#BookBirthday “In the Best Interest of the Child” by Felicia Denise

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Best Interest 9

In the Best Interest of the Child is

number 3

 

years old!

Celebrate by grabbing your copy today!

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Severely injured in an accident that forever changed her life, 10-year-old Olivia becomes Best Interest 9another faceless, under-served child in foster care. With no time to mourn or grieve, the young girl is easy prey for uncaring social workers and ambivalent foster families.

Olivia quickly learns to hold her tongue and mask her emotions. Even when exposed to neglect, bullying, and assault, no one seems to care. Holding fast to the teachings of her late father, Olivia ages out of the system broken, but no longer a victim.

Now a successful child advocate attorney, Olivia is a passionate voice for children. However, a routine case assignment by the court plunges Olivia back into the trauma of her childhood. If she doesn’t face her demons, a child will be sent into foster care.

Foster care for her young client is not an option. But Olivia’s emotional scars run even deeper than she realized. Reconciling with her past means Olivia must confront the one woman she blames for her battered soul.

A woman who has no idea who Olivia is.

NOTE: This book is intended for mature readers – 18+.

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What Readers are saying…

“Each page left you wanting to read more to find out what would happen next.” -Kotrish W., Amazon review

“I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction or contemporary fiction.” -Kathy G., Amazon review

“I can’t wait to read the next installment, and I highly recommend this book to everyone.” -A.C.M., Amazon review

Best Int 5 Stars

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EXCERPT

Olivia was far from an innocent.

She’d had her share of relationships… if you wanted to call them that. To her, they’d always been ‘friends with benefits’ situations, purely sexual. Starting out as casual meetings once or twice a week, she’d undoubtedly begin to hear words like ‘exclusive’ and ‘permanent’ creep into after-sex pillow talk, and she knew it was time to move on. Most of the men took it in stride—a couple became angry and accused her of using them. To which she would state the obvious. They had used each other. She had asked nothing more of them. The only exception was Kenny—Kenneth Lane Connors.

Olivia tried to break things off with him after he told her he was tired of meeting in hotels and wanted her to come to his home, but he would not be deterred. Olivia never felt threatened by Kenny, but he came pretty close to crossing the line from persistent suitor to stalker. She’d find him: standing next to her car when she left her office; sitting on the front stoop when she got home at night; standing in her favorite coffee shop, holding a cup of her special dark roast blend. Olivia finally acquiesced, more from the ennui of the situation, and agreed to trial dating.

She didn’t last two weeks.

At the end of their first week as a couple, Kenny surprised Olivia with tickets to sunny Miami, for a getaway weekend. She was genuinely touched, until Kenny mentioned that while they were there, the two of them would stop in and see Vonnetta and Kenneth, Sr.—his parents. Olivia not only flatly refused to even go to Florida she grabbed her bag, told him to never call her again, and stormed out.

While a few times Olivia felt as though she was being watched, she never saw Kenny again. And she was okay with it. There was no remorse, or heartache due to missing him. What she did have was even more resolve to not allow any man get close, her new unspoken rule was no man got more than three dates, period. No exceptions.

And then along comes Bruce Bellamy.

She had seen Bruce a total of three times, and each time, he’d left her speechless, flustered… and smiling.

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Best Interest_Lunch Date

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In the Best Interest of the Child is available

on ALL platforms!

Amazonhttp://bit.ly/BestInt

All other retailersbooks2read.com/BestInterest

Add to Goodreadshttp://bit.ly/BestIntGR

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“Life just has a way of dumping too much on us at once… “

Still thinking about the situation with her eldest son, Lenore Porter absently drove home. Pulling her vehicle into the garage, she exited and went through the garage’s rear entrance to her back door… and found Duncan sitting in the old swing near the Sugar Maple tree. He shook his head slowly without meeting her gaze.

“I’m sorry, mom.”

“I’m glad you’re safe, sweetheart.”

“I shouldn’t have run away like that.”

“You were upset. Looks like you still are.”

“I’m not crazy, mama… I’m not.”

Lennie’s chest tightened. He had not called her that since second grade. Sitting her bag at the back door, Lennie walked over and took the swing next to Duncan. They both rocked in the silence until Lenore spoke.

“Most people who go to counseling aren’t mentally ill, Dunc. Life just has a way of dumping too much on us at once,” she touched his hand, “the drowning feeling you mentioned? You’re overwhelmed. It happens to us all at some point during our lives.”

“Have you ever felt like you were drowning, mom?”

“Not drowning so much as… helpless.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Well, don’t take this as clinical or anything, but I knew the problem and I knew the cause. I just couldn’t fix it.”

“Dad.” It was a statement, not a question.

Lennie’s smile was bittersweet. “Yes.”

~~~

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Free, a Novella flyer

“Toughen up because life’s tough.”


“Family Matters (In the Best Interest of the Child Book 2)”

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Olivia Chandler’s day of reckoning fast approaches.  Start her journey from the beginning!

 

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“In The Best Interest of the Child Book 1”

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getBook.at/BestInterest

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“Toughen up because life’s tough.”


Family Matters Teaser1

“Family Matters (In the Best Interest of the Child Book 2)”

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Olivia Chandler’s day of reckoning fast approaches.  Start her journey from the beginning!

 

Best Interest I - Full Cover

“In The Best Interest of the Child Book 1”

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getBook.at/BestInterest

Goodreads

 

 

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Available now in Print!


Free, a Novella print copy

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getBook.at/FreeANovella

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Lenore Porter’s life had not gone as she planned. The marriage she put her heart and soul into failed. The man she sacrificed so much for abandoned her. But Lennie refused to be broken. She pushed on, running a successful business and raising her three sons alone.

Through health scares, severe family dysfunction, and trauma which forever changed their lives, the Porter family clung to each other to keep from sinking into the darkness. With her marriage over long ago and her adult sons living their own lives, Lenore Porter decides to sell the cold fortress she worked so hard to make a warm, loving home.

A short, final inspection of her former home turns into a confrontation with ghosts from the past, and decisions and events Lennie felt she’d dealt with and moved on from.

Free, a Novella is a short, clean read recounting one woman’s determination to not be broken by life or lose her identity.

 


 

“But now… in this moment, she understood what it meant to hate someone.”


Free, a Novella cover


“Free, a Novella” by Felicia Denise

#99cents #KindleUnlimited #NewRelease

Amazon US – bit.ly/LindenLane
Amazon UK – bit.ly/LindenLaneUK
Amazon CA – bit.ly/LindenLaneCA
Amazon AU – bit.ly/LindenLaneAU

Goodreads – bit.ly/FreeANovella

Snippet

Lennie leaned down, kissed his forehead and placed the napkin across her father’s lap. Just as she got it in place, Burt looked up at her. Lenore was gutted. More pieces of her already broken heart fell away. His ashen skin, mottling and in different shades of brown and gray unsettled her. His slack jaw and visible body tremors made Lennie shudder. His eyes were her undoing. The mischievous gleam responsible for so much laughter, which had helped to comfort, console, and encourage her… was gone.

Father and daughter were still eye-to-eye, the reality of the situation holding Lennie in place when she felt his frail hand cover hers.

“Thank… you, baby girl.”

Lennie smiled and kissed his cheek, comforted with the knowledge she made her father happy. “You’re welcome, Daddy… always.”

Before Lennie could retrieve his dinner plate, Linda Kelimore was already cutting the meat into tiny portioreadersofins with this, Lenore. Take the other plate for yourself.”

“But that’s yours, mom.”

“It will be cold before I get to it. Go on, eat. I know you’ve been on your feet since the lunch rush.”

Just like that, Lennie was twelve years old again, doing as she was told.

Picking at her food, she tried not to stare at her parents. But Lennie couldn’t help but be mesmerized. Watching as her mother fussed and cooed in loving tones at Burt to take his time and chew each tiny bite of food. Linda caressed his cheek between bites. Burt rested his hand on her knee, never taking his eyes off Linda’s face.

Feeling like an intruder on a private moment, Lennie did force herself to look away.

Anyone who knew Burt and Linda Kelimore knew they were totally devoted to each other.  More than half a century had passed since the day they each ran into a mechanic’s shop in need of quick repairs. Though they were both on their way to meet other people, a thirty-minute conversation changed their plans for the evening and the rest of their lives.

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Her role as a mother couldn’t be questioned. Or could it?


Free_full cover


Free, a Novella” by Felicia Denise

#99cents #KindleUnlimited #NewRelease

Amazon US – bit.ly/LindenLane
Amazon UK – bit.ly/LindenLaneUK
Amazon CA – bit.ly/LindenLaneCA
Amazon AU – bit.ly/LindenLaneAU

Lenore Porter’s life had not gone as she planned.

The marriage she put her heart and soul into failed.

The man she sacrificed so much for abandoned her.

But Lennie refused to be broken. She pushed on, running a successful business and raising her three sons alone.

Through health scares, severe family dysfunction, and trauma which forever changed their lives, the Porter family clung to each other to keep from sinking into the darkness.

With her marriage over long ago and her adult sons living their own lives, Lenore Porter decides to sell the cold fortress she worked so hard to make a warm, loving home.

A short, final inspection of her former home turns into a confrontation with ghosts from the past, and decisions and events Lennie felt she’d dealt with and moved on from.

Free, a Novella is a short, clean (no sexual situations) read recounting one woman’s determination to not be broken by life or lose her identity.

 

Save

Save

“Free, a Novella” by Felicia Denise #CoverReveal

It’s been a long journey and your support and patience have been very much appreciated. What was originally intended to be a three-part short on-line story grew to ten parts and eighteen-thousand words. The revised edition comes in at just under thirty-thousand words. Most of the content posted online remains, with several new scenes added.

Here’s the first look at the cover for Free, a Novella created by the one and only Jenn Cunningham!

Free_full cover

“Free, a Novella”

Author: Felicia Denise

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Release Date: May 30, 2017

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Lenore Porter’s life had not gone as she planned.

The marriage she put her heart and soul into failed.

The man she sacrificed so much for abandoned her.

But Lennie refused to be broken. She pushed on, running a successful business and raising her three sons alone.

Through health scares and severe family dysfunction and trauma which forever changed their lives, the Porter family clung to each other to keep from sinking into the darkness.

With her marriage over long ago and her adult sons living their own lives, Lenore Porter decides to sell the cold fortress she worked so hard to make a warm, loving home.

A short, final inspection of her former home, however, turns into a confrontation with ghosts from the past, and decisions and events Lennie felt she’d dealt with and moved on from.

Free, a Novella is a short, clean read recounting one woman’s determination to not be broken by life or lose her identity.

Save