A wrong turn on a secluded mountainous highway leads Bronwyn Sterling to the small town of Moonshine; hidden deep in the Appalachians and veiled in a shroud of cryptic secrets.
Excerpt
The night was warm and inviting as she stepped off the porch and onto the cobblestone path. Opening the gate she pushed her way through the hanging vines. The romantic scent of night blooming jasmine filled her nostrils. The garden was even more enchanting in the moonlight. Fireflies swarmed around the low hanging branches of the weeping willow tree, displaying their tiny glowing lights. The moon shone down upon the pond, its reflection casting the garden in a deep gray-silver. The quiet rushing of the waterfall accompanied by the croaking frogs and the chirping crickets, provided the night‘s sounds. She sat in a soft patch of clover growing near the water. She moved her hand gracefully over the leaves, reflecting on how as a child she would spend countless hours searching for a four leafed one. She laid back and gazed at the night sky. It was teeming with millions of stars, more than she had ever seen at one time. The higher elevation made it seem as if she could almost reach out and grab a few.
Moments like this seemed so futile and empty without someone to share them with. Her mind turned to Ryan. Literally no day had passed since their break-up that she had not thought of him, dreamed of him, pictured his face, and heard his voice. She imagined him in the clover, lying next to her, gazing at the stars. There was a time when she could slide her hand over and reach out and touch him, feel him lying next to her.
She passed her hands across the clover once again. The emptiness was so real. Her body longed for him. She wondered if missing Ryan was the reason she was drawn to Travis.
Somewhere in the distance, the faint music of a dulcimer wafted through the trees. The music was beautiful, although she did not recognize the song. Probably some old mountain ballad. She continued staring at the stars, hoping to see a shooting one…on which she could make a wish. The night was peaceful, serene…lonely.
She rose from the clover patch and walked to the pond. She sat on its bank, placing her feet in the shallow waters. She cupped the water with one hand and splashed it further across the pond.
The garden gate swung open. There was not enough light for her to see who entered. Maybe it was Bethany and Lillian. She hoped. Girl talk would be therapeutic right now.
The footsteps grew closer. The approaching figure stepped into the moonlight. Bronwyn’s heart leaped.
Travis.
He approached the pond and sat next to her and as much as she hated to admit it she was glad he did. Despite the fact she was trying to convince herself she wasn’t interested in him, she longed to be near him. Besides, she intended to interrogate him. She knew that, at the least he was keenly aware of what lurked in the woods. He knew the first day she had questioned him, yet he had avoided the subject, blaming it on kids or curious teenagers.
“What’s going on around here? Who are the cloaked men stalking us from the woods? I know you know. I saw you talking with one of them in the garden yesterday.”
Travis looked out over the pond.
“There are secrets and mysteries that are not to be revealed to everyone.”
Her suspicion rose. “That’s unfair.”
“How is that?”
“We’re obviously being stalked. Am I not allowed to know why?”
“In time.”
His words frightened her. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said. You will know in time.”
Her agitation continued to rise.
“Maybe I won’t wait for your time. What if I march right into the inn and tell everyone and make a call to the local police?”
“Won’t do you any good.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.” Travis hurled a small stone across the water. “I am protecting you.”
His words stunned her into silence.
He returned to face her. “How’s the re write going?”
Bronwyn would not allow herself to be deceived. There was more to these hooded creatures than Travis wanted her to know…something strangely unusual at work in these mountains. She sensed it from the moment of her arrival three nights ago. If Travis was protecting her, that must mean she was in danger. If the cloaked figures meant her harm, then why was he having a private conversation with one of them?
She looked at him. He was reading her thoughts.
“In time,” he said quietly. “How is the re-writing going?”
She stared at him, her emotions waging a war inside. She feared the man that sat before her in many ways, yet her heart ached for him. There was no escaping the fact that she was unwillingly drawn to him. She longed to be near him, yet another part of her desired to run far away from him. She sighed.
“It’s not going. I’ve been staring at a blank computer screen all day, and have produced nothing. I don’t know; maybe I’m done with writing.”
“Do you think that you’re wasting your time writing these scripts, and putting off the story that is buried deep within you? Maybe you’re burying it deeper by all the clutter you allow in your life.”
“Yes”, she answered quickly. “I know that for certain. But, these stories, no matter how trite and sappy, pay the bills.”
“Then you might as well be writing for the National Enquirer.” His words stung.
She desired to snap off a sarcastic, defensive rebuttal, but she had none. Travis took advantage of her silence.
“You’re making a living for yourself, instead of living the life you were born to live.”
The heat sensation began rising within her once again, cued by his words. Her heart beat faster. She reached deep into the water in an attempt to cool her arms. She nervously splashed more water over the top of her legs, and then repeated the action by splashing her neck and chest.
He pressed on. “You’re attempting to write a love story, yet love is such a vast subject, and one with intense emotion. Science can’t even explain it, and you’re trying to write about that emotion between two people, yet you have never really loved anyone on this earth except yourself.”
Her hands left the water.
“What? How can you say that? You don’t know me. I have loved. I loved Ryan deeply.”
“You never really loved Ryan.” He sounded certain.
She lifted her feet from the water. Intrigued, she turned her body to face him and looked directly into his dark eyes. “Okay…explain yourself.”
He stared back, once again his eyes penetrating her soul.
“Can you take it?”
“Take what?”
“The truth.”
“Why wouldn’t I be able to take the truth?”
“Because truth always sets you free. And some people find it fearful to be totally free. For some reason, they seem to find comfort in the chains that bind them.”
Her eyes flashed as she leaned forward, her body closer to Travis than she intended.
“I’m not afraid of anything.”
Travis suppressed another smile that pulled at the corner of his lips.
“You’re a storyteller. You invent characters. You create them in your imagination exactly how you wish them to be. Correct?”
She nodded.
“You did the same with Ryan. You loved a man who did not exist anywhere but in your ideals. You loved a person that wasn’t actually Ryan.”
“Not true. I knew him very well. We lived together. You get to know someone that way.”
“Then he suddenly changed and turned into someone you didn’t know anymore. Right?”
“Yes, in a way he did.” She couldn’t argue with that.
“He didn’t change. You were finally forced to see Ryan for who he really was. The true Ryan. Not your ideal created version of him.”
She contemplated his comment. His words seemed so obvious. She didn’t want to think that she had actually fallen for a self-absorbed, ego-driven shallow person. She was smarter than that. Now she wondered if Ryan had ever loved her. Obviously he had not.
Sadness gripped her. “I guess Ryan never really loved me. His true love was obviously fame and recognition.”
“If all that had been offered to Ryan had been offered to you, would you have taken it?”
She thought a minute before she answered.
“Six months ago, I am sure I would have. I’d been crazy not to. But I’d have taken Ryan right along with me.”
“What if Ryan had asked you to turn it all down?”
“I never asked Ryan to turn it all down.”
“That’s not what I asked you.”
Her voice rose, all her suppressed anger for Ryan resurfacing. “It would have been very selfish of him.”
“Would you have turned it all down for him?”
“No” She nearly shouted it. “No, I wouldn’t have turned any of it down for him. I would have seen him for the self-serving, egotistical, person that he was.”
Her voice trailed off as she realized her last statement…Seen Ryan for who he was…
Travis was right. She had invented Ryan to be the man she wanted him to be, the man for whom she longed, never seeing him for who he really was.
She looked at Travis, realization shinning in her eyes. He leaned forward and said softly,
“If I say, I love you Bronwyn. Do I mean I love you in the same way as I love these mountains, or the smell of the earth after a good rain, or the way I love music? Do I love you because the way you look ignites a passion inside of me? Is my love for you only contingent on the way it affects me? How it makes me feel? If so, then I only truly love myself. And I only love and want you for how it affects me.”
He moved very close to her, his eyes reaching deep into her soul.
“Or do I love you, Bronwyn? Do I love the person who looks at me from those emerald green eyes? Do I love you despite the times you are angry and bitter and unlovely? Do I continue to love you although you freely gave your heart to another? Can I send you away knowing I will never experience you, but you, will experience all you’ve ever dreamed of? I can if my love is for you and not myself.”
She was silent, completely entranced in his words. The heat weakened her body. She wanted to cry, sob tears of regret of wasted time and loneliness. Everything within her wanted to lean against his chest. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her and hold her under the moonlight. If only he would make the first move. If only he would offer.
Professional Reviews
EPIC!!!
I'm not one who usually jumps on a bandwagon, but I must say, not only am I on the wagon, but I am yelling and cheering while waving a Moonshine flag!!! :)
This book harkens to epic greatness I haven't seen since the Outlander series by Diana Gabeldon!! And the kicker? IT'S FREE!!!
I'll leave the synopsises to the other reviewers.....from me.....GET THIS BOOK!!!!
The Barefoot Writer
I found this novel to be a slow creeper at the start, but not in a bad way. It hooked you in and made you wonder what the heck was going on!
The characters were completely interesting and the main ones were developed well. All the secondary characters felt a little flat, but in the grand scheme of things, this was excusable since you were too busy trying to unravel the plot.
I haven't read a story like this in years. I found I was wanting more with each chapter. I couldn't put it down in spots, and I am hanging out for the second one in the series.
You Go Girl!!
I have read hundreds of paranormal/scifi romance novels over the years and have never once felt compelled to write a review....until now.
Denise Parton was able to capture my attention with both imagery and dialogue. The imagery depicted in Moonshine was nothing less than luscious. Not only the descriptions of the various locations but also the soul-searing descriptions of character encounters. The dialogue was engaging and the intrigue kept me reading on into the night. I would have liked a steamy encounter in this first book but Ms. Parton's writing has reminded me that anticipation, much like a musical pause, makes the crescendo that much more grand.
I eagerly await your next endeavor Ms. Parton! You Go Girl!
Crystal Reed thought she had met the perfect man. Instead she finds herself entangled in a web of obsessive love and dark secrets, a world that has become tainted by deception and treachery.
A search for the ghost of a chorus girl chorine haunting a costume designer’s Manhattan apartment leads to an encounter with an eccentric, mischievous witch with the ability to send folks back through time…in this case, the 1919 Ziegfeld Follies.
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
