I love the sound of this story! It sounds unique and like there will be some
good romantic tension. Read an excerpt and enter the giveaway below...
good romantic tension. Read an excerpt and enter the giveaway below...
Healing of the Heart
(Secrets of Sterling Stree #3)
by Loree Lough
by Loree Lough
Historical Romance
Paperback & ebook, 272 pages
November 1st 2016 by Whitaker House
November 1st 2016 by Whitaker House
Summary
Ruby McCoy is haunted by her father's sins....
When Ruby McCoy arrives in Fairplay, her ornate carriage is followed by an entourage who heft steamer trunks, hatboxes, and traveling bags into the hotel…where she has booked the entire second floor. Upon her notorious gangster father's death, the now-wealthy Ruby, hiding under her mother's maiden name, set out to right her father's wrongs. Ruby is determined to spend every penny of her inherited "blood money" on those who paid the price for her father's crimes.
Sheriff Rex Truett doesn't trust Ruby and doesn't care who knows it. The keeper of Fairplay's law and order makes it his business to find out why a stranger, especially a beautiful, spoiled, rich, female stranger, would set up businesses, donate to schools, hire workmen to rebuild houses, and provide access to the best medical care. But when a typhoid epidemic sweeps through the city, he is forced to reconsider.
Will Rex blame Ruby for her father's sins? Or will he accept the possibility that she is trying to create and feel the peace her father stole?
When Ruby McCoy arrives in Fairplay, her ornate carriage is followed by an entourage who heft steamer trunks, hatboxes, and traveling bags into the hotel…where she has booked the entire second floor. Upon her notorious gangster father's death, the now-wealthy Ruby, hiding under her mother's maiden name, set out to right her father's wrongs. Ruby is determined to spend every penny of her inherited "blood money" on those who paid the price for her father's crimes.
Sheriff Rex Truett doesn't trust Ruby and doesn't care who knows it. The keeper of Fairplay's law and order makes it his business to find out why a stranger, especially a beautiful, spoiled, rich, female stranger, would set up businesses, donate to schools, hire workmen to rebuild houses, and provide access to the best medical care. But when a typhoid epidemic sweeps through the city, he is forced to reconsider.
Will Rex blame Ruby for her father's sins? Or will he accept the possibility that she is trying to create and feel the peace her father stole?
(Affiliate links included.)
Praise for the Book
“Healing of the Heart, book three of Secrets on Sterling Street, makes for a brilliant conclusion to the series. Lough’s descriptive narrative and delightful, often comical, dialogue pull us into the story. Sparks fly between Rex, the hard-shelled sheriff, and Ruby, the gutsy, gorgeous heroine. This fast-paced, absorbing read will have you flipping those pages into the wee morning hours. Don’t miss it!”
—Sharlene MacLaren
Author, Tennessee Dreams series and Summer on Sunset Ridge
“Loree Lough has once again brought the emotional intensity and passion of the West to life in her riveting historical romance, Healing of the Heart. With themes of forgiveness, righting wrongs done by others, and love that can wipe away the sins the past, this book explores all of that in the midst of the fierce and deadly beauty of Colorado in in the late 1800s. A story to treasure more than once.”
—Susan M. Baganz
Author, Pesto & Potholes, Salsa & Speedbumps, Feta & Freeways, and Fragile Blessings
“Loree Lough does it again with Healing of the Heart. Another moving and uplifting story with characters so real they feel like family, a plot that keeps you turning pages, and a setting so quaint it makes you want to move to Fairplay, Colorado.”
—Joya Fields
Award-winning author, Beneath the Surface
“This just might be my favorite story by Loree Lough. Her characters, driven by noble motives, endure hardships that can’t crush their budding emotions. Healing of the Heart is romance, faith, and mystery in one page-turning story.”
—Robin Bayne
Author, The Gardner’s Gazebo series
Excerpt
As she handed him a small plate, his
fingers grazed hers. It lasted all of a second, yet it sent eddies of warmth
all the way down to his toes. She was close enough that he could inhale the
scent of lilacs, floating from her dark hair…and noticed for the first time a
sprinkling of tiny freckles dotting her cheeks.
Heart thumping, he took a bite,
mostly because he was afraid of sounding like a bullfrog if he spoke.
She made herself comfortable in the
chair again and took a tiny sip of her coffee.
“Oh dear, it’s nearly cooled
already.” She started to rise. “I can heat it up in no time.”
“If you do,” Rex said, “you’ll miss
the sunset.”
It must have been divine providence
that parted the clouds at that moment.
Get
hold of yourself, Truett. She inspires too many questions. But even if she
wasn’t, Ruby’s youth made anything beyond sheriff-civilian impossible.
As if to prove it, Ruby leaped up
with the enthusiasm of a schoolgirl, grabbed his hand, and half-dragged him to
the edge of the turret.
“Didn’t I tell you it was a sight to behold!”
At the moment, the only thing Rex
could see was her perfect, feminine profile.
“It’s a sight, all right.”
Those questions would just have to
wait. He started to thank her for the coffee, for the jelly bread, for the tour,
and be on his way. But Ruby took his hand in hers.
“Please don’t leave yet,” she said,
looking up at him, “We might get lucky, and catch a glimpse of the green
flash.”
“The…what?”
“I read about it in a novel. Le Rayon Vert by Mr. Jules Verne. He described it from the point of view of the main characters—who are in Scotland—trying everything in their power to see it. They’re thwarted by boat sails and flocks of birds and clouds. And when conditions are finally perfect, and it appears, they’re too busy gazing into one another’s eyes to see it.”
“I read about it in a novel. Le Rayon Vert by Mr. Jules Verne. He described it from the point of view of the main characters—who are in Scotland—trying everything in their power to see it. They’re thwarted by boat sails and flocks of birds and clouds. And when conditions are finally perfect, and it appears, they’re too busy gazing into one another’s eyes to see it.”
Rex
thought he understood the characters’ distraction…
“They
made me so curious that I did some research—not that there’s all that much
written about it, mind you—but I learned enough to satisfy my nosiness. My
father was with me the first time I saw it, and I consider myself fortunate to
have seen it twice more, since. Fortunate because, as I’m sure you know, it’s
quite rare, since the conditions have to be just
right.”
Ruby
sighed before continuing with “That last time? I saw something even more rare
than the flash itself…a violet spark
on top of the clouds!”
“I
was led to believe the phenomena is only visible at the seashore.”
“That’s
what I thought, too. But I saw it the very night we arrived, standing right
here on this spot, so I know better.”
She
said it so matter-of-factly that Rex was inclined to believe her.
For
the next five minutes, she stood straight and silent, still holding his
hand…and he did nothing to free it.
“Well,”
she said on a sigh, “looks like we won’t get lucky tonight.” She faced him,
brightening to add, “But at least you got to see the sunset!”
He’d
witnessed hundreds of them, and would hopefully see hundreds more in his
lifetime. But seeing this one with Ruby had
made it special.
“I
hate to ask you to wash down the bread with cold coffee.”
“You
haven’t asked. Besides, the bread and jam is delicious without it. I’ll have to
compliment Nora on my way out.”
“Nora
baked the bread,” Ruby said, “but I made the jam. Brought it with me from
Kansas City.”
“Is
that where you were before coming here?”
One
eyebrow quirked slightly. “I though you knew that.” She shrugged. “But yes,
that’s where we were.”
“Family
in Missouri?”
“No,
it’s just Mama and me. And it was Kansas City, Kansas, not Missouri.”
Why
the sudden change of mood? he wondered.
“Is
that where your father is buried?”
She
shuddered slightly. “No….”
The
mood heightened at the mere mention of the man, and Rex’s gut instincts told
him it wasn’t because Ruby still mourned the loss.
“Lots
of cattle in Kansas City. Was he a rancher?”
An
outright frown darkened her expression. In place of an answer, Ruby took a bite
of her bread.
“How
long ago did you lose him?”
“Five
years.”
Rex
nodded. “My condolences.”
Her
expression said, “Don’t waste your pity
on him…or me.”
“What
line of work was he in?”
It
was a simple, straightforward question. Or so he’d thought.
She
got up and went back to the window, where darkness had begun to shroud the
mountain peaks. Rain pecked at the glass, the droplets sliding slowly down the
panes like silent teardrops
“My
father…” Ruby cupped her elbows. “He wasn’t a very good man.”
Rex
fought the urge to pull her close, offer a compassionate hug.
Turning, she branded him with a
dark, damp-eyed stare.
“I don’t mean to be rude or evasive,” she said softly, “but I don’t like
talking about him. I’m sorry.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry. I didn’t
mean to pry.” But he had meant to
pry. Digging into her past had been the sole reason for his visit.
He picked up the tray and started
down the stairs. “I should get back before this rain brews itself into a
storm.”
Nora was in the kitchen, wrist deep
in sudsy water when he slid the tray onto the dry sink. She looked from Ruby’s
face to his. “What’s going on?” was
her silent question.
“I thought you were going to rest
your ankle,” Ruby said.
“Just as soon as I get these dishes
washed up. I need to earn my pay somehow!” Nora faced Rex. “I’ll walk you to
the door,” the woman said, reaching for a towel.
But Ruby said, “It’s all right,
Nora. I’ll do it. Leave the rest of the dishes and put that foot up, all
right?”
Walking beside her, he felt like the
giant in the beanstalk story. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder,
and she probably didn’t weigh much more than one of the orphans.
“Thanks for the tour. I’m sure that,
in time, you’ll bring this place back to its former glory.”
He didn’t know how to read her
indifferent shrug.
“Next time,” she said, “let’s hope
conditions will be right for the green flash. And while we’re watching for it,
maybe you’ll tell me all about that building in town. The one that burned
down?”
Next time. He shouldn’t like the
sound of that, considering what it implied, and yet, he liked it a lot.
Rex stood in the open doorway. “It
isn’t a long story, and the information is second hand. It happened before
Mavis and I moved here from Baltimore.”
“Oh?”
“Outlaws. Way I hear it, they robbed
the bank and sacked most of the stores. Stopped at the gun shop on the way out
of town to resupply their ammunition. When the owner tried to protect what was
his, they shot him dead and set fire to his place. His widow didn’t have the
heart or the money to rebuild, and according to Clayton, pretty much grieved
herself to death.”
It was a grisly tale, to be sure,
but gruesome enough to compel her to hide behind her hands? When she came out
of hiding, tears clung to her long lashes.
“How awful,” she choked out. “How
terrible and…and heartbreaking.”
His initial reaction to the story
had been more callous: Which gang, he’d wanted to know, and had anyone
recognized the men? In the years since he’d come to the conclusion he was
better off not knowing, because if Fairplay’s citizens had provided so much as
a shred of evidence that the same gang had killed his pa, he would have saddled
up to chase after them, likely ending up murdered…or in jail himself for
killing the lot of them.
Her worried face and tight-clenched
hands told him that Ruby had questions about that day, too. Had feminine
sensitivities alone prevented her asking them? Or did she have other reasons to
keep them to herself?
Rex the man had enjoyed spending
time in her company. Rex the sheriff, on the other hand….
He stepped onto the porch and pulled
up his collar.
“Thanks for the tour,” he said
again, tugging the Stetson low on his forehead.
Hands pocketed and shoulders
hunched, he plowed headfirst into the driving rain.
On the heels of a rib-jarring
thunderclap, she called out, “Be careful, Rex!”
He raised a hand, and hoped she’d see
it as his way of signaling that he had every reason to do just that.
Knowing that she cared about his
safety made the downpour a bit easier to bear…until he acknowledged that he’d
arrived at her house with a head full of questions, and left without a single
answer.
Other Books in the Series
Currency of the Heart
(Secrets on Sterling Street, #1)
by Loree Lough
Historical Romance
Paperback & ebook, 256 pages
January 1st 2015 by Whitaker House
Summary
Young widow Shaina Sterling hates living a lie. Desperate to keep bill collectors from the door, she secretly sells valuable possessions piece by piece, and hopes Denver’s elite never discover that his lavish lifestyle left her a near pauper.
She’s unaware that as her husband lay dying, successful rancher Sloan Remington made him a promise. And Sloan guards her secrets
as carefully as he looks after her safety.
When fire devours Sterling Hall, leaving her homeless and penniless, he brings her to Remington Ranch to manage his household. His kindness makes Shaina beholden to him … and threatens to expose the secret that could destroy him.
Will trials and tragedies bring Sloan and Shaina together?
Or will secrets—and the cost of exposing them—drive them apart forever?
Goodreads│Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Book Depository
(Affiliate links included.)
Guardians of the Heart
August 3rd 2015 by Whitaker House
Summary
Nell Holstrom wanted no part of her grandfather's barren gold mine that had taken the lives of her mother, father, and younger brother; even if there may still be hidden wealth inside. Instead, she went to Denver and took a job as housekeeper at the old Stone Hill Inn.
(Affiliate links included.)
Guardians of the Heart
(Secrets on Sterling Street, #2)
by Loree Lough
Historical Romance
Paperback & ebook, 272 pagesby Loree Lough
Historical Romance
August 3rd 2015 by Whitaker House
Summary
Nell Holstrom wanted no part of her grandfather's barren gold mine that had taken the lives of her mother, father, and younger brother; even if there may still be hidden wealth inside. Instead, she went to Denver and took a job as housekeeper at the old Stone Hill Inn.
Asa Stone was barely more than a boy when his father dragged him and his brothers to fight with Colonel John Chivington. But Asa refused to participate in the raid on the peaceful Cheyenne and Arapahoe; and when the smoke cleared, his father and brother lay among the slaughtered. Besieged by guilt, Asa wandered the West for years before returning to Denver to rebuild the old inn he'd inherited.
Together, Nell and Asa work hard to restore Stone Hill. But when disaster hits the inn, Asa retreats into despair and Nell is forced to return to her family's mine. Asa faces the hard fact: He'll never be the man Nell deserves. Can he overcome the dark secrets of his past? And will Nell still love him when she learns the truth?
Check out the tour for Guardians of the Heart here.
Check out the tour for Guardians of the Heart here.
About the Author
At last count, best-selling author Loree Lough had 104 award-winning books (nearly 5,000,000 copies in circulation and 5 titles that earned book-to-movie options), 68 short stories, and 2,500+ articles in print.An oft-invited guest of writers' organizations, colleges and universities, corporate and government agencies in the U.S. and abroad, Loree loves sharing learned-the-hard-way lessons about the craft and the industry.
Once upon a time, Loree (literally) sang for her supper, performing alone and "opening" for the likes of Tom Jones, Dottie West, The Gatlin Brothers, and more. Though she refuses to share the actual year when she traded her Yamaha 6-string for a wedding ring, she IS willing to admit that, every now and then, she blows the dust off her six-string to croon a tune or two. But mostly, she just writes (and writes).
Loree and her husband split their time between a home in the Baltimore suburbs and a cabin in the Allegheny Mountains, where she continues to hone her "identify the critter tracks" skills. Her favorite passtime? Spending long, leisurely hours with her grandchildren...all seven of them!
She loves hearing from her readers, and answers every letter, personally. You can write her @ http://www.loreelough.com.
Tour Schedule
November 13th: Launch
November 14th: Katie's Clean Book Collection & Christy's Cozy Corners
November 15th: Brooke Blogs & Rockin' Book Reviews
November 16th: Jessica and Gracie's Tree & Heidi Reads...
November 17th: Wishful Endings & Mel's Shelves
November 18th: Singing Librarian Books & Bookworm Lisa
November 20th: Grand Finale
Tour-Wide Giveaway
2 winners will win a Kindle/Nook copy of HEALING OF THE HEART (open internationally)
1 winner will win a $20 Amazon eGift Card (open internationally)
Have you read any of the books in this series? What did you think of the excerpt?
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