If This Is Forever
(2016)(The first book in the Promise Lake Romance series)
A novel by Jamie Sobrato
This is so not what she expected. Promise Lake is supposed to launch single mom Emmy Van Amsted's new life. It's not supposed to be her past revisited. But thanks to the unwelcome tenant in the family home, that's exactly what's happening. And the tenant is none other than her college sweetheart Aidan Caldwell - the man whose marriage proposal she turned down flat. The awkwardness doesn't end there, however. Emmy is still very attracted to Aidan. But she has a clear vision for her future. Which is why she can't get involved with him... no matter what sparks fly between them. That's just asking for trouble, isn't it? Or is Aidan her chance to create the family she's always wanted?
Excerpt:
Through the ancient screen door, she saw a man whose face she recognized - a face that brought memories flooding back.
"Aidan?" she said, stunned, her tone forming a question mark.
He blinked, silent. She hadn't seen him in well over a decade. The sight of him, right here in person after all these years, struck her like a physical blow. Here was the life she hadn't chosen, standing right before her.
She swallowed the sick, acidic taste in her mouth and willed herself not to panic.
Aidan, her college sweetheart at Stanford, the man her parents had considered a part of the family before everything went wrong. She'd been too young, too ambitious, too everything back then.
And him, he'd been a wild mustang ready to charge out into the world, which is exactly what he'd done after she'd ended their relationship.
Some part of her had been proud of him for moving on, and some other less-rational part had felt a little abandoned, even though she'd been the one doing the breaking up. She'd always thought, back then at least, that he'd be a part of her life in one way or another.
More recently though, she'd seen him on the news - the tragedy of his time as a peacekeeper in Darfur, his capture, the torture, the bloody escape... .
Finally, he spoke. "Emmy."
His voice resonated deep inside her, creating a warm humming sensation that she forced herself to ignore.
"What are you doing here?"
"Your father loaned me the cabin," he said.
Her father?
She shouldn't have been surprised. It was as if the man thought up ways to annoy his oldest daughter in his sleep.
"But... my mother told me we could stay here, that it was empty."
This was the problem with a set of divorced parents who still shared a vacation property neither of them much used. Utter and complete lack of communication. Not that she could blame her mother for not speaking to her father. Emmy rarely spoke to the son of a bitch either.
"We? As in your husband?" he said, peering over her shoulder at the car.
"No." He didn't know about her divorce then. Or her child. "My son, Max. He's six."
She flipped her cell phone shut and slipped it into her pocket, figuring she was at least safe from squatters.
His gaze cut back to her. "Oh."
This book is a re-print, originally published as A Forever Family in 2009 by Jamie Sobrato, Harlequin Books.
Award-winning romance author Jamie Sobrato has published 20 novels in at least 10 languages around the world. Visit her website, http://www.jamiesobrato.com to learn more about her latest books and sign up for her newsletter.
Genre: Romance
Excerpt:
Through the ancient screen door, she saw a man whose face she recognized - a face that brought memories flooding back.
"Aidan?" she said, stunned, her tone forming a question mark.
He blinked, silent. She hadn't seen him in well over a decade. The sight of him, right here in person after all these years, struck her like a physical blow. Here was the life she hadn't chosen, standing right before her.
She swallowed the sick, acidic taste in her mouth and willed herself not to panic.
Aidan, her college sweetheart at Stanford, the man her parents had considered a part of the family before everything went wrong. She'd been too young, too ambitious, too everything back then.
And him, he'd been a wild mustang ready to charge out into the world, which is exactly what he'd done after she'd ended their relationship.
Some part of her had been proud of him for moving on, and some other less-rational part had felt a little abandoned, even though she'd been the one doing the breaking up. She'd always thought, back then at least, that he'd be a part of her life in one way or another.
More recently though, she'd seen him on the news - the tragedy of his time as a peacekeeper in Darfur, his capture, the torture, the bloody escape... .
Finally, he spoke. "Emmy."
His voice resonated deep inside her, creating a warm humming sensation that she forced herself to ignore.
"What are you doing here?"
"Your father loaned me the cabin," he said.
Her father?
She shouldn't have been surprised. It was as if the man thought up ways to annoy his oldest daughter in his sleep.
"But... my mother told me we could stay here, that it was empty."
This was the problem with a set of divorced parents who still shared a vacation property neither of them much used. Utter and complete lack of communication. Not that she could blame her mother for not speaking to her father. Emmy rarely spoke to the son of a bitch either.
"We? As in your husband?" he said, peering over her shoulder at the car.
"No." He didn't know about her divorce then. Or her child. "My son, Max. He's six."
She flipped her cell phone shut and slipped it into her pocket, figuring she was at least safe from squatters.
His gaze cut back to her. "Oh."
This book is a re-print, originally published as A Forever Family in 2009 by Jamie Sobrato, Harlequin Books.
Award-winning romance author Jamie Sobrato has published 20 novels in at least 10 languages around the world. Visit her website, http://www.jamiesobrato.com to learn more about her latest books and sign up for her newsletter.
Genre: Romance
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