Between heartbreak and self-discovery – #Poetry #Recovery #Giveaway

Blurb

Unladylike: A Mythopoetic Reclamation of Love is a lyrical collection of poetry and prose exploring love, survival, embodiment, and the journey of returning to the self. Blending literary poetry with personal reflection, Regina Louise examines relationships, identity, trauma, healing, and the process of reclaiming one's voice after loss and betrayal.

Through intimate poems and essays, Unladylike maps the emotional terrain between heartbreak and self-discovery, inviting readers into a deeply human exploration of resilience, self-love, and personal transformation. Her work speaks to readers interested in emotional healing, spiritual growth, women's voices, and the reclamation of dignity through storytelling and creative expression.

Rooted in mythopoetic inquiry and lived experience, this collection moves through memory, desire, grief, and repair, offering language for those navigating change, recovery, and the search for meaning. Unladylike is both an artistic work and an invitation-to witness oneself honestly and to return to what was always there.

Excerpt

Say Her Name, Yours, and Mine

for Celie, for the girl on the 24 Divisadero, for all of us

Who taught her to bankrupt herself

back into her own disremembering—

to shrink inside the sound of her own name?

But I call her by her name. Celie.

Not by what Mister said.

Not by the nothing she thought she was.

I call her holy.

I recognize her as my own emulate,

mama,

sister,

auntie,

grandmother,

Jezebel,

and Sapphire,

The forgotten-about ones.

Because, like all of them (us),

she wrote letters to a God

she wasn’t sure existed.

Because she kept speaking,

even when no one answered.

Kept showing up,

and up,

and up—

Until that sacred day she stood and said,

“I may be poor, Black, I may even be ugly—

but dear God, I’m here,”

the day every woman who had been erased

stood up inside her.

The day I stood up.

My smallest exiled self—commanding like Moses—

until her spine / mine / all our spines

reached a Heaven of our own creating.

Miss Celie

touched her own face,

and I touched mine

on the 24 Divisadero bus heading away from Haight,

and we found ourselves beautiful.

 

About the Author

Regina Louise is a poet, writer, teacher, speaker, executive coach, whose work explores the intersection of memory, belonging, identity, and emotional liberation. The author of three books—two of which have been adapted for film: Somebody’s Someone, Someone Has Led This Child to Believe and Permission Granted: Kick Ass Strategies to Bootstrap your Way to Unconditional Self-Love—she has spent more than three decades helping people transform adversity into authorship through story, self-inquiry, and radical compassion.

A senior teacher with the Hoffman Process, Regina is known for guiding profound conversations about restoring dignity, resilience, attachment, and the art of becoming fully oneself. Whether on stage, in classrooms, behind a microphone, or in intimate workshop settings, she invites audiences to reimagine the stories that have shaped their lives and discover the freedom that awaits beyond them.

Her forthcoming collection, Unladylike: A Mythopoetic Reclamation of Love (September 2026), marks her debut poetry collection. Blending poetry, lyrical prose, and aphoristic reflections, it is a fearless meditation on love, loss, self-possession, and the sacred work of returning home to oneself.

Regina Louise lives in California, where she continues to write, teach, and create work that honors the transformative power of language to restore dignity, deepen connection, and reclaim what has always belonged to us.

Website: www.therealreginalouise.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealreginalouise

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/regina.louise.5/

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/unladylike-a-mythopoetic-reclamation-of-love-regina-louise/b4379cc65cf1293b

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IQXN7M?ccs_id=16a3374c-f94d-4efb-ac0c-7a9f2f59e52a

Regina Louise will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner.

Review Tuesday: Duke du Jour by Petie McCarty -- #ReviewTuesday #TimeTravelRomance #RegencyRomance

Duke du Jour by Petie McCarty

Independently published, 2026

Jared Langley, the fourteenth Duke of Reston, lives a lonely life in the twenty-first century. Although he has known many women—the majority attracted mainly by his title and his considerable fortune—he has never loved any of them. Still, he knows that he must produce an heir to ensure the continuation of his lineage, as is his duty. A diligent student of history, especially that of his family as captured in a series of journals written by past dukes, he fears that he, like his forebears, will be cursed by a loveless marriage.

Then he tumbles into an ancient fountain on the grounds of his ancestral estate, loses consciousness and awakens in the early nineteenth century, not long after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. His resemblance to the contemporary seventh duke, also named Jared, convinces everyone that he is in fact that gentleman, returned from the war despite rumors that he’d been killed in the final battle. Jared steps into the role of “Seven”, discovering that his ancestor has an unsavory reputation as a rake and spendthrift who squandered his patrimony on pleasure. Indeed, the ducal properties are in a terrible state of repair and the servants have not been paid for months.

The fourteenth duke resolves to help his (that is, Seven’s) tenants and staff, for whom he feels responsible. Still, he understands he must return to his own time as quickly as possible in order to avoid irrevocable changes he might cause in the shape of the future. Alas, the fountain has been damaged by an accident—or possibly, a deliberate attempt on his life—so he is forced to wait until it is repaired.

All his dutiful intentions are upended when he meets his neighbor, Lady Ariana Hart. His immediate attraction to her muddles his thoughts and undermines his plans. This is more than mere desire; he yearns to cherish and protect her, especially from the crowd of sleazy suitors vying for her hand in marriage. It doesn’t take long for him to realize he has finally found love—a love that he will be forced to abandon.

Duke du Jour is a fabulously entertaining novel. All the characters are distinctive and engaging, even the lascivious villainess Lucilla Tartley. I adored Ariana, who’s intelligent, brave, spirited, a little bit clumsy, and desperately in love with Jared but far too proud to beg. The chemistry between her and her duke burns up the pages, though they never go beyond some breathtakingly steamy kisses. And Jared himself is thoroughly believable, dealing with the agony of an impossible love while trying to fend off repeated attempts on his life by unknown assailants.

Although the setting felt plausible, I think the author was much more interested in her story than in drawing a completely authentic picture of Regency life among the gentry. For one thing, the social relationships seem far less constrained than I would expect in the period. Jared’s domestics treat him in a familiar manner that I doubt is realistic. Most of the time the more primitive aspects of survival in that era, such as the rudimentary sanitary facilities, are not mentioned. The description of London’s stinking slums felt more like a nod to the concept than an essential part of the fictional environment.

That does not diminish the appeal of this delightful romance. Although the plot gets a bit contorted toward the end, with spies and counter-spies, unsuspected allies and surprise traitors, the real action involves doing whatever is necessary to get Ariana and Jared together.

Time travel fiction is a tricky genre. The author must focus on what the time-traveling character would reasonably know about their new period in order to make the action believable. Ms. McCarty handles this quite skillfully by giving Jared a penchant for reading history, plus a nobleman’s plausible obsession with genealogy. When Jared’s present-day knowledge intrudes (for instance, in a great scene in which Ariana serves a mid-wife while Jared provides counseling to minimize the chances of infection), it’s clear that the insertion is deliberate, not careless.

Providing a resolution that does not involve a paradox is also a challenge. The book manages this quite neatly as part of Jared’s and Ari’s requisite and highly deserved happy ending.

All in all, Duke du Jour is a fun and satisfying read. I recommend it.

 

Cowboys in space – #ShapeShifting #SpaceOpera #LyndiAlexander

Blurb

Love, like space, knows no boundaries

Valeni Pascual wants to be free to make a living hauling cargo with her spaceship and to understand the shapeshifting alien who presents sometimes as the steamy male Nik and other times as the blonde bombshell Nikki.

As a rebel insurgence builds against the oppressive government known as the Agency, Valeni and Nik/Nikki encounter a sexy Terran cowboy named Garrett Rawls. Since being pulled into this region of space by another mysterious wormhole, Garrett has looked for a way to return to Earth. After meeting Valeni and Nikki, he might have found something worth staying for.

However, dark forces may have a much bigger picture in mind for all of them. Valeni, Nik/Nikki, and Garrett are pulled into a life and death fight that lays bare all of their secrets and their desires. Will they lose everything as the battle against the Agency rages around them or can love pull them through?

Buy Links Paperback at Amazon • Hardback at Amazon • Paperback at Barnes & Noble • Hardback at Barnes & Noble • eBook at Amazon Kindle • eBook at Apple Books • eBook at Barnes & Noble • eBook at Kobo Books • eBook at Smashwords

Book Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jixU6FfqNZ0

Excerpt

The ones that seem so easy go sour the quickest. Every time.

Valeni Pascual’s throat tightened. Hot sweat ran down between her shoulders, and her finger itched for her trigger. Too bad her gun was behind her on the wide leather seat of her sandrunner, gleaming beautifully in the late afternoon sun. The four men standing in front of her already had theirs in hand.

The pack leader, a thick-necked lubber called Fat Jonny, had the nerve to laugh. “C’mon, Val, don’t make this hard on yourself. And when I say hard, I mean the application of solid lead to your silky, kaff-colored skin.” His minions snickered.

Eight crates of cargo sat in a pile a dozen meters to the right, near her sleek ship, the Tiburon. It stood silhouetted against the rocky Marriel landscape, a swath of brown and tan sands.

If she connected with the buyer due any minute, the profit would cover six months of expenses and her late Agency dues. The deal had been a wild, desperate risk that nearly cost her landing gear in a hasty and ill-advised takeoff from the far side of the desert. No way she could afford to surrender the cargo. She had to stand fast.

Wishing her radio was handy, not tucked in her jacket pocket next to her sandrunner on the ground, she smirked, hoping attitude alone might shield her. “Still expecting everyone else to do your work for you, Jon? Don’t you have even a shred of pride inside those layers of pork?”

He cocked his gun, leveled it at her. “Last chance.”

Damn again. She’d intentionally chosen this spot way out at the edge of the tarmac for its privacy. The down side? It also left her out of public view of anyone who could offer her help. She was out of options. “Fi—”

A voice behind the men interrupted her.

“What a bunch of fine-looking gentlemen! Are any of ’em spoken for, or can I have my pick?”

The men turned around. A petite blonde woman wearing a thin white scarf tied around her breasts and a scandalously short skirt greeted them with a broad smile and a charged laser rifle.

Val nearly fainted with relief. How had Nikki known? She’d been in the bowels of the ship repairing one of her many gadgets. Now, she was the cavalry.

The attractive woman eyed the men. “I didn’t know we were expecting company.”

“We weren’t.”

While Fat Jonny ogled Nikki, Valeni lunged for her gun and then leveled it at his double chins. “Jon and his men were just leaving. Weren’t you?”

Triumph faded from the opportunistic bandit’s cocky expression. It might be safe to gang up on an unarmed woman. It was quite another to face one in front and one behind, both ready to shoot.

Losing their battle with divided attention, the minions backed off and holstered their weapons. The blonde stepped between them and the cargo. As a final incentive, she fired up the laser generator on her gun. “Get on out of here, like good little boys.”

Grumbling, they skulked away, headed for the central hangars in the distance, Fat Jonny waddling in the center of the group, the others bitterly gesturing in complaint, looking back over their shoulders once in a while.

Probably checking out Nikki’s legs. They’re worth a second glance, that’s for sure.

They weren’t in the clear just yet, so Val held her sigh of reprieve. Their cargo still sat exposed on the tarmac awaiting their buyer. Nikki’s jaw firmed up into a stubborn pout.

“You want to explain how you got caught with your figurative pants down?”

Valeni tensed, guilt gathering her stomach into a knot. “We haven’t been here but fifteen minutes. I went ahead and offloaded the stack ’cause I didn’t want to bother you. Besides, Jowalt should be here any time.”

Nikki’s green eyes blazed. “And what would we be eating for the next several months if Fat Jonny had walked off with our cache, hmm?”

Val bit her lip. She shrugged. The ship was all she had. At 23, most other pilots were still slaves to some corporate entity, working to make their bosses rich. But she’d saved her credits since she was a young teen shoveling rock on construction sites, and paid for the Tiburon outright.

She couldn’t lose it now.

About the Author

Lyndi Alexander always dreamed of faraway worlds and interesting alien contacts. She lives as a post-modern hippie in Asheville, North Carolina, a single mother of her last child of seven, a daughter on the autism spectrum, finding that every day feels a lot like first contact with a new species.

Author Links

Website and Blog: https://lyndialexander.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lyndialexander13/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4185290.Lyndi_Alexander

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Lyndi-Alexander/e/B005GDYPU2/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lyndi-alexander

Smashwords | Lyndi Alexander https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/lyndialexander

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alexander_lyndi/

https://www.dfpbooks.com/dfp/sixshooter.html

My review will be coming soon! ~ Lisabet

Cover Reveal: When Shadows Bind - #Romantasy #NewRelease #CoverReveal

By Clennell Anthony (Guest Blogger)

It’s finally time.

I’ve been keeping this cover under wraps while plotting, writing, revising, and wandering through the decidedly-not-normal woods of Sweetwater.

Today, I finally get to share it with you.

Introducing the cover of When Shadows Bind, Book One of the Chronicles of the Draiocht.

Two families. Centuries of hatred. One buried truth.

The Hollywells and MacDaras have spent generations clinging to a feud so old that no one remembers exactly how it began.

Then Ember MacDara and Kooper Hollywell did the one thing neither family could forgive.

They fell in love.

Now, they’re dead.

As both families point fingers, Synder Hollywell and Kedrick MacDara are forced to search for answers together.

But something is changing in Sweetwater.

The land is turning against them.

The woods are stirring.

And the hatred between their families may be feeding something that should have remained buried.

They were raised to be enemies.

Now, they may have to trust each other to uncover the truth.

When Shadows Bind features a centuries-old magical family feud, forbidden love, family secrets, mystery, dangerous magick, reluctant allies, simmering attraction, and a buried truth that refuses to stay buried. The book is set in Sweetwater, South Carolina, where the land remembers more than the people do.

Synder and Kedrick’s story is almost ready to leave my hands and find its way into yours.

But tonight belongs to the cover. 🌙

So…

What do you think?

And if you had to choose based on the cover alone, what would you expect to find waiting inside the woods of Sweetwater?

Excerpt

“I think you should go,” she said, making no effort to push him away this time.

“Yeah, I know.” He touched his lips to her forehead. “I wish I could be more like you,” he admitted.

“Why?” She let her palms rest on his chest while she looked up at him.

“Because I don’t think it’s quite right to think the way I do.”

“And how is it that you think?”

She touched her fingers briefly to his chin, then placed them back on his chest. She couldn’t resist the lure of him being so close. She simply had to touch him. Her stomach was doing somersaults, her legs felt a bit weak, and her body strained toward his.

Suddenly, it was crystal clear what these feelings were. She was beginning to understand why Kedrick kept believing Kooper would harm his sister and why she wanted to hate Kedrick for every little infraction.

What was happening between them was wrong. Theirs was a forbidden attraction, and she would not give in. She promised herself that as she stepped back from him and temptation.

“It’s wrong, and you know it as well as I do,” Kedrick murmured as Synder pulled out of his arms. “You’re always pulling away, always walking away.”

He watched her turn toward the lake and look out at the deepening darkness of the horizon.

“Why is it wrong?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

They both knew, but they knew no other way to be. They were meant to be enemies, not hold one another at sunset while watching the moon rise bright and full over the lake and forests.

It was one of the most romantic settings on either of their lands. The atmosphere alone was sensuous, but then there were the two of them, alone, forbidden to touch, forbidden even to like one another.

It was heady stuff. Had it been like this for Kooper and Ember? Synder wondered as she turned to face Kedrick once more.

“What are we going to do?” he asked when she turned and met his gaze once more.

Available now for pre-order! Release date is the autumn equinox - September 22^nd!

https://www.amazon.com/When-Shadows-Bind-Chronicles-Driaocht-ebook/dp/B0HFQWGMWT

A race against time – #TimeTravelRomance #RegencyRomance #Giveaway

Blurb

She’s waiting in the past . . . He belongs in the future.

Jared Langley, present-day Duke of Reston, tumbles into an abandoned fountain on his ducal estate and is pelted back in time to the year 1816. There, Reston servants and local villagers think him a dead ringer for his namesake and rakehell ancestor—the seventh Duke of Reston, gone missing at the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately, Seven got mixed up with French spies out to assassinate the Duke of Wellington, and an unwary Jared ends up in their crosshairs.

Lady Ariana Hart has loved Jared Langley, the seventh Duke of Reston, since she was twelve years old, until the night the rogue broke her heart. Given up for dead, her rakish neighbor makes a miraculous return from Waterloo. Only Jared shows up a changed man and reignites all the feelings Ariana had long ago buried.

Jared is in a race against time.

His tasks?

Waylay the suspicions of his quirky servants and neighbors

Get to Wellington before the French spies do

Fix his fountain–before Seven shows up–so Jared has a way home

And definitely do not fall in love with the irresistible Lady Ariana...

Excerpt

The library door crashed open, startling them both and sending them a full step back from each other. A flame-haired siren stalked through the door.

Jared had torn free from Lady Wilder, but he gaped guiltily in a frozen stare, incapable and unwilling to break eye contact with the siren who had burst into the library. He wanted to keep staring and lose himself in those amazing emerald green eyes, made even greener by the rich color of her gown.

The young woman was tall and slender, with smooth, sleek curves at her hips and breasts. Strands of red-gold curls had slipped free of her pale-gold bonnet with its sassy emerald-green trim and curled enticingly around her cheeks, marked by two bright flags of color. He felt his own cheeks flush hot when those amazing green eyes shifted downward and spied the traitorous ducal staff in full salute, then snapped back to glare at him.

“I brought your dog,” the flame-haired siren said flatly. “I feared you would forget to come for Harry. He missed you.”

An enormous mass of black fur bounded into the library and sent the squealing Lady Wilder back to Jared’s side. The immense dog promptly knocked them both to the floor.

The siren frowned her displeasure and headed for the chaise to make herself comfortable.

“Get him off! Get him off!”

Lady Wilder’s high-pitched shrieks almost burst Jared’s eardrums. He rolled her off him and reached for the dog’s collar. The massive black hound danced away, totally unaffected by Lady Wilder’s shrieks and slaps, and managed to squeeze in a few sloppy licks between her swings at the dog’s head, which would have been funny if Jared’s ears did not ache.

“Come here, boy!” Jared barked as he scrambled to his feet.

“Don’t you dare hurt him!” the siren shouted.

“You did that on purpose, Ariana! You little witch!” Lady Wilder screamed.

Ariana? What a perfect name for the flame-haired beauty.

“Don’t you yell at me, Lucilla Tartley! I am not responsible for Harry’s lack of taste,” Ariana shot back.

So Lady Wilder was Lucilla. Who was Harry? The dog?

Jared tried the name, and the black dog bounded over to him.

“I am surprised Harry even noticed you, now that Jared’s home,” Ariana told Lucilla.

Jared glanced down and noticed the dog sat patiently at his side, but only because his finger was hooked in the dog’s collar. Good Lord! The canine knew he was not the real Jared—or rather Seven. This could be a problem.

About the Author

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said goodbye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time.

These days, Petie spends her time writing new tales for her Cinderella series, her new The Watchers series, sequels to her Regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and more contemporary romance standalones, along with her two previous releases—Any Fin For Love and Ambush in the Everglades.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who makes a cameo appearance in Christmas Watch, Book 2 of The Watchers series.

Visit Petie at her website, www.petiemccarty.com, to get to know her, learn about her current projects, and discover her other published works.

Social Media Links

http://www.petiemccarty.com

https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty

https://x.com/authorpetie

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094579.Petie_McCarty

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/petie-mccarty

http://www.amazon.com/author/petiemccarty

 

Petie McCarty will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

She’d beaten the blues before – #Triad #EroticRomance #MFRWHooks

Welcome to this week’s MFRW Book Hooks blog hop. If you’re looking for your next romance read, check out the links to all participating authors’ posts, at the end of this one.

My hook today comes from Wild About That Thing, a three-way erotic romance that is available both as a stand-alone title and as part of my boxed set collection Triad, which is free on Kindle Unlimited.

Blurb

There's more than one way to beat the blues

Ruby Jones has clear priorities. Her teenage son comes first, then her struggling blues club. Her love life ranks as a distant third, despite the efforts of Zeke Chambers to convince her otherwise. Zeke's the lead singer in her house band, a devoted friend, and an occasional lover. He can drive her wild with desire, but can't get her to make a commitment. Deserted by her cheating ex-husband, Ruby's determined she's going to make it on her own. She's hot-blooded like her bluesman daddy, happy to satisfy her physical cravings, but she's not about to let any man into her heart.

The stranger who takes the stage on open mike night upsets the delicate balance in Ruby's world. From the moment Ruby sets eyes on him, Remy Saint-Michel inspires irresistible lust and inexplicable sympathy. Confused, guilty and worried about her prized independence, Ruby decides that the only way to deal with the two men is to push them both away. Zeke and Remy, however, have other ideas. 

 

The Hook (Rated R)

Fresh applause greeted Zeke’s invitation. He stood up there on the platform—his hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans jacket, his axe hanging around his neck—and grinned like the country boy he used to be. At six-foot-one, with the solid build of a halfback, Zeke was an imposing figure. He’d broken up more than one drunken brawl for her over the past two years and he had a temper that could be scary. To Ruby and Isaiah, though, he’d been nothing but kind. Whatever success the Crossroads could claim was largely due to him.

“To kick things off tonight, I want to invite a very special lady to join us here on stage. She’s been through some hard times, friends, and she knows the blues. It’s in her blood, passed on from her daddy, Jimmy ‘The Harp’ Jones. When she sings, she spills her soul. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Ruby Jones, the lovely owner of the Crossroads Blues Bar!”

Applause filled the club. Zeke’s invitation hadn’t been a surprise. They’d discussed having her warm up the crowd, and of course, she’d been performing since she was a kid. Nevertheless, his effusive introduction made her feel self-conscious. Ruby wished she’d worn something a bit more glamorous than her usual jeans and tailored shirt.

She picked her way between the tables, headed for the stage. Zeke held out a big hand. When she grasped it, he swung her onto the platform, and quite neatly, into his arms. The crowd roared.

Zeke brushed his lips across hers. His distinctive scent engulfed her—clean sweat, Jim Beam and Ivory Soap. It was like turning on a movie—she instantly remembered the last time he’d been inside her. His blond stubble grazed her cheek. She saw him in her mind’s eye—body suspended above hers on powerful arms while he scanned her face, focused on her pleasure. She wondered if Zeke could smell her growing dampness. Hell, what about the rest of the band?

“Stop it,” she whispered, pushing against his rock-hard chest.

Zeke released her with obvious reluctance. “I love her,” he told the audience, eliciting a chorus of hoots and whistles. Aching, hungry and guilt-ridden, Ruby knew he meant every word.

She smoothed the wrinkles from her blouse, noting in passing the tautness of her nipples, and took a deep breath. “Good evening,” she said into the microphone. As always, the amplified sound of her low alto startled her with its depth and richness. “I’m so glad to see you all. I hope you have a great time—that’s why I’m here, to make that happen if I can. Like Zeke says, the blues is in my blood. I can’t get away from it. I just gotta give in and let it out.”

She turned to nod at Zeke and the other musicians. They picked up the intro to Bessie Smith’s famous lament.

“Once I lived the life of a millionaire,

Spending my money, I didn’t care.

I carried my friends out for a good time,

Buyin’ them bootleg liquor, champagne and wine…”

The audience was as silent as a few dozen folks crammed into a low-ceilinged bar could be. Ruby dug deep and let the pain flow out into her song.

“Nobody knows you when you down and out

In my pocket not one penny

And my friends I haven’t any…”

Zeke and Jojo gave her solid backing, keeping it simple and strong to avoid drawing attention away from her vocals. She didn’t need to think—she’d learned this song at ten years old. She could sing it in her sleep.

She wanted to soar, to turn the sorrow in the piece into some kind of revelation, but worry weighed her down. She couldn’t get her mind off the letter. It was from some fancy uptown law firm, scorn hiding behind politeness. We regret to inform you…

She paused to give Zeke and Jojo their solos, blinking hard in a fight against looming tears. The new owner of the building at 127 Fourteenth Street has expressed an intention to not renew the lease. Two years of her sweat and sacrifice, not to mention every penny she owned, down the drain. Please vacate the premises on or before … The owner will be taking possession… Why did she have nothing but bad luck? Didn’t she deserve some happiness for a change? What was she going to do?

Zeke’s chord change signaled the end of their solos. She nearly missed the cue.

“Mmmmm…when you’re down and out…”

Ruby could feel Zeke gazing at her. If she lifted her head, she knew she’d see surprise and concern on his face. And he’d see the wet gleam in her eyes.

Down and out. Her voice wobbled, vibrating with emotion, as they brought the number to a close. The audience screamed its approval. Ruby bowed and tried to smile. She’d beaten the blues before. She wondered if she had the strength to do it again.

 

You can find buy links for Wild About That Thing at https://www.lisabetsarai.com/wildaboutbook.html

Triad is Amazon-exclusive and free on KU: https://www.amazon.com/Triad-Three-way-Romance-Lisabet-Sarai-ebook/dp/B0DCT7NC8C

Be sure to visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks!