Sometimes fairytales come true...
They say write what you love, and nothing is nearer
or dearer to my heart than the military. Every man or woman in uniform has a
story or two they could tell you. As the daughter of an Air Force veteran,
granddaughter of a WWII naval hero, wife of an Army grunt, daughter in law of a
female Marine (yes my mother in law), mother of a Marine and Army combat medic,
I have a lot of connections with the military. But the biggest connection, the reason
I write stories about love in combat boots, is that I’m an Army veteran. I
believe some of the greatest love stories take place in uniform.
The military is a brother and sisterhood you have to
experience to understand. Inside this world there are struggles, victories,
heartbreak and romances, and I hope my tales can bring some of that to you, my
readers—the good times, and sometimes, the hard times. In my humble opinion,
nobody deserves to have their stories told more. There are no heroes larger in
life, than those that place their lives on the line every day serving our
country.
What’s not to love?
So, what’s the next fairytale, military romance
coming down the pipeline?
For those of you who have been asking what comes
after Cinderella Wore Combat Boots, and does Gunny have a story? He does it’s
called Being Prince Charming.
Being Prince Charming
DL Jackson
Decadent Publishing
Blurb:
“You’re no Prince Charming.”
Words screamed in
anger, an empty nest, empty life--there are a lot of reasons people divorce.
For Gunny, a diehard Marine who refuses to give up the Corps, and Lissa his
wife of over twenty years, the reason isn’t a good one. When words exchanged in
anger morph beyond their control, Lissa leaves and August doesn’t go after her,
letting his pride get in the way.
Two years later,
Lissa is about to move on with her life and marry another man, except her
reason isn’t the right one either. Her heart still belongs to a Marine she left
behind.
Now, an unexpected
gift in the form of a 1Night Stand may change everything.
August is back,
looking for a second chance, but this time he isn’t letting Lissa walk away
without a fight. He’s thrown everything he’s got into their date to prove that
he can still be her Prince Charming. But if he can’t convince her in one night
it’s for keeps, he may very well lose the only woman he’s ever loved.
Real people fall in and out of love and sometimes you can't fix mistakes made out of neglect. Like an untended garden, hurt feelings bloom and flourish in a garden of words that aren't said and Jackson takes on just this kind of struggle in her Charming novel.
I've read quite a few of Decadent's 1Night Stands, but this one gave a really believable and identifiable couple who never lacked in love, but got tangled up in the day to day monotony of life to the point they lost sight of what mattered when they started out. Since this happens a whole lot in the real world, I think it made it even more beautiful that Gunny wasn't willing to give up, even when things didn't look so great. A realistic love story that readers are sure to enjoy, Being Prince Charming has a prince of a Marine who is willing to put it all on the line for love.
Virg's Review:
I've read quite a few of Decadent's 1Night Stands, but this one gave a really believable and identifiable couple who never lacked in love, but got tangled up in the day to day monotony of life to the point they lost sight of what mattered when they started out. Since this happens a whole lot in the real world, I think it made it even more beautiful that Gunny wasn't willing to give up, even when things didn't look so great. A realistic love story that readers are sure to enjoy, Being Prince Charming has a prince of a Marine who is willing to put it all on the line for love.
Excerpt:
Lissa never returned, going home to
where they’d been high school sweethearts, even if her family had long since
moved on. Gunny crumpled the divorce decree and tossed it in the trash, refusing
to hold onto the one souvenir he’d retained from his marriage with Lissa. Gone
were their wedding pictures, the dishes, pots and pans, everything that had
made their off-camp apartment a home, including the woman he still loved. He
surveyed the room. Except for a few pieces of plastic outdoor furniture, the
apartment sat empty as his life.
No matter how he tried, he couldn’t
wrap his mind around the finality and accept it. Marines didn’t give up. He
picked up his bags and walked out the door, not bothering to lock it behind
him.
Anyone who wanted it could have the
remnants of his life. He’d finally retired from the Marines and, thanks to
Cori, had secured a job working for Sol’s company, Protect and Serve. Not that
it mattered. Without Lissa, he had no reason to care, but it would help him to
get by until he could figure out how to get his wife back.
Make that ex-wife.
And he would find a way. Eventually,
she’d come to her senses. No one could turn love off. He’d be the one to know.
His heart ached constantly for the woman he’d once had. He’d been an idiot not
to listen to what she said, to put the Corps before her. Hindsight being
twenty-twenty and all that, he decided he needed to man up, improvise, adapt,
and overcome.
August strode up to the unsexiest
vehicle a man could own, a fifteen-year-old minivan with rusty doors, a black
cloud of smoke that followed wherever he drove it, and a driver’s side door
that wouldn’t open. He tossed his bags in the rear cargo area and climbed over
the passenger seat to take his place behind the wheel. Patting his pockets, he
searched for his key and extracted it, wondering why he even bothered to remove
it from the ignition. A thief would be doing him a favor to steal it.
~ * ~
Thanks to all who allowed me to guest
blog today. To one lucky commenter, I am giving away a copy of Cinderella Wore
Combat Boots. I will draw a name from my virtual hat and post the winner’s name
in the comments section. Please be sure to leave your email addy, so I can
contact you if you are my winner.
Best,
D. L. Jackson
Thanks for the info. Both look like great stories, I definitely have both on my TBR. lisagk(at)yahoo
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