Musings and Ramblings

Kicking Sideways

Dina Keratsis

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Winge ePress
Date of Publication: October 27, 2015
Number of pages: 253
Cover Artist: Ravven

In this story about awakening and the healing power of love, a woman who refuses to let go of her troubled past is united with an easygoing man who can show her the path to her own salvation.

Lucretia “Cree” Cabot spends her time saving everybody else to avoid facing her own haunted life. Between raising her younger brother and trying to open a women’s shelter, Cree has built an impenetrable wall around her heart. But when a tenant for Cliff Cottage appears at her door, he cracks her vigilantly controlled world, forcing her to look within to confront the emptiness inside.

Mike Sullivan, famous superhero artist, is searching for a peaceful summer break and a new perspective on life. A farm in sunny Santa Cruz seems like just the place. Looking to escape from his usual routine, he doesn’t count on falling for a woman who is as stubborn as the mule that lives in her barn. Yet beneath Cree’s prickly exterior, he finds a woman in pain—a woman with an immense capacity for love. Mike knows she is the only one for him, but will Cree find the courage to truly live and love before the best thing to walk into her life leaves her behind?

Excerpt: 

Cree looked at him blankly, her eyes a dull blade. “I just want it to be perfect for them. I want their bedrooms to be fresh and bright, not musty farmhouse wallpaper and someone else’s memories,” she despaired. “I want them to feel like they have a place to belong and start over.”

His heart tugged for her and fell just a little bit more in love with this practical woman who had enough poetry to want to save the world. He reached across the table and took her hand, tightened as she resisted, and was surprised when she succumbed.

“It’ll get done,” he whispered, giving her hand a little squeeze. “I promise.” Her hand melted in his and the burden dissolved from her face. She smiled tiredly before pulling her hand away to pick up a dish.

“Go hang out with your girlfriends for a couple of days.”

She looked down at the plate and walked to the sink.

“You do have some of those, don’t you?” he asked, suspicious.

“Not really,” she replied. “All my college friends moved away a few years ago and I haven’t met too many people around town.” Shrugging, she added, “I don’t mind when it comes down to it.”

“Cree likes to be alone,” Seth said. “She’s weird.”

“I’m one for haunting graveyards by myself as well. Nothing wrong with liking your own company, kid,” he said as an arm shot out and his hand caught Cree’s arm as she passed with another plate for the sink. “Nope,” he commanded. “Go sex wax your board or whatever you surfers do to prepare for a day with the sharks.” He took the plate from her as he released her wrist. “You’re taking tomorrow off.”

Guest Post: 

I can write anywhere once I tap into that writing vein. Sometimes I need absolute silence, sometimes music is a necessity, and often I need the mindless din of a café to get that writing blood flowing.

But a writing gypsy still needs a sacred spot to charge the blood and here is where I go when I need to be still. It’s not much – a chair in the corner of my bedroom surrounded by all my talismans that mean absolutely nothing yet give me a sense of home: a ragged copy of Stormy, Misty’s Foal, a rowan twig, a moonstone and bloodstone, delicious smelling candles, the Tasha Tudor illustrated Little Women that makes an appearance in Kicking Sideways, photos of my kids and husband, and a teddy bear that belonged to a beloved aunt. 

How about you? What is your favorite spot to recharge?

Giveaway: 

Author Bio:

Dina Keratsis is an award-winning author of romance fiction in which all roads lead to illumination and magic is found in the mundane. A New England girl, she has a penchant for punk rock, Scottish tea rooms and a mad crush on Sirius Black. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two children.

To connect with the author online:

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