Shannon here: Jennifer Slattery shares a romantic excerpt from her latest Women’s Fiction title, Restoring Love. Comment or answer the question at the end of the post for a chance to win a copy. Deadline: Jan 21st, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Jennifer:
She grabbed her sketchbook in one hand and picked up a piece of charcoal in the other. She’d just started to form the mare’s head when her doorbell rang. Setting her things aside, she answered.
Mitch greeted her holding a gallon of paint in each hand. Based on the splatter dried on the outside of the containers, one was cream the other periwinkle blue.
“Hi.” His crooked smile weakened her knees. His hair was mussed, and sawdust clung to his clothes. Speckles of paint decorated his hands and forearms, and a large smear of pale blue colored his temple.
“Hi.” A mischievous giggle rose to the surface. “So, you came to borrow my hose?”
“Huh?”
Her laughter bubbled out. “Seems you’ve been busy.”
He wrinkled his brow, studied her for a moment, then glanced down, probably catching a view of his disheveled attire. “Sorry.” His lopsided grin returned, and he deposited his load and began untying his work boots, which, considering all the twine and loops, would take him a while.
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She touched his shoulder, and his head jerked up, his face dangerously close to hers. She took a quick step back. “How about you . . .” She still didn’t feel right about inviting him in, despite the fact they’d been on numerous dates, and she was growing quite comfortable with the man. Actually, that was all the more reason not to. As Ainsley said, you can’t get burned if you don’t dance near the fire pit.
“Have a seat.” She motioned toward the porch swing. “I’ll get you some lemonade.” She started to dash back inside then turned around. “Um . . . what’s the paint for?”
“Your bathroom.” He glanced past her. “You still planning on changing it up? Tearing out the wallpaper?” He indicated his paint cans. “I know these colors might not be your first pick, but we’re not going to use them. Figured no sense throwing them away.”
“Thanks.” Warmth spread from her toes to her cheeks. He’d been thinking of her at work? Did that mean he thought of her often? As often as she thought of him? Silence followed, until she realized she’d quite rudely left him standing on her porch.
Used by Permission. Restoring Love: A Novel, by Jennifer Slattery (New Hope Publishers, Birmingham, AL) NewHopePublishers.com
About Jennifer: Novelist and speaker Jennifer Slattery has a passion for helping women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries, http://whollyloved.com, she and her team put on events at partnering churches designed to help women rest in their true worth and live with maximum impact. She writes devotions for Internet Café Devotions, Christian living articles for Crosswalk.com, and edits for Firefy, a Southern fiction imprint with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband.
Learn more and connect with Jennifer online:
Jennifer’s Blog Jennifer’s Facebook Jennifer’s Twitter Jennifer’s Pinterest
About the book – Restoring Love:
Mitch, a contractor and house-flipper, is restoring a beautiful old house in an idyllic Midwestern neighborhood. Angela, a woman filled with regrets and recently transplanted to his area, is anything but idyllic. She’s almost his worst nightmare, and she’s also working on restoring something herself. As he struggles to keep his business afloat and she works to overcome mistakes of her past, these two unlikely friends soon discover they have something unexpected in common, a young mom who is fighting to give her children a better life after her husband’s incarceration. While both Mitch and Angela are drawn to help this young mother survive, they also find themselves drawn to each other. Will a lifetime of regrets hold them back or unite them and bring redemption along with true love?
Can’t wait for the drawing? Get your copy now:
christianbook.com barnesandnoble.com amazon.com
Shannon again: I was honored to be asked to endorse Restoring Love. Here’s my take on the book: Slattery puts the reader there—I feel her characters’ desperation, shame, and hopelessness as they trudge through real life issues of poverty, drugs, and teen pregnancy. But slowly as the story builds, she shines the light at the end of the tunnel. No magic wand is waved, but her fictional people realize that everything is better with Jesus. Just as is in real life.
Question for Readers: Do you enjoy home improvement projects? Share your latest undertaking with us.
Come back Jan 17th for Deanna Fugett!
no i don’t
YES! I Love them we do stuff all the time Right now we aren’t currently doing one we are trying to organize and FINALLY Finish unpacking from Our move here awhile ago
I like the simple home projects. Right now hanging curtains.
I really do not enjoy the process of going through home improvement projects. I do like when they’re finished and look amazing, though!
Growing up my parents did remodels and new builds. My husband and I have helped family members, but not done any for ourselves. He is a retired carpenter, and would rather not do any carpentry now!!!!!
I don’t really enjoy them, my husband would say he does but finding the time seems to be a problem!
It depends on the project but I do enjoy saving a little money by doing it ourselves.
I love home improvement projects. We’re in the midst of several right now. We’re taking out all the carpeting in our house to help our son’s allergies since he got to go off his shots this summer. We put in laminate flooring and are finished except for the living room. It’s the biggest room, has the most furniture, and we only pass through and don’t sit in there much, so we left it for last. We’re also redoing all the ceilings and trim work. The house has been disastrous at times, but it’s looking pretty good.
I have a winner! Barbara Klein won the drawing. I appreciate Jennifer for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.