What happens when you realize too late that you’re in love?
Karly’s animal shelter business is failing. Right now, she has too many animals, and not enough foster parents, trainers, or adopters to keep food in the bowls, and she’s desperate to find options. When her first love returns home from Afghanistan wounded and alone, she offers Thad a win-win situation—a job in exchange for training a special needs dog.
Thad wants to be left alone. He feels responsible for not spotting the IED before it killed his friends and his war dog. When Karly drops off a dog for him to train, memories of their deaths swamp him with guilt.
Corruption is tearing the small town of Elkridge apart. Thad is brave enough to give his life to save Karly, but is he brave enough to live? Will she be strong enough to survive? Will fate allow them a happily ever after?
Award-winning author Lyz Kelley resides in a small community in Colorado with her husband and several four-legged family members. She’s a lover of board games, gardening, and painting, a disaster in the kitchen, a compulsive neat freak, and tea snob. She loves writing about strong women who have endured challenges and the men who enrich their lives.
A healing love is at the heart of her book series. Creating wounded yet amazing characters—discovering what drives them, frightens them, heals them, makes them laugh—is what gives her joy. Lyz is pleased to share that joy through her masterfully written stories.
Newsletter Sign Up: www.LyzKelley.com
Why would I want to read the Elkridge Series? Each book in the Elkridge series is a piece to a puzzle—a suspenseful mystery involving the murder of a small-town sheriff. You get six contemporary romance books to figure out the mystery and a bunch of happy ever after (HEA) endings. Two novels in this fiction series—Blinded and Orphaned—are award-winning romance books.
Where is Elkridge, Colorado? Elkridge exists only in my mind. On any given day, I can stop at River Creek Café for Jenna's fresh baked cinnamon rolls, or shop for a birthday present at Mara's Blooms, or get my nails done at Kym’s nail salon. Sitting in the park eating lunch, I can watch the kids play and hear the latest gossip from neighbors. Later, if I want, I can stop at Mad Jack’s to hear a local band play and get some dinner. Elkridge is a great small town where the sun shines 360 days a year and people do their best to make ends meet.
Would you tell us about your writing process? It takes me awhile to write each stand-alone story because I am passionate about creating the very best stories for my readers. These contemporary romance books have complex plots and sub-plots and include suspense romance threads, with deep emotional women’s fiction elements, humor and even a bit of quirkiness. I’m so excited to see the 5-star ratings because it means I’ve created the ideal mix to provide readers with a few hours of enjoyment.
RESCUED: Frequently Asked Questions: (FAQ)
Many of your books have challenging topics. Why?
The easiest explanation is that I believe everyone can be honorable, brave and loved no matter the circumstances. Blindness, domestic violence, and abuse can create fear and insecurities, yet each situation can be overcome with a gentle, patient, and healing love. In my heart, love begins with respect and the willingness to listen to gain mutual understanding. Without those two components, a relationship filled with love is hard to build.
How did the Elkridge story line develop?
I don’t want to spoil the series ending, but the series story arc started with Colorado legalizing marijuana, then it went from there. Question after question started popping into my head. The first question was, “How will the illegal drug trade change?” I started researching news articles on drug trafficking to find answers. Then one day a story formed. I’m glad I had my research notes when I talked to an FBI agent to nail down technical aspects of the story. Otherwise, he might have been a little more curious about why I was asking such in-depth questions. There is a saying, “Don’t judge me by my search engine history, I’m a writer.” {grin}
You say you write about honorable men and brave women, but your characters are so flawed.
Everyone can be a hero just by offering a smile, holding a door for another, or opening a medicine bottle for a person with arthritis. Heroes aren’t only those individuals who accomplish grand gestures. We may feel a smile is insignificant, but to the person on the receiving end, we might just have made that person’s day. Being a hero isn’t always about rescuing a child, or stopping a bank robbery, it can also be about the little things in life that bring joy.
Would you ever do a spin off of the other characters introduced in the Elkridge series?
I love this question! What a great way to introduce the Lonely Ridge spin-off series. I chose to differentiate the Lonely Ridge series from the Elkridge set because this group of books will not have the mystery thread included in the Elkridge series. Each new book will be a stand-alone love story and will include the quirky characters from the town I’ve come to love. I’m hoping to have the first book in this new series out in time for Christmas.
Abandoned - Buy Here
What a great post. RESCUED sounds like my kinda read - anything with animals in it really gets my vote. Then throw in a strong male lead and a warm-hearted female and it's even better!
ReplyDelete