While my books aren't exactly about recycling, they are about finding new life after the old one didn't work out. I write about Marines that have returned home, battle-damaged and heart-sore, that are forced to rebuild their lives when the military discharges them.
Book 1 of the series is titled Embattled Hearts, about a wheelchair bound former Marine trying to save the woman he's falling in love with. No, there's nothing in the book itself about recycling or being Earth conscious, but it is wonderful to watch John Palmer's transformation from hard-ass Marine to nice guy. Here's an excerpt.
John sat back in
his chair, with a hand across his flat belly. “I can’t eat any more. That was
wonderful.”
“I’m glad you
liked it.”
“I mean every
word of it. It’s better than anything I’ve ever had before.”
Shannon felt her
brows lower skeptically. “Oh, please. I’m an okay cook, but certainly not
fantastic.”
“After MREs,
hospital food and take-out, believe me, this is ambrosia.”
Shannon tipped
her head forward. “Well thank you very much for the compliment, John. It’s the
least I could do.”
She took a piece
of chicken over to the box in the corner and broke it into little pieces. One
she gave to the mother, and the others to each of the kittens. John rolled over
behind her, and peered down into the box. He scowled as he watched them spit
and hiss at each other. “Why are they doing that?” he demanded.
Shannon smiled
and separated two of the kittens. “Well, they haven’t been eating solid food
very long, and they’re trying to establish a pecking order. They don’t usually
hurt each other.”
She handed a
small gray bundle of fur to John. “This is the runt of the litter, and I try to
feed her a little more than the others.”
John held the
kitten awkwardly in front of him. The young cat’s paws batted the air, looking
for something to claw into.
“No, no, hold her
against you, like this.”
She settled his
hand against his chest and shaped his fingers around the little creature’s
bottom. Shannon didn’t even realize how close she had moved to John until she
looked up and found him staring at her. Hard. With those heavy black brows
furrowed and his dark eyes full of burning emotion.
“Sorry,” she
mumbled, and pulled away quickly. She snatched another kitten out of the box
and tucked it under her chin.
John’s kitten
started to purr.
“What’s it doing
now?” he demanded.
Shannon laughed
at the ferocious frown on his face. “Relax,” she told him gently, “she’s just
purring. It means she’s comfortable and likes what you’re doing.”
John eased back
in his chair and eyed the cat.
“Haven’t you ever
had a cat?” she asked him curiously.
John’s face lost
all expression, and a subtle tension eased into the air. “No, I haven’t. Animals
weren’t allowed at the boy’s home where I grew up.”
“Oh.” Shannon
felt like a heel as the revelation about his childhood settled into her. It
explained so much of who he was.
“I didn’t mean to
dig things up,” she told him finally.
John shrugged and
stroked the kitten on the top of its head with a huge finger. “No big deal. You
didn’t know.”
“So, have you
ever had any pets?” she asked finally.
John shook his
head. “None. There was a stray dog I used to toss scraps to outside my window at
the orphanage, but he wasn’t around very long before the pound caught him.”
Shannon felt her
eyes fill with helpless tears. How very sad. No animals in his life at all, and
the one small contact he had destroyed by the dog catcher. She still had three
horses at her parent’s house in Colorado Springs she needed to decide what to
do with. She’d always had animals in her life. From hamsters and hermit crabs
as a child to horses and cattle she showed in 4-H in her teenage years. Actually,
she couldn’t remember ever not having
an animal in her life.
John fondled the
kitten around the ears, and the little animal purred just as loud as she could,
her eyes slitted shut in rapture. Shannon knew she would do the same thing if John
handled her that way too.
“She really likes
you,” she told him softly.
John made a
non-committal grunt, but he continued to run his big fingers gently over her
coat.
“You know,”
Shannon murmured, “I’m going to have to find homes for these before too long.”
John immediately
held the kitten out to her. “No, thank you. You’ll find a better home for it
than with me.”
Reluctantly, she
took the dangling kitten from his hand. She wouldn’t push him on it. They
wouldn’t be ready to wean for a couple of weeks yet, anyway. Setting the two
gently in the box, she turned back to John.
And caught him as
he glanced away from her ass.
Embattled Hearts is on sale now at all outlets. Here's the link for Amazon.
I sincerely thank you for stopping and hope you enjoy the books!
One person who comments on my Earth Day blog will be chosen for a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card, plus there is the huge blog drawing you'll be entered for as well. And to recap the weekend, we're having a chat on Sunday at 7pm eastern time here. That's where all the drawings will occur, so you may want to check it out!
Thanks!!!
