Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Howdy! It’s a record-breaking heat wave where I am along with much of the country.  🔥  We’re used to heat but not this high. Stay cool! I don’t remember if I ever experienced 107 degree temps before, but once while visiting Sacramento, CA, it was 104. I noticed! We had a storm roll through last night and many are out of power. They need prayers to get it connected. Another one is expected today. Recently I told my oldest who lives in California that I’d probably move there in a couple years. I guess Mother Nature is breaking me in and preparing me for the summer temps.

THIS MONTH, I’m featuring Whispers of Forever: Mending Christmas, a Second Chance Romance—the first book in the Spin Off to the Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight. Wow, a featured book I haven’t mentioned yet this month. Shame on me. Bad blogger!

I’ll change that today.

It isn’t necessary to save Whispers of Forever for Christmastime reading because it doesn’t only revolve around the holiday. It revolves around two people and a young boy getting a second chance.

I love this book, but where did I get the idea?

Simple answer. From a song that interrupted that “almost asleep” stage. I grabbed my phone and jotted down the idea, but once I started writing, it went in a different direction.

Who doesn’t deserve a second chance?

Beth and Jake do. Especially when it should’ve been them all along. Against their will, they had been ripped apart from each other. Thirteen years later, Beth moves back to Canyon Junction, our small-town setting. Jake never left, except for those few years after Beth moved—the times he doesn’t like to remember—the times when he attempted to drown himself in a bottle or kill himself as a reckless cowboy with a passion for saddle bronc riding.

The snippet doesn’t feature Beth, but in the book, by now, they had unexpectedly come face-to-face since she had returned. This short piece deals with Jake and his child.

Short Snippet:

After feeding and watering their horses, they came in from the barn. Trace got a bath. Then Jake took a shower while his boy ate ice cream in front of the TV. He stood at the mirror in the small bathroom downstairs about to put shaving cream on his face.

A shattering scream ripped from Trace’s throat, “Daddy! Daddy? Dad…”

What the hell? Jake dropped his razor and rushed into the living room. “What’s the matter? Why are you watching the news, bud?” He glanced at the screen. Breaking News. “What happened?”

Trace stood in front of the TV pointing. He didn’t say anything more, but his chin dimpled and quivered.

Jake’s feet had been knocked out from under him, and he dropped to the sofa. Blood drained from his face, and it all dropped to his feet. His head spun, and he was unable to believe what he saw. Oh, my God. “Come here, T.J.” He reached out to bring him close, to hold him, to embrace him.

“A plane crash. Is it Austin’s plane?” he asked, close to hysteria. “It is his! Dad?” He read out loud, “Piper PA32,” as information scrolled across the bottom of the report. Trace turned toward his dad, his face wet with tears, his body trembling.

“Here, let’s change the channel.” Jake’s phone rang before he got the remote. He lost all focus, but his gaze couldn’t leave the TV screen. What was left of the plane looked like the one in the picture he had held in his hand earlier, and he let the phone ring.

Trace answered before Jake could grab it, “Mommy, is it you?” He held the phone out to his dad with a terrified blankness in his eyes. “Grandpa Bill wants to talk to you.”

Jake took the phone. Everything moved in slow motion from that point on. “Hello…”

End of excerpt.

Sorry for the cliffhanger ending here.  😁  You’ll never find a cliffhanger ending at the end of one of my books.

Description

What can stand in their way this time?

Second Chance Romance

Rancher Jake Lawton never expects to become a single dad to his nine-year-old overnight. However, one last malicious act his wife had done before leaving them, could affect both he and his son’s lives. By chance, he runs into his high school sweetheart, never expecting the same old yearnings to return with one “How are ya?” embrace. Has their unanticipated meeting arrived at the perfect time, or has years apart put an end to what should’ve been years ago?

Beth Marconi arrives home to help care for her ailing father. In town, she inadvertently runs into her first love—the cowboy she nearly married after graduation. Sparks ignite before they say hello, but how do they start over when life has left them so bruised? When her ex comes to town, she’s forced to explain the secret surrounding her short-lived marriage. Is Jake the kind of man who will understand, or will he revert to the hell-raiser he had become when Beth left thirteen years ago?

Filled with both anguish and hope, a young boy and two lonely hearts pursue a second chance.

Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series

A Double Dutch Ranch Series Spin off novel.

Check out this book and the other spin off series books HERE.

Thank you for visiting!