Title:
Grace Under Fire—The Anderson Sisters Book 2
Author:
Jennifer Raines
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
It’s deal or no deal when a new threat forces two independent neighbours to face a past tragedy.
Artisan cheese-maker GRACE ANDERSON lost her closest friend to suicide, then saw her father swindled out of prime dairy land. Abandonment and mistrust cemented her determination to become the fifth generation on the family farm and to do it alone. A deterioration in her mother’s health starts the clock. Grace has three months to buy her parents out—a decade sooner than planned—or lose the farm.
Neighbour RYAN WILSON is haunted by the belief he failed to prevent his younger brother Danny’s suicide. He’s returned to sell his mother’s farm. In eight years away, he’s built a fortune flipping farm properties and doesn’t do attachment—to land or people.
The bank plays hard ball, forcing Grace to consider Ryan’s offer to buy part of her land. The sizzling attraction simmering between them is an unwelcome complication. She doesn’t want a business partner, he doesn’t want to care, but when someone tries to sabotage her purchase, she finds herself turning to Ryan for more than financial help.
Can Ryan convince her accepting help is not failure? Can Grace escape her legacy of mistrust and teach him how to care again?
Excerpt:
“Hi, EJ, Grace.”
The deep male voice—honey and smoke—brought Grace’s head up, her antennae on alert. Tessa protested at her firmer grip. Grace hadn’t seen him arrive, and with her sister as an audience, couldn’t avoid the contact. Ryan Wilson was six foot two and topped her by a good four inches. His broad shoulders were encased in standard dairy-country uniform of blue chambray and sleeveless poly fibre jacket. The dark moleskins and battered R.M. Williams boots were another tell of Australian country boy. Ditto with the wide-brimmed Akubra perched on his head. Dark reflective sunglasses hid his eyes, but his mouth was set in a straight line above a square jaw. His skin was tanned to a burnished gold, chamois-soft for a man who lived his life outdoors. Word was Ryan Wilson had lived outdoors in the eight years he’d been absent from the valley.
“Ryan.” Ella’s ready smile curved in greeting. “Sorry I’ve missed you my last few visits home. We haven’t left the farm.”
Grace had been avoiding personal encounters with him in the two years since he’d been home. Quite a feat, given they were neighbours.
His mouth relaxed into a half smile. “You’ve been busy since I last saw you.”
“Meet Tiger.” Ella rested her hand on her son’s head.
“Tiger?”
“He was on the move even in the womb.” Ella laughed. “His birth certificate says Kit.” She pointed at the child in Grace’s arms. “Tessa’s grown a bit.”
“Did you want something?” Grace drew herself up to her full height. He had the edge, but she didn’t back away. The prickle of awareness was new to her and oddly disorienting. So, he’d turned into a hunk.
“Just saying hello to all the new stallholders—as a member of the field day committee.” Ryan dared Grace to object.
“Doggie,” Tessa squealed.
Jake continued. “Asking if there’s anything we can do to improve your experience?”
He could take himself off like he had ten years ago. Annoyance did battle with basic politeness. “I’m fine.”
“On the committee?” Ella teased. “The Wilson boy made good!”
“A mover and a shaker,” he replied ironically.
“Doggie.” Tessa wriggled in Grace’s arms, straining to get down.
Grace squatted to face the three-legged mixed breed leaning against Ryan, keeping Tessa within the secure circle of her arms. Ryan could have approached Grace at any time during the long day. Instead he’d used Ella to run interference. His tacit acknowledgement of Grace’s confused hostility gave her pause. Her new-found edginess around him was as welcome as tick-borne disease in her cows and shredded the good manners her parents had taught her.
“Tessa would love a dog,” Ella murmured.
The Oh no! in her sister’s voice had Grace hiding her grin.
“Maybe not yet.” Ella rubbed Kit’s back. “Tess, say hello to Ryan, and he might introduce you.”
Tessa lifted her head, tilted it further back and, giggling, toppled back against Grace. “Hello, big man.”
He hunkered down and slid a hand over the dog’s head, caressing one ear while encouraging the brown and white mutt to sit. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth, and his liquid brown eyes adoringly followed Ryan’s every move.
“Hi, Tessa. This is Satan,” Ryan introduced his companion.
Figures! Grace wished she could see through those glasses, see if there was any hint of apology in Ryan’s eyes. A melt-your-bones brown—not that she’d paid much attention to him years ago on the school bus. He’d been in Ella’s class, whereas his younger brother, Danny, had been in Grace’s. The brothers had shared the same dark brown hair and eyes, the same rangy build.
The stab of grief for Danny ambushed her. One of the reasons she’d kept her distance since Ryan’s return.
“How’d he get his name?” Grace snatched at the conversational lifeline.
“Fought through hellfire to save a few lives. Or his namesake from World War I did. This one alerted us to a fire in a cabin. Didn’t you, boy?” Ryan crooned. “We got the workers out safely, but his leg was badly burned. Had to amputate.” He’d wrong-footed her again by showing a sensitive side.
“Poor baby.” Grace stretched out a hand to the dog and waited until he accepted it before patting him. “Like this, Tess.”
“He’s very gentle. Likes kids.” Ryan’s hand covered Tessa’s, bringing him closer to Grace. Close enough for her to smell man and shared history. Her breath caught in her throat as past and present collided.
“Good doggie. Ellie”—Tessa screwed up her eyes against the sun—“I want doggie.”
“I know you do, darling,” Ella murmured. “We can talk about it with Jake.”
“She looks like Chrissy,” Ryan lowered his voice so only Grace could hear. When she nodded, he continued. “I’m sorry Chrissy died. I haven’t had the chance to tell you.”
“I’m sorry about Dan.” Old despair erupted in a messy accusation. “You never gave me a chance to tell you.”
Ella winced at her sharp response, but Grace had looked to Ryan in the church ten years ago. For help to make sense of the madness? For reassurance? To see if he shared her sense of loss, of waste, of guilt in not being able to prevent Danny’s death. Ryan had refused to talk to her after Danny’s funeral, abandoning her to suffocating grief.
Ryan had been seventeen then to her fifteen, as tall as now but gangly. He hadn’t grown into his build, but the promise of the man had been there.
The pain of Ryan’s rejection had smouldered inside her, only to flare up now. He’d left town straight after her best friend Danny’s funeral. Hadn’t stayed for the wake or to listen to community condolences. Ryan had spoken to no one. Not even her. Then disappeared. When his mother needed him. Grace had struggled to forgive him for that too. She’d taught herself not to need him, not to need anyone other than her family.
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What’s your favorite thing about autumn:
I live in temperate Sydney, Australia, and our autumns are often balmy and slow to arrive. But I love the cooler evenings, when you know winter is just around the corner. You’re still savouring warm days, but welcome the chance to snuggle up at home as darkness falls. You dig into the cupboards or wardrobes where you’ve stored your warmer clothing and unearth items you’d forgotten or can’t wait to wear again. It’s a time of rediscovery.
What inspired you to write this story:
Grace Under Fire is the second and final book in The Anderson Sisters, and while the books can be read as standalone, they’re connected, as family are connected, through shared memories and challenges. Losing someone you love is always hard—a relationship ends, someone far too young dies or through age and illness is no longer the person you’ve always known. You can’t ever right the wrongs or fix the mistakes you made. Losing someone can make you afraid to love again, because you can’t imagine being able to come back from the pain. Hope is equally strong, and the will to dream for something better. Grace Under Fire is about love and hope and forgiving yourself.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs September 1 – 30, 2024
Drawing will be held on October 1, 2024.
Author Biography:
Australian Jennifer Raines writes sensuous contemporary romances set mainly, but not exclusively, in Australia—think Malta, Finland, New Zealand or ? A dreamer and an optimist, her stories are a delicious cocktail of passion, mutual respect and loyalty because she still believes in happily-ever-afters.
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