“…We women, we know the truth of love and the human heart. He will mourn me, dearest Evangeline. But as this illness steals my time with him, I want to leave him with hope. This dating service you run…when you feel he is ready, find him a woman, Eve. Find him someone different so that he doesn’t look for me in her eyes.

Show him my letter, so that he knows I want this for him with all my heart. Our children will follow your lead. He will resist, but you must be firm. Use all you know to bring love back into his life.

My days are numbered, the drugs ease my pain. Help my Aaron to heal from his.

Yours in spirit, Maria Consuelo Castillo”


He read the letter and slid into the chair at the family meeting. With a shudder, he met his son’s eyes and sighed. They all watched him, waiting. She wanted this? His beloved wife, gone three years? It was a useless gesture, but he wouldn’t deny the attempt. One date, to satisfy Maria. But that was all. He swore it.


Genre: Contemporary romance, Late Escape, erotic romance

Heat level: 3
Word count – 11k

Cover art by Dara England





~Excerpt~

Her laughter came close to breaking his resolve to treat her as nothing more than a guest of his hotel. She held nothing back. As she talked, she shared so much. His heart ached to hear the tinge of loneliness at the edge of her soul. He doubted she realized how much it showed. As she moved about the deck, following his orders, he admitted how much he enjoyed having someone so lively to sail with.

If she occasionally paused, as if uncertain, she took his direction and they suffered no damage as the result. He’d intended to sail a path angled so she could watch the sunset while he remained at the tiller, but something drew him to join her at the rail.

He stood, not quite touching her, as the sun drew close to the sea.

“My God, that is beautiful.” She whispered the words.

“Preciosa.”

If she’d shifted her gaze to him, she’d have seen him focusing on her face, not the sunset. A few moments later, she drew a quick breath. “Oh! Did I just see the famous green flash?”

He smiled. “You are most fortunate.” A familiar sight to him, but he found it sweet to see the wonder of her first viewing cross her face.

She tilted her head to grin at him. “Well, I’m here, and you’re here. I have to agree with you.”

He met her look. This warm female, hair like tangled strands of dark honey, eyes a light brown and her lips….

He pulled back and shook his head, suddenly aware of how close he’d come to kissing her. He’d never kissed a woman other than his wife.

Maria! What have you gotten me into?





Author Bio:

Maureen lives along the lovely Monterey Bay and finds great inspiration in being so near the Pacific Ocean. She shares her home with Stephen, her high school sweetheart, married for over 30 years; a cat named Isabeau and a dog named Bonnie. She travels miles and miles to attend pirate festivals, renaissance fairs, scifi/fantasy conventions, steampunk cons, writing conferences and the occasional NASCAR race.