When Truth Whispers - Dora Hiers

Welcome back, Dora! We haven't seen you in quite awhile, but I see you've been busy and I have some catching up to do on my reading! I'm so glad this one was brought to my attention! And it looks like I have the rest of a series to read, too!

But I've got to ask, with all these stories coming out, have you ever suffered from writer's block? They say everyone does at some point, but have you?

Oh, yes. When I was a “pantser” and stuck on a particular scene, I experienced quite a few blocks when I could barely tug the words out. During those times, I’d let my Golden Retriever walk me around the park or spend a few minutes sitting outside, praying for God to release the creative juices. Now, that I’ve transitioned to a “plotter,” I map my stories out in advance, but I also experienced “plotter’s block” during the plotting phase.

Here’s what I recommend to overcome blocks: Make prayer your first step. There’s no point in moving on if you don’t ask God to be part of the process. Ask God to clean out the junk, to free your mind to ideas, to unlock the creative well. Then, on days when I’m not feeling well or particularly motivated, I really hunker down and keep at it. I might type only dialog if that flows better, or switch to action beats, whatever works to get the story moving forward. If that still doesn’t work, I regroup by working on another writerly task and try to compensate my word count during the week, but that’s a last resort.

Thanks for the helpful hints, Dora! Now let's have a peek at the story!

Back Cover

After a humiliating breakup, best-selling romance author Teal Benning flees to Promise Lake to complete her current novel, minus paparazzi and flashing cameras. Suffering from writer's block and a broken heart, Teal accepts the offer of help from neighbor, Hunter Miciver.

Hunter longs to be more than the friend who picks up the shattered pieces of Teal's heart, but when Teal finds out his secret, will she see him for the man he is—a man of faith and devotion, a man who would cherish her for the rest of her days—or will she lump him into the same category as all the other men in her life, including her father?

Will Teal recognize when truth whispers her name?

Excerpt:

“You can stop screaming now, Kibbles. We’re home.”

Teal Benning downshifted and coasted into the gravel driveway, the wail of country music drowning the cicadas’ chatter coming through the sports car’s open windows. But the tunes did nothing to tame her cat’s occasional ear-piercing screech.

Home? Not technically, but close enough.

She’d grown up in this tiny house tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains around Promise Lake.

For the last five years, home was in Atlanta, where she was Teal Benning, best-selling romance author and pro-basketball superstar Ian Hartsuk’s fiancée.

In Promise Lake, she was just Teal Benning.

Teal sighed and closed the windows. Jerking the keys from the ignition, the silence settled over her and in the darkness, a glint sparkled from her finger, the remnant of her two-year-long relationship. Teal stared at the single diamond and clamped her lips together.

Correction. Ian Hartsuk’s ex-fiancée.

She tugged the ring off and smashed it deep into her laptop bag.

Why hadn’t she flung it at Ian’s head? She would have relished his expression as he watched several thousand dollars sink to the bottom of the hot tub. Wouldn’t that have been priceless? Nah. What was a few thousand to him? She’d figure out what to do with it later.

Teal stepped out on stiff legs, giving the short black dress a yank south and tugging her sweater tighter. She heaved the laptop bag over a shoulder and reached in for Kibbles’s carrier. Dried leaves crunched under high-heeled sandals as she wobbled around to the back of the car in the loose gravel.

The blackness settled around Teal’s throat like a noose. Her eyes burned, but she refused to give in to self-pity. What had she expected? Ian was no different from any other man she knew. Including her father. Cheating and lying, that was the name of their game.

Teal lifted her chin and pushed back her shoulders. All she needed was three months of disconnecting from the world and the constant paparazzi who hounded her in Atlanta. Without anyone traipsing around after her vying for the most obnoxious camera shot, and with Internet service more off than on, she’d forget all about Ian and the looming wedding date. The wedding that wouldn’t happen.

She had three months to pound out the words to the book that had already eluded her for eight weeks. Ninety days to create a heart-racing romance.

With a broken heart.

Review

*****
I loved this story! Between Teal's heartbreak and Hunter's heartache you can't help but love these two and hope for the best. It was wonderful watching Teal's eyes be opened to Hunter as her heart is filled with a love for God. And Hunter's faith, his trust in God's grace is truly a treasure to behold.

This was one story I didn't want to put down...and I didn't want it to end! Beautiful! Well done, Dora!

Buy links:

http://www.pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/when-truth-whispers

http://www.amazon.com/When-Truth-Whispers-ebook/dp/B00BUD26QC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1363740687&sr=1-1&keywords=when+truth+whispers