Forsaken Dreams - Pre-Release Party Final Day!

Welcome to the final day of the Pre-Release party for Forsaken Dreams!!!   Every Friday this month I've posted something about the book and chosen a winner from among the comments. This week's winner is: Amanda Stanley  (chosen by random.org)  Congratulations,  Amanda!!  

Forsaken Dreams is now available on 
Amazon
BarnesAndNoble

If you haven't won yet, don't despair! You have one more chance this week when we play "Guess what the character will say next" !  This is by far my favorite game to play in these parties. It's always fun to see what everyone chooses.  Here's how it works. If you've read all the posts this month so far, you should have a pretty good idea of who the main hero and heroine of the story are...their personalities and strengths and weaknesses. Below I took an excerpt from the book wherein Blake and Eliza are having a conversation. At the end I ask you to choose what you think the hero, Blake would say next. Whether or not you choose the right answer has NO bearing on whether you can win the book.  (Don't forget to leave your email in your comment!) 

Okay, here we go. I won't provide an introduction but will let the scene speak for itself.

Swerving around, she knelt before him and placed a tray on the cot. “This will hurt a bit, Colonel. Would you care to bite down on a piece of wood?”

“I’ll manage, thank you.”

She drew a deep breath and threaded the needle. “How did this happen? Seems an odd thing to occur while hunting for pigs.”

“Boar.” Her scent filled his nose, tantalizing his senses. Blake cleared his throat. “I was hacking through the jungle when my blade slipped.”

“Hmm.” She slid the needle through his flesh.

It felt like she’d set his skin on fire. Blake closed his eyes, listening to the slap of water on the hull, the hammering and shouts from above, the screech of pelicans. Anything to distract him from the searing pain.

She must have noticed his discomfort for she uttered a “sorry” that sounded genuine.

Yet the pain was nothing compared to the suffering she had already caused him. “Pains of the flesh I can handle,” he muttered.

She met his gaze and swallowed before continuing her work. “I never meant to deceive you.”

Blake had never seen such lustrous eyes. “You didn’t even tell me your real name. How can that be unintentional?”

She slipped the needle through and tugged on the thread. Her lower lip trembled. “You are right. I should have been truthful.” She continued stitching his wound, but Blake could no longer feel the pain for the agony in his heart. He’d hardened himself to it.

“But then you wouldn’t have let me join your venture, would you?” she asked.

Lantern light crowned her head and glistened on her moist lips—lips he had almost kissed. He licked his own. “No.”

“I had to get away.” She clipped the thread and tied it. Then dipping her fingers into a poultice, she spread it over the stitches.

“We all needed to get away.” Blake couldn’t tear his eyes from the way her delicate fingers caressed his skin. “From Yankees.” He sighed. “You betrayed everyone on board.” Good, now the anger returned.

She cut a swath of bandage and wrapped it around his leg. “I was born and raised a Southerner just like everyone else on this ship.” She looked up at him. Her breath filled the air between them, her eyes just inches from his face. 

Blake looked away from the pain he saw in her gaze. He offered a caustic snort. “At least some of your story was true.”

“It was all true.” Her eyes narrowed. “Everything I told you about my past. I simply changed the names and omitted one year of my life.” 

“A year in which you betrayed your country.”

She jerked the bandage tight. Blake hid the pain from his face. With a huff, she gathered her tray and stood, turning her back to him. “Doesn’t my service as a war nurse count for anything?”

“Ah, so you hoped to make restitution.”

She spun around, her skirts knocking a tin cup to the deck with a clank. “No, that’s not why I served.”

 “Why didn’t you just stay with your husband’s family? I hear the Yanks love Southern traitors.”

“They tossed me out, if you must know.” She stooped to pick up the cup, her skirts billowing around her. “Although I wouldn’t have stayed anyway. They hated me for my Southern ties as much as you hate me for my Northern.” 

Blake tore his gaze from her, clenching his jaw against his rising sympathy, despite his best efforts to push it down.

She set the cup on the table. “I hope someday you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.”  

Setting his injured leg on the deck, Blake rose, ignored the pain, and headed for the door. 

Now, choose what you think Blake said as he left the room



A. "You've given me much to consider, Mrs. Crawford. Thanks for tending my wound." 
B. "Perhaps someday, Mrs. Crawford, just not yet."
C. “I will never forgive you, Mrs. Crawford. Or any Yankee.”
D.  "How can I not forgive you after all God has forgiven me?"

  So, which one is it?  Leave your guess with your email and I'll draw a name and announce the winner next Friday!  

Have a GREAT weekend!!