Mark of Beauty ~ Chapter Two

Continue the saga of at the Odyssey in Prose link.

Mark of Beauty

 Chapter One

Lillian Clark slipped a clothes pin from her apron pocket and fastened a bib on the clothesline. A secret smile tipped her lips as she thought of the newest edition to their family. Of all her siblings, baby Dara was the sweetest of them all. She stared off unseeingly across the valley, a wistfulness filling her heart. How she longed to have a husband and children of her own! A sigh slipped from her as she returned to hanging the family laundry. At twenty years of age, she realized the improbability of her ever marrying. She touched her forehead, her hand gliding gently down her temple and her cheek to the tip of her earlobe. Regardless of how many times her mama and papa told her she was beautiful, her heart grieved over the knowledge that no man would ever look past the red marks on her face to see the heart inside her longing to love and be loved.

The sound of hooves drew her attention to the horizon. Sean McMillan. Their nearest neighbor and the only man who ever set her heart to beating faster. Of course, he did not know that. Even her mother did not know. It was a secret she kept hidden in her heart. Sean rode across the valley, his broad shoulders and arms of brawn shouting his masculinity across the airwaves. Her cheeks pinked at the turn of her thoughts. She dropped her gaze and took a deep breath, steadying her nerves at his approach.

He slowed his horse to a trot and dismounted in a fluid motion before stepping toward her. “Good morning, Lass. ‘Tis a beautiful day, is it not?”

“Good morning, Mr. McMillan. ‘Tis a beautiful day, indeed.” Odd that he stopped to talk to her. He normally went straight to the barn or the front porch in search of her papa.

(Click link to read the rest of the chapter.)

A New Chapter

 On December 13, 2021, I received news from my publisher that "Finding Beth" will be removed from their publishing list and will no longer be available for purchase starting January 1, 2022. Why? My book sales have not been what they had hoped. Shortly after "Finding Beth" was released in December of 2013, my life turned inside out and upside down. I went back to school in Fall of 2015, graduated with honors Spring of 2021 with a BA in Psychology, and am now enrolled in a master's program for Clinical Counseling. In short, I have not had time to market my book the way a new author should and my sales have fallen to nearly nothing. I have also not had time to finish book two or work on any other sequels. This does not mean the end of Beth's, Tiffany's, and the other ladies' stories. It simply means my novel writing is on pause. 

Eventually, I will get back to writing and when I do Beth will make a new debut with a new cover and new author name: Linnette Rochelle - Award-winning Author of Life-Changing Romance. Until then, I thank all of my faithful fans who have cheered me on every step of the way. 

"Finding Beth" will still be available on Amazon.com and CrossRiverMedia.com through December 31, 2021 - paperback for $14.99 or Kindle for $3.99. Come February, 2022, I will have a very limited number of autographed & numbered copies available for $30, shipping included. Simply email Linnette at LinnetteRochelle@pm.me for details.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR JESUS 

"I wanted to be Jesus' defender and shield when it was his job to be mine."

 

Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter

Hey, friends! Hop on over to my "Embracing Life" blog to see my latest post! Here's an excerpt:

"I walked into the counseling office, barely holding my heart together as, little by little, I felt it shredding inside my chest. When had things gone so wrong? How far do I travel back in my history before finding where the pain all began? And at what point did my heart start to go off the rails? ..."