Dear Readers,
Here’s a look at Jana Richards’ Small Town, Contemporary Romance which is themed around a marriage of convenience, and is a friends to lovers, second-chance romance. This post introduces us to the lead, Jamie Garven, from the book “Unexpected”…
Here’s an interview with Jamie Garmen
Jamie Garven is a veterinarian at the Masonville Veterinary Clinic. She moved to Masonville from Minneapolis after her divorce a few years ago, because she wanted to be back in her home state of North Dakota and closer to her family. Her family lives about a three-hour drive away from Masonville. Her life changes when Ben Greyson and his two daughters move in next door to her.
Hi Jamie! What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
There’s never been anything I’ve wanted to be aside from a veterinarian. My dad is a vet, and from the time I was a little girl, I accompanied him on his rounds or visited him at the clinic. I was fascinated by the work then, and I still am. I feel strongly about animal welfare, and honestly, I think I have the best job in the world.
Who are your favorite heroes/heroines in real life?
My new husband Ben is a real hero. He’s overcome so much. He came from a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and a dictatorial mother. His mother demanded too much of her children, especially Ben. The weird thing is that even though she focused so much attention on Ben, she neglected him at the same time. His upbringing contributed to his alcoholism. But he fought his addiction and won so that he could a good father to his two stepdaughters, Bella and Sophie. Ben is the best father two little girls could ever wish for.
What would you like people to know?
That I’m really trying to be a good person. I try to be a good daughter, too, but I’m afraid I’ve disappointed my parents too often.
I also want people to know that I truly love Ben’s daughters and I want to be a good mother to them. I never thought I’d have the chance to be a mother, so to have them in my life is a blessing. Nothing is more important to me than Sophie and Bella’s happiness. Not even my own happiness.
If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
I can’t think of anything more enjoyable then spending time with my new family. At eight and five, the girls are a lot of fun to be with. Sometimes we take my dogs for a walk or teach Hector, my African Grey parrot, a new word. We like to bake cookies together, play board games, and make forts in the basement out of blankets. They have wonderful imaginations!
I love spending time with Ben, too. Being with him is more than I ever thought it would it be. We started out as friends, but it’s turned into something more, at least for me. Sometimes, when I look into his eyes, I can almost believe I see real affection for me in them. But I know I’m only imagining it.
(Sighs.) I knew what I was getting into when I married Ben. He needed a mother for his children, someone to help him retain custody of the girls. I know he’s still in love with Olivia, his deceased first wife. I found that out on our wedding day when he called me by her name. I’ll never match Olivia in Ben’s eyes.
Are you lucky?
I don’t know how to answer that. I feel very lucky to have a chance at motherhood. After my divorce, I never thought it would happen. My inability to get pregnant contributed to the divorce.
But being this close to Ben, being married to him, but not truly being man and wife, is a special kind of hell. No, I don’t feel very lucky at all.
What do you worry about when you wake up at 3 in the morning?
That Ben will never feel about me the way I feel about him. That this crazy ‘marriage of convenience’ we’ve entered into will always be a sham.
What would you most like to hide?
I don’t want Ben to find out that I’ve been letting the girls speak to their grandparents online. He doesn’t want them to have anything to do with Olivia’s parents because they’ve threatened to take them away from him. But I know they’ve only done that because Ben won’t allow them to see the girls or communicate with them in any way. They just want to know their granddaughters are happy and healthy. By giving them access to the girls I’m saving our family.
But Ben wouldn’t see it that way. He has blinders where his daughters and their grandparents are concerned. He’ll be angry if he discovers I’ve been helping the Doyles, and I’m not sure what that would mean for our relationship. Or our marriage.
What are your hopes for the future?
To be the girls’ mother for many years to come. And to have a real marriage with Ben. But I don’t know if either will be possible.
UNEXPECTED is #onsale for #99cents on Amazon from June 3-17, 2022!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CG2MVS7
Blurb:
A marriage of convenience. An unexpected love.
Single dad Ben Greyson wants only to retain custody of his two stepdaughters. A dysfunctional childhood has made family the most important thing in his life. When his late wife’s parents sue for custody, a desperate Ben is left with two choices – run away with his girls or marry his next-door neighbor.
Jamie Garven wants to be a mother. She’s intrigued by her handsome new neighbor and falls in love with his little girls. Then Ben is faced with losing his children, and Jamie agrees to marry him for a chance at motherhood. They’re determined to show the world, and the girls’ grandparents, two loving parents.
Their marriage of convenience turns into unexpected love. But Ben interprets Jamie’s efforts to save their family as betrayal—they could lose everything, including each other.
Excerpt:
Jamie didn’t sleep the rest of the night. The logical part of her brain told her if Ben lost custody it wasn’t her fault. Circumstances beyond her control, and Ben’s, had conspired against them. But guilt and worry wouldn’t let her rest.
The crazy thing was she could see the four of them together as a family. And she could see herself with Ben. She’d been fighting her feelings for him since the day they met. Learning he was a recovering alcoholic was a shock, but she knew he was much more than that. He was kind and funny, and a loving father.
But he didn’t love her.
She remembered what it was like to watch, day by day, as Carson fell a little more out of love with her. Every day another piece of her soul withered. To the outside world they probably still looked like a happy couple. But she could feel Carson pull away bit by bit, like water trickling out of a broken vase. It was in the awkward silences between them, the unexplained absences, the times he didn’t reach for her in the night.
Eventually the slow trickle turned into a torrent and he was gone. It had nearly destroyed her.
Could she live with a man who didn’t love her for a second time? Could she willingly step into a relationship, knowing it would likely end the same way her relationship to Carson ended?
Thoughts and emotions whirled in her brain, making her dizzy.
At four a.m. she gave up all pretence of sleep. She went to the kitchen for a drink of water and as she ran the tap, she saw the lights were on in Ben’s house. He probably couldn’t sleep either.
What must he be going through? She couldn’t imagine losing a child.
The old longing ache she’d worked so hard to dispel pressed on her heart. This is your chance, her heart whispered. Maybe your only chance to have children.
Jamie groaned out load. She couldn’t say no. Ben and the girls needed her.
Yet how could she say yes and expose herself to almost certain heartbreak?
Maybe some things were more important. Maybe it was enough to be a mother to the girls and create a family with them. She couldn’t expect Ben to love her as well. It was asking too much.
She couldn’t let him lose the girls. And she couldn’t let her one chance to be a mother slip away.
Buy Link:
https://books2read.com/Unexpected-by-Jana-Richards
STRONG ENOUGH, book 4 in the Masonville Series,
Coming Soon!
STRONG ENOUGH is available for pre-order now. The book releases June 22, 2022!
Love can make you strong enough. If you let it.
A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Damon Greyson now helps others who have suffered trauma. His experience and intuition alert him to trouble in Charlotte’s past, and he wants to help her, if only she’d let him.
As they work together to help veterans suffering from PTSD and neglected dogs needing loving homes, their feelings for each other deepen. But when the trauma from Charlotte’s past roars back to life, both are forced to confront their painful histories—or die trying.
Buy Links:
https://books2read.com/Strong-Enough-by-Jana-Richards
When not writing up a storm or dealing with dust bunnies, Jana can be found pursuing hobbies such as golf (which she plays very badly) or reading (which she does much better).
Jana lives in Western Canada with her husband Warren. You can reach her through her website at http://www.janarichards.com
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