Decide to Hope by June A. Converse

Title: Decide to Hope

Author: June A. Converse

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: May 11, 2018

“Powerful, Gut-wrenching, Heart-achingly Beautiful. This is the kind of book that stays deep within your heart long after the book has closed.” ~ A Book Lover’s Emporium Book Blog

“Wow! Decide to Hope is a story of survival, moving forward and so much more.” ~ A Book Nerd, A Bookseller, and A Bibliophile Blog

An unimaginable trauma. A future that seems impossible. When your world shatters, how do you put it back together?

For 950 days, Kathleen Conners has struggled with that choice. Behind a scarf and sunglasses, she hides from the world, from herself, from The Event, from any future with anyone.

After receiving a box of letters from his deceased mother, Matt Nelson is shoved from his predictable, controlled life to a secluded beach in North Carolina. While trying to understand his mother's intent, he discovers Kathleen.

Matt must choose whether to follow the path his mother orchestrated or rescue the woman who has captured his heart. When the only person Kathleen blames more than herself reappears, can Matt be the strength Kathleen needs to create a new life, or will he be forced to walk away if she decides the climb is too great?

An Excerpt from Decide To Hope by June A. Converse

“Kathleen, I swear to you that if you are ever in my bed, it won’t be fucking.” He punctuated the final words and wiped away the single tear that moved down her cheek. He leaned across the table, nuzzled her face, and said into her damaged ear, “What I want is for you to be safe. What I want is for you to never push me away, for you to let me make you safe again.” Relaxing back into the bench, he added, “What is it you want, my Kathleen, what do you want? I’ll move heaven and earth to be what you need.”

Her eyes widened and her face jerked out of his hand. Tears streamed down her face. Staring at him, showing him her weariness and her abject terror, her blue irises turned a stormy gray.

“They’re gone, Matt.” She spoke with an eerily calm voice. “All of them. Everyone I’ve ever loved. Gone. I’m so tired, Matt. Do you understand?” She pushed away from the table. Her gray eyes blazed inches from his own. “I want to be gone, too.”

Matt’s arms thwomped onto the table. He sat immobile as Kathleen raced out the door into the pouring rain. The restaurant door thwacked behind her. Shaking himself, he realized she’d left her sunglasses, her bag, and even her shoes. The impact of the last few seconds held him in his seat. Time seemed to stop. Sound dropped away. The shadow of her danced behind his closed eyes.

June happily resides in Sandy Springs, Georgia, with her husband, Dave, and their dog, Sodapop. They have two wonderful adult children and two grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic exerciser and an accomplished cook. She and her husband enjoy hiking with Sodapop, traveling, scuba diving, trying new restaurants, concerts, and whatever other adventures they can find. Reading and a constant desire to learn keeps her busy too.

A trauma survivor who struggles with mental illness, June is continuously reaching for hope like the characters in her books. She openly discusses her personal struggles on her blog, JuneConverse.com

Decide to Hope is her first novel and relies a great deal on her own experience with trauma, choices, recovery and hope. If you’d like to discuss trauma, coping and recovery, contact her at JuneConverse.com or DecideToHope.com

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The China Connection by AJ Basinski

A Lieutenant Morales Mystery, Book 3

Mystery / Thriller

Date Published: November 2017

When Lieutenant Morales is implicated in a brutal attack on his wife, he goes to any length to prove his innocence and find the real attacker. His search takes him to Shanghai where he uncovers a vast conspiracy that involves a US senator with presidential ambitions. When he learns the truth about the attack, his own life is in danger.

Other Books in the Lieutenant Morales Mystery Series:

A Lieutenant Morales Mystery, Book One

Published: February 2015

How do you solve a murder when there is no body?  That is the problem faced by Lieutenant Morales when he investigates the disappearance of a new bride while on her honeymoon cruise. Sex, drugs, videotape and a corrupt Miami trial lawyer working for the Chinese provide the answers

It is a "must read" for anyone who has ever taken a cruise or who wants to.

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A Lieutenant Morales Mystery, Book Two

Published: July 2016

Lieutenant Morales was looking forward to a relaxing vacation with the exotic Sun Li at the Bonita Inn on beautiful Palm Island. What is he to do when two bodies are found in Palm Island Sound and Sun Li disappears?  He joins forces with his old partner, the chief of police, in solving the murders and finding Sun Li. What he learns is to trust no one.

If you enjoy Harlan Coben's novels, you'll love this thriller, the second in the Lieutenant Morales mystery series. The first thriller in the Morales series,

Amazon

About the Author

AJ Basinski is the author of two other mysteries in the Lieutenant Morales series, Dead in the Water and A Reservation for Murder.  He lives with his wife in Pennsylvania and Florida.

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Books a Million

Simmer by Stephanie Rose

Title: Simmer

Author: Stephanie Rose

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: May 16, 2018

Simmer (verb): to stew gently below or just at the boiling point; to be in a state of incipient development

My life was always at a simmer… only stewing, never going anywhere. I was left to fend for myself when it came to affection or love, so I learned to go without.

I refused to let them see how broken and lonely I was; it was much easier to hide behind a false reality. I didn't want anyone's pity. I didn't need it. Pity wouldn't put food on the table or keep a roof over our heads. That was all me.

Now, I have a second chance at a dream long forgotten. It demands hard work and sacrifice—with absolutely no distractions. A recipe I already know all too well, raising a daughter on my own.

Drew Kostas is everything I’ve ever wanted but couldn't let myself have. He’s younger, gorgeous, charming—and relentless. He sees beyond the hardened shell I’ve built to protect myself, coaxing out a softer me I don't recognize.

It doesn't matter how I melt in his presence when the heat between us threatens to boil over.

That's the thing about heat. When it rises, everyone gets burned.

Especially when they're foolish enough to fall in love.

“Hey, Kostas!” A voice called out behind us. “Still coming here at the butt crack of dawn?” Chase ambled over to us. He was a grad student, too, but I only knew him through a friend of mine. “And you’ve got a pretty running partner now.”

I didn’t like or dislike him, but his presence now made me bristle with irritation. I suspected it had something to do with how he brazenly eye fucked Sara as she leaned back on the bench.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Chase. Nice to meet you.” He extended a hand to Sara with a huge, shit-eating grin. I gripped the edge of the metal bench to fight the urge to ball my hands into fists and pummel them right in his face.

“Sara.” She gripped his hand, and he didn’t let go as easily as he should have, or at least as easily as I thought he should have. He settled next to her, again too close for my comfort, and blood boiled in my veins. He was always on the creepy side, but I never wanted to kick the shit out of him for it before.

“Are you one of Drew’s friends?” She squinted as she looked between us.

“We were in a few classes last year.” I shrugged before standing. “And we were just on our way to breakfast, so if you’ll excuse us.” I grabbed her hand and yanked her off the bench harder than I’d meant to. Something inside me snapped and needed to get her away from this asshole as soon as possible.

Maybe I didn’t accept being just friends with Sara as much as I let on. Maybe I hated that I had no claim or right to tell Chase or guys like him who approached her to back off. Maybe I wanted her to be mine—now. Not maybe at some unsure point in the unforeseeable future.

“Are you all right?” Sara stilled and yanked back.

“Fine,” I clipped, still irritated as fuck, and doing a shit job of hiding it. Her brows pinched in confusion, and I didn’t blame her. Sometimes, I wondered what the hell was wrong with me, too.

We were supposed to be only friends, but I hadn’t so much as glanced in another woman’s direction since Sara stumbled into the lab that night. I’d go to the bar with the guys and the girls either wouldn’t be pretty enough or smart enough or something else enough. The problem, or my problem was, they weren’t Sara enough.

Silence fell over us as we made our way to the diner on campus. It was only when I reached for the door that I realized I still held her hand in mine. I’d never dropped it, and she never pulled away. Now I was even more pissed at myself for wanting to make that simple gesture mean something between us.

The waitress brought our menus over right after we were seated. The usual playfulness between us wasn’t there. The air that surrounded us was thick and uncomfortable. Shaking off what happened with Chase was harder than it should’ve been. He only shook her hand … and leered at her. I raked my hand through my hair as the thought pissed me off all over again. What would I do if a guy tried more than that? I’d end up in jail if I didn’t reel myself in.

“Why do you waste your time, Drew?” Sara’s voice was small.

I lifted my head to meet her pained stare. Her chocolate brown eyes bore into mine, half questioning, half exposed. I’d never seen her this vulnerable before.

“Waste my time?”

“You could spend time with anyone.Be with anyone … without issues and a ton of baggage. Someone your age. Someone who could keep up with you.” She put her head down and laughed.

“But that someone wouldn’t be you.” Her eyes brightened right before they squeezed shut. I still wouldn’t push, but I was done lying to myself or her.

“Drew, you’re a good guy. I’m holding you back, I can tell. I love hanging out with you, but I can’t ask you—”’

“You never asked me to do anything. I love hanging out with you, too. I don’t know who convinced you that you were some kind of unwanted burden, but you’re not. Never. So, you’re not blowing me off, Caldwell. Nice try.” I let my lips curve up, hoping to draw out a smile.

“You wanted to punch Chase, didn’t you?” The corners of her mouth twitched.

“Maybe.” I shrugged, pretending to peruse the menu I’d seen a hundred times.

She let out a heavy sigh as she opened the menu. “You’re a foolish man, Kostas.”

Maybe I was a fool, but she was worth it. Sooner or later, I’d get her to believe that.

Stephanie Rose grew up loving words and making up stories. Being able to share them with readers is her dream come true. This lifelong Bronx girl loves Starbucks, wine and 80s rock. Her voice often gets mistaken for a Mob Wives trailer. 

She married her prom date and has a LEGO obsessed son. She believes there is nothing sexier than a good guy who loves with all his heart and has made it her mission to bring as many as she can to the page.

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