Hope. Dreams. Life... Love: The Calm I Seek

The Calm I Seek

by Christina Lourens

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GENRE: Inspirational fiction

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BLURB:

With love, betrayal and grief disrupting her perfectly peaceful life, will she fight for the happiness she deserves?

After the violent death of her husband, Rebecca Holmes is content leading a quiet life spending time with her sisters and niece. When her younger sister Hannah asks her to plan her wedding, Rebecca discovers her friends and family all think her life is empty. Determined to prove them wrong, Rebecca takes up salsa lessons where she meets the charismatic salsa teacher, Gabriel Rodriguez.

Falling in love is the last thing Rebecca wanted to do, but she is inexplicably drawn to Gabriel. Opening her heart again is terrifying, especially after what happened with her late husband. With the help of the local vicar, Rebecca starts to believe that maybe she deserves a happy ending after all.

Just when she’s decided to give her heart to Gabriel, a betrayal brings back demons from the past. Heartbroken, Rebecca closes herself off again, but when disaster strikes her family, she is forced to confront her past actions. Can there be redemption for her and can she forgive those who betrayed her?

The Calm I Seek is a heartbreaking novel about forgiveness and redemption.

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EXCERPT:

When I was ready to leave, Gabriel stepped to my side.

“Did you enjoy it?” he asked.

I hadn’t enjoyed the lesson, but I had enjoyed the teacher. I couldn’t very well tell him that though. “Yeah.”

“So that’s a no, then,” he said. “What did you not like about it? You didn’t do badly today. I hope you’ll come again.”

“I’m not going to quit. I promised my friend I would try it for the duration of the course and I will.”

“Sounds like you didn’t really want to do this in the first place.” Gabriel frowned. “Why did you sign up?”

“To shut up my friend and sisters who think I need some excitement in my life.” Why did I confess this to a stranger? I could have given any kind of explanation.

“And do you need excitement in your life?” he asked with a mischievous smile.

“Not really. But when all your friends and family pester you to do something, it’s hard not to cave under pressure.”

Gabriel smiled as if what I said resonated with him. “Well, I hope you’ll come again next week and start enjoying the lessons for yourself, not just because you were bullied into it.”

Ah. I shouldn’t have told him I’d only signed up to shut up my family. He was excited about salsa—as he should be, being the teacher and all that—and here I was being all Debbie Downer on him. I flashed him a smile I hoped looked sincere. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy it more when I get a bit better at it.”

“Believe me, you’re not that bad.”

Right. He probably told everyone that.

“Anyhow, see you next week,” I said brightly. With a wave, I headed for the door.

It hadn’t been a horrible experience, but neither had it been fun. The only bright spot had been Gabriel. The effect he had had on me was surprising. Had I imagined it, or had there been a spark between us? Or had I been so long out of the dating game that I fell for the first man who came close to me? All I knew was that his charm and enthusiasm had an intoxicating effect on me, and I resolved to steel my heart against him the next lesson.

Dancing lessons was one thing, but I couldn’t afford to fall for a man again. Not after I had so carefully set up my life to be independent. Not after I had finally gotten my sanity back.

A Word With the Author:

1.Did you always want to be an author?

I started writing when I was twelve. My father had gotten a Commodore Amiga (yes, I’m that old!) and on Sundays, two of my sisters and I would sit in our father’s study and write stories. I don’t think I consciously wanted to be a writer back then, I just loved writing stories. The first “novel” I wrote was actually a fan fiction story based on The Flying Doctors. I even remember the name: The Laugh of the Koockaburra.

I kept writing stories and novels throughout my university years while I studied English Language and Literature, but I never really took my writing seriously. It’s very difficult to get published and there’s not much money in writing, so I decided to take my career in a different direction.

About eight years ago, I picked up writing again and decided to become more serious about it. I wrote The Calm I Seek about four years ago and have spent years editing and rewriting it. I’m still working full time in my other job, but I’m committed to being a writer as well.

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.

The Calm I Seek is my first book. I knew early on that I didn’t want to be published by a traditional publisher. I have a demanding full time job and I didn’t want to be held to a publisher’s timeline. I was fortunate enough to be able to afford a professional editor and cover artist, so I could produce a professional book. It still took me about four years from writing my book to publishing it, as it took several rewrites and edits to get it perfect. But I’m very happy with the end results and hope my readers will agree with me.

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

I’d have to say Karen Kingsbury and Deborah Raney.

4.What's the best part of being an author? The worst?

The best part of being a writer is the ability to create characters and to lose myself in a world I created. Writing also helps me work through some things in my life. While my novels are not autobiographical, I do draw on my own experiences for the themes in my books.

The worst part is the self-doubt. I’m fortunate to be part of a writing group where we critique each other’s work, which is very good as a sounding board. I can be very hard on myself and my writing and often consider scrapping a book when I’m only half way through. Having a different person’s perspective on my writing really helps.

5.What are you working on now?

I’m currently starting a new novel. I’m just in the planning stage, so I can’t say too much, but it will centre around a family again. I love exploring family relationships in my books. I’m hoping to publish this book next year. I definitely won’t take four years to edit and rewrite the book!

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Christina Lourens has always been passionate about writing, but life got in the way of her writing career. She’s never given up and can be found writing in the evenings and on weekends, often accompanied by her pug. When she’s not writing, Christina keeps busy at the day job (until her writing career takes off) or snuggles up on the couch with a book. She loves crocheting, but because of her busy life, crocheting projects tend to take a long time to be finished.

Christina has lived in three countries, but is currently living in the UK with her husband of 20 years, their two children, pug, canary and pheasant.

The Calm I Seek is her first novel.

Links:

Website: https://christinawritesromance.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@CK_Romance

Buy links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Calm-Seek-heartbreaking-redemption-forgiveness/dp/1838115803/

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-calm-i-seek-christina-lourens/1137305176

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-calm-i-seek

Apple books: https://books.apple.com/gb/book/the-calm-i-seek/id1522365717

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