Apologies for missing my post last week. I was driving all day and had no way to post anything. So I’m making it up to you by posting an excerpt this week 🙂

It’s just ONE WEEK until release day and I’m super excited! I can’t wait for you all to meet Patrick and Aubrey. They’re some special characters and their story stems from grief and learning how to live after loss. It has more angst than normal for me, but it is the story they needed told and I learned a long time ago not to argue with characters. 😉

Okay, so I won’t keep you waiting any longer. This little excerpt is from Aubrey’s POV, and Patrick’s invited him over for dinner.

EXCERPT 

Aubrey POV

Patrick had put out two bowls of minestrone-style soup and what looked like home-baked bread. “Do you make your own bread?” I asked.

Patrick sat down quietly opposite me. “Only when I make soup.”

“Well, this looks incredible.” It really did. Being cold and hungry, it didn’t get any better than homemade soup and bread. I tasted a small spoonful of the soup. “Okay, wow.”

He finally smiled and relaxed. “Thanks.”

“You’re a really good cook.”

“Just for the homely stuff. I’m not much good at that fancy kind of cooking.”

“This,” I gestured to the food he’d put on the table, “is better than any of that fine dining crap I’ve ever had.”

He had some soup and a mouthful of bread and pretended like it was no big deal when he asked, “Eat a lot of fine dining food?”

Oh crap. “Uh, yeah. A lifetime ago.”

He nodded thoughtfully and tucked that little sliver of information away before he changed the subject. “So, about old Frank’s garden, need a hand with it tomorrow? I have a mattock you could borrow. That soil’s going to be like concrete.”

“Nah, the soil’s okay, but I could use a hand lifting one of the old washing machines. It’s one of those real old types, and it weighs a tonne.”

“Sure thing. After lunch okay?”

“Perfect. I don’t know what’s wrong with it. He just said it hasn’t worked in years.”

“Like most things there, I suppose.” He smiled. “Frank’s a funny old guy.”

“He is. I think he pretends to be cranky so people leave him alone, but he’s not really.” I bit into the homemade bread and proceeded to moan like a bad porno. “Oh my God, this is so good.”

Patrick stared at me with darkened eyes before he looked at his bowl and shifted in his seat. “It’s been a long time since I’ve cooked for anyone.”

I tucked that little bit of information away, tit for tat. I could have asked why or how long, but we had some kind of agreement not to push for information. “Well, they don’t know what they’re missing out on,” I said, instead. Then, for reasons I’ll never know, I followed up with, “Because this is better than sex.”

His gaze shot to mine, heated and all too brief. He swallowed thickly, and his tongue swept across his bottom lip. “I don’t think it’s quite that good.”

I took another spoonful of soup, surprised my hand didn’t shake. “Well, it’s been a long time in that regard too.”

His voice was husky and barely above a whisper. “Or maybe you just weren’t doing it right.”

And like a bolt of lightning that earths too close to home, memories of Anton doing unwanted things to me flashed through my mind. My stomach squeezed and I swallowed down the urge to vomit. Hoping Patrick couldn’t see the change in me, I picked up the bread. “So maybe my memory’s a little fuzzy, but this bread is delicious.”

He put his spoon down and frowned, and I knew that whatever emotions flittered across my face didn’t go unnoticed. “You don’t have to tell me anything, but I assume whatever happened to you wasn’t good.”

I put my spoon down as quietly as I could and put my hands in my lap. I couldn’t bring myself to speak, so I gave him a small nod of my head. This game of tit for tat had swayed in his favour, I’d given him more information than I’d meant to, and I felt off-kilter because of it. There was something about Patrick that made me want to tell him everything. I wanted to crawl into his lap where he’d keep me safe, he’d rock me back and forth with my head on his chest, and I’d tell him all my secrets, then he’d say magical words that would fix the mess my life had become.

“I don’t know what brought you to Hadley or why you chose to come here,” he said. “But I have a feeling you’ve come to the right place.” I looked into his eyes then, not sure what to say to that, and found his eyes were glassy. “The knots we get ourselves tied into,” he murmured, “seem to unravel here.”

“Did it work for you?” I asked.

He stared right back at me like he wasn’t sure if he should tell me the truth, if this game of tit for tat was worth the heartache. “Two weeks ago, I would’ve said no. But now, I’m not so sure.”

Just a reminder that G&O will be out June 25th and will be exclusive to Amazon/KU. I’ll post links as soon as it goes live. <3

Very brief WIP update:  Word count is now at 25K. I *think* I have a title but I’m still not sure. I’m keeping this one close at the moment because I’m nervous about it and not sure I’ll do it justice. I have a lot of research to do while writing it, but also after. Then I’ll need to send it off to people who can read/check/fix it.  I am still hopeful for a release in October.

And speaking of October… I am attending GRL this year. I can’t remember if I’ve announced that, but yes, airfares have been booked and paid for. I’ll talk more of it as it gets closer but please know I will not be taking pre-orders for paperbacks, and I will not be able to sell them there (tax reasons).  If you want me to sign any books, please bring them!!  I will have swag and fun stuff, and I’m happy to sign anything (except blank cheques LOL) but I can’t bring or sell books there.

I’ll be back next Monday with buy links for Galaxies and Oceans!!

Until then…

<3