Bitter Legacy
By C.B. Clark
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Sharla-Jean
Bromley returns to her hometown after a seventeen-year absence with vengeance
in her heart. From the very beginning, her plans go awry when she meets
devastatingly handsome Josh Morgan, the man to whom her father left half of his
multi-million dollar lumber mill.
Josh, suspicious
of Sharla-Jean’s reasons for returning to town after such a long absence, vows
to keep control of the company he feels is rightfully his. She is equally
determined to prove she can run her father’s mill, even though it means working
side-by-side with Josh, a man whose very presence evokes an attraction that is
increasingly difficult for her to ignore. In the process, they must overcome a
villain who’s determined to destroy both the lumber mill and their lives.
Will Sharla-Jean
succeed and heal the anguish that has long filled her soul? Wills he and Josh
find the passion of a lifetime?
Excerpt #1
Fire!
Even as the
dreaded word reared like a monster inside her head, a thin trickle of smoke
crept out of the dark storage room. Terrifying images of flame, smoke and
searing heat threatened to overwhelm her. For a nightmare second, she was back
in the midst of scorching heat and roaring flames.
Using all her
strength of will, she tore free of the chilling memories. Instead of fleeing,
she placed one wobbly step in front of the other and shuffled toward the
storage room. Her nostrils flared at the acrid tang of gasoline and smoke. With
a shaking hand, she gripped the door handle and opened the door.
A figure burst
out of the darkness, crashing into her, knocking her back.
She yelped at
the pain of the blow and the shock of falling. A jolt of agony and blinding
light as her head hit something hard.
Heavy boots
pounded across the tile floor. Cold air washed over her. And then darkness.
Excerpt #2
“Tell me,” he
sneered, lowering his voice, enunciating each word as if he were speaking to a
child, “before you set the fire, did you even consider how losing the Mill
would affect so many people’s lives? How did you think the employees were going
to feed their families?”
The unfairness
of his accusation rocketed through her, and she shot to her feet. “You don’t
know anything, not a damn thing. Did you or anyone else in this town stop to
ask why I would set fire to Bromley Forest Products, what I would gain?” Unable
to face the contempt on his face, she stormed across the room toward the door,
determined to get out of the office and away from him.
“So tell me what
really happened. I’m listening”
His quiet voice,
filled not with his earlier anger, but a note of compassion, seeped through her
turmoil. She removed her hand from the door handle and swung toward him. For a
second, the briefest heartbeat, she wanted to tell him, to finally reveal the
truth. But she shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re just like
everyone else. You think my father was wonderful, and I’m the devil who broke
his heart.”
“I picture you
many ways, Sharla-Jean, but never as a coward.” He arched a dark brow. “Anyone
who’d wear that red dress to her father’s funeral isn’t frightened of
anything.”
Excerpt #3
As if in a daze,
he opened the door of the truck and climbed out. The full horror of the hellish
scene rose before him. On wooden legs, he stumbled toward the chaos. Acrid
smoke filled his lungs and stung his eyes. Coughing, tears streaming down his
cheeks, he trudged onward.
A loud, piercing
scream of protesting metal rent the air. He stared in morbid fascination as the
metal roof of the sawmill buckled and collapsed in a monstrous roar that shook
the ground. Showers of searing sparks swirled in the air, stinging as they
landed on his arms, his neck, scorching his face.
One plodding
step at a time, he drew nearer to the roaring flames. His skin prickled and
tightened with the searing heat. A heavy cloak of thick, black smoke filled the
air, searing deep into his lungs.
Another roar,
like a ravenous beast, shattered the air, and the roof of the planer mill
collapsed, leaving a blackened skeleton in its wake. Glowing hot ash, burst
into the air, lighting on the orderly piles of kiln-dried lumber, setting them
ablaze. A coal landed on his arm stinging and singeing. He brushed off the
burning ember, transfixed by the conflagration before him.
CB Clark is the
author of three romantic suspense novels published by The Wild Rose Press. ‘My
Brother’s Sins’ and ‘Cherished Secrets’ were published in 2016, and ‘Bitter
Legacy’ in June, 2017. CB has always loved reading, especially romances, but it
wasn’t until she lost her voice for a year that she considered writing her own
romantic suspense stories. She grew up in Canada’s Northwest Territories and
Yukon. Graduating with a degree in Anthropology and Archaeology, she has worked
as an archaeologist and an educator. She enjoys hiking, canoeing, and snowshoeing
with her husband and dog near her home in the wilderness of central British
Columbia.
Thank you so much for featuring Bitter Legacy on your Blog, Laura. Really appreciate your support.
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