In Eternal Flame, author Patricia Garber puts her own touch to the Elvis
mystique, interweaving it with the elements of love, dreams, and choices as she spins an unforgettable romantic tale. Driven by compelling characters, a whimsical premise, and a plot of a thousand surprises, Eternal Flame stands as the momentous debut offering of a talented and imaginative storyteller.
When Samantha Bennett’s beloved mother dies from cancer, this Baptist preacher’s daughter finds herself motherless and alone in the world. Her heart turns away from the God she was raised to love, with bitterness taking His place.
The need to find a distraction from grief takes Sam on an unexpected adventure to the historical town of Salem, Massachusetts, where the colorful customs of a more puritanical time are in striking contrast to everything Sam was raised to believe. Her journey begins with the words of a local fortuneteller who predicts guidance and companionship for Sam’s future.
Hope springs eternal when the most famous entertainer in American pop culture becomes her guardian angel. Elvis Presley hasn’t walked the Earth in almost 30 years. To the surprise of both Elvis and Sam during their days together, they forge a friendship that holds passion and love.
What is the future for a love between a mortal and an angel? When the time comes, can Elvis leave Earth for the second time without her? Can Samantha go on and love another after him? Those questions fan the eternal flame of her heart.
This work is not authorized or endorsed by the Estate of Elvis Presley or by the estate of any other person. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writting from the copyright owner. Author's proceeds are donated to a charity of her choosing.
Excerpt
Dear Diary, it’s been a long time since we last spoke. I need help, and I don’t know where to turn anymore. I have made some bad choices in my life so far, but the mess I’ve managed to get into this time tops them all. What does a girl do when she falls in love with something that doesn’t belong to her? She knows this cannot go on, but the idea of living without it seems worse than the repercussions of keeping it. Is there anyone or anything out there that cares for the suffering of the brokenhearted?
“Honey, could you show me where you keep your coffee?” I could hear his rich familiar voice, giving real question to my sanity, as he called out
to me. “You’re out.”
As though mesmerized, I followed the invisible path of his intoxicatingly masculine scent that pulled me through
the house into the kitchen. No man had the right to smell so good at such great distances. I found myself analyzing his fragrance, his essence. What was that smell anyway? It was like a great cologne, unlike anything the most talented designer could create, mixed with the natural scent of a fresh spring rain. Only nature could create a bouquet so clean and crisp. I stifled a deep sigh as I looked at him, standing there ready for the day. He was leaning casually against the counter, watching his new world outside my window, unaware I’d entered the room. I caught myself almost envying how he made looking good seem all so effortless. He was a perfect picture of a real man. Every
hair accounted for, in its ideal place, and a face of an angel. It hit me then that I’d never find another like him. The history-proven fact was that there never has been another man like him. This undeniable awareness allowed fear to needle its way into my heart. If I fell in love with this man,
that surely meant loneliness in my future.
I wasn’t aware he drank coffee, I realized as he turned
toward me, morning sunlight catching the sparkle off his famously blue eyes.
Just look at that beautiful face I’m now sharing my days with. How did I get into this situation? He needs to go back now, before I can’t let him. It seems like a lifetime ago when this
whole mess got started, and yet it’s only been days since he stepped into my life. But I know it’s only a matter of time before he steps back out. I still remember the day that I now call the first day of my renewed life, when my coworker and travel buddy Heather Dawson called with an offer that started it all.
Professional Reviews
A Fantastic Journey For Those Who Love Elvis: By Sonya Snyder, President & Ceo of Quill Communications
After having listened to the records, watched him glide across all those movies, and read the biographies, its time for Eternal Flame.
Because by that time, you hunger for still more – each phase of getting to know him has only increased your appetite. Now you want to see him for real - talk to him, get to know him, touch that face, smell him.
Open the novel Eternal Flame with the expectation of doing just that, through the eyes of Samantha Bennett, as she unknowingly takes you along. You get to experience with her what it is like to live what seems to be a timeless, haunting, never ending desire for millions of sensitive souls across the globe - to have an unexpected private visit or two from the most sought after and beloved entertainer of the 20th and 21st centuries – Elvis Presley.
As I read Eternal Flame, I smiled, nodded, laughed and cried till my eyes were puffy pits, but it was so worth it. The whole time I was reading, I had that unexplainable premonition that I and millions of others have been Sam, too. Many times, as my head lifts from the pillow some mornings, I have caught that ending to a howlingly funny but un-recallable joke, or the fading notes to a touchingly warm, velvet voice soothing a melody in my brain.
Author Patricia Garber knows that inexplicable place in the hearts of all ages, races, sizes and beliefs who, since the 1950’s & till this very day, have sensed in that other dimension of the mind, that their favorite singer wasn’t just an ordinary soul.
So Shakespearian, so Job-like in his real life’s story, in this novel, Elvis himself gets to experience a few of his finest dreams as they also come true – for he gets to do what he also had a premonition of doing – if only in his heart.
Eternal Flame is an intuitive, discerning and captivating journey for all of us who have deeply loved the soul of the man that was Elvis - the man who inspired the world through his voice, his eyes and his actions toward others, with a wonderful example of how to really live. "Here is a chance, once again, to touch that face.”
The Matchmaker:
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage
Blending Southern Gothic mystery romance, fantasy, theater, dance, music, and flashes of humor, tells the story of a pair of lovers in two separate time periods who find themselves battling an evil fifty years apart.
