M. Jean Pike's Blog, page 31
July 12, 2023
Blog tour
First stop on my blog tour is at Susan Lyttek’s homeschooling blog. Hop over and read a little about me and my new book!
July 11, 2023
It’s Unboxing Day!
Got my shipment of books today and they are gorgeous!
Book # 10, but it never gets old!
Check out my unboxing video!
The Little Things releases this Friday from Pelican Book Group!
July 10, 2023
Book shelf
If you’re like me, you love, love, love to read but sometimes have trouble finding books that fit your interests. Great news! I just found out about an amazing new site for book recommendations. Hundreds of books on every subject imaginable!
Check out my book shelf!
June 27, 2023
June 23, 2023
Homecoming… an excerpt
With just three weeks until the release of my new book, The Little Things, I thought I would share an excerpt. Though the story is a modern day take on the parable of The Prodigal Son, Rochelle’s homecoming after ten years away does not go exactly as she’d hoped. Her beloved foster mother, Bessie, is dead, her brother is furious with her, and she discovers she is in danger of losing the only safe haven she’s ever known to a man she barely remembers…
She glanced at her brother and saw a hundred unspoken words in his expression. Saw what had seethed just beneath the surface of their awkward hug at the bus station and filled the uncomfortable silence ever since. After a few moments of persuasion, the key turned, the door groaned open, and she followed him inside. The air smelled like mildew and sickness, accentuated by the murky darkness. An aged bulldog sat in the kitchen doorway. His cloudy eyes looked past them expectantly. Seeing no one else, he turned and slunk back to the kitchen.
“That’s Gus,” Austin said. “He’ll need some taking care of.”
“Is he wearing a diaper?”
“He has bladder issues. There’s a bag of pads on the table. You’ll need to change him every few hours.”
Great. “I didn’t know Bessie had a dog.”
He shot her a furious glance. Her baby brother would never forgive her for going away.
“We got him for her when she first got diagnosed. Kat read an article about how dogs promote health and wellness, or some such thing.” He shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
Rochelle flipped the switch beside the door. Dim light pooled into the room, accompanied by the clatter of the ceiling fan. A dark stain spread from its center. She moved past her brother and tugged on the window until it grudgingly opened and filled her lungs with cool, fresh air. The back garden was unkempt, the gutter on Bessie’s garden shed flapped in the breeze. A pair of black rubber boots waited patiently in the weeds beside the door.
I had an appointment last week. They tell me the cancer’s back, but don’t you worry about it, darling girl. One way or another I’ll be just fine. God will be by my side, just as He’s always been…
The sadness was more than Rochelle could bear, and tears clogged her throat. She turned to face her brother.
“Thanks for picking me up.”
“No problem. Do you need anything before I go?”
“Does the dog have plenty of food?”
“There should be a bag on the table. Kat was here this morning, so he’s all set for today. He hasn’t been eating much lately.”
She moved to the kitchen, picked up the bag of dog food, and shook it. Almost half full. Gus looked at her hopefully, so she refilled his dish. Retrieving his water bowl, she carried it to the sink. When she turned on the tap, the faucet escaped its fitting and crashed into the sink. An icy blast of water shot out, spraying her face, and sopping the front of her shirt.
“Good grief!” She turned off the tap and groped for the red-checkered dish towel beside the sink. As she swiped at her hair and face, the emotions she could no longer suppress came pouring out. The sadness, the fear, and the overwhelming stress of the past six days. “This place is falling apart, Austin. How did it get like this?”
“Do you really want to go there with me, Rochelle?” His tone caused her to look up. He was deadly calm on the outside, but clearly furious within.
No, no, no! This wasn’t the way she meant for it to go, all of this anger and bitterness. Not when so much time had already been lost.
When he’d picked her up at the bus station, she’d barely recognized him. She’d left home at twenty-one, when he was just a boy of sixteen. Today he stood before her, a man of twenty-five. So handsome in his suit and tie, so capable, her baby brother, a police detective, a husband, and soon to be a father. He was angry with her for going away, but it wasn’t a crime to want more than a life of potluck suppers and Friday night football games. More than what the small town of Redford’s Crossing had to offer. She’d meant to sit down with him over a cup of coffee and explain it to him. She hadn’t meant for it to go like this at all.
“Look, I didn’t mean—”
“Who do you think pumped out the cellar the last time it rained? Who do you think patched the roof and cut the lawn and took the dog to the vet? Who do you think took Bessie to the grocery store, the doctor’s appointments, and the beauty shop for the past two years when she wasn’t able to drive anymore? All that on top of keeping up my own house while putting in almost sixty hours a week at the station. So you’ll have to excuse me if this place isn’t quite up to your standards.”
“Austin, I’m sorry.”
But he wasn’t finished. He’d barely begun. “And when she got too sick to stay here alone,” he roared, “it was my wife, my pregnant wife, who came over every single day and took care of your foster mother while you were living it up out there in la-la land!”
His words crashed against her like a slap across the face. They were excruciating. They stole her breath. “It wasn’t like that. It wasn’t some glamorous life. It was…a hard life.”
“If it was so hard then why didn’t you come home?”
“It…” Her voice broke. “It wasn’t that easy.”
“Yeah, it never is with you, is it?”
Gus growled low in his throat. A quiet cough from behind made them both turn. A man stood in the kitchen doorway, a very large man, his broad shoulders filling the entire space. He wore a faded, blue denim shirt, and a pair of well-worn jeans, a working man’s clothes. His hair was close cropped and blond, tidy except for an unruly cowlick in the front and even in the dim light Rochelle could see that his eyes were a startling shade of blue.
“I saw the car in the driveway,” he said. “Is this a bad time?”
Austin recovered quickly. “Oh, hey, Sandy. No, not at all. I’m on my way back to the station, but my sister will be here. Go ahead and look around. I’ll give you a call later.”
Look around?
He moved aside. Austin slid past him and disappeared. When the front door thudded closed behind him, Ro turned her gaze back to the man. “I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
He lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “I know how it is. I have a brother.”
He stood there, staring at her, as if he were waiting for something. Finally, he said, “You’re Rochelle, right?”
She searched his face, clearly at a disadvantage.
“Yes.”
“Sandy Fairbrother. Maybe you don’t remember me.”
She vaguely remembered the name. Her gaze moved over him, her mind trying to reconcile this big, handsome man with the thin, quiet boy she barely remembered from high school. Nice enough looking, but not gorgeous. Athletic enough to be on the sports teams, football, she thought, but not first string. Just an average boy.
“Of course,” she said.
“So, you’re back.”
“The prodigal daughter returns.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. Bess was a wonderful woman.”
Thank you.‛
An awkward moment of silence passed. “May I ask what you’re doing here?”
“Austin mentioned that he assumed Bess left the house to the two of you in her will. He said he was hoping to unload it quickly and wondered if I’d be interested in buying it.”
The shock of his words was like second slap. No, more like a throat punch. “Why would you be?”
“I own a few rental properties around town, as well as a small construction company. I do renovations, buy and flip homes, that sort of thing. I told Austin I’d be happy to take a look at the place.”
His words spun around inside her head, making her dizzy. The one place in the world where she felt safe was in danger of being sold? Torn away from her? Fear slithered inside her stomach and rose up the back of her throat as her last hope of security slipped away.
Oh, Lord. Don’t let me be sick.
Pulling in a breath to calm herself, she tossed the checkered dishcloth into the sink. “Austin really should have discussed this with me first, before talking to you. We haven’t made any definite plans for the house yet.”
“Right. Well, I just thought—‛ “
“You thought what?” She fixed him with an angry stare. “My foster mother is barely laid to rest, and you come swooping in here to take advantage of us for the opportunity to feather your own nest?”
He seemed momentarily taken aback. Then he grinned, infuriating her farther. “I wouldn’t exactly say I swooped. I walked in through the front door. After your brother invited me.”
“Well I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time. Until further notice, this house is not for sale. Understood?”
He watched her for a long moment, something unreadable in his expression. Amusement, definitely, but something else as well.
“Understood.”
#
Available for preorder now!
June 3, 2023
Local Author Showcase
Had so much fun at the Scioto County Library’s Local Author’s Showcase in Portsmouth, Ohio today! Sold some of my older books, promoted my upcoming release, and met some amazing authors. Wonderful day 
May 20, 2023
forever
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:4
This was the breathtaking view out my window the other night.
God, our Master Painter
May 11, 2023
An early review for The Little Things!
Pop over to my publisher’s bookstore and read the full review. Preorder your ebook for half price all this month!
May 1, 2023
wisdom
“If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it, because the spirit of discernment is not in me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”
― Amy Carmichael, IF
April 27, 2023
It’s Porch Weather!
Porch weather has arrived in SE Ohio and I think it’s here to stay! Nothing I love more than sitting outside with a good cup of coffee and an amazing book. I’ve set a little challenge for myself this year to read fifty books, one set in each state. I’ve knocked down around ten so far (including Alaska!)
Comment to recommend an amazing book you’ve read (or written!) and what state it’s set in. I’m always looking for great book and author recommendations. I’m partial to women’s fiction and gorgeous romances, but I’m open to most anything
