I’m delighted to once
again welcome fellow Astraea Press author Iris Blobel. Iris was born and raised
in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the
travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland,
London as well as Canada where she actually had met her future husband. Her
love for putting her stories onto paper has only recently emerged, but now her
laptop is a constant companion. Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband
and her beautiful two daughters as well as her dog. Next to her job at a
private school she also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio.
Iris is here to share
her brand new release with us. Fresh
Beginnings is the third in her series featuring the Levesque sisters. New Beginnings was published a year ago,
and More Beginnings released in
January. Let’s see how the story continues:
Blurb:
The small town
of Hobart in Tasmania has witnessed many beginnings in recent years. At yet one
more beginning, the wedding of a friend, Jared Fraser decides it’s time for
some fresh beginnings to come his way… And he sets out for a holiday to the US
to travel along the Route 66 in a motorhome.
Ivy Bennett
thought leaving her boyfriend would be the hard part. It doesn’t take long to
figure out how wrong she was. As she struggles with making a new start in her
life, the last person she expects to lead her to happiness is a laid-back
Australian on holiday.
Then the arrival of
family friend Mia Levesque and her boyfriend, Josh, turns Jared’s holidays
upside-down when he’s forced to play arbitrator between the two teenagers.
Excerpt:
"G'day!" He
stared at her and for some reason something tugged at his heart. Not that he
wanted that. He had no room for women, let alone American ones. They all were
on earth to make life complicated. Mark was constantly running around for
Sophie or Hope, even though Mark's wife was one in a million and little Hope
was simply adorable, especially when she was asleep.
"Ya know it's
dangerous to hitch a ride," he finally said when she was still quiet.
She stared at him for a
moment, but then replied with the typical American twang in her voice. "I
know you said something, but I have no idea what."
He chuckled. "It is
dangerous to hitchhike," he repeated with exaggerated pronunciation.
The woman stepped a bit closer to
the window. "Are you from Austria?"
He laughed aloud.
"Australia, I meant," she
added, seemingly embarrassed by the mistake.
"I am indeed."
He watched her looking ahead towards the horizon. "So you wanna hitch a
ride?"
Jared had a feeling she
didn't want to, but her current situation didn't give her many choices. There
they were in the middle of nowhere, with the next place a fair few miles away.
"Name's
Jared," he said and then he opened the door and walked around the
motorhome. Leaning against the vehicle, he looked at her. She was pretty. Thin,
but pretty. When her brown eyes met his, he experienced another one of those
heart tugs and wasn't impressed at all. He tried to look right past her. It
wasn't happening though. They were like magnets.
"Jared," he
repeated and held out his hand.
Her look went right past
him into the distance, and he assumed she was fighting with herself, part of
her wanting to get off the road, the other part being worried.
"Anybody else
travelling with you?" she asked quietly.
He shook his head.
"Nope."
She closed her eyes,
took a deep breath, and, after a brief moment, reached for his hand. "Nice
meeting you."
Acknowledging that she
wasn't much into sharing details like her name, he opened the door for her.
"Where are ya headin'?" he asked.
A smile started in her
eyes and played with the corner of her lips. He felt himself smiling back.
There was an appreciation in her smile.
"Could
you drop me off at the next stop?" she asked hesitantly.
"Most
certainly, but where are ya headin?"
She
shrugged. "Kingman?"
"Is that on this
road?"
Nodding, she said.
"Yes, it is. It should be less than a hundred miles along this
highway."
"Then hop in."
She turned to get into
the motorhome, and he took in her small stature and the narrow shoulders which
seemed even smaller in her tight, red T-shirt. Jared noticed her cargoes were
just hanging onto her hips. A nice steak wouldn't go astray on these hips.
Suddenly she stopped and moved to look at him. "Thank you," she
whispered.
"No worries
mate."
Jared held her gaze and
wasn't sure what to say or do. She simply stood in front of him like frozen.
"My name is
Ivy," she said after a long moment.
"Hedera. An
evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plant in the family
Araliaceae."
With a frown, she stared
at him. "I really didn't
understand that one."
He laughed. "Sorry,
mate. I got carried away. I'm a landscaper. Ivy is a climbing plant."
Scratching the back of his head, he added, slightly self-conscious, "And, of course, a beautiful name."
There was a small laugh
as she stepped into the motorhome. He went around and slid behind the wheel
before driving back onto the road. There was a long silence, and Jared wasn't
really sure what to do or say. Usually, he was good with silence. Actually, he
loved it. But at that moment, the silence made him uncomfortable.
"So, what brings ya
out into the middle of the sticks?"
When there was no reply,
he turned and looked at her. There was a big frown on her face, and he sighed.
"I thought you all
speak English as well?"
"We do," she
said with a slight giggle. "But I'm not so sure about you
Australians."
With a grin he replied,
"Now, don't be cheeky, Ivy."
"Don't bite the
hand that feeds you, my mom always said." She laughed. "No way would
I make fun of you."
"So, you're
expectin' a meal as well?"
There was a moment of
silence again, and he glanced over. The smile was gone and panic was written
all over her face.
"I… I didn't—"
Quickly he reached out
for her hand. "I'm pulling your leg." And when she didn't reply
again, he muttered, "This thing with you Americans not understanding
English is turning into a problem. I was kiddin'."
"Pulling your
leg?" She shook her head. "Never heard of it."
A bark of laughter
filled the small space. "Anyway. Talkin' about food. There's a small place
ahead. Want some lunch?"
Fresh Beginnings is available at Amazon, Barnes
and Noble, and several other ebook
outlets.
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