Craving Jake Cover Reveal! by @BonnieEdwards #RomanceGems

Sometimes life throws us curve balls and we need to duck or be hit in the head, or the heart. That's why I'm two weeks late with my post. My heart is quivering in fear for a loved one. On my regular blog date (the 15th) I couldn't even think about posting about a happy-ever-after romance.

This week things aren't any better, in fact they're worse. But, travel plans have come together and I feel more centered and accepting of the changes to come.

Everyone goes through peaks and valleys with loved ones. We learn to ride those peaks and valleys.

Unless we don't. Unless we react in dark and dangerous ways.

Sorry! I can't provide a buy link yet.

My next book in my Return to Welcome series is about a person who can't quite roll with the punches. A person who won't let go, can hold on too tightly and even become unbalanced.

Here's a sneak peek from the opening of Craving Jake, Return to Welcome Book 3.

* * *

Stalking wasn’t always a bad thing, Brianna Bowler told herself. Not when it happened by accident. Seeing Jake Morrow from afar three times in one month could be called a coincidence, couldn’t it?

But this was the first time she’d seen Jake with his girlfriend. From across the street, Brianna froze in shock as they stood in front of the fire station together.

Jake had always been easy on the eyes and fifteen years hadn’t changed that. Jake had black, untamed curls and deep blue eyes, and if she were close enough she’d see his spiky black eyelashes that looked like ink starbursts. Women would kill for those eyelashes. In fact, they paid swank prices for extensions that looked just like the ones Jake grew on his own. Wasn’t fair.

But she was distracted from the real reason she stood numb and still at the open trunk of her mom’s car.

Jake’s girlfriend was petite and slim and looked like a chirpy little sprite in her skin-tight active wear cropped pants and her kicky cross-trainers. And her dark curling hair made her look like a little sister or cousin. She’d just bet the gorgeous specimen of femininity also had blue eyes.

Not to mention she looked much, much too young for him, even from across the street and up the block Brianna could see she was a very young twenty-something. Young and fresh and pretty and perfect.

Brianna had already heard they lived together. She tried not to scowl, but Jake should be ashamed of himself. He was over thirty and this girl-child was an entire generation behind.

She shook off her dark emotions and bent to her task. And yes, her chest always clenched when she hefted bags of dog food and dumped them into a car trunk. Her eyes always smarted and her breath always caught. Four bags later, she dusted the kibble dust off her hands and closed the trunk lid.

She studiously kept her eyes away from the fire station’s open front doors, where Jake and his perfect girlfriend stood, probably talking about what to have for dinner together or what shows they’d be binge watching tonight. The ordinary stuff of lives lived together.

She didn’t miss that part of a relationship, not at all. She’d left Anthony behind in Seattle and he’d been content enough to be left. Whatever they’d shared had run its course and she was free now. Single again, and not looking at Jake Morrow and his cheerful, chirpy child-sized girlfriend.

* * *

Craving Jake is still in the editing phase and this opening may change a bit. But the story is set in my mind and the editing will continue. Expected month of release is August. I'd hoped for early in August, but life has tossed me a grenade, so this book may have to wait. I'm sorry about that, but when the heart is broken, it needs time to heal.

I love this small town series. Welcome, WA is not the cheery, sweet place that most romance small towns are. Welcome is full of nasty rumor, ugly gossip, and long-held grudges. People have long memories and are loathe to let others move on.

Returning to Welcome takes fortitude and guts and my returning heroes and heroines have what it takes.

The first people to learn when Craving Jake will be released will be my newsletter subscribers. You can sign up here: Bonnie's Newsy Bits

Next month we'll have a whole new contest and theme for Romance Gems, so please stay tuned...

Happy Reading!

An update: Since writing this blog, I've lost my sister to complications from epilepsy. Please remember, not every disability is visible and chronic illness takes a lifelong toll. Please think twice before judging...you never know what a person is struggling with.