Old Castle Secrets by Amanda Daire ~ Excerpt
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About Old Castle Secrets by Amanda Daire
Title: Old Castle Secrets
Author: Amanda Daire
Series: Happil-TEA Ever After #1
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Three generations of heartbreak. One chance to heal old wounds.
“I never want to see you again!” Khrista didn’t believe her daughter when she stormed out of her life five years ago. But every day since, her daughter’s angry words have echoed in Khrista’s mind, even as she tries to hide the truth from her chosen family–the community that raised her.Finding solace in her preschool classroom by day and her whisky by night, Khrista is forced to confront her pride and her problems when someone from her past brings news that threatens to drive her deeper into the danger zone.
Kaelyn loves the life she built–doting husband, dream home by the beach, and a baby on the way. But when her long-lost grandmother contacts her out of the blue, life starts feeling off-kilter. She’s eager to have a blood relation to love, but meeting her grandmother again uncovers painful feelings about her own mother she keeps buried.
Estranged from her daughter and granddaughter for over twenty years, Daisy hasn’t had an easy life. But with the death of her abusive husband, she’s determined to start living. Step one: find her granddaughter, whom she hasn’t seen since the child was five. Maybe a reunion with Kaelyn will lead to mending fences with Khrista, too, and allow Daisy to rectify all the wrongs and fix everything before it’s too late.
Join the O’Donnell women on their quest for forgiveness and family and love.
Excerpt from Old Castle Secrets
© 2022
Amanda Daire
Always in tune with her feelings, even when she wished he wouldn’t be, Oliver reached out his hand and gripped Kaelyn’s bare knee. The sensation of his rough fingers on her freshly shaved skin sent chills throughout her body, but mostly his gentle and comforting touch quieted her mind momentarily. If only she could bottle him up—his very essence—and take him like Xanax.
“Hey, love, you seem distant today. Is everything all right?”
She continued gazing out the window, not wanting to alarm him, but not sure how to express that everything could not be okay when so much of the world was falling to decay around them. He would laugh at her if he heard her thoughts and tell her that one nearly condemned property in an area of million-dollar homes did not mean something would go wrong with their baby.
She knew he would offer this assurance, and she knew she should believe him.
Instead of letting him into her thoughts as she normally did, Kaelyn muttered that she was okay. She hoped he would drop it and continue buzzing about the upcoming ultrasound. She needed his excitement. Needed his positive energy.
“Be honest with me, love. Are you having doubts about the baby?”
She gasped. “Of course not!”
Her sharpness made him jump, his shoulders rising in reaction to the startling noise that had emanated from deep within her body and cascaded out of her mouth in a roar.
She softened her tone and tried to smile. “This is the happiest accident ever.”
They had wanted kids together; they just hadn’t talked about when. She had missed a few birth control pills when things were crazy at work, but she hadn’t thought it would be a problem.
Her hand moved to her belly.
It wasn’t a problem. She was delighted. Nothing could keep her from feeling happy about this new life blossoming inside her. This baby may not have been planned, but he was far from an accident.
“It’s okay if you’re having worries or concerns. People go through all sorts of emotions when they find out their lives are going to change.”
“Are you having doubts?” She didn’t want to believe it could be true, but maybe Oliver’s questions were a way for him to open the door to admitting he thought going through with this pregnancy was a mistake.
As much as she loved him and practically worshiped him and his goodness, she would leave him if it meant saving her baby.
“My turn to say, ‘Of course not.’ I’ve never been happier. But if the daggers you’re flinging at me are any indication, I fear suddenly that my place in this family may be in jeopardy and you may kill me in my sleep if you sense I could have doubts.”
He laughed and squeezed her knee, and she so badly wanted to laugh as well.
A small chuckle may have wiggled its way from her throat, but if she actually did laugh, it was a product of being on social autopilot and not a reflection of joy or good humor.
Where was the joy and good humor she normally had?
She was happy, darn it! She had everything. Everything.
And yet…
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About Amanda Daire
Amanda loves spending time with her adult children and her real-life hero. She is obsessed with bookstores, trees, elephants, castles, tea, and traveling (and a lot more, but she thought this should be brief.)
Amanda enjoys writing about complicated family dynamics, flawed characters who could be your friends, and healing hearts. But no matter how emotional the story may be, she prides herself on ending in the most uplifting way possible and maintaining hope through any hardship. Amanda is a USA Today best-selling author of romance under another name.
Amanda especially loves connecting with readers and inviting people into her “chosen family” circle. She welcomes you to sign up for her newsletter and to follow her on social media.
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