Sometimes, revenge is your only choice. . .

Julia worked for weeks planning the perfect surprise birthday party for her boyfriend, Liam, but that night, she was the one who got the biggest shock. He broke up with her in front of all their friends, humiliating her in the process.

Clearly revenge was in order.

The plan is simple. Make him jealous, win him back, and then crush his heart. Fair is fair. However, there is one little hiccup and he has curly brown hair and dimples.

Jesse is everything she wants. With him, she could almost forget her bruised heart. Almost. Julia has one choice: let Liam walk away after everything he did, or lose a chance at love in pursuit of payback.

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Sometimes, the journey is as important as the destination. . .

In the fall of 2008, I had just delved into writing my first full-length novel. It was a heady and exciting time, as writing one’s first book usually is. But it was also lonely. I hadn’t even told anyone outside a few of my children that  I was writing a book, let alone friends or other family.

At the same time, that previous summer, I had become part of a group called Twilight Moms, or TwiMoms. One day while skimming the boards, my eye caught an intriguing title:

Has Twilight inspired you to write your own book?

I clicked on it, read a few posts and my life changed forever. We got so chatty on that thread that we eventually moved over to form our own group, on its own site, called TwiWriters. As most groups do, we grew and evolved over the next months. Some people fell away, but our central core of writers stayed. We began a cross-critique process, where we shared our works in progress with each other on a monthly basis. It was scary–these women were the first people to read my work, and I almost had a nervous breakdown the first month!

I am still in contact with most of these ladies, through Facebook if nothing else. Two have stayed very close to my life, and I am so blessed to call them friends. Mandie Stevens is co-owner of both Promotional Book Tours and Hayson Publishing with me, and a kicking author in her own right. 

And one month ago today, another of these wild women, Marcie Bridges, published her debut novel through Hayson. That is TOUGH LOVE.

The first time I read this story was in our initial cross critique month. Marcie had originally written it as a paper for a college class. It was her true-life story, and I cried as I read it. That’s how powerful it was, even then. 

It took a few years for her to finish the book–after all, she is a full-time teacher, mom and wife!–and when it was finished, Hayson was delighted to pick it up. The decision to change it from a memoir, as originally written, to a New Adult fiction, was not one any of us took lightly. This story is so real and compelling, it needed to be told. Changing the names, a few other details and making some other additions only made the book more accessible. 

Editing this book was a labor of love, culminating in the final day of work, when Marcie wrote the final encounter between Janessa and Brendan. It was a scene I knew should be included, but it took someone outside the story to push me to push Marcie to write it. When she sent me the scene, I cried; I don’t think I will ever read that part without tears. I wept not only for Janessa and Brendan, but for past-Marcie (as I always called her when critiquing) and her former love, and for the bright new writers Marcie, Mandie and I had been five years previous when we met. I cried for all the twists and turns this road and this book has taken–not tears of regret, but tears of gratitude and love.

From the first time I read Marcie’s story, in that initial paper, I knew she was one of the strongest, most courageous women I would ever have the honor of knowing. Living through those events was difficult enough, but writing them years later, sharing her own stumbles and struggles with both gritty realism and grace, makes her a true hero to me. I have seldom had the privilege of knowing a more selfless person.

If you have not read TOUGH LOVE yet, I encourage you to do so. Not for me, not for Marcie, but for yourself, because it is a story that will change how you think about love, forgiveness and grace.

I have been blessed by it for five years, and now I’m thrilled to see other lives impacted.

Thank  you, Marcie.

Tough Love

Janessa knows she should run in the other direction when Brendan enters her life. Her squeaky-clean upbringing is in direct opposition to his piercings, a myriad of tattoos and the rumors that surround him. But she doesn’t run. Love, betrayal and lies become the foundation of their lives, but one heartbreaking confession makes Janessa question everything. After a devastating diagnosis, Janessa’s world crumbles around her. When she can no longer ignore the reality of who Brendan really is, she must choose between those who love her and the only one she has ever loved.

Marcie Bridges has always wanted to be a writer, from the time she started keeping a diary in seventh grade. Since then, she has earned a master’s degree in education from Cumberland University while teaching some wonderful children with special needs in Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky.

While she will always bleed scarlet and gray (GO BUCKS!), she now lives south of Cincinnati with her husband and daughter. When Marcie isn’t writing, she can be found reading, watching her favorite TV shows, listening to music, or browsing her favorite websites.

Buy it NOW here:

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Follow Marcie Bridges

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MarcieABridges

Twitter: @marcie_ann

Blog: http://marcieshrinks.blogspot.com/

Pinterest Personal: http://pinterest.com/mabridges2/

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/109921896394674548677/posts/p/pub

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Get ready to meet the fearless and feckless women of REB: Romantic Edge Books–Nine Authors Writing LOVE with an EDGE!

And what better way to become acquainted than by learning 20 things about us you probably didn’t know?

So start here by discovering my most closely-guarded secrets and then be sure to follow the linky and read about everyone else’s skeletons.

And don’t forget to run by the Romantic Edge website, too. . .and sign up for our newsletter! You don’t want to miss anything these ladies do.

1) I am passionate about football, particularly college football. I have a very eclectic order of preference when it comes to pro teams.

2) My grandparents were in the rodeo with Roy Rogers and his first wife. 

3) When I was growing up, our family dog was the one my father brought back from Vietnam.

4) Both my father and my husband were West Point grads. I logged more time at the Point than I did at my own college.

5) I have lived in nine states and spent time in every state except Oregon, Washington and Alaska.

6) My first published story was “The Mystery of Bennett House”, in Child’s Life magazine when I was 13.

7) We have a real problem with salt and pepper shakers in our house. One or the other throws itself from the shelf about every other month.

8) I don’t eat seafood, fish or eggs. I am a landatarian.

9) My sister and I can and do quote Buffy and Friends episodes to each other. Some of them I know by heart.

10) I met the person who is now my business partner and one of my best friends in an online Twilight moms group.

11) There is something in my body that affects clocks and watches. Timepieces all go wonky around me. Only my iPhone seems to be unaffected. . .for now.

12) Although I don’t like reality television, I adore anything on the Food Network, especially The Next Food Network Star.

13) I am a Shakespeare nerd. I minored in English with a concentration in Shakespearean studies, and no writer can make me laugh or cry like the Bard.

14) My favorite way to unwind is driving country roads, alone, music blaring.

15) My first car was a 1966 Mustang with amazing power.

16) Until I was four years old, my grandmother had me convinced that the South had won the War of Northern Aggression. When my father made her tell me the truth, she taught me to add, “The South will rise again!”

17) I have an uncanny ability to hang things on walls perfectly the first time, including groupings of pictures. This talent has served me well considering how often we move. . .

18) My first two kids were born in Hawaii, and the last two in New Jersey.

19) I make wicked good salads.

20) Until I was two years old, my eyes were blue. My mother put me down for a nap, and when I awoke, my eyes were green. My mother was so freaked out, she took me the doctor.