Saturday, October 12, 2013

BOOK SIGNING ALERT!

YOU ARE INVITED!
 
COME AND JOIN ME
FOR A BOOK SIGNING!
 
 
 Author Kristine Cheney has become a vendor with IT'S VINTAGE CHARM and will be selling and signing paperback books. WE'LL HAVE LOTS OF FUN!
 
 
 It's Vintage Charm
Downtown Glendale, Arizona
7142 North 58th Avenue, Glendale, Arizona 85301
                                                 623-201-3363
 
Saturday, October 19, 2013
starts at 10:00 a.m.
 
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
 
xoxo
 
Kristine Cheney
 
 


 

 

 

 

 

 
CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!
 
 
Like "Hallmark Style"
Christmas Stories?
 
 
Then you will
fall in love with...
 
SECRET SANTA 
 
 
 
 
Holly Gordon’s estrangement from her family makes loneliness of the Christmas season hit close to home. Volunteering for the annual Ashton Falls Secret Santa Program is more than a comfort, it’s a blessing. Just knowing she’s able to help another hurting soul experience the joy of a heartfelt Christmas makes her own reality a tiny bit sweeter, that is, until Marcus Jenner ends up on her list.Marcus Jenner is more than a bronze muscled looker. This Chickasaw loner isn’t happy being placed on the town’s Secret Santa list. Suffering the blow of a devastating loss, he's chosen to withdraw from living almost completely. For the life of him, he can’t figure why this pretty little blonde keeps bumping into him, calling him by name, and insisting on giving him presents. Unfortunately, every time she does, a billowing cloud of havoc seems to ensue. Why can’t this vixen leave him alone?

Holly is drawn to Marcus like a moth to the flame. But Marcus has no intentions of submitting to the threat of his newfound feelings. A painful exchange pushes their lives into a pendulum chaos. His demand for privacy is granted by Holly’s hidden illness. Her sudden absence hits him hard, especially when the arrival of a stranger delivers the rest of his gifts. Right away, he knows something's horribly wrong.

Love and selfless giving can rouse a wounded, sleeping heart. But sometimes a Secret Santa gets a few unexpected gifts of her own.
 
 
 



JUDAH'S ALIBI IS RELEASED!

LOVE FAITH-BASED
INSPIRATIONAL ROMANCE?
 
JUDAH'S ALIBI
IS NOW
AVAILABLE!
 
 
 
 
 
Shelby struggles behind a masquerade, fooling the world into believing her role as Jesse Bryant’s wife is nothing less than a charmed, happy life. When a Christian woman marries a non-believer, the consequences aren’t always easy. A week after their lavish fairytale wedding, the prince of her dreams evolved into her worst nightmare. Beneath her veil of heartache and bruises, Shelby guards the secret of her pregnancy, until Jesse discovers the news and demands an immediate abortion. Empowered by the Holy Spirit to protect God’s precious gift of life, Shelby takes a stand. But with her husband’s sudden disappearance, she’s forced to come to terms with abandonment.

Judah Bryant is visiting Bison Lake on business, where the fate of his universe is shaken off-kilter. An emotional beauty confronts him publicly with a river of tears. Humiliated beyond reason, he’s accused of being her abusive, deserting husband, and slandered by implications of some brutal, shady deeds. From the moment the woman calls him Jesse, she’s mistaken him for the identical twin brother he hasn’t seen in a decade. When the fiasco of pre-term labor complicates her trauma, Judah’s penchant for being a sucker-fish hero enlists him to save the day.

Judah heeds the strange supernatural pull that calls him to step forward and protect his brother’s wife. Intending to reveal his true identity, his plans are thwarted when a doctor insists that Shelby and her unborn baby are mortally at risk, requiring a constant vigil of care and a non-stressed environment. He never intended to fall in love with the girl whom Providence made his ward. Tortured by his deception, Judah longs to claim the wounded family he can never call his own. When revelation and tragedy bring the foundation of their lives crumbling down, Shelby’s devastated to find the man who holds her healing heart is a lying imposter. Can the power of Christ, love, forgiveness, and destiny be enough to help her believe in Judah’s alibi?
 
 
 

 
 


CHECK OUT MY NEW WEBSITE AT WWW.KRISTINECHENEY.COM

THE NEW WEBSITE IS UP AND RUNNING!
 
COME JOIN ME!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Monday, July 1, 2013

NEW RELEASE FROM KRISTINE CHENEY COMING IN JULY!

 
JUDAH'S ALIBI
 
Scheduled for Release
before July 31st!
 
Chapter One Excerpt:
 
**This excerpt may not be copied or reproduced, in all or in part, 
without the express written permission of Kristine Cheney**
 
Jesse ignored the pleading in her eyes. Averting his gaze in blatant dismissal, he swiped his lunch from atop the sparkle of the costly granite counter. She pretended not to notice how the whooshed blunt crinkles of his brown paper sack were a dead-ringer match to his typical stiff, torqued off demeanor. Didn’t he care she roused early to appease him, in spite of nauseating pangs of morning sickness? She sacrificed her world for his sole benefit.

Shelby filled her husband’s thermos with steaming hot coffee. Assaulted by the rising malaise of her stomach, she swallowed the excess saliva that tickled the threat of retch. Surviving the aroma of his ketchup-coated meatloaf sandwich was miraculous, and so was chopping the ingredients of his ritzy, high-born salad without need of a single stitch.

Southpaws had no business in the kitchen.

“Jesse, please forgive me. How many times must I tell you that I’m sorry?” She pleaded through the distorted blur of tears for the umpteenth time. Falling upon her knees onto the hard Saltillo tiles, she begged for his acceptance of the baby growing deep within her belly. But Shelby wasn’t fortunate. Contrite behavior would never be enough to melt the hatred of his hardened, self-loving heart. Jesse’s preference for coldness took root long ago. The man was frigid as an iceberg.

Today’s demand for an immediate late-term abortion proved his penchant for cruelty had only grown worse; the reason she guarded her secret for several weeks. Standing her ground and defying his wishes was a first within their long nine years of damage. Christian conviction refused ability to entertain a death sentence for this innocent unborn child.

Shelby told him no.

The man expected sex when he was wasted. Jesse’s typical ritual was arriving home late, bumping against walls and tripping over furniture, creating a ton of racket. Stumbling into the retreat of their bedroom, his waking jostles were harsh and abrupt. Jesse’s ardor under liquor’s influence made rejecting his advances impossible. Shelby despised the stench of oak-barreled bourbon that lingered on his breath when he wanted her.

To deny her husband’s masculine needs made his lovemaking rough and painful; a lesson learned merely a week after their lavish, fairy tale wedding. Carrying his latest child wasn’t a shocker. The night she conceived, he’d ignored all of her pleas to insert her contraceptive diaphragm. Russian roulette was a frequent game Jesse played with her monthly cycle. Sadistic and controlling, he craved that Alpha rush. Hadn’t Dr. Riddick warned her plenty of times?

Desperate, lone doses of spermicidal jelly won’t prevent a pregnancy!

“Please kiss the children,” she sniffed. Don’t let them leave for school believing they’ve done something wrong to make you angry.”

Jesse pondered her tear-streaked face, much to Shelby’s surprise. The mask of fury haunting him relented. Angry lines that creased his brow visibly softened, allowing a faint glimpse of his young handsome cast; a shadowed impression of the man she chose to marry over dashing off to college. The muscled brunette with a vibrant gaze of blue ceased to be the prince of foolish dreams. Time now captured only tormented moments. Smiles of love had wilted into fears.

A mother’s concern forced the craning of her neck toward the little bodies seated at the table. Hovering over their character bowls in child-like earnest, Annabelle and Ezekiel gobbled up the last floating remnants in their bowls of fruity cereal. Shelby’s contemplation lingered with a mournful longing. Despite Jesse’s stoic, stormy protests, the empty chair beside them would be replaced by an infant’s high chair.

A brisk air swirled about her, forcing a chill of frost to roam her flesh. Jesse intentionally brushed hard against the hem of her skirt, crushing the fabric in his quest to reach the children. Planting his kisses upon their foreheads, he mimicked the doting of a perfect television father. Jesse’s scowl of hatred proved him a liar.

Shoving Shelby aside on his passage way back, Jesse ensured his wife would follow after him. For her, nothing was left but his war of punishment. The leathered taps of his expensive Italian shoes scraped to a halted silence. Without warning, he whirled an about face, causing her crash into his chest. Safe from view of the kids, he placed his hands on her. Jesse dug craters of contempt into the delicate skin of her upper arms. The burns of popping blood vessels promised there’d be fresh bruises. In the life of Shelby Bryant, what was another discolored blemish to add to her collection?

Why must the man she loved always be cruel?

“I meant what I said this morning. “Get rid of it!” Don’t force me to take matters into my own hands, because I swear you’ll be sorry. Be a good girl and make the blasted appointment. The cost of the procedure is of no concern to me, because I’ll gladly pay them double. I want this situation dealt with by Friday.” Jesse held her chin firmly, squeezing her cheeks until they pulsed with blinding pain. He refused her focus to set on anything else in the room but him. “Do you hear me?”

The sob in her throat almost choked out her whisper. She didn’t want the children to hear them fighting. Would he listen to reason? “Please. Think about this, Jesse. I’m almost sixteen weeks along and already I’m showing. I love you, but there’s no way I can participate in what you’re asking. Every child is a gift from the Lord. How can you expect me to—?”

Jesse jerked her back and forth like an unwanted rag doll, and forced her backward with several awkward shuffles. The muffling of her mouth with the cup of his palm was timely, stifling her cry that would give him away. Her backside knocked in impact against the happy yellow color of the kitchen wall.

Reeling from the blunt force of trauma, Shelby caught the aura of his spicy aftershave on his fingers. The jarring rattle of her jaw threatened to disintegrate. Would all of her teeth break in several enameled pieces? Radiations of fire spread throughout the expanse of her skull, spine, and hips.

“Listen, woman!” He emphasized the word of her gender as if it were some awful, wretched curse. “I’m the one in charge here, and am sick and tired of hearing the excuses about your God. If memory serves, I’m the one who puts the food on the table and money in the checking account. If it wasn’t for me, your debit card wouldn’t work. This crowns me the one you bow down and worship.”

To belittle her intelligence, Jesse tapped the nail of his forefinger repeatedly against her forehead. “Since it’s difficult for you to follow simple directions, I’ll speak in layman’s terms so you’ll understand that I am not asking. You-will-do-as-I-say-and-get-this-task-finished!” The warmth of his breath moistened her ear, making her skin crawl with disgust.

An acute conveyance of a bold empowering coursed within her spirit. It was the same electrified, static-filled jolt she experienced while standing her ground earlier. Despite the trembles of adrenaline-laced dread, Shelby mustered the courage to unleash the power that restrained her inner voice. “And if I don’t?”

His laughter was sadistic, whirling the staleness of his recent sips of coffee into her sinus cavity. The glands in her neck tightened in reactive, soured revolt. Her stomach churned, percolating its own concoction of bile-laden prenatal reflex. Saliva once again pooled in her mouth. The urge to gag aloud festered to the point of eruption.

“Then I will destroy you,” he spat with enough poison to require several doses of anti-venom.

The whooshed stealing of her breath was an act of shock. In the history of Jesse’s bullying, he’d never threatened with the loss of Shelby’s life. Every pulsed flow of her blood pounded terror within her jugular. The pinching slice of her teeth restrained her bottom lip, drawing pearls of blood. Refusing to the risk the chance of angering him further, she silently ruled the jerk she’d married was a monster.

Jesse spun on his heel and headed toward the foyer. A draft of relief had never blown so vertical. The rattled slam of the heavy front door reverberated through the house, shaking her core. Bleeding out wasted energy, Shelby resisted the urge to collapse and sob in misery. She cradled the gentle curves of her belly, recalling why her fictitious composure was vital.

Her babies sat in the other room.

Annabelle’s voice belied a knowing worry. “Mommy?”

Shelby stumbled toward the kitchen faucet, gasping to catch her uneven breaths. Cupping running water into the pockets of her palms, the zinging ice cold splashes refreshing the flushing of her face. She pat-dried her features with a clean flowered dish towel and skittered to the table. Difficulty was enduring the tall-tell scrutiny of her children. How did she believe they were too young to realize the truth?

Annabelle’s lashes fluttered in frightened, five year old reaction. “Mommy, why is Daddy mad?”

Ezekiel’s eight years of experience in the Bryant family proved he had it figured out. “Don’t be so dumb, Belle. Dad’s always mad.” His honey-hazel stare captured hers. “Mom, I feel sorry for you.”

“Why is that, baby?”

“Because you always have to put up with dad’s crap.”

“Zeke! Watch your mouth!”

“Well, it’s true.” He shrugged his shoulders, so fed up and matter-of-fact. “Why don’t you just leave him? That’s what Tommy’s mom did.”

“Tommy’s mom?” She never heard the mentioned of his name before.

“Yeah. Tommy’s a kid at school who eats lunch with me. He’s pretty cool.”

Shelby nodded, hoping Zeke’s new train of thought would get off him off the taboo subject of her wretched marriage.

“Tommy’s dad is really mean. He hits Tommy’s mom and gives him and his sister lots of spankings. One day his mom got sick of it and she called the cops—”

Annabelle’s piggy tails danced with the snapped turn of her little chestnut head. Her whooped intake of breath spoke volumes. The bottom lip of her heart-shaped pout began to quiver. “The cops! Does that mean daddy’s gonna go to jail? I won’t be his princess anymore?”

“Enough!” Shelby snapped at her eldest, much harder than she meant to. The span of a second adjusted her tone to where she desired it; softened and under the Spirit’s control. “This topic is not open for discussion. You’re scaring your sister.”

“But mom—”

“No more, Ezekiel. Momma said enough.”

Zeke’s pout now rivaled his sister’s for the trophy. “Sorry.”

Temptation was the fight to lose her sanity. Shelby overcame perdition and chose to smile; an effort to dispel the cross expressions that hijacked her children’s beautiful faces. “All is forgiven.”

Tousling her son’s sandy brown hair was soothing. Caressing the baby soft skin of her daughter’s dimpled cheek gifted joy. “You’ll always be daddy’s princess, sweetheart. No one’s going to jail.” She gazed into the pools of the prettiest blue eyes that were the spitting image of Jesse’s.

“Now go! Both of you grab your backpacks. We don’t want to be late for school.”
 
 
I hope you enjoyed your snippet!
 
xoxo
 
Kristine Cheney