Welcome to my tour stop for How to Woo a Widow by Barbara Allen! This is book one of the Widow Trilogy and is a contemporary women's fiction novel. The tour runs April 11-22 with reviews, interviews, guest posts and excerpts. Check out the tour page for the full schedule.
About the Book:Fate may have had its way with the Hamilton sisters, but their destinies are still up for grabs….
Something has to be done about the Hamilton sisters. Faith and Claire Hamilton are so focused on avoiding their pain that they are forgetting how to truly live. Fortunately for them, feisty family friend Ollie knows a little something about what it’s like to cope with the death of a husband. She also knows how to mix a splash of fun into the process. Now, she is determined to impart the lessons she’s learned on the two young widows she loves like daughters. Her efforts start discreetly; Faith doesn’t even realize she is being nudged into the arms of the man she has been denying her attraction to, and Claire’s long-buried lust for life is reignited by a challenging new job. With Ollie’s touch, massive meltdowns are turned into hilarious moments and the weight of shameful secrets is unburdened. Neither sister has any idea Ollie is mentoring the men who have fallen for them in the fine art of widow-wooing, and no one can predict how her students or protégées will fare. How to Woo a Widow is the first of the Widow Trilogy, Life After Death
***EXCERPT***
Hours
passed. Wine bottles emptied. And the women basked in the soothing,
freshly washed summer air. A twinkle here and a twinkle there gave
way to shimmering waves of fireflies dancing in the night. Their
pulsating glows invited the women to fall under their spell as Nature
hypnotized them, one at a time.
Ellen
gave up trying to squeeze on the glider with Claire and Nancy. She
stumbled out the gazebo door, settling on the dock. Ollie was not far
behind her, sprawling out beside Ellen, luxuriating in the moment.
She felt more at peace than she had in quite some time and she knew
the rest of the women did, too. There was something powerful,
rejuvenating, about the types of nights they’d just had.
Such
nights are rare and warrant a certain amount of savoring. The
spiritual cleansing each sister had undergone extended to Ollie and
Nancy, for they were integral to the process and interwoven with the
girls. It is a privilege, Ollie believed, to be included in such an
event, and she knew it would be lodged in the parts of her memory she
reserved for the most sacred.
Ellen
was already fast asleep, using a golf cart seat for a cushion. Ollie
let her mind wander with her eyes, gazing into the starry night.
She’d gotten so swept up in the night with the girls she hadn’t
had time to mentally peruse the meeting she’d been coming home from
when she’d heard the raucous discord coming from Faith’s porch.
She
wanted to remember that meeting in detail, but had to settle for the
details she could access through the wine. She couldn’t be prouder
of Max. He was proving to be quite the scholar on all things widow.
She’d
gone after him yesterday after their brief chat. Told him he was
right, and she understood, but asked him to hear her out one more
time. He’d even agreed to bamboozle Colby into coming, under the
pretense of dinner with a buddy.
Colby
was no idiot. One look at Ollie seated beside Max, waiting for him at
Henry’s, and he’d known he’d walked into a trap. He and Max
never broke the Man Code by talking about women in any sort of
meaningful manner. Ollie, on the other hand, was under no such code
restrictions, and Colby wondered if she honestly believed he couldn’t
read right through her. The way she made sure to mention Claire had
turned down one date after another. The way she found endless
opportunities to point out to him how he’d be lucky to wind up with
a woman like Claire.
Sure,
in his head he still called her Vixen. And yes, he’d caught himself
letting his imagination run away with him. Wondered what it would be
like if they were together. But he’d just as quickly shaken it off.
*************
About the Author:
"Normal" is for other people. The more Barbara Allen fought to be normal, the harder life laughed at her. And just when she thought she'd got the last laugh, life turned against her in a tragedy that almost destroyed her.
Barbara was just 32 years old in 2005, when her world fell apart. Her husband had been murdered in Iraq at the hands of a fellow soldier. Barbara was left to raise four young boys - just 6,5,3,and 1 year old at the time their father was killed. She wanted to give up. She very nearly did. And yet, in the midst of the darkest moments, she always found some reason to take one more breath. Face one more day.
Slowly, she found the strength to piece herself back together as she flew to Kuwait for one military court proceeding, and then spent years traveling thousands of miles to all the rest. She learned to navigate the military's criminal justice system. She earned a Masters degree and wrote a book about her ordeal and the grave miscarriage of justice in this case. She learned how it could all have been prevented, and she began advocating for change so it would never happen again. Today, Barbara is deeply entrenched in veterans advocacy and her own steadfast pursuit of justice for her husband. She works as a Veterans Specialist and continues her fight to secure the Purple Heart for her husband. She has experienced impressive emotional face-plants and vast arrays of challenges- some self-inflicted, others randomly encountered. And she has acquired the skills to not just overcome it all, but to enjoy the ride.
Slowly, she found the strength to piece herself back together as she flew to Kuwait for one military court proceeding, and then spent years traveling thousands of miles to all the rest. She learned to navigate the military's criminal justice system. She earned a Masters degree and wrote a book about her ordeal and the grave miscarriage of justice in this case. She learned how it could all have been prevented, and she began advocating for change so it would never happen again. Today, Barbara is deeply entrenched in veterans advocacy and her own steadfast pursuit of justice for her husband. She works as a Veterans Specialist and continues her fight to secure the Purple Heart for her husband. She has experienced impressive emotional face-plants and vast arrays of challenges- some self-inflicted, others randomly encountered. And she has acquired the skills to not just overcome it all, but to enjoy the ride.
Barbara may have learned how to turn her adversity into an advantage in life, but this lesson did not come easily. And this upper hand must be diligently maintained. Now, Barbara brings her life lessons to her audiences in keynote speeches and custom programs. She relates to her audiences' lives and challenges, and teaches them how to become gladiators in their own life's arena.
***
GIVEAWAY:
$25 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
Ends 4/27
Prizing is provided by the author. You must be 13 or older to enter and have parental permission if under 18. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.
This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions
Thank you for hosting my book!
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