Allison O’Malley’s plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she’s been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison’s mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn’t trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother’s sanity.

What some reviewers are saying:

“This book is so amazing! It’s one of those that speaks so vividly in your mind that you can’t help but get lost in!”
“5 Stars and a fantastically beautiful read. I definitely recommend to all who love fantasy, romance, or are just looking for a book to escape into for a while.”
“Enter another type of world you never knew existed but secretly wished it did. I can’t wait for book 2! Keep em coming out like pure gold Laura ”

OK here it is my next BIG thing. 

Hope sprouts from the recognition that the person with real flaws and qualities dormant 

inside me is capable of love.

Amazon

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2013

As a pampered Los Angeles teen, Portia McGee once created a bucket list with her best friends Tarry and Niki. Though falling in love topped their list, it was the last thing she could ever imagine doing. Through the rejection of her parents, Portia learned early in life that love is elusive.

Now a famous and frivolous A-list actress, Portia has a Hollywood pedigree sealed in gold by a celebrity actress mother and New York mogul father. When Portia’s latest role requires an elaborate temporary tattoo, she meets Will, a gifted tattoo artist with a tortured past. The attraction is electric and immediate, but Will refuses to take the encounter to the next level—a decision Portia associates with the ring he so clearly wears on his wedding finger. Those old, familiar feelings of rejection take hold, and Portia now realizes that she must face the past in order to forge a new future. As their deep bond ignites in Portia an unexpected spirituality, can she finally free herself to once again chase the stars of her early days? Both richly glamorous and rich in meaning, Chasing Stars is a sparkling celebration of how faith and love can conquer even the most challenging of circumstances to uplift the human soul.

Chasing Stars is the debut work of romantic fiction by L. Duarte that charts the improbable, rousing romance between two star-crossed lovers, and the journey both must take to open their hearts to renewed hope and lasting love. At once soulful and playful, it’s certain to transport anyone who still, deep down, has faith in the abiding power of second chances.

 AUTHOR’S NOTE: Chasing Stars is intended for mature readers, containing sexual content and strong language.

 

 

Tell me in three succinct descriptions who you are.

1) cat and dog lover, 2) daughter and twin sister 3) and as creepy as it sounds, I am a major people watcher

      What’s your favorite indoor/outdoor activity?

I love to walk. Now that it’s summer and my schedule isn’t as hectic as it used to be, I walk thirty or forty blocks. And I don’t like to stop.

  What chore do you dislike doing?

Laundry. As a kid and teenager, I’d always ended up doing everyone’s laundry.

     What is your favorite time of the day?

I love mornings; I am more alert and energetic than any other time of the day or night.

     What’s your least favorite mode of transportation?

Trains. It can be congested and people are at their worst when they don’t have space to move their arms and legs.

      What sound do you love?

I love the sound of my infant cousins soundly asleep.

      What sound do you dislike?

I dislike hearing constant blaring horns and loud arguments outside of my window.

     Who is your favorite author or favorite book?

There are so many fantastic authors and books that I love. I repeat: so many fantastic authors and books that I love. With that stated, I LOVE J.R Ward and can’t wait to get to Lover At Last. I need a weekend away from everything so that I can devote hours to the latest Blackdagger Brotherhood novel as is required. For anyone who doesn’t like paranormal or urban fantasy like I hadn’t years ago, I really believe that her character-driven stories and swoon-worthy alpha males can make anyone at least like vamps.

     What inspired you to write Drawn To You?

Writing Beth and Chase’s story enabled me to truly escape into their worlds

and de-stress. I hope others enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed writing it.

Excerpt 1:

 Bethany

 I thought that I’d heard someone knocking on my door last night. When I’d finally put on my nightgown, no one had been there. I must have been disoriented from not getting a good night’s sleep for the past few days.

 I jolted at the soft knock and movement the doorknob on my door. I couldn’t have been going crazy this time. When I opened the door, Chase was standing in front of me in a white t-shirt and pressed black pants and shoes. It didn’t occur to me that we should talk on more neutral ground. I already trusted him and I couldn’t explain why and it scared me a little. Anticipation coiled low in my belly.

 Chase’s hands landed on my shoulders. The force of his touch made my back lean against the door, shutting it closed. A faint line marred his brows as he studied me. Greeting him with an open smile, his features smoothed out. 

“I knocked on your door last night.” 

At the party last night, Cassidy had asked me if I’d be fine if Rylan drove me here. Since I hadn’t wanted to ruin her night, I’d told her that it was cool.

“By the time I got up, I didn’t see anyone.”

Sighing deeply, I watched as his beautiful hazel eyes swept over my collarbone and drifted down towards my breasts and back to my face hungrily. I never wanted that look to go away.

 “I knocked for twenty minutes. I didn’t know if you’d fallen asleep or if you were ignoring me.”

 Shaking my head “no”, I moved away from the door and sank down on the bottom of my bed. He joined me, his arm touching mine. The scent of soap and a light aftershave washed over me.

 “Did anything happen last night?”

 I frowned at his question. “Not at all.”

 He blew out a sigh of relief. “Take out your cell phone and put in your password.” His tone was gentle and commanding at the same time.

 I retrieved my phone from the side pocket of my nightgown and handed it to him after I unlocked it.

 Smiling, I watched as he entered his number into my phone. I heard chirruping and realized that he called himself from my phone.

 “Nice ringtone.”

 “Don’t worry. You’re gonna have a better ringtone than that.” He chuckled and stood up. “We need to be able to get a hold of each other. I forgot to exchange numbers with you yesterday. I put in Pierce’s and Nancy’s numbers too.”

 I tilted my head in agreement. Being alone with Chase in my guestroom was like sampling a treat instead of consuming it in one bite. He stroked his knuckles along my jaw and his voice softened. “I gotta go to the work. I’ll see you later, though, okay?”

I shivered and he dropped his hand from my face. Chase had the firmest ass I’d ever seen. And that was the only positive about his departure. Was any part of him not firm?

Title: Love Lost

Author: Love Belvin

Series:  Love’s Improbable Possibility #1

Purchase: Amazon ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords ~ B&N ~ Diesel ~ Sony

Love Lost begins with a tough upbringing. The main character Rayna Brimm is in a home that is broken and she has never had a role model. Being a New Yorker, I know the scene and the surrounding areas. For someone to make it out of the projects without help is not really common and I will almost say rare. The beginning of the book is filled with a lot of street talk, but it is, I kept telling myself part of the history of Rayna.

How Rayna and her family are scattered is a somewhat difficult tale. I couldn’t connect with a girl embroiled in this life and completely surrounded by drugs and chaos. She is with a boy who is a low level trouble maker. He cheats, lies, does and sells drugs. Some how, this is what was hard to swallow, Rayna rises above. I guess she studied while her crack head Mom was scoring and she had nothing else to do. A short while her grand parents were talked about but it seems they could care less about Rayna.

She ends up (no spoilers) in North Carolina going to college. This was the dis connect for me. I could see, relating to my own east coast area, a kid in Washington Heights growing up and maybe going to a state college to try to rise above. I for one have been in California for a few years and I will never get the Brooklyn out of me. I talk and act exactly the same even with higher education. I could be wrong but you don’t de-ghetto in a week. The references to fashion and a type of shoe was baffling to me. My only thought was a story many years ago I read about Oprah Winfrey. She said once she made it and had a segment on the news that she was going to buy good sheets and towels. This was something she dreamed of a, nice 1000 count Egyptian cotton sheet set. She talked about luxury bath towels and that story always stuck with me. Even as I watched Oprah grow, I saw her constantly talk about money. She always told people that Bill Cosby told her to always sign your checks and keep a value in your head. So, for Rayna blowing money on Louis Vuitton anything was a hairball in my throat. I hope what I wrote here makes sense.

She gets a room mate and best friend who is upper middle class. I mean Rayna had to be really “rough around the edges” and it was unspoken how she was accepted. I think maybe if people talked about her slang and made reference that she was lacking class I could have felt better. So her room mate goes home to California and Rayna is in tow and gets a job with the family business. She works towards her therapy degree and wants to focus on sports related therapy. Enter Azmir Jacobs, a man who was into Rayna. I guess he also had a similar background. Again no spoilers. Azmir and Rayna together or getting together was the love story.

I won’t say I hated the book. I just had a few issues and would never post a review like this. I was asked to read book 2 and see if it gave me some closure and some answers. I will read book 2 and I hope I get that. A story of love’s redemption… something to think about.

About the Author

 Love Belvin is a native of the Tri-State area and now lives in the Delaware Valley. She’s an avid reader and enjoys dinner parties with her closest girlfriends. While she enjoys many things, nothing excites her more than curling up with a glass of wine and a good romance novel.

Follow her

Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

Giveaway

Love is giving away 3 signed copies of Love Lost to 3 separate winners along with 3 e-copies to 3 separate winners (6 winners total)

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