Joanna and Pete were high school
sweethearts who once believed they would be together always. Then Pete was
drafted, unaware Joanna carried his child. Her domineering father forced her to
give up the baby then relocated the family to keep Pete from finding Joanna.
Years later, they meet again. Pete is a
prosperous farmer, a widower with five children, and Joanna is an unmarried,
big city, college professor.
In the same city, a young woman named
Beth desperately searches for her birth family while her adoptive father is
determined to stop her.
Can Joanna and Pete overcome the
obstacles which now separate them? Will Beth find what she seeks? Does fate
complete the circle of these diverse lives to bring happiness at last?
EXCERPT
"What was it like, Pete? The war, I mean."
He took a deep breath. "That's hard to explain. It was a whole different world, Joanna. I was just a kid who'd won a few ballgames and thought he was a big shot. Then I found myself facing bullets and land mines, and life wasn't a game anymore. My girl back home wasn't answering my letters and I couldn't figure out why."
She started to speak, but changed her mind.
"It seemed like an eternity until I got leave to come home. That's when I found out you'd moved to Tennessee. I thought maybe that was why you hadn't written—that you'd never gotten the mail I sent."
There was a long pause while he dealt with his painful memories, but she remained silent.
"So I went to Jackson and finally found your house." He stopped, clenched his fists. "Your father saw to it I didn't find you."
Good morning, Readers. I hope many of you find your way to this release of FULL CIRCLE and enjoy the excerpt above. FULL CIRCLE was a book I enjoyed writing. What can be sweeter than young love when two people find each other and plan a life together. And when fate intervenes and destroys their future it is heartbreaking. But keep turning pages and read their struggles to rewrite the future and I promise you won't be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful and relatable concept for a romance. Life really does get in the way sometimes and second time around can be even more romantic. Love the tension in the excerpt with the father too.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments, C.A.Asbrey. Yes, the father is definitely the villain in this story. His decision caused heartbreak that affected so many lives but love was stronger in the end. I think, as writers, we have to give our characters life and then let them do what they must. And I was relieved that this time the plot came together for a happy ever after ending.
DeleteThose interfering dads have certainly been a mainstay of our culture forever keeping young ladies from what fathers believe is a bad boy out to ruin their daughters' lives. There probably are plenty of us who have had THAT experience.
ReplyDeleteI like reunions of couples who have a second chance at romance. There are those intriguing questions from the past that must be re-examined
I can tell this is going to be a super story, Linda. I know you'll find a way to make things right with this unfortunate couple. It will be exciting to see how you do it.
Thank you for stopping in and for your comments, Sarah. I always appreciate your support. I like reunion stories, too, and am reminded of my favorite of all our dear friend Celia Yeary's books, Crystal Lake Reunion. IT was my own high school reunion that inspired me to write Full Circle. It involves so many people and subplots. It touches on friendship between girls, relationships with parents, differences in rural and city life and and whether they can ever be combined as well as different levels of education and faith. And for a switch, the woman is the college professor and the man is the rural farmer.
DeleteI met a couple one time when I worked at a museum who had been high school sweethearts, had actually MARRIED, but had interfering parents (both of them) and they believed that through parental manipulations they ended up breaking up, going their separate ways, but still always loved each other. When years passed, they ended up reconnecting and remarried. Both of them had had families, etc. and hadn't seen each other in 25 years, but they always knew they were in love. They were so happy--they'd been married for one year when I met them. Things like this DO happen! I love this story so much for that reason--it's so realistic. Congratulations on your new release, Linda!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this compliment of my story, Cheryl. And yes, we just have to look around us at any point in our lives to find people who have lived stories similar to this one. In my high school. there were three couples like Joanna and Pete. All of them married other people. I left that little town after graduation and it was many years before I saw any of my classmates again. It didn't seem right that these three couples had not stayed together and I wondered if it felt that way to them as well. So I guess Pete and Joanna were a composite of those classmates. And in my story, I was able to change the way things ended!
DeleteLinda, WOW! What an explosive and great story for sure. It will be one roller coaster ride after another with emotions going wild with several characters' and the reader unable to put the story down. I have this on my TBR list and can't wait to read this oneas soon as my WIP is finished and submitted. Wishing you much success with this one.
ReplyDeleteHi Beverly. Your words just got me excited all over again about this story. When it was first released, I had an editor who would send back a chapter she had read and in the margin of every encounter of love between Joanna and Pete she would pencil in a (sigh). I hope you will enjoy it as well as she did. And good luck with your WIP. Be sure to let me know what it is released.
DeleteWhat a premise and all to common for many people. Best to you on this and other stories. Doris
ReplyDeleteThank you, Doris. And yes, this is a common theme. Love and loss. And this one includes the issue of adoption from both the mother who loses her baby and that baby who has lost a mother. But never fear, I have promised a HEA and I will deliver!
DeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on this release. I have a soft spot in my heart for second chance stories.
Thank you, Kaye. This story was a pleasure to write. I loved all of my characters except Joanna's dictatorial minister father and he was already deceased when the story began!It's such a good feeling to be able to see the plot evolve so that all ends well.
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