~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Bad luck and worse choices—that’s Irene. She’s been a widow half her life
and now splits her time between waitressing at the Rise and Shine cafe and
singing in an oldies cover band. And she’s having an affair with a married
man—something that even her eclectic, super liberal family can’t condone.
She’d be the first one to admit she has faults, but she’s not a
bigot. The genetic pool in her nuclear family spans the globe. And it’s not
that she’s prejudiced against people with disabilities but that doctors and
wheelchairs give her the Herbie-jeebies. So when a cute guy in a chair keeps
showing up in the restaurant, she’s clumsy, awkward and strangely drawn. Can
Irene let go of the past or is she too emotionally broken to find a future
worth the risk?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
The restaurant buzzed with conversation and the familiar
clank of silverware on plates. Movement near the front made me glance over. A
massive, shaggy-haired creature stared up at me from under table one. My heart
pounded. It looked like a fucking bear. I screamed. Everyone in the restaurant
turned to look.
Adam trotted over, his face aflame. “Mom, get a grip.”
As I moved toward the table, I pointed to the bear and
scowled at the guy sitting beside it. “What the fuck is that?”
He looked up at me, a man about my age, who had the most
amazing blue eyes. “Um, it’s a dog, ma’am. A Newfoundland. He’s very civilized.
He’s a—”
“You can’t have a dog in here,” I shouted as he finished
“—service dog.”
That’s when I noticed the bear’s blue backpack.
“Shit. Oh, I’m so sorry…” Great. Now I was yelling at the
disabled. I moved to get out of the way of the huge dog. Something jabbed into
my hip, and the guy with the great eyes jerked sideways. He clutched the table
and swore.
I looked down and saw the wheelchair I’d just bumped
into—unobtrusive, low-slung, a nice red that blended in with our décor.
“Sorry.” I grabbed the handle to straighten it back out for
him.
“Don’t!” he barked.
I backed away, mortified. Adam glared at me. Someone put a
hand on my shoulder.
Edward smiled down at me. “I see you’ve met my friend, Mark
Redfield. Mark, this is Irene, the mother of our charming server. She’s quite
pleasant most of the time. Maybe you could bring us some pie?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tara Woolpyis the author of The Lacland series, loosely linked novels set in the fictional
upper midwestern town of Lacland, including Releasing Gillian's Wolves, Raising
Wild Ginger and Midnight Supper at the Rise and Shine. Tara earned her
bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Whitworth College after which she
spent a year at the Women Writers Center in Cazenovia, New York. While pursuing
her writing career she paid the rent through an astonishing number of
jobs—she’s been a waitress, a shop owner, a retail clerk, a half-way house
counselor and a commercial diver. Eventually, she took a midlife hiatus from
writing to become an aquatic scientist. As such she also holds a Masters degree
from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. Now she teaches online for the University of Wisconsin-Green
Bay and has come back to writing fiction with new passion and wonder at the
long, serpentine beauty of life. In addition to the novels, her work has
appeared in Focus, Corymb, Kalliope, Alligator Juniper and the anthology The
Things that Divide Us from Seal Press.
Contact
information:
Email – tlwoolpy@gmail.com
Follow Tara
on Facebook
For more
about the Lacland books- Visit her website
BUY Links:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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