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I Have a Story by Colleen L Donnelly is a Stress Busting Book Festival pick #historicalromance #romance #mustread #giveaway

  • Writer: N. N. Light
    N. N. Light
  • 3 days ago
  • 3 min read


Title:  I Have a Story

 

Author:  Colleen L Donnelly

 

Genre: Historical Romance

 

Book Blurb:

 

Jim Turner writes about crime, but he doesn’t live it. He respects his grandfather’s tales of heroes, but he doesn’t believe them. When his failing grandfather sends him to a remote peninsula to write the end of his own heroic love story, Jim includes a war criminal interview to maintain his edge.

 

Chastity is an anomaly, a misfit in pre-WWII culture as well as in Jim’s life. Her spritely charm and endearing features turn Jim’s world upside down, especially when she reveals his grandfather’s peninsula as the site of her upcoming wedding.

 

Do heroes write fiancés out of another’s story and themselves in? Do good journalists flee when their interviewee is murdered? “The End” become the hardest words for Jim to write.

 

Excerpt:

 

“So,” Chastity said. “Tell me more about the grandfather who impacted you so much.”

 

I felt him in the room. Or maybe it was in Grove. Mountain Grove. Or because we had been on his beloved peninsula, she with her yellowish hair. It was as if he joined Chastity and me, and she sensed it too. His hands and heart were in this decrepit building with us, his presence and hers making it feel like a castle instead.

 

“If it wasn’t for him, who knows where you might be now instead of here helping me.” She squeezed my hand.

 

How did she know? Because of Grandpa I came to Grove and searched for a peninsula that brought me to Chastity…who actually brought me to it. “My grandfather is a wonderful man… But before we discuss him, there are things you should know about.” I had to be honest. “Tasks you can’t help me with.” Like crime and violence, dangerous interviews, and the way I felt about her.

 

A face unlike any I had ever seen…and never would again…should send my heroic heart to the ladder where I would gather a million splinters in my hands by sliding to the ground, risking pain and infection to keep her safe by leaving.

 

Her features looked watery as I gazed at her. Tears? I never cried. Her pastel throw rugs turned into colorful puddles blurred by an emotion I had never experienced before.

 

“You are supposed to be here, Jim. And I am supposed to help you.”

 

For a moment, something ominous crept into my thoughts. Something of the old crime writer in me, who with several clicks of a typewriter’s keys could turn any story the direction I wanted. I welcomed him back, then set him aside. Because in the blue of her eyes, I saw something stronger—my promise.

 

If friendship was defined by a long period of time and a large number of interactions, Chastity didn’t qualify. And maybe my initial carnal fascination which became a pitter-patter my heart couldn’t beat without didn’t meet the definition of love. But she was at least partially right. For three days we were supposed to be together and help each other. For three days we had an eternity.

 

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

 

 

 

 

 

What’s your favorite way to combat stress?

 

Walk and pray.

 

Why is your featured book a stress busting read?

 

Because it is pure pleasure and a true escape into a zany romance where three is a crowd and true heroes battle villains while being willing to break their own hearts to protect the one they love.

 

Giveaway –

 

One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.

 

 

Open internationally.

 

Runs May 1 – 31, 2025

 

Drawing will be held on June 1, 2025. 

 

Author Biography:

 

Colleen L Donnelly put her science education to use for years and then put it behind her to pursue other passions. Her first love is writing and her second is hunting—hunting for that next good story, hunting for shed antlers or mushrooms in the woods, hunting for the next good author to read. An avid believer in work hard/play hard, Colleen splits her time between indoors and out, always busy at something.

 

Social Media Links:

 

©2015-2025 BY N. N. LIGHT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (2015-17 on Wordpress) 

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