Blurb:
Melody considers
herself lucky that she has already found love once in a lifetime. Her love
story, however, abruptly came to an end; all hope of finding love again
disappeared the day she lost Jack.
Jack knows that
Melody’s heart is big enough to give love a second chance, the challenge lies
in helping her meet just the right man. Not sure if he’s an angel or a ghost,
Jack finds himself searching for a man to make Melody feel alive once more. He
had no idea how difficult it would be to face his conflicting emotions while
finding this man. To top it off, he only has until Christmas Eve at midnight to
help Melody fall in love.
Author:
Mya O’Malley was born
and raised in the suburbs of New York City, where she currently lives with her
husband, daughter and three step-daughters.
The family also consists of two boxers; Destiny and Dolce and a ragdoll cat named Colby. Mya earned an undergraduate degree in special
education and a graduate degree in reading and literacy. She works as a special education teacher and
enjoys making a difference in the lives of her students.
Mya’s passion is
writing; she has been creating stories and poetry since she was a child. Mya spends her free time reading just about
anything she can get her hands on. She
is a romantic at heart and loves to create stories with unforgettable
characters. Mya likes to travel; she
has visited several Caribbean Islands, Mexico and Costa Rica. Mya is currently working on her fifth novel.
Excerpt:
Prologue
He stood, watching
her, feeling every ounce of her pain, her anguish. He was probably the only one
who understood what it was like to lose the person you loved, the person who
was everything in the world to you.
If only he could just
touch her, reach out to her, make her feel happy again. But that was just
selfish on his part, wasn’t it? It wouldn’t be fair to Melody. Anybody could
see that even three years later, she was still struggling. Hadn’t he always
told her that if something happened to him, he would want her to fall in love
again? It saddened him to think that if she continued down this cold and lonely
path, she would be alone forever.
Melody had wanted it
all, a home filled with children, a loving marriage. Thinking back to how happy
they had once been, it broke his heart to see her this way, and it was always
saddest to see her like this around the holidays, which were quickly
approaching.
Jack’s mind was whirling with ideas, if
only…He wished that he could talk to her just one more time, but alas, that was
against the rules. If only there was some way, if only he could help her see
the light. The corners of Jack’s mouth crept up as his mind took hold of an
impossible thought. Would he be able to pull this off? If he did, could he ever
be the same again?
Chapter One
Melody stacked the
last book on the shelf and glanced around, feeling a sense of accomplishment
for a hard day’s work. Gazing around her cozy bookstore, she took in the
twinkling lights and decorations that were set up to help her customers get in
the mood for the festive holiday season. With Thanksgiving just around the
corner, Melody knew there was nothing she could do to escape the holidays. If
only she could put her heart into the joyous season. Christmas had always been
her favorite time of year. Well, that was when she had Jack by her side. It
seemed like her life was now neatly compartmentalized—before Jack, during Jack
and after Jack. Each and every one of the Christmases she had shared with Jack
had been amazing. He always said that it was the time for miracles. But Melody
wasn’t one to believe in magic or miracles, especially now.
“Earth to Melody!”
Cassie’s green eyes shined with warmth.
“Oh. Sorry. What was
it that you were saying?” Plastering a smile on her face, Melody did her best
to brush her melancholy feelings aside, at least for the moment.
“I was asking if I
could leave, everything seems in order.” Cassie’s eyes scanned the store.
Taking in the tiny
café area, Melody noted that there were some desserts that still needed to be
put away in the back room fridge. “Go ahead, I’ll get the rest.”
“Are you sure? I can
stick around if you want.”
Who was she kidding?
Knowing that her best friend was going out on a hot date tonight with a guy
that she recently met, she figured that Cassie wanted to leap out the door.
“Nah, I got it. Go,
and have a great time.” Melody knew that when she hired Cassie to be her
right-hand gal, it would not be the typical employer/employee relationship. At
least she could trust Cassie, though, and that was the most important thing.
Besides, Melody was truly happy for Cassie. Her friend finally seemed happy
after her recent breakup with Harry the Horrible, as the two women so fondly
called her ex.
Approaching her friend
slowly, Cassie cleared her throat. “What are your plans for the night?”
“I thought I’d just
stay in, maybe catch up on some reading.” Knowing just how pathetic it sounded,
Melody realized how good it was to have a friend in Cassie; she didn’t need to
pretend with her.
“Mel, it’s Friday
night. Are you sure you don’t want me to cancel with Trent? I mean I could…”
Brushing her long
auburn hair to the side with a swipe of her hand, Melody exhaled. “Don’t you
even think about it. Get out there and have a great time.”
“Love you!” Cassie
winked at her friend and practically ran behind the counter to grab her bag.
“Oh, and don’t wait up.” With that she was gone. Melody followed her friend’s
path to the door and locked it behind her.
Not only was Cassie an
employee of Melody’s, but she was also her roommate. Since Jack had passed
away, Melody couldn’t stand being alone. At first, she had needed time to heal,
but when time didn’t heal all wounds, Cassie had offered to help out her
friend—keep her company, help with the bills. Melody couldn’t deny the fact
that it wasn’t healthy to spend so much time alone, and she figured she could
certainly use the extra money that her friend contributed in rent each month. Having
a best friend close by was exactly what she needed, but there was that nagging
feeling of guilt that had started to creep up on Melody lately. She hoped that
Cassie wouldn’t feel bad when the time came to get on with her own life.
No comments:
Post a Comment