Tag Archives: Kindle Unlimited reads

TWICE A BROKEN BREATH

Posted on by September 22, 2023

 

Hi, Friends:

I’m happy to announce that I’ve just published my 13th book and first suspense novel, Twice a Broken Breath.

Although many of my novels have suspenseful elements in them, this is the first story that is officially in the suspense genre. I came close in my last book, All That Was Taken, a suspenseful love story. The setting in that book, a sleepy beach town on the California coast, couldn’t be more different from the unique, electric pace of New York City in Twice a Broken Breath.

While several characters in my previous novels ventured into “The Big Apple,” this is the first book set there.

Here’s the blurb:

She stole his world. He’s got twenty-four hours to get it back.

Although Liam Tallamore can’t remember the first fourteen years of his life, he’s built a happy home with his wife, Carly, and their two children in suburban New Jersey … until one Friday afternoon when everything changes.

While cashing his paycheck, he’s told his bank accounts have been emptied. Once at home, he learns Carly has left him for her first love—one he never knew existed. Most devastating of all, she’s taken their eight-year-old daughter, Rayelle, and is preparing to leave the country. As if things couldn’t get worse, he has no idea where their twenty-year-old son is or why he’s been unreachable for the past two months.

With total distrust in law enforcement and no clues to guide him, Liam hops on a train to New York City, Carly’s hometown. Through the next twenty-four hours, Liam goes on a wild, unforgiving, frantic search through rain-soaked Manhattan, experiencing the brightest and the darkest humanity has to offer. This is the story of a man who refuses to quit, determined to find “a needle in a haystack,” and who, in searching for the children he loves, doesn’t yet realize he’s searching for himself as well.

* * *

Twice a Broken Breath is both a plot-driven and a character-driven story. It was exciting to write a book that had so much happening in such a limited amount of time. Interestingly enough, during the time I wrote the bulk of the book, here in Los Angeles, we had the longest stretch of rain I can ever remember here. So, as I wrote one rainy scene after another, I thanked Mother Nature for accommodating me with such inspiring sound effects.

The writing of this book held so many surprises for me. Several minor characters ended up having a role in the story that I hadn’t foreseen. As I’m sure many writers can relate to, sometimes we are the last to know what secrets the characters hold or the importance they play in our story. The ending was the dead last thing I could have imagined. It’s special when stories are told to the storyteller.

Lastly, I’d like to share this book trailer, put together for me by the talented Kathleen Harryman. (If you’re interested, visit her website and see what she can do for you.) Thank you, Kathleen!

Twice a Broken Breath, like all of my books, is available in Kindle or paperback, and is free to Kindle Unlimited readers.

You can purchase the book here: mybook.to/TwiceBroken

Thanks for stopping by.

Best wishes to all,

Lisette

THE SUM OF OUR SORROWS

Posted on by October 31, 2020

 

 

Hi, Friends:

I’m happy to announce the publication of my tenth book, a contemporary novel, The Sum of our Sorrows.

People often ask me how I get an idea for a particular book. Sometimes, I’m able to be very precise in my response and at other times, it’s not as easy.

I first got the idea for “this novel” well over a decade ago. I put those words in quotes, because then, it was a very different book, and what swirled about in my brain, I wasn’t ready to put down “on paper.” Not then.

In November of 2019, I finally felt ready to write the story, which has gone through quite a metamorphosis in my head before I wrote the first word. My original idea was to paint an intimate portrait of a relationship between two specific characters.

Years after my initial concept, I decided that the female protagonist would follow the storyline of song lyrics I wrote in another lifetime. My song, “Dear Sweet Melanie” was about a teenager whose mother had died and her entire life was lost because her father forced her to take on the role of mother to her sisters. The song (later recorded by a friend) was only mean​t​ to paint a mini portrait, whereas the story in this book is far more expansive and stars a very different person.

Lily Sheppard, the main character in The Sum of our Sorrows, has a similar story, but Lily is stronger than the tragic character of Melanie. Lily’s story is also more modern than my melodramatic song, which was more akin to Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey” for those of you who can remember that far back.

As I began to write Lily’s story, it became clear that this book would be​ about the entire Sheppard family, far more complex and nuanced than I had intended. I needed to tell the story of this family, front and center, and that all of the plots and plot twists I’d had for the end of the book had to be gone. They were no longer relevant and no longer mattered. The Sum of our Sorrows had morphed into something very different … good different, and very soon it became a story I was passionate to tell.

In today’s world, where so many of us have lost loved ones and are having trouble moving on, and dragging our grief like heavy chains, The Sum of our Sorrows, as it is now, became a very important one for me to write.

Here’s the blurb:

In an idyllic suburb in Northern California, tragedy strikes the Sheppard family when Abby, the mother of three daughters and wife to Dalton, is killed in a car accident. Charlotte, the middle daughter, is in the car with her mother and survives without physical injury but remains deeply scarred on the inside.

Dalton tells Lily, his eldest daughter, that she must sacrifice long-awaited college plans and put her life on hold to take care of her sisters. Lily is torn between her devotion to family and an increasing need to find her place in the world — but how can she leave, knowing her family may crumble? Will her presence eventually cause more problems than it resolves?

The Sum of our Sorrows reveals how the aftermath of a family tragedy can precipitate sorrows never imagined. It is a tale of grief, hope, healing, coming-of-age, friendship, and survival. It is also a love story of two broken souls living through pain in search of better days and the renewal of one’s spirit.

The Sum of our Sorrows is available in paperback and Kindle editions. It is also free to read in Kindle Unlimited.

The Sum of our Sorrows Amazon page