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Lobster Cove Series
The Wild Rose Press
Jana Richards
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Number of pages: 331
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.
Author Contacts:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon Author Page | Newsletter Signup | Goodreads | Google+
Tour giveaway:
1 - $10 Amazon Gift Certificate
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Thank you for having me here today. All the best!
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