Amazon Cassandra Barmes Write Words, Inc Kindle Category:  Romance Publisher: Write Words, Inc. ISBN-10:  1594316392 Type: Fiction Pages: 308 Copyright: December 1, 2008 ISBN-13: 9781594316395 Drugs, murder, and kidnapping rip open the shameful pasts kept carefully concealed by Amanda Reed and Santiago Yazzi, forcing them to forgive old and new betrayals before they discover the secret love hidden deep in their hearts.   AMANDA REED made a serious mistake years ago that resulted in divorce and the loss of custody of her infant son. She's since created a new life for herself, keeping her shameful past a secret. Certified as a foster parent, she finds happiness in caring for needy children. She supports herself as owner of a small, but successful, aromatherapy shop. Amanda reserves a special place in her heart for YAZZ, a man she believes wants only friendship. She fears she'll lose even that if her past is revealed. Santiago Yazzi (Yazz), a multi-racial homicide detective, has his own secrets, one of which is his deep affection for Amanda. A loner, he's reconciled to others not accepting him. When it comes to matters other than his heart, he's highly intuitive. Dream guidance is leading him away from police work to life as a healer. He wants to share that life with Amanda. Afraid of rejection, he's unable to declare his feelings for her. Two murder cases are suddenly dumped on Yazz. A man who has been Amanda's friend for years is the prime suspect in the first, and evidence in the second case points to one of Amanda's foster children. Yazz knows he must do his job, but he fears losing Amanda forever if he proves either suspect guilty. Amanda believes her foster child is innocent and vows to protect him from Yazz. She also accuses Yazz of conducting a vendetta against her friend. In the midst of her conflict with Yazz, Amanda's grown son, MICHAEL, enters her life. Michael's own child, CALEB, is critically ill, and needs a transplant to live. Amanda is his last hope for a tissue match. Caleb's desperate need has driven Michael to seek out the mother who left him, but he's unable to conceal his bitterness and hurt at her abandonment. Amanda admits selective parts of her past to Yazz and prepares to go to Caleb, struggling with her long-held terror of doctors and hospitals. Her revelations shock Yazz, bringing back memories of his own mother's abandonment. He closes his heart to her. Amanda tries, without success, to find another home for RYAN, her foster child. She no longer trusts Yazz, and thinks he's forcing her to choose between Caleb and Ryan. Before she's able to help either child, Amanda is kidnapped by the real killer. When she nearly loses her life, she and Yazz both realize their hearts belong to each other and are able to forgive their pasts. Testing proves she's a compatible donor for her grandson, and her foster child is reunited with his father.    Excerpt Amanda inserted the key in the door lock and turned it, then stopped when she heard quick footsteps behind her. Lord, where was the security patrol? She pulled the key out. Somewhere she’d read that making a fist and holding a key between your fingers made a good weapon. She managed to get the key placed, with the other keys on the chain dangling beneath her fist. The footsteps stopped and every nerve in her body tensed for the danger behind her. As ready as she’d ever be to meet her assailant, Amanda spun around, fist raised in front of her. . . . . . . She raised her hands to her face and touched the moisture there. What was all over her? She looked at her hands and saw red dripping from them. Blood! Her blood! She felt herself slipping away. Suddenly an arm was around her shoulders, supporting her. “Everything’s okay. The ambulance is on its way.” Gentle fingers touched her scalp. “You’ve just been grazed. The paramedics will have you as good as new in minutes.” Although she fought to stay conscious, Amanda drifted in and out of a black haze. An image of Yazz floated in front of her. Oh why hadn’t she ever told him how much she loved him? She tried to keep her thoughts focused on her grandson, and left Yazz hovering at the edges of her mind. Later she’d tell him all her secrets, including the simple truth that her heart belonged to him and always would. **** Yazz recoiled, unable to stop his gut reaction. The fact that Amanda had deserted her own child shocked him deeper than he cared to admit. This was a new facet to her, one he wished had never been revealed to him. “Why did you leave? How could you leave your child?” All the pain of his own mother’s rejection flooded through him. Nothing could be worse than abandoning a child to fend for itself. How could the woman he thought he’d known, cared deeply for, do that? A sliver of cold wrapped itself around the warm place Amanda had always occupied in his heart.

A suspenseful, compelling tale of love and betrayal.
Amanda Reed treasures the life she's created for herself, but two murders and past mistakes threaten to destroy her new-found love and endangers her life. Acts of Love is a suspenseful, compelling tale of love and betrayal. Cassandra Barnes does a first-rate job of rousing the reader's emotions. A must read. ~~Bliss Addison, author of Wolfe, She Cried; Battle of Wills; With Malicious Intent.

Intriguing, gripping, and gratifying.
Cassandra Barnes's skill in creating engaging characters and layered plotting makes Acts of Love another winner for her. She expertly interweaves mystery and romance to reveal the hidden depths of her characters as they struggle with the ways that love can go wrong. Acts of Love is intriguing, gripping, and gratifying. I couldn't put it down. -- Pinkie Paranya, Award-winning author of early American historicals, romances, cozy mysteries, thrillers and adventure.

Appealing Novel. Easy Reading
Ms Cassandra Barnes has published a new novel, ACTS OF LOVE, which tells the story of Amanda Reed, who has made a new life for herself in a small town where she has cultivated a large group of close friends.

Then two murders shake up the community. Amanda and her friends rally around to help the family of the victims. It is in this chaotic time that Michael, the son Amanda had regretfully abandoned for his own good years ago, shows up at her door. There is no great reunion.

Michael resents his mother, but has only looked her up for the sake of his son, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Michael is hoping that Amanda, as the grandmother, might be that compatible bone marrow donor to save his child's life. ACTS OF LOVE deals with the question of hard decisions some people make based on love that call for personal sacrifice, then years later, they wonder if they had made the right decision.

Cassandra Barnes is to be congratulated for skillfully weaving into this theme a budding romance in a murder mystery that is then complicated by a family conflict. This appealing novel makes easy reading. I look forward to her next novel. ~~Sanchona, author of A Family of Strangers