Monday, August 12, 2019

The Year I Left (+Giveaway)


The Year I Left
Christine Brae
Published by: Vesuvian Books
Publication date: August 20th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Women’s Fiction
“A thousand half loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home.”
Carin Frost doesn’t understand what’s happening to her. A confident businesswoman, wife, and mother, she begins to resent everything about her life. Nothing makes sense. Nothing makes her feel. Maybe it’s the recent loss of her mother in a tragic accident. Or maybe she’s just losing her mind.
Enter Matias Torres. As their new business partnership thrives, so does their friendship—and his interest in her. Carin is determined to keep her distance, until a work assignment sends them to Southeast Asia where a storm is brewing on the island. In the midst of the chaos, Matias asks her to do something unimaginable, exhilarating, BOLD. Carin knows the consequences could be dire, but it may be the only way to save herself.
An honest look at love and marriage and the frailties of the human heart, this is a story of a woman’s loss of self and purpose and the journey she takes to find her way back.
EXCERPT:
Sometime in the late summer when the air began to tingle and the leaves started to fall, I opened my eyes one morning and my view of the world had changed.
Just like that. I can still see it in my head. The way I let it all unfold. It was a train wreck waiting to happen, and I let it.
I left for a business trip that morning with my house in total disarray. I had no good reason for refusing to take Charlie to his school bus, and despite having some time to change our dog’s water bowl, I chose not to do it. There it lay, next to the unwashed food dish, crusted with the remains of last night’s dinner. I figured Jack would get home from the gym and handle it all.
Piles of paper gathering dust on the floor and debit card receipts busting out of a little white box screamed for my attention. I ignored them. My home office, the place where I used to hide all day, was like a war zone.
And it wasn’t like we had money issues. Paying our bills was the least of my worries. Jack had made a killing when his startup was bought out, and I was the head of client services at a global real-estate company.
I just stopped giving a damn. Nothing interested me. I was beset by indifference. I just couldn’t keep up anymore. The sleepless nights, the exhaustion, the constant streaming in my head. Everything seemed so insignificant, so mundane. My successes, my accomplishments, they had lost all meaning.


Author Bio:
Christine Brae is a senior executive with a full time career, who thought she could write a book about her life and then run away as far as possible from it. She never imagined that her words would touch the hearts of so many women with the same story to tell. Christine has written six books since her first release in 2013. She is the author of The Light in the Wound and His Wounded Light (2013), Insipid (2014), In This Life (2016) and Eight Goodbyes (2018).
Her latest book, The Year I Left is scheduled for release in August, 2019.
When not listening to the voices in her head or spending late nights at the office, Christine can be seen shopping for shoes and purses, running a half marathon or spending time with her husband and three children in Chicago.
Christine is represented by Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management.
Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope this excerpt has tempted you to find out more about this intriguing book and author. Do you enjoy stories about the frailties of the human heart?

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12 comments:

  1. It sounds intriguing. Which of us can truthfully say we haven't had periods where our lives seemed flat and dull and indifference settled in. Evicting the beast is a whole different issue.

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  2. When you lose your sense of purpose and your emotional compass steers you in the wrong direction, it's a long way down and a steep, hard climb back up.

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  3. I think losing one's purpose is a real threat and pokes at everyone at some point in our life.

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  4. This does sound like an in-depth look at what happens when a person has to re-think everything. It can be scary and exhilarating at the same time. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. That's a great theme that's sure to appeal to a lot of readers.

    Christine sounds like she has a very full life!

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  6. Life is a struggle and insurmountable at times. We have to rely upon our strength to get through these difficult times. A compelling novel.

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  7. Life can leave you wanting for more. Worse when you don't know what will fix it.

    I love the cover design.

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  8. Congrats and good luck to Christine!

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  9. Sounds like a good story. I enjoyed reading the excerpt!

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