Enchanting Reviews

The Storm Within

by Cerian Hebert

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance/Paranormal

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BLURB:

Healed from her own loss, Juliana Hopkins wants nothing more than to mend reclusive artist Aidan Byrne’s heart, and help close a chapter in his life that has haunted him for over twenty years. Risking their newfound love, Juliana is determined to release the ghosts he can’t let go.

Aidan has been in love with Juliana since the first moment he saw her, but if she can’t leave the tragedies of his past alone, he won’t be able to make a life with her.

She offers him a love he never dared to want, but loving her could rip open all the old wounds he’d never been able to heal.

Excerpt:

Besides the sound of the antique pendulum wall clock, the house was silent. Aidan sat on the sofa, fully dressed right down to his boots. He avoided meeting her gaze. She could see a storm brewing, from the way he stared at the floor, and the downturn of his lips, the tightness in his jaw.

As if he held on, by only a hair, to anger.

“You okay?” She wanted to go to him, but instinct kept her glued to her spot. Whatever stewed within him, she had a feeling it involved her. Her heart thudded in her chest. Whatever they’d discovered over the last few days she had the feeling was about to end.

Finally, he glanced up.

She wished he hadn’t. His blue eyes blazed with fury.

“You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing?” he demanded, his voice harsh with restrained anger.

It only took a quick glance at her desk to know exactly what he was referring to. The notes she’d taken about Rosemont Home sat next to her keyboard, where she’d left them.

She thought about playing dumb, telling him she had no clue what he meant, but he’d see right through it, and he didn’t deserve her lying to him about it.

She lifted her chin. Her lips trembled as she studied the anger on his face. Anger, like an immense, impenetrable wall.

“Why are you looking up information on Rosemont?” he asked, his tone stony.

Juliana grasped for the words to explain. “I thought maybe I could, um, find something out about your brother and sister.” How lame. Like he didn’t believe he knew everything there was to know.

Review:

******

5 stars

Juliana has been in morning for two years. Her husband Todd was killed in a car accident. Having been injured as well she has had to heel her body as well. One night after another bad dream she goes outside to find a beautiful, yet mysterious tree. The tree has such an aura around it. She is also visited by her dead husband telling her to move on with her life.

Aidan is a successful painter, who likes to lead a solitary lifestyle. He too has lost love ones in his past.

One wintry night Aidan has an accident right outside of Juliana's home. These two are forced together by circumstances. They have a little tension between the two because of her past profession and the need to find out his art and life. They also have sexual tension between them. Will they both be willing to move on and work at a relationship or will they be stuck in their own loneliness?

When the story first started, I was saddened because of Juliana's loss. Then she is drawn to the tree and has a conversation with her deceased husband. It was both sad and endearing at the same time. Then Aidan crashes into her life, literally and these two have such amazing chemistry together, despite the rough start they had in the past. When Aidan starts telling the story of his family especially of the twins death, I was heartbroken for him to put so much blame on himself when he was a child. The story of the tree with Aidan's family really brings the story all together. The story was amazing. It had so many emotional levels, I felt as if I was on an emotional roller-coaster throughout the story, which I thought really made the story. This was a fantastic book with spectacular characters and a wonderful storyline!

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Originally from Minnesota, Cerian is currently settled in southwestern New Hampshire with her husband and two of her four children plus a dog, cat and two geckos. She's known she wanted to write since she was twelve, and between mucking stalls in New York and booking cruises in Maine, she's been filling notebooks and flash drives with her stories in pursuit of her dreams.

Currently she has 10 published books (No Going Back, Where One Road Leads, The Staying Kind, Going Going Gone, and The Storm Within from Soul Mate Publishing, and The Better Man, Do Overs, Finally Home, Light The Way Home, and That Kind of Magic self-published at Amazon). She’s looking forward to adding to this list.

Cerian is a PAN member of RWA, Contemporary Romance Writers and New Hampshire Romance Writers of America.

Social Media Links:

Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0764399W9