Spotlight: The Last Little Secret by Zuri Day

Second Chance Love Song by Jessica Lemmon is available on May 25.

Book Description

Will a secret child stand in the way of business? Find out in this Sin City Secrets novel by Zuri Day.

Is she willing to risk it all

for one more night with the boss?

Thanks to a year-long hiatus, interior designer Samantha Price is desperate for a new project. But the only client she can land is Nick Breedlove, a former one-night stand who’s dominated her fantasies ever since! The real estate billionaire agrees their partnership is strictly professional—even as his flirting promises more. If Sam gives in to their passion…will Nick learn the truth about their baby son?

Excerpt

“While in Africa, I lived in a rather insular world.”

“Since word on the street is you married a prince, a luxurious one, no doubt.”

“Yes.”

A physical wall couldn’t have made Sam’s intentions clearer. Whatever had happened while abroad, she didn’t want to talk about it. But Nick couldn’t resist.

“Yet you’re back here and working. What does your husband think about that?”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re no longer together.”

“Separated?”

“Divorced.”

The tone beneath that one word closed the door on the subject of Sam’s personal life better than King Tut’s sealed tomb. It only made Nick even more curious, about both her failed marriage and her current love life. Now was obviously not the time to talk about it, but one day… Patience was not a virtue Nick knew well, but one he could employ when necessary. Now was definitely one of those times.

His body language remained relaxed but he adopted a businesslike tone. “Whatever brings you back to Las Vegas, your timing couldn’t be better. I need the best and fastest-working designer that money can buy. Before running off to become an African princess, that was you.”

A grin accompanied Sam’s twinkling eyes. “I’d like to think it still is. What’s going on?”

“A project that has to stay on schedule and a designer who isn’t delivering on the promises she made.”

“How many rooms are we talking about?”

“Not rooms…homes.” Nick noted Sam’s surprised expression. “This isn’t a hotel design. It’s a series of private island homes being advertised for vacation rental among the world’s most elite.”

“Wow. I had no idea you guys had expanded beyond the original hotel framework. Considering how the hospitality industry is changing, though, it sounds like a smart move.”

“It’s proven to be right on time with industry trends.”

“Does that smirk confirm the obvious, that this was your idea?” 

“Still a smart-ass, I see.”

“Takes one to know one.”

“Ha!”

“So I’m right.”

“All of the brothers are involved but yes, it’s more or less my baby. Which means failure is not an option. You feel me?”

“Tell me more.”

Sam leaned forward, unconsciously revealing the slightest peek of a creamy quarter-moon of her breast. When his attention returned to her face, Sam was frowning. Damn. To her professional credit, however, she didn’t comment on eyes determined to rove on their own. She simply adjusted her blouse and sat back, waiting, to learn why Nick had brought her here.

Nick leaned back as well, determined to take control of a meeting he’d called, ensconced in the comfort of discussing an industry he knew better than he knew himself. Business now, pleasure later, he thought as he began discussing his baby, CANN Isles. There was no way around it, even pushed to the back of his mind. The attraction for one Ms. Samantha “Sam” Price was real, intense and not going away.

Before it was mere speculation. Now she was sure. It shouldn’t have mattered how much she wanted to see her old lover. Not only should Sam have not returned Anita’s phone call, she shouldn’t have made this appointment. She shouldn’t be here with Nick. Her body was clear about it even if her mind wasn’t sure. Every cell of her body had lit up, awakened by the irrefutable attraction that hadn’t dimmed in all this time away. An attraction that given the sticky situation that even thinking of working with Nick presented, and the increasingly troublesome email and text exchanges with her ex, had no chance of being acted upon.

Being this close to him in proximity was TROUBLE, all caps. Just seeing him relax made her heart skip. She watched the lines on his forehead fade away as he broke into a spiel he’d probably recited a hundred times. Clearly, speaking about the company was his forte, his stomping grounds, his zone. But that brief look of desire she’d glimpsed before Nick realized he’d been caught staring at her cleavage suggested something impossible. That he still felt the attraction, too.

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About the Author

Award-winning author Zuri Day snuck her first Harlequin romance from her older sister’s collection and was hooked from page one. Knights in shining armor and happily-ever-afters spurred a lifelong love of reading. Zuri now creates these stories as a full-time author. Splitting her time between the stunning Caribbean islands and southern California, and always busy writing her next novel, Zuri still loves to connect with readers via Zuri@ZuriDay.com.

Connect with the Author

Website: http://zuriday.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/haveazuriday/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HaveAZuriDay

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZuriDayWrites

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2513962.Zuri_Day

Spotlight: Back Home to You by Maggie Wild

(Hope Valley, #2)
Publication date: June 30th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

She’s desperate to get her life straight. He’s struggling to stay true to his dreams. Together, can they whip up the recipe for happily ever after?

Harriet “Harry” Belmont feels like a total failure. Returning from San Francisco to England to care for her grandmother after being fired and discovering her boyfriend is married, she’s determined to turn a mess into something vaguely positive. But when her woeful cooking skills send her gran’s dinner up in smoke, the big-city refugee is stunned when the man who jumps to her rescue is a handsome old flame.

Jamie Forrest’s love of culinary creations has come back to bite him. Though the small-town chef loves the meal-kit business he built to help others, it’s become so successful he no longer has time to spend in the kitchen. But his stress multiplies exponentially when the woman he saves from a food-prep disaster turns out to be his gorgeous childhood sweetheart.

As Harry’s forgotten feelings resurface, she’s torn between helping him open his dream restaurant and fleeing back to the life she promised she’d never sacrifice for a man. And though Jamie realizes he never got over her, he’s terrified that if he lets her in, she’ll just break his heart again. 

Can the reunited friends find a way to put love on the menu?

Back Home to You is the charming second book in the Hope Valley contemporary romance series. If you like feisty females, kindhearted men, and wry humor, then you’ll adore Maggie Wild’s sweet tale.

Read Back Home to You to order up affection today!

Excerpt

“You’ve given me an idea,” Jamie said, as Harry scraped the last of the stroganoff from the bowl. “After the salmon incident, I started wondering if my recipe cards weren’t clear. It got me thinking that maybe you’d be a good tester. Maybe you could cook some of my kits and I can watch how you interpret what I have in my head.”

“You mean, if I can manage not to screw it up, anyone could cook it?”

Jamie grimaced.

“It’s okay,” Harry said. “I know where my talents lie and it’s not in the kitchen.”

Jamie raised an eyebrow, then lowered it again quickly. He could always turn a comment into a sexual innuendo, but that had been when he was a teenager. 

Still, Harry laughed. “I’ll be your guinea pig as long as you don’t make me eat my burnt offerings.”

“Then Greek,” Harry said. 

“All right,” said Jamie. “Roll up your sleeves.” He took a meal kit from the fridge and placed it in front of Harry. “I want you to make the meal as if I’m not here. Just follow the instructions so I can see exactly how you interpret them.”

Harry looked skeptical, but he gave her an encouraging nod. She put on an apron and got to work. 

Jamie watched Harry tear open the packets of herbs and tip them into the bowl of yogurt. She seemed nervous, and he smiled to himself at the idea of having a reputation as a hard-nosed chef. He wished she hadn’t asked about the restaurant. Even now, it was still a sore spot for him. The failed business partnership had damaged his trust in others, and himself, and Jamie knew he needed to rebuild both if he was going to grow Local Goodness. 

“Okay,” said Harry. She squinted at the card and placed a cucumber on the board.

Jamie handed her a sharp knife, one he knew could turn the cucumbers into paper thin slivers. Harry gripped the knife in one hand and stretched her fingers down the length of the fruit. She lifted the knife.

“Wait!” he yelled. “Fingers definitely aren’t in the recipe.”

“I’m not planning to chop them off but I have to hold this thing or it will roll away.”

“Can I show you?” he asked.

When Harry shrugged, he took her left hand and curled her fingers under so the tips of her nails rested on the cucumber’s skin. “This way, if you slip, you won’t lose a fingertip.” He showed her how to hold the knife, encouraging her to relax her wrist.

Holding Harry’s hand again after all these years sent a jolt of longing up his arm. Her slender fingers and delicate wrists were just as he remembered them. Her skin was as smooth as it had been back then, but it was a pampered smoothness now, softened with creams and lotions. She still kept her nails short and neat, but now manicured and painted with clean white tips instead of the purple glitter polish she’d worn the first time he had held her hand. 

That day, they’d taken the train into town to see a movie about a boy from a mining town who dreamed of being a dancer. As they’d walked back to the station that evening, Harry talking about gender roles and old-fashioned beliefs, and how they had to be careful not to turn into their parents, Jamie had taken Harry’s hand. The evening air had chilled her fingers, but heat radiated from her palm. He loved the feeling of their skin touching, of being connected to her at one simple point. In an easy, fluid motion, she had slipped each of her fingers in between his and squeezed, knitting the pair of them together. Forever, Jamie had thought in his boyish fantasy.

“Show me again,” Harry said, pulling him back into the kitchen, back to the dangerously sharp knife that now hovered over her tender fingers.

Jamie blinked at the woman in his kitchen. He recalled the end of that date at the movies and, for a second, he pictured leaning in and kissing Harry again, tasting her lips, wondering how she might feel different from the Harry he had kissed back then, and how she might feel exactly the same. 

“Jamie?” 

He snapped back to reality. 

Harry peered at him, a worried look on her face. “Are you okay?”

He stared at her for a moment, then laughed. “I was just thinking about the two of us together.”

“Good thoughts?”

“Very.”

“We were pretty cute back then, weren’t we?”

He straightened himself. Get your act together, Forrest. “Yes, we were. But that won’t get you out of learning some knife skills. So…” He positioned Harry’s hand on the knife. “Just relax. Don’t force it. Let the motion be fluid and let the knife take the lead. Focus on the knife and the vegetable will do its thing.”

Harry straightened her shoulders and closed her eyes. She took a breath, and Jamie thought she was going to say something more. Was she thinking about that first kiss, too? But then she shook out her wrist, gripped the knife, and sliced the cucumber into delicate slivers.

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About the Author

Maggie Wild lives in California Wine Country with her own Mr. Right and a small collection of furry friends. A native of Yorkshire, England, she returns "home" every day through her fictional worlds. When not writing her fun, contemporary romance stories, she loves to watch the birds in her garden and hike through the local redwoods. Learn more at MaggieWild.com.

Connect:

https://twitter.com/maggiewildbooks

https://www.maggiewild.com/

https://www.instagram.com/maggiewildbooks/

https://www.facebook.com/maggiewildbooks/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20908082.Maggie_Wild

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Spotlight: The Playboy's "I Do" Deal by Tara Pammi

The Playboy's “I Do” Deal by Tara Pammi is available on May 25.

Book Description

A billionaire’s Caribbean getaway just got a lot more interesting in this sizzling marriage of convenience story by Tara Pammi!

A convenient offer…

From the stowaway on his yacht!

Dev Kohli’s superyacht is Clare Roberts’s perfect hideout. A family betrayal has her running from a forced marriage. Trying to ignore the heat still blazing between her and Dev from their last encounter, Clare prepares to bargain with the billionaire…

Dev knows the PR expert can restore his company’s tarnished reputation. But agreeing to hide her in paradise—just the two of them—brings an intimacy he can’t escape. And as the threat to Clare increases, so does Dev’s need to protect her with something he never thought he’d offer—his ring!

Excerpt

What her friends also didn’t know, and Clare wasn’t about to tell them, was that their new client was the same man she’d had a one-night stand with recently. She’d never shared his identity with them, feeling a strange sense of protectiveness about that night. Also, because if she talked to them, then she’d have to own up that she’d mostly failed at abiding by the most important rule of one-night stands—keeping it strictly casual. Especially as Dev had clearly had no such problem doing that himself.

Athleta was far too big a fish for Clare to walk away from just because its CEO hadn’t proclaimed that he’d love her forever. And tonight had been her one chance to impress on him that her small PR firm could clean up his recently tarnished image.

Only the mobster’s goons had trailed her all the way from London to a conference in New York and then to São Paulo, and it was terrifying. Today the mobster’s intentions had been made crystal clear. He intended to simply…take her in lieu of the money he insisted she owed him.

For two weeks, she’d lived in terror of being snatched from wherever she was.

She’d been meaning to hightail it back to her hotel room when she’d spotted Goon Number One with a drink in hand on the main deck of the superyacht this evening. The short, blond, chubby-faced man had smiled angelically—clearly his cheerful appearance was a useful tool in nabbing unsuspecting women. It was the same man she’d seen leaning near the newspaper stand on the street where The London Connection’s offices were located, looking up at the sole window. The very same posh and supposedly secure street that they paid astronomical rent for.

He’d even bumped into her late one evening when she’d been rushing to catch the Tube after work. Apologized profusely. When she’d then seen him lounging in the foyer of her New York hotel, she’d wondered if she was hallucinating.

Now, he was here, aboard Dev’s yacht. Looking just as posh as the rest of the designer-suited men. Wearing an affable smile, chitchatting away. He’d almost touched her. Tried to talk to her as if they were long-lost friends. She didn’t have time to wonder how he’d got on board. She needed to hide. Now.

She ran her hand over her hips, contemplating the rounds the uniformed security guard was making. The emerald green silk skirt she was wearing had been a gift from Bea, and it gave her some much-needed courage. Without looking back, she stepped gingerly down the spiral staircase—who knew yachts could have staircases like this one?—and tried to not trip in her four-inch heels.

The champagne sloshed around in her belly again as she passed door after door. Peeked into one expansive lounge after another. Even in her panic, Clare couldn’t help marveling at the airy, contemporary spaces, the chic stylish interiors. The click-click of her stilettos on the gleaming floors sounded like a sinister countdown.

Heart pounding, she walked into the biggest cabin. 

For a second, she was thrown at the sheer size of it. A large bed with a navy-blue duvet looked so welcoming that she took an involuntary step toward it longingly.

It was the feel of the luxuriously soft cotton underneath her fingertips that made her realize she was pawing it. Her eyelids felt heavy, her entire body swooning with exhaustion. She’d been traveling nonstop for a week. Hadn’t slept a wink ever since that ghastly man had started following her. But she couldn’t sleep now. Not if she wanted to remain undetected until after the party wound down.

After one last wistful glance at the bed, she shook off the lethargic fog that threatened to engulf her. She was crashing from the shock of seeing that mobster’s henchman again. Moving like an automaton, she walked into a massive closet.

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About the Author

Tara Pammi can't remember a moment when she wasn't lost in a book, especially a romance which, as a teenager, was much more exciting than mathematics textbook. Years later Tara’s wild imagination and love for the written word revealed what she really wanted to do: write! She lives in Colorado with the most co-operative man on the planet and two daughters. Tara loves to hear from readers and can be reached at tara.pammi@gmail.com or her website www.tarapammi.com.

Connect with the Author

Website: https://www.tarapammi.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaraPammi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarapammi/

 Goodreads: h https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55870999-the-playboy-s-i-do-deal?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=4uuHtzGt2U&rank=1

Spotlight: Since You've Been Gone by Samantha Chase

Series: Magnolia Sound #8

Release Date: June 29, 2021

About the Book

Emmaline Ryan has always been the smart, shy girl who plays it safe. But all that’s gotten her is a divorce and a mountain of debt to pay off courtesy of her ex-husband. Needless to say, she’s stopped believing in miracles and fairy tales a long time ago. Except now she’s in desperate need of one those miracles if she wants to save her family’s animal rescue. Emmaline knows just where to go for help, but that means putting her faith in the hands of the man who once broke her heart without even realizing it.

Garrett Coleman met the girl of his dreams when he was just eight years old – only, he never told her. But that was years ago. Now, Garrett has become a reluctant social media star – the shirtless #HotDoc and #SexyVet who saves scared and helpless animals. Sure, it’s been great for business, but he’d give anything for people to see the real him, preferably with a shirt on. When a visit home to Magnolia Sound has him running into the shy girl he left behind, he sees his chance at the future he never thought he deserved.

Unfortunately, he’s not the only one back in town, and wooing Emmaline just became a lot more complicated. A lot has changed since he’s been gone and Garrett is going to have to prove that he’s up to the challenge. Emmaline might still be the sweet and quiet girl he left behind, but he’s not sure she willing to wait.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Audible | Paperback

About the Author

Samantha Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller of contemporary romance. She released her debut novel in 2011 and currently has more than forty titles under her belt! When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook, wearing a tiara while playing with her sassy pug Maylene…oh, and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

Connect:

Website: https://www.chasing-romance.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamanthaChase3 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaChaseFanClub/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthachaseromance/ 

Newsletter: https://www.chasing-romance.com/newsletter 

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/samantha-chase

Spotlight: What Happens In Miami by Nadine Gonzalez

What Happens in Miami... by Nadine Gonzalez is available on June 29.

Book Description

When a man on a mission is derailed by a beautiful woman, will one night ever be enough? Find out in this Miami Famous novel from Nadine Gonzalez.

Will one night be his undoing?

Alessandro Cardenas isn’t stepping out on the Miami art scene only for the hottest parties. Someone is forging his late grandfather’s paintings—and he’s determined to uncover the culprit. But when he crosses paths with gallerist Angeline Louis, the boundaries between mystery and seduction become blurred. Does Angeline suspect his ulterior motives…even as she surrenders to his kisses? Does she have secrets of her own? Or can Alessandro trust that their once-in-a-lifetime connection is real?

Excerpt

Angel checked her phone for the time. Only five minutes had passed. She had to chill out—famous people kept regular people waiting all the time.

Her trained eye zeroed in on the artwork. The space was, at its core, a gallery showcasing the homeowner’s eclectic pieces, all periods and trends colliding. She went over to a pair of framed paintings on a far wall. One was of a red apple hanging from a tree branch. The other was of a woman sleeping in a garden. She was naked if you looked past the strategically placed fig leaf. Angel was trying to decipher the artist’s signature when she heard the blunt sound of bare feet on tile. She glanced over her shoulder.

There he was, standing motionless by the sliding glass doors that opened onto a terrace. Whatever remained of the day’s sunlight spilled onto his broad, bare shoulders. He was practically naked—if you looked past the damp swim trunks, which wasn’t hard to do.

Tight and trim, he had the body of a lifelong swimmer. And it seemed to Angel that he had just emerged from the sea. His chest and limbs, sculpted and defined, glistened with water. His wavy black hair, cut close to the scalp, glistened. His bronze skin, touched by sunlight, glistened. With all that glistening sparkle, it was disquieting to meet his blank expression. His handsome face was impassive. From brow line to jawline, broad nose to full mouth, he gave nothing away. Was he perplexed to find her here? He’d been expecting Justine. Had anyone warned him?

But a sheepish grin quelled her fears.

“Sorry, I was expecting…” He paused to slip on a rumpled white shirt. “They said your name was Angel and I figured…”

He figured she was a man. Common mistake. She’d gone to school with at least three guys named Angel. To set the record straight, she stepped forward and introduced herself properly, business card and all. 

“Angeline Louis, sales associate with Gallery Six,” she said. “Angel, for short.”

He took the card and ran his thumb over the gallery’s embossed logo. Under his breath, he repeated her name. “Angel.” Why that moved her, she couldn’t say. Then he introduced himself. “Alessandro Cardenas.”

She would have liked to say: I know who you are. But that wasn’t technically true. She knew his name, age and ethnicity: Alessandro D. Cardenas, thirty-two, Cuban American. She’d seen most of his movies, including Shadows Need Light, the indie film for which he’d won an Independent Spirit Award, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar for best supporting actor. She was familiar with the brands he promoted, his political leanings, and she could name a few of his famous exes. He was a sex symbol, a social media star and a darling of the critics, in that order. And, it seemed, he was a serious art collector. That was a lot to know about someone you’d never met. More than she knew about her next-door neighbor.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cardenas.”

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Mass Paperback

About the Author

Nadine Gonzalez was born in New York City, the daughter of Haitian immigrants. Eventually, she moved to Miami, Florida, and fell in love with the people, weather, and lifestyle. She started her first novel while in law school and her modern romances reflect this vibrant city and unique mix of cultures. 

Nadine lives with her Cuban American husband and their beautiful son. For more visit her website: www.nadine-gonzalez.com

Connect with the Author

Website: https://www.nadine-gonzalez.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nadinegonzalezNovelist/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_NadineGonzalez

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16801719.Nadine_Gonzalez

Spotlight: The Mixtape by Brittainy Cherry

Author Brittainy Cherry Writes Her Own Mixtape

Hi, Everyone! I’m Brittainy Cherry, author of The Mixtape, a contemporary romance novel. I am so excited to share Oliver and Emery’s story with you all. These two characters are both struggling through life in their own ways, and it is through music and love that they find their way back to themselves and each other. 

The Mixtape could’ve never come together without my own mixtape of sorts to help guide the way to this novel. Music not only plays a huge role in the story, but also in my personal life, so of course I had to whip up my own mixtape as I wrote this story. For example, my playlist began with “Godspeed” by the extremely talented James Blake that set the mood of the story. His tones and lyrics wrapped me up into a warm hug and I allowed the song to move me as I crafted Oliver’s character. 

Then, we moved into “Soldiers” by Rachel Platten which is a powerful song about taking moments to breathe in order to move forward for another day, like soldiers in the night. It’s a song that showcases the strength of our heroine, Emery, who is a single mother, trying her best to create a better life for her young daughter. 

I had the best time tying in songs like “Slow Dance” by AJ Mitchell (feat. Ava Max) to show the slow burn between Emery and Oliver falling together, followed by their first kiss being written to the song, “Can I Kiss You?” by Dahl. 

The whole story was wrapped up with a classic, “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love” by the Spinners, which sums up what I hope you experience reading this novel: a mixtape of emotions which lead to you falling in love with the love story of Emery and Oliver. I hope this novel heals you the same way music soothes my soul. 

Release Date: July 1, 2021

Publisher: Montlake

Summary

Emery has never felt more alone. Raising her daughter is both her pleasure and her pain as she struggles to hold on to her job as a bartender and keep a roof over their heads. With no one to help them—no support system—any unexpected expense or late bill could turn their whole world upside down.

Reeling from the death of his twin brother and bandmate, rock star Oliver Smith is trying to drink his problems away. Apparently he isn’t very good at it; they follow him wherever he goes. Also in hot pursuit are the paparazzi, who catch Oliver at his lowest low.

He could have walked into any bar in California, but he walked into hers. Emery helps Oliver lose the crowd, and they find themselves alone: two people whose paths are marked with loss and pain. However, they hold an unshakable hope for healing. They find solace together, but can their love withstand the world?

Excerpt

Sometimes the world didn’t make sense. No parent should’ve ever had to bury their own child. I couldn’t even imagine that kind of pain that raced through her heartbeats on a daily basis. If I could offer up only one set of prayers for the remainder of my life, it would be for the parents who had to say goodbye too early on to their own.

Those hearts would always beat a little slower in my mind.

“I’m so sorry, Michelle.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” She reached out and patted my hand, and I knew it was because she needed a hand to hold. So, I wrapped both of mine around hers. “The mourning doesn’t get easier. It just get quieter. Some days, I still cannot get out of bed, but I’m blessed. Because Richard stays in bed with me and my quietness. Then, when it’s time for me to get up, he pulls me to my feet, and we dance. A piece of advice—find yourself a man who would dance with you even when your heart is broken.” Her eyes flashed with tears and she held my hands tighter. “You want to know a secret?”

“Yes.”

“I thought I was going to lose Oliver, too. He kept everyone so far away. So, when I flew out here, I prepared myself for the worst. I thought he’d be in a drunken slumber or, worse…so much worse. Last time I came a few weeks ago, he wasn’t doing too well. But this time? This time I came back and he’s smiling.”

“That’s so good.”

She smiled brightly up at me as tears freely danced down her cheekbones. “So thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I swore.

“You’re the only difference in his life since I came back. Plus, there’s the way he looks at you when you’re not looking. Now, sweetheart, I don’t know what you did, but I’m almost positive that you helped bring my son back to life after he was holding death’s hand. Call it my mother’s intuition. So, thank you for helping him. Even if it’s just by being his friend.”

Now I was tearing up, and I pulled her into a tight hug. “You’re an amazing mother,” I whispered, and she began to cry harder.

“You have no clue how hard it is to believe that each day.”

I think all mothers thought that. The ones who doubted her mothering skills, were sometimes the ones who were trying their best day in and day out. I didn’t expect the conversation with Michelle to go the direction that it had, but I was glad it had taken that path, because it was clear we both had some healing corners of our heart that had to be touched that evening.

“Oh, don’t tell me you two are wine drunk and emotion,” Richard cut in, walking in our direction. “We were just picking out a song for two seconds and we turn around to find you both moping.”

“Oh hush, Richard. Can’t us girls have a moment every now and again?” Michelle remarked, standing to her feet.

“Yes, but for now, we dance to The Spinners, my lady.” Richard reached out for his wife and took her into his arms as they began swaying to the song, Could It Be I’m Falling In Love. Richard serenaded Michelle as she smiled and melted into him like a perfectly fit puzzle piece.

Oliver came to stand beside me as we both watched his parents fall more and more in love with one another.

“This was their wedding song,” Oliver mentioned. “Dad recorded it, and they danced to it for their first dance.”

“Oh my gosh, how sweet is that,” I swooned. True romance.

“They dance to it every single night. On the good days and bad days. Especially on the bad days.”

“They’re what I want my love to look like,” I confessed. Oliver gave me a tight smile but didn’t say anything. I shifted around for a minute before looking toward him once more. “Do you want to dance with me?”

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About the Author

Brittainy Cherry has been in love with words since she took her first breath. She graduated from Carroll University with a bachelor’s degree in theater arts and a minor in creative writing. She loves to take part in writing screenplays, acting, and dancing—poorly, of course. Coffee, chai tea, and wine are three things that she thinks every person should partake in. Cherry lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her family. When she’s not running a million errands and crafting stories, she’s probably playing with her adorable pets.

Connect:

Website - http://www.bcherrybooks.com/ 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BrittainyCherryAuthor 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/brittainycherry 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bcherryauthor 

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