Faces of Love

by Lily Orevba

  Howard wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her further into himself. “I love you, Gloria.”

  Five years ago, he announced his love for her on the streets of San Francisco. And exactly five years later, wrapped in his arms, she felt a familiar tug in her belly. Knowing there couldn’t be a more appropriate time to break the news to him, she glanced up at him, her eyes twinkling.

  “One more thing, Howard...”

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  _____

  Here is a sample from another story you may enjoy:

  Prologue

  The wind was raging against the nipa leaves that made the roof of the house. It was after the sun had kissed the floor of the earth that the air was getting lonelier and chilly. Soft music came out from the flute of an almost emaciated old man, who was sitting on the footsteps of the stairs. It accompanied the mellow gush of wind. Mothers in the village were busy preparing a hearty dinner for their families.

  By the window, stood an elderly woman wearing an ankle-length skirt and a thick rough elbow-length sleeve blouse. She was watching the solitary moon shine in the sky.

  “When will it happen?” asked another woman who just entered the room that was walled by thick timber. She was slightly thinner, but her hair was as gray as the old woman near the window.

  “Very soon.”

  “Is it going to be different this time? Can we claim victory this soon?”

  “I believe so,” answered the old woman as she trekked toward the middle of the room where a small wooden table was resting. She sat just beside the table in a squatting position on a woven mat that was lying on the cold wooden floor. “We can’t let the curse change the course of time. We have all been waiting for this for centuries. Today is the best time to fulfill the prophecy.”

  “What did the old priestess say about this? Have they found the warrior?”

  “She has Cahaya while I have my eyes on one man. I just need to be sure that he is the one.”

  “And the stone? Have you found the stone, Manang?” asked the thinner woman while pouring green concoction with an obnoxious smell into her cup.

  “No,” shaking her head as she answered. “I don’t know where it is, but my instincts are telling me that it is being guarded. I just don’t know where to look for it.”

  “We will need it to break the curse. Everything is useless without it even if we find the warrior.”

  “I have to travel back there once in a while to check news from the old priestess. We have to keep our hopes high that she finds the stone.”

  “Then you have to hurry. The warrior’s blood must be shed before the stars align. We can’t miss the day, or we’ll have to wait for centuries for another rebirth,” said the woman whose eyes narrowed and darkened. “This will become your endless pursuit, Manang. This won’t end unless we become victorious this time. I know you are tired and you’d love to see your sister again.”

  “We have a second option though.” Smiled Manang. “We still have the present.”

  But in her mind, she knew she couldn’t go forward with the present, and it disappointed her. Two chances; neither of which she did not want to waste.

  The thinner woman sipped her concoction and gulped a large volume of air after she saw a remarkable sign of hope on Manang’s face.

  “I commend you for using your powers to protect the world and to fulfill the prophecy. But I’m afraid using two rebirths is quite a danger for you, Manang.”

  “I do not worry over losing my powers. It was bestowed upon me by Bulan to correct the mistakes of the past. By the time I lose them, the warrior is gone. The prophecy is fulfilled, and the curse is broken.”

  Flash!

  The other woman held onto the edge of the table as her face grew pale. The Sight had just warned her of an impending event.

  “Do you see anything?” Manang asked her anxiously as she leaned forward, knocking the cups and the teapot off the table.

  “A boy!” Her voice was dead and dull. Coldness stroked her limbs and spine. This happened all the time whenever the Sight came like a flash. She wavered. “I can hear him laughing. He sounds so happy. Poor little one.”

  “You see the warrior?” Manang moved to the other side of the table and put her arm around her trembling friend.

  “Is he the warrior, Manang?”

  “Is he?”

  “But he’s… just a child.”

  “What else do you see?”

  The visions kept coming and became more difficult to control.

  Cars were speeding to avoid traffic. Two adults were listening to this funny small box in front of them that talked about a storm coming into the city undetected by any weather station in the country. A little boy around five was tucked in the back of the car, looking outside the window and watching other cars pass by. He was looking forward to getting on the rides that he kept asking the lady at the front seat how long it would take to get there. But they were not paying attention to him. They were both glued to this strange box.

  The little boy shrugged his shoulders and went on watching the cars speeding. He did not even bother to wonder how the dark skies got angrier each time lightning lashed. The man who had the steering wheel pressed on the gas accelerator, overtaking others behind. It was smooth and fast at first, but something went wrong after a couple of minutes.

  The car started to move in jerky motions and almost crashing into nearby vehicles. The steering wheel was out of control. A truck carter appeared a few distances away, and the man had to stop the car to prevent an imminent collision. His foot was already pressed down on the brake pedal, but the car was not slowing down. The lady was already screaming at the top her lungs. The boy did not know what exactly was happening, but he knew that the woman was afraid.

  “Son!” the woman reached for his hand. She pulled the seatbelt and made sure that he was snugly tucked in.

  “What’s happening, Mommy?” he asked as he marveled at his mother’s eyes.

  The woman did not say a word. Her grasp tightened as they came close to the slowing truck carter. Rain torrentially poured and hit the windshield like it was about to shatter.

  “Manang!” She grabbed the old woman’s arm and said, “You must save the child! He shouldn’t die this way…”

  “Die?”

  “Yes.”

  The old woman moved her head sideways. Her voice was absent of panic or even remorse. “He will be unharmed. The curse will save him.”

  If you enjoyed this sample, look for

  Amor Eterno

  on Amazon.

  BOOK YOU MIGHT ENJOY

  A HUNDRED WEDDINGS

  Jessica Schreave

  “And Miss Roberts?”

  “What?”

  “I’m very much single.”

  Kimberly Roberts knows she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed and her goals are pretty simple: finish senior year, marry someone whom she genuinely loves, and live happily ever after.

  Not so complicated, right?

  But, as ill luck would have it, nothing is going precisely as planned. Her math teacher, who looks too attractive for Kim’s own good, refuses to give her at least a passing grade without her actually passing her exams; her family’s business is failing, and her longtime crush is in love with someone else.

  And when one tiny, harmless wish snowballs into a tapestry of events, her life suddenly hits a major plot twist. One minute she’s living the perfectly worry-free life, and the next she’s surprisingly caught in the midst of family dramas and life’s little complexities.

  Quite complicated now, right?

  As they say, be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. Like become a bride of a hundred weddings, perhaps?

  BOOK YOU MIGHT ENJOY

  HIS EX-WIFE

&
nbsp; Amara Rose

  “You wanted more, more, more! You’re nothing but a gold-digger!” He shouted, and I gasped.

  Rafael Luciano, the love of my life; a sweet, handsome, amazing guy who's got me wrapped around his fingers, has pushed me out of his life.

  Life has been great and we are well on our way to having our first child.

  But one accursed day, he slams me with divorce papers and accuses me of being a gold-digger.

  Confused and heartbroken, I sign and leave.

  With a snap of a finger, everything is gone: my love, my life, and the father of my unborn child.

  How am I to get through all this? Will I be able to provide my daughter the life she deserves?

  Most importantly, what happened that day that made my sweet Rafael into a heartless monster?

  Life is full of betrayals and heartbreaks and this is my story. For all the sappy romantic folks out there, come and join me as I relive my bittersweet experience with love. Cause giving your heart is giving the power to hurt you back.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Dear Reader,

  It gives me great joy to know you have not only taken the time out to begin this book, but you have come all the way to the ending. Thank you so much for reading and for coming on this journey with me.

  As you probably saw in the beginning, this book was inspired by Francine Rivers’ REEDEMING LOVE. Francine Rivers has been a great inspiration to me and has led me on this path of writing.

  Her book, REEDEMING LOVE, was inspired by the story of Hosea in the Bible. Until I read her book, I didn’t know about Hosea. After I read it, I got inspired to read his story as well and it was this inspiration that led to the birth of FACES OF LOVE.

  God told Hosea to get married to a prostitute;

  ‘Go and marry a prostitute (promiscuous woman) so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the lord and worshiping other gods’

  I tried my very best to give Stuart the heart of God (a pure, forgiving heart). It was most difficult doing that but I believe I achieved it in some way.

  Hannah, Stuart’s wife represents Israel or the world in the story. In spite of Stuart’s love, she constantly made a choice to prostitute herself to other men.

  Like Gloria, Gomer went back into prostitution after her marriage to Hosea. I tried my best to reflect Gloria as a woman who actually loved prostitution as I’m sure was Gomer’s case seeing as she went back.

  But God told Hosea to go back for Gomer. Despite Gomer’s unfaithfulness, Hosea went to bring her back and had to pay a price to the owner of the brothel for his wife (fifteen pieces of silver, five bushels of barley and a measure of wine). This, for a woman who wasn’t worth a dime—an unfaithful, undeserving woman. Hosea had to go back for Gomer and woo her again. He wasn’t the one who was in the wrong but he did it anyway. I tried to illustrate this part of the story when Howard went back for Gloria and while Howard didn’t pay a dime, Hosea did.

  ‘But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there’

  Which brings me to the title of this book; Faces of love. I tried to illustrate what love looks like in this story. Starting with Stuart. Love is Stuart: kind. Love is strong and not judgmental. Stuart didn’t care that the entire town of San Francisco wanted nothing to do with Gloria; he wanted her on his dinner table.

  Howard: love sees. One look at Gloria and he knew he loved her. Also, love sees again. Love doesn’t see what every other person sees; it sees what every other person is unable to see. I know this doesn’t make a single sense but love doesn’t always make sense.

  Again, Howard: love forgives. Eventually, we see this when Howard forgives Hannah and Gloria and goes in search of her.

  Gloria: love is being forgiven. Unlike Hannah, Gloria chose to accept forgiveness. It’s one thing to be offered forgiveness; it’s another thing to actually accept it. Hannah died in regret. Gloria lived in happiness.

  Stuart, Howard, and Gloria are the faces of love!

  Thank you for reading once more. If you loved this story, then do me the favour of leaving a review behind to tell me and other readers what you think of the story.

  I look forward to reading your review.

  All the best,

  Lily.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Christian Author of sweet historical romance, Lily Orevba can barely do anything but write. A law student by day and an author by night, she spends the majority of her time living multiple lives through the characters that exist in her head. Occasionally, she suffers writer’s block, but this isn’t due to not knowing what to write; it is as a result of her inability to connect emotionally with her characters. If she cannot BECOME them, she is unable to tell their stories.

  Her writing career began on Wattpad. With thousands of fans who inspire her daily, she continues to write because of them.