Spotlight & Giveaway: The Love We Keep by Toni Blake

Posted January 28th, 2020 by in Blog, Spotlight / 36 comments

Today, HJ is pleased to share with you Toni Blake’s new release: The Love We Keep

 

Spotlight&Giveaway

 

Toni Blake returns with the most emotional, tender novel yet in her enchanting Summer Island series.

 
Suzanne Quinlan has been through a lot lately, so nothing sounds better than a peaceful winter in her cozy cottage on Summer Island. The last thing she wants is a massive lifestyle adjustment—especially when it comes in the form of an injured Zack Sheppard, who is sullen, angry and completely dependent on her.
 
Zack values his independence above all else. But when he falls down his icy steps, he finds himself with a serious leg injury and in need of round-the-clock care. The only person available to help is his ex’s best friend, Suzanne. It doesn’t hurt that Suzanne is far more attractive than he ever realized, but he’s never been one to settle, and he sure isn’t going to start now.
 
As Suzanne and Zack grow closer, they both realize they’re in this thing more deeply than they ever thought, and it’s started to cause tension in their small, close-knit community, too. Will Zack be able to commit this time, and will Suzanne be able to trust him? One thing is certain: come spring, the lives and loves of Summer Island will never be the same.

 

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt from The Love We Keep 

“Do you need help?”
“No.” More of a grunt than a word.
Suzanne watched as Zack hobbled to her bathroom, remembering that a patient’s first time on crutches sometimes looked like a baby deer learning to walk. At one point, he accidentally put his weight down on the injured leg and let out a yowl as it dropped out from under him, but he caught himself. Then he banged one crutch into a door frame. Oh good, I’ll get to do touch-up painting after he’s gone. This just keeps getting better and better.
“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice cautious but laced with a tinge of sarcasm.
“I’ve got it,” he snapped.
Sure ya do. “Just…try not to break anything, okay? In my house,” she added. In case it sounded like she was concerned for his bones. And maybe she should be—but at the moment, she felt more protective of her cute little cottage. She wanted to keep it cute. Even if it no longer felt like the private sanctuary it had been only an hour ago.
“Relax,” he grumbled. “I’ll fix anything I break.”
She found that response less than reassuring. But decided to keep that to herself as she went to stir the chili she’d started in her slow cooker back when this had been just a normal winter day. Better to stir than stand outside the bathroom door listening and waiting like some worrywart mom. The chili smelled good, the perfect balm for a cold, snowy afternoon. Or evening—darkness had fallen a little while ago, coming early this time of year. But the comfort food had sounded more comforting back when she’d been planning to eat alone.
A moment later, the bathroom door burst open and Zack and his crutches came trundling out, still flailing and Bambi-like. If Bambi could be compared to a surly man who hated life right now. Seemed unfair to the cartoon deer.
When one crutch literally got away from him, hitting the floor, he cursed, and Suzanne went to help the big lug, whether either of them liked it or not. Moving instinctively, she slid beneath the shoulder where the crutch had been, anchored her arm around his waist, and hoisted him in the direction of the sofa bed where he’d been resting since his arrival.
“Hand me the damn crutch,” he said.
“You’re not very good with crutches yet, and I’m sturdier. So I think what you meant to say was ‘thank you.’”
His indecipherable grumble made her eyes roll. She’d never stood this close to Zack before and he smelled masculine and musky, his body solid against her side. The simple awareness somehow left her feeling even more awkward, and after plopping him down onto the pullout couch, she was relieved to walk away, picking up the crutch to place it with its mate.
“Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to use the crutches better.”
“No need—I’ll get used to ’em.”
Another eye roll. “There is a need actually,” she insisted, crossing the room toward the wide opening to the kitchen. “My need to not have to carry you to the bathroom for a week.”
When he didn’t reply, she glanced over to see him glowering back. Their gazes met, but she found it oddly unnerving and looked away.
It struck her that they’d never looked each other in the eye before—she knew him only as Meg’s one-time boyfriend, Dahlia’s nephew. They’d always been at odds and resentment had hung in the air. And now—this. He was in her home. Dependent on her. And clearly resenting that.
“Do you want some chili?” The question seemed the wiser, simpler path than continuing down the resentment road.
Though the offer appeared to throw him slightly—he looked confused, and then said, “Oh, that’s what I smell.”
“I imagine you’re hungry. Want a bowl?”
He looked a little less belligerent as he said, “Yep.”
And it was only as she turned back toward the kitchen counter, reaching for bowls in an overhead cabinet, that it dawned on her to ask, “How’s your pain?”
He didn’t answer right away. But as she swirled a big spoon through the tangy-smelling chili, he admitted, “Pretty bad.”
That’s when she realized how out of practice she was at nursing. His pain level should have been on her mind, much more than how he smelled. “How bad on a scale of one to ten?”
He let out a sigh, appearing to think it through. “Five.”
She suspected it was higher but that he didn’t want to seem weak—the problem with asking people to scale their pain was that everyone worked on a different scale. He was suffering both muscular and nerve pain, nerve pain being trickier to deal with. Dr. Andover had suggested anti-inflammatories might ease the nerve issues, and prescribed low-dose Percocet for the other, which the drugstore had opened especially to fill. “You can take some pain meds with dinner,” she told Zack now.
“No,” he said.
She leaned her head back in frustration, blew out a breath.
“I don’t need it. Don’t want my brain clouded.”
She pinned him in place with a glare. “Look, tough guy, that’s admirable and all, but we need to control the pain cycle. The longer pain goes untreated, the worse it gets. Managing the pain promotes healing in numerous ways. So this isn’t a request, or an option—it’s an order.”
He shot her a look through narrowed eyes. “You had to go and be a nurse, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m regretting that career choice pretty much right now myself.”
“I’m going to kill Dahlia when she gets back.”
“Get in line.”

Excerpt. ©Toni Blake. Posted by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
 
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Giveaway: A copy of The Love We Keep. Open to U.S. only.

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and post a comment to this Q: What did you think of the excerpt spotlighted here? Leave a comment with your thoughts on the book…

 
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Meet the Author:

USA Today bestselling author Toni Blake’s love of writing began when she won an essay contest in the fifth grade. Since then, she has written over twenty contemporary romance novels. Her books have received the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Booksellers’ Best Award, her work has been excerpted in Cosmopolitan, and she has been nominated for a RITA Award. Toni lives with her husband in Northern Kentucky.
 
 
 

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36 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: The Love We Keep by Toni Blake”

  2. Laura Lovejoy- Brunk

    Always a fan of Toni’s books and im enjoying this series. This review makes me want to continue reading this series asap ! Thanks

  4. erahime

    I like “cute” perspective of the heroine and the belligerence of the hero. Thanks for the excerpt, HJ!

  5. laurieg72

    I want to escape to Summer Island. It sounds like a great place to sit back and reflect, to find peace.

    I can feel the tension between Suzanne and Zack. I want to learn more about their past relationship when he was dating Meg. There seems to be an awareness that they’re trying to stifle. I’m looking forward to reading how they handle the close quarters and their attraction to each other.

  6. Linda Woodfin

    The excerpt sounds interesting and makes me want to read the rest of the book.

  19. dbranigan

    Well, the excerpt was interesting and definitely established the circumstances.