Title Healing Kiss
Author Amanda Uhl
Genre Paranormal Romance
Publisher Amanda Uhl, LLC
Book Blurb
To save her dying sister…
Lillian Milano channels energy from the healthy to heal the sick, which makes her an incredible nurse. But her gift puts Lillian and those she loves in danger from an organization that will stop at nothing to exploit her talent. When her sister becomes gravely ill, wealthy computer genius Tristan King is the one man with enough vitality to save her sister’s life. But being near him threatens to expose her secrets and destroy the walls she’s built around her heart.
She bargains with a billionaire.
Tristan doesn’t believe in the supernatural and is wary of emotional entanglements. But his beloved mother is dying, and his lying ex-fiancée won’t leave him alone, so he strikes a deal: In exchange for his help, Lillian must pose as his date for a hospital fundraiser. As the pair work together to save their loved ones, they confront a spiraling web of secrets that threatens their growing feelings for each other. The choices they make will either destroy their lives or heal their hearts.
Healing Kiss won first place in the paranormal category of the 2021 Rudy and 2021 The Far Side contests. It won second place in the 2019 Diamonds in the Desert Contest.
Excerpt
“If you’ll excuse me, I want to grab a coffee and get back to my friend’s room.” Lillian edged around the man and toward the coffee station. The high tinkle of a woman’s laugh sounded behind her.
“Tristan King, I thought that was you. I didn’t know you were coming back here this late in the day. Don’t you have a party starting in a few hours?”
Tristan King; so that was his name.
Lillian glanced at the woman, who stopped in front of Tristan. She had high cheekbones and long red hair pulled into a sleek ponytail and wore a navy dress with an open neckline and cream-colored heels. Something about her polished, model look made Lillian suspect the woman was used to attracting attention.
The woman placed a slim hand with French-manicured nails on Tristan’s chest and removed a piece of non-existent lint from his black shirt. Tristan’s expression didn’t change, but somehow Lillian sensed his laser focus. Whoever this lady was, she was important to him.
Now was the perfect time to make her escape. Lillian took a step, but a long arm snaked around hers, pulling her backward, so she nearly tumbled into him.
He caught her, his hands snagging in her hair. “Not so fast.” Tristan smiled down at her, softening his harsh features. He winked, the movement so quick, she might have imagined it.
He turned to the lady. “Hello, Angelina.” Tristan sounded bored. “The fundraiser is still on. I only came to visit a friend. I’m heading out now.”
Angelina ignored Lillian, leaning in close to whisper in Tristan’s ear and giving him a good frontal view of her chest. Lillian could only imagine what she said. A promise of what might happen after the party?
Tristan wrapped his arm around Lillian’s shoulder and tucked her into his side. He smelled of the sea and something else, something otherworldly, something magical, like tall evergreens under a full moon in a fierce winter snowstorm. He tilted his head and angled his face toward hers. His dark blue eyes were the night sky, swallowing her whole.
My God, what was happening?
And then she felt it. It began where his fingers grazed her arm, traveled along her spine, caressed sensitive nerve endings, and ignited a shivering, shaking, blazing trail through her entire body. White-hot scorching energy lit the space between them. His warm breath caressed her skin.
So energetic. So thrilling. So full of life.
Lillian stood transfixed under the enchanted spell he cast. Excitement curled and unfolded in her veins. She’d found a burner—the term her mother used to describe someone with immense vitality. Someone with so much natural power, he vibrated with it. Someone who could cure a room full of invalids if he’d let her.
Someone she could use to cure Hannah.
“Who’s this?” Angelina asked, finally giving Lillian an ounce of her attention.
Lillian didn’t answer. All she could manage was to lean against Tristan’s side so she wouldn’t collapse in a warm puddle at his feet.
“My date for tonight’s party,” Tristan said, his tone smooth, as if he hadn’t just set her whole body on fire and left her a helpless lump of hot coal.
“Oh, I see. I didn’t realize you had a date.” Angelina shot her a dirty look. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of a few matters. I’ll see you at the party.”
“Of course,” Tristan said, his gaze following Angelina’s retreating form before returning to Lillian. He removed his arm from her shoulder. “I’m sorry I had to do that. Angelina won’t take no for an answer. I needed to take drastic measures to get the message across. Thanks for playing along.”
“You didn’t give me much choice.”
His grin changed his features from interrogator to co-conspirator. “There wasn’t time—I had to improvise. But I’m grateful. May I get you a coffee?” He gestured toward a line of pots. “What’s your name?”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “Zoey…Zoey Mills.”
“I’m sorry about your friend.”
He handed her a cup of coffee, and when she reached for it, a tingling sensation moved between them again. Did he feel it, too?
She clutched the Styrofoam cup like it held liquid courage. “Thanks. Why don’t you come with me…to meet her? It’s the least you can do after I played along with your little ruse.”
He tilted his head and studied her, eyes shuttered. She resisted the urge to tap her feet and instead took a sip of coffee. Say yes, say yes, say yes.
“I can’t. I am hosting a fundraiser at my house”—he checked his watch—“in less than an hour. I kind of have to be there.” He pulled a pen from his bag and nabbed a napkin from the coffee bar, then scribbled his address and handed it to Lillian. “Feel free to come by later if you need a break.”
His voice did strange things to her insides, and her pulse raced where their fingers brushed, so she almost dropped the napkin. She couldn’t let him leave. Not without first seeing Hannah. “Please, it will only take a minute. You’ll have plenty of time to get to your party afterward. I promise.”
A flash of puzzlement crossed his face before something buzzed in his pocket, distracting him, and he slipped his hand into his jacket and pulled out his phone. Whatever he read on the screen wasn’t good news. His whole demeanor changed, all the light and animation leaving his face at once.
“What is it?”
“An emergency. I have to go.” He took off at a fast pace toward the exit.
All Lillian could do was stare after him, clutching the cup of coffee in one hand and the crumpled napkin in the other.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Universal -- https://books2read.com/Healing-Kiss
Amazon -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZK7KGDF
Barnes & Noble -- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/healing-kiss-amanda-uhl/1143265131?ean=2940167112902
Smashwords -- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1369011
Healing Kiss Launch Party
At my launch party, I’m giving away signed paperbacks of Healing Kiss and of books by other authors, handmade beach glass book charms, and beach glass soap.
Author Biography
Award-winning author Amanda Uhl has always had a fascination with the mystical. Having drawn her first breath in a century home rumored to be haunted, you might say she was "born" into it. After a brief stint in college as a paid psychic, Amanda graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in theatre and a master's degree in marketing. Over the past twenty years, she has worked as an admissions representative and graphic designer, owned her own freelance writing company, and managed communications for several Fortune 500 companies, most recently specializing in cyber security and data. Amanda is an avid reader and writes fast-paced, paranormal romantic suspense and humorous contemporary romance from her home in Cleveland, Ohio. When she's not reading or writing, you can find Amanda with her husband and three children, gathering beach glass on the Lake Erie shoreline or biking in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
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