Lost and Found... and Lost Again by Jena Galifany

Blurb:

            Brian Cummings has come a long way from Leicestershire, England. Miles of hard road lay between then and now – hard road he's kept hidden—until the nightmares began again.
            Diane Starling loves Brian. If she were not carrying his child, she'd still do anything to make him happy—even letting him go to someone else. Who is the woman in his nightly dreams? Why does she make him scream?
           Valerie Leonard, journalist, dredged up history that should remain buried; history that could ruin Brian and hurt the people he loves most. Should Val keep his dangerous past to herself? Doesn't Diane have the right to know the truth about the father of her child?
           Brian and Diane fight to overcome the past, embrace the present, and build a future as they travel with ShadowsForge on THE LONG WAY HOME.

Setting:

            Nineteen year old Brian Cummings had an affair with Mia Radley for three years. She finally sent him a letter saying she had to tell him something important and that she is leaving her husband, Nolan Radley, to be with Brian. An accident claims Mia's life. Before she died, she told her mother, Alison, to give Brian her journal and tell him that her son is actually Brian's son, not Nolan's. Alison brings Brian and Nolan together after the funeral to decide what will be best for young Brian, the son Brian never knew he had. Brian lost Mia but found his son, Brian Joseph Radley, only to lose him.

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             "You two have a nice talk, now." Alison retreated down the hallway as the boy looked at Brian over her shoulder. Brian's heart went with the child. Mia's child. His child.

            "So, Mr. Cummings, we find ourselves in an odd situation. My wife was less than truthful." Nolan lowered himself into a chair before the fire, and crossed his legs in a casual but arrogant, superior manner. Brian wanted to stand but for the sake of civility, he took the second chair.

            "With both of us. Until today, I had no idea." Brian felt uncomfortable. Nolan's eyes seemed to audit Brian's net worth by the value of his suit. "I didn't know what you were talking about at Avery's."

"You've seen him before?"

"Never. Mia talked about him…"

"When?" Nolan raised an eyebrow.

            Brian weighed the consequences of telling Nolan about their meetings over the years. What harm could it do to tell the truth?

"She spoke of him every time she came to town."

            "You met with her each time she was here."

            Brian defiantly looked him in the eyes. He didn't like the way Nolan made statements instead of asking questions. "Each time. Do you want the details?" Brian felt heat rise along his spine.

            "I could probably tell you. You met at some dismal motel somewhere to have a meaningful toss in the sheets. She probably meant more to you than you did to her." He gave Brian a smug look; his blue eyes sparked with arrogance.

            "Meaning?"

            "You were a means to an end. She wanted more children. I refused. She probably hoped to gain another one from you."

            "Odd you never brought it up to her. She feared you'd find out."

            "I'd hoped to gain more sons." He waved a dismissing hand.

            "She said he was named for his father. I assumed his name was Nolan. I called him Joey to save confusion."

            "Joey? Joseph. Brian Joseph." Nolan took a thoughtful sip of his drink. "I thought nothing of the name when she chose it. To be truthful, I didn't care. She trapped me into a marriage neither of us wanted. My family insisted I take the opportunity once it was presented. It worked out well, though, because she gave birth to a boy. If she had produced a girl, I would have seen to the divorce directly."

            Brian blinked. "Having a lover was acceptable but you'd divorce her for having a girl? There's a truly odd sense of morals in your family, Radley. Do you think you're Henry the eighth?"

            Nolan smirked, and gazed through his glass. "You see, there are no heirs in my family. I'm the last of the Radley line."

            "So you get a girl. Not that I would have objected to divorce, but try until you get a son."

            "Not possible. There were certain medical issues when I was a lad which prevent me from siring children."

            Brian narrowed his eyes. "How come you married her?"

            "As I said, my parents saw the opportunity to have an heir to carry on the name. They decreed I should marry and take full responsibility for the child even though we knew it couldn't possibly be my genetic offspring." Nolan drained the glass. He stood as he set it on the table, and faced Brian. Not to be looked down on, Brian rose. "Make no mistake, Mr. Cummings. He is my son and will remain so. You were merely a donor."

            "Did Mia know you're defective?" Brian inwardly smiled at the flinch his barbed remark produced.

            "She knew I'd only make use of her before her trips to visit her mother. She didn't know it was to keep up appearances in case she did conceive again. I wanted her to be unaware that I knew she was meeting with someone. I'd hoped it was someone of better breeding but…" He gave a resigned wave of his hand.

"I could take my son." Brian flexed his hands at his sides. He stood only two or three steps from Nolan; close enough to take him down with one swing.

            "You couldn't afford the legal battle." Nolan eyed Brian's hair and raised one brow. "What do you do for a living, Mr. Cummings?"
            "I'm a musician."

            "How do you intend to care for the boy on your income? Can you provide him a home, food, clothing, everything he needs?"

            "Not at the moment. I'm moving to London where…"

            "Where you'll spend your nights hanging about in pubs? Taverns? Nightclubs? Do you have a woman of your own, a wife? Someone to look after the lad while you're off doing what ever it is musicians do? Oh yes, drink yourself blind, sleep around with jaded women and dream of fame, is it?"

            Brian clenched his teeth, fighting his first instinct. Punching Nolan in the face would alleviate a lot of tension but it wouldn't change the fact Brian had nothing to offer the boy.

            Nolan smiled at Brian's obvious anger. "I am the vice president of an established investment firm. I can give him everything he will ever need or want. Let me tell you what you'll do, Mr. Cummings." He slipped his hand into his jacket. "You will take this," he handed Brian a cheque, "and you will walk out the door and not look back. This will see you on your way to where ever you care to reside. Payment in full for services rendered. Mia neglected to pay you a stud fee."

            Brian read the amount.

            Nolan continued. "This will get you out of Leicester. You may take your fond memories of my loving wife as well if it keeps you warm at night. Just forget about my son."

            "Five thousand pounds locked in a vault is not quite what I need." Brian glowered at Nolan. "Would you have a fifty pound note?"

            Nolan frowned. "You’re a strange sort, Cummings. Is this your way of having the last word?" He pulled the requested amount from his wallet.

            Brian folded it and placed it in his jacket pocket. He curled the cheque in his fist, and lashed out with all of the anger and humiliation he felt. He backhanded Nolan, and sent the man crashing into the chair. Nolan cried out, and held his face, shock-filled eyes locked on Brian.

            Brian stood over Nolan as Alison scurried into the room with the boy in her arms. Brian stabbed a finger at Nolan. "That's my way of having the last word." Brian took the lad in his arms. He hugged him, and kissed him on the forehead before looking him in the eyes.

"Always remember me, Brian. Ask your daddy," Brian tossed a nod toward Nolan, "who I am. Ask him every day of your life until he tells you the truth. Can you do that, son?"

            The child nodded.  His large eyes moved from Brian to Nolan, back to Brian.

            "That's my lad." Brian kissed him again, and handed him to Alison before he stepped in front of Nolan again. He savored the fear in Nolan's eyes. "You will take care of my son. I'll be watching. If anything happens to him, if he wants for anything, I'll come back. I'll keep coming back. I'll shadow you for the rest of your life." Brian looked with disgust at the cheque in his fist before he locked eyes with Nolan. "He's not for sale." He spat the words as he crumpled the cheque completely into a ball and threw it into the fire. "Neither am I."

            Brian grabbed the journal, stalked to the door, and jerked it open. The cold blast of air refreshed him as it cooled his anger. "Alison," he said over his shoulder, "thank you for your hospitality. I'll be in touch. See he takes care of my son."

Ty Synclair with beardless Brian Cummings

            With that, Brian shoved his hands in his pockets, and walked into the night with his shoulders hunched against the cold wind. He would spend his last night in the house. Tomorrow, he would pack what clothes he could into a sports bag, along with the journal and the envelope of pictures. The rest he would leave behind. Fifty pounds would see him to London and hopefully feed him for a few days, until he could hook up with a successful band and get on with his life.

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         In the week leading up to this scene, Brian lost his family, his band, his job, Mia and was arrested on two counts of murder. Then he lost the son he never knew he had. I think this is the most emotional piece I've written for the ShadowsForge series.

        The fourth book in the series, The Long Way Home is the most emotion-filled book, following Brian Cummings from age sixteen to twenty-six. I spent two years writing Brian's story. We spent many nights in tears together.

         "ShadowsForge 4: The Long Way Home is a reader's dream. The tug of emotions I felt while reading of Brian's story is a credit to Ms. Galifany as a writer.

         Ms. Galifany has woven a tale of tragedy and love that is more genuine than any I have read in a long time.  I wasn't expecting such a deeply moving story from a series devoted to a popular British rock band, but ShadowsForge 4: The Long Way Home is just such a story."

    - Sabine Maurier, reviewer for Novelspot.net

Buy The Long Way Home HERE 

Read more excerpts HERE

See the Trailer HERE

Cheers!

Jena

The Most Scariest Prologue from Resort to Murder

By Glenys O'Connell @GlenysOConnell

I write romantic suspense and mysteries and sometimes I read what I've written, and wonder just what's going on in my head.

I mean, writing about murders, no matter how light the touch...well, as Linda The Librarian said after reading one of my books: "You know, I'm worried about how you do your research. It's so real. Perhaps we need to do regular head counts on all your family members, just to be sure you're not testing this stuff hands on..."

Oh, yes, that's so funny. Really.

The lawyers told me to deny, deny, deny...

Ooops, did I say that out loud?  No, No - I don't try out my scary scenes on anyone. Honest.
 
But I do wonder about the state of my mind, that I find these scenes generally easy to imagine. And then I scare myself by reading them. Go figure.


Resort to Murder is set in the City of Leeds and on the beautiful Yorkshire coastline in the UK, a traditional spot for holidaymakers since  Victorian times and earlier. I've always thought that resorts and fairgrounds, where people come to have fun, are the perfect spot for a little murder. You only have to look at the effect a holiday in Rome had on these friends (or is that ex-friends?) 
 
 And then there's the ones that throw off all their inhibitions while on vacation...
 

So, I hope you'll read  the excerpt from Resort to Murder. It's a bit of a shocker,with a twist in its tail.....

Then tell me what you think. I mean, am I a bit, er, to use a term we professionals use, nutzoid, too? Surely not!
 
Read on - I have to warn you that this scene made me stay away from fun fairs for a long, long time......

The warm summer evening was thickening into night, and at the newly opened FunLand Pleasure Center crowds of visitors were making their way to the main gates and home. The carnival atmosphere of the new resort had left them tired but exhilarated.

 During the day the resort had been brimming with families and excited young children, but at night there was a different crowd, teenagers with a sprinkling of older folk. Many were coming from the country'n'western concert at the main hall and wore bright costumes, the English interpretation of American cowboy attire.

A striking blonde woman stood out from the rest. Her short red dress and strappy high-heeled sandals emphasized her leggy good looks, and few men in the crowd passed her by without a second glance. Her looks elicited some malicious comments from the women, which made their men folk laugh even as they indulged in brief fantasies of what they imagined this woman could offer.

None more so than the handsome man who lounged against a gatepost, his eyes taking in every line of the woman as she approached him.

 "Waiting for someone, honey?" She drawled her practiced pick-up line. She was a working girl and even though the evening had been a good time in her time off, she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to make a few pounds – especially not with a hunk like this. And he had that needy look she knew only too well………

"I think I've been waiting for you, love – probably most of my life," he replied, his tone matching her lazy drawl.

"Well, then, I guess we're two lucky people." She smiled up at him as she slipped her arm through his and they strolled together through the gates. As they reached the beach down the flower-bordered path of a small park, she slipped out of her spike-heeled shoes so that she could walk more easily on the sand. It was a calculatedly sexy move, affording the man a good look at her shapely thighs as she balanced herself against him to slip off first one shoe, then the other. He laughed good-naturedly as he steadied her, and took her elbow to guide her towards the sheltering privacy of some rocks. The only sounds were the muttering rhythm of the North Sea and the intermittent sounds of laughter and car horns from the resort on the cliffs above. 

In the shadows, sure they were alone, he dropped tiny kisses on her hair and the tip of her nose, and she responded happily pressing herself against him. The strap of her red dress slipped from her shoulder and he kissed the space it left, his lips moving down her skin until he captured her breast in his mouth.

She groaned softly in her throat, her busy fingers opening the buttons of his soft white shirt so that her lips could graze his chest. So far she hadn't mentioned business, but this one was attractive enough to interest her anyway.  She figured he was probably experienced enough to know what she was about so she gave herself up to the pleasure of his kisses.

When his hands began to wander over her lush body, she matched him move for move, finally pulling him down onto the cooling sand beside her and whispering in his ear: "Shall I take you high, baby?"

"Oh, I think you'll take me high, all right, I think the ultimate high…" His voice was thick, his mouth against her neck as she threw back her head and laughed in delight.

But the laughter was short-lived. For the same bright moonbeams that lit her eyes to gold also flashed silver on the terrible blade that arced down towards her throat.

"The ultimate high," he moaned against her threshing body.

Resort to Murder is published by The Wild Rose Press. You can see it here on Amazon or click here for another excerpt and more details on my web page.