Category Archives: sexy
The Titanic and the Iceberg: Would you have survived?
Titanic Rhapsody from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
Titanic: Iceberg and the Sinking
On April 14, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. and sank at 2:20 a.m.
Would you have survived?
What were your chances?
Find out in my post today as we experience what it was like that night through the eyes of a first class lady, a second class gentleman, and an Irish family in steerage class.
You might be surprised.
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Crossing the English Channel has always held a wildly mystical attraction for me, whether it was war-weary soldiers returning home from battle or long-suffering French aristocrats escaping Madame Guillotine. There was something brave and noble about standing on the deck of a ship with a fierce wind blowing in your face, angry waves crashing against the hull and sea spray wetting your lips with a briny taste.
Or so I believed. I had my own narrow escape from the ravages of the cold sea on such a trip. I never forgot it.
Boarding the ship at Oostende, Belgium with only my backpack and naïveté for company, I was eager to get to London to visit a friend studying there. So what if the ferry was overbooked and the weather was stormy? I was tough, I could take it.
I nearly froze to death when I lost my balance as the ship rolled on the swell of the sea and I slid across the deck like a greased seal. I ended up cold and wet and hanging onto the rail for dear life.
I never forgot my youthful folly and many times while writing about the sinking of the Titanic, I pulled up those emotions to try to understand what my characters were experiencing on that fateful night, April 14, 1912, when the ship hit an iceberg.
Bitter cold, calm sea and freezing water.
Let me recreate the scene for you at 11:40 p.m. that night.
Contrary to what some films and TV shows have depicted, most passengers were asleep or reading in their cabins when the Titanic hit the iceberg. They were not enjoying a party-like atmosphere in the dining saloons drinking champagne and dancing. The public rooms closed down around 11 pm in all classes. It is true that diehard poker players like my hero in Titanic Rhapsody, Captain Lord Jack Blackthorn, were busily engaged in a game of poker or bridge whist in the smoking room.
The Titanic glided as smoothly as a haughty swan over the sea on that starlit night. No moon. Which is why it has been speculated that the two lookouts didn’t see the one-hundred-foot tall iceberg until the last minute (they had no binoculars—a ship’s officer was transferred at the last moment and took the key to the locker with the binoculars with him).
“Iceberg right ahead!” shouted the lookout into his telephone to the bridge. He rang the bell three times.
For thirty-seven seconds the two lookouts waited as the ship appeared to be heading straight for the iceberg. The ship’s first officer tried to avoid the berg and ordered the ship turned to port (left). What happened next no one saw coming . . .
The Titanic was cruising close to top speed in spite of the iceberg warnings. This was not unusual. According to the thinking of that time, Captain Smith was justified in getting through the ice region as quickly as possible. What he didn’t know was that the ship was on a direct collision course with the berg, a huge mass of ice that had traveled farther south than was ever thought possible.
The cold Labrador Current swirled around the iceberg to form a protective layer, which insulated it from the warming effects of the Gulf Stream and prevented it from melting.
Pushing the iceberg into the shipping lanes.
The Titanic never had a chance.
The White Star Line ship smashed into the iceberg along her starboard (right) side, slashing open a 295 foot gash that doomed the ship. The passengers snug in their beds or enjoying a hot whiskey and water in the smoking room had no idea that five possibly six of her sixteen compartments were flooded.
Or that the mail hold down on G deck was rapidly filling with water. Or that down in the boiler rooms the air was heavy with steam as the engineers tried to pump out the water in boiler room 5, praying the bulkheads would hold. (The hull plates of the Titanic were held in place with 3-lb. rivets—three million rivets total.)
Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer, did a quick assessment of the damage—the Titanic could float with two, three, even four of her first watertight compartments gone, he said, but not five. The ship had an hour, no more than two to survive.
After conferring with Mr. Andrews, Captain Smith ordered the wireless operator to send out the distress signal CQD (the British landline operators’ signal “CQ” was for “all stations” with the addition of “D” by the Marconi company for added emphasis—danger ). He added an “SOS” (adapted because of its distinctive Morse Code pattern of three dots . . . three dashes…three dots) with the Titanic’s call letters: “MGY.”
Where are Katie and Jack, my heroine and hero in Titanic Rhapsody, when first class passengers feel a “jar” in their staterooms? Or when the steerage passengers are tossed about in their bunks only to find seawater seeping in under their cabin doors?
I wish I could tell you…but I can’t or I will spoil the romance. I will say that Katie and Jack experience all the fear and dread of the passengers that night when the Titanic hits the iceberg.
To give you a feeling of what happened during those last hours, we’ll go through what a first cabin lady experienced, then a second class gentleman, and finally, a family in steerage.
First Class Lady
If you’re a first cabin lady, you’re most likely asleep in your cabin where it’s cozy and warm with the electric heater going, the lights dim, when suddenly something jolts you awake. Strange, you think, but nothing to be alarmed about. You try to go back to sleep until you realize the engines have stopped. Here, in the middle of the Atlantic?
You’re curious, but not worried since everyone says the ship is unsinkable. You throw a heavy coat over your nightdress and peek outside, running down the corridor in your soft satin slippers. Others are about, gossiping, yawning, until the bedroom steward in a very nice manner tells you to put on your lifebelt and go up on deck.
In this cold? you ask him. Yes, he tells you, though he assures you it’s merely a matter of precaution. Begrudgingly, you tell your lady’s maid to help you put on your corset, then fasten on the lifebelt made of six squares of cork. All the while the girl frets about, saying you’re all doomed. At the last moment, you grab your gloves and hat and scarf and join the other ladies and gents on the Boat deck.
Ah, there’s nothing to worry about, you decide, relieved. The ship’s musicians are playing a lively ragtime tune and everyone is chatting about the chunks of ice on the forward well deck—then a ship’s officer orders you into a lifeboat. Yes, orders you, like you’re a common servant. Why, the nerve of the man.
Women and children first, he says. What about the gentlemen? You hear someone whisper men are being allowed into the boats on the starboard side, but not here. Why get into the boats at all? you wonder, believing you’re safer on the ship than that small boat.
Then someone says the Titanic is sinking . . .
It can’t be that serious, can it? you wonder, not believing it possible You wait with your maid on the port side of the ship, watching the ladies being separated from their husbands and put into the lifeboats. Boats not even half-filled. No need to hurry. You hear someone say they’ll be laughing about this over breakfast.
Really? You start to shiver from the bitter cold…frosty puffs of air come out of your mouth when you speak. Unbelievable noise fills your ears. From the boilers, someone says. Ladies screaming as they’re pulled from their husbands’ arms. Then you notice the ship is listing heavily to one side. Well, what are you waiting for? Get into the damn lifeboat!
You don’t protest when a seaman tosses you into a boat. Then your maid. After all, you’re the lucky ones, you realize as the boat is lowered over the side and hits the water. The lifeboat pulls away from the ship so as not to be pulled down by the suction when the ship sinks . . . yes, it is true. The Titanic is going down.
You put your shoulder to the oar and row . . . listening to the whispers that a rescue ship is on the way…the Carpathia. Will it arrive in time?
Will it?
Not if you’re a gentleman in second class.
Second Class Gentleman
You’re anxious to get to New York and start your new job—and thrilled to be on the Titanic’s maiden voyage. Who would have thought you’d find yourself walking the second class promenade deck late at night, your hands in your pocket, your mind on the pretty girl you met earlier in the day? Still, you’ve no time for romance. You’ve got family back in England needing the money you’ll send home to them. It’s nearly midnight. Time to turn in for the night.
You head for the second class staircase when—
Wait, what was that? Did you feel a bump?
You rush to the starboard side—good God, was that an iceberg? Did we hit it? you wonder. No alarm sounds, though you don’t find out until later the Titanic has no PA system and relies on the three hundred stewards to alert the passengers to put on their lifebelts and go topside.
You wait, noting the other passengers seem calm and no one is in a hurry to get into the lifeboats. Then you spy the pretty girl you had your eye on over on the port side. She’s trying to convince her aunt to get into a lifeboat. She’s grateful when you charm the older woman and talk her into getting into a boat with her niece following her. Then you see the girl waving at you as the boat is lowered over the side. She’s smiling. Tears in her eyes.
You’ll never forget that smile.
No time to waste. The chap you share a cabin with finds you and tosses you a lifebelt. The grim look on his face tells you that you’ll both need more than a lifebelt to make it. No men are allowed into the boats here on the port side, so you do your duty and assist the women and children getting into the boats.
It’s been more than two hours since the Titanic hit the iceberg and she’s listing heavily.
The last few minutes are chaotic. Men rush the lifeboats, then a shot rings out—they’re pushed back. You help a woman get into a boat, then someone hands you a baby. You give it to the woman before the boat is lowered.
No more wooden lifeboats left.
You try to help the ship’s officers launch one of the four collapsibles when suddenly there’s a thunderous explosion. You’re blown clear of the ship, but after swimming long, hard strokes, your hands swell up, your legs go numb and your back feels like it’s breaking in two.
Cries, screams ringing in your head, people clinging to you, clutching you around the throat, dragging you down underwater. You can’t breathe, you’re choking. Then the cold . . . the bitter, freezing cold . . .
The last thing you remember is the pretty girl’s smiling face . . .
But what if you can’t get topside?
Steerage Class Family
It is time to speak of the steerage passengers, who until now have waited patiently for a steward to bring them up on top to get into the lifeboats.
Well, not all the third class passengers have been patient.
How could you be if you’re a good wife and mother and your family’s lot depends on you getting to the lifeboats?
Holy Mary, you’ve had time of it since you boarded the Titanic at Queenstown. Getting the two little ones, Mary and Bridget, settled in their bunks with Danny, a lad of ten, wanting so to follow his da around the ship.
And then there’s Patrick, your man. A strong, blustering bloke with strong hands and a big heart. Him always ready to enjoy a pint after a hard day’s work and eager to give you a hug and a kiss when you’re weary from toiling from dawn till night.
“You’ll have a better life in America,” he promises you, after buying passage on the grand ship. And now look at the lot of you. Huddling in the stairway down here on E deck like drowned rats after the seawater came flooding into your cabin. The ship hit an iceberg, they say, split her open where you’re quartered in the fore part of the ship in the married couples section.
And would you believe the likes of them stewards shouting and hollering to put on lifebelts that don’t exist? Only through the help of the good Lord did Patrick find belts for you and the children. And now they won’t let you through the gate to go topside?
“Have you no heart, man?” Patrick yells to the steward, asking him to let his family through. No, he tells him, you have to wait. Then you put your hands over the girls’ ears when Patrick lets go with a barrage of expletives and his fists. He pushes the steward aside and bangs on the barrier. With help from the other men, down it goes with a loud crash.
Then Patrick picks up the girls, one in each arm, and orders you to grab Danny and go ahead of him. Up the stairs you go, the companionway taking you up to the next deck. Then someone says go through the second class door and somehow through Divine grace you find your way up on top.
Oh, such chaos you’ve never seen. People yelling and rushing about like frightened mice with their tails caught in the jaws of a hungry cat. Patrick, good man that he is, doesn’t stop. From boat to boat he goes until he finds one that will take you and the girls. And Danny.
But not him.
“Women and children first,” orders the ship’s officer, shaking his head. Patrick nods. He knew all along there’s no place for him, but he didn’t let anything stop him until his family was saved.
God bless him.
“A kiss to you, lass,” he says, brushing your lips with his, then he tosses you into the boat and it’s lowered away. You huddle in the lifeboat with your children close to you. The sea is so calm, so smooth, the piercing screams and pitiful pleas for help sound sharp and clear in your ears, but you can’t cry. That will come later. Now you have to be strong. For the girls and Danny.
Patrick would want it that way.
And there you have it. A trio of passengers and how they fare on that fateful night. Then at 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the Titanic breaks in two and sinks into the North Atlantic, a pale gray vapor hanging like smoke over the spot where she disappears.
For the passengers and crew, cold and freezing in the lifeboats, it will be hours before the rescue ship Carpathia reaches them. Then it’s on to New York. Between twenty and thirty thousand people crowd Chelsea Piers when the Carpathia steams into New York Harbor around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, 1912.
Even the aftermath of the Titanic is dramatic. Reporters hire their own tugboat to try to get to the passengers first and buy their exclusives stories; the newspapers blast the headlines for days about the society folks on board (third class passengers don’t fare as well—they’re sent to homeless shelters and their names don’t appear on the survivors’ list); and the U.S. Senate subcommittee holds hearings at the Waldorf-Astoria, interviewing first class passengers and crew.
We’ve come to the end of our journey on the Titanic and a grand tale it is. Before I go, I want to take one last look at the ship of dreams, though I shan’t walk her decks or open doors to her cabins.
No, I want to take one more walk down her sweeping Grand Staircase with the great glass dome overhead like Katie O’Reilly, my heroine, does in Titanic Rhapsody. We see the stars peeking through, heavenly witnesses to all that is elegant and romantic. A place of enchantment where everything is unique to this time, this place. Katie can’t believe she’s really here and neither can I.
I quicken my pace and leave the ship, knowing the Titanic will stay with me always.
Tomorrow I will pay tribute to the victims and survivors of the Titanic and answer your questions.
I pray you will join me.
Jina
My Titanic romance “Titanic Rhapsody” is available on:
US: Amazon Kindle and Amazon KU http://a.co/1wSE0rb
UK: Amazon Kindle and Amazon KU http://amzn.eu/75Lw9NS
Certified Nurses Day…and a sexy doctor, too
I couldn’t resist posting this graphic with the adorable nurse and her patients. Reminds me that nursing was a male profession during the Civil War. Women had to be over thirty and plain…and couldn’t work in the hospitals after dark. Male nurses took over the night shift.
Which presents a problem for the time-traveling heroine in my Kindle Scout book, LOVE ME FOREVER, when she–nah, I can’t give it away, but Liberty Jordan soon finds out when she travels back to 1862 that women had a difficult time proving themselves in a man’s world. Female surgeons or doctors serving on the battlefield were completely out of the question. The Union Army refused to recruit women as physicians.
It doesn’t help that Liberty falls for a handsome Union Army surgeon…Major Flynt Stephens. Mmm…me, too.
She wore gray.
He wore blue.
But their love defied the boundaries of war.
And time.
LOVE ME FOREVER is on Amazon Kindle. It’s a saga of love and romance and war. Believe me, I walked every road, fought every battle with my characters, even walked around in a hoop skirt to “get it right.”
This is a book of the heart…any questions? Please ask!!
Thanks for stopping by.
~Jina
LOVE ME FOREVER is available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited
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Check out my Royals of Monterra Kindle Worlds Fairy Tale stories:
Twisted Tiaras series:
Can a sexy prince give a girl a second chance at love? Zoey is a former addict afraid to fall in love.
Even a goody two shoes princess can get lost down the rabbit hole. Heather will do anything to save her BFF from the world of party drugs.
Smart Girls Grow Up . . . International Women’s Day
Women in every era have struggled for equality.
Especially during the Civil War when women bound their breasts and cut their hair and fought as men in both the Union and Confederate Armies.
Like my heroine.
In Love Me Forever.
As you can see in the excerpt below from LOVE ME FOREVER
Flynt grabbed the young officer and a flash of heat shot through him, a sensation so unexpected it shook his senses to the core.
My God, what’s this?
A woman’s breasts?
He drew back, puzzled then disturbed. Warm nights . . . silken sheets . . . perfume.
He couldn’t speak. He was dumbfounded, his entire being shaken. He couldn’t move and he could barely breathe. He struggled to keep from blurting out his discovery.
The Rebel prisoner was a female.
Would his nurse give her away? Or was she waiting for him to say something? He couldn’t. He felt a stirring within him, something he didn’t want to admit, that brought a hardness between his loins. Did he dare imagine that a beautiful woman existed under all that blood and dirt? He’d heard stories about women enlisting in the army, both North and South, and fighting as men. A good set of teeth to rip open a bullet cartridge, a trigger finger that worked, and a firm handshake was all that was required to join up. It was no secret the promise of a steady paycheck was often the reason behind such reckless female behavior.
That didn’t solve his immediate problem.
Flynt couldn’t see her face under the broad-brimmed hat, but the fullness of her breasts was quite evident when she fell against him. She was tall, making her charade as a man believable, with a leanness about her uncommon to most women he knew. Too often they bound their bodies with boned corsets and rounded hip pads.
He released her, though not willingly. Her lean figure added to her appeal. She was strong and lithe, like the mountain cats he’d hunted west of the Mississippi, but she was no country girl. Her manner of speaking, though strange to his ears, told him she was well educated.
An adventuress? Or was she a female physician? That would explain her disguise since women in the medical field were rare.
Her presence put him off balance, but he couldn’t stop a smile from curving over his lips.
Who is she? he wanted to know.
More important, what was he going to do with her?
Meet Liberty Jordan:
Women Soldiers in the Civil War from “Love Me Forever” from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
Let’s celebrate the acts of courage of women throughout the centuries on International Women’s Day!
~Jina
If you love Civil War romance and time travel and TWO hunky military heroes, check out my Kindle Scout winner below.
She wore gray.
He wore blue.
But their love defied the boundaries of war.
And time.
LOVE ME FOREVER is a Kindle Scout winner and is now available from Kindle Press at Amazon.com
1862: How the Tooth Fairy helped soldiers during the Civil War
Remember when Frank posed as a dentist assistant in Mercy Street on PBS? He was spying . . . and didn’t know a thing about teeth.
Too bad he didn’t have the Tooth Fairy on his side.
The Tooth Fairy took on a new role during the Civil War. She fought long and hard to help the soldiers keep their teeth, not take them. If a soldier had a toothbrush, it was homemade.
Brushes didn’t show up as commercially made until 1885. Most used a “chewing stick” made from a twig from a tree or bush.
Chomping on hardtack didn’t help. Called tooth-dullers by the soldiers, they tried to soften them in coffee, but often cracked a tooth.
No wonder the Tooth Fairy was so into preventive care.
You see, for a man (or woman disguised as a man) to join the army of the North or the South, they needed a good set of teeth.
As you can see in the excerpt below from LOVE ME FOREVER
Flynt grabbed the young officer and a flash of heat shot through him, a sensation so unexpected it shook his senses to the core.
My God, what’s this?
A woman’s breasts?
He drew back, puzzled then disturbed. Warm nights . . . silken sheets . . . perfume.
He couldn’t speak. He was dumbfounded, his entire being shaken. He couldn’t move and he could barely breathe. He struggled to keep from blurting out his discovery.
The Rebel prisoner was a female.
Would his nurse give her away? Or was she waiting for him to say something? He couldn’t. He felt a stirring within him, something he didn’t want to admit, that brought a hardness between his loins. Did he dare imagine that a beautiful woman existed under all that blood and dirt? He’d heard stories about women enlisting in the army, both North and South, and fighting as men. A good set of teeth to rip open a bullet cartridge, a trigger finger that worked, and a firm handshake was all that was required to join up. It was no secret the promise of a steady paycheck was often the reason behind such reckless female behavior.
That didn’t solve his immediate problem.
Flynt couldn’t see her face under the broad-brimmed hat, but the fullness of her breasts was quite evident when she fell against him. She was tall, making her charade as a man believable, with a leanness about her uncommon to most women he knew. Too often they bound their bodies with boned corsets and rounded hip pads.
He released her, though not willingly. Her lean figure added to her appeal. She was strong and lithe, like the mountain cats he’d hunted west of the Mississippi, but she was no country girl. Her manner of speaking, though strange to his ears, told him she was well educated.
An adventuress? Or was she a female physician? That would explain her disguise since women in the medical field were rare.
Her presence put him off balance, but he couldn’t stop a smile from curving over his lips.
Who is she? he wanted to know.
More important, what was he going to do with her?
Meet Liberty Jordan:
Women Soldiers in the Civil War from “Love Me Forever” from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
So keep our Tooth Fairy happy. Take care of your teeth!!
~Jina
If you love Civil War romance and time travel and TWO hunky military heroes, check out my Kindle Scout winner below.
She wore gray.
He wore blue.
But their love defied the boundaries of war.
And time.
LOVE ME FOREVER is a Kindle Scout winner and is now available from Kindle Press at Amazon.com
A Chocolate Lover’s…Lover on Chocolate Day
If you’re like me, you don’t need a special day to celebrate the joys and passion of chocolate.
But…since today is National Chocolate Day, here’s a special poem I wrote for all you chocolate lovers…and your lovers, too!
~Jina
A Chocolate Lover’s…Lover
There once was a pretty Irish lass
Who was smart and funny with a lot of sass
But when the gentlemen came a calling
The sassy lass kept a stalling
‘Cause the one man who was truly her star
Was the hunky guy with the big chocolate bar!
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If you love Civil War romance and time travel and TWO hunky military heroes, check out my Kindle Scout winner on SALE for 99 cents till Dec 31st!!
She wore gray.
He wore blue.
But their love defied the boundaries of war.
And time.
LOVE ME FOREVER is now available from Kindle Press at Amazon.com
National Candy Cane Day…His & Hers
Photo Credits: Sweet Lips © Olga Ekaterincheva | Dreamstime.com Sexy Candy © Gpointstudio | Dreamstime.com
Sweeeet…
~Jina
Ebook bargains! Free or 99 cents on Black Friday at Joan Reeves’ Blog
Joan Reeves’ Black Friday ebook deals! from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
I love Joan Reeves Blog — she’s a wonderful writer but also a giving person. She’s opened up her blog to some really terrific writers to post our 99 cent or free ebooks for this holiday season.
Check it out at Joan Reeves Blog for Black Friday Bargains!!
~Jina
My Christmas Piano Tree is there!
A war vet with a secret returns home to help a buddy’s widow get through the holidays.
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Check out my Royals of Monterra Kindle Worlds:
Can a sexy prince give a girl a second chance at love?
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The magic is in his kiss…
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Happy Thanksgiving!! One potato is worth a thousand words…
Today we give thanks to our families, significant others, and all the wonderful readers. Without you guys, well, we wouldn’t be writers.
Thank you for believing in us. You’ll never know what it means to us.
And yes, writing is just as hard as peeling all those potatoes.
But just think about those yummy, garlicky potatoes and oh my…
The gravy!
It doesn’t get better than that.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
~Jina
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Check out my Royals of Monterra Kindle Worlds:
Can a sexy prince give a girl a second chance at love?
======================================
The magic is in his kiss…
===========================
California Readin’ Facebook Takeover Tuesday Nov 15, 2016 6-8 pm PST
California Readin’ Facebook Even November 15, 2016 from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
We’re just getting started for our Barbara Vey Event for Readers coming up on March 25, 2017 at the Embassy Suites in Brea, CA.
Join us tomorrow for our Facebook party and find out more! And also, a chance to win a $20 gift card from the Ripped Bodice bookstore!
I’m excited to be part of this event with some fabulous authors. So stop and check us out!
Jina
CLICK HERE to join us tomorrow at our Facebook Party!
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Check out my Royals of Monterra Kindle Worlds:
Can a sexy prince give a girl a second chance at love?
======================================
The magic is in his kiss…
===========================
My Military Heroes: from the Civil War to Afghanistan for Veterans Day
Military heroes…we women love them.
And let’s not forget our female veterans.
So on this Veterans Day, I salute the heroes in my stories who serve our country:
A female soldier, a Southern belle and spy, a mother fighting the Nazis, a World War 2 soldier in Italy, and a returning vet honoring his best buddy’s last wish.
Civil War: LOVE ME FOREVER
Women Soldiers in the Civil War from “Love Me Forever” from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
Southern Belle and Spy: Excerpt from LOVE ME FOREVER from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
Pre-World War 2: Nazi Germany
The Berlin Diary of Lady Eve Marlowe: Else’s Story from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
World War 2:
A Soldier’s Italian Christmas: Excerpt from Chapter One from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
Afghanistan:
I haven’t made a video yet for “The Christmas Piano Tree,” so here’s the story:
What’s Christmas without a tree?
Kristen Delaney can’t afford a Christmas tree this year, but she doesn’t want to disappoint her little girl Rachel. The six-year old already lost her daddy in Afghanistan. To cheer her up, Kristen hires a homeless vet to play Santa at the private school where she works. Little does she know it was no accident the hunky Santa showed up in Kissing Creek just in time for Christmas Eve.
Sgt. Jared Milano promised Scott Delaney he’d take care of his wife and little girl. He also shared with him a secret that would change Kristen’s life, a secret about her Aunt Gertrude and an old piano, but the IED blast blew away part of his memory.
Jared fights his growing desire for Kristen as he struggles to regain his past and overcome the PTSD haunting him. Kristen is lonely and not ready to fall in love again, but she can’t take her eyes off him. Doesn’t want to. When he’s accused of a crime, she refuses to believe he’s guilty and invites the handsome soldier to spend Christmas Eve with them.
When a sudden snowstorm turns deadly and Rachel goes missing, Jared must use all his skills to find her and prove to Kristen he’s guilty only of falling in love with her.
“The Christmas Piano Tree” is the story of a pretty young war widow who re-discovers the magic of the holiday season with the help of a homeless vet and an old piano.
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Thank you to all our veterans for your service!
~Jina
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If you love Civil War romance and time travel and TWO hunky military heroes, check out my Kindle Scout winner:
She wore gray.
He wore blue.
But their love defied the boundaries of war.
And time.
