Angela Breidenbach – Real Life Romance & Excerpt – Part 2 of 2

Shannon here: Contemporary romance author, Angela Breidenbach shares how she met her husband plus a chance to a copy of her latest release, A Healing Heart. Comment on any post dated May 13 – 17 to get your name in the drawing. Deadline: May 25th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Angela:


How did you meet your spouse?
I was a single mom working two jobs and selling chocolate spoons at bazaars on weekends. My husband was a referral for my insurance job. He needed disability insurance and I needed a customer, badly! His friends set us up. He knew all about me before I arrived for our appointment and met me with the biggest grin. I had no idea. No other client ever seemed so happy to meet an insurance agent before! I thought it was a normal sales call for a new client. We spent two hours talking and getting to know one another. When I left, I’d accidentally left my lights on. My car was dead! He had to play the hero at the first meeting. Psst, I did get the sale 😉 We married two years later. 
How do your hero and heroine meet?
Originally over the phone five years before their in-person moment that happens in the excerpt below. Trust me, Mara did NOT like Joel then and she’s not sure she does now… 
Excerpt from A Healing Heart:
Mara Keegan. Joel sighed as he tucked the file under his arm. Would she remember? Would she throw him out? As he rang the doorbell, Joel heard a dog barking inside. Then a pretty teen with unusual golden coloring flung the front door wide.
“Louie, knock it off!” She yelled toward the back of the house. “Sorry, he’s kind of protective. Can I help you?”
“Hi, I’m Joel Ryan,” he stuck out his hand. “Here to consult with Mara Keegan on the government contract. Is she here?”
“Sure. I’m Cadence, her daughter.” She invited him in and shivered as she flicked the ornate door closed. “Cold out there, huh?”
“Well, it’s sure not as warm at my last consulting visit in California.” Joel smiled. “But I’m used to it. I’m from Colorado.”
She had a slight Native American look, but her hair was a reddish brown and dark freckles dotted her golden cheeks. Her eyes were almost rust and rimmed with long black lashes. She wore very little make up.
Joel wondered about her mother, the woman he had yet to meet in person. Only a phone call five years ago, but now he hoped Mara didn’t remember him. He swallowed. That wasn’t one of his finer moments. Better to get it out of the way if she did put two and two together. By God’s grace, he was a different person now. Would Mara have the grace to forgive?
Louie barked several more times. “Louie, that’s enough!” Cadence yelled again. “I don’t know what’s up with him. He quits as soon as the doorbell does, but he’s usually here all up in your face and checking you out, too.” She looked around for the dog. “Weird.”
“Nice Christmas tree.” Joel nodded at the decorated fake evergreen to be polite. It was a nicer tree than his miniature on the coffee table, all designer perfect. The red and green plaid ribbons looked like someone tied each one exactly the same. His tree barely had lights.
Cadence gave the tree a small glance. “Yeah, thanks.”
He checked his triple time zone watch. His favorite tool never disappointed. Travel and daily contact with clients from Pacific to Mountain to Eastern kept him in a constant chase of the correct time. Clients in any part of the country could count on his prompt call or arrival. Plenty of time to meet the deadline, but there was no sense in delay. “May I meet with Mara?”
“Sure, follow me. She’s back in her workroom.” A hint of resentment floated in her tone. “Like always.”
The TV screen held a frozen Wii game with several cartoon Wii avatars. “Mom” wore a purple shirt and long dark hair. He sidestepped the Wii balance board on the floor and followed.
“There’s another entrance for that part of the house, if you want next time.” Cadence traipsed off into a long hallway with her braid swinging.

* * *

“Mom!” Cadence rounded the corner.
Mara lay on her left side, stiff and chilled. She opened her eyes at the alarm in her daughter’s voice.
Cadence knelt at Mara’s feet, gently picked up her mom’s top ankle, and unthreaded the wooden stool from Mara’s legs.
“I’m okay—” Mara tried to sit up but only made it to her elbow. She didn’t have the strength to push up all the way past the sharp pain in her shoulder. The dizziness rushed back. Her whole body didn’t feel all that great now either since hitting the floor. But her left shoulder really ached all the way on the inside, wow!
“Cadence, is everything all right?” A man stood in the doorway. He wore a dark blue ski parka over a business suit. Louie growled as the hair along his backbone stood on end. He leaped and stood over Mara. The man jumped back into the hall away from the big dog.
About Angela: Angela Breidenbach is a speaker, coach, and author of A Healing Heart, April 2013 from Abingdon Press in the Quilts of Love series. Her family tradition is to create the life story on a photo memory quilt for each graduating senior. She is certified in mentor/peer counseling as a CTA life coach, as a Stephen Minister, and a weight loss/nutrition coach. Learn more: http://www.AngelaBreidenbach.com, Twitter and Pinterest: @AngBreidenbach, and http://www.facebook.com/AngelaBreidenbachInspirationalSpeakerAuthor
About the book – A Healing Heart: What would you do if the one man who can help is the one man you can’t trust? A heart attack has stopped Mara Keegan in her tracks, leaving her daughter’s unfinished photo memory quilt hanging by a thread. Little does Mara know, this quilt—and the memories it bolsters—are the key to her rehabilitation. But Mara’s heart needs to be healed in more ways than one. And Joel Ryan is fraying her last nerve. With her daughter’s graduation fast approaching, even Mara starts to wonder if she—and her faith—can mend in time. Will Joel’s photo find a place on the quilt… and in Mara’s heart?
Purchase your copy of A Healing Heart from your local book store or from one of these online retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christianbook.com
 More praise for A Healing Heart:
“Restoration and hope drive this emotionally charged novel by Angela Breidenbach. Mara Keegan’s healing journey will keep you turning the pages as she uncovers promises of a life she never thought she would have again. Family dynamics, made richer through the process of gathering photos for a memory quilt, come full circle as Mara learns to let go, let God, and let love into her heart; a truly healed heart.”                                         —Lindi Peterson, award-winning author of Her Best Catch and Summer’s Song. 
“Angela Breidenbach’s A Healing Heart is a compelling story of love and letting go and is a poignant reminder to follow our dreams. Novel Rocket and I recommend it as an immensely satisfying read.” 
—Ane Mulligan, Senior Editor, Novel Rocket (www.novelrocket.com) 
“Breidenbach’s latest novel, A Healing Heart, paints a knee-bending word picture of our Healer God. Whether the physical, spiritual, or emotional heart, the Big Guy can handle it. Laden with conflict, sweet romance, and humorous contradictions, the story propels the reader forward while giving her pause to wonder . . . ‘What places in my heart need healing? What wounds will I allow God to stitch?’ A Healing Heart sports an endearing and motley cast of characters, and the frigid Montana landscape contrasts nicely with the hero’s warm, sigh-worthy persona. It’s a unique and touching addition to the Quilts of Love series.”
—April W. Gardner, librarian and award-winning author
Come back May 20th for Christine Lindsay!