Monday, December 18, 2017

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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

First Chapter Reveal: Night Music: A Novel

Night Music is now available for preorder on all online platforms. And as an added bonus, I'm sharing the first two chapters with you. Check it out!


Night Music
Cover by Tugboat Design
A Novel

Deanna Lynn Sletten

Book Description:

1968 - 1971

Charlotte Parsons is devastated over losing her brother in the Vietnam War. Desperate to learn more about the war, she joins a group of college women who send letters to soldiers and befriends Joseph Russo, a young soldier. But a few months after they begin corresponding, his letters stop coming, and Char moves on, still confused as to why so many young lives are being lost so far away from home.

Two years later, Char begins college in her small Illinois town of Grand Falls. She’s been dating her brother’s long-time best friend, Deke Masterson, who is a senior in college and is deep into the anti-war movement. Char is still confused over how she feels about the war. Then a stranger comes to town and changes everything.

Joseph Russo served in the Vietnam War, earning a Purple Heart for his injury as well as a life-long limp. He’s ready to put the war behind him. While in Vietnam, he’d corresponded with a girl from Grand Falls and he enjoyed reading about her idyllic life. When he’s discharged, he moves there to attend college. And when he meets Charlotte in person, he’s taken with her sweetness, intelligence, and beauty.

The battle lines are drawn as Deke resents Joe’s presence around Char. What started out as a well-deserved escape to a small town for Joe soon turns into a battle of wills between him and the idealistic Deke. And there stands Charlotte, right in the middle.

Night Music is a story about a moment in time when the world was chaotic and nothing was completely clear. In the midst of all the chaos, can Char and Joe find enough middle ground to fall in love?


Publish Date: March 13, 2018
Women's Fiction

Buy Now:

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2KQVUWA



Please enjoy the first two chapters of this heartfelt novel.

Prologue

March 29, 1969


Joseph Russo crouched in a pit surrounded by sandbags, his M-16 standing at attention beside him. It was 02:00 and all of Firebase Jack was on red alert. Two hours earlier, the rangers out in the field had called in a warning: a large number of North Vietnamese soldiers were heading their way. Charlie was coming; it was only a matter of when.

Three other men occupied the small sandbagged area where Joe sat. Clint stood nearest to the 155 artillery weapon, casually smoking a cigarette with his own M-16 slung over his shoulder. He was a red leg, an artillery man who operated one of the several 155s on the base. Roger, a tall, slender man with light blond hair, stood across from Joe. He was prepared but didn’t look all that concerned. However, Tony, a short, wiry guy who everyone called “spaghetti,” was smoking and pacing in a circle, clutching his weapon in his hand.

“They’re coming,” Tony said, stopping to stare Joe dead in the eyes. “I can feel it. They’re so close, I can smell them.”

Clint snorted as he crushed his cigarette out under his heavy boot. “Spaghetti, get a grip,” he said in his smooth Arkansas drawl. “All you smell is yourself after a week without a shower.”

Roger laughed. “Smell them. That’s funny.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “I can. If you’d ever been down one of their rat-hole tunnels, you’d be able to smell them too. It’s the sweat, man. The smell of sweat and fear.”

Joe watched as Tony continued to pace in his tight circle. Tony was in the middle of his second tour. He’d been a tunnel rat during his first tour, and part of this one. That was where his nickname “spaghetti” had originated. He was thin and limber and able to twist and contort his body in the narrowest of places like a string of spaghetti. Unfortunately, his nerves had become frayed after months of slipping through Viet Cong tunnels in search of the enemy. Sending him to Firebase Jack was supposed to be easier on him. From what Joe had observed, Tony’s nerves still got the best of him.

Despite Tony’s jittery disposition, he and Joe had clicked as friends. They were both Italians from New York and they shared the same background. They’d grown up in rough neighborhoods with tough dads. Joe, with his never-ending patience and calm demeanor, was the only guy on the base who could tolerate Tony’s endless, frantic energy.

Joe gazed up into the clear night sky. The stars glittered so bright he could make out the constellations. It was hot, despite the sun having gone down hours ago, and the air was thick with humidity. Sweat rolled down his neck and back. He’d spread out his poncho beneath him, but the damp ground seeped through. Nothing ever dried out in this godforsaken place.

He cocked his head and listened to the night sounds around him, crickets humming in the tall elephant grass beyond the base’s perimeter and nocturnal birds chirping their strange songs. Night music. All was safe as long as the night music played on.

“Relax, Tony,” Joe said calmly. “As long as we can hear the night music, we’re okay.”

Tony stopped a second and listened as he sniffed the air. The nightly sounds seemed to pacify him for a moment, but then he continued pacing in his small circle.

Joe reached inside his shirt, pulled out a worn envelope, and unfolded it. He slipped out one of the four letters inside and carefully opened it. The handwritten words filled the page in perfectly shaped cursive letters. A girl’s writing, he thought. Clear, with a touch of flowery script. He read the letter as he had dozens of times before.

Grand Falls is so small that you can’t walk down the street without waving or saying hello to at least ten people. The shops sit in a perfect line down Main Street with the bakery’s scent wafting out onto the street, inviting you in for a tasty treat while the gift and candle shops tempt you with their latest wares through their big, shiny windows.

Joe sighed. Were there really towns like that anymore? He sifted through the letters again and found the small photo of the girl who’d written it. It looked like a high school or college picture. In it, a lovely young woman with long, straight, dark hair and amazing amber-brown eyes stared back at him. She had the fresh-scrubbed look of a small-town girl, not the overly made-up type he was used to back home in the Bronx. He imagined that this girl wore nicely tailored clothes, low-heeled shoes, and listened to soft rock on the radio. She probably went to the movies every Saturday night with her friends then stopped for a Coke and maybe a piece of pie at the local cafĂ© afterward. She was an all-American girl, and it made him smile just looking at her.

“There he goes again,” Clint said. “Joe’s getting all goo goo eyed over his girlfriend’s picture.”

Joe glanced up. “She’s not my girlfriend. We’re just pen pals.”

“Yeah, man. Just keep saying that, but we ain’t buying it,” Roger said, smirking.

Joe ignored him. He knew the guys liked teasing him, but he didn’t care. He enjoyed the letters from Charlotte. Her first letter had been in a packet sent from an organization that wrote to soldiers. Joe never got mail, so when the company clerk asked who wanted a letter, he’d been excited to take it. From there, he and Charlotte had started writing regularly. He knew little about her except what she looked like from her picture and what she told him about her town. She’d said her brother had died in Vietnam a year earlier and she wanted to know more about what it was like to be there. Joe never gave much detail—he didn’t want to share the horrors of war with a young woman—and hoped her letters would keep coming. He liked the idea of living in the same small, friendly town your entire life where everyone knew your name. It was the exact opposite of where he’d grown up—people came and went and no one talked to you.

“Do you think charming small towns still exist?” he asked no one in particular. “You know, like Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show.”

Clint grinned. “I wouldn’t mind believing that Hooterville from Petticoat Junction actually exists.”

Joe chuckled.

Roger shrugged. “I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin where everyone knew my name. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.”

“Well, you picked a great place to move, coming here,” Clint said.

“Like I had a choice,” Roger said.

“Shh! Listen!” Tony called out to their group.

Everyone sat silent, as did the men in the other pits around them. The crickets and birds had stopped chirping. The silence was deafening.

An explosion shattered the silence. A claymore at the outer perimeter of the firebase had gone off.

Charlie was here.

Everyone went into action. Joe quickly stuffed the letters and picture back inside his pocket and reached for his weapon. Another claymore blew, then another. Gunfire erupted as more claymores blasted, and then out of nowhere, mortars exploded at a rapid pace. It took Joe a moment to realize which side was shooting them.

“Where the hell did they get so many mortars from?” Clint screamed over the noise.
No one had time to answer.

Joe pulled himself out of the sandbagged area and assessed the situation. Most of the men on the base had M-16s and M-60s, but he thought he heard the distinctive deeper sound of AK-47s within the base.

The back! Crap! Joe remembered how lightly guarded that area was. The North Vietnamese Army must have slipped in through there.

“This way, Tony!” Joe yelled over the noise.

Tony followed as they ran toward the back area. Sure enough, there were NVA soldiers streaming inside, shooting at anything that moved.

Joe and Tony shot back, picking them off one after another. Roger joined them, and soon there were several other men at their side warding off the tide of enemy soldiers pouring in.

“They just keep coming!” Roger shouted. “What the hell?” He pulled a grenade from his belt and ripped the pin out.

As he threw it in the direction of the incoming soldiers, Joe and the rest of the men turned and ducked. The blast was deafening, but it did the job. The heavy stream of NVA slowed down.
Overhead, two Cobras flew over the base, taking turns shooting up the outside perimeter with their mini guns. Joe looked up and smiled. “The good guys have arrived.”

“Head back to the pit,” Roger told Joe. “No one’s guarding Clint. Tony and I have this covered.”

Joe started to run back to the pit when suddenly a sharp, searing pain hit his left leg. He crumpled to the ground. Looking down, he saw blood gushing out from below his knee.

Tony and Roger were there in an instant. Tony fired past Joe and an NVA fell to the ground. The twosome grabbed Joe under each arm and carried him back to the sandbagged area as Roger screamed for a medic.

“I’m fine,” Joe said as his friends set him down against the sandbags. Joe knew he wasn’t fine. His leg looked torn to shreds and he hadn’t been able to stand on it. Strangely enough, he felt nothing. No pain at all.

“Stay here!” Roger ordered. “If you see one of those damned NVA, shoot him!”

By now the Cobras had run out of ammunition and the red legs had taken over firing their 155s out into the base’s perimeter. As if in a dream, Joe watched as Clint expertly manned his weapon. He gazed up and saw the most amazing sight: a Spooky gunship had arrived and took over where the Cobras had left off. White and red rain seemed to be falling from it, lighting up the inky night sky.

“Will you look at that?” Clint asked. He’d stopped shooting and was also staring up at the magnificent airship. “That’ll teach Charlie.”

A large, square man jumped into the pit, startling Joe.

“Don’t shoot me. I’m the medic.” He got right to work on Joe’s leg, cutting his pant leg off to get a better look, then placing a tourniquet on the lower part of his thigh. “How ya feeling, soldier?”

“Fine. Dizzy. Kind of dazed,” Joe said. He stared at the burly medic and wondered why he couldn’t remember the guy’s name.

“You’ve lost a lot of blood, so that’s bound to make you dizzy,” the guy said. “Just keep still and enjoy the light show. We’ll get you evacuated as soon as the party is over.”

“Evacuated? Can’t you just wrap it up?” Joe asked.

The medic chuckled. “Sorry, guy, but you need more than a Band-Aid. But look on the bright side—you just got your ticket home.”




Chapter One

September 1970


Charlotte Parsons slipped out of her 1964 Pontiac GTO and smoothed down her plaid skirt before picking up a pile of books. It was her first day of college, and she was both nervous and excited. It had felt like this day would never come, and now, here she was.

“How do I look?” Patty Hartman asked as she stepped out of the passenger side.

Char smiled. Patty was one of her two closest friends who she’d known since kindergarten. She was always worried about her appearance. With her auburn hair and creamy white skin, Patty was a very pretty girl, especially with her rich brown eyes. She was a little plump—her words—but she knew exactly how to dress to accentuate her best features.

“You look amazing, as always,” Char’s other friend, Jenny Burke, said as she exited the back seat. “I’m sure all the boys will love you.” Jenny was not as tall as her friends, but slender, and her light hair and blue eyes were her best features.

“But do I look fat in this dress?” Patty asked. “Do I look old enough or like a kid playing a grown up?”

“Old enough for what?” Char asked, laughing softly. She brushed back her long, dark hair and closed the car door. Walking around to where the other two were, they all stood and stared at the school grounds spread out before them.

They were attending their hometown college, Grand Falls University. It sat on the edge of town, right on the banks of the Illinois river. Lush green lawns stretched out around the large campus that held up to five thousand students. The buildings were gothic style, built in the 1920s, which made them appear even more commanding and impressive.

“Old enough to attract a junior or senior,” Patty said, breaking the silence. “I don’t want to go to college forever to find a guy.”

The trio began walking across the parking lot toward the buildings. Throngs of students carrying stacks of books were everywhere. The first day was usually a crazy rush for freshmen who hadn’t yet learned the campus’s layout. Char knew the school well, though. She’d not only been here many times with her boyfriend, Deacon Masterson, but had walked the campus earlier this summer to make sure she knew exactly where her classes were.

“You know, Patty,” Jenny interjected, “some of us are actually coming to school to learn, not to meet men. I want to graduate so I have a degree and can support myself.”
Patty visibly shivered. “Don’t even say that! I don’t plan on working a day of my life. That’s what men are for.”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “How very 1950s of you.”

Char laughed. “I can’t wait to start classes. I love learning.”

“Easy for you to say,” Patty said. “You already have a cute boyfriend who’s a senior. Now it’s my turn.”

Char couldn’t deny that. She and Deke had been dating for almost a year, and it was going pretty well. She’d known him nearly her entire life because he’d been her brother Jeremy’s best friend since they were five. Deke had never looked at her twice until she turned eighteen last year. Their casual friendship had grown into a sweet romance.

The girls stopped in front of the main building. “This is it,” Char said. “I go to the English building from here.”

“Me, too,” Jenny said.

Patty sighed dramatically. “I have science first. I’ll see you both at lunch.”

Char and Jenny headed inside the building, found their classroom, and took seats near the back. The room was small with tall windows across one wall. The desks were old and scarred from years of use. None of this bothered Char in the least. She was excited to be in English class. The entire year of freshman English was devoted to writing a thesis paper and reading the classics. For most students, that was torture, but for Char, it was heaven. She enjoyed reading, and especially loved to write. She’d worked on the high school newspaper, and she hoped eventually to be on the college paper, as well. Her parents thought she was focusing on an English degree to become a teacher, but she secretly dreamed of becoming a writer.

As the other students filled the room, Char glanced around to see if she recognized anyone. Some of the kids from her high school were attending this university, while several had gone to schools as far away as Northern California and Florida. Char had never even considered leaving for college. She liked their small town and the people in it, and, truth be told, she wouldn’t have been brave enough to leave anyway.

Just as the class filled up, Jenny nudged her.

“Look at that guy coming in. Is he a student?” Jenny asked.

Char saw a man wearing faded army fatigues and a black T-shirt with a pack on his back. His face looked young except for a few light creases on his forehead—worry lines—and strands of gray running through his black hair. What stood out the most, though, was the cane he used to walk, his left leg moving stiffly. He ignored the stares that came his way as he found one of the last open seats near the back of the room and slowly lowered himself into the chair.

“He must be a student,” Char whispered to Jenny.

“But he has gray hair.”

“He must be a vet,” Char said quietly. “He’s wearing fatigues. I don’t recognize him, though. He’s not someone who went to our high school.”

It wasn’t unusual to see Vietnam veterans at the college. Some of the local boys who’d served had come back home to attend college. If Char’s brother, Jeremy, had survived, he’d have gone to school here, too. The mere thought of him tore at Char’s heart.

“He looks old enough to be teaching this class, not taking it,” Jenny said.

Char studied the man. He had olive skin, a strong jaw, and nice cheekbones. His hair was thick and wavy and slightly long, but combed neatly. Most of the guys at the college had long hair, some even in ponytails. But not this guy. His strong facial features wouldn’t look right with long hair.

As Char studied him, the man glanced up and looked right at her. She turned away quickly, feeling her face flush at being caught. But before she’d turned away, she’d seen his gray eyes. And he’d smiled, a small, kind smile.

The professor walked in and began speaking, so Char’s attention turned to him. But she couldn’t help but feel the eyes of the stranger on her throughout the class.

***

That evening, Char sat on the steps of her parents’ house, waiting for Deke to pick her up. The front yard consisted of two rectangular sections of perfectly mowed lawn with a sidewalk down the middle. A three-foot-high white picket fence surrounded the yard, and flower gardens and rose beds bloomed in front of the white-railed porch that ran the full width of the house. It was a typical small-town, middle-class home in a nice, quiet neighborhood where everyone mowed their lawns on Saturdays and women tended flower beds regularly. Char’s mother belonged to the local flower club, as did most of the women on the block. No one in the neighborhood would ever consider letting weeds overrun their prize flowerbeds. Char found it amusing but admitted that their efforts did bring charm to their neighborhood.

The sky was painted in pink and red streaks as the sun dipped over the horizon. She had already eaten dinner with her parents and now was going with Deke to a movie at the drive-in. Every Tuesday and Thursday during the school year the theater ran discounted movies for the returning college students. Tonight, the movie was M*A*S*H, which they’d already seen earlier in the year when it had first come out. Deke had enjoyed it though, so Char didn’t mind seeing it again.

As Char waited, she thought back on her first day of school. She had a full schedule; all her classes were for her general education requirements. She loved English and history, didn’t mind algebra or social studies but wasn’t a big fan of science. English was the only class she knew anyone in. All throughout her school years, she’d known everyone in her classes. It felt odd now not knowing everyone.

And then there was the guy with the cane.

He was in her English and history classes. He stood out because it was so obvious he was a veteran by the way he dressed and the use of the cane. Their college had a huge anti-war presence; Deke was the president of their Students for a Democratic Society chapter. Even though the national SDS had gone under, many colleges still had active chapters. For that reason, many of the Vietnam vets who attended the school tried not to stand out. But this guy didn’t seem to care. Was he flaunting his service, or did he simply not realize his fatigues gave him away?

“Hi.”

A deep voice startled her out of her thoughts. She looked up, and there he stood. The very man she’d been thinking about.

“Hi,” she said after recovering from the shock of seeing him there. It was as if she’d conjured him up.
He gave her a small smile. “Sorry if I startled you. I was walking by and saw you sitting there. I didn’t realize you hadn’t noticed me.”

Char stood, not sure if she should walk to the gate or stay where she was. She didn’t want to be rude, but she also didn’t know this guy. He seemed nice enough, and had a friendly smile. Still she was hesitant. “I was just spacing out, I guess,” she said.

“Yeah. I do that sometimes too.” He raised his hand to shake. “I’m Joe, by the way. We have the same English and history classes.”

Looking at his outstretched hand, Char had no choice but to draw nearer and shake it. “I’m Charlotte. But everyone calls me Char.”

“Hi, Char.” He smiled warmly.

Char noticed that his gray eyes had silvery flecks in them. She’d never seen eyes like his before. “Did you walk all the way from the college?” she asked, her eyes unconsciously drifting to his cane.

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s only a few blocks. Don’t let this thing fool you,” he said, lifting the wooden cane. “I get around pretty good in spite of it.”

Char felt her face grow warm at being caught staring at it. “Sorry.”

“No need. It’s obvious, right?”

“Do you live near here?” Char asked, wanting to change the subject. She was unnerved by his straightforward manner. She’d been taught better than to point out a person’s disability, yet she’d done it without thinking. She wasn’t usually that comfortable to speak so bluntly with someone she’d just met.

“I live over at Mrs. Bennington’s Boarding House.”

“Oh. She’s nice. You’ll like it there,” Char said. Mrs. Bennington was a widow who’d opened her large home to earn extra money. Her son had died years before in the Korean War and her husband had passed away too.

“Yes, she is. She keeps leaving homemade cookies in my room. I think she wants to fatten me up.” 
Joe chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s how she is.”

Silence fell between them just as night settled in. Char fished for something to say. “Do you have family around here?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t. I’m from New York. I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned my Bronx accent. Everyone I’ve met has made a point to ask about it.”

Char had heard it but thought it was rude to point it out. “I noticed. I just thought that you might have moved here because of relatives.”

“Nope. I’d heard this was a great place to live. After leaving Nam, I figured a nice quiet town might be just the thing for me.”

Char studied him, wanting to ask where he’d been stationed in Vietnam and what it had been like. He’d brought it up, after all, so it gave her an opening. But she couldn’t make herself ask. She barely knew him. “Who told you about this town? Someone from here?”

Joe nodded and looked into her eyes. “A really sweet girl told me, so it had to be true.”

Char tilted her head and stared at him, wondering who that girl could have been. His sweet smile caused a chill of delight to run up her spine. It surprised her.

Before either could say another word, Deke pulled up in his car and hit the horn, making both Joe and Char jump.

“Hey, baby. You ready to go?” Deke called out. He drove a 1965 white Pontiac Firebird Convertible with a candy apple red interior. The top was down.

Both Joe and Char turned to look at him a moment before she came to her senses and spoke.

“Hey, Deke. I’m ready.” She opened the gate and walked through as Joe moved aside to let her pass.

“Who’s your friend?” Deke said, eyeing Joe.

She hesitated. She knew Deke wasn’t generally polite to Vietnam veterans. “This is Joe. He started school today, too. We have English together. He lives down the street at Mrs. Bennington’s Boarding House.”

Joe stepped over and opened the passenger door for Char. Stunned, she gaped at him then hurriedly slipped inside.

He carefully closed the door. “And history, too,” he said with a grin.

“Yes. History, too,” Char repeated.

“See you tomorrow,” Joe said to Char. Then he nodded at Deke and made his way down the sidewalk.
Deke’s eyes narrowed as he watched Joe walk away, but then he turned and smiled at Char. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” She was relieved Deke hadn’t made a big deal about Joe. As they drove away from the house, Char’s mind wasn’t on the beautiful September evening or “Three Dog Night” playing on the stereo. Her thoughts were on Joe’s gray eyes with the silver flecks and his warm smile.

***

Joe slowly walked along the sidewalk toward the boarding house, his rucksack full of books growing heavier with each step. He’d had months to recuperate after he’d been shot in Nam, and had also gone through physical therapy to help him learn to walk properly with his cane. His thigh bone had been shattered and he’d lost most of the muscle from the knee down. He was thankful to still have his leg, but sometimes it was frustrating how slowly he moved. He urged himself to go a little faster, wanting to get to his room and drop the heavy pack off his back.

His thoughts turned to Char as he walked. She was even more beautiful than her picture, and just as sweet as he’d thought she’d be. He’d been astonished this morning when he’d walked into his first class of the day and saw her sitting there. Since he’d believed she was already in college when she wrote to him two years before, he’d figured she’d be a junior or senior by now and their paths wouldn’t cross. Seeing her sitting in English had been a wonderful surprise.

He’d meant to tell her tonight who he was when he’d stopped at her gate, but their conversation never gave him an opening. He hadn’t wanted to blurt out, “Hey, I’m the guy you were writing to in Vietnam.” He was afraid that would scare her. If he could have eased it into the conversation, it would have been better. But then her boyfriend drove up in his fancy car and he’d lost his chance.
Joe made it to the boarding house and turned onto the flower-lined sidewalk that led up to the porch. 

Mrs. Bennington’s house was an old Victorian with a wrap-around porch, a large formal dining room and parlor, and had three floors plus an attic. Besides Joe, four other people rented rooms from her, two on the second floor and two on the third. Each floor had a bathroom that they shared. Joe’s room, however, was all the way up in the attic.

When Joe had first come to look at the available room, he’d noticed the steps leading up to a fourth floor. “What’s up there?” he’d asked Mrs. Bennington.

“Oh, that’s just the attic. There’s a large room, but I rarely rent it. It has a tall ceiling with open beams and small dormer windows, but most people don’t want to be up there.”

A tall ceiling with open beams sounded wonderful to Joe. “Can I see it?” he’d asked.

Mrs. Bennington had looked surprised. “It’s an awful lot of stairs for you to walk up every day,” she’d said, glancing at his cane.

Joe had smiled. “Please?”

She’d shown him the room and Joe had fallen in love with the open space. He took it, foregoing adding meals to his rent so he could afford the larger room. He figured he could always buy a cheap meal at a cafĂ© or the student union.

As Joe walked into the house, Mrs. Bennington greeted him from the parlor.

“Good evening, Joe. Have you eaten?”

He grinned. Even though he wasn’t paying for meals, Mrs. Bennington still worried if he’d been fed. “Yes, ma’am, I have. I’m going up to bed.”

“Well, if you get hungry, there’s chocolate cake on the counter in the kitchen and milk in the fridge. 
Good night.”

“Good night,” he said, then headed up the stairs.

As he put his pack down in his room and lay on his bed, Joe thought again about Char. He’d see her every day for the next few months. At some point, he’d have a chance to tell her who he was.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Cover Reveal: Night Music


I am so excited to share with you the cover of my
upcoming women's fiction novel

NIGHT MUSIC



Created for me by the talented Deborah

NIGHT MUSIC will release on
March 13, 2018

Here is more about the novel:


Book Description:

1968 - 1971

Charlotte Parsons is devastated over losing her brother in the Vietnam War. Desperate to learn more about the war, she joins a group of college women who send letters to soldiers and befriends Joseph Russo, a young soldier. But a few months after they begin corresponding, his letters stop coming, and Char moves on, still confused as to why so many young lives are being lost so far away from home.

Two years later, Char begins college in her small Illinois town of Grand Falls. She’s been dating her brother’s long-time best friend, Deke Masterson, who is a senior in college and is deep into the anti-war movement. Char isn’t sure how she feels about the war. Then a stranger comes to town and changes everything.

Joseph Russo served in the Vietnam War, earning a Purple Heart for his injury as well as a life-long limp. He’s ready to put the war behind him. While in Vietnam, he’d corresponded with a girl from Grand Falls and he enjoyed reading about her idyllic life. When he’s discharged, he moves there to attend college. And when he meets Charlotte in person, he’s taken with her sweetness, intelligence, and beauty.

The battle lines are drawn as Deke resents Joe’s presence around Char. What started out as a well-deserved escape to a small town for Joe soon turns into a battle of wills between him and the idealistic Deke. And there stands Charlotte, right in the middle.

Night Music is a story about a moment in time when the world was chaotic and nothing was completely clear. In the midst of all the chaos, can Char and Joe find enough middle ground to fall in love?

Women's Fiction
Release Date: March 13, 2018


Preorder now on:


Coming soon to:

Amazon Kindle

Paperback

Audiobook

Add to your To Read list on Goodreads.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

It's Here! New Release: As the Snow Fell

As the Snow Fell
is finally here!

Cover created by Tugboat Design

I'm so excited about the release of this latest romance. I loved returning to the Lake Harriet neighborhood where we first met Ryan and Kristen in WALKING SAM. Now, it's another couple's turn to find their happily ever after.

Buy now on:

B&N Nook

iTunes BookStore

Google Play

Paperback

Audiobook

Please be sure to leave a review on Amazon or B&N if you enjoyed it. 


Book Description:

A Lake Harriet Novel

In the charming Lake Harriet neighborhood in Minneapolis, MN, where we first met Kristen, Ryan, and their beloved dog, Sam, in Walking Sam, we meet another couple who are struggling to find true love.

Mallory Dawson is planning the winter wedding of her dreams. She’s found a wonderful man to share her life with and is looking forward to a promising future together. But one month before her wedding, she runs into the man she once loved who she hasn’t seen in ten years. Soon, her entire life is turned upside down.

James Gallagher fled to California ten years ago to start over after the love of his life, Mallory, refused to marry him. But when his dad passes away and his mother becomes ill, he returns home to help run the family business. Seeing Mallory again brings a flood of memories back, and he begins to wonder what his life would have been like if he hadn’t left.

Will the wedding go on or will fate play a hand in Mallory's happily ever after?




Sunday, November 5, 2017

As the Snow Fell Giveaway!!

Congratulations to Anita L for winning the $50 Amazon Gift Card!
Thank you to everyone who entered.

A new book release means
A New Giveaway!



I'm so excited about the upcoming release of my latest romance
AS THE SNOW FELL
that I want to share the excitement with
my readers by having a giveaway.

Enter below for a chance to win a
$50 Amazon Gift Card

Contest begins Now and ends November 21, 2017

U.S., UK, Canadian, and Australian citizens may enter.
Prize will be given in U.S. Dollars.

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter.

And don't forget to pre-order my new romance
AS THE SNOW FELL
on Amazon Kindle & B&N Nook
Coming soon to Audiobook & Paperback.

Pre-order now:


Good luck!




Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Book Review: The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Are you ready for some magic? Then don’t miss out on this amazing prequel to PRACTICAL MAGIC. THE RULES OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman.


The Rules of Magic

Alice Hoffman


Book Description:

From beloved author Alice Hoffman comes the spellbinding prequel to her bestseller, Practical Magic.

Find your magic.

For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.

Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.

From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.

The Owens children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy. Thrilling and exquisite, real and fantastical, The Rules of Magic is a story about the power of love reminding us that the only remedy for being human is to be true to yourself.

Publish Date: October 10, 2017
Simon & Schuster

Preorder on:



Or buy at your favorite bookseller.


My 5-Star Review:

The long awaited prequel to PRACTICAL MAGIC is here! If you’ve ever wondered who the aunts were and how they came to live in the house where our favorite little witches grow up in Practical Magic, then now all your questions will be answered.

In the 1960s, Franny and Jet Owens—and their brother Vincent, a delightful surprise—are raised by their parents in New York City without a clue about the Owens’s history. All they know for sure are the rules their mother, Susanna, sets down— no walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic and no falling in love! But one summer when the girls and their brother are in their young teens, they are called to visit their Aunt Isabelle who lives in a huge old house in a small Massachusetts town. Here, they begin to understand their strange gifts and who they really are, and a whole new world is opened up to them.

As we watch these three young people grow into adulthood, we see what shapes their lives and how they become who they are when we meet them years later in Practical Magic.

If you think the prequel cannot possibly be as good or better than Practical Magic, then you’d be mistaken. Author Alice Hoffman does not disappoint in this amazing story full of richly developed characters who charm their way into your heart. It is a wonderfully woven tale masterfully written by the queen of magical stories.

As someone who’s read several of Ms. Hoffman’s novels, many of which I’ve loved, I would have to say that this is my absolute favorite one to date (along with Practical Magic, of course). Highly, highly recommended!

(I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)


About the Author:



Alice Hoffman was born in New York City on March 16, 1952 and grew up on Long Island. After graduating from high school in 1969, she attended Adelphi University, from which she received a BA, and then received a Mirrellees Fellowship to the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, which she attended in 1973 and 74, receiving an MA in creative writing. She currently lives in Boston and New York. 

Hoffman's first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. She credits her mentor, professor and writer Albert J. Guerard, and his wife, the writer Maclin Bocock Guerard, for helping her to publish her first short story in the magazine Fiction. Editor Ted Solotaroff then contacted her to ask if she had a novel, at which point she quickly began to write what was to become Property Of, a section of which was published in Mr. Solotaroff's magazine, American Review. 

Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published a total of eighteen novels, two books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults. Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte's masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Her advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman (Women's Cancer) Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Blackbird House is a book of stories centering around an old farm on Cape Cod. Hoffman's recent books include Aquamarine and Indigo, novels for pre-teens, and The New York Times bestsellers The River King, Blue Diary, The Probable Future, and The Ice Queen. Green Angel, a post-apocalyptic fairy tale about loss and love, was published by Scholastic and The Foretelling, a book about an Amazon girl in the Bronze Age, was published by Little Brown. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year. In January 2007, Skylight Confessions, a novel about one family's secret history, was released on the 30th anniversary of the publication of Her first novel. Her most recent novel is The Story Sisters (2009), published by Shaye Areheart Books.

Hoffman's work has been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Her novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay "Independence Day" a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, Redbook, Architectural Digest, Gourmet, Self, and other magazines. Her teen novel Aquamarine was recently made into a film starring Emma Roberts.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Cover Reveal: As the Snow Fell by Deanna Lynn Sletten

Hi all,

I am so excited to share with you the beautiful cover of my upcoming romance novel, As the Snow Fell. We return to the delightful Lake Harriet neighborhood where we first met Kristen and Ryan and their beloved dog, Sam, in Walking Sam. If you loved their story, you are going to love Mallory and James story too.

Here is the gorgeous cover created for me by Deborah at Tugboat Design




Book Description:

In the charming Lake Harriet neighborhood in Minneapolis, MN, where we first met Kristen, Ryan, and their beloved dog, Sam, in Walking Sam, we meet another couple who are struggling to find true love.

Mallory Dawson is planning the winter wedding of her dreams. She’s found a wonderful man to share her life with and is looking forward to a promising future together. But one month before her wedding, she runs into the man she once loved who she hasn’t seen in ten years and her entire life is turned upside down.

James Gallagher fled to California ten years ago to start his life over after the love of his life, Mallory, refused to marry him. But when his dad passes away and his mother becomes ill, he returns home to help run the family business. Seeing Mallory again brings a flood of memories back, and he begins to wonder what his life would have been like if he hadn’t left.

Will the wedding go on or will fate play a hand in Mallory's happily ever after?



Publish Date: November 21, 2017
Contemporary Romance/Sweet Romance

Pre-order now on:



Coming Soon to:

Paperback


Be sure to pre-order now!

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Book Review: The Summer that Made Us by Robyn Carr

Hi all,

I was so happy to be asked to join the blog tour for Robyn Carr's latest novel, The Summer that Made Us. It is a deeply moving novel about loss, family ties, and redemption. Here is more about the novel and my review.


Book Description:

Mothers and daughters, sisters and cousins, they lived for summers at the lake house until a tragic accident changed everything. The Summer That Made Us is an unforgettable story about a family learning to accept the past, to forgive and to love each other again.

That was then… 

For the Hempsteads, two sisters who married two brothers and had three daughters each, summers were idyllic. The women would escape the city the moment school was out to gather at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. All of their problems drifted away as the days passed in sun-dappled contentment. Until the summer that changed everything.

This is now… 

After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. For good. Torn apart, none of the Hempstead women speak of what happened that summer, and relationships between them are uneasy at best to hurtful at worst. But in the face of new challenges, one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth.

Robyn Carr has crafted a beautifully woven story about the complexities of family dynamics and the value of strong female relationships.

 

Buy now:


Or at your favorite book store.

 
My 5-Star Review:

A family torn apart by a past tragedy that slowly decends into a dysfunctional mess. That pretty much sums up the lives of the Hempstead women and their daughters. But how did this all happen one lovely summer by the lake? One moment, everyone was happy and carefree. The next, everything had fallen apart. The lake house is boarded up and left, forgotten.

Fast-forward to the present. Megan’s days are numbered as she battles cancer and her last wish is to bring her sisters, cousins, aunt, and mother back together one last time to the lake house. Enlisting help from her sister, Charley, who’s career is falling apart, the lake house is freshened up, ready for the family to return. And in doing so, old memories are dug up, past differences are rehashed, and new relationships are formed.

The Summer that Made Us is an intricately woven, heartfelt family story that will make you laugh and cry and will warm your heart. I highly recommend it.

 

About the Author:

Robyn Carr is an award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels, including the critically acclaimed Virgin River and Thunder Point series, as well as highly praised women’s fiction titles such as Four Friends, What We Find, and The Life She Wants.

Robyn has won a RITA Award from the Romance Writers of America, and in 2016 she was awarded RWA’s Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the genre. Her novels have been translated into 19 languages in 30 countries. Originally from Minnesota, Robyn now resides in Henderson, Nevada, with her aviator husband; they have two grown children. When she isn’t writing, Robyn puts her energy into community service: she has mentored a seniors’ memoir-writing group, attends book club chats in and out of state whenever possible, and is working with her local library on the Carr Chat Series, a program centered on fundraising and visiting author events that bring writers, their books, and the community together.

 

THE SUMMER THAT MADE US

Publication date: September 5, 2017

Hardcover $26.99 U.S. / $29.99 CAN.

ISBN-13: 978-0778331049

 

Friday, September 1, 2017

The Amazing Autumn Paperback Giveaway!

 
The Amazing Autumn Paperback Giveaway!
 
 
All of the book covers created made by Deborah @ Tugboat Design.

September is here which means that autumn is
right around the corner. That means shorter days
and cooler nights, the perfect time to curl up
in front of the fire and read a book.
 
Lucky for you, we have 12 wonderful books you
have the chance to win that will entertain you until
winter.
 
Twelve amazing authors from all genres have teamed up to give away twelve incredible paperback novels to
ONE LUCKY WINNER!
 
That's right - one lucky winner will receive all twelve books.
And it's very easy to enter.
 
Use the Rafflecopter below to enter.
The more entries you make, the higher chance
you have of winning.
 
If you don't want to enter using the Rafflecopter, you may leave a
comment below to enter instead. Tell us the title of your favorite book ever!
 
 
Contest Rules:
 
U.S Residents only please.
Contest runs 9/1/17 - 9/22/17
The winner will be selected randomly from the entries.
One winner will win all 12 paperback books. The books will be shipped
directly to the winner from each author.
 
 
Enter Now!
 
Good Luck!
 
 
 




Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Book Review: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate


Before We Were Yours

Lisa Wingate

Book Description:

Two families, generations apart, are forever changed by a heartbreaking injustice in this poignant novel, inspired by a true story, for readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale.

Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shanty boat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge--until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents--but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancĂ©, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals--in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country--Lisa Wingate's riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.


Buy now on:





My 5-Star Review:

Imagine that someone snatches your young children, then sells them to another family. Sadly, this actually happened, and the woman who did it was considered to be an upstanding person who was helping young orphans find homes. Mixing fact with fiction, Lisa Wingate creates this compelling story of family in her bestselling novel, “Before We Were Yours.”

In the present day, when Avery Stafford tours a nursing home with her father, she is approached by an elderly woman who confuses her for someone else. Intrigued, Avery visits the woman again and sees a photo on her nightstand of a woman who looks like she could be a member of Avery’s family. Slowly, she unravels a family secret of a tragic past. But it’s that past that has made them who they are today.

Weaving the past in among the current day story, Wingate creates a spellbinding novel that is impossible to put down. Tragic, heart wrenching at times, and poignant, this is a story you will not soon forget.

(I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.)


About the Author:

Lisa Wingate is a former journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the bestselling author of more than twenty novels. Her work has won or been nominated for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Carol Award, the Christy Award, and the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award. Wingate lives in the Ouachita Mountains of southwest Arkansas.

Selected among BOOKLIST'S Top 10 for two years running, Lisa Wingate writes novels that Publisher's Weekly calls "Masterful" and ForeWord Magazine refers to as "Filled with lyrical prose, hope, and healing.” Lisa is a journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the author of a host of literary works. Her novels have garnered or been short-listed for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, the LORIES Best Fiction Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, Family Fiction's Top 10, RT Booklover's Reviewer's Choice Award, and others. The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with six others for the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who promote greater kindness and civility in American life. She’s been a writer since Mrs. Krackhardt’s first-grade class and still believes that stories have the power to change the world.

IN THE WRITER'S OWN WORDS: A special first grade teacher, Mrs. Krackhardt, made a writer out of me. That may sound unlikely, but it's true. It's possible to find a calling when you're still in pigtails and Mary Jane shoes, and to know it's your calling. I was halfway through the first grade when I landed in Mrs. Krackhardt's classroom. I was fairly convinced there wasn't anything all that special about me... and then, Mrs. Krackhardt stood over my desk and read a story I was writing. She said things like, "This is a great story! I wonder what happens next?"

It isn't every day a shy new kid gets that kind of attention. I rushed to finish the story, and when I wrote the last word, the teacher took the pages, straightened them on the desk, looked at me over the top, and said, "You are a wonderful writer!"

A dream was born. Over the years, other dreams bloomed and died tragic, untimely deaths. I planned to become an Olympic gymnast or win the National Finals Rodeo, but there was this matter of back flips on the balance beam and these parents who stubbornly refused to buy me a pony. Yet the writer dream remained. I always believed I could do it because... well... my first grade teacher told me so, and first grade teachers don't lie.

So, that is my story, and if you are a teacher, or know a teacher, or ever loved a special teacher, I salute you from afar and wish you days be filled with stories worth telling and stories worth reading.