Grace Doll had everything a girl could want: Fame. Fortune. Beauty.
Everything except, of course, her freedom. So when a powerful movie producer forces an experimental treatment on Grace--one that's purported to make beauty immortal--she stages her own death to escape him.
With the help of trusted friends, Grace slips into hiding. She's forever flawless, forever young and forever pursued by her past.
But when a stranger arrives on her doorstep, holding the key to a life she thought she'd left behind, Grace must decide between the safety she's known... and embracing the role she was born to play.
I was going to post just one excerpt from the book, but it was hard to choose just one. So I'm posting two excerpts that I felt were very good and powerful.
Excerpts from Grace Doll
-Sighing, I close my eyes against tears. Hate and frustration surge through me like a monster with gnashing teeth. A hate so intense, so deeply embedded in my soul my thoughts turn to a grief impossible to outrun. I’d tried to run once—home. But a girl with a face the world knows can’t get very far. Two days later home was burned to the ground. Mother and Father and my four sisters all perished in the fire. When what few remaining relatives I had were ‘taken care of’ by Rufus’ irresistible money, I was left an orphan with Rufus as my only guardian.
I lower into the tub and submerge into searing liquid, the cleansing I yearn for unreachable.
I lean toward her. Her rapid breath teases my heartbeat into an eager
pound, her chest rising and falling to the rhythm of my heart. I’m so
close her breath slips into my parted lips. I expect to see surprise in
her eyes—maybe warning. Instead, her blue gaze is heavy-lidded, almost
dreamy. This isn’t a dream. I’m going to kiss you.
Her scent drifts into me.
“Brenden.” Her whisper floats around my senses. No, don’t wake me. This is my dream.
“I can’t,” she says.
“Why?”
She swallows. “I don’t have relationships.”
“It’s
a kiss. Not a relationship.” But that’s a lie. I’m not here on Dad’s
errand anymore, I’m here for her. For me. The realization that my heart
has changed fills me with thrill and desire. For us.
“I don’t kiss,” she whispers.
She
can’t be serious. No, she’s just being seriously harsh to send me a
clear message, and it hurts more than I want to accept. But the look in
her eye confuses me—regret—and conviction. I’m pressed into the seat by
disbelief. What happened to this beautiful, healthy, vibrant girl to
make her want to choose life without relationships? We’re silent for a
long, long, time. The deafening roar of the plane engine fills my head.
Does this mean she’s resolved to never have love? The thought is like
the riptide, pulling me into dark suffocation.
“How…” Words crawl out. The comment stings my brain into dullness. “Is it because you’re in mourning?”
Her
expression is vacant. Dead. “I’m taking care of Oscar,” she says,
resignation heavy in her voice. “You, of all people, should understand
what that means.”
“What about when Oscar’s gone? What then?”
She turns away. I know how it feels having to accept fate, to face being alone.
My hopes and fantasies take her answer like a sledgehammer
to my heart. When Mom was dying, I wanted comfort I couldn’t have. I
didn’t want to feel alone.
Gently, tentatively I lay my hand over hers, bringing her face round
again. Her hand trembles beneath my palm, and the shuddering moves.
Fascinated, I reach over with my left hand and gently cover her wrist,
just in time to catch the traveling vibration up her arm. Her eyes
close, her head falls back against the seat. Her body soon looks as
though it’s gone completely lax. Beneath her shirt, the rise and fall of
her chest grows more rapid.
“What happens when I touch you?” I whisper.
Her
lips part, but she says nothing. Her eyes remain closed. Euphoria draws
over her fine-boned features like she’s in the middle of a blissful
dream.
I lean close.“Tell me.” I squeeze tighter hoping to urge the words from her lips.
“Let me go. Please.”
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I write YA books. Whatever my heart desires, I write. I don't have someone over my shoulder, in some office somewhere telling me what I can and cannot write. Or should and shouldn't write. I listen to my heart, the center of my muse, and trust my instincts.
I've written since junior high school. An only child, I grew up writing big stories about big families. I also write YA under the name of JM Warwick. My hometown of Palos Verdes, California figures in much of my work, as does my current home of Pleasant Grove, Utah and other favorite places. I love to travel.
They say "write what you know" and I do. I am a mother, I have six children, five cats and a huge doberman/dane dog. I have a supportive husband and we've been married 25 years. Our lives, though challenging with a handicapped child who has autism, are centered in our family.
My life experiences have worked into all of my novels. Some more heavily than others, but parts of me are in each story. I love stories rich in family drama, where family members overcome obstacles through love and miracles.
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Tour Giveaway:
$10 Amazon Gift Card + Copy of Grace Doll & Swag
Copy of Grace Doll
(Paperback open to US only, Ebook Internationally)
Copy of Grace Doll
(Paperback open to US only, Ebook Internationally)
Ends 11/15/12
Thanks for participating in the tour, Sheila!
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