Tomorrow is a very special day for me and for many of us in the U.S. – Thanksgiving – and so I hope you’ll understand why today is a Wicked Wednesday Thoughtful Thursday kind of melange. Tomorrow I’ll be busy cooking some goodies to take to my sister’s house where we’ll gather together to celebrate. On Friday, we’ll be celebrating the special day with my hubby’s family and I’m really looking forward to being with everyone.
Family is just one of the things for which I am thankful. A great hubby and daughter who amazes me and makes me happy at every turn.
Then there are my wonderful friends, too many to mention, which is a great thing. I know that working together we will accomplish wonderful things and help each other with our love, support, wisdom and guidance.
You guys, with all your fun notes and comments. I love being able to share time with you and so I’m thankful for the technology that makes that possible.
The publishers, editors, reviewers, booksellers, librarians, readers and all the others who make it possible to keep on writing.
Lots of things for which to be thankful.
When I started thinking about all for which I could give thanks and it being Wicked Wednesday, it also occurred to me that the latest release, SOLDIER’S SECRET CHILD, is also about thankful things. Friends like Jericho who offered to be Macy’s husband to help her with her troubled son. The love between Macy and her son, TJ, which never wavers despite their problems. The return of the hero in one piece from war and the possibility of becoming a family with Macy and TJ.
Here’s some of the reviews for SOLDIER’S SECRET CHILD which was also a Harlequin Top 10 “Giving” book this week.
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4 Stars from Romantic Times: More from the review to follow!
4.5 Stars from Cataromance: “Intriguingly suspenseful plus overflowing with conflicting emotions, SOLDIER’S SECRET CHILD is poignantly compelling.”
And finally, because it is Wicked Wednesday, a little excerpt for you! May you all have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving! See you Friday!
She handed him her mug and he piled up everything from the mess kits. Balancing it all, he went to the opening of the cave and the flow of air through that gap chilled the bare skin of his legs. Lucky for them, however, since that ventilation kept the cave free of the smoke and other toxins from their fire.
Easing through the gap, he used the rain water to rinse off their plates and after, to clean the coffee pot and refill it for the morning.
His shirt was damp by the time he was done and he was shivering. At his pack, he pulled off his shirt and grabbed a dry sweatshirt, slipped it on.
Macy had also changed into a different sweatshirt and lay by the fire, watching him. Her gaze wickedly tempting as he imagined lying beside her and shedding the clothes they were both using as defenses against their emotions.
He padded back to the fire and gave it one last poke. He would have to keep an eye on it during the night to make sure it was under control. Then he slipped into the sleeping bag beside her and lay his head on one of the pillows she had inflated.
A nice comfort considering the hard ground beneath them and the tarp which crinkled noisily as they moved about. Of course, he’d slept in worse conditions.
“It’s not so bad. We’re warm and dry,” he said, striving for neutral.
“I’m still a little chilled,” she admitted.
“We could zip the bags together and share our body heat,” he said before his brain had a second to think about the consequences of those actions.
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at the suggestion and worry settled onto her face. She bit at her bottom lip and mulled over the suggestion before finally saying, “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
He thought about lying beside her. Remembered the press of her body against his last night and the softness of her cheek beneath his hand. He imagined the softness of her in other spots and immediately answered.
“It’s probably the worst idea I’ve ever had.”
She chuckled, shook her head and toyed with one of the ties on the sleeping bag. “I always knew you were an honest man.”
Honest? An honest man might confess to what he was feeling and the conflicting emotions she roused in him. But then again, he was an honorable men and surprisingly, honor sometimes meant being less than honest.
“I guess I should be glad you feel that way about me.”
Macy sensed hurt in his words and hadn’t meant to cause it. Cupping his cheek, the rough beard on his face rasped the palm of her hand. “I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I always admired you.”
“Did you? Lots of women thought I wasn’t a happily-ever-after kind of guy,” he said.
She thought back to those days and the women he had dated — none of them had been the kind to have lasting relationships with. Except her. Which made her wonder aloud, “Why me?”
A flush stained his face and he looked away at her perusal. “Why you? That night, you mean? Why you and not someone else?”
The words escaped her on a tortured breath. “Yes, why me?”
He met her gaze then, his resolute and hard. “I dated the kinds of girls who didn’t want commitment, but I knew you were different. I knew you and Tim . . . I had wondered for a while what it would be like if it was you and me.”
Much as she had questioned afterward what it would have been like if Fisher had been the kind of man to commit to someone. If it had been the two of them together.
“Do you ever think about it now? I mean, with the teaching offer and all . . .”
She couldn’t bear to look at him as she finished and concentrated on the ties of the sleeping bag, twirling them around and around her finger as she waited for his answer.
And then waited some more.
Finally, she had no choice but to meet his gaze.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I’d like to think that maybe you had thought about it. About us,” she finally admitted, deciding that after eighteen years of doubt, it was time to put an end to it.
“I have, only now there’s TJ to consider as well. A son that I didn’t know that I had.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you before, but with Tim’s death and all that started happening afterward . . . I wasn’t sure TJ could handle that kind of revelation,” she admitted.
“And now?” Fisher asked and tipped her face up so he could search her features. “What makes now any different?”
Tears filled her eyes, but didn’t spill over as she said, “I always worried whenever you went on a mission. I prayed for you to be safe so that maybe one day you and TJ could get to know one another.”
“Did you maybe pray a little for yourself? That maybe one day you and I — ”
“Yes, I did,” she blurted out and shifted closer to him. Cupped his cheek and brought her lips close. “I prayed that one day you and I could finish what we started.”
“Then let’s finish it,” he replied. . .
My husband is always teasing me about how frugal I am (frugal being his nice way of saying I’m inherently cheap). My theory in life is that if I take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves which means I look for sales on the items I need to purchase and also try to use coupons whenever possible.
