Once upon a time, I wrote two stories about two sisters, Eleanor (Ella) and Grace Anderson. Taylor’s Law is Ella’s story and Grace Under Fire tells Grace’s story.
The bits and pieces that make up a story are complex, but part of the inspiration for those stories was watching family dynamics. In fact, watching my mother and aunt remember incidents from their childhood very differently. It made me think about the way siblings can have very different emotions and take away very different convictions from the same event.
The major event in Ella and Grace’s life was a farm injury to their mother and the need to sell some of the family farm to cover health costs. They were swindled over the sale. Ella became passionate about justice, Grace was passionate about holding on to the family land that remained.
Fast forward to The Wrong Time for Love.
When Grace Under Fire was released, a number of readers said they’d like to know the story of Bluey, a secondary character. Bluey’s the late fifties farm labourer who shares a love of cryptic crosswords with Grace, but works for Ryan—Grace’s love interest. In turn, Bluey’s love interest is Ryan’s mother. Bluey and Helen Wilson had been together about ten years before Grace Under Fire starts.
The Wrong Time for Love is a different excursion for me. Going back to Bluey and Helen Wilson’s meeting years earlier took a lot of serious thinking. And really, did I want to write a story that dealt with tricky issues like Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDs), the death of a child and the messiness of grief? Are you actually normal functioning adult enough to fall in love at such a time?
Bluey and Helen are both in their forties when they meet. He’s a taciturn loner, she’s struggling to survive. So we’re dealing with second chance, potentially forbidden love, acquaintances to lovers, forced proximity, and a smoulder more than a slow burn.
They deserve their love story, so I’m glad I took the time to explore it. Thank you to the readers who asked me to try. And for those who know my writing, I deal with difficult topics, but it’s never graphic on the page. I’m looking for the human connections between people and the moments that make us hope. After all, while love encompasses many emotions, love is about hope.
All my books can be read as standalones, but Grace Under Fire and The Wrong Time For Love overlap with some of the characters and time lines.
Here’s the blurb:
Love takes a loner and a grieving mother by surprise
Farm labourer, Bluey (Lachlan Murdoch), has been travelling for twenty years, constantly on the move to forget the death of his baby girl.
Dairy farmer, Helen Wilson, is barely keeping her head above water. Her fifteen-year-old son suicided and her older son flees the area looking for paid work to help keep the farm. When a neighbour gifts her three months of Bluey’s time, it’s a lifeline.
Bluey admires Helen’s fierce defence of her boys. Helen appreciates Bluey’s quiet presence and his daily acts of kindness. When desire enters the mix, Bluey worries he’s taking advantage. Helen feels guilty about forgetting her boys, even for a moment.
Commitment isn’t in Bluey’s playbook. Helen’s struggling to navigate grief. Baring one’s soul, even sharing one’s body, is easier with a deadline.
But with the clock ticking down, what risks are they prepared to take with their hearts?
Pre-order and Buy links—releases 14 July:
AMAZON- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H3QBVNHH
KOBO- https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-wrong-time-for-love?
BN- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wrong-time-for-love-jennifer-raines/1150306612
APPLE- https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-wrong-time-for-love/id6775984100
Find me on:
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/romanceauthorjen/
- Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/jenniferrainesauthor
- Goodreads—https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22577889.Jennifer_Raines
- Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jennifer-raines
- Diana Kathryn Penn’s Indie Reads Aloud podcast has recordings of me reading the opening 20 mins of my books:
- Betrayal—Choosing Family Book 3 (episode 212)
- Quinn, by design—Choosing Family Book 2 (episode 208)
- Masquerade—Choosing Family Book 1 (episode 188)
- Lela’s Choice (episode 143)
- Planting Hope (episode 101)
- The Anderson Sisters (episode 54 Taylor’s Law and 80 Grace Under Fire) http://www.dkpwriter.com/indie-reads-aloud-podcast.html
You can also contact me directly via the contact page on my website if you have any other questions.
Jennifer Raines 