Title – Sweet Reunion (The Bittersweet Series #1)
Author – Carla Krae
Genre – Contemporary Romance
Publisher – Willowick Publishing
Book Blurb
20th high-school reunion. Back in the town where dreams seemed possible and the future bright, where Kate's old crush Sam still lives with his seemingly perfect life. When Kate’s family was in a devastating car crash, she took custody of her little brother at age twenty and focused on giving him the best life he could possibly have in a wheelchair. Eighteen years later, he encourages her to put herself first for once and have fun at the reunion. Sam is waiting until after the reunion to announce his divorce publicly, but seeing Kate again rouses feelings long buried and he wants her no matter how much it complicates the weekend. She makes him feel alive for the first time in years, he’s missed their closeness from the past, and his mom loves her like a daughter. Kate finds Sam even more gorgeous and sexy than twenty years ago, but he’s still technically married and she lives in Nashville. No matter how amazing their connection is, a relationship would never work. Why couldn’t he have shown up to that reunion fat and bald? This story is intended for readers 18 and over due to adult language, sexual content, and adult situations.
Excerpt
20th high school reunion. Back in the town where dreams seemed possible and the future bright. Where Sam still lived.
Our history was typical—friends in high school, one of us harboring a secret crush (me). We e-mailed a while through college, but then distance and schedules and all the normal things drifted us apart. No dramatic ending, no goodbye…just the silence of moving on.
It sucked.
I still missed him. Sometimes. When life got quiet for a moment and I had nothing to do but think and remember.
The Civic Center would host the party, but Reunion Orientation was in the sanctuary of a nearby large church. The organizers had made this thing a weekend event, see.
Sam and his wife had sat at the other end of the long pew. His mother sent me the wedding announcement when it happened. The couple had been married for ten years.
You think you’ve moved on from things in your youth, then something like that arrives, and nope.
I could watch Sam in profile from here and he hadn’t spotted me, yet. He was even more handsome than I remembered, maturity chiseling all the baby fat away into sculptured perfection. He could’ve been a model. Had a scout ever approached him?
The class president went through the schedule of the weekend, then wanted to lead us through our school song. Sam looked my way for the first time and our eyes met. He still recognized my singing voice after all this time. Butterflies from my teens awoke and fluttered in my belly. So wrong, Kate, he’s married. Stupid hormones.
But his eyes were so intense. Had he always been so focused?
I smiled and nodded and he nodded back.
Then orientation was over and people filtered out of the building.
“Kate.”
I turned and waited. “Hey, Sam.” The years had been good to him. He still had an athletic build and no gray hair.
“This is Mandy.” His wife shook my hand. “Kate and I were friends.”
“We’re heading over to the Farmer’s Market. Want to join us?” Mandy asked. She was cute, with a friendly, wholesome face.
“Uh, sure.” It wasn’t far from here, and held every Saturday into the afternoon. Some things never changed. “Heard you had kids.”
“Two,” he said. He smiled for the first time at mention of them.
Mandy reached in her purse for the photos and stuck the book in my face. “Aren’t they adorable? Candace has her daddy’s eyes. And that’s Jordan. He’s ten months.”
“Congratulations.” A toddler and an infant.
They’d started kids late. Sam had big career dreams back in high school.
“Jordan falls asleep to your album. Only thing that works when he’s teething,” she said.
So he’d kept my demo. Not many copies ever existed.
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Author Biography
Romance writer. Weaver. Crocheter. Gardener. Crafter. Retired singer. Sci-fi lover.
Debuting in 2011, Carla Krae lives in California with two crazy cats and a tech guy.
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