When adorable but insecure Madeline Rose meets worldly, passionate and marriage-minded Navy vet Ken Lockheart, it sets them both on an unanticipated personal journey that challenges their values, tests their spirits and ultimately leads to a strengthening of faith, renewal of soul, appreciation of relationships and realization of eternal love.
SouthJerseyShore, 1992
Madeline Rose is a sweet, sheltered and eternally youthful young woman of 25—the youngest child of a prominent Philadelphia neurosurgeon. Despite the unending support of a loving, close family, she battles formidable insecurities, thanks to a recent, bitter break-up with her first real boyfriend and a turbulent adolescence characterized by a few extra pounds. Unsure of her future, she struggles to live up to her potential as well as her highly educated pedigree, given her fortunate placement in an impressive ancestral heritage.
Still adjusting to civilian life after four years in the United States Navy, handsome, affable and ambitious Ken Lockheart has two goals: to rise above his blue-collar, Shore town roots and to marry his true love. Though the epitome of the classic, all-American male with his boyish good looks, six-foot frame and broad, muscular body, he retains a basic humility borne of a relentless work ethic and an inner drive to succeed.
When a chance encounter in a Somers Point nightclub initiates an unexpected relationship, neither one of them is prepared for the ensuing odyssey of heartbreak, personal growth and spiritual development that fuels their individual life lessons and leads them full-circle to a Divinely guided conclusion.
Excerpt
Prologue
Saint Ambrose Roman Catholic Church, Deerfield Beach, Florida
Breathtaking arrangements of red and pink roses adorned the raised marble altar, creating a stunning accompaniment to the massive golden crucifix that glittered in the sunlight streaming though dramatic stained glass windows. From a distant choir loft, the stirring serenade of a professional organ filled the room with the romantic notes of Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major—the bride’s preferred arrangement, prompting the formally attired congregation to rise to their feet with joyful anticipation.
Ken Lockheart stood at attention at the end of a white satin runner, clad in his black tuxedo. Though a grown man of 41, he felt and looked like an exuberant 25 year-old as a permanent, radiant smile lit up his handsome face. While his sparkling blue eyes awaited the vision of his beautiful bride, he shivered with excitement as the electrifying pulses coursed through his body.
Madeline Rose exuded pure femininity and loveliness as she gracefully walked on the arm of her beaming father, a fairytale vision in a scalloped, off-the-shoulder, silk shantung white gown encrusted with iridescent crystal and heavy lace. Her satiny auburn hair was caught back at the crown with a shiny tiara, from which a lightweight, floor-length veil floated behind her. In her arms, she carried a gorgeous bouquet of crimson roses, whose sweet fragrance permeated the air and complemented the scattered petals beneath her feet.
When her deep amber eyes met those of her waiting groom, her heart and soul flooded with an intense gratitude, borne out of profound wisdom, knowledge and experience. By the grace and mercy of God, here she was finally about to marry her one true love at the end of a long, arduous and oftentimes broken road.
Nobleman's son, Todd Ramble, returns home after years abroad and finds himself falling in love with his step-sister, who was now a grown woman. Unfortunately their love is brutally challenged by his tyrannical father.
After losing her boyfriend in a accident, Alecia believe she's been seeing him. But that can't possibly be? When Brayden reveals himself, or his soul, he asks her of a favor. But when that favor leads to her revealing feelings for her dead boyfriends
