Sometimes you have to go more than halfway to meet in the middle.
Caitlin Moore has every reason to celebrate. She’s through with law-school finals, and out for some post-semester fun when she runs smack dab into Eamon Blake, the Irishman with whom she had a summer fling years ago. Time hasn’t dimmed their lingering friendship—or their sexual chemistry.
Eamon isn’t looking for love when he bumps into Cat while he’s in Seattle on a job. Yet over the next year, he finds himself involved in a rekindled long-distance romance that moves from casual to a lot more.
That’s the rub. Cat is determined not to repeat her past mistakes with men and give up the dream job for which she’s worked so hard. Independence is something she’s spent years achieving. Eamon can start over so much easier than she can—why shouldn’t he make the sacrifice this time?
But Eamon doesn’t much relish leaving the life he’s been building in Los Angeles—and he really doesn’t like ultimatums. At an impasse, goodbye seems the only direction to go. Ending it is the right thing to do…or the biggest mistake they ever made.
Warning: Like-whoa sexy Irishmen speaking French in the ear of a very willing Seattleite. Sexin with all the big words.
This week, my contemporary romance, ALWAYS, released from Samhain Publishing. I’ve written elsewhere about how it’s a very simple story about two people who need to make hard choices to remain together. It’s simple because the problems are like many you and I face – how to balance your needs and wants with your partner’s. So I won’t bore you all with that, LOL.
Every time I write a book, there’s usually a song, a voice, a something that is the thing I return to again and again to keep focus on the flavor of my characters and the story.
For me, and for Always, it was Ani DiFranco’s As Is. Especially these lines:
and I’ve got
no illusions about you
and guess what?
I never did
and when I said
when I said I’ll take it
I meant,
I meant as is
And really, what boils down to love, real, deep and lasting love is the choice people make to accept the other person with their flaws? The choice to be with another person and sometimes that means you make the sacrifices and sometimes it means your partner does. But fifty/fifty doesn’t mean half all day every day – sometimes it means for a few years one of you puts aside some goals to let the other person achieve theirs because it makes the most sense and they need you to make that choice. And it means that you want to be someone’s choice, not someone’s responsibility or burden.
There’s a place in Always, when Cat is trying to explain to Eamon that she wants him to choose to be with her, to be the one who makes the sacrifice right then because it not only made the most sense, but also because he wanted to make that choice for her, for them.
For me, that’s what love is. Loving someone is only part of it, love isn’t enough. Love comes with a whole other person who has wants and needs and opinions and you have to work your way through together, choosing each other time and again, even when it’s the most difficult thing you’ve ever done.
That’s that Always means to me. I hope you all enjoy it!
*****Leave a comment for the chance to win a download of ALWAYS! Two names will be chosen. Good Luck! 🙂
There is nothing more I love than a sexy Irishman 😉
I love what you have to say about love, because it is so true.
Thanks for sharing the song – finding out what authors listen to/draw inspiration from as they write always intrigues me!
Thanks for having me today, Fatin!
Hey there blodeudd! Thanks, I do so love men with accents!
Chris – thanks!
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for visiting today, and congratulations on the new release! Great song, and I loved the “warning.” I’ve been craving romances with a stronger focus on the hero and heroine without fireworks and gunfights etc, so I’m so glad Always is out now 🙂
Hi Lauren:
I feel like a stalker, folllowing you around trying to win a copy of what sounds to be another of your wonderful stories!
Great post and thank you for the contest. If I don’t get lucky today at Fatin’s, I’m off to MB&M to download!! lol
Warm Regards
L
Congrats on the release of ALWAYS Lauren! Music is a wonderful thing… I like the sound of this book, thanks for sharing! 😀
Hi, Lauren!!
Congrats on the release of Always…….it sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to read it, and love that you use music to inspire you.
And I LOVE sexy Irishmen speaking French, lol………
I love men with accents also 🙂 I have to admit that I’ve even tried to make my fiance speak French to me in some passionate moment (he has studied it for many years) 😉
I love a sexy Irishman! Congrats on the release of Always. I just finish reading your book Undercover and I loved It!
Loved what you had to say about 50/50 doesn’t mean every day but over time…Looking forward to reading the book.
Hi Lauren, thanks for sharing! Love the title too: so much said in one word….
Sounds like a great story. Love your descriptions of it, can’t wait to read.
Always sounds great! Congrats on the new release!
Hi Lauren~
Always sounds really great and who does not love sexy Irishmen? I do not think that I have heard the song before, but I do like it.
Have a great day!
Sounds like a great book.
hugs,
WendyK*who’s been sick all week and at the beach!*
*sneaking in late*
“choosing each other time and again” –perfectly put.
Best of luck with the release, Lauren!
Always sounds like a great story!
This sounds like a very intriguing romance. Music moves my soul and each song that touches me has a memory connected. Thank you for sharing the song that went along with the story you wrote. I hope I can win this because its something that I would love to read.
sounds like a good book.
Sounds wonderful, I’d love to read the book!
An Irishman who would put his life on hold for his love? *Swoon*