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N. N. Light
Apr 8, 20205 min read

Heart Storms by @ncsamuelson is a Spring Break Bookapalooza pick #womensfiction #giveaway #books


Title: HEART STORMS

Author: N. Christine Samuelson

Genre: Women’s Fiction with Romantic Elements

Book Blurb:


Three people’s lives collide in a perfect storm of heartbreak and ruin, betrayal and love. One woman and two men are drawn to coastal South Carolina to an oceanfront Victorian B & B inn. With losses from divorce, lies, secrets, cheating spouses, and abandonment, all three characters do not seek love or relationship. As they move into and through the emotional storm of their lives, destiny brings them together in an extraordinary way. But will they be destroyed or transformed by their fates?


An enchanting seaside inn complete with mystical elements lifts the characters’ spirits and helps them on their journeys. Their passionate triangle must be broken for them to move on with their lives, but who ends up with whom, or do they, and when?

Excerpt:


Jade wandered through her days looking for clues to why and how the end came. Well-meaning friends tried to encourage her, but their words were lies because love did not conquer all, and time had not healed her. In her world, the road to hell wasn’t paved with gold but with a golden boy who took her straight there—to a hell of a life. And when all those doors slammed shut, God didn’t open a window, ‘the devil’ did.


Devlin. Jade used to love his name. It was unusual, strong and spoke of his Irish heritage. She assumed the man, Devlin Donoghue, would be the same—as honorable as a hero in medieval times fighting to the death for his woman, family, and freedom. But Devlin was the antithesis of good things. … His name was unspeakable now, like poison on her tongue. So instead of seeing ‘Devlin’ written on the paper, …she saw only ‘Devil.’ Now there’s a name perfectly suited to him. Since that day, Jade referred to him only when necessary, and only as ‘the devil’—the intentional cause of pain and destruction, the epitome of evil.


***


Gabriel had nowhere to run or hide from the relentless demons howling through his life. They made demands of his days he couldn’t fulfill. No matter how good he was or acted, his life seemed predestined for trouble and heartbreak. In trying to change his situation, worse circumstances arose. He ran from a culture he loved and respected but had also caused pain and torment. The deepest truth, though, simmered underneath the obvious facts—Gabriel knew he’d never have a life of goodness, of love and family. Those things were fairytales in books and movies. He’d never witnessed those good things in real life and, since Consuela, for sure they didn’t happen to people like him.


***


The destruction of Jade’s life by a devious, conniving husband didn’t happen to people like her. She’d always been a loving, hard-working, devoted daughter and wife who deserved better than what she got.


At twenty-seven, instead of living the dream they planned, Jade lived alone in a studio apartment, in a nightmare where questions screamed through her dreams. Where are you… How could you do this? Why did you do it? Every day, rage tumbled down her life like a waterfall. Come back… fix this… make it right! Her world stood still while a vortex of depression sucked out her life force, replaced by a new emotion—hate. With all the good she was and did, she received the opposite in return. But for all the agony and loss the devil wrought, he didn’t get an ounce of it back. As far as Jade saw, only good things went back to him. How is that fair in the laws of the universe, the eyes of God, or in the karmic balance of right and wrong? Jade decided if those things wouldn’t balance the scales of justice, she would. She’d pay back ‘the devil.’ Retribution and vengeance—previously unknown concepts in her world—now thundered through her every waking moment as she vowed revenge.


***


Gabriel should have listened to the red flags in his intuition telling him not to trust Consuela or any women. But there weren’t many people in his life he did trust. With experiencing some of the worst of life events, Gabriel lived with everything being fine one day, and all hell breaking loose the next. Which is exactly what happened. He never forgot the day Consuela cheated and his world shattered.


…Gabriel’s life became one of nothing but work. He worked his body hard to cover his pain, to stop replaying the scenes of the betrayal. Time didn’t heal his wounds as his mother promised. Wherever he went, unending memories followed of ‘the witch,’ the only name his brain would allow for Consuela.


…Yet with firming up plans for a new start, the nagging voice inside his head, the angel looking over his ‘good’ shoulder asked, “How can you have a good life when all you want is to retaliate and cause suffering as you’ve suffered? You need to stop living this way if you want a better life.” The voice of truth was right. But most of the time it was safer to listen to the devil on the other shoulder who, when anything good threatened to take hold reminded Gabe his life’s greatest desire was to seek revenge, to move through life breaking hearts and spirits as his own had been broken. The devil’s voice reinforced his life should be one of balancing the scales of pain and injustice inflicted on him. Gabriel Montoro knew getting even was his best revenge because ‘living well’ was not a viable option in his world.

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):









If money were no object and there wasn’t a pandemic circling the world, where would you go for a Spring Break vacation and why?


I’d travel around the country to visit family and friends I haven’t seen in years or decades. I’d renew relationships, create new memories, talk all night, eat, drink, laugh and love, and cherish the people who helped shape my life and my dreams.

What’s your favorite thing about Spring and why?


It’s cliché, but I really do love the sense of renewal and rebirth of nature, of the world—it gives me hope and inspires me to renew my own life and goals. Spring for me is filled with memories of Easter with family—another time of rebirth and the promise of life eternal. Not to mention incredibly delicious foods, traditional desserts and of course, the egg hunts and the candy. Also, my grandpa’s gardens filled with color and amazing scents of lilacs, dogwood tree blossoms, forsythia, daffodils and tulips. Wonderful memories of spring for all the senses!

Giveaway:


Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Enter to win a $25 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Enter to win a $15 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Enter to win a $10 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Open internationally.

Runs April 1 – 30

Drawing will be held on May 1.

Author Biography:


Christine Samuelson has been a lifelong writer in many professional and personal capacities, but now writes the kinds of stories she loves—about life and love’s challenges, tragedies and victories. Her overall themes deal with the bonds of love that transform lives and transcend time. Her characters and plotlines are grounded in reality but have a touch of mysticism and mystery. Writing is the way she shares the tragic, the magic, the joys and triumphs of everyday life.


Christine lives in coastal South Carolina where the people, land and sea are constant sources of inspiration. She hopes readers of her books will be inspired to look at life and love through a different lens and realize that no matter your circumstances, we all share similar stories in our lives and our hearts.

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