Thursday, November 13, 2014

The 13 of Hearts - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

23355850
      A young mother on the run. A Marine coping with the aftereffects of war. Those are the major conflicts in The 13 of Hearts. The author does a great job of conveying her characters' thoughts and fears. She goes deep. I enjoy the way she reveals their pasts, little by little, with surprises along the way. Pete and Lin don't fall instantly in love--both of them have a lot of baggage--and this story is much more than a simple boy-meets-girl romance. 
      The 13 of Hearts is Book Five of the Heart Stories and is a sweet romance with no sex scenes or profanity. It is free of typographical and grammatical errors, which I always appreciate.
      *FYI: In honor of her late friend, author Monique O'Connor James, Kay Springsteen is donating royalties from the sale of this book to author Kristine Cheney for her fight against breast cancer.

Book Beginning (Prologue):
War. It's not just a string of constant bloody battles. More often than not, you find yourself watching ... and waiting... Because that other shoe? It will fall. -- From the Deployment Survival Journal of Pete "Rabbit" Kincaid

Friday, December 13, 2013
Waiting always felt as pleasant as swimming in a stagnant pond. Rabbit hated it. Some nights, though, he wished the waiting would go on for just a few hours longer.

The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
Gloom settled over Rabbit, as real as twilight falling when the sun went down. It might as well be a sunset. The sun setting on his life.

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Military
Length: 399 Pages
Amazon Link: The 13 of Hearts
Author Blog/Website: The Romance of Your Life

Synopsis from Goodreads:
      Peter "Rabbit" Kincaid wasn't always superstitious but after several deployments with the US Marines, he's picked up a few quirks. His last tour of duty didn't go so well, and now he's back home recovering from injuries and awaiting clearance to get back in the fight. The fight is about to come to him in a different way. 
     Melinda "Lin" Doyle is a two-time US Marine widow on the run from the fallout of an incident that threatens to separate her from her two children. Making their home in a motel where she works for board and half pay, with her oldest child attending school under an assumed name isn't her idea of being Mother of the Year. Then again, neither is being at the center of a murder investigation. 
      Rabbit believes everything happens for a reason so when he and the young family cross paths multiple times over the course of a couple of days, he pays attention. Lin would rather the handsome Marine officer take his attention elsewhere before he ruins everything. How can they ever get along when everything they do appears to be at cross purposes?

                                                                    *********
                           

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reader)
Click HERE to join other Friday 56 bloggers (sponsored by Freda's Voice)

26 comments:

  1. Sounds like an interesting story. I'll have to look into it! Thanks for sharing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for featuring my book!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome. I enjoyed the story. I hope you raise lots of funds to fight Kristine Cheney's breast cancer.

      Delete
  3. I like the sound of this one...the depth and issues appeal to me. And I can definitely appreciate the difficulty of waiting...and enjoyed the description of it: "like swimming in a stagnant pond." Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The cover reminds me of a really good, heartwarming Hallmark movie. I love Hallmark movies! Happy reading and have a lovely weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This book would make a great Hallmark movie (and I'll bet the author would be thrilled if that happened).

      Delete
  5. I love the excerpts on this one and the premise is definitely intriguing. Plus how awesome of the author to donate proceeds to a cause that's important to her!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really enjoyed the beginning, I thought the quote it starts with is really interesting and probably very true. I can see how you'd enjoy this one, but I'd have to read a bit more to see what's happening! Thanks for sharing :) Have a great weekend!
    My Friday Post
    Juli @ Universe in Words

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always have a hard time limiting how much of a book's beginning I post, but I didn't want this post to get too long. I'm glad you enjoyed today's excerpts.

      Delete
  7. That is one I would like. My poor TBR pile is so large it will have to wait.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds good...ENJOY, and thanks for coming by my blog.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Book Beginnings

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks like a great book to be reading during this month of reflection.
    Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sounds good and a very nice cover, too! Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What beautiful illustrations the author conveys; this one sounds like a gripping story too! I do hope there is a happy ending :)

    Have a wonderful weekend Sandra!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oooh. That's one intense opening :)
    Thanks for dropping by my blog babe ♥
    NYZE@everythingnyze

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love how Rabbitt and Lin have met one another and this sounds very intriguing. I could picture it as a movie with the snippets you've shared. I especially love that the proceeds go to a very worthy cause.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nice 56--very descriptive! Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've read a couple books in this series and used to work with Kay. She's a sweetheart.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sounds like a touching book. Thanks for visiting my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  17. There's superstition written all over this, in a very quaint way!

    ReplyDelete
  18. This sounds adorable, and very wholesome!! Thanks for stoping by my blog

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a true beginning! Thanks for stopping by my blog! :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Good storyline. I'll have to check out this series.

    Thanks for visiting my Friday post.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This book looks amazing, particularly because I'm from a military family, this is going on my TBR list ASAP. Thanks for visiting my post!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting "Writing With a Texas Twang." All comments are sincerely appreciated. Tell me what you think!