My upcoming contemporary romance novel, Aquamarine, includes many of the characters from a previous contemporary romance novel, The Betrayal.
The Betrayal is a story of infidelity. Emily has literally caught her husband, Jesse, in the act with another woman. Jesse learned a hard lesson as a result, and he’s managed to convince Emily to give him another chance. Emily doesn’t want to give up on Jesse either, and after several weeks of marriage counseling, things are finally looking up.
In this sample we’ll join Emily as she and her friend, Megan, are about to embark on a Caribbean cruise. However, something as innocent as picking up a forgotten passport will soon have unexpected consequences.
A sample from The Betrayal
Megan pulled into Jesse’s driveway and Emily quickly hopped out.
“Wait here. I’ll only be a minute.” She ran up to the front door and rang the bell. Jesse greeted her with a smile and handed over her passport as she stepped across the threshold.
“Here you go,” he said with a smile. “Make sure you keep it in a safe place.”
“I know, I know.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “I know you’re excited, and I know you’ll have a good time, but just be careful, okay? Stay with your group when you do your off-ship excursions. The Caribbean is a beautiful place, but don’t go wandering the back roads by yourselves.”
“I know, Jesse. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”
He gave her a kiss and walked her out Megan’s car. “Have fun, be safe, and I love you.”
“I love you too, Jesse.”
He opened the car door and said a quick hello to Megan while Emily slid into the passenger seat. As the car slowly backed into the street he waved goodbye and went back inside. Megan was about to drive away when an older man, who was walking a dog, stepped off the curb and approached them. Emily asked Megan to wait as she rolled down her window.
“Well hello, Jorge. How have you been?”
“I’ve been good, Emily. How ’bout you? I haven’t seen you in a long time. Not since the morning you moved your things out. Is everything okay now?”
“It couldn’t be better.” She quickly introduced him to Megan, saying Jorge and his wife lived three doors down.
“Jesse and I have been working things out. My buddy and I are taking a short trip together, and when we return, I’m moving back in.”
He gave her a warm smile. “I’m glad, Emily. Marta and I have wondered about you, and we were hoping you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“Well then, you two ladies have a safe trip, and I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Thanks, Jorge. Please tell Marta hello for me.”
“Will do.”
They waved goodbye as Megan drove off.
***
The Betrayal is available on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com.