Sneak Peek Sunday … New Clashes and Old Hurts

Welcome to Sara Walter Ellwood’s Sneak Peek Sunday!

This past couple weeks, we’ve been enjoying a particularly pleasant turn of the season from summer to fall. Most days, we wake up to blessedly cool, crisp mornings and dew on the grass, but the afternoon temps climb into the sunny 70s and 80s. I’ll take this weather for as long as we can get it.

One thing I did this summer was dig into my TBR pile, and several fun reads were by authors I found right here on Sneak Peek Sunday. For readers of contemporary paranormal romance, I highly recommend Karen Michelle Nutt’s MAGIC OF THE LOCH, in which readers are introduced to the real  story behind the Legend of Loch Ness.  (And should I mention the sexy Scottish brothers who… ahem, you’ll find no spoilers here.) Check it out. ;).

A childhood promise bound them together.
A war and a secret tore them apart.

And now on to today’s peek. This is from ALWAYS, a heartwarming friends-to-lovers romance set in post Civil War Pennsylvania.

June 1865.
After four war-torn years away, Emily Winters returns to her home town determined to face down old rumors and do whatever it takes to resurrect her late father’s printing business.

Last week, Emily had just stepped off the train from Baltimore, where she’d been living with a maiden aunt. It took the news of her father’s sudden death to bring her home. On her way through town, she was shocked to run into her childhood best friend, Ross Gallagher, who had been reported killed during the war.

In today’s peek, Ross walks Emily home along the same country road they took as school children, and it’s not long before they fall back into the easy warm banter of their youth. That is, until Emily asks Ross what he’s doing for a living. Ross knows she won’t like his answer. He’s a reporter for the rival newspaper that helped drive Emily’s father out of business…

*

Silence. Ross turned to meet her hard stare. The afternoon breeze loosened a wisp of dark hair from her chignon to stray across her face. She batted it away, not taking her eyes from him. “The Herald. You’re working for that vile Malcolm Davenport. Again.”

And so there it was, hanging in the air between them. As damning as if no time had passed at all. Betrayal. “He offered me a job,” Ross said evenly. “Your father wasn’t in a position to do that.”

“You didn’t have to take it.”

Ross felt his own anger stirring. “What was I supposed to do? Starve on principle?”

“That wouldn’t have been a bad start. Many writers do.”

“Your father understood my position, Emily. Why can’t you?”

“I’m not my father.”

*

It looks like time might not have healed all wounds.  The war has taught Ross that life can be short and fate can be cruel. A man must take opportunities when they’re offered.  But will Emily be able to put past hurts behind them?

For more sneak peeks, hop on over to SNEAK PEEK SUNDAY HERE!