A first glance into my next book project
!!!
Expected release date: Fall 2024.
I have really stretched my ability as a writer and expanded my mold as a creator with this project. There are so many things to say about this project but so far three of my favorite quotes are:
“…Pity without action is useless. Pity with action is compassion.”
“This isn’t about what you’ve done but what’s been done for you and it’s not about who you are but who lives inside of you.”
“…there’s a great difference between lust and love. The Bible tells you to flee from youthful lusts but not to flee from love. If you really love someone, you will want to protect them. You wouldn’t want to do anything selfish to dishonor them or tempt them to break God’s law.”
Synopsis:
She grew up in church and has never been in a relationship, he’s a prestigious male model with a scarlet past in search of redemption…
Noble has been anything but what his name implies. As a popular male model since adolescence who’s dated his fair share of influential women, he’s spent a decade living a financially lucrative, infamously party lifestyle, full of international and local gigs. But the glamor of stardom has tarnished, and the taste of self-indulgence has soured in his stomach. The drugs, fame and sound of raving fans heralding his name cannot appease the growing emptiness gnawing at his soul.
On the brink of imploding, he seeks a respite from his cunning agent and his intoxicating, actress girlfriend. Noble takes a spontaneous trip to his conservative, small hometown where he’s left behind an estranged relationship with his parents. There, on a cold, snowy night he encounters a captivating light in a modest barista, Trisha, who breathes hope into his soul and helps him unravel the gilded cords that once ensnared him tightly.
Their fateful rendezvous is the catalyst that ushers him on a redemptive path. But Noble’s dark past pursues him ardently, and his former addictions begin to weaken his will.
Will the celestial light he experienced be able to withstand the encroaching darkness that threatens to engulf him?
A Sneak Peek into the Pages:
~Enjoy this snippet from, His Liberating Flame. Book 1: Escaping the Past.
Prologue
Cold sweat broke out on Noble’s skin and nausea churned his insides until he felt sick enough to vomit. He sat up in bed, a long groan carried through his exhale. The fine silk sheets slowly fell from his bare, muscular torso and gathered around his washboard abs. Moonlight streamed in from his master bedroom Tuscan mansion windows, which were as tall as doors, illuminating the room. The creamy white light bounced off mahogany and oakwood furniture with brass knobs. The stained-glass painting depicting the starry sky over a rolling ocean seemed to glow with glimmers of cyan and cobalt blue. The pearly walls were like desert sand, picking up and reflecting the silvery light spilling in.
Beside him in his king-sized bed was his tempestuous girlfriend, Alyssa. She was an up-and-coming actress. Her luxurious strawberry blonde hair was spread across the fluffy pillows, and she slept deeply. Not wishing to wake her, he attempted to carefully cross his legs over the side until his feet touched the carpet. He was a little unsteady in his motions.
What time is it? He wondered, and examined the immaculate room, forgetting where he was for a moment. Out the window, the familiar hills glowing with the emanating lights of other mansions brought recognition.
Just then, it dawned on him where he was.
Home.
A sudden swell of pain erupted in his stomach, and he convulsed. He slid a shaky hand through his enviable summer brown hair, digging his fingers unnaturally hard against his scalp. He grunted and swore.
Alyssa made a soft stirring noise, and Noble looked over his shoulder at her. She blinked and her green eyes were shrouded with the glaze of narcotics. She reached for him, lightly brushing her fingers against his side before shutting her eyes again, seemingly satisfied once she touched his skin. She looked as if she were in a state of oblivion, but even then, he noted she was still clingy.
He wondered if she thought her sudden, yet expected reappearance in his life would amend their last breakup. He hoped not.
A sickening feeling ascended and then ebbed in his stomach again like the rhythmic movements of lapping waves against a shore. He clutched his stomach responsively.
What had she given me to take the night before?
He couldn’t remember. His mind revibrated with rapid thoughts like a hollow ball ping ponging, causing vibrational pain near his temples. He had been stoned out of his mind the night before. Whatever concoction Alyssa had mustered was “new” and supposed to help ease his tension.
It did much more than promised. It had knocked him out cold!
One minute they were deliriously wrapped up in each other’s arms on his bed, and the next minute, he had been sucked into the twilight zone.
It was as if she could always tell when he was in a weakened state to make her reappearance in his life after a split. As he fought another oncoming wave of nausea, he couldn’t help but wonder if Alyssa’s addiction would one day become dangerously fatal.
He had lost a coworker, Nick, earlier in the year due to an overdose on sedatives. Nick had drowned in his Nordica sauna tub. He was only twenty-two. Attending his funeral was a sobering affair. After the funeral, Noble spoke with Alyssa about seeking help for her addiction. He was worried for her physical safety and mental sanity, but she saw his suggestion as an condescending accusation. She never sought aid.
She had BPD, borderline personality disorder, with an acute fear of abandonment. She took sedatives to ease her anxiety and depression and to suppress her toxic viper side. He had no idea how troublesome their relationship would be.
The first time they met was during a raving party that his agent had finagled him into. It was mainly for rich musicians and actors, but he was invited. The place was popping with security, flashing cameras and hype music. Men and women smoked tobacco, and sigs, giving off aromatic nicotine.
Noble saw Alyssa from across the smokey room. The multi-colored strobe lights from the ceiling flashed on her smooth, creamy skin and fringe dress with rose gold tassels. Her seductive beauty immediately attracted him. They gravitated toward one another. Later, that night, they snuck out for drinks, dodging some paparazzi that were circling the estate where the party was being held. They visited a club where rich, young influencers like them hung out to have a good time. It was there that Noble saw her fun-loving, flirtatious, and confident side. He was drawn in by her charisma like a magnet, not realizing she was like the moon; one side was bright, while the other was completely black.
They danced and quickly became physical. Within a week their relationship “accidentally” hit the press thanks to some informed paparazzi. Noble never intended to go far with her, but fans from both sides became obsessed with their romance and eventually through social media, their followers started calling them “Nolyssa.”
In his opinion it was a dumb name, but it spread like wildfire and proved to be profitable as their social circles widened. Sales interest perked up and agencies from both sides of their spheres became interested in making collaborations.
Noble and Alyssa were sitting on one of his many leather couches in his third living room, when they talked about how to maximize their growing popularity while they could. She was wearing one of his shirts which was obviously too big for her, and her long, slender legs rested over the arm of the chesterfield as her head lay in his lap. She was excited to come out as a couple and said they were “official,” not just because of the media, but because she was now in his clothes and in his house. He stroked her glossy hair and they kissed passionately with anticipation building between them.
For a few months they lived it up, going to every party, making social appearances, being interviewed in gossip-riddled tabloids, and even doing some television commercials together. Alyssa was invited to join some of the female models who were paired with him for a runway, and she soaked it up, enjoying the wardrobe changes, the constant flashing lights, and the googling eyes of onlookers. It was fun. It was wild. It was hot. They were both on fire, but it was becoming painfully obvious to Noble they would burn each other to the ground if they stayed together.
Their disagreements started off innocent and small enough, like most couples, but then he realized Alyssa was obsessive and tried to control things she had no business with. During their social exposure, she would occasionally interrupt him while he was speaking on camera to answer a question that was directed at him. She began imputing her opinion on his wardrobe, especially when they went to gatherings as a couple—she wanted them to match or for him to wear a specific outfit. She began critiquing his diet, although hers was erratic and included much intermittent fasting and downloads of drugs that helped her to curb her appetite and keep her slender figure.
What was worse was that she was quickly becoming like invasive moss over his life, spreading her opinions like moss gives out spores. She would stay at his place for days before going home. She began rearranging the furniture to please her tastes. They had never agreed to live together, so Noble wasn’t sure why she thought this was acceptable. Eventually, she even began giving suggestions on what contracts and offers he should enter into as if she were his wife.
He hated feeling controlled—his agent had enough control of his life, and he certainly didn’t want it from his girlfriend. It was a sore spot for him since adolescence and the source of uncharacteristic rage. It began with his father, whom he hadn’t spoken to in years. He accused Alyssa of being controlling and she accused him of being proud.
Their third month together was rocky. They broke up and got back together again at least a dozen times. Although they were terrible for each other, Alyssa always became desperate when Noble brought out obvious discrepancies in their relationship and asked for distance.
After separating, she would approach him first or he would go to her, and they would inevitably get high or drunk before becoming physical. Usually within a week, the eventual arguing would start. Their arguments would turn aggressive, and she began throwing things at him. After breaking enough of his nice furnishings, he would split up with her and then a few days would go by before they were back at it again. It was a vicious cycle.
Noble pressed his fists against his temple and tried to shake off the dense fog that clouded his thoughts.
What could have happened that was so bad that he would let Alyssa intoxicate him?
Finally, after several minutes he recalled coming home under a lot of stress from his shrewd modeling agent who had booked him out for the next month. The agenda was filled with five or more jobs a day, from sunrise to sunset with no weekends off. The schedule he gave was so overwhelmingly busy that Noble felt it was closer to slave labor.
The minute Noble walked into his office after reviewing his schedule, Anthony slickly rose from his lacquered redwood table and offered him a glass of scotch. With a smooth tongue that might as well have been forked like a serpent, he went on to tell Noble in a fatherly tone how amazing this opportunity was for him.
A trace of a knowing smug lifted the corner of his thin lips. He always wore that meniscal smile. Noble had come to know this was his speechless way of telling him that he was really in charge of his life, and he had no real ultimate say in matters—regardless of how advantageous he painted his decisions. His olive tanned skin, and black pepper hair with salty grays at the temples gave him a sophisticated, wolverine appearance.
They had gotten into a huge quarrel full of explicit cussing and until Noble finally stormed out of the room breathing threats that he wouldn’t put up with Anthony for much longer. Noble could still hear Anthony’s last parting words, “you’ll wake up and thank me for everything you’ve become one day.”
Noble gritted his teeth thinking of all the international traveling that would become his life for the next four weeks.
How did Anthony expect him to work multiple shows a day for weeks, with no breaks? All the international travel, time changes, jet leg and his long overdue, unspent vacation hours wasn’t adding up to equal to a pleasant trip. He imagined all the alcohol he would surely gulp down and the pills he would pop just to keep from imploding within himself or passing out.
Noble raked his hand through his summer brown hair and swore again under his breath.
He couldn’t do this anymore.
He wouldn’t do this anymore!
Unbeknownst to Anthony, he hated what he had become.
He dreaded the ceaseless crowds full of screaming women that pierced his eardrums until he felt like sirens were going off in his brain. He was gorged on self-indulgence, materialism, and fame. It had rotted in his gut. He loathed the pretension that his life as a wealthy top model with a gorgeous actress girlfriend was a golden pedestal to be praised; when inside of him there slowly formed an insatiable hunger like a black hole longing for something he couldn’t place; something that was existentially good and filling, but out of this world as far as he was concerned.
He thought this life of stardom and copious sell-pleasing would fulfill him. It was what he had passionately wanted. For several years it had been, but now it was rapidly losing its appeal.
But what else was there?
This was the life he had broken with his past for. He had given up everything he’d known for this.
He stood, feeling wobbly at first and made his way to the bathroom just in time for the drugs he had swallowed to come out in violent gag motions. After it was over, the acidic taste of bile burned in the back of his throat. Sickened and feeling emptied, he slumped by the commode, and he didn’t rise until he felt strong enough.
Here he was, the fantasy of thousands of women and the state’s upcoming “most sexy man alive,” slumping by a commode after an ugly vomit.
He gave a self-deprecating chuckle.
If only my fans could see me now.
A wry smile twisted his desired lips.
Eventually, he moseyed his way into the master kitchen, passing three of his redwood butler pantries and the opal, and lapis lazuli stone tiled bar counters, that he had meticulously searched for and eventually hired a special designer for. The counters always reminded him of the starry constellations or reflective sunlight on the Pacific Ocean. Few people understood his inspiration for this particular design, even as they gaped at it in admiration. Unfortunately, his counters were full of Alyssa’s things so he could barely see royal blue colors mingled with the flecks of white rainbow colors that shimmered in the opal.
He grabbed a glass of mineral water from his stainless-steel refrigerator and downed it. He turned on his coffee maker and stood by his tall glass paneled windows facing east to catch the sunrise, they were twelve feet high and easily showed him the heavens as well as the earth below.
A rubicund dipping canyon was before him, but above him was the night sky. He looked up, hoping to see starlight and a strange longing from his childhood rapped at his conscience.
The snowy mountains.
Wildlife under the aurora lights.
A deep sadness that had been building in him for nearly eighteen months surfaced again. He missed the way things were before his fame. He could barely see any stars due to the smog in Lost Angels and the eyesore city lights that seemed to never go out. He sighed and made some salted coffee. Suddenly cold, he turned on the heated flooring and slumped on one of his many white, faux leather couches.
He couldn’t go through with this. Not this time. He couldn’t imagine doing a month’s worth of international runways, gigs, and parties in Europe. After 8 years of living at a rat race pace with Anthony at the wheel, and no vacation, he felt on the edge of a mental breakdown.
The stardom and licentious living that he once craved so mightily, that he tore away from his parents, now left him wanting.
Hours later, Alyssa arose and took a hot shower. She appeared slightly out of sorts, despite her perfect makeup and bold red lipstick. She was dressed in a nice sequin nude dress with tall Louboutin heels and a long animal fur coat. Diamond teardrop earrings hung from her ears. She went about collecting her things.
“Do you have everything?” Noble asked from the couch as she stilled.
“Yes darling,” she said with a sing-song rhythm. She eyed him with her seafoam green eyes before checking her phone. She had a photoshoot to do this morning, thanks to his connections, and she didn’t want to run late.
“Break a leg,” he said standing from his leather couch.
She blew him a kiss from across the room, her rubicund lipstick, staining her milky palm, “after you.”
He felt no comfort or warmth from her actions. Strangely, he felt numbed by her presence as if she were a block of ice, within his chest, slowing down his blood circulation.
She strapped her Hermes purse across her shoulder and said she would see him tonight. He wondered what made her think she could make plans to be at his house without any consent from him. He knew her sweetness would turn into venom, as it usually did when she was not high or under the influence of some substance. He didn’t want to handle that tonight.
“Babe… I would like to be alone tonight.” Noble stated.
There was a slight pause as she gawked at him. Within a flash she thrust a glass of expensive Lafite Rothschild. It flew in his direction, and he narrowly dodged it in time. As the glass broke, deep maroon liquid splashed everywhere like blood.
She went feral and her cold green eyes glinted with anger.
“You promised me! You promised me you wouldn’t shut me out!” She yelled, her temper rising despite the sedatives that were losing their potency. She kept increasing her measures as her body numbed to the effects.
Noble stared at the scattered glass across his floor and frowned.
Yes, he had promised her that when he was buzzed out of his mind and was in such a stupor, they could do nothing more than laugh nonsensically and speak out of their rear ends. Any words of faithfulness he had “promised” her last night were worth nothing. But he didn’t want to outright remind her of their oblivious state nor the worthlessness of his promise. He had to be more tactful than that with her.
“That’s not what I’m doing.” he said, trying to sound calm, knowing things would rapidly escalate if he lost his cool.
“Yes, it is!” she said undeterred.
“No, it isn’t.” he finally dragged his eyes away from his stained carpet, wondering how soon he should call up a maid and meet Alyssa’s gaze.
She crumbled the second their eyes met.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a breathy voice. She came at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and jumbling out words that made no sense. Her words began to slur and the anxiety she gave off was almost palpable. He felt repelled being near her. He lifted his hands to her elbows to gently pull her away but the minute he did, she clutched him tighter.
“You can’t shut me out! I need you!”
“I think you need a psychiatrist, and a doctor,” he said, smelling the drugs in her breath, despite her heady floral perfume.
He untangled her arms from him and put firm hands on her shoulder, both to keep her away and to reason with her, “calm down before you do something you regret…again.”
He led her in a breathing exercise they had practiced before. She resisted at first but then began to follow along. She went still and for a brief second, he thought he had successfully calmed her down and prevented another maddening episode.
But then she narrowed her eyes to him and started talking. She started saying how much she needed him and then the accusations of how he failed her as a lover began. Before long they were arguing. Noble had enough of their verbal spars and told her they were over for good this time. She screamed and cussed at him before spontaneously breaking out in tears.
What’s wrong with her?
What did she take?
This was a little extreme, even for her.
“You never loved me,” she spat in self-pity.
“Come on Alyssa,” Noble sighed without compassion, “love was never a part of the equation, and you knew that walking in.”
He didn’t like her playing the innocent victim because she was far from it. Although a female, she was just as much of a perpetrator as he was.
Her mood shifted back to anger.
“You used me!” she charged, “You just wanted more fame and used his popularity as an actress to grow your own!”
Noble crossed his arms, not denying her accusation but not totally agreeing with it either.
“We used each other,” he stated matter-of-factly, “you wanted in on the modeling world and so dating me opened more opportunities for you. I wanted more commercial exposure and so dating you expanded this for me.”
They both knew she had been in partnership with Anthony in exposing them as a couple in the first few days of their relationship. She knew full well that he wasn’t ready, but she had done it in a grasping way to prolong her relationship with him—a fear instinct from her rejection issues. Anthony had done it for monetary reasons.
She clamped her lips shut, even though her eyes sparkled with rage, she couldn’t deflect the truth.
“I’ve given you more than you’ve ever given me,” she retorted, “you’ve made a killing on the TV ads I helped open up for you.”
“You can thank my shrewd agent for that.” he said, knowing the underlying reason why Anthony had moved boundaries to get him into parties with young, influential women for years. Even though it felt like an excuse to bring Anthony into the conversation, and he hated that, it was factual.
Every hookup equaled more media exposure for Noble, and thus lined both his and Anthony’s pocket. According to Anthony everyone won with more media attention. His idea of a bonus was, Noble got pleasure out of it, the women would get fleeting happiness out of it, and he would get richer through it. Win-win according to him. Noble had to admit Anthony’s tactics, while lacking moral purity, did get results.
Once Noble ditched his original hope of becoming a teenage sports model and acquired Anthony as an agent, he used this and many other apathetic maneuvers to increase Noble’s popularity.
“Life is about climbing the ladder of success, even if the ladder is made of human heads.” Anthony would say with a dour laugh.
Noble now had a mansion with four garages, three luxury vehicles, an inordinately large fan base for a model, a private guard and driver and more money than he knew what to do with.
For all appearances, Anthony had been right about climbing the ladder.
But all that fame had slowly eaten away at Noble’s soul, his once conservative-based sense of ethics had all but evaporated, his sense of autonomy had diminished, and he was addicted like many others in his world—a rich slave to his own passions.
“You’re a low-down rotten playboy!” Alyssa spat.
“If I’m a playboy, then you can hop away, little bunny.” Noble said coldly, dismissing her with his hand. He was more than ready for her to leave his place and his life.
Alyssa swore and began ranting again. Noble thought the nightmare would never end but then her phone vibrated alerting her that she was running late.
She threw many insults his way and, in his anger, he threw a few back at her before she left.
It didn’t take him long after that to realize he needed to get away. He called the usual cleaning service to tidy up his place while he packed his belongings. He quickly had his guard, Alonzo, change the locks so Alyssa couldn’t get in. He was a burly man with broad shoulders, a tall frame and warm brown skin the color of hazelnut. He was also the most efficient security guard Noble had in all his years of modeling, and he seemed to be good at everything he was instructed to do.
Noble met him outside, before the tall metal gate hidden by thick green bushes. Under his stately, stone white trellis with climbing blossoming vines leading into the winding path toward his mansion, they conversed.
“Nobody is allowed on his property while I’m away. If anyone comes to the gate, tell them I’m not taking any visitors and to leave a message with you if it’s important enough.” Noble stated.
Alonzo nodded, shades covering his brown eyes. The morning sunshine bounced off his shiny bald head.
“Will you need an escort or guard sir?” he asked respectfully.
Noble still felt it odd that Alonzo insisted on calling him “sir” when he was more than twice his age—but he allowed his guard this awkward liberty.
Alonzo knew it was unusual for Noble to go anywhere without someone to assist him and he stared thinkingly at him.
“No,” Noble said and gave him a brief pat on the shoulder. Although they barely spoke outside of work-related topics, Noble liked Alonzo.
“Have a good, safe trip sir.” Alonzo spoke, accepting his wishes although he disagreed with them.
Noble nodded, and with bags in hand, he departed.
At first, he didn’t know where he would go, but a faint thought came to his mind. It was light and sweet, like whipped cream on his tongue.
Go home.
He hadn’t been to Pine Castles in ten years on purpose. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing in that small, snowy mountain town that he cared for, except for his parents. He debated the idea before deciding he had nothing to lose. Perhaps three days in the high, clear altitude would clear his brain and give him a sense of peace from the chaos?
He was eight hours from his designation and determined to go for it. His raven black Mercedes was self-driving. His voice activated the AI in his car, and it pulled up the GPS system. Within seconds, the fastest coordination route showed on the screen.
The next five hours of quiet helped clear his head. Long hours of silence weren’t something he was used to, and he enjoyed it very much. For a while, he enjoyed watching the landscape slowly transform from palm branches, illustrious tall buildings, skyscrapers, and mansions into wild, majestic mountains. For miles he took sentimental pleasure in the rural spaces full of natural rocky mountain junipers, fringed sage, Oregon grape holly, prickly pear and one of his favorites growing up for its striking color, redtwig dogwood.
He stopped for a late lunch since he had missed breakfast and shortly thereafter, he dozed off as his car cruised easily up a mountain pass. Coming around the bend, a spacious valley opened, blanketed in pristine white snow. By the time he opened his eyes again, two more hours had gone by. He smiled, knowing he needed rest, and he was grateful for the quiet time he had to catch up on sleep. He saw fresh snow falling from contrasting clouds rippling with the setting rays of the sun and the dark space above. The snow fell like shimmering white gold and was powdery light. A soft smile played on his lips as he looked around. Pleasant memories of himself as a young child playing in snow colored his imagination.
Everything seemed to finally be okay until his addiction to alcohol began filling him with unease. His body began reacting as his mind became obsessed with the thought of having a few drinks. He hadn’t thought to pack any drinks when he planned this spontaneous trip. He searched for the nearest pub but stopped himself.
No! Noble thought, I will not get wasted on my first night back home!
Angry with himself he flung his phone into the passenger’s seat, but the urging only increased. His dark obsession for drugs arose under the current of his desire for alcohol.
He didn’t want to lose control of his ability to think clearly. Not after what happened with Alyssa. He thought of something else he could do to give himself some sort of appeasement. The only other thing he naturally turned to was women. For years, whenever he felt restless, he would turn to substances or the warmth of a beautiful woman in an attempt to fill his emptiness.
He smiled thinking about having a light-hearted fling with someone new for the next few days while he was on vacation. He could go to a club and easily pick up a quick date. He frowned unexpectedly as he thought of the type of women that would be in a nightclub. He didn’t want another Alyssa in his life, or anyone remotely close to his many ex-girlfriends. No. he wanted someone else. Someone different. Someone sane. And someone…good.
It had been a long time since he went out with an ordinary, decent woman. For a second, he couldn’t think of a common meeting place for such women, and he gave a self-self-deprecatory chuckle.
“Where the hell should I go?” he wondered out loud.
He stared up at the car ceiling, temporarily frustrated. Wrinkles formed on his forehead as he frowned, thinking hard. It took many minutes before the idea of going to a café came to mind. He searched for nearby cafes, and a few options appeared. Sliding his thumb across the screen, he noticed a new one that didn’t exist before he left home.
Snow Café.
“Something different,” he voiced lowly and took the wheel heading in the direction of Snow Café.
About 15 minutes later he arrived in town at a modest diner. It was aglow with warm light radiating from the windows against the cold dark night. Piles of snow had recently been shoveled and were pushed on one side of the parking lot. The air felt clean and crisp but devoid of the high oxygen saturation that he was used to living at sea level. Being back in Pine Castles felt surreal. A powerful sensation started low, as if there were an invisible current under his feet, and it began to swell in minute levels. The feeling was so palpable, Noble wondered if it were a last-minute effect of the drugs being cleansed from his nervous system.
Noble locked his car and went inside. Men and women in huge coats, snow boots, scarfs, and other winter apparel, sat around at tables eating, chatting, and drinking hot drinks from decorative mugs. The café was quaint, and well-lit with ceiling lights. No one was in line, so he walked up to the counter and ordered a drink from an older man, Greg, with Santa Clause worthy white hair. He gave Noble a polite smile and poured him a glass of iced water before going to make his hot coco himself. Noble didn’t want anything caffeinated as he planned on getting good sleep tonight. A homemade hot chocolate recipe was the only thing he could quickly think of.
“Take a seat wherever you’d like, sunny,” Greg said after handing Noble his order.
“Thank you.” Noble replied and decided on a table beside the wall of square windows. He sat down and began scanning the room for his next potential fling and then he saw her…
~To read another vivid snippet, click here.
~For a romance novel on divine love, check out my book, Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul.
“Ashley has a very talented gift of weaving words together that display tenderness, compassion and purity. Each story reveals the heart of Jesus towards His children. As you read each one you can see past the characters and feel the depth of Jesus’ heart, as well as the longing for a deeper relationship with Jesus inside yours.” -Amazon review