Explosive Beginnings

I am thrilled to announce that Susan Flett-Swiderski’s latest book EXPLOSIVE BEGINNINGS is now available for PRE-ORDER!

It will be released on April 30^th!

I was privileged to receive an advanced review copy, and I’m excited not only to announce the good news but to post a review.

EXPLOSIVE BEGINNINGS

Maybe this time will be different.

Terrible things happen to the people he cares about the most, so it’s safer for Archie Jaworski to simply stop caring. He doesn’t give a flying fandango what anybody says about him, keeps every relationship shallow, and does unto others before they can do unto him.

And then, shortly before he leaves the Army, he spots a pretty widow and her two kids, and all bets are off.

His war hero uncle says he’s not good enough for that perfect little lady, but Archie’s determined to prove him wrong. No matter how many threats his uncle and his fellow officers make to scare him away from their buddy’s widow, and no matter what it takes, he’s determined to meet that family and to seduce that skirt.

What’s more, if she’s a decent cook, he might even marry her.

Archie plans his courtship to the smallest detail, but the one thing he forgets to do is keep his feelings under wraps. He doesn’t mean to care about them, but the allure of finally being part of something normal, something good, is more than he can resist.

Maybe this time, no one has to die.

***

Explosive Beginnings is a thrilling roller coaster ride through the 1950s, featuring surprising twists and a shocking finish I didn't see coming. Gripping!!!"

Robynne Rand, author of THE MECHANIC NEXT DOOR

MY REVIEW

       

Archie Jaworski is not the most likable guy, but he’s had a hard life and he/s taken on the blame for too much pain. He’s surly, and combative and apologizes for neither.

Life continues to conspire against him until he sees Madeline Quinn, then everything changes. Even Archie.

Archie is on a mission, and maybe even falling in love. It doesn’t matter that she has two kids, it doesn’t matter that he’s been warned off. He knows what he wants, and no one is going to tell him he can’t have it.

        But will a real family make Archie whole? The book is called Explosive Beginnings for a reason. Has Archie’s bitten off more than he can chew? I won’t spoil the surprise. I’ll just say that Susan is the one author who can tell it just like it was. She’s an expert storyteller, flawless novelist, and master of the surprise ending.

        Although this is the first book in the Blast Rites Series, it is a stand-alone with a beginning, middle, and very explosive end!

        I highly recommend Explosive Beginnings.

PRE-ORDER HERE!

About Susan:

Susan Flett Swiderski grew up in Dundalk, Maryland, where everybody calls everybody "hon"- fishing and crabbing is a way of life, and eating steamed crabs is practically a sacrament. Although she loves her home in Georgia, a part of her heart will always linger beside the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The rest of it enjoys life with her husband and love of her life (Luckily for her, they're the same person.) and their two spoiled cats Dot and Dash. Strange names, perhaps, but not for a couple of amateur radio operators. Susan and her husband that is. Not the cats.

Susan is also the author of Hot Flashes & Cold Lemonade and has a short story in the anthology Old Broads Waxing Poetic. She’s also an expert at blogging, and you can find her thoughtful prose at I Think: Therefore I Yam

CONGRATULATIONS, SUSAN!

HAPPY ENDINGS!

HAPPY 2017!

This post is for Susan Flett Swiderski:

Her comment on my WEP entry

Melting Snow

was:

Well dang, girl! You just couldn't do it, could ya? You simply couldn't give us just one magical happy-ever-after ending for Christmas. Sheesh. (sigh)

For the New Year

I've changed the ending!

You can read that first ending HERE!

Thank you Jenny Baranick - your suggestion works!

MELTING SNOW

Judgement day for the winter ice challenge had arrived, and they were excited to learn if their favorites had won. Glenna had chosen the Dragon War, and David had picked the Angels in Flight. The winner would buy dinner at Anchorage's best restaurant, The Crow's Nest.

David told her the freshly fallen snow was the lure, but she knew that a proposal was his goal. Glenna was ready for the commitment. After all, they'd been together for over a year, and two people more suited didn't exist. They had similar goals, enjoyed all things outdoor, and they both agreed that love and family were the keys to success.

She'd met the handsome pilot on a flight she'd taken during a school training project. His knowledge and skill made the trip a success, and their first date left no doubt they had a future together. He'd cooked dinner for her over a campfire in the back yard of the cabin he'd built with his own hands. Fresh salmon, corn on the cob, new potatoes, and homemade blueberry ice cream. The way to a man's heart may be through his stomach, but for Glenna, his down-home cooking, adventure filled stories, and sense of humor had won her heart.

"Think twice, Sissy!" David shouted and threw the first snowball; just a handful of snow, but it caught Glenna by surprise.

"You're in trouble now," she yelled, but quickly gathered two handfuls and formed a perfect ball. She threw it, laughing and ducking at the same time. Their snowball fight lasted just minutes, but his concussion and subsequent coma would mar their future.

*****

Sissy, or Glenna Parks, as her friends knew her, rinsed her face with cold water, and stared at her reflection. Haggard looking after another sleepless night, she wondered how life could take such a sharp, sudden turn.

She'd just won the job of a lifetime and would be teaching history at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. David Carter, her beau, was about to pop the question, his recent inquiry the clue.

"How do you feel about antique jewelry?" he'd asked.

"I love all things with a history," she'd told him.

Life couldn't have been sweeter. She recalled his last kiss, confident that he was going down on one knee then. Instead, he gathered up a handful of snow and changed their lives forever.

Now he couldn't even recall her name. At first, he didn't know his own name, even denied being a pilot, claimed to be afraid of heights, and a Texan living in Alaska, not reality. The man who awoke from the coma was not the man who had slipped on the ice.

Dripping water reminded her of the blood she'd tried to staunch with their woolen scarves but to no avail. The paramedics hurried him away, and she followed. Glenna willed him back to consciousness, but she wasn't prepared for the hateful stranger who greeted her.

Now, a week later, a few memories had returned giving her hope that the rest would soon follow. Glenna wasn't sleeping, barely eating, and David's lack of recognition hurt on a level she didn't even know existed. Yesterday, he'd asked her to leave him alone.

"I don't need a stranger watching or commenting on my every move. Especially one with sad puppy dog eyes."

Hiding her tears, she left. Today she'd returned with an entire picture album of their adventures together, something to spark David's memory. She promised herself she would just drop it off, but when she arrived, he was asleep. She waited, watched, prayed, and eventually fell into a deep sleep herself.

Still holding his hand, she dreamed of the David she knew. The warmth and strength of him were as she remembered, but reality was waking in a sterile hospital room with spittle dripping from her open mouth. She rushed into the bathroom to revive herself. Gazing into the mirror, she vowed to recapture their happiness.

"Hey, beautiful. I was hoping you'd return for a visit," David said. The tone, the comment, hey beautiful, was pure David. Ready to answer, she dried her face, but someone else beat her to it.

"Hi, handsome. You look better. How are you feeling?"

Giggling.

"Oh my, you are feeling better!" The voice of the doctor who'd admitted him sounded too friendly, syrupy, and seductive.

"Except for an almost constant headache, pretty darn good, especially now that you're here!" David cooed.

Glenna listened. Their conversation wasn't the typical discussion between doctor and patient. They were flirting.

"Why don't you spring me from this place? I'll buy dinner?' David asked.

"First thing tomorrow morning. Dinner sounds wonderful, but I thought you were spoken for. What's her name? Glenda?"

"Glenna? No. No way, she's not my type. Believe me. We're just friends. I actually had to ask her to leave. I honestly hope she never comes back. That whiny voice of hers grates on the ears. Besides, what adult woman would ever accept Sissy as a nickname?"

"You sure you remember everything. What about the ring we found in your pocket?"

"Yeah, I know. The engagement ring was my mother’s. Dad sent it to me along with a few other mementos. That ring has nothing to do with Sissy."

The way he said her nickname hurt deep in her soul. It was meant to be something only they shared. Sissy was an endearment her grandfather used when she was younger, and David claimed for his own. No one else could call her Sissy.

 Glenna managed to leave the room without notice. The silhouette of their embrace on the curtain, then the sound of kissing assaulted her as she crept away. She dropped the picture album in the wastebasket and left the hospital just moments after a blizzard hit, but she didn't feel the Arctic chill, or the warm tears streaming from her eyes.

Nor did she see the car that careened out of control due to the ice and snow. The handsome man who stepped out of the wrecked car to see if she was safe had her heart beating with hope. A fact Glenna wouldn't recognize until after their first date, but a blessing she would still be thanking the Universe for on their 50^th wedding anniversary!

Yolanda Renée © 2016

1055 words

Do you prefer the Happy Ending?

FARTS, RAGE, ROMANCE & DEATH

This weekend I read a truly delightful book and it had a beginning, middle, and a very satisfying end. Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade by Susan Flett Swiderski has been in my to-be-read queue for way too long, but I finally checked it off the constantly growing list.

My Review:

Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade

By

Susan Flett Swiderski

                Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade is a book of literary fiction that, and as you can tell from the title, touches on a time of life many of us could write volumes about. You know the one where female hormones fade and all those Y-chromosomes make their presence known in the form of unexpected rage, uncontainable bodily functions, and flashes of unemotional intelligence.

        This wonderfully humorous book follows the journey of one irrepressible glass half-full dirty-blonde, Pearl Bryzinski. She's married to George, a hardworking, beer drinking, not a romantic bone in his body, good guy. She has three lovely children, and the first-born can do no wrong, he's her little boy, until suddenly one night his expectations and her reality clash. Pearl has supportive gal pals, a volatile relationship with her mother, and a father she's put on a 'can do no wrong' pedestal. 

        It all sounds ideal, but nothing in life is that easy. I enjoyed following Pearl through the minefield that is the change. I especially enjoyed how menopause influenced her actions and reactions to the people in her life that she had managed to put in the crayon box of eight colors, only to find that true colors can't be found in a box of eight or even thirty-six.

        I hate crying, but when an author can evoke tears and laughter, empathy and compassion, I call that miraculous and take my hat off to Susan.

        Despite the fact that there is no mystery, no murder, and no horror, this will always be one of my favorite books!

         Writers who take ordinary life and write it with a cleverness that keeps me turning the page are, in my opinion, super talented. Susan Flett Swiderski is one of those writers.

          Read her blog, I Think, Therefore I Yam and you'll see humor and genius in every post. I look forward to more amazing reads from this brilliant writer.

Susan Flett Swiderski grew up in Dundalk, Maryland, where everybody calls everybody "hon", fishing and crabbing is a way of life, and eating steamed crabs is practically a sacrament. Although she loves her home in Georgia, a part of her heart will always linger beside the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The rest of it enjoys life with her husband and love of her life (Luckily for her, they're the same person.) and their two spoiled cats Dot and Dash. Strange names, perhaps, but not for a couple of amateur radio operators. Susan and her husband, that is. Not the cats.

Her Blog: I Think, Therefore I Yam

 

Buy here - AMAZON

Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade 

 Susan Flett Swiderski

Living the perfect life has always been easy peasy for Pearl Bryzinski, because she’s practically a pro at ignoring the negative and putting a positive spin on the facts, but it’s impossible for her to find anything positive about Daddy skipping town with that blue-haired floozy in a flashy brown Pinto. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t ignore the fact that he’s gone… or the fact that she’s becoming a drama queen who can sweat like a sumo wrestler doing push-ups in a sauna. It’s almost enough to suck the blush out of her rose-colored glasses. Whether she likes it or not, she’s gonna have to turn some of her wishbone into backbone.

Layer by layer, assumptions and misconceptions peel away, as Pearl learns to buck up in the face of reality, and to laugh at her imperfect… but not so bad… life. Supported by a down-to-earth husband who loves her with every blue-collar bone in his body, a mother who isn’t the self-centered witch Pearl imagined her to be, three terrific grown kids… okay, make that two terrific kids, and a Golden Boy who’s a far cry from 24-carat… and a bunch of wonderful wacky gal pals, Pearl comes to realize that her mixed bag of family and friends makes her life damned near perfect. Pearl being Pearl, she’ll never give up her rosy specs entirely, but learning to handle reality also means learning to deal with death.