One
More Second Chance
Lobster
Cove Series
The
Wild Rose Press
Jana
Richards
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Publisher:
The Wild Rose Press
Date
of Publication: February 6, 2015
ISBN:
ASIN:
Number
of pages: 331
Word
Count: 82,083 words
Cover
Artist: Tina Lynn Stout
Book
Description:
Dr.
Alex Campbell has an agenda—finish his contract to provide medical
services in Maine, pay off his medical school debt, and head back to
his real life in San Diego. But when he meets Julia, all his
carefully laid plans are put in jeopardy.
Julia
Stewart, Lobster Cove’s high school principal, swears she’ll
never let another man drag her away from the home she loves. Her
aging parents need her, and the Cove is where she wants to raise her
daughter. When her mother’s illness brings her and the big city
doctor closer together, panic sets in. Her marriage taught her men
don’t stay.
Can
she put aside the heartaches of the past and trust Alex enough to
accept the love he’s offering?
Or
will her fear of abandonment mean she’ll send him away forever?
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Excerpt:
“What
did the x-ray find?” she asked.
“A
spiral fracture of the right arm.” He paused for a moment and took
a deep breath as if trying to control his emotions. “I’ve seen
this kind of injury before. A fracture like this can be the result of
a fall, but it can also be an indication of child abuse. An arm as
small as Ava’s will break like a twig if it’s twisted hard
enough. I’m obligated to contact the authorities if I suspect
abuse.”
Julia
stared at him in mute shock, her brain struggling to process his
words, as if trying to translate some unintelligible language. The
words child abuse rang in her ears. Finally she found her voice.
“You
think someone deliberately hurt her?”
“Her
injuries are consistent with abuse.”
“I
don’t give a damn what they’re consistent with. Ava has not been
mistreated. My mother said she fell down the stairs, and if that’s
what she said, then that’s what happened.”
“I
believe there’s more to the story than a simple fall.”
“If
it comes down to believing you or believing my mother, I’m going
with my mother.”
“Perhaps
you don’t know your mother as well as you think you do.”
Julia
sucked in a breath and stared into Dr. Campbell’s dark, accusing
eyes. The idea that her mother would hurt Ava was ridiculous. She
adored Ava, would do anything for her…
She
blinked and looked away, remembering an incident the other day. She’d
heard her yelling at Ava about the milk she’d spilled on the
kitchen floor, making such a huge deal of it that Ava had cried. It
had struck her as strange, since she couldn’t remember her mother
yelling at anyone, ever. She wasn’t as patient as she used to be.
And how did she explain her strange phone call telling her Ava had
been hurt? Of course she’d been upset, but her mother had been
nearly incoherent with distress. Was something going on she wasn’t
aware of? She was seventy-one now. Maybe looking after a rambunctious
five-year-old was too much for her.
No.
She shook her head to reject the disloyal thought. Dr. Campbell was
the one who was wrong.
“I
know my mother. She didn’t do this. It was an accident.”
“We’ll
soon find out. Sharon is questioning Ava now.”
Julia
stared at the door. “She’ll be scared, all by herself.”
“Sharon’s
very good at what she does. She has a way of making kids feel
comfortable.”
Julia
turned on him, the anger and despair she’d been holding inside
spilling out. “And you? Do you enjoy upsetting five-year-olds and
turning families’ lives upside down? Does it make you feel powerful
to sic the authorities on us?”
“Look,
Mrs. Stewart, I take no pleasure in bringing in the authorities. But
I’ve seen child abuse, up close and personal, and I can tell you
it’s damn ugly. The things parents and caregivers are capable of
doing to defenseless children…”
He
stopped abruptly, his chest heaving. Closing his eyes, he averted his
face and took a deep breath. When he turned back to her, his steely
control was back in place. “So yeah, if I have even the smallest
suspicion that a child has been abused, I’m going to ask questions.
And I’m not going to apologize for it.”
About
the Author:
When
Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two
things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to
paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew
she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met
a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance,
romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in
lengths ranging from short story to full length novel.
Just
for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional
dash of the paranormal. Her paranormal romantic suspense “Seeing
Things” was a 2008 EPPIE finalist.
In
her life away from writing, Jana is an accountant/admin assistant, a
mother to two grown daughters, and a wife to her husband Warren. She
enjoys golf, yoga, movies, concerts, travel and reading, not
necessarily in that order. She and her husband live in Winnipeg,
Canada with their Pug/Terrier cross Lou and several unnamed goldfish.
She
loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at
www.janarichards.com
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/JanaRichards_
Amazon
Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/janarichards
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