Heart of the Ozarks: Coming August 3 from Rebel Ink Press

I'm not native to these ancient hills but I'm fond of the place.  Although I grew up in northern Missouri, I came early to the Ozarks thanks to my grandparents who came each summer season to stay awhile.  My Pop (my grandfather) first came in the 1920's, in an era when the area first began to attract tourists.  He wasn't alone - folks like Al Capone came here too and it's the one place he kept a hideaway the press - and the coppers - failed to find.

So it's no surprise my next full length romance, a contemporary love story, is set in the Ozarks.  The hero, Cole Celinski grew up coming to the region, like me, with his grandparents.  Now he's returned in search of some peace he can't find anywhere else.  Here's the blurb:

After St. Louis TV weathercaster Cole Celinksi loses his almost estranged wife and three children in a car crash, his boss orders him to take a leave of absence.  He heads to the quiet side of Lake Taneycomo in the Ozarks, to a resort he visited as a child.  On arrival Cole learns that his old summer friend Maggie runs the place and before long mutual attraction ignites.  Before he can heal, he must learn to deal with his loss and to see if he can create a new family with Maggie and her children.  It’s a task he’s not sure he can handle but if he wants to be with Maggie, he must.  A near tragedy brings them all together into a close knit unit and afterward, Cole may be able to make his dreams reality.

And I'd like to share the cover too - it's so lovely, poignant and moving in a way I can't even begin to express.  Carl J. Franklin does all my Rebel Ink Press covers and I love each one.  I've never been disappointed but I have to admit, this particular cover took my breath away.  It so fits the story and evokes the region, especially Lake Taneycomo where the story is set.

Here's an unedited excerpt (we haven't done edits just yet) to whet your appetite for the finished product:

            Heading south out of St. Louis on I-55 the multiple lanes of traffic diverged, merging until Cole Celinksi traveled a traditional four lane interstate highway.  He paid little attention to the standard scenery of billboards, truck stops and exits until he reached Sikeston.  Then he changed over to Highway 60, an older two lane road dating back to the early dates of automobile travel and followed it west toward his destination.  Forced to reduce speed, Cole noticed how the terrain shifted.   The highway zoomed through fertile farm fields and small towns so similar he couldn’t tell one from another most of the time.   He hadn’t traveled this route in years but the biggest changes he could see were the fast food places and the national convenience store chains.   Back when he’d come this way riding in the back seat of his grandparents’ roomy old Impala, most the filling stations were locally owned and the restaurant choices were mom and pop cafes.  He spotted a few of those but didn’t stop, just drove onward.  Small tracts of wannabee suburbs cropped up in former orchards and on what he recalled as farmland.

            Billboards advertising Branson attractions began to show up along the road and increased in frequency as he neared Springfield, Missouri.  The ones depicting happy families at amusement parks and other venues hurt to see.  Cole planned to one day bring his family to Branson, down to the place he spent so many happy summer vacations but he never got around to doing it.  For a few moments he indulged in a fantasy of Brock riding the vintage steam train with him through the woods at Silver Dollar City or Brianna twirling one of the hand-painted parasols along one of the amusement park’s tree shaded lanes.  He almost smiled as he fantasized pushing Becca in her stroller up and down the steep hills. She’d laughed at everything and stretched out her tiny hands, wanting all the pretties she saw. He imagined Victoria admiring the glass blowers turning molten glass into beautiful creations with her artistic eye and then decided she’d been more likely to mock the rustic atmosphere, make sport of the hillbilly motif.  Cole shifted his thoughts, thrusting all the images away.  As much as memories hurt, daydreams slashed his heart with crueler cuts.

            At Springfield, his tenuous good mood long gone, Cole drove deeper into the city to find someplace to eat.  He wasn’t really hungry.  Since the accident, his appetite remained absent most of the time and his stomach hurt more often than ever before but he needed a break from driving and something to shift his focus.   A headache tightened around his skull so he pulled into a Steak N Shake, ordered a double steak burger with fries and a chocolate shake.   He dry swallowed four aspirin while he waited for the food.  Although everything tasted good, he ate with little enthusiasm.   A couple with two kids, one in a high chair, chattered nearby and although he did his best to ignore them, he couldn’t.

            He finished, gathered his trash and left.  Back in the car, he checked a map for the best route to Branson and tried to figure out how to reach the old resort on the far side of the lake.  Cole puzzled over the map for a few minutes and then headed out down US 65, a four-lane modern highway.  At Branson, he opted for the downtown exit but when he rolled up the ramp, Cole stared at the new version of the place he recalled.  Multiple businesses in every direction boggled his mind but he followed Highway 76 as it wound into the traditional old downtown area.  Nothing jogged his memory until he descended into the few blocks of old cafes and the big five and dime store on the corner.  Cole turned right and traveled past a supermarket he recalled but the bridge across Lake Taneycomo wasn’t the same.  He crossed anyway and followed the narrow blacktop road around the base of a hill, hugging his side of the road because the oncoming traffic moved with speed. 

            The farther he traveled out from Branson, the more things looked like he remembered.  He passed a big camp he didn’t recall but after that the lake views, the steep rugged hills and scenery all resonated. This was the heart of the Ozarks. That’s what his grandparents used to call this country, he recalled with bittersweet nostalgia.  Cole turned in at the faded sign “Lake Dreams Resort” and followed the drive back to the cabins he remembered.  Each remained a dull rusty red, a shade he’d always called “barn paint” although he didn’t recall why.  The main cabin, a two story house with the office in the front boasted a wide covered porch.  Although everything resembled his remembered images the place looked somehow unkempt and neglected.  His tires crunched across the gravel as he stopped, staring at the other cabins, strung up the hill like a bead necklace.   Without warning or conscious effort, memories washed over him, stronger than the sunlight streaming through the windshield.

            He woke up early, before daylight and ran down the hill from the big cabin at the end of the row to the lake.  Although the main view looked north, if you stood on the shore and stared right, the sunrise framed like a picture between the two shores.   Mist wreathed around trees and hovered over the water like ghosts but Cole wasn’t afraid.  He was ten now, a big boy.   As he watched the first lights turn the sky pastel pink to contrast with the summer blue he heard footsteps behind him and he turned to see Maggie.

            Her red hair hung in twin braids down her chest and the patched overalls, hand-me-downs from her older brother, were a little short.  She called them ‘high water britches’ with the same humor she applied to everything.  Her parents ran the resort and she’d been his vacation playmate as long as he could remember.  Cole couldn’t decide if he wanted her more for a kid sister or as a girlfriend but Pop said they were too young to even think about being anything but pals.

And I also have a book trailer here:

http://youtu.be/ODVN6JBH-Xo

I'm looking forward to the August 3 release day (and the virtual book tour coming in September with Sizzling Hot Books) and I hope you are too!