Return to Lerici by Rachel Dacus – Spotlight and Giveaway

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A suspenseful, uplifting story of second chances, family bonds, and redemption.

Sisters Elinor and Saffron rarely see eye-to-eye, but they agree that an unknown half-brother appearing in their lives can only spell trouble. The Greene sisters want to support their ailing mother, Betsy, as they gather in their cottage in Lerici, Italy. But they don’t want Betsy to keep searching for Baby Boy, the only name they have on faded adoption papers.

While the Greenes debate, Baby Boy finds them. A rough childhood has led Daniel to a life as a thief. When he learns of his connection to the wealthy Greenes, he decides to scam them. He goes to Italy and using a fake identity observes them at close range. Watching these people makes him ache for what he never had—a loving family.

Betsy is touched by the young man’s story and guesses their hidden connection. Discovering his true identity, she asks the family to help him. But Daniel’s shady past is catching up and putting the Greenes at risk. Should they bring their lost lamb into the fold—and can he claim his heritage if it endangers his family?

Enjoy an Excerpt:

April in Lerici was blossoming like the paradise it was. Elinor knelt over her tomato plants pulling weeds on a fine, cool morning. Whenever she had troubles, she turned to her plants, and today she had a basketful of troubles. Bushels and bushels, and they all revolved around her mother. Betsy said she was ailing, but she was being vague about the specifics of her illness. And she’d written Elinor to say she was searching for their missing family member, Baby Boy, as he was listed on the adoption papers they’d discovered in an old drawer. Best left at the back of that drawer, Elinor thought. An unknown quantity could only be another basketful of problems.

She dug harder to loosen the weeds. Her tomato plants had to have room to breathe, though soon Elinor wouldn’t have much room. Because Betsy was coming here to stay with them, and bringing her larger-than-life personality with her, and who knew what else, packed in that huge tapestry purse of hers.

Elinor bent closer to her plants, her babies that would later this summer be ready for farmer’s market. Italy was renowned for the quality of its tomatoes, and in this fine, coastal soil they grew bigger and more flavorful than almost anywhere else. In a couple of months, hers were going to be a hit.

A sudden pain stabbed her stomach. She sat up and put her hand on her abdomen, where her sister’s transplanted kidney rested, filtering her blood. Nothing had hurt for months. Why should she have a sharp pain now, two years after the surgery?

Getting to her feet as if to escape the sensation, she stood looking out over the trees to the sea. The pain still throbbed, but was now ebbing. Years of practicing to calm the PTSD she’d had after the explosion that injured her, Elinor couldn’t help picturing the worst—losing her life here in her lovely garden, before she could fully grab her amazing second chance at love.

About the Author

Rachel Dacus is the author of six novels, four time travel books in the Timegathering Series and two books of women’s fiction. She has also published four poetry collections. Rachel’s work has appeared widely in print and online, in journal that include Boulevard, Gargoyle, and Prairie Schooner. Her poetry is in the anthologies Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California and Radiant DisUnities: Real Ghazals in English. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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