Remember Me?

It's done!!!

Remember Me, that lovely Book II of the Atlanta Heroes series that's been keeping me away from you? It's done. Finally. And it's really good, wink, wink ;o)

So, that's my only excuse for abandoning you guys for almost a month, after promising not to again. That and the revisions I had to do on the Mother's Day novella. And the Moonlight and Magnolias conference here in Atlanta. You know, insignificant stuff like that.

Stuff that's over--leaving me free to blog daily. Yes, you heard it here first. Daily. Oh, and to chat and guest blog and lots of other good stuff. Stuff like a RELEASE LAUNCH PARTY for Because Of A Boy the week of October 15th!!! Look for more details in a newsletter that'll go out before I leave for the New Jersey conference this weekend.

Let's see... What else, you ask? You guys are sooooo greedy (I like that about you , BTW ;o)... All-American Father is a Golden Leaf finalist (in it's first contest ever, so a nice showing there)... And I have a new Because of a Boy review to share, from a great review/book site, Books For A Buck...

Author Anna DeStefano (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by DeStefano) doesn't pull her punches in BECAUSE OF A BOY. Dealing with some of the most emotional issues possible, child abuse, the effects of abusive families, physical injury and betrayal, DeStefano delivers a page-turning read. In a subplot involving Kate's estranged cop-brother (who was injured in the line of duty and refuses to have anything to do with either Kate or his one-time girlfriend, Lissa) DeStefano shows another side of the damages caused by abusive families and the difficulties that victims have in developing trust or a sense of self-worth.

Although there is a bit of a suspense element to this story, with Columbian druglords in the background, DeStefano keeps the novel firmly centered on the romance and on the character growth Stephen and, especially, Kate will need if she's ever going to allow happiness into her life.

http://www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2007/because_of_a_boy.html

More goodies to come. Here's another excerpt to tide you over, greedy friends of mine... To catch up if you need to, scroll back through the last few blog posts. In it, you get to meet the hero of Remember Me, Robert Livingston...did I mention you're going to LOVE that book, too? But you're going to have to wait for that one, he he ;o)

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"What was that?" Kate's ex-husband, neurosurgeon Robert Livingston, asked.

He was intentionally blocking her view of the lawyer's retreating back, shielding her the way he'd tried to protect her during their marriage. The way she'd refused to let him. Robert had always wanted to mean more to her than she could handle.

To save her from things they'd barely even talked about.

It wasn't in her nature to be saved. It wasn't in his to back off when someone needed help. Exit one marriage, but thankfully their friendship had survived.

And for the first time, as Kate peered around his tall frame to watch Stephen Creighton disappear behind the closing elevator door, she was thankful for Robert's coddling. Because there had been something in the lawyer's earnest expression, in his voice, that made her want to doubt what her own eyes were telling her. To believe that an abused little boy belonged with the man she was certain had hurt him.

"That was nothing," she assured her ex.

"You okay?" Robert rubbed the same place on her arm Creighton had grabbed. His other hand held up the man's fancy, embossed card. "Who--"

"He's a lawyer for some legal aid center." She glanced toward Dillon's room. "Manny Digarro sent him."

"The father of your banged up little boy from the shelter? He's already lawyered up?"

"Yeah. The police were notified by the ER attending, and I filed a report about what I saw at the center. They say they don't have enough evidence to arrest the father yet, and we're running more tests to try and figure out exactly how badly Dillon's been hurt. But his fall down the stairs couldn't have done all that damage, and there are too many signs of neglect to ignore. I guess the father thought sending a smooth-talking attorney would scare us into letting him near the kid again."

"Sounds like you're doing the right thing. Just don't get too sucked into the family's problems."

"Yeah." Except she was already in deep. Look at her reaction to finding Creighton handing a hurt little boy a toy car?

She'd all but tackled the poor man to get him out of there. He'd only been doing his job. But handsome lawyers with earnest expressions didn't change the truth. X-rays and broken bones didn't lie, no matter how much Dillon seemed to miss his father. And the truth was something Kate had promised herself to never rationalize away again.

She took Creighton's business card from Robert, tore it in half and smiled. And she kept smiling as she tossed it in a nearby trashcan, reassuring herself that she'd already put out of her mind how gentle the lawyer had been with her vulnerable patient. How earnest his assurances had sounded.

Only she'd glanced at the address on the card as she ripped it in two. She'd committed the name of Creighton's center to memory--Atlanta Legal Aid.

Damn easy-going Southern men.