Roxanne Rhoads: Guest Blog and Giveaway One More Second Chance by Jana Richards

Playlist for ONE MORE SECOND CHANCE

When I write, I need quiet. I find that listening to music distracts me; I tend to concentrate on the words of the song instead of the words on my computer screen. But there are songs that help inspire my work, and help me to tell my story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VgEU_Xi7QU#t=98

Justin Moore – “Small Town USA”

This is exactly what ONE MORE SECOND CHANCE is about; living in a small town, where “everybody knows me, and I know them.” But Alex Campbell is from a big city. Can he learn to appreciate small town life? Would there be enough in Lobster Cove – career-wise, culturally, socially – to entice him to stay?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1bB8hU_pzs#t=14

Stan Rogers – “Fogerty’s Cove”

Okay, so I know the name of the town is Lobster Cove and not Fogerty’s Cove, but Stan Rogers is one of my all-time favorite singers, and this song gives me that down-east vibe. “The Mary Ellen Carter” is the name of a ship that sinks off the east coast, but is brought to the surface again by the crew that loved her. The song is full of hope. Stan sings of never losing hope “whether you’ve lost a , a love, a friend. Be like the Mary Ellen Carter and rise again.” Julia should listen to this song. She lost hope of ever finding another love after her marriage fell apart.

P.S. Please excuse the quality of these two videos. Actually, they’re not really videos; Stan Rogers died in 1983, long before there was a YouTube. Sadly, he perished in a fire on an airplane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhop5VuLDIQ

Stan Rogers – “The Mary Ellen Carter”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK9eLe8EQps

Sheryl Crow – “The First Cut is the Deepest”

Julia married her high school love. He was her first love, and the first man she made love with. When he left her, she was devastated. The song says “I would have given you all of my heart, but there’s someone who’s torn it apart.” Julia doesn’t believe she can ever love again, and even if she could, she’s afraid to try. She desperately protects her heart from pain, and pushes Alex away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV40NzkqJrw

Dierks Bentley – “I Hold On”

Alex isn’t easily dissuaded. Even though Julia pushes him away, he tells he’s not the kind that walks away when something, or someone, is important to him. He’s in it for the long haul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYC9w25Eb3M

Lady Antebellum – “Ready to Love Again”

Finally, Julia believes again. And she’s read to love.

One More Second Chance

Lobster Cove Series

The Wild Rose Press

Jana Richards

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Date of Publication: February 6, 2015

ISBN:

ASIN:

Number of pages: 331

Word Count: 82,083 words

Cover Artist: Tina Lynn Stout

Book Description:

Dr. Alex Campbell has an agenda—finish his contract to provide medical services in Maine, pay off his medical school debt, and head back to his real life in San Diego. But when he meets Julia, all his carefully laid plans are put in jeopardy.

Julia Stewart, Lobster Cove’s high school principal, swears she’ll never let another man drag her away from the home she loves. Her aging parents need her, and the Cove is where she wants to raise her daughter. When her mother’s illness brings her and the big city doctor closer together, panic sets in. Her marriage taught her men don’t stay.

Can she put aside the heartaches of the past and trust Alex enough to accept the love he’s offering?

Or will her fear of abandonment mean she’ll send him away forever?

Available at Amazon The Wild Rose Press

Chapters Kobo iBooks

Excerpt:

“What did the x-ray find?” she asked.

“A spiral fracture of the right arm.” He paused for a moment and took a deep breath as if trying to control his emotions. “I’ve seen this kind of injury before. A fracture like this can be the result of a fall, but it can also be an indication of child abuse. An arm as small as Ava’s will break like a twig if it’s twisted hard enough. I’m obligated to contact the authorities if I suspect abuse.”

Julia stared at him in mute shock, her brain struggling to process his words, as if trying to translate some unintelligible language. The words child abuse rang in her ears. Finally she found her voice.

“You think someone deliberately hurt her?”

“Her injuries are consistent with abuse.”

“I don’t give a damn what they’re consistent with. Ava has not been mistreated. My mother said she fell down the stairs, and if that’s what she said, then that’s what happened.”

“I believe there’s more to the story than a simple fall.”

“If it comes down to believing you or believing my mother, I’m going with my mother.”

“Perhaps you don’t know your mother as well as you think you do.”

Julia sucked in a breath and stared into Dr. Campbell’s dark, accusing eyes. The idea that her mother would hurt Ava was ridiculous. She adored Ava, would do anything for her…

She blinked and looked away, remembering an incident the other day. She’d heard her yelling at Ava about the milk she’d spilled on the kitchen floor, making such a huge deal of it that Ava had cried. It had struck her as strange, since she couldn’t remember her mother yelling at anyone, ever. She wasn’t as patient as she used to be. And how did she explain her strange phone call telling her Ava had been hurt? Of course she’d been upset, but her mother had been nearly incoherent with distress. Was something going on she wasn’t aware of? She was seventy-one now. Maybe looking after a rambunctious five-year-old was too much for her.

No. She shook her head to reject the disloyal thought. Dr. Campbell was the one who was wrong.

“I know my mother. She didn’t do this. It was an accident.”

“We’ll soon find out. Sharon is questioning Ava now.”

Julia stared at the door. “She’ll be scared, all by herself.”

“Sharon’s very good at what she does. She has a way of making kids feel comfortable.”

Julia turned on him, the anger and despair she’d been holding inside spilling out. “And you? Do you enjoy upsetting five-year-olds and turning families’ lives upside down? Does it make you feel powerful to sic the authorities on us?”

“Look, Mrs. Stewart, I take no pleasure in bringing in the authorities. But I’ve seen child abuse, up close and personal, and I can tell you it’s damn ugly. The things parents and caregivers are capable of doing to defenseless children…”

He stopped abruptly, his chest heaving. Closing his eyes, he averted his face and took a deep breath. When he turned back to her, his steely control was back in place. “So yeah, if I have even the smallest suspicion that a child has been abused, I’m going to ask questions. And I’m not going to apologize for it.”

About the Author:

When Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in lengths ranging from short story to full length novel.

Just for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of the paranormal. Her paranormal romantic suspense “Seeing Things” was a 2008 EPPIE finalist.

In her life away from writing, Jana is an accountant/admin assistant, a mother to two grown daughters, and a wife to her husband Warren. She enjoys golf, yoga, movies, concerts, travel and reading, not necessarily in that order. She and her husband live in Winnipeg, Canada with their Pug/Terrier cross Lou and several unnamed goldfish.

She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.janarichards.com

Blog: http://janarichards.blogspot.com

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