Hey everyone, here’s Liza O’Connor with the third book in her A Long Road to Love series. She’s also running two giveaways, so don’t forget to check out how to enter at the end of the post. I’ve been fortunate to read both the first two books in this humorous disaster romance series, and had a giggle while I read them. So, without further ado, I’ll hand everything over to Liza.
.
Coming to Reason. How does that happen?
Like Carrie, in my life, ‘coming to reason’ came fast and hard.
When the man I thought was my soul mate of ten years told me he’d met someone else and wanted to see where it might go, I was floored. Totally didn’t see it coming.
Surely, there should have been some signs…
We never fought, so I pushed my memory for smaller hints. We still did things together, played tennis, skied. There had to be some hint I hadn’t caught onto.
A man can’t fall out of love
and I completely fail to notice, can he?
I thought back to the night I finished reading Bridges of Madison Country. I looked over to him and likened us to the couple in love. I remember he seemed disturbed by the comparison. No doubt because he saw Heather as his true love, and me the one keeping them from being happy. At the time I assumed he hadn’t liked the book and didn’t wish to be compared to it.
That was the only clue I had.
In my perspective, this Heather person came out of nowhere.
I asked him to tell me about her. He seemed happy to share. She worked at his office, she had a girl from a previous marriage, and a boyfriend so this wasn’t easy for either of them. She was my age and he really liked her and wanted to see where it might go. He spoke with great calmness and compassion, but not an ounce of guilt or remorse. He had to know his words were ripping me apart, but he didn’t give a shit. It was all about him. (I say this now. At the time I only saw his compassion, not what was missing.)
He asked me to stay until he got the matter sorted out.
And because I loved him more than I loved myself, I agreed.
We had plans to attend a theatre production that night and I tried my hardest to be cheerful, but the more his words replayed in my mind, the deeper they cut. I began to silently cry, then not so silently. We had to leave so other people could enjoy the play.
His mother called me soon after. She was so sorry we were breaking up. Then she told me less than a month ago, he’d told her he ‘was thinking about’ marrying me. That floored me. Now nothing made sense.
I moved into the guest bedroom. Living in his house with him kept me hoping we could turn matters around. I desperately wanted to fix whatever was wrong. I got him to go to counseling with me, but after the first meeting, where we got along so well, the counselor split us up.
And thus began the counselor’s efforts to make me come to reason, but I remained hopelessly in love, so desperate to fix my soulmate’s temporary insanity. Instead of helping me fix my problem, the guy focused on the unhealthy aspects of our relationship. Even before I came to reason, I knew he strongly felt I needed to break away.
But at home, matters almost seemed normal again except I slept in the guest room and my heart was severely injured. My soul mate went to visit friends in California. He said Heather wasn’t going, but he may have lied. Still, every night he would call and tell me the stupid ass things he’d done because I wasn’t there to fix matters. We’d laugh and hope grew within me that we could get beyond this. He mentioned the same, saying we’d be stronger in the end.
While a part of me hoped for the best, another part of me knew whatever had broken wasn’t fixable nor could I ever trust him again. I would always be searching for signs I missed this time.
Somewhere in this painful month, I parked my pride at the curb and called Heather, begging her not to take him from me. She said she had no idea what I was talking about. Nothing was going on between her and my guy.
Now I wondered if my soul mate had truly gone insane and had made this whole romance up.
I discovered the truth on the day we planned to go to a Giant’s game. I remember telling him that morning how much I was looking forward to the having fun together. He agreed and for a moment things seemed good. Due to my counselor’s advice, after work I never went straight home. I would go to the Y and swim laps for two hours.
But this night, I didn’t want to make us late for the game, so I cut my workout short and hurried home. He’d promised to be home by six. When it turned six-thirty, something broke inside me. I got in my car and drove to his place of work. The door was locked, so I lurked about outside, pacing in fury. Finally, he and Heather came out, arm in arm, laughing and happy. (Had I owned a gun, none of us would be alive now. When I saw them together, I lost all reason.)
Being gunless, I went a little crazy on him while Heather scurried back into the office.
All my pent up rage came pouring out of me. And when I finally made it back home, my EX-soulmate opened my car door and declared it over. He was done with Heather. No more.
Too Late. I was done with him.
‘Reason’ had finally arrived. I realized if he had truly loved me, he couldn’t hurt me like this. He was either a sadist or the most self-centered guy in the world, but this had never been a healthy love. I had loved him more than I loved myself, which is NEVER a good thing. And from my new perspective he didn’t love me at all. I was just easy to get along with and willing to do things he liked to do. A convenience, nothing more.
And that was it. I made him leave his house and live with his mother for a month while I hunted for a house of my own. Then I left and never looked back.
In my book Coming to Reason, Carrie ignores reality so long you’ll want to slap her silly, then wham, all hell breaks loose and in a single day she’s over him. I’ve no doubt someone who’s never loved a Trent will say Carrie comes to reason too fast, but I will argue from personal experience that anyone stubborn and determined enough to love a Trent can turn on a dime the moment she realizes that he never loved her and that she deserves much more than he’ll ever give. This enlightenment doesn’t happen over time, it happens in an instant when she finally sees him for the man he is, rather than the illusion she loved.
Later after the pain goes away you realize he’s not evil incarnate. He’s just broken and has no idea what love is. But the actual moment of Coming to Reason can be incredibly fast and life changing.
For me, it began the best years of my life. And for that, I thank you, Heather. Sorry, he broke your heart too, but that was inevitable.
Here’s a bit about the book
Coming to Reason:
COMING TO REASON
Book Three: A Long Road to Love
Humorous Contemporary Disaster Romance
Amazon
Blurb
Carrie has committed to an inter-species marriage with Trent, her billionaire boss. Only, she requested a long engagement to improve his stats. Presently, he is eighty percent dreamboat and twenty percent nightmare.
When he fires her so they can be a ‘normal couple’, everything heads south. Providing her a stark contrast, her new boss is everything a woman could want in a man.
But for Carrie, her heart is taken and thus, her path to reason remains long and arduous.
Liza O’Conner writes books that speak to my soul. Carrie is a character you will not soon forget.
–Rebecca Royce, author of The Warrior series.
I only have one thing to say about Liza O’Connor’s A Long Road to Love series: Read them. They’re funny. You won’t regret it!
—Maria Hammarblad, author of Kidnapped.
Excerpt
He shook his head. “I’m still growing up from the petulant child I’ve been all my life.” He exhaled and met her gaze. “To continue my progress, I need your assistance.”
She marveled at his newly acquired ability to admit weaknesses. “Anything,” she promised.
Leaning in, he kissed her forehead. “My therapist believes your desire to be the world’s best EA and my girlfriend is hampering my attempts to grow up. You take care of all my problems. He says I need to handle matters for myself.”
Fear spread from her chest out to her fingertips, making her numb, slowing her brain. “Are you saying you want to break up with me?”
“Never!” He covered her face with kisses.
She pushed him away. “Then what?”
“It’s time to do what we talked about months ago. You need to quit Lancaster Chairs and get another job.”
Was he insane? He couldn’t survive two hours without her. “We should do this slowly, so you can wean off.”
He smiled. “Michael disagrees.”
She’d always liked his therapist, until now. “Maybe I should talk to him.”
“No! You’ll only prove to him I’ve made no progress at all.” He gripped her hands. “I need to stand on my own two feet. You have to let me grow up and take responsibility for myself.”
“All right.” Her stomach roiled with doubt. He’d be calling her back in a week to help save his company again.
Still, growing up meant he’d make mistakes along the way. She had to let him take the reins, even if doing so had disaster written all over it. “I’ll start looking on my lunch hour.”
“No. We need a clean cut. As of now, you no longer work at Lancaster Chairs.”
“Trent! We have to have a transition. We’ll need to find a new EA. I’ll need to train the person in.”
He pressed his fingers to her lips. “I completed the interviews and I’m going in to train my EA. I’ve got it all under control.”
His assurance stunned her. He must have planned this for weeks, perhaps months, but never said a word, which hurt her feelings. Still, she sucked it up and tried to focus on the positive. Trent wanted to grow up and take responsibility. “I should still come in and show the person…guy or girl?”
The question made him choke. “Are you kidding? After Grant? No way in hell I’d hire another male.”
A Long Road to Love
Book One
Worst Week Ever
“Love this book and couldn’t stop laughing from beginning to end.” 5 stars – Alves – Amazon
61 reviews: 4.3 stars
Book Two
Oh Stupid Heart
“Be warned though, this book is completely different from The Worst Week Ever. Yes, there is still humor, dry wit, situations that you would think…NOT AGAIN but this one humanizes Trent more.” 5 stars – Brian’s Mom – Amazon
8 reviews: 4.8 stars
Book Three
Coming to Reason
Other Books by Liza O’Connor
Ghost Lover
will return March 1
Liza O’Connor
Author Bio:
Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
LIZA O’CONNOR & UPCOMING BOOKS:
Prizes:
Tour prize: a $50 Amazon Gift Card
Gift at every stop for one lucky commenter
Must request book in comments
& leave email address:
Worst Week Ever or
Oh Stupid Heart ebook.
Enter to Win $50 Amazon Gift Card
Related
Thanks for letting me share way too much. LOL.
LOL. It was great having you over, Liza.
I would love a copy of either book! They both sound awesome! Thanks for the giveaway, Liza!
jennnifer@jenniferloweryauthor.com
Wow…Heather deserved the pain she got, Karma and all, but I understand where you are coming from. Loving someone who is selfish is tough. They don’t care about you only themselves and when they do think about you, it’s what you can do to help them.
Yes, but I fought Coming to Reason to the very end. But once it came, I was done.
I’m glad you had your coming to reason. I tweeted.
Nearly killed me at the time, but was the best thing that ever happened to me.