A
TIME FOR EVERYTHING
by
Mysti Parker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
After
losing her husband and only child to the ravages of the Civil War,
twenty-five-year-old Portia McAllister is drowning in grief. When she
sees an ad for a live-in tutor in another town, she leaves everything
behind in hopes of making a fresh start. But as a Confederate widow
in a Union household, she is met with resentment from her new charge
and her employer, war veteran Beau Stanford.
Despite
their differences, she and Beau find common ground and the stirrings
of a second chance at love—until his late wife’s cousin, Lydia,
arrives with her sights set on him. Burdened with a farm on the brink
of bankruptcy, Beau is tempted by Lydia’s hefty dowry, though
Portia has captured his heart.
In
another time and another place, his choice would be easy. But love
seems impossible amid the simmering chaos of Reconstruction that
could boil over at any moment into an all-out battle for survival.
Will Beau and Portia find their way into each other’s arms, or will
they be swept away by raging forces beyond their control?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
:
Brentwood,
Tennessee — December 25, 1865
The
angels are coming.
Portia
lay on the frozen ground between her husband and daughter. Snow
fluttered softly toward the earth in delicate flakes, each one
melting on her face with a pleasant sting. She wouldn’t have to
wait much longer.
The
sunrise, hidden by snow-laden clouds, gradually lit the gray sky.
With numb fingers, she traced her husband’s name, carved into the
stoic slate. Jake McAllister, but let her hand drop to the ground
before she touched that wretched date. December 16, 1864 — the day
her whole world began to fall apart.
It had
been a day as cold as this one when Jake returned. Portia had stood
on their porch, holding Abigail, both of them wrapped in shawls and a
quilt. Yet the cold had managed to seep inside, wrapping icy fingers
around her heart. Her husband lay lifeless in the back of a wagon.
His once-rosy face had turned ashen. Blood caked his Confederate
jacket. His hands, large and strong, yet once so gentle, were posed
across his belly. His fingers were stiff and claw-like, wrapped
around a phantom gun. He did not look like Jake. It had to have been
a mannequin with a wig the same dusty red shade of his hair.
“That’s
not him,” she’d repeated to the men who’d so methodically
carried him into the house. Jake would pop out from somewhere, still
the jokester he had always been, and she would slap him for playing
such a cruel prank. Then she would laugh with him and hold him tight
because he had finally returned to her and Abby.
But the
longer her eyes absorbed the wretched sight, the more evidence she
had discovered. Little freckles and scars she knew so well. The
pea-sized patch on his jaw where his beard never grew. The missing
end of his middle finger, taken by a vicious dog when they were
children.
It
wasn’t a joke. Jake was dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Mysti
Parker is a wife, mom, author, and shameless chocoholic. She is the
author of the Tallenmere standalone fantasy romance series and The
Roche Hotel romantic comedy series. Her short writings have appeared
in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her award-winning historical
romance, A Time for Everything, will be published this summer by
EsKape Press.
Other
writing pursuits include serving as a class mentor in Writers Village
University's seven week online course, F2K. She has published two
children's books (Quentin's Problem & Fuzzy Buzzy's Treasure) as
Misty Baker.
When
she's not writing fiction,Mysti reviews books for SQ Magazine, an
online specfic publication. She resides in Buckner, KY with her
husband and three children.
Author
Links:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHi!! Thanks so much to Debra for hosting this stop on my blog tour.
ReplyDeleteReaders, since I write many subgenres of romance, I'd love to know: What is your favorite romance subgenre, and why? Also, what "heat" ratings in terms of sexual content, violence, & profanity do you prefer to read? I'm kind of an all over the place reader myself. I just love a good story.
We are actually on vacation (yeah, right LOL) this week, so I'll stop in again tonight. Cya! ~Mysti