as his father pulled the family SUV up in front of the hospital’s pick-up area. His mom rushed forward to open the passenger side door for him.
“I can open the door myself, okay?” he said. He hated seeing her worry like this. Hated knowing that he caused it. “You don’t need to wait on me.”
“Just get in the car, James,” she sighed and shot him a look that told him there was no point arguing. It was easier to do what he was told. And if she was calling him by his full name, it meant she was a hair away from clipping his ear.
So he climbed into the car without another word.
“Son.” His father looked over to him with a crinkled brow. “Let your mother fuss. She needs it.”
Jamie nodded. “You’re right.”
His father turned to face the road as the back door opened and Patty climbed in, scrambling to hoist her small frame up into the giant SUV like she always did. The ride home was filled with rapid-fire questions from the back seat.
Why didn’t you tell us you were stressed out?
Should you be talking to a professional about your problems?
Is it happening again?
The last one made a weird acidic taste burn in the back of his throat. No matter how many years he put between himself and The Great Breakdown of his early twenties, he was frequently reminded that nobody would ever forget it happened.
Because when you were a world-class athlete, your failures didn’t only become gossip—they became lore.
“The doctor said you need to keep your stress levels down and take a break from work,” his mother relayed. “This could happen again. She said that panic attacks can be triggered by working too much and not getting enough rest, and—”
“I know, Mom. I was there.”
“We care about you, Jamie.” His father’s voice was gruff. “This isn’t about blame or trying to make you feel bad. You know that, right?”
Despite everything that had happened in the past, his parents had never once made him feel like he was to blame for what had happened…even if he himself had felt like a giant failure.
“Yeah,” he said. “I know.”
“And the doctor said we need to keep an eye on you for the next twenty-four hours to make sure there are no complications,” Patty continued. The car rolled smoothly along the highway, other vehicles passing them at a rapid pace thanks to his dad’s careful—read: slow—driving. “I got your sister to set up the spare bedroom at our place. And don’t bother protesting about going home by yourself because I won’t have it.”
Jamie glanced at his father, who simply shrugged as if to say, she’s the boss. Too right. Nobody was under any illusions about who was head of their household, that was for damn sure.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Mom. But what about—”
“Flash is staying at Clay’s house,” she said without letting him finish. “He said we could leave him there until you were ready to go home.”
Whenever Jamie wasn’t feeling himself, the first thing he wanted to do was to hang out with his dog. They really were man’s best friend. No doubt Jamie’s business partner, Clay Harris, would spoil him rotten with treats and belly scratches, so it wasn’t like he’d be sad having a sleepover.
Jamie watched the scenery roll along outside the window. Soon they were approaching Reflection Bay, the town where he’d spent most of his life—a town that wasn’t even big enough for its own hospital.
He’d driven along this road so many times he’d lost count, watching the silvery blue of the ocean flicker between patches of green and rugged cliff faces, the tourist-favorite red-and-white lighthouse rising up in the distance. It was the same as it had always been and yet…it felt different now.
Everything felt different.
Forty-eight hours after returning home from the hospital, Jamie was “discharged” from the Hackett Family Hospital. But not without needing to pass a rigorous interrogation from his mother. If someone had overheard the conversation, they might mistake Patty Hackett for an actual doctor rather than the elementary school art teacher she was.
But now that Jamie could taste the sweet air of freedom, he was happier than ever to be alive. Especially since he had been reunited with his canine best friend.
“Isn’t it glorious? The sun is shining. The birds are singing.” Jamie glanced down at his dog, Flash, who ambled with the kind of gait that could only be described as “walking under duress.” “Oh, come on, bud. It’s not that bad.”
The chunky fawn-and-white bulldog looked up at him with imploring eyes as if to say, please make it stop. Flash, named in the most ironic fashion, hated working out as much as Jamie loved it. In fact, it was somewhat of a local joke that the two fittest guys in town had adopted the laziest dog ever as the mascot for their gym.
But Jamie loved Flash with everything he had. The dog might not be able to move faster than a drunk snail, but he had a heart of gold. Flash was always happy to see Jamie, never judged him for working too long or for stressing out too much about his business, and loved nothing more than just hanging out. No expectations, no bullshit.
That was love.
The pair ambled along the street. His business, Reflection Fitness, sat right at the end of the main strip, on a corner. It never failed to make pride surge through Jamie’s veins to see what he and Clay had built together. Their goal had been to create a gym that catered to all the people in their small town, leaving no one to feel like they didn’t belong. Reflection Fitness had clients who were training for big goals like marathons and fitness competitions, as well as clients like Jamie’s grandpa—who was combating osteoarthritis with regular, low-intensity workouts—and Jamie’s favorite personal training client—a bubbly woman in her forties who’d decided to try weight lifting after years of thinking cardio was the only option for women. They had a trainer on staff who specialized in pre- and post-natal fitness and another who ran classes for seniors aimed at improving joint mobility. They had built the gym to be accessible for clients with mobility needs. It was important to both Jamie and Clay that everyone who came to the gym felt welcomed and catered to.
“Let’s get you inside where there’s some air-conditioning, huh?” Jamie looked down at Flash, who was taking each plodding step with great effort. To be fair to the dog, it was unseasonably hot for so early in the summer. “We’re almost there.”
Jamie turned the corner to access the gym from the back door, which led directly into the office he and Clay shared. He tried not to take Flash through the front if he could help it, in case anyone working out had asthma or allergies. But when Jamie got to the door and tried to turn the handle, he found it locked.
“Weird,” he muttered.
The back was usually open if Clay was working, which he should be, given the hour. But perhaps he’d stepped out.
Jamie tried unlocking it. Only…the key wouldn’t fit.
“What the heck?” He tried again. No dice.
He stared at the key, wondering if the knock he’d taken to the back of his head had done more damage than he’d realized. But no, it was definitely the right key.
Befuddled, Jamie walked Flash around to the front of the gym, where a sleek set of glass doors opened to a small reception area. The space was light and welcoming, with a big potted plant and a white couch in one corner. An old black-and-white photo hung on the wall, showing Clay and Jamie in their high school days, arms around each other—a tennis racket in Jamie’s hand and a basketball in Clay’s.
“Jamie!” The receptionist, Sara, brightened when she saw him. She wore a blue Reflection Fitness uniform polo shirt and her long, dark brown hair hung over her shoulder in twin braids. “How are you feeling?”
“Never better,” he replied breezily. “And thank you for sending those flowers to Mom’s place. That wasn’t necessary.”
“Everyone was thinking about you.” Her brow wrinkled. “We were all so worried when Clay told us what happened!”
Ugh, Clay. The guy had a big mouth.
“I told him to keep it quiet,” Jamie muttered. “In any case, I appreciate the gesture. Mom commandeered the flowers right away for her living room.”
Sara laughed. “That’s why I picked tulips. I had a feeling she would end up with them.”
Mama Hackett was a favorite among the staff since she often made oatmeal cookies, energy balls and other healthy treats for everyone who worked at Reflection Fitness.
“Is Clay in?” Jamie asked. “I tried the back door, but I think something’s wrong with my key.”
“Uh…” Sara’s expression turned strange, and she reached for the phone on the desk. “Let me call him through.”
“It’s okay, I’ll head in.” Jamie had his swipe pass on hand, like always, and he tapped it against the electronic reader which activated the gate into the gym.
The screen flashed red and made an angry beep sound.
First his key didn’t fit the lock and now his pass wasn’t working. What the—
“Jamie.”
He looked up and saw Clay striding through the gym toward the foyer, a no-nonsense look on his face. At six foot five with shoulders that could bridge two cities, Clay had the perfect build for the sport he’d loved as a child—basketball. He had dark brown skin, warm eyes and close-cropped curly black hair. Usually, Clay would be flashing his signature charming smile—a smile that had won over just about every cheerleader the guy had ever encountered in his high school and college days. A smile that, now, was conspicuously absent.
“You locked me out.” Jamie shook his head in disbelief. “You changed the locks on the office without telling me?”
“Outside, now.” Clay pointed to the front doors as he strode through the gate. “We’re not doing this in front of the clients.”
Sara dropped her head and pretended to bury herself in work, ignoring Jamie’s gaze pleading for support.
He let out an irritated huff. “Fine.”
The two men walked back outside and Jamie felt a pang of guilt as Flash made a noise of protest about returning to the hot summer day. The trio rounded the corner away from the front of the gym so they could have it out.
“This is for your own good, Jamie.” Clay held up his hands, signaling he didn’t want a fight. Despite being strong enough to beat most men in anything physical, Clay was a gentle giant with a big heart.
He was also, however, stubborn as an ox.
“We’re partners, Clay. You can’t lock me out of my own damn business.” Jamie gestured with his free hand toward the building next to them. “That’s…that’s got to be illegal.”
Clay folded his arms across his chest. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t take this seriously. The doctor said you need to rest and your mom told me to keep an eye on you, because she’s worried, too.”
Typical Patty. Jamie made a sound of disbelief. “I rested.”
“For two days.” Clay shook his head. “That’s not enough.”
“Man, it was nothing. You’re overreacting.”
“I am not overreacting. Do you have any idea what it’s like to walk up on your best friend lying unconscious on the floor? I thought you’d had a heart attack or something. I thought you were dead.”
He felt terrible for putting Clay through that, but he was already feeling vulnerable about this whole thing. He couldn’t let his friend see how much it had shaken him.
“So dramatic.” Jamie rolled his eyes.
“See, this—” Clay circled a finger at his face just like his mom used to when they were naughty kids “—is why I know you’re not listening to what the doctor said. You came right here to go back to doin’ exactly what you were doin’ before.”
“Building our business?” he replied, biting back his frustration.
“Running yourself into the ground. Wake up, Jamie.” Clay shook his head. “You might not be so lucky next time.”
“It’s my call to determine whether I’m ready to come back, not yours.”
“It sure is, because I won’t give you a new key until I’m sure you’re actually taking this thing seriously.”
Jamie’s mouth popped open. “You can’t do that!”
“Sure I can. It’s my name on the lease, remember?”
Oh yeah. That. He’d been meaning to get that bit of paperwork updated for almost three years now, but it was one of those things that kept falling off his to-do list in favor of more impactful items. Besides, he’d always thought Clay would never do him dirty, so it didn’t seem like a big deal.
“It’s our business, no matter what the lease says.”
“Jamie, I’m doing this because you’re my best friend. I want you to take care of yourself.” Clay looked genuinely concerned. “Coach always used to say a heart that pumps too fast is no better than one that doesn’t pump at all. Rest is as important as work.”
Jamie let out a groan. “Sitting at a desk isn’t exactly strenuous. I just need to answer some emails—”
“And then you’ll just need to look at some spreadsheets and make some calls and then some new client will come to you with a sob story and you’ll squeeze them in even though you said you weren’t going to take on any more PT clients yourself.” Clay shook his head. “I know your tricks, man. Don’t try to play me.”
“But what about the clients I have—”
“I split them up between the other trainers. It’s already done.”
“You called everyone already?” Jamie scrubbed a hand over his face. “I told you I didn’t want anyone to know.”
“I said you were helping me plan stuff for the wedding. Best man shit.” Clay grinned and Jamie found his anger withering away. It really was hard to hate the guy when he smiled. “You’re loyal like that.”
He let out a strangled noise of frustration. “I’ll call the locksmith myself.”
“Then he’s gonna have to get through me.”
Jamie considered his options. Anyone who didn’t know Clay might be too intimidated to try changing the locks against his wishes and anyone who did know him would be too charmed to want to try. Fact was, his best friend had him over a barrel.
“What am I supposed to do with myself, huh?” Jamie hated the panic in his voice. Who on earth felt panicked at the prospect of time off?
“I don’t know. Play ping-pong with your dad, go up to the Cape, sleep in. You’re a big boy—you’ll figure it out.”
Clay’s hand came down hard on Jamie’s shoulder, earning him a soft grunt. There was no reasoning with the guy, that much was clear.
Maybe Clay and his mom were right and this was serious. Jamie could have died. When he’d woken up in the ambulance, everything had flashed before his eyes—his whole life. His family. Work. His failed professional tennis career. His business. Long hours at his computer after longer days on the gym floor. Chasing the next thing, expanding the business, more clients, more money. Never satisfied. Always restless.
Was that all his life was about?
He’d always been hyper competitive, driven, and ambitious. But what if he had died the other day? What would he have left behind?
Jamie realized then that Clay was looking at him, as if waiting for him to speak. “No sweat. You want me to chill for a bit, fine. I can do that. You’ll see this isn’t a big deal.”
But even as he brushed off the severity of the incident, he knew the earth had shifted beneath his feet. What he’d thought was solid ground was now loose earth and uneven terrain. He needed to find his footing again. He needed to get himself straight. Most of all, he needed to prove to everyone that this was just a one-off. That he could handle pressure—unlike when he was younger.
Because he couldn’t ever go back to being Jamie Can’t-Hackett ever again.
SUSAN MALLERY: Susan Mallery is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship, romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations,” and readers seem to agree—40 million copies of her books have sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live. Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the ragdoll cat and adorable poodle who think of her as mom. Visit Susan online at www.susanmallery.com.
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SYNITHIA WILLIAMS: Synithia Williams has loved romance novels since reading her first one at the age of 13. It was only natural that she would one day write her own romance. When she isn’t writing, Synithia works on water quality issues in the Midlands of South Carolina while taking care of her supportive husband and two sons. You can learn more about Synithia by visiting her website, www.synithiawilliams.com.
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STEFANIE LONDON: Stefanie London is a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary romances and romantic comedies. Her books have been called “genuinely entertaining and memorable” by Booklist and have won multiple industry awards, including the HOLT Medallion and OKRWA National Readers’ Choice Award. Originally from Australia, Stefanie lives in Toronto with her very own hero and is doing her best to travel the world. She frequently indulges in her passions for good coffee, lipstick, romance novels and anything zombie related. Visit Stefanie online at Stefanie-London.com.
