Always and Forever Love by Lynn Crandall – Guest Post + Giveaway

Always-And-Forever-Love-Lynn-Crandall

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Always and Forever Love by Lynn Crandall

The presence of a ghost in her life doesn’t alarm Lacy Aegar, in fact it makes her happy. Two and a half years ago when her dead husband Nicholas reappeared in her life as a full-bodied spirit, she questioned her sanity. But with Nicholas’ explanation that there are things about life that are not as she’s always believed, she settled into a pleasant routine of working with her sister at their private investigation business and enjoying home life with her now 10-year-old son – with Nicholas never very far away.

Lacey’s complacency and sense of stability is sent topsy-turvy when she runs into Jackson Carter, the son of powerful and influential business tycoon, William Carter. Typical of the Carter reputation, Jackson’s slick new private investigating business is siphoning off clients from the Aegar sisters’ business, creating financial difficulty. It’s a recurring nightmare for Lacey, who has already seen damage done by the Carter family, and when she encounters Jackson, she wants nothing to do with him.

But things are not what they seem when it comes to Jackson Carter, either. Unbeknownst to Lacey and her sister, Jackson is fighting a battle to preserve his business, too, and his integrity. For him, it’s a fight for his soul, and he enlists Lacey’s help because of her unique investigative skills and open heart. When she uncovers a mole in his business, she also discovers that one of his clients’ drug trials has been given the green light to go to the next phase based on falsified data. As they work together to save both their businesses, Jackson and Lacey not only face death, they must come to grips with their feelings about love and life.


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Please welcome Lynn Crandall to Brooke Blogs today! She’s written an awesome guest post. Thanks so much for stopping by, Lynn!

I love a good line. Not the kind that might be used to try to get a woman’s, or a man’s, attention. “Hey beautiful, what’s your sign?” may have its place, but that is not a great line. No, I’m referring to a line or observation or description or dialogue in a novel that reads beautifully. It says something in such a way that it triggers an emotional response. Reading a great line or two can make my day.

With appreciation for great lines in mind, I strive for the right words in my writing, the special, never-been written line of description that comes from somewhere out in the ethers. The kind of line that when I later read it, I ask myself, “Did I write that?” Okay, I admit this sounds a little crazy-writerish, but it’s true.

Writing Always and Forever Love was a ton of fun. It was fun for me to experience the heroine, Lacey Aegar’s way of living her life and to find interesting ways of presenting her. Her relationship with her sister, Sterling, who is the heroine in the first book of the sisters, Dancing with Detective Danger, was rich with challenges to writing dialogue and reflection worth reading. Using the right words to express Sterling’s’ confrontations with her inner wounds was important to me. With Lacey, it was challenging to convey her deep love for her ghost husband and her particular outlook on life.

Here are a few lines from Always and Forever Love that lead up to the final line, one I really enjoy:

“Hi, Uncle Jake.”

Jason’s greeting jolted Lacey out of her skin. Retreat was impossible. She turned to face the square shoulders, tall frame, and solid jaw of a dark-haired man. “Uncle Jake, I presume?” She wasn’t doing anything wrong, so why did she feel as though Brad Pitt had just caught her picking her nose?

In the following interaction between Lacey and her sister, I tried to capture her conflicted emotions and quirkiness during a somber moment when Sterling is suggesting that Lacey has options.

“But I have to remind you of my wise sister’s words a few years ago. You told me that loving someone despite complications is worth the problems. I think Nicholas wants what’s best for you and always will.” Then she turned her attention to her computer and scrolled through a list of names.

It felt good to hear Sterling speak so easily of Nicholas. Lacey let all the confusion sift through and settle to a spot inside her that could contain it, knowing things would make sense sometime soon. “I said something wise?”

Other writers have done a much better job of delivering great lines. Here’s a few of my favorites:

I felt as tough as Kleenex. Greywalker by Kat Richardson

It is a blessing as well as a burden to love so much that you can hurt so badly when love is gone. Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Emmaline crashed back down to reality.

The first thing she became aware of was that her toes were exceedingly chilly. She glanced down into the muddy puddle her slippers now called home and wrinkled her nose. A rather odd-smelling puddle of filthy water, crushed tomatoes, cabbage, and Lord knew what else. Forever Betrothed, Never the Bride, by Christi Caldwell

Television shows and movies deliver lines that convey a lot with few words.

“No, I need to have my reaction.” Modern Family’s Cameron after learning Mitchel may have a child from a one-night encounter.

“Here I am, ready to charge forth in pursuit of my destiny and I can’t get time off work to do it.” Roy McAvoy to Romeo in Tin Cup

“I’m no expert here, but it seems to me that the pursuit of destiny isn’t something you need to get off a $10 per hour job to do.” Romeo

Great lines can grip us, make us pause, or make us laugh hysterically. Reading and writing are both very rich and absorbing experiences, but there’s nothing like a great line.

What are some lines and phrases you’ve read that made you smile or set off a tuning fork in your heart or that left some sort of impact on your life?

About the Author

Lynn Crandall lives in the Midwest and writes in the company of her two cats. She has been a reader and a writer all her life. Her background is in journalism, but whether writing a magazine or newspaper story or creating a romance, she loves the power stories hold to transport, inspire, and uplift. In her romances, she focuses on vulnerable, embraceable characters who don’t back down. She hopes that readers discover, over and over, stories of ordinary people who face ordinary life challenges and are transformed by extraordinary love.

www.lynn-crandall.com

@lynncrandall246

https://www.facebook.com/LynnCrandallAuthor

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      1. I thought I thanked you earlier but I don’t see my comment. So…Thank you so much for hosting me! I love your blog.

  1. Most certainly! The mind is capable of so much more than people think. Most don’t even attempt to use theirs to its maximum potential.

  2. Even though it kind of spooks me, I do believe in communication with the dead. I would love to read this book. Thanks for the review and giveaway!

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