but normal…
Dani Shane just wants her daughter to have what she never did—a normal life.
But “normal” leaves the equation when sixteen-year old Riley is found talking
to Dani’s only friend, Alex—who has been dead for forty years.
In the small river town of
Dani never fit in. Being different pushed her to the fringes of society, and
even leaving town for two decades didn’t stop the talk. Now that she’s back, so
is Alex. Mischievous and sexy and still hot enough to melt her shoes. Between
his popping in at inopportune moments and her having to hide her daughter’s new
talent, Dani fears that her plans for staying under the radar may be
short-lived.
As Dani scrambles to get solid footing under her family, secrets buried for
forty years begin to unearth themselves. She and Alex have always been
connected, but he is hiding something. The computer is making her hear things.
Weird memories that she doesn’t recognize keep popping up in her mind. Then
there’s that little thing she hasn’t told her daughter yet—that some of the
people she sees aren’t breathing.
forty it sucks the life out of you. This thought squeezed my brain on the
six-hour drive to
ninety-ninth time, eyeing every exit ramp as a potential escape hatch. As we
got closer to the dark clouds looming above my hometown, in a Ford Escort with
no air-conditioning and my sixteen-year-old daughter hanging her naked legs out
the window to dry her pretty little coral toes, I felt the options slipping.
One by one.
to have a destination. My dad loves me, and he’s never judged. But this time
was no visit. It was the real deal, with bath towels and Tupperware and
everything that would fit in a U-Haul trailer. My head started to bang out a
rhythm just thinking about it, but I knew it was the smart thing to do. I’d
tried everything after losing my job, and despite the number of times I pushed
reality aside, it kept waving at me.
I had to keep a roof over her head, and I couldn’t afford to be choosy on what
roof that was. We would be okay. I glanced over at her, eyes closed, jamming to
whatever her iPod was pumping into her head, and I prayed she would be okay.
That she wouldn’t be tainted by association with me.
Podunk?” she said after we drove through Restin, the nearest big town. Not big like high-rises. Big like it has a Walmart.
of THE REASON IS YOU, BEFORE AND EVER SINCE, and the e-novella JUST ONE DAY. Being a
girl through and through, she’s proud to say she lives in
Texas
cockatiels.
and chats, and loves connecting with her readers! See her website
www.sharlalovelace.com for book discussion questions, events, and to sign up
for her monthly newsletter.
stores)
available May 7th, and for preorder now!
forward.”
new mass mkt at B&N!
also available anywhere books are sold.
