The Light at Corriveau Crossing - Book #1
For Levi Turner, home is a four letter word. Returning after thirteen years, he'll stay only long enough for his father to recover from surgery.
Carissa Michaud loves everything about the unincorporated patch of forest where she grew up. She can't imagine living anywhere else and never plans to leave.
This is a deep woods, remote rural story about a man coming to terms with family, the past, and one nosy, opinionated neighbor determined to make him see the light.
Review:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Hallmark films style book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 September 2024Downloaded via Voriacious Readers Only.
I loved this story...A wholesome country living tale of young love, lost love and the lives in between before the reconnection. You feel for the characters as their lives now, and their history told, intermingle. A very clear picture is painted of why/how events occured. I hated getting to the end, wishing I could continue reading on how the relationships develop. A lovely, warm the heart story.
Excerpt from The Light at Corriveau Crossing:
“It’s me and you against Mom and Carissa,” Jake said while leading the way down to the basement. “We’ll definitely win. But you gotta watch Carissa. Grampa thinks she cheats.”
By the time they finished the game, he was sure of it. The way she scratched on her last shot was the real giveaway, but if he hadn’t been forewarned, he might not have noticed; she was that good.
“Told you we’d win!” Jake crowed, oblivious to her game within a game, a proud grin stretching from one side of his face to the other until he was all oversized teeth and sparkling blue eyes.
“You did.” Levi held his hand out for Jake’s cue and put both their sticks on the wall rack while Jake collected the chalk cubes. Savannah hung the triangle and bridge from nails on a rafter. Carissa pulled the protective cover over the felt. Pretending to help her with the corners on one end, he said just low enough so the others wouldn’t hear, “Didn’t know you were a hustler.”
The way her freckles stood out even more when she blushed was fascinating, but she didn’t have a comeback. Surprising, since she had so much to say the night before.
He wasn’t about to thank her for that. Still, he could admit she wasn’t all wrong, and not wanting to strangle her with her stethoscope was a big improvement over yesterday.
Carissa Michaud loves everything about the unincorporated patch of forest where she grew up. She can't imagine living anywhere else and never plans to leave.
This is a deep woods, remote rural story about a man coming to terms with family, the past, and one nosy, opinionated neighbor determined to make him see the light.
Review:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Hallmark films style book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 September 2024Downloaded via Voriacious Readers Only.
I loved this story...A wholesome country living tale of young love, lost love and the lives in between before the reconnection. You feel for the characters as their lives now, and their history told, intermingle. A very clear picture is painted of why/how events occured. I hated getting to the end, wishing I could continue reading on how the relationships develop. A lovely, warm the heart story.
Excerpt from The Light at Corriveau Crossing:
“It’s me and you against Mom and Carissa,” Jake said while leading the way down to the basement. “We’ll definitely win. But you gotta watch Carissa. Grampa thinks she cheats.”
By the time they finished the game, he was sure of it. The way she scratched on her last shot was the real giveaway, but if he hadn’t been forewarned, he might not have noticed; she was that good.
“Told you we’d win!” Jake crowed, oblivious to her game within a game, a proud grin stretching from one side of his face to the other until he was all oversized teeth and sparkling blue eyes.
“You did.” Levi held his hand out for Jake’s cue and put both their sticks on the wall rack while Jake collected the chalk cubes. Savannah hung the triangle and bridge from nails on a rafter. Carissa pulled the protective cover over the felt. Pretending to help her with the corners on one end, he said just low enough so the others wouldn’t hear, “Didn’t know you were a hustler.”
The way her freckles stood out even more when she blushed was fascinating, but she didn’t have a comeback. Surprising, since she had so much to say the night before.
He wasn’t about to thank her for that. Still, he could admit she wasn’t all wrong, and not wanting to strangle her with her stethoscope was a big improvement over yesterday.
Copyright 2018 Amber Cross
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Book #2
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Enjoy this excerpt from The Songbirds of Twilight Marsh:
“You girls ready?” Walter Brown shouted over the rumble of his snowmobile engine, twisting on the seat to look over his shoulder at the nine-year-olds on a plastic sled behind him.
“Gun it!” his daughter Jane yelled, gripping the sled’s side handles. As always, his little adrenaline junkie was up for any challenge.
In front of her, Eden Green was not. Her face was so pale every freckle stood out in relief and her blue eyes were big as saucers. This was her first time riding, and since she was afraid of the machine, he and Jane had come up with the idea of attaching a sled to the back of it.
“It’s okay, honey,” his wife Shelly soothed from her snowmobile a few feet away. “It’s perfectly safe. See?” She gestured to their toddler son Alex who was bundled up on the seat in front of her. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“We’re just going down to the cabin and back.” Walter pointed to the abandoned shack at the bottom of Halls Meadow where Twilight Marsh began.
When her lower lip trembled despite their reassurances, he said, “Look up. Do you see those Redpolls?” There wasn’t a single bird in sight, let alone a flock of them, but she obediently lifted her gaze to the clear blue sky. “You’ve got to keep your eyes on them,” he cautioned. “They’re fast. We might beat them to the bottom of the meadow, but only if we go now.”
Jane wrapped her legs around Eden’s waist. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.” Grinning, she shouted, “Let her rip, Dad!”
Walter revved the engine for her, then proceeded down the hill at a fraction of the speed he’d normally go, mindful of both Eden and Alex.
Jane whooped and shouted like they were racing at full throttle. When he made a wide turn at the bottom of the hill, she rocked the sled from side to side.
He wanted to shake his head at her antics, but the truth was that little girl with nut-brown eyes and dusky skin had been the love of his life since the day he brought her home. Shelly had been slow to bond with her. Not him. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t his biological child or that she didn’t have blond hair and blue eyes like the rest of them. She was the daughter of his heart.
“Hold on!” she yelled now, bracing her feet against the front of the sled, leaning back and pulling Eden down to lie on top of her as they ascended the hill.
By the time they left the meadow, both girls were laughing.
“That was fun,” Eden admitted when they were parked in front of their house on Ethan Allen Drive, the snowmobile engines quiet. “Thank you, Mr. Brown.”
“Walter,” he, Shelly, and Jane all said at the same time. Not that it would matter. Eden’s mother was strict about a lot of things, and calling adults by their first name was one of them.
“But I didn’t see any Redpolls.”
“No?” He scratched his chin, pretending to be puzzled. “Hmm, maybe they’re down in the willows, eating catkins. Or maybe they’re just shy like you.”
That earned him a smile.
Shelly slid off her machine then reached back and lifted Alex, propping him on her hip. “Who’s ready for some hot chocolate?”
“Me!” the girls answered enthusiastically, and even little Alex made appreciative noises, though they were more excited gibberish than fully formed words.
Walter scooped him out of Shelly’s arms and hurried to the door, yelling over his shoulder, “Last one in’s a rotten egg!”
The girls were furthest away, so they brought up the rear, but since they came in together, everyone agreed no one could be declared the loser. They were given the job of helping Alex out of his snowsuit, though. That gave Walter time to snuggle with his wife in the kitchen before they got down to the serious business of making hot chocolate.
“Come and find us!” Jane called from the living room just as he and Shelly moved in that direction, him carrying two mugs on a tray, her holding a bag of marshmallows.
Their living room had been converted into a fort. Blankets draped between his easy chair and the sofa, held in place by an upturned end table and an assortment of throw pillows. Their giggles gave away their location, as did the four legs sticking out of a gap in the blankets.
Walter pretended not to hear or see them. “Now, where could those two be?”
Alex gave away their location.
Hearing Walter’s voice, he crawled out of the fort, snagged a blanket on the edge of his shoe and dragged it with him. The corner collapsed. One hand in front of the other, he continued across the floor, pulling the rest of the fort down on top of the girls behind him.
Oblivious to the destruction in his wake, he gave Walter a toothless grin. “Da-da!” then crawled past him toward Shelly, who stood in the kitchen doorway trying not to laugh at the structural mess.
Jane groaned. Eden giggled.
Walter put their hot chocolate and marshmallows on the coffee table.
Half an hour later Alex was napping in his crib. He and Shelly returned to the living room to check on the girls and found them lying on the floor, face to face, planning their futures.
“When I grow up, I want to live right across the road from you,” Jane said.
“I can live in my mother’s house, and you can live here,” Eden suggested.
“Yeah, that way we can be best friends forever.”
“Best friends forever.”
“You girls ready?” Walter Brown shouted over the rumble of his snowmobile engine, twisting on the seat to look over his shoulder at the nine-year-olds on a plastic sled behind him.
“Gun it!” his daughter Jane yelled, gripping the sled’s side handles. As always, his little adrenaline junkie was up for any challenge.
In front of her, Eden Green was not. Her face was so pale every freckle stood out in relief and her blue eyes were big as saucers. This was her first time riding, and since she was afraid of the machine, he and Jane had come up with the idea of attaching a sled to the back of it.
“It’s okay, honey,” his wife Shelly soothed from her snowmobile a few feet away. “It’s perfectly safe. See?” She gestured to their toddler son Alex who was bundled up on the seat in front of her. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“We’re just going down to the cabin and back.” Walter pointed to the abandoned shack at the bottom of Halls Meadow where Twilight Marsh began.
When her lower lip trembled despite their reassurances, he said, “Look up. Do you see those Redpolls?” There wasn’t a single bird in sight, let alone a flock of them, but she obediently lifted her gaze to the clear blue sky. “You’ve got to keep your eyes on them,” he cautioned. “They’re fast. We might beat them to the bottom of the meadow, but only if we go now.”
Jane wrapped her legs around Eden’s waist. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.” Grinning, she shouted, “Let her rip, Dad!”
Walter revved the engine for her, then proceeded down the hill at a fraction of the speed he’d normally go, mindful of both Eden and Alex.
Jane whooped and shouted like they were racing at full throttle. When he made a wide turn at the bottom of the hill, she rocked the sled from side to side.
He wanted to shake his head at her antics, but the truth was that little girl with nut-brown eyes and dusky skin had been the love of his life since the day he brought her home. Shelly had been slow to bond with her. Not him. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t his biological child or that she didn’t have blond hair and blue eyes like the rest of them. She was the daughter of his heart.
“Hold on!” she yelled now, bracing her feet against the front of the sled, leaning back and pulling Eden down to lie on top of her as they ascended the hill.
By the time they left the meadow, both girls were laughing.
“That was fun,” Eden admitted when they were parked in front of their house on Ethan Allen Drive, the snowmobile engines quiet. “Thank you, Mr. Brown.”
“Walter,” he, Shelly, and Jane all said at the same time. Not that it would matter. Eden’s mother was strict about a lot of things, and calling adults by their first name was one of them.
“But I didn’t see any Redpolls.”
“No?” He scratched his chin, pretending to be puzzled. “Hmm, maybe they’re down in the willows, eating catkins. Or maybe they’re just shy like you.”
That earned him a smile.
Shelly slid off her machine then reached back and lifted Alex, propping him on her hip. “Who’s ready for some hot chocolate?”
“Me!” the girls answered enthusiastically, and even little Alex made appreciative noises, though they were more excited gibberish than fully formed words.
Walter scooped him out of Shelly’s arms and hurried to the door, yelling over his shoulder, “Last one in’s a rotten egg!”
The girls were furthest away, so they brought up the rear, but since they came in together, everyone agreed no one could be declared the loser. They were given the job of helping Alex out of his snowsuit, though. That gave Walter time to snuggle with his wife in the kitchen before they got down to the serious business of making hot chocolate.
“Come and find us!” Jane called from the living room just as he and Shelly moved in that direction, him carrying two mugs on a tray, her holding a bag of marshmallows.
Their living room had been converted into a fort. Blankets draped between his easy chair and the sofa, held in place by an upturned end table and an assortment of throw pillows. Their giggles gave away their location, as did the four legs sticking out of a gap in the blankets.
Walter pretended not to hear or see them. “Now, where could those two be?”
Alex gave away their location.
Hearing Walter’s voice, he crawled out of the fort, snagged a blanket on the edge of his shoe and dragged it with him. The corner collapsed. One hand in front of the other, he continued across the floor, pulling the rest of the fort down on top of the girls behind him.
Oblivious to the destruction in his wake, he gave Walter a toothless grin. “Da-da!” then crawled past him toward Shelly, who stood in the kitchen doorway trying not to laugh at the structural mess.
Jane groaned. Eden giggled.
Walter put their hot chocolate and marshmallows on the coffee table.
Half an hour later Alex was napping in his crib. He and Shelly returned to the living room to check on the girls and found them lying on the floor, face to face, planning their futures.
“When I grow up, I want to live right across the road from you,” Jane said.
“I can live in my mother’s house, and you can live here,” Eden suggested.
“Yeah, that way we can be best friends forever.”
“Best friends forever.”