Lizzie Lamb ~ Books Revisited

Location. Location. Location.

genius loci, the spirit of the place

Many thanks to Sherry for hosting me on her blog and giving me an opportunity to share my novels with you. 

It's a pleasure to have you here Lizzie. Thank you.

Readers have told me that they love my descriptions of Scotland, Norfolk and Wisconsin. And, I must admit, often a location is the starting place for my novels and then the characters appear in my head, crowding in and demanding that I write down their story. I hope these examples make you want to read more. 

Each hyperlink takes you to the relevant Amazon page where you can - read a FREE extract in kindle/share/buy 

 Tall, Dark and Kilted - Notting Hill Meets Monarch of the Glen

The music hit Fliss as she rounded the corner of Elgin Crescent, Notting Hill. The sugared almond pink and yellow houses almost vibrating in the late May evening as I Predict a Riot blasted out from an open window half way down the street.

From their vantage point, the mountains were hidden by trees and Fliss could see soft, rounded hills which swept all the way down to a large loch. The colours were dazzling; the green of the hills and trees, the blue sky reflected in the deeper blue of the loch and the ochre of the sandy beach which gave way to paler sand near a pebble path. The shoreline dipped in and out of the expanse of water and in the distance, at vanishing point, the opposing shores appeared to link hands, cutting the loch off from the sea.

* * * * 

Boot Camp Bride - romance and mystery on the Norfolk Marshes 

Charlee glanced over the low hedges and dun-coloured fields stretching towards the salt marshes where the sea was a black line on the horizon. There was a stripped back beauty to the place and the flocks of birds heading for the feeding grounds down by the shoreline ensured the view was an ever-changing tapestry. Perhaps, here on the salt marsh, where the wind sighed through the reeds and stirred the dried pods of the alexanders, they could be honest with one another. Confront those feelings 

which had been simmering beneath the surface since the book launch. Playing his pretend fiancée wasn’t easy; the pretence was beginning to feel more real than the life Charlee had left behind.

* * * *

Scotch on the Rocks - journey to a Scottish island and fall in love

The Narrows were calm, reflecting the harbour cottages of Jamestoun on their glassy surface and making the fishing port seem twice as big as in reality. Issy loved the red tiled roofs, the whitewashed walls and the three-storey granite building which had formerly housed the local Customs and Excise. She could picture the old railway lines which dissected the cobbled road. Back in the day, when Jamestoun had been a thriving fishing port, langoustines were landed first thing in the morning, packed onto ice and sent down to London, via Oban, to grace the dinner plates in swanky hotels. Now the harbour was mostly filled with private yachts and the occasional fishing boat which took tourists out to the bird colonies in high summer. The brown hills beyond the harbour could look bleak in the winter, but today the sun warmed them, picking out the old fort (now almost covered in vegetation), built after the ’45 Rebellion to quell the unruly Scots.

The road swung inland where, in Victorian times, it had been blasted through a small mountain. ‘The Faerie Falls,’ Issy said, nodding towards it with her head towards a torrent of brown, peaty water cascading over rocks. ‘They say that the wee folk live behind its waters, but I’ve never seen them.’

* * * *

Girl in the Castle - fall in love with a Highlander

Henri gazed out across the loch, shrouded in a shifting veil of low-lying mist. The castle appeared to float above it and the world beyond seemed unreal, until she spotted Lachlan piloting his boat towards Tèarmannair. His head and shoulders visible above the swirling fog. A heron skimmed over the shifting mist, its spindly limbs trailing behind it as it hunted for breakfast.

At night, it was easy to imagine the castle was a ship sailing untroubled across a wide ocean, the only light visible the beacon on the jetty at the far side of the loch.

Trees on the margin of the loch were reflected as a perfect mirror image of themselves, in ochre, vermillion and acid yellow. Pushing her reading glasses on top of her head, Henri focused on the middle distance where two small islands, topped by scrubby vegetation and gnarled trees bent over by the prevailing wind, gave perspective to the view. Beyond that, round, green hills rose towards the sky, and beyond them were craggy mountains with snow on the peaks. 

* * * *

Take Me, I’m Yours -

a beautifully told tale, full of romance

Closing the door behind her, India sank down on the padded window seat and, drawing her knees up, pulled a cushion towards her, hugging it for comfort. Resting her head back against the heavy shutters she looked out into a vermilion and gold sunset where islands and peninsulas jutted out into the bay. However, the beauty of the scene was lost. All she could think of was how different the sunset must look from MacFarlane’s beach hut, thousands of miles away. Cool air blew off the lake and through the open window, stirring the muslin draping her cast iron four poster bed. Getting up to wipe her eyes on the corner of her pashmina, she caught sight of herself in the cheval mirror. Backlit by the sunset, with filmy drapes billowing around her, she seemed as unsubstantial as a ghost. A mere shadow of her former self. Dark circles under her eyes, skin without its youthful luminescence, violet eyes huge in her pale face. How had this come to pass?

* * * *

I hope you have enjoyed these extracts and the photos which accompany them. If you’d like to learn more about me and my novels, do get in touch via the links below. 

Author bio with links -

After teaching her 1000th pupil and working as a deputy head teacher in a large primary school, Lizzie decided to pursue her first love: writing. She joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme, wrote Tall, Dark and Kilted (2012), quickly followed by Boot Camp Bride. She went on to publish Scotch on the Rocks, which achieved Best Seller status within two weeks of appearing on Amazon and her next novel, Girl in the Castle, reached #3 in the Amazon charts. Lizzie is a founder member of indie publishing group – New Romantics Press, and has co-hosted author events at Aspinall, St Pancras and Waterstones, Kensington, talking about the research which underpins her novels. Lizzie latest romance Take Me, I’m Yours is set in Wisconsin, a part of the USA which she adores. This novel also achieved BEST SELLER status >travel>USA. She has further Scottish-themed romances planned and spends most of the summer touring the Scottish Highlands researching men in kilts. What’s not to like? As for the years she spent as a teacher, they haven’t quite gone to waste. She is building a reputation as a go-to speaker on indie publishing, and how to plan, write, and publish a debut novel. She is currently working on #6 - a road trip ‘movie’ where two warring guardians are forced to join forces and set off in hot pursuit after a runaway niece and son.  Lizzie lives in Leicestershire (UK) with her husband, David.

She loves to hear from readers, so do get in touch . . .

Lizzie’s Links

https://www.amazon.com/author/lizzielamb

www.facebook.com/LizzieLambwriter

lizzielambwriter@gmail.com

website: www.lizzielamb.co.uk

https://twitter.com/lizzie_lamb

Newsletter - http://tinyurl.com/ELNL-2016

Linked in: uk.linkedin.com/pub/lizzie-lamb/18/194/202/

Goodreads http://tinyurl.com/cbla48d

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lizzielamb/

Paula Martin Books Revisited

 Six years ago, when I was writing IRISH INHERITANCE, I had no idea it would lead to a series of five books. At the time, I was simply writing a stand-alone story about two people who meet when they jointly inherit Mist Na Mara, a Victorian house in Connemara in the west of Ireland.

Once that was finished and submitted, I started writing a story set in the English Lake District. The hero was a veterinary surgeon, and the heroine was an actress who was escaping her busy life in London for some well-earned ‘R and R’ in the country. I wasn’t very happy with the way it was progressing, but then my publisher suggested the possibility of a spin-off story about the best friend of the heroine in Irish Inheritance. ‘Okay’, I thought. ‘I’ll think about that once I’ve sorted out this Lake District story.’ Two days later, I had another thought: ‘Why not move the Lake District story to Ireland?’ The hero then became an Irish vet, but I had to rethink the heroine’s reasons for being in Ireland, so that it followed on from where she had been at the end of the first story. I also needed to inject more ‘suspense’ into the story, with some unexplained crises at the veterinary surgery, and the hero’s ex-wife trying to claim custody of their two children – and that’s how IRISH INTRIGUE was born.

Half way through this story, one of the secondary characters was explaining to the hero his idea for a screenplay about an American who was adopted as a baby and comes to Ireland to search for her birth mother. Even while I was writing this conversation, I realised the character had given me the idea for my next novel.

I then had to do a fair amount of research about the baby adoption scandal in Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s. Because of the timing, I decided my (new) heroine needed to be trying to find her mother’s birth mother (rather than her own) but coming up against a wall of secrecy (which, indeed, is what real-life adoptees have had to face). This gave me the title of IRISH SECRETS, and I also gave the hero a secret of his own.

After this trilogy of Irish novels, I contemplated a different setting for my next novel (and even started to write it), but Ireland pulled me back. In this story, the heroine and her friend (who’d been mentioned briefly in the earlier novels) were setting up a dance and drama school for children, which made it easy to transfer the story to the Mist Na Mara Arts Centre. This story became IRISHDECEPTIONS, with a hero who appears to be deceiving the heroine.

A thirteen-year-old streetwise boy in Irish Deceptions led me to my fifth book in the series, IRISH SHADOWS, when I realised his mother (deserted by her lover when she became pregnant at seventeen) had a story to tell. A quick check on the timeline of the series showed me that five years had passed since the launch of the Mist Na Mara Arts Centre – and this gave me my hero, an events manager who arrives to organise the anniversary celebration. Add to that a link to an incident in the Irish Civil War in the 1920’s and the hero’s search for his nephew (his sister’s son), and I had plenty of ‘shadows of the past’ for the characters to deal with and resolve.

Although this is a ‘series’, all the stories are ‘stand-alone’ with new heroes and heroines in each. The link between them is Mist Na Mara House and, of course, the beautiful Connemara area in the west of Ireland.

Currently, Book 1 IRISH INHERITANCE is FREE from all major distributors (Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Nook, and Apple) and Book 2 IRISH INTRIGUE is only 99c/99p.

About the Author

Paula Martin lives near Manchester in North West England and has two daughters and two grandsons. She had some early publishing success with four romance novels and several short stories, but then had a break from writing while she brought up a young family and also pursued her career as a history teacher for twenty-five years. She has recently returned to writing fiction, after retiring from teaching, and is thrilled to have found publishing success again with her contemporary romances. Apart from writing, she enjoys visiting new places. She has travelled extensively in Britain and Ireland, mainland Europe, the Middle East, America and Canada. Her other interests include musical theatre and tracing her family history.

Links:

Website

Amazonauthor page 

TirgearrPublishing Author Page 

(this gives you links to all major ebook distributors)

Facebook

Twitter: @PaulaRomances

Riverside Lane by Ginger Black

First of all I must say how delighted I am to be on Sherry’s fabulous The Heart of Romance Blogspot. Had I seen your tagline before Riverside Lane went out Sherry, I might have had to borrow it! “Blends heartwarming romance with mystery, history and intrigue,” pretty much sums up the novel Riverside Lane, which I co-wrote with my friend and neighbour Gaynor Pengelly.

Although I am, at the moment, in the process of  promoting my latest children’s novel, I am here to talk about the wonderful  process of co-writing a novel.

Thank you for visiting The Heart of Romance today.

Riverside Lane Blurb:~

A mysterious American arrives in a quintessentially English village claiming to be on holiday but not all the residents are convinced by the handsome stranger's story. Behind perfect privets and brightly painted front doors, the lives of Riverside Lane's residents slowly unravel, until it becomes apparent that the American may not be the only deceiver in their midst. Tension begins to mount in this quintessentially English community - now revealed to be a labyrinth of deception - and culminates in an unexpected death. The villagers threaten more than his anonymity with their mutterings and meddling and when religious zealot Ivy Midwinter challenges him in the church she learns that Luca Tempesta will stop at nothing to protect his secret. Set against the cinematic backdrop of a gastronomic village by the Thames, Riverside Lane is a thrilling, vivid page-turner that seeks to understand human behaviour hard-wired for desire, power, love and possession in a traditional society threatened by extraordinary challenges.

About the authors...

 Gaynor and I formed our writing partnership wondering around our village, Bray, walking dogs and dropping off children while observing the rules and nuances of the village social structure. We began to imagine, what would happen, for example, if you dropped an international spy into the midst of such a quintessentially English community?  How would a conman or an art thief fair among the curtain twitching complexity of a typical English village. 

The plot for our first novel, Riverside Lane, grew organically through these conversations and we decided a house swap would be a good vehicle to introduce different protagonists through a series of stories.

Once we agreed to write together our nom de plume came early, dreamed up by Gaynor’s mother to whom Ginger Black was an obvious choice; Gaynor has ginger hair, mine is dark and my maiden name is Blackburn.  In some ways, having a ‘brand name’ spurred us on, making us feel professional and like a team.  While I had written novels before - mostly children’s - I had never submitted them for publication and as a national newspaper journalist Gaynor was used to being published, but had not written fiction.

We developed the characters for Riverside Lane pacing the Thames path with Rumpole, my British Bulldog panting in our wake.  Pretty soon stuff needed to be written down so we committed to a regular Monday meeting.  Here we would plan for the week and then leave armed with a brief for - depending on where we were in the process - character development, scene breakdown or copy for the next scene. We set a midweek deadline to file copy to one another and edited the work, emailing it to and fro before signing it off the following Monday.

And so we progressed, step by step along the towpaths, word by word onto the page until we completed our first draft.  While every word, character and plot point is a collaboration, we each bring different strengths to the Ginger Black partnership.  Gaynor is good at seeing the big picture and excellent at pace and shape while I sweat every word and comma and obsess over continuity and credibility.  She is patient with my pedantry and I am grateful for her vision.

Once we finished our first draft we filed it to the bottom draw and worked on promoting the Ginger Black name much as we did the writing; discussing what needed to be done at Monday meetings and dividing the work between us.  We developed website and social media identity, then set about building a digital presence and that all important mailing list to give us something - as well as our magnum opus - to make us a marketable prospect to agents and publishers.  And then we rewrote the manuscript.  Like all the other jobs, we shared this one but instead of working in parallel Gaynor edited the entire novel, then I did, and then we each did it again, and again, and again!

We are often asked how our writing partnership works and I think the short answer is with a similar work ethic, a sense of humour and complete trust.  We take the discipline of writing seriously - in three years of partnership we have rarely missed a deadline - but a healthy dose of self-deprecation and irreverence has definitely smoothed our path while guaranteeing terrific fun along the way.

       I feel fortunate to have met Gaynor and found a kindred spirit and writing partner. I have just finished writing a middle grade novel for children alone, and while I have enjoyed the writing process, it has not been as much fun as writing with Gaynor.

Riverside Lane is available in paperback at all good bookstores and libraries. There is also an ebook version available on Kindle.

Author contacts:-

Facebook

Twitter

Website

Riverside Lane on Amazon

Discover Therese Caruana's Science-fiction book Symmetry

Welcome to The Heart of Romance Therese, and for sharing your debut book, Symmetry, in your Science series. 

Symmetry

Blurb: Susy finds herself deep within CERN, isolated with no recollection of her past. Her dear cousin and only friend, leaves unexpectedly and bestows upon her a mysterious key-like jewel as a farewell gift. His sudden departure drives her to escape from the facility where she encounters the members of the Honorary Knight Order.

They have searched in every corner of Earth for Susy and the map that will lead them home. In the completion of their quest they face many obstacles and challenges as they realise that Susy has lost more of her powers and memory than they had previously anticipated.
The Earth, affected by Susy’s extended stay, continues to deteriorate as the members of the Order hunt for the missing power stones, lost since the time of Susy’s kidnapping. Whilst on their journey, Susy struggles to remember her true connection to them, as they try to infiltrate her senses. Love and secrets delay the completion of the mission and concerns grow that the balance of life will not be re-established in time.

Therese's debut fantasy novel 'Symmetry' in the Science Series, published in February 2014 and marked the start of her writing career. 

It is a FREE e-book when joining the author’s newsletter.

Newsletter link: http://eepurl.com/c8wydn

Bio: Living in Gibraltar, having earned an MBA and being a member of the ACCA, Therese. M. Caruana is an author who likes doing too much rather than too little. Apart from consuming too much coffee and chocolates she also enjoys writing complex stories with a vivid imagination, manifesting in new worlds and versatile characters. Having always been a free spirit at heart, her dream had always been to write fantasy novels in which to escape to. Your life is your dream -if you can dream it, you can live it.

Therese's  Website: www.tmcarauana.com

Symmetry can also be found Amazon and Goodreads

Ros Rendle's Flowers Of Flanders is this week's Book Revisited

Please welcome Ros Rendle to The Heart of Romance's Books Revisited today.

Flowers of Flanders

About the book

A malicious lie between rival sisters changed lives. Which sister does Michael need to  survive?

Set just before and during WW1 this book is a commemoration of both the living and the dead and those who fought so bravery. While it’s not their story my grandparents were the inspiration for the book and it’s my Granny’s picture of the front cover.

I’ve been told the research ‘is impeccable’ which is so important for the setting to enhance the story but it’s ultimately a feelgood read about both men and women surviving intolerable times with dignity

Shortly to be published is a novella to complete the two older sisters’ story and a sequel will be coming soon set in Vichy France in 1940. A third book, set during the Cold War will follow.

Extract:~

Early summer 1912 – A town near Manchester, England

 

Rose’s heart was singing with the joy of the sun and the birds and the glossy, bright leaves above her head. She and her two younger sisters strolled home along the lane when the peace was shattered by a lot of clattering and shouting.

“What on earth is that noise?” She stopped to listen.

 Izzy, only twelve years old, grabbed Rose’s arm and whispered, “I don’t like it, Rose. What should we do? It may not be safe to venture further.”

“Oh don’t be such a wet, Iris,” Delphi said, using her given name as she often did. She tossed her head.

Rose, who always maintained the peace, answered her youngest sister, “Don’t worry Izzy, it’s probably the boys playing rowdy games.”

“I don’t think…” Delphi’s words were interrupted.

There was an ear-splitting bellow and then, “Bloody hell, Crispin.” It was a deep male sound.

Rose, certain she recognised the voice, felt her stomach churn and her heart beat faster. She had known Michael nearly all her life and loved him for almost as long.

The older girls looked at each other with widening eyes and ran. Izzy followed. Their steps were short and quick; long, narrow skirts hindered their progress. They didn’t have far to go round the corner of the lane when through the trees their fourteen-year old brother, Hector, came bounding.

Seeing his sisters he called out, “That stupid fellow Crispin has walloped Michael good and proper. We were play-acting but he’s done it now.”

“What do you mean?” wailed Izzy.

Delphi ran ahead. She held onto her hat with one hand.

“These wretched skirts,” Rose heard her say to no-one in particular as she hitched them up. “It’s alright for you Hector,” she called as he disappeared through the trees ahead of her. Rose knew that as the most active sister, it was frustrating for Delphi to endure her skirts. Many times she had said it was so much easier for men.

There were shouts at the hapless Crispin as she arrived.

Rose came with Izzy through the trees that bordered the lane. Her gaze, generally gentle and myopic, took in the situation and she looked on in horror. The sun through the branches slapped the group with searing tiger stripes. Michael stood with head bowed. The deep gash on his forehead was a slash of vermillion vividness which dripped unheeded; a violent splash on his shirt, so white. A long log of wood lay at his feet and three other lads stood and looked aghast but clueless.

Delphi’s voice rose as she berated them all for their stupidity but Crispin, as the main culprit, received her full wrath.

“You’re fighting with sticks! What on earth for?” Delphi demanded. “Hector you should know better,” she continued, looking at her brother who had got back to the scene of the crime ahead of her. With the full force of her words again upon Crispin she added, “That’s a dirty great log. It’s not even a stick, you dolt.”

Rose saw Crispin regard Delphi. She recognised the look he gave, admiring her beautiful face with its prominent high cheekbones. Rose felt a pang of envy. Everyone looked at Delphi that way including Michael. At that moment, though, Delphi was frowning yet it still didn’t detract from her exotic looks. Her lovely dark eyes, so often dancing with fire lights glared at the culprit.

To buy link

 

About the author:~

Having worked as a Headteacher, Ros has been used to writing policy documents, essays and stories to which young children enjoyed listening. Now she has taken up the much greater challenge of writing fiction for adults. She writes both historical sagas and contemporary romance; perfect for lying by a warm summer pool or curling up with on a cosy sofa. Her books are thoroughly and accurately researched. This is her third book.

Ros is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and the Historical Novelists' Society.

Author link

Praise for Flowers of Flanders

An industry professional: I like the idea of setting these successive stories against the backdrops of the great conflicts of their ages, and in the strong family you have created an interesting web of family relations with some vibrant and interesting characters. You have also done a huge amount of research to anchor it in the era. There were several tear-jerking moments, and it is fascinating also to have a more female, familial perspective on the events of the Great War, as you do in Flowers of Flanders.

An Amazon customer: A thoroughly good read which held me gripped right up to the end. The characters are well drawn and the descriptions of the trenches.

Samben: An engaging and heart-warming story set before and during the First World War. Ros Rendle has captured the era beautifully and has vividly portrayed the lives of people who endured such turbulent times.

 

Colleen Donnelly's book revisited ~ Mine to Tell

 

Please welcome Colleen L. Donnelly today and discover her chosen backlist-book to share with you today.

Writing Mine to Tell:

Mine to Tell went from a NanoWriMo novel to an Amazon #1 Bestseller. Quite a trek for a seed of an idea about betrayal and forgiveness, and a budding voice I merely felt inside as an author.

A bit about the book:

"Mama, would you please tell me about my great-grandma?" Annabelle Crouse grew up under the family shame that had been there for three generations, and at the age of twenty-one she still didn't know why. The boarded-up house down the road her great-grandfather had secluded her great-grandmother in, had to hold the reason.

Denying her family's demand she let the past lay, Annabelle followed what felt like her great-grandmother's voice telling her there was another story to be told, one that was different from the accusations claiming she had been unfaithful. Stripping the house of its boards and dust, Annabelle moved in. She listened and searched for that one voice beneath the insults and criticisms of her family and fiance. She along with Kyle - a long ago childhood neighbor - together unearthing her great-grandmother's story, the one she claimed was Mine to Tell.

* * * * *

 

Not every love story begins or ends with the passion of a bodice-ripper. Some develop slowly - an occasional look or a choice word the only spark they ever know. Some endure adversity - lies, infidelity, or opposition creating flames of distrust instead of the warm thaw of a hesitant heart. And some are so unlikely, so unexpected -  no one sees the connection coming, not even the lovers themselves. "Mine to Tell" is a gentle story of adversity and forgiveness, a tale of mystery you won't forget.

 

Mine Tell Excerpt

“Mine to tell,” Kyle said suddenly. It was a jolt. I was yanked from my mental tumble into a pit of unredemption. Alex looked up too, a quizzical expression on his face. “Julianne left a story behind,” Kyle continued. “Some of it speculation and rumors by people who don’t know, and the rest of it by her own hand. It was a love story. One that was countered with suffering.”

We were all quiet. I looked at him, my heart melting as I heard his masculine voice speak of love and suffering. I wanted to lean across the table and hug him, but I was too afraid.

Alex leaned back in his chair. “What my father went through didn’t feel like love when we were little.”

“But maybe it was,” Kyle persisted, his tone smooth and even. “Does love always turn out the way we want it to?” Then he looked at me. “Julianne Crouse was a fine woman. We haven’t finished her story, but she suffered, and she was fine indeed.”

Tears came to my eyes. “Thank you,” I squeaked. Kyle stood and walked around the table to me. He helped me stand as he thanked them for their time. He retrieved Julianne’s picture, took my hand, and together we went to the door, Alex and his wife following us.

“I hope you’re right,” Alex said, running his hand through his thin, brittle hair as we stepped outside. “My father had some things to come to terms with, but he was a good man. A better man later in life, when he told us he was sorry. I never knew for what.”

Buy it Here

 

A little bit about Colleen L. Donnelly who resides in the Midwestern United States. Born and raised in this central part of the country, she eventually broadened her horizons by exploring and experiencing other areas and cultures until she returned to her home ground to settle for good. Colleen always knew, or was told, she could/should write, but there was never enough time until education, family, and career were well established.

 

Now she loves creating character driven tales, telling her stories with a literary style that flows at a gentle and smooth pace. Besides writing, Colleen enjoys the outdoors, theater, treasure hunting through antique malls and flea markets, and rubbing shoulders with other creative people. Colleen always has her eyes and ears open for that one statement or unexpected incident that sprouts like a tiny seed into her next new novel.

 

My website  

 

Mine Tell Excerpt

“Mine to tell,” Kyle said suddenly. It was a jolt. I was yanked from my mental tumble into a pit of unredemption. Alex looked up too, a quizzical expression on his face. “Julianne left a story behind,” Kyle continued. “Some of it speculation and rumors by people who don’t know, and the rest of it by her own hand. It was a love story. One that was countered with suffering.”

We were all quiet. I looked at him, my heart melting as I heard his masculine voice speak of love and suffering. I wanted to lean across the table and hug him, but I was too afraid.

Alex leaned back in his chair. “What my father went through didn’t feel like love when we were little.”

“But maybe it was,” Kyle persisted, his tone smooth and even. “Does love always turn out the way we want it to?” Then he looked at me. “Julianne Crouse was a fine woman. We haven’t finished her story, but she suffered, and she was fine indeed.”

Tears came to my eyes. “Thank you,” I squeaked. Kyle stood and walked around the table to me. He helped me stand as he thanked them for their time. He retrieved Julianne’s picture, took my hand, and together we went to the door, Alex and his wife following us.

“I hope you’re right,” Alex said, running his hand through his thin, brittle hair as we stepped outside. “My father had some things to come to terms with, but he was a good man. A better man later in life, when he told us he was sorry. I never knew for what.”