Twenty-one-year-old Neka is a bit of an introvert, she also happens to be stunningly beautiful.
When she discovers her friend James is about to be dumped, she sees the perfect opportunity to escape from her quiet life. Can she summon the courage to leave it all behind?
James Copley comes from a ruthless family. It’s rubbed off.
Years ago, he disengaged from his brother’s smear campaign, but now his father has offered him an ultimatum, “Get married or lose your seat at the table.”
Plotting to stamp his design on the family business, he proposes to a woman, even though he doesn’t love her.
But his carefully laid plans start to unravel when she leaves him on the day she’s due to meet his family.
Could years of planning his comeback vanish with her departure?
A possible solution comes in an unexpected form: Neka. She’s not only a friend, but the daughter of his benefactor. And she’s right there, offering to support him.
But will her support stretch to marriage?
He attempts to win her over to his plan but collides with her powerful father who wants to leverage the situation for his own gain.
In their fight for survival and love, they are forced to face some uncomfortable truths.
Can they overcome thwarted dreams and missed chances to find true love, or does forcing destiny’s hand only lead to misery?
It was a match made in heaven. Or so everyone thought. Sadie Mae Cummings is all set to marry her childhood sweetheart, Kyle, when she is assigned to tutor Lincoln, the new college football running back. This sophomore phenomenon has all the girls on campus knocking on his door. But Sadie isn't interested in his advances.
Lincoln’s overblown ego doesn't take well to being shunned, and he resolves to make Sadie his own. He pursues her relentlessly, until finally Kyle finds himself shut out of Sadie's life, with their shared future crumbling around him.
After two years, Sadie’s relationship with Lincoln ends, and she is left having to put the pieces of her life back together. She desires nothing more than to recapture her relationship with Kyle. He has stayed true to the dreams they had planned together, living the vision even without Sadie by his side.
When she moves back to her hometown, she labors to rekindle their love. But things have changed, and Kyle has moved on. Sadie quickly discovers how hard it is to rebuild burned bridges.
Follow Sadie’s story as she fights for a chance to restore broken dreams. Will love endure?
This inspirational romance by E. C. Jackson is book two of the Hope series and is a standalone book.
Is there hope for this love between friends?
Pamela Hayes is a smart, successful business owner with a supportive family and a thriving bakery. She should be the happiest girl in the world. But she can’t shake the melancholy that accompanies every conversation she has with her best friend, Mark. Pamela doesn’t know how much longer she can hide her true feelings.
Why can’t Mark see how perfect they would be together? She would make a much better girlfriend than the one he currently has. Pamela prays he’ll come to his senses soon and realize he’s with the wrong girl. But when her dream comes true, it isn’t the fantasy she had envisioned.
There is trouble in paradise from the start, and all the red flags she’s been ignoring are starting to threaten her confidence…and her relationship with Mark. She’ll have to rely on family and her faith in God to help her secure the hope she so desperately needs.
The Certain Hope
It’s time to spend the rest of our evening alone.
Luke smoothed Tara’s hair with his hand, smiling when her teeth nipped her bottom lip. His finger lingered in a tangle that curled around her ear. Tara’s facial expression depicted determination— but to what end?
She cleared her throat. “Have you ever attended an interactive sky show at the planetarium? If so, did you like it?”
Her lips quivered. Did she want to laugh? No. Her eyes are solemn. She’s sad.
“Not since my elementary school days. We could go next week.”
Tara studied her hand instead of him. “Tell us about your previous blind dates.” Her gaze sought his when her lips trembled. “Am … I the first? … Do you normally … date strangers?”
Her awkward retort to a simple response about a potential date location bothered Luke. Tara should be more at ease by now.
Luke stretched out his hand, palm up. Perhaps his body language would elicit trust where his words hadn’t.
Without looking at him, Tara lay her palm on his.
Luke enclosed her hands in his grasp and tugged her arm. Her gaze centered on him as she rose. The ambivalence in her eyes compelled Luke into action.
He gazed at the room at large. “I thoroughly approve of Tara changing the subject. However, my response may cause her embarrassment.”
Bewildered eyes focused on Luke. Tara tugged away from his hold.
When he held her hand tighter, the question in her gaze flipped. Her body trembled as the pulse in her thumb throbbed.
Maybe she understands the depths of my feelings after all.
E. C. Jackson began her writing career with the full-length play Pajama Party. Thirty-one years later, she adapted the play into Pajama Party: The Story, a companion book to the second book in the five-book standalone Hope series.
Jackson’s favorite pastime is reading fiction. She enjoys taking the journey along with the characters in the books. That also led to her unorthodox approach to story writing. Her vision for each book she writes is to immerse readers into the storyline so they become connected with each character.
“The Write Way: A Real Slice of Life” is the slogan on her website and Facebook author page. She feels that if every person reading her books feels connected to the characters, her job is done.
