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The Wainright Trilogy Book One Faith in the Shadows
Manufacturer: S & S Cuffe
ISBN: 978-1-61252-100-8
Length:
Novel
Category:
Inspirational
Sub-Category:
Historical
Rating:
Sweet
Photography/Artwork:
Jenifer Ranieri
Release Date:
November 15, 2011
Price: $5.99
$5.99 EPUB
$5.99 HTML
$5.99 PDF
$5.99 MOBI
$5.99 LIT
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The purple splotched birthmark on her cheek brands Alice Wainwright a spinster. When a gentleman courts her, Alice jumps into a loveless engagement to Joshua, a braggart in desperate need of cash.
His groom, Hawk, knows Joshua's dirty secrets but, as a blind war veteran, he has few choices. His employer's threats make it clear he'll be on the street if he breathes a word of the truth to Alice.
But when Joshua bullies Alice at their engagement party, Hawk steps out of the dark and becomes her champion. Torn between honor and need, Hawk comes to work for the Wainwright family. Alice and Hawk share the same vulnerability and pride. When friendship quickly turns to love, each is blinded by a dark secret. Joshua's interference plays on their insecurities and threatens their future together. Can they face the truth about themselves and each other before they're torn apart?
EXCERPT
"Get inside, Alice, and see to our guests," Joshua demanded. "This is none of your concern."
"I will not!" she argued.
Hawk reached out slowly, the warmth and scent of her guiding his tentative hand. Her hand met his and he gently drew her behind him.
Joshua's arm slipped past him in a cloud of tobacco, sweat, and brandy. Hawk countered the movement with his right arm. Steel muscle and sinew connected with soft lace as he seized his former employer's languid wrist and held it fast. "I would be pleased to escort you wherever you wish to go, Miss Wainwright," Hawk said, proffering his free arm.
"Thank you." Alice's trusting hand slipped into the crook of his elbow. "I'd like to go to the stable, please." Joshua spun away and wrenched free of Hawk's grip. "Leave my property alone, Hawk!" he threatened, but his voice and presence receded out of the range of Hawk's fists. "Alice, I'll make your excuses to our guests. I think it best if you retire to your room until you regain control of your nerves and your common sense."
Hawk hurried his charge toward the safe haven of the stables. The tall woman at his side matched his stride perfectly. His arm fit comfortably around her slim waist as they moved in unison over the familiar path. For a rich moment he allowed himself to believe himself a man, not a charity case, nor an object of pity.
Joshua Whitehead had backed down in the face of his challenge. He'd heard the chicken-hearted bravado in his rival's voice, smelled his fear. Adrenaline surged through Hawk's veins, pumping him full of invincibility. Tonight the dark held no danger for him. He bowed his head toward the woman next to him, inhaling the lilac scent of her hair. His toe trigged on a rough spot in the path and Hawk swiftly pivoted on his left leg to compensate. His foot rolled on a loose rock and his ankle buckled under him. Stumbling, he dragged Alice along with him, bringing his vulnerability back full bore.
"Are you alright?" Her breathless question and steadying arm only reinforced his humbling, jolting return to grim reality. "Hawk?"
"I'm fine," he muttered, standing stock still. "You'd best be getting back to the house." He'd left his walking stick somewhere outside the door in the bushes, he couldn't even remember where.
"But I'm...we're going to the stables," she asserted softly.
Hawk edged away from her. His boots slid on the frosty ground and he threw his hand out behind him for balance. "No, Joshua won't bother you anymore tonight," he retorted. "Your brother will see to that."
"I don't need Lawrence to fight my battles for me," Alice protested. "I prefer to go to the stables, away from the noise of the crowd. I need to think things through."
"You'll be better off in the house. In the morning you can decide what you'll do. Perhaps Joshua will see the error of his ways and seek to make amends." The words clogged his throat.
"Joshua! Joshua!" She nearly shouted at him. "I care not a fig about Joshua. What's the matter with you? Where's the man who promised to take me anywhere I wanted to go?"
She stopped speaking, so still Hawk cocked his head to be sure she hadn't left. He felt his way, pushing a tentative foot forward, slowly reaching out a hand.
"Faith in the Shadows is an excellent read. Too much Christian romance fiction is bland, insipid, and thin. This is one of the first I've read where the characters seem like real human beings, living, experiencing, life MORE because they are children of God, saved by Christ. Being Christian makes life better, fuller, even more REAL! Hawk and Alice do not find life easier or simpler because of their faith. I feel like I know them and look forward to the second book in the trilogy to see how their faith helps them continue to cope with whatever life gives them. Thanks, Sadie and Sophie!!"
Helen L. -- Reader -- Posted at Amazon
Rating = 5 Stars
Visit Sadie and Sophie Cuffe's Author Page
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