We’re celebrating here at Book Heaven. We have balloons, confetti, streamers, food and drink, and all that is missing is you, dear readers. It’s the one year book birthday of Terry Newman’s Rewrites of the Heart. Come join in the fun!
Title Rewrites of the Heart
Author Terry Newman
Genre Paranormal Romantic Comedy
Publisher The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb
JJ Spritely, romance author, writes characters that jump off the page. Figuratively, that is. She never expects them to make a literal leap off the page and smack dab into her world. But Alex Zurich and Blake Teesdale do just that. And they’re on a mission to help JJ write her own personal love story with a man she recently met, Kennedy King Cooper.
A history professor, Cooper doesn’t see the value of romance novels and he has even less regard for those who write them. Until he meets a woman who haunts his thoughts.
There’s only one small snag in Alex’s and Blake’s plan…okay…two rather large snags. JJ wants nothing to do with Cooper. The other snag? Alex and Blake aren’t able to return to the pages of their own book.
Will JJ ever write her own love story? And will it be with Cooper? Will Alex and Blake return to the pages of their own book?
Excerpt
“Yes, they certainly are a couple of characters, I agree. I think Blake—is that his name?” She nodded. “I believe he will be a very active and vocal student.”
“That wouldn't surprise me in the least,” she said softly. Even though she wanted to avoid the question, she knew she had to explain the relationship somehow. So, she resorted to the cousins-from-Kansas cover.
“That's not the real reason I stopped by, though. I'd like to, uhm well…” Kenn uncrossed his legs and put his elbows on his knees.
She was surprised at his apparent loss for words. In her few encounters with him he always seemed to be at ease making conversation, and certainly not shy about speaking his mind. He squirmed in the chair like a schoolboy waiting to see the principal.
“Oh, darn it. There's no other way to say it.” He looked her in the eyes. “I'm sorry.”
He paused, leaving her to wonder momentarily what he was sorry for.
“When I first met you, I really did judge you by your appearance and your profession. I didn't think a woman as good looking as you who wrote romance novels would be interested in history, let alone be a professor.”
She felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. She wasn't sure how to answer him. She just heard him say she was good looking. Imagine that. And he admitted she was bright.
It had been a long time since any man had given her a compliment, especially someone as engaging as he. Did she just call him engaging? She gave herself a mental slap. No, I can't think of him like that.
He leaned back in his chair as if he were relieved he had actually said what was on his mind. Without waiting for her to accept the apology, he changed the subject.
“I'm looking forward to seeing what the next session brings to our class,” he said. She got the feeling he was stalling, that he had something else on his mind other than the class. She could tell by the way he continued to look into her eyes. No one had looked at her like that since her husband died. There was a lot for her to handle in this seemingly unassuming meeting. While she realized she couldn't compare Kenn to Geoff, this man had a boyish charisma all his own she had to work hard to ignore.
“I was wondering if—” he continued.
Just then, his cell phone rang. He quickly looked at it and groaned.
“Obviously someone you'd prefer not to talk to.”
“My mother,” he said, wincing.
“You know you can't ignore mom.”
eHe sighed deeply and answered the call. She noticed he quickly sat up straighter in his chair, using perfect posture when talking with his mother.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Kenn, I have bad news. Sofie Addelmyer just got engaged.”
The volume on his phone was loud enough JJ could hear what his mother said.
“To some accountant from Wilmington, Delaware. I know you're heartbroken dear, but—”
“Mom, I'm kind of busy here.”
“— but there's hope, sweetheart. I just ran into little Mary Margaret O'Mally's mom at a fund raiser. And she isn't dating.”
“Mom. No. Please. I can't talk right now. I'm having a conversation with my new teaching partner. Her name is JJ Spritely.”
Mrs. Cooper fell silent. “Mom, are you there?”
“She's never speechless,” he whispered to JJ.
“I heard that.”
“I thought you left me.”
“You couldn't be so lucky. But for a moment I thought you said you were with JJ Spritely.”
“I did.”
“Not the JJ Spritely.” JJ could her his mom’s comment and she felt her cheeks get hot.
“I don't know. How do you know JJ Spritely?”
“Well, personally, I don't. But my book club has just finished her latest work, Love's Revenge. She paused, then gave a disappointed sigh and said, “No, it couldn't be that JJ Spritely.”
JJ enjoyed Kenn's bewilderment. “Uhm, I don't know. Let me ask her.” He moved forward so he was sitting on the edge of the chair. Removing the cell phone from his ear, he held it out so his mom could hear and asked, “Is Love's Revenge your latest book?”
He motioned to her to talk loud enough so his mom could listen in, “Yes, Mrs. Cooper, that is my latest book.”
“Kenn, let me talk to her right now, and don't you dare tell your mother no.”
He rolled his eyes and panic flooded his face. JJ, however, remained calm and motioned for him to give her the phone. She enjoyed the moment tremendously.
“Oh, really? Well, thank you. Oh, you are? Well, I’m not sure. Oh, I see.”
She gave her teaching partner an amused look and shrugged her shoulders as she continued to listen.
“Why, of course, I'd be delighted to do that. Sure, I'll get that from Kenn.” She ended the call and handed the phone back to him.
“What was that all about?”
“Two things: Your lack of a love life and an autographed copy of my book.”
Hearing the words love life he shrank as deeply into the chair as he could. It wasn't difficult to sense his embarrassment, so laughingly, she said, “You'll have to give me her address. She's a fan.”
He straightened up a little with that comment. “Is everyone a fan?”
“According to my royalty checks and several reviews I've read, no, if that comforts you at all.”
“I did come in for one other reason,” Kenn continued, apparently determined to remain on track. “I was hoping—”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rewrites-of-the-heart-terry-newman/1142841043?ean=9781509246533
Google Play Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Terry_Newman_Rewrites_of_the_Heart?id=9FmqEAAAQBAJ&hl=en_US&gl=US
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card:
Runs February 8 – February 22, 2024.
Winner will be drawn on February 23, 2024.
Author Biography
I’m the author of the Rewrites of the Heart, N. N. Light Book Award winner, and Heartquake, a 2023 Rone finalist.
Two things you should know about me: I have an offbeat sense of humor and characters are constantly talking to me, trying to get me to tell their stories. Other than that, I’m a normal person.
I’ve spent most of my adult life writing in some fashion, from small-town reporter, to editor-in-chief and ghostwriter for a national natural health publishing firm. The last decade and a half I’ve worked as a freelance writer, penning ebooks that range from starting a doula services business to Native American herbs.
All my novels are set in fictional towns in northeast Ohio, where I grew up, and I write about things I love—like coffee.
I have a daughter, a son-in-law, and a grandpuppy and live in North Lima, a real town in northeast Ohio with all my characters. Yes, it does get crowded.
Social Media Links
Website: https://terrynewmanauthor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewmanWrites
X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/tnewmanwrites