By the Shore with My Muse by Karen Cino

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By the Shore with My Muse by Karen Cino

MUSE MONDAY

Who doesn't love the beach, even if you're not a swimmer like myself? Just sitting in the sun on the sand and hearing the sounds of the water is excellent. Add to that reading a great beach novel! My guest today enjoys that all the time, plus she writes those great beach reads. Please welcome Karen Cino to Discover... for Muse Monday.

I live atthe Jersey Shore, and I’ve been a beach lover my whole life. Walking everymorning at the boardwalk is the perfect way to start my day. I’ve taken my loveof the beach and have incorporated it into my women’s fiction romance and cozymysteries. Yes, it’s tough during the winter months, but just knowing that theocean is there every morning, I can’t help but create stories that take placeat the shore all year long. If you enjoy reading beach themed books, then takea few minutes to check the other book in the Five Beach Road Series.

Living atthe Shore

Blurb:

     After moving intoher grandmother’s summer house at the Jersey Shore to seek solace and newbeginnings, Brooke’s tranquil life is disrupted by a past love and her newneighbors.Her newly found friendship with Flo and Janeassists in settling Brooke into her new surroundings. When she finds herself inthe middle of her neighbors’ domestic disputes, it puts further strain on herrelationship with Scott. Flo continues to come to terms with her past decisionsabout her daughter’s adoption, while maintaining a relationship with Jerry. Amisunderstanding on Thanksgiving put her relationship to the test.
    Jane’s bakery is blooming and she’s settling in nicely in herrelationship with Mark, however, she’s still battling old wounds from herdeceased ex-husband, causing her to second guess moving forward with Mark.
     Allthree women are battling demons from the past, deterring them from making acommitment to their future relationship. Their friendship is a rich tapestry ofinterconnected stories about overcoming adversity through support systems foundin their friendships.

Excerpt:

Brookewalked him down the spiral staircase to the door and waited for his car todisappear down the block before she walked into the kitchen. Scott O’Keffe hadbeen her godsend. He was unlike any man she had known. She became instantlyattracted to him the night she met him at the tiki bar and they had their firstdance. By the end of the summer, their relationship had bloomed into somethingthat Brooke never thought was possible for her.

Thedoorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts. As she walked down the spiral stairsagain, she rolled her eyes. Brooke flung open the door and gasped. This can’tbe happening. The last thing she expected to see was her ex-boyfriend, Eric,especially since she had put that part of her life to rest. Now, he stood ather front door, dressed in clothes she had given him. Her legs weakened, andshe felt butterflies in her stomach. She knew it was essential to keep her cooland not let him break her down. She had no intentions of turning the clocksback in time. After all, she had come to grips with her emotions for Ericmonths ago.

“Brooke?”Eric waved papers in her face.

“Eric,what the hell are you doing here?”

“Idid it. I asked her for a divorce.” He handed her a set of divorce papers.“It’s official. We can finally be together. I’m here to take you home.”

Brookedropped her glance to look at the papers, flicking through them until she gotto the last page with the seal. Why, after all these years, did he make theplunge to file for divorce? They had spoken about him leaving her years ago,but he never followed through. Seal or not, she wasn’t going back. Slowly, sheraised her gaze back to Eric. “Congratulations on your divorce, but I am home,”Brooke said, blocking the door.

“Sweetheart,please, let me in so we can talk.”

“There’snothing to talk about. We’re over. Nothing you say or do will change my mind. Ihave created a new life here and have no intention of changing my routine. It’stoo late for us.”

“I’mso sorry I hurt you.” Eric slid his hands into his back pockets and leanedtoward her. “Please, I did this for us.”

Brookehanded him back the papers. “This has no bearing on my decision. You strung mealong for years. You didn’t do this for us,you did it for you.”

“What’sthat supposed to mean?” Eric asked, rolling the papers in his hand. “I thoughtthis is what you wanted.”

“No,Eric. This was a decision you had to make on your own. All you’ve done wascomplain about your wife for years, and how you hated being there. You saidthat she was bipolar and wouldn’t be able to handle you leaving her. So, myguess is she was the one who initiated the divorce.”

“No,you’re wrong. I…I…I can’t live without you.”

“Ithought the same thing for the longest time. I’ve moved on and learned to livewithout you.”

“Idon’t believe you. You’d repeatedly said how much you loved me and wanted to bewith me. What changed?”

“Ican ask you the same thing, Eric. Tell me the truth. Did you ask her for adivorce or is she divorcing you?”

Ericdropped his gaze down to the floor, shuffling his feet on the wooden porch,confusion written all over his face. Brooke took a deep breath. Eric was amess. And as much as her heart went out to him, she still stood her ground.

“She did,” he whispered. “She told me she wastired of me being out all night and she had found my secret phone in the car’sglove compartment.”

BUY LINKS

AMAZON

DRAFT TO DIGITAL

Down at the Shore

https://www.amazon.com/Down-Shore-Five-Beach-Road-ebook/dp/B09F6Z73FY/

Karen Cinois a multi-published author who has been writing since she was fourteen yearsold. She started her career by writing poetry, short stories and articles forher high school newspaper. While in college, she was one of the foundlingmember of WSIA radio station. Many years later, she worked as an investigatorreporter at a local newspaper. Her daily walks down at the boardwalk are whatgets her muse going. It clears her mind and helps her find realistic plot ideasand characters, boosting up her muse. Karen loves writing about local placesthat people can relate to.

Karenloves the summer, loves the beach. Her previous books were written and takeplace in various places across Staten Island. When Karen relocated to theJersey Shore back in 2015, she traded in the Staten Island Boardwalk for theNew Jersey Shoreline.

Currently,Karen is working on a Women’s Fiction as well as a Cozy Mystery series.