by Alicia Rae
“Mommy has a big heart,” Kyle chimed in and then outstretched his hands to Michael. “Come on, little guy. Let’s go make some super big chocolate s’mores.”
“Daddy! Daddy!” Natalie Ann caught up to us and reached for her dad’s hand. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulder, making me realize she was looking more and more like me every day. “Can I make s’mores, too?”
“Of course you can, beautiful girl,” he said, clasping her hand.
Staying back far enough from the flames, I sat back in my former chair, watching my husband teach our two precious children how to make perfectly golden marshmallows.
As I watched my family surrounding us, listening to their laughter, I knew I had been blessed beyond my wildest dreams.
When I’d lost my parents and sister nearly ten years ago, I’d thought that was it for me, that nothing else would ever matter, and that I would never love another soul the way I loved my family because I feared losing anyone else.
Today, I knew the pain would never go away. My family would always be missing from my life. But it was like a wound. It would heal, but the scar would forever remain.
Every day, I was thankful that I had taken the chance to live and love again. The reward and love in my life thoroughly filled every part of my heart and soul, making it truly overflow with happiness beyond anything I had ever dreamed possible.
I’d learned that we might not be able to rewrite our past, but we hold the power to write our future.
A SPECIAL TEASER OF MY NEW SERIES,
FATE FOR LOVE,
FEATURING GARY TAYLOR AS THE MUSE.
ENDURING FATE, BOOK ONE,
WILL BE RELEASED ON DECEMBER 30, 2014.
I HOPE YOU WILL ALL JOIN ME FOR THE BEGINNING OF
COLTON AND PAIGE’S HEARTFELT JOURNEY.
MUCH LOVE.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to read my book. I hope you enjoyed Blake and Audrey’s story as much as I loved writing it.
The Beautiful Series and each character will always have a very special place in my heart. For those of you who ask if I will continue this series, I cannot give you a definite answer. All I can say is, you never know what the future holds…
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I have so many wonderful people to thank. Each person has truly been a blessing throughout this new chapter in my life.
First and foremost, I cannot express enough thanks to my remarkably talented editor, Jovana Shirley, at Unforeseen Editing. She was the first person I met when I started this journey of writing, and I’m forever grateful for her friendship, advice, and the endless late nights she shared with me while perfecting every single word of this series. She took my original manuscripts and made them shine. Thank you for your continued dedication and hard work! Much love, lady!
To my family, who has always supported me with unconditional love, even during the past year and a half when I practically lived in my writing cave—Thank you, and I love you all dearly. *Hugs*
To Bryce Trevino and Stacey Lee—Thank you so much for hiking all over my farm to take pictures for the cover of this novel. You both were beyond amazing. I had so much fun! And a special thank you to Bryce for your service to our country and also for answering all my Marines questions. It really made this novel all that it could be.
To Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations—Thank you for taking all the photographs and creating a work of art for The Beautiful Series. I am in awe of your extraordinary talent, and I absolutely love the beautiful final covers.
To my dear husband, Travis—A special thanks for taking the time to read my manuscript at a moment’s notice, giving me sincere words of affirmation when I needed them the most, and for always being my rock.
To all my beta readers—Thank you for your countless hours of reading the series and for giving me that push I needed with your kind and encouraging words. You all help me perfect my work and make it the best it can be, and I’m extremely thankful to each of you.
To Tammie Lee—Thank you for all of your heartfelt thoughts and suggestions for my manuscripts, the way you always go above and beyond for me and my books, our late-night messaging filled with laugher, and most of all, for being such a dear friend. Many hugs and kisses.
To the many bloggers who put their hearts and precious time into reading and promoting my book—Many, many thanks to you all! Truly, I’m deeply humbled and grateful for all that you do for us authors, and even more importantly, for the many friendships I’ve made along the way.
To all the ladies at InkSlinger PR and Literati Author Services—Thank you for your guidance and hard work in organizing my blog tours, cover reveals, giveaways, and so much more. Without you, I never would have known what steps to take.
To all fellow authors who have become friends—Thank you for writing books where I can lose myself for hours and for inspiring me to write love stories of my own. You have all welcomed me with open arms, and I’m extremely thankful.
And especially to my readers—I can never thank you enough for reading my book. All your support means the world to me.