Loving Gabriel- Published by Whiskey Creek Press-Torrid.
This category romance was inspired by a life long love of romance novels which I began reading at thirteen. I strayed away for a while as an adult because I grew tired of the paint by numbers situations and characters that I sometimes read about. One of the aims in writing this story was to show that love and passion sometimes come in shades of gray. I also felt a void when looking for characters with strong ethnic backgrounds and heritages. This story is an interracial love story involving the untypical combination of Chinese and Spanish characters. In our multi-racial societies I tried not to make race the main conflict that the mixed race couple faces. I wanted to look beyond that and portray them as just people with problems to work out. One of my biggest complaints with too many traditional romances is that they make their hero more perfect than he needs to be. Though he may have his faults he is always strong. In LOVING GABRIEL, I wanted to explore what would happen when a man acted from a place of weakness and abused his wife. The issue was personal to me because my parents lived in that situation for a short time. But my father passed away before I was old enough to wonder if there could be love after abuse. Gabriel and Jade wrestle with this question and in the end love prevailed. Leaving her high profile, tumultuous marriage was the hardest thing Jade Lopez had ever done. Under a cloud of scandal that became tabloid gold, she moves back to her hometown in South Florida, with their seven-year-old daughter Isabella and the memories of a love she’d thought would last forever. Jade’s leaving was a wake-up call for her husband Gabriel. A famous musician, living in the limelight had become his passion-until he’s forced to live without his wife and child. He tries to repair their fragile relationship by moving back home to Florida and the past he’d rather leave behind. Through anger, bitterness, a stalker and a fiery passion they’ve never been able to deny, Gabriel and Jade must fight to find the love capable of conquering everything else. How these two people struggle to overcome everything that stands in the way of their love define what a romance novel should be. The raw passion they share shows what an erotic novel should be. My main aim in marrying the two genres is to show people that sex doesn’t have to involve a threesome to be hot. I am an eternal romantic and believe strongly that the best sex is with someone you love.
Read an excerpt!
“Do you think that I’m such an animal that you can’t spend a night in the same house as me?” he asked angrily.
“I don’t think that you’re an animal, Gabriel.” Her eyes trailed around the living room. “It’s being in our house, well, it’s not really our house anymore now, is it? I just can’t imagine another family living here.” She swiped away her tears. “I thought we would grow old in this house.”
“You’re the one who walked out.”
“You pushed me out,” she spat through clenched teeth.
“You already had one foot out the door.” Gabriel ran frustrated fingers through his hair. “God, Jade, we just seem to be going around in circles. I don’t want to live life this anymore.” He reached out and took her hand. “Can we just agree that we both made mistakes and try to make things work?”
She pulled away from him. “Don’t dump this on me right now, Gabriel. I’ve got enough to deal with.”
“I won’t ask you to come back to me if that’s what you’re afraid of,” he said. “But I do have to ask for your forgiveness. It may be difficult to do that right now but I hope that in time you will. Maybe we can even get back together but right now I’m not asking for a miracle, just a chance at redemption. I should never have hit you. It doesn’t matter about my past or if you provoked a fight. There’s no excuse for a man to hit a woman. I’m sorry for all the hurt I caused you and I want to try and make it up to you.”
Jade backed away from him. “You said that you wouldn’t do this,” she reminded him.
“I’m not asking you to take me back, Jade. I just want you to open your heart to the possibility of one day forgiving me. No man should ever do what I did to the woman I was supposed to love more than life itself. If it was every night or only once or twice, there was no excuse.”
He moved closer to her and took her hands again. He looked deeply into her eyes. “I’ve had a lot of time to think and a good friend to help me see what I couldn’t. I’m not proud of who I’ve become but I can’t let that part of myself overshadow my future, our future, whatever that may be.”
Jade knew how hard it was for him to be so vulnerable. “I want us to move beyond our past too. I’ve also been doing a lot of soul searching and I know that I wasn’t an ideal wife. I don’t want this pain as a constant companion anymore.” Her voice cracked and she squeezed his hand. “It will just take some time.”
“I know,” he whispered.
As they stared into each other’s eyes, Jade recalled how good it felt to sink into his arms. His body was hard, yet soft where she needed it to be. His eyes made her forget everything but how much she still wanted him. As Gabriel caressed her hand, she sighed, the small sound expelling a little of her resistance. When he pulled her to him, she slipped into his arms. His breath on her face made her knees weak.
I just need one taste, she told herself. She placed her hand on his chest, felt his steady heartbeat. Even in his weakest moments, he had a quiet strength. She needed that strength. Right then, the woman in her, just needed the man in him.
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Coffee Time Romance Review!
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LOVING GABRIEL Jade is on the verge of losing the love of her life. She just cannot take the pain and abuse any longer. Her marriage is in shambles and it is time to let go, even if her heart tells her otherwise. Gabriel is a very successful musician. He only wishes his marriage was as strong as his career. He can pour out his heart with his music, why is he unable to do the same with his wife. Jades’ betrayal is the last straw, and Gabriel snaps. Their marriage is finally over; Jade had left. The fact that he still loves her is of little consequence. Jade just cannot take the abuse any longer, so with her daughter Isabella she goes home to her parents. Leaving Gabriel is the hardest thing that she has ever done. She loves that man with every fiber of her being, but their problems have finally become too much to bear. They both need some breathing room to sort out their feelings. To heal they will have to forgive each other as well as themselves, but is it too late? Have they caused each other so much pain that love will never be enough? This is a powerful story of a marriage marred by the ugliness of abuse. I found myself wanting to dislike Gabriel right away, but the fault is always two sided. Jade’s character is not innocent when it comes to the abuse, although it is more emotional than physical, it is just as destructive. Gabriel lashes back physically, and this sends their marriage into a tailspin. The desire to see these two give each other a second chance is not something I expected to feel at first, but as the story progresses I was cheering them on. Ms. Grace pours her heart and soul into her characters, and this story is a rounding success to her talent. Lototy |
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