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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Excerpt and Giveaway: Behind the Glass by Kristen Morgen

Published: June 30th, 2014

Description:

Rebecca Jordan’s life is simple, disciplined and uncomplicated, at least on the surface. Then she meets a handsome stranger/secret admirer named Michael Vale one fateful late night at a bookstore café. As a focused but struggling photographer with a passion for art, her outwardly happy world is turned upside down during this life-changing encounter when she quickly realizes she has met her soul mate. The undeniable attraction between them and their intense, immediate connection seem picture perfect as they discuss the shop’s local artwork, until Rebecca abruptly ends the chance meeting with no explanation.

Betraying Brett, her loyal, loving boyfriend is something she can never bring herself to do. Driven by a strong moral code and molded by divorced parents and a tumultuous childhood, she struggles to stay away from Michael, but fate and circumstance intervene, bringing them back together time and time again. As much as she resists, there is no denying her true feelings for him and the simple fact that Michael understands her in a way Brett never has. Michael proves to be everything she’s ever wanted, but remains just out of her reach.

Behind the Glass tells the story of Michael and Rebecca’s extraordinary love and the many unconventional stages their relationship must go through. Their morals and their faith in true love and in each other will be put to the test as they learn that meeting one’s soul mate does not come without obstacles.


EXCERPT





“I’ve tried to stay away from you, Rebecca. Believe me, I’ve tried. But tonight, like I said, I had a moment of weakness.” He locked eyes with her again.

As she slowly thought this through, something occurred to her.

“But, what about the bookstore?”

A look of genuine conflict crossed his face.

“I promised to leave you alone, to let you have your place to escape. It took all of my will power to stay away, knowing you were there.” He looked down after he spoke.

“So, why now? Why here?” she asked, hoping he would look at her again.

“Like you said, Claire’s persistence is … impressive, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself from coming knowing you would be here. I’m sorry,” he said, as his eyes met hers again.

“You’re sorry?” she sighed, realizing the irony of the situation.

As she looked at him, images of her dreams filled her mind, followed by the intense guilt from this morning and for what she felt at this moment. She couldn’t deny the unexplainable completeness she felt when they were together, and she knew it was unlike anything she had experienced with Brett. It wasn’t until she met Michael that she truly understood the difference. She also knew she simply didn’t have it in her to be unfaithful to Brett or to break his heart. Her personal principles forbade it. She would never adequately be able to convey how sorry she was.

She could feel the sudden tears brimming in her eyes, betraying her.

“I shouldn’t have come. It was selfish. The last thing I wanted to do was upset you. Please forgive me.”

As he spoke, he automatically brushed his hand over her cheek, comforting her.

His very touch sent unexpected shivers down her spine and made her tremble slightly. She lightly caught her breath as she unconsciously leaned upward toward him. It seemed the closer they were to each other the more intensely drawn to him she became. At this moment, her actions were admittedly somewhat out of her control.

In response, his grip became slightly firmer and his hand moved back toward her neck. He leaned in slowly, trying to control himself but she was quickly moving in toward him at the same time. Their faces remained inches apart for what felt like an eternity, neither of them daring to cross the line.

They gazed deeply into each others’ eyes until finally Michael closed his and gently kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes at the gentle touch of his lips to her skin. Slowly their hands naturally found each other as they stood with only their foreheads touching for several minutes until Rebecca finally spoke.

“I can’t,” she whispered with tears streaming down her face.

“I know,” he whispered back, “it’s okay.” His voice was amazingly soothing.

This however, was anything but okay, and Rebecca desperately wished she could stay here with him like this forever. She had never felt conflict like this in her life. She wished she could put her conscience on hold and think with her heart instead of her head for once. She realized all too clearly that her dream had become reality.

As if on cue, a knock at the front door interrupted them.

They both flinched guiltily and took a step back from each other. Rebecca quickly wiped the tears from her face as she tried to compose herself. Michael sighed and gave her a long solemn look before he turned toward the foyer to answer the door.



About the author:
Kristen Morgen, an up and coming new adult contemporary romance author, can’t remember a time in her life when she didn’t crave designing, creating, discovering, and using her imagination in some way. Educated and trained as a licensed architect and working at her own architectural firm for many years, her true passion has always been writing. An avid reader from a very early age, the romance genre is admittedly her favorite guilty pleasure - a hopeless romantic to the end.

Kristen loves the art of shaping words and sentences into relatable stories while creating rich characters for her readers to connect with. She enjoys exploring relationships and discovering the little reasons people fall in love with each other while uncovering deeper truths. Honing her craft in her free time and choosing exactly the type of story she wanted to tell, Kristen presents Behind the Glass as her debut novel.

Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, she currently resides in Connecticut with her husband and two daughters. Never one to let her creative mind sit idle for very long, in her free time she is currently hard at work on her next novel and reads almost anything she can get her hands on. 


3 comments:

Jolanda said...

Yes because of the blurb I definitely want to find out what happens.

Unknown said...

Look forward to reading your work

Cheryl R said...

I like that you portray the fact that any relationships has obstacles whether they be large ones ( Like it seems here) or small ones. Thanks for the great giveaway!