...Climbing Out of Hell...

When we last left Trent Lancaster, he had blown up his life with Carrie in a spectacular fashion, leaving her no choice but to give up on him. He wasn’t just bad or a jerk. He was the tsunami poster child for the most damaging and explosive breakup ever.

But why did it happen?

People don’t normally wake up one morning and say, “Today, I will destroy everything good in my life for no reason whatsoever.”
Yes, Trent had always been difficult and temperamental. All too often, he regressed into a spoiled, three-year-old child. But he’d never been close to as horrible as he was the day of their breakup.So what happened to turn him into Frankenstein?
I present a scene (available only here, It’s not in any of the books) Turns out Trent’s troubles began months before, while Carrie was on the West Coast being training as a Change Specialist. Coco attached herself to Trent’s side and insisted he send his servants away for the night and she would cook him dinner. The meal was over salted, which made Trent drink more than he should have. He thought he had sent her off before he stumbled to bed, but in the morning he woke up with a splitting head and Coco in his bed.
He is certain she drugged him, and doubts, given his repulsion to her, that any part of him could have risen to the occasion. Yet a month and a half later, he gets called into Theo DeCannon’s office. (That’s Coco’s father. He’s a scary dude with connections to the mafia).
He slams down a paternity document. “You &#@$#$, you got my daughter pregnant!”
Trent insists it's not possible.
DeCannon throws the paper at him, then has his goons lift him from his chair so he can slam his fist into Trent’s stomach. “You have two choices.”
If his choices are marrying Coco or dying, Trent intends to opt for the later.
“Either marry my daughter or I’ll go after Carrie Hanson. And I won’t stop attacking her reputation, her career, and her life until she commits suicide. Or, you can have nothing further to do with her, and marry my daughter. Which is it going to be?”
If Trent had any shot of grabbing Carrie and going into hiding in another country, he’d do it, but DeCannon has connections everywhere. There is no place he and Carrie can safely hide. Even if they get new faces, their extreme height differences would make them uniquely identifiable if they remained together.
He had no option but to go along with DeCannon’s demand, at least until he could convince Coco she didn’t want to marry him. He had driven her off once before. If he behaved bad enough she’d call the wedding off this time as well.
And that is why Trent self-destructed in book 3, and while Coco never broke the engagement, all his attempts certainly broke Carrie’s heart and she finally gave up on him.

Leaving poor Trent on the sidewalk with no reason to live.
And this is where book four begins. A priest rescues Trent off the sidewalk and takes him to St. Patrick's Cathedral. 
After listening to the longest list of sins the priest has ever heard in a single setting, he encouraged Trent to give away his corruptive wealth and start anew, emulating St. Francis of Assisi.
Naturally, without Carrie there to clarify, Trent misunderstood and thought he was to wear pink gowns and prance about like 'a sissy' while doing good deeds. Why he needed to be a sissy, he had no clue. But he was a desperate man. He'd do whatever it took to become a better man.

Climbing Out of Hell Book 4 of the seriesA Long Road to LoveRomantic ComedyTrent is in hell. How he got here, befuddles him. One moment he and Carrie are in love and life was nearly perfect. The next, he’s forced by Coco’s father to destroy his relationship with Carrie and marry Coco. Only he’d rather die than marry that she-devil. So he does just that, die.  But first he gives all his money away, to ensure it won’t go to Coco.Upon faking his suicide, he gets a new face and identity, then follows his half-brother to Iowa where Sam has become the sheriff of a small town. Without the past standing between them, the two quickly become best of friends. Unfortunately, they still have the same tastes in women, and Trent falls in love with Sam’s girl.Will Trent give in and take what he wants, or will he remain a man of integrity and lose his last chance for love?

Excerpt
“Stop it! Get off of me!” Carrie screamed.
Trent couldn’t lose the only woman who had ever loved him. He covered her protest with his mouth, certain if they made love, everything would right itself.
As he fumbled with the zipper of her pants, the limo jerked to the right and came to a halt. Seconds later, the back door opened and someone yanked him from the limo and slung him to the sidewalk. He stared up at his half-brother storming around the car, returning to the driver’s seat.
The tires screamed as the car pulled out in traffic. Once the vehicle disappeared from sight, Trent focused on himself. His right knee seared with pain and his head hurt on the side that had slamed onto the concrete. He sat up, so people would stop walking over him. New York City pedestrians were like marching ants. They stopped for nothing.
He stared at the four lanes of bumper to bumper honking traffic.Carrie and his limo were gone.
Along with everything good in his world.
For one glorious month, life had been perfection. Well, he’d thought the first week was hell, but compared to his life now, it had been Nirvana.
He’d lost Carrie forever, broken a love he’d thought impervious to damage. Due to a stupid error he’d made months before, a cascade of problems had rained upon him, which he tried his hardest to protect Carrie from, except he couldn’t.
Tears streamed down his cheeks for all to see. Normally, he’d be horrified to allow common people to gawk at him, but his self-respect and pride had been stripped away when Sam had to pull him from his limo to save Carrie.
From him.
He’d almost raped her—the only woman he had ever loved. He’d thought if they made love, she’d forgive him. But he’d managed to break the unbreakable and she wanted nothing more to do with him.
He buried his face in his hands and sobbed, knowing there was no way back to his month of happiness. Everything good in his life was gone.
A gentle hand touched his shoulder. His heart leapt in joy. Carrie had returned and forgiven him. He stared up at an old man in black—a priest—studying him with concern. “Are you ill? Do you need help?”
He opened his mouth, intending to declare himself beyond help, but stopped. Maybe the man could be of assistance. “I think I need an exorcism.”
Links Just Released May 1, 2014 Book Four of the series:A Long Road to Love Climbing out of Hell Amazon
Other books in the A Long Road to Love seriesBook OneWorst Week Ever Amazon “Love this book and couldn't stop laughing from beginning to end.” 5 stars – Alves - Amazon
Book TwoOh Stupid Heart Amazon “Be warned though, this book is completely different from The Worst Week Ever. Yes, there is still humor, dry wit, situations that you would think...NOT AGAIN but this one humanizes Trent more.” 5 stars - Brian’s Mom – Amazon
Book ThreeComing to Reason Amazon Once again, Ms. O’Connor has written a brilliant book about the complexities of relationships, good and bad. Again, to me, the book is the best break up book EVER and it left my heart singing in the end. Best.Book.Ever…

Other Books by Liza O’ConnorSaving Casey   Ghost Lover
Liza O’ConnorAuthor Bio:Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.
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