Borrowed Promises by Judith Ingram: Interview & Giveaway

Borrowed Promises

Moonseed Trilogy

Book 2

Judith Ingram

Genre: paranormal romance

Publisher: Vinspire Publishing, LLC

Date of Publication: May 31, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-9890632-4-1

ASIN: B00JD0H2ZE

Number of pages: 249 pages

Word Count: 73,300 (approx.)

Cover Artist: Elaina Lee/For the Muse Designs

Book Description:

On the night of the new spring moon, a near-fatal accident propelled Victoria Reeves-Ashton over a century back in time to awaken in the body of Katherine Kamarov.

Now, after three months of pretending to be Katherine and laboring to repair relationships damaged by Katherine's brash and selfish personality, quiet and gentle Victoria finds that her heart is putting down roots in Katherine's world, in her family relationships, and especially in a deepening friendship with Katherine's winsome cousin Michael.

Hidden letters reveal the story of other moonseed-time travelers like herself-and Victoria realizes that she and Katherine will likely be returned to their own times the following spring. Tension mounts when a rich and handsome suitor applies to marry her, and Victoria must choose whether to accept him for Katherine's sake or to follow her own heart.

Ryan Ashton, the husband Victoria left behind, is baffled by the woman his wife has suddenly become. Unwilling to believe her story about an exchange in time, Ryan struggles to understand the stark transformation of his timid, remote wife into a sexually aggressive and captivating siren. Against his better judgment, he falls hard for this new woman who is a perplexing mixture of cruelty, sensuality, and tenderness, a woman who he suspects has the power to either break his heart or heal the aching loneliness he has lived with all his life.

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Excerpt:

I bit my lip, wanting to avoid any subject that could ruin the easy camaraderie of our afternoons together. Michael had been friendly and funny, teasing me gently, treating me with the easy affection of an older brother. Once or twice I'd caught him watching me with a fierce intentness that made my heart skip. But then he'd grin or offer a quip that made us both laugh, and the uncomfortable moment would pass.

I enjoyed the lightness of our friendship, grateful for the reprieve. In the rose garden at Summerwood and later on the trip to San Francisco, I had felt the slow but persistent budding of a new feeling that both thrilled and frightened me. The lightest touch of Michael's hand pricked up hairs along my skin like electricity; his boyish grin twisted a slow, sweet pain deep into my body. His clean, male scent in close proximity could stun me with unexpected waves of need, often forcing me to look away so he wouldn't see the flame in my eyes.

I couldn't allow Michael to guess where my heart was taking me—because of Raymond.

Although many things were unclear to me, one fact seemed certain—Katherine must marry Raymond Delacroix and have at least one child with him. If I gave in to my new feelings for Michael, and if I were cruel enough to let him see them, then I risked both hurting him and ruining Katherine's chances with Raymond when she came back to her own time.

And Katherine would come back. I was convinced of it, all my desperate wishes to the contrary. She would marry Raymond, give birth to Elise, and secure a future that would eventually lead to her daughter painting a picture of Katherine and me at the bridge over Two Trees Creek. By the same token, I would return to life as a lingerie model and a cold marriage with Ryan Ashton. Ryan.

"What?" Michael's voice made me jump and turn my head.

"What?"

"You said 'Ryan' again."

"I did?"

Michael had removed his glasses, and he blinked at me from only a foot away. God, he has beautiful eyes, I thought. Soft gray-green depths that held me breathless, fighting a slow, aching pull to be in his arms.

"He's…nobody," I said.

Michael was studying me, his eyes so solemn and searching that I couldn't look away. He didn't speak, but in that moment my heart yearned toward him, and he saw it. His expression changed. His gaze moved slowly from my eyes to my mouth.

I turned my face away and shut my eyes over a sudden sting of tears.

"Kat?" he said softly.

His voice held a new, cautious note of intimacy. A moment later his thumb brushed my wet cheek, and the tenderness of his touch wrenched a low cry from me. I pushed his hand away and struggled to sit upright.

"Don't touch me!" Pain made my voice sharp. "You can't touch me, Michael!"

But his hand was already under my elbow, helping me to sit. He pushed a handkerchief into my hand.

"Here. Take it." He sounded bewildered and hurt. "Seems you'd rather do the job yourself."

He watched me wipe my eyes and blow my nose with his handkerchief. I couldn't look at him, and after a moment he reached for his glasses and slipped them on.

In a tight voice he asked, "Do you still want to visit Union Square?"

I pressed the soggy handkerchief to my lips and nodded.

Michael pushed himself to his feet and thrust out a hand to help me up. We folded the blanket between us, careful not to touch each other's fingers, and he picked up the hamper. As we crossed the grass in uneasy silence, a fresh roll of tears made me reach into my handbag for a clean handkerchief. A flash of copper tumbled into the grass.

I stopped quickly, but Michael was quicker. He scooped up the coin, examined it briefly, and gave it back to me.

"You still carrying that thing around?"

I looked up at him, my handkerchief arrested halfway to my face. "My coin? What do you know about my coin?"

He squinted at me and frowned. "You're kidding, right? I was with you when you paid a nickel for that worthless thing at the county fair. You said it was good luck, and you carried it around in your pocket for years." He stopped at my look. "What is it?"

"Michael, are you certain this is the same coin?"

I handed it back to him. His gaze lingered on my face, puzzled, before he examined the coin. He weighed it briefly on his palm, flipped it over, and gave it back to me.

"Of course I'm certain." He pointed his finger at the familiar nick in the rim. "There's where the wagon wheel ran over it, and you were so furious because you thought the magic was ruined." He screwed up his eyes against the sun and studied me. "What's the matter with you, Kat? You're looking at me like I've got two heads."

I shook my head in dazed wonder, suspended once again in that universe where Katherine's world and mine overlapped and where it made perfect sense that her lucky coin should have somehow come to me—twice.

About the Author:

Judith Ingram weaves together her love of romance and her training as a counselor to create stories and characters for her novels. She also writes Christian nonfiction books and enjoys speaking to groups on a variety of inspirational topics. She lives with her husband in the San Francisco East Bay and makes frequent trips to California's beautiful Sonoma County, where most of her fiction characters reside. She confesses a love for chocolate, cheesecake, romantic suspense novels, and all things feline.

Website, blog & free weekly devotional: http://JudithIngram.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JudithIngramAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@judithingram20

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/judith-ingram/a/122/62

Interview:

Please welcome Judith Ingram to Diane's Book Blog:

What is your favorite part of the Moonseed trilogy?

I'm going to fudge a little on this question and give you two answers. As a writer, my favorite part is the brief exchange that occurs halfway through the trilogy, in Book 2, Borrowed Promises. Both women temporarily return to their own times, and the event is told from two different perspectives, Ryan's and Victoria's. That was fun to write. However, as a romantic, my favorite scene is where Victoria and Michael picnic in Golden Gate Park in old San Francisco, and their friendship suddenly shifts and deepens. I was so in love with Michael when I wrote this, I was a little jealous of Victoria!

How long did it take you to write Moonseed?

Honestly, it took me ten years to write the story, but I wasn't really writing a novel to begin with. I was just toying with ideas. My older sister was always the writer of the family, so I never believed I could complete a book myself and get it published. It took me a long time to give myself permission to go for it.

If you were stranded on a desert island, which of your characters do you want by your side?

Oh, definitely Michael! He's funny and tender and resourceful. And no Victoria to compete with me!

What inspired you to write your first book?

I was in psychotherapy for nine years dealing with childhood abuse issues. Victoria's character virtually wrote itself out of my reflective journaling. I began to ask myself, What if I could escape all this pain into another woman's life? To make it interesting, what if that woman lived in a more appealing time? And what if she were trying to escape something in her life, some danger into which I would unwittingly step? Victoria's character lived out my own pain on the pages of my novel and in the end triumphed over it. Amazingly, her fictional journey helped my real life recovery. When I finished the book, I realized I had forgiven my own mother in the same way Victoria had forgiven hers. I'm hoping that women who have been hurt as I was will take heart from Victoria's struggle and success.

How do you overcome writer's block?

I put my fingers on the keys and start typing. It really doesn't matter what comes out at first. I never have an absolutely blank mind. Words crowd in, and I start setting them down. Eventually, I get to the right words, and the work progresses. I can always edit later.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I'm working on a new novel, again set in Sonoma County, California. A young woman who has just lost her mother to cancer and her husband to infidelity learns that she has a birth twin and determines to invite this stranger into her life.

What do you prefer: paperback, hardcover, or e-books?

I like hardcover the best, even though some bigger books get heavy. I like to hold a book in my hands and smell the pages and browse the front and back matter. When I read a book on my Kindle, I tend to forget the title and the author and later cannot recall where I saw a particular passage. That's so annoying when I want to go back and reread something important or to clarify a point.

Do you have anything specific you want to say to your readers?

I am a reader like you who also writes. Sometimes we are fortunate to find a book that moves and even changes us. We might read to enrich our lives or to escape them for a little while. We see ourselves in the characters and learn to understand someone else's viewpoint. We read for entertainment and inspiration. When I write, I am ever mindful of you, the reader, and ever hopeful that my characters will touch your heart and that their story will encourage and satisfy you.

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