A fatal accident. A parallel world. Second chances don’t come often.
Death has never been far from Lana. In a previous life, her husband Frank died from a heart condition at thirty. In this new world where she’s known as Alannah Walker, it’s Tristan by her side as husband, and he had a heart operation as a child. But that’s where the similarities end between them. Born Frank Walters, Tristan hides his past under a new name. His relationship with his wife, Alannah, fraught with anger. Alannah has seemed like a different person since the car accident, and lessons of the past have taught him not to trust too easily. Will Tristan and Lana learn enough from past mistakes to give them a second chance at love? Be transported to another world on a breathtaking ride into the unknown, where two lovers will come to find the true meaning of forever. Return to Me is a heart wrenching tale of love, loss, and rediscovery that will draw you in from the very first page. Buy Return to Me now and lose yourself in a world where second chances make anything possible Lead In Post Post heading: Finding my Voice The first book I ever wrote was a romance novel based on a dream I had where my husband looked the same, but I knew he was a different man. When I woke up I couldn’t get the dream out of my head and so my novel Return to Me was born about widowed Lana who dies and is transported to a parallel universe to be reunited with her husband, only to find him a different man. I spent three years working on this novel. My dream was that it would be a stand-alone contemporary for Avon. While I was very passionate about the project, very soon the writing process became like work and writing was a struggle. Finally after three years, and numerous drafts based on critiques from my writing group, I realised I was finished. Now that I had decided that my novel was complete and that it was the best I could make it, the next step was to submit it, however I was suffering a crisis of faith. I wasn’t sure whether my book was any good. I decided that this was my practice book, the one that allowed me to learn the craft of writing, and now it was time to work on something else, but I still always loved the romance genre and had ideas that I wanted to explore. After watching the way that the genre was transformed and embraced digital publishing I kept thinking about my languishing manuscript. I thought about self publishing it, but wasn’t sure whether it was any good. I re-read it after 10 years and I decided that it had to be kept hidden from the world. Another year passed and I was doing Nano and after five years of attempting to finish it and reach 50,000 words in a month, I finally did it. On the forum threads I read about publishers seeking Nano novelists to submit their romance novels. I read my manuscript again and while I noticed its flaws, I also noticed its heart. I prevaricated, but finally decided to bite the bullet and submit Return to Me. All the years that I had spent on it had devoid me of any objectivity about its merit. I sent my manuscript to my agent who submitted it to publishers and soon two offers followed. I decided on Momentum and within a few months my book was out in the world. Now I needed to write my next romance novel and within six months I had a completed manuscript and in July 2014 my second romance novel Hollywood Dreams was published. Now I am re-releasing these books as an indie author. It seemed miraculous that I had established a career as a romance author. I think about the 11 years that my manuscript languished in my metaphorical bottom drawer until I finally decided to give it a shot. While I think waiting so long was the right thing for me, I also learnt the most important lesson of all: ‘to submit and get rejected is better than not to have submitted at all. Excerpt 1: Straightening her shoulders she met his gaze. 'You think I’m pretending to have amnesia?' 'Let’s just say that your amnesia ploy is convenient.' She stared at him uncomprehendingly. He pushed away from the sink in frustration and stalked toward her. She stepped back, losing her balance and almost falling. He reached out to catch her. She flinched and grabbed hold of the chair, her foot hitting the chrome leg and making her wince in pain. In the sudden silence, she heard her heartbeat. 'I have never in my life hit a woman and I’m sick of having my own wife treat me like a wife-beater.' His voice was full of frustration. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath before softening his voice. 'Alannah, I know that you think that your amnesia ploy will put a stop to it but —' The phone rang, halting his words. They stared at each other, and she waited for him to finish his sentence. The phone rang again, its shrill tone demanding attention. With a sigh of frustration, he answered. Excerpt #2 Her eyes traveled over the drops glinting on his skin. As he lifted a towel off the rack, the light fell on the scar that ran down his chest. She focused on the pale line then looked up at his face. 'What’s that?' 'Is that what you interrupted my shower for?' He ignored her as he dried himself. 'You had a heart operation.' He lifted an eyebrow. 'You don’t say.' All sound disappeared. His lips were moving but she couldn’t hear him. Her ears popped, as if she was in a plane that was taking off. Pressure built in her chest until she couldn’t breathe. She closed her eyes, images flashing like a DVD switched to fast forward. Snapping her eyes open, she looked at him in disbelief. How could she have forgotten? 'You came back,' she whispered brokenly. He put his arms around her as she fell into him. She smiled tremulously, her hand cupping his cheek. 'You’re not dead. I love you, Frank.' She saw was his irises widen, then blackness descended. BUY LINKS: Pishukin Press: https://www.pishukinpress.com/products/return-to-me-ebook Universal (Wide Print): https://books2read.com/returntome Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61396138-return-to-me
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