#MFRWhooks - Blog Hop - An Excerpt from LIES AND SOLACE - Tell Me Everything About You

Hello! In this excerpt from LIES AND SOLACE, Ethan is stuck at Harper's old fishing lodge in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard. For three days, they get to know one another. Harper believes Ethan is at the lodge to help the company he works for to decide whether to invest in the old lodge and bring it back to life. But Ethan is keeping secrets from her. Enjoy the excerpt!

Excerpt:

“Are your parents still alive?”

            “No, they’re gone now. Mom died of breast cancer when I was eighteen, and Dad died seven years ago.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “Yeah, so am I.” He missed his mother every day. His father’s passing had been a relief. The old man had been a hard person to love.

            “Where did you grow up?”

            “In northern Wisconsin. My parents owned a small inn in a resort village.”

            Harper leaned forward, her gaze intent. “Is that why this place interested you?”

            “Perhaps initially. But like I said, I’m only willing to invest money if it makes financial sense.”

            She tilted her head. “You mean investing money on behalf of your employer, don’t you?”

            Crap. Way to go, idiot. “Yes, of course. But the company relies on me to make a sound recommendation based on facts and figures. I take that very seriously.” He needed to turn the conversation back to her before he slipped again and revealed more than he intended. “How long has the lodge been in your family?”

            “Over seventy years.” Thankfully, she settled back into the chair and a smile lit her eyes. “My grandfather’s family farmed west of here and when his father, my great-grandfather, returned home from World War Two, he used the G.I. Bill to purchase this property. His father was furious because he wanted him to use the opportunity to buy some good farmland. But great-grandfather didn’t want to be a farmer. He wanted to hunt in the woods and fish in the lake, and live a quiet life. He named the lake after the solace he found here and brought his wife and his five-year-old son, my grandfather, here to live. He made a modest income guiding other fishers and hunters. My grandfather said his father had been a POW during the war, and he needed the solitude and peace.”

            “Did your great-grandfather build the lodge?”

            “Yes. Grampa made some additions and modifications, but essentially it’s the same building my great-grandfather built in the fifties.”

            No wonder Harper was fighting so hard for the lodge. Three generations of her family were attached to the land, the lake, and the building.

Blurb:

She can’t live with one more lie. He can’t tell the truth.

Harper Lindquist is convinced she’s found the answer to her financial prayers. Unless she pours cash into crumbling Solace Lake Lodge, she’ll lose her family’s legacy. Her would-be savior arrives in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard and she’s determined to prove to her reluctant, and trapped, financier the lodge is a sound investment. But Harper isn’t completely honest with him. And she has no idea the lake is hiding secrets of its own.

Ethan James is a liar, but his money is very real. He isn’t convinced a broken-down inn is a smart investment opportunity. But the more he understands Harper’s dreams and desires, the more he wants to be the man to make them come true. The trauma in both their pasts means neither can fully trust the other. They must find the courage to love, to trust, and to accept, or yesterday’s sorrows will keep them apart.

Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/LiesAndSolace

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