On Tour with Prism Book Tours.
The Man She Knew
by Loree Lough
Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
June 1st 2017 by Harlequin Heartwarming
By Way of the Lighthouse #1
Don't they both deserve a second chance?
Fourteen years ago, one reckless act cost Ian Sylvestry everything, including the girl he planned to marry. Since then, he has fought hard to turn his life around. Returning to his Baltimore town after serving a prison term was the first step. Winning back Maleah Turner's trust is a far more daunting challenge. From their first sparks-flying reunion, it's obvious they still have powerful feelings for each other. In fact, they might be even stronger together now. But if their second chance is going to work, Maleah has to believe that Ian is a changed man. She really wants to believe…but she simply isn't convinced.
Excerpt
The team followed Cash’s steady
yapping to the stairs, and halted their approach.
“No
way that’ll rickety thig will hold all of us,” one of the men said.
“Probably
won’t hold any of us,” said another.
Ian
moved forward. “I’ll go.”
The
others didn’t argue. It made sense, after all, since Ian knew best how to read
Cash’s signals.
Concerned
as he was about the condition of the elderly couple trapped up there, Ian made
his way, one cautious step at a time. Because if the staircase gave way before
they even found them…
Cash
met him at the top, tail straight out and ears up. The collapsed ceiling made
it necessary for Ian to crawl as the dog led the way. He’d only gone a few feet
when he heard soft moans, a woman’s voice, weak and thready.
Despite
being blanketed with plaster, splintered boards, and loose nails, she managed
to croak out, “Oh thank God. Thank God.”
“Don’t
talk,” Ian said, crawling up beside her. He took her pulse. It, too, was weak
and thready. No surprise there, considering the amount of blood she’d lost.
He
grabbed his radio. “Top of the stairs,” he said into it, “eight feet back, six
to the right. Woman alive; still looking for the man.”
A
voice crackled a reply: “Sending up a backboard.”
Ian
carefully removed debris from the lady’s chest. With her hands and arms now
freed, he said, “Ma’am, can you point out your husband is?”
One
knobby-knuckled finger aimed left, toward a huge mound of rubble in a corner.
Sure enough, a bloodied hand poked out from beneath the mess. If the guy
survived that, it would be a miracle.
Creaking
floorboards interrupted the morbid thought.
“The
place is weaving and bobbing like a drunk,” the firefighter said, “and there’s
barely a breeze outside.”
Ian
had felt it, too. If they didn’t get out of here, and fast, all four of them
could perish in this dismal place.
Working
together, the men eased the woman onto the backboard. Not an easy feat, hunched
in the confined space as they were.
“Husband’s
over there against the back wall,” Ian said. “But we can’t risk bringing
another guy up here.”
“Right.
Let’s take her down and come back for him.”
Their
bulk, added to the weight of the now-unconscious woman, caused the staircase
squeal and screech. Nails, Ian knew, working their way out of the boards. The
men kept moving down the failing staircase, Cash close on Ian’s heels.
“Took
you long enough,” Mack teased when they reached fresh air.
“Bite
me,” the firefighter joked back. “That place is like a house of cards. Somebody
so much as sneezes, it’ll flatten like a pancake.”
Once
he and Ian handed the woman off to the paramedics, Cash sat beside Ian.
“You’re
done for the night, buddy,” he said, squatting to scratch the dog’s ears. “Good
job. Real good job.” Straightening, he faced Alex. “If I don’t make it out,
take him to my dad’s place.”
Mack
winced. “Aw, shut up. You’re coming out.”
But
everyone within earshot knew that wasn’t a given.
The
firefighter made a move to lead the way inside, but Ian stopped him.
“I
know right where he is.”
It
made sense, so the firefighter stepped aside.
“I’ll
wait here until you reach the top,” he said.
Ian
read the message loud and clear: No sense taking the chance that their combined
pounds might rip the already-loosened nails from the ragged risers and bring
down the entire staircase.
As
before, he moved slow and steady, making sure his steps didn’t cause more
damage to the already unstable risers. At the top, he got onto his hands and
knees, and crawled until his pants leg got hung up on a shard of wood. He
pulled gingerly, praying with every tug that his movements wouldn’t finish what
the collapse had started.
The
beam of his flashlight landed on the mound in the corner. The bloodied hand was
in the same position it had been earlier…palm up and fingers curled inward,
like a spider on its back. Fingertips pressed to the wrist, Ian hoped for a
pulse.
Nothing.
He
sat back on his heels, thinking This is
no way to leave the world.
“All
clear up there, Sylvestry?”
Ian
took a moment to collect himself. Yeah. Poor ol’ guy’s gone.” The floor
trembled slightly when his partner’s boot hit the bottom step. Trembled again
on the next one. “Take your time. The whole place is rockin’. And go easy when
you reach the top. There’s sharp stuff pokin’—”
A
loud, terrifying groan drew his attention up, just in time to see the ceiling
careening toward him. Crooking an elbow over his eyes, Ian braced himself for
the impact. It hit hard and fast, and in the seconds that followed, he thought
of the elderly man—barely a foot away—killed by his own home.
…no way to leave the world…
It
didn’t hurt nearly as bad as he’d expected. The hardest part was remembering to
inhale, exhale, inhale…
Cash
would be okay. Maybe having the dog to take care of would snap his dad out of
the funk he’d been in since his mother left.
He’d
meant to call her. Not because she’d earned it, but because it would have been
the right thing to do.
If
the worst happened tonight, it would be tough in Gladys. With no kids of her
own, she’d pinned all her maternal hopes on him.
…no way to leave this world…
How
ironic. Because he’d come close to meeting his maker a time or two at Lincoln.
Had a few near misses while riding the Harley. Pulled through a couple of close
calls during SAR missions. Heck, he’d even survived losing Maleah, the most
painful, regrettable experience of his life.
It
was ironic, all right; just a few hours ago, he’d decided to figure out how to
win her back.
“Sylvestry…
Sylvestry?”
He
tried to open his eyes, and failed.
“You’re
in the ambo, on the way to Hopkins.”
Whose voice is that?
“Hang
in there, kid. Hang in there.”
Ah, it’s Mack...
“Get
his cell phone, scroll through the contacts and find his dad’s number.”
Hey, you’re supposed to hook Cash up with
him, not separate them…
The
light was so bright, he could see the glow through his eyelids.
Voices,
half a dozen or more, merged into one.
A
needle prick.
Feeling
woozy.
Was
this it then? The end?
When they tell her I’m gone, will she cry?
Ian
hoped not. He’d only seen her cry once, on the day the carted him off to
Lincoln.
Most awful thing ever…
Because
he’d caused her tears, and it shamed him, even now.
If
the powers that be decided to give him one more chance, he’d make things right.
Somehow, I’ll make things right…
About the Author
Bestselling author LOREE LOUGH once sang for her supper, performing across the U.S. and Canada. Now and then, she blows the dust from her 6-string to croon a tune or two, but mostly, she writes novels that have earned hundreds of industry and "Readers' Choice" awards, 4- and 5-star reviews, and 7 book-to-movie options. The Man She Knew, #1 in her “By Way of the Lighthouse” series, her 3rd for Harlequin Heartwarming, is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Harlequin.com.
Tour Schedule
June 3rd: Launch
June 4th:
June 5th:
June 6th:
June 7th:
June 8th:
June 9th: Grand Finale
Tour Giveaway
- Two winners will receive a $10 Amazon eGift Card (open internationally)
- Two winners will receive an ebook of THE MAN SHE KNEW (open internationally)
- Two winners will receive a $10 Amazon eGift Card (open internationally)
- Two winners will receive an ebook of THE MAN SHE KNEW (open internationally)
- Two winners will receive a print copy of THE MAN SHE KNEW (US only)
- Ends June 13th
a Rafflecopter giveaway
- Ends June 13th
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Love the cover
ReplyDeleteLooks like it will be a good book.
ReplyDelete