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About Lake Taimana by Stephanie Ruth
Title: Lake Taimana
Author: Stephanie Ruth
Series: Otago Waters #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
What does it take to shift deep-seated betrayal?
Adele Fergus switched back to her maiden name with plans to never look back—never think about her naïve, short-lived marriage to James Montague. But that was before he turned up on her Wanaka doorstep with her missing diamonds, a crazy back-story, and persistent requests for visitation with his ex-stepdaughter.
Adele’s hell-bent on keeping James at arms-length, but it’s not easy with old attractions still running hot. What’s more, she’s beginning to suspect she may have left him on false information.
Divorce was never in James’ game-plan, so when his ex-wife’s jewellery comes to light, he’s drawn back to her—welcome or not—and he isn’t leaving until he has all the answers.
The more the exes re-learn to trust each other, the more they come to realise someone was intent on dragging them apart from the very beginning. Someone close.
Is it worth risking everything to start again?
Excerpt from Lake Taimana
© 2022
Stephanie Ruth
“Don’t move,” she whispered, sure if he touched her, they’d both go up in smoke. “Not a goddamn muscle.”
Groaning at the order, clearly not within his own game-plan, James nevertheless re-laced his fingers securely out of harm’s way. The action left his arms akimbo, torso at Adele’s mercy. To make sure it stayed that way, she brought her hands up to press his tensed forearms into the cushioned leather.
Adele hadn’t meant to make a sound, but it was with a whimper her mouth touched James’. Soft and tentative—the antithesis of the last time these body parts had met.
And oh, oh, oh. The taste of him, the bittersweet memories of all they’d been, and all they’d gone through.
James remained a non-threatening participant through all of it—meeting Adele at her own pace without pushing for more. He let her pick her own way through the sadness of loss to the bliss of the physical realm, where each breath was a miracle of exquisite sensation.
Each whisper of lip against lip ignited an explosion of light against the back of her eyelids.
A.J.…Her James, and the goodbye kiss she’d never allowed herself.
Her breath hitched on a single sob, and she pulled back from him, blinking away the wetness. Realising how tightly she was gripping his arms, she released them too, noting the colour flowing back into her white fingerprints with a strange sense of detachment.
Not a good idea, after all. Not the least bit smart. Rather than smother something, that kiss had re-lit a whole bag of Tom-thumbs. Not only could Adele see it burning in the intensity of James’ eyes, she could feel it fizzing and pulsing through her own body with a heat akin to pain—like freshly warmed blood to long-cold extremities.
A reminder. A warning.
A frickin’ fog horn of a wake-up call.
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About Stephanie Ruth
Award winning New Zealand contemporary romance novelist and short story writer, Stephanie Ruth lives in the South Island, Te Waipounamu, with her husband, three children, and an ever expanding array of animals. If it doesn’t have a happy ending in some form or other, Stephanie’s not writing it.
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