I'm thrilled to be here today to tell you a bit about my newest release, Back To You!
Back To You has been released two ways. One as a single release, and as a special collection including my paranormal romance novella, Remember The Stars, and my paranormal short story, Antique Charming! How cool is that?
Blurb:
On the surface, Lynsey Reznor seems to have it all.
She is beautiful, brilliant, and a successful true-crime writer who has been
living the past decade in Miami. But what Lynsey lacks is what she needs the
most—a family.
After the death of her mother, and yet another
failed relationship, Lynsey makes an impulsive decision to return to her
hometown of Unity. But Unity will present its own bittersweet memories, most
notably, her first love, Nick Lincoln.
Twenty years ago, Nick broke teenager Lynsey’s heart
when he decided to marry another. He had his own private reasons—reasons he
never explained to Lynsey. Now she is back, along with a chance to reclaim her
love. But Lynsey wants answers from him that he may never be able to give out
of duty and guilt.
Excerpt:
When
he heard her, he came to her, took her into his arms, and kissed her. It was a
comfort that he wasn’t regretting their lovemaking. She didn’t think she could
handle being rejected by him twice in her lifetime.
“Do you have to leave soon?” she asked.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to, but I have
to.” He went to the stove and prepared her a cup of coffee. “I think we should
start planning our wedding. We could be married at Christmas.”
She was taken aback. Is this his proposal
? This was supposed to be so romantic
and memorable, not talk about planning a Christmas wedding while he stirred a
cup of coffee.
“Do you even want to get married?” She
took the coffee mug he offered. “I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that you told
me you weren’t sure you ever wanted to be married again. You said you didn’t
see fatherhood in your future, and Nick, I want a baby…more than one. I grew up
as an only child and I was so alone. I don’t want my child to have to
experience that.”
“Well, I didn’t use a condom last night.
You could be pregnant right now,” was his reply.
Heaviness descended upon her heart. This
was so not how she wanted this morning to be, and certainly not the marriage
proposal she had dreamed of. “I’m on the Pill—I won’t get pregnant if that’s
all you’re worried about.”
“I’m sorry, that’s not the only reason we
should get married.”
“Then why?” she asked suspiciously.
He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Lynsey, I
don’t have time to get into this with you right now. What do you want me to say
in the five minutes I have before I leave for work?”
She couldn’t believe his glib
attitude. “How about saying something to
me like…‘I love you, Lynsey, and I made a tremendous mistake by not marrying
you twenty years ago?’ That would take you less than thirty seconds to say, and
you could have easily gotten to your precious job on time.”
Suddenly his jaw set and his eyes
narrowed. “I didn’t make a mistake by not marrying you twenty years ago! I let
you go to become a success in life—and you did. I can’t regret that!”
“So, what I thought all these years was
correct. I was nothing to you but a quick and easy way to shed your virginity.”
Just saying the words was devastating.
“That’s not it at all,” he vehemently
insisted. “You were always so intelligent. I mean, you were a sixteen-year-old
senior in high school! Just how many grades did you skip over, anyway?”
“Two,” she answered in a low voice.
“Do you know what would have happened if I
hadn’t married Kelly?” He didn’t wait for her reply. “I’ll tell you what. You
and I would have been ostracized by everyone in this town! We would have had to
be married right away, and we would have had to live with your mother, because
I had no money.”
“My mother loved you. She would have been
happy to have us live with her,” she interjected.
“And we were so naïve, Lynsey. You would
have graduated high school with either a big belly, or a baby in your arms…if
you had graduated at all.”
She crossed her arms over her breasts and
looked at the floor. She was too afraid that if she looked at him she would
break down. “Some of the girls in school were married. A few of them had
babies.”
He lifted her chin and forced her to make
eye contact with him. “And you were too smart to be stuck in this town, and
just another housewife. You would have become bored and resentful.”
“I wouldn’t have known the difference,”
she countered.
“I had serious doubts then. I still have
doubts now,” he admitted.
Her dark lashes flew upward. “What is that
supposed to mean?”
“I believe that you will become bored and
restless in Unity and will want to go back to Florida or maybe California. I
have a job and a family here, Lynsey. I don’t ever want to give that up. I’m
afraid that we’ll have a child, and you’ll take my baby and leave. I can not
allow that to happen.”
She couldn’t believe what he was saying.
Nothing was further from the truth. “Do you think I would have sunk so much of
my savings into that house just to abandon it? I would never, ever do what
you’re saying. But if circumstances changed, I would expect you to support what
was best for our family. Couples who are committed make sacrifices for each
other!”
It was becoming clearer and clearer that
things were rapidly falling apart between them.
“Lynsey, didn’t what happened between us
last night mean anything to you?” he asked.
She chuckled unpleasantly. “I suppose that
with us living in such close proximity, last night was inevitable. But don’t
worry about it happening again, Nick. When you get home this evening, I won’t
be here.”
“Where are you going to be?”
She wanted to hurt Nick like she was now
hurting. “I’m sure that Caleb wouldn’t mind me bunking down at his house for a
week or two.”
“Over my dead body,” he seethed. “I will
drag you away from him kicking and screaming if it comes to it. I’ll handcuff
you to my bed if need be. Believe me, Lynsey, I’ll do it!” He flopped down into
a kitchen chair and buried his face in his hands.
“I have to go now, Nick. I’m meeting your
sister for breakfast. Listen to me. You need to pull yourself together. In your
line of work, bad things happen when you lose your concentration.”
When he didn’t reply, she let out a sigh
of resignation and headed for the door. At the last minute she turned to him.
“Thanks for almost making it happen between us.”
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Twitter: BatesNatalie
1 comment:
Sounds like a wonderful story. She does need to get her answers though.
debby236 at gmail dot com
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