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Only the Heart Remembers by Livia Quinn is a Salute Military Bookish Event pick #militaryromance #romance #salutemilitary #giveaway

  • Writer: N. N. Light
    N. N. Light
  • May 26
  • 4 min read


Title: Only the Heart Remembers

 

Author: Livia Quinn

 

Genre: Contemporary Military Romance

 

Book Blurb:

 

Love happens. . .when you least expect it! Out of the blue, or the night.


Brenna's got a very bad feeling and when that happens, she pays attention. She just returned home a few months ago and now the first storm of the season delivers a surprise. 


As a stranger tries to enter her cabin during the storm, she whacks him with a fireplace iron creating an even bigger problem—when he awakens this handsome burglar thinks they are a couple. 


As images from his past surface and their feelings intensify, Brenna finds herself hoping the clues don't mean what she thinks they do, and this new love can last forever.


"Only the Heart Remembers is one of the best books I've read this year and if I had the chance I'd give it 5,000,000 stars. Yes, it's that good! And I'll never look at Southern Comfort the same way again. . ."

 

Excerpt:

 

The ringing of the phone startled Brenna awake. After bathing the stranger in cool cloths to reduce his fever, she had finally succumbed to a fitful doze in the chair near the bedroom window.

 

Her mind screamed at her to get up.

 

“The phone. Oh, my God. Don’t quit.” Slipping on her sock covered feet, she slid into the kitchen knocking the phone off the cradle. “I’m here, I’m here. Don’t hang up,” she yelled as she pulled the handset up by its cord. “Hello?”

 

“Brenna, this is Declan. Are you okay out there?”

 

“Oh, Declan.” Relief turned Brenna’s bones to liquid as she processed the sound of impending rescue.

 

“Honey, look…we’re just checking on everyone who’s been out of communication to make sure there are no emergencies. I know you don’t like storms, but I’ll have to get back to you—”

 

“No. Declan. Wait. Emergency!” Brenna shouted the first thing that came to mind to keep him from hanging up.

 

He didn’t.

 

“I-I have an emergency. There was a burg—I have someone here who’s hurt. He needs a doctor. Declan, I had just decided to get in the car at daylight and go for help.”

 

“No. Don’t. I repeat. Do not leave your house. The roads are flooded. Brenna, do you hear me?” He spoke distinctly as if talking to a crazy person.

 

She felt a little crazy, almost hysterical with relief, but mimicked him. “I hear you.”

 

“All right, tell me about your situation.”

 

“A man, I think he was stranded.” Or he was a criminal. “He broke in to find shelter.” And he was armed, the voice in her head reminded. “I was freaked out by the storm…” ya think? “…and I whacked him with the fireplace shovel.” Her voice rose.

 

“Then what happened, Bren?” The abbreviation of her name was a balm. This was Declan, her best friend. She could tell him anything…almost.

 

“After I clobbered the poor guy I got him inside. I’m sure he has a concussion, but he’s also been running a high fever. I gave him Tylenol for the pain and to bring the fever down. Did I do the right thing?”

 

Brenna waited for him to tell her that the stranger would surely pass on from the little bit of medication she’d given him.

 

“Honey, you did your best. What I’d like to know is, what was he doing breaking in? You went against everything I’ve ever told you about helping strangers, didn’t you? I’d have left his butt on the front step.”

 

Yeah, right. Thunder Point’s favorite minister, Declan Murphy never refused a person in need.”

 

“We’re still fighting some powerful cross winds but as soon as the wind dies down, we’ll get a helicopter in there. Now, can you answer some questions?”

 

“Sure.” Anything to keep him on the line.

 

“Did you give him anything besides Tylenol?”

 

“No, that’s all, besides some sips of water.”

 

“Good. Back off on the water until we find out if there’s any bleeding. Any other symptoms? Can he walk?”

 

She nodded, “But he was pretty wobbly. Why?” Brenna’s heart sped up.

 

Declan said, “I’m looking for symptoms of neck or back injuries.”

 

“Oh. I don’t know.” That hadn’t occurred to her. One more thing to regret…

 

“Brenna. Are you listening? What about vomiting?”

 

“I’m here. He got violently ill and he was in agony after… after…” tears caught in her throat. “Oh, Declan, I might have killed him.”

 

“Hold it together, Bren. How long since he’s been awake or spoke?”

 

. . .Since we made mad passionate love.

 

… And then I found his gun.

 

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

 

 

 

 

What makes your featured book a must-read?

 

The romance, suspense and connections between the Calloways, a big surprising family of veterans who know what's important: protecting and serving the ones they love and their community. As one of my readers put it, "Alpha hero, kick-ass heroine, what's not to like."

 

Giveaway –

 

Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card:

 

 

Open Internationally.

 

Runs May 20 – May 28, 2025.


Winner will be drawn on May 29, 2025.

 

Author Biography:

 

DC native, Livia Quinn moved to Louisiana where the weather and culture inspired her books. Her jobs as mail carrier, plant manager and business owner provided fodder for her stories, she finished her first novel the summer of Katrina. Widowed, she moved to Virginia where she now enjoys the ancient beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As an only child, she longed to be part of a large family so you'll find deeply emotional themes of love, honor and service in the communities she created.

 

Social Media Links:

 

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

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