East of Eden by Lee Strauss
Publication date: November 12th, 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Publication date: November 12th, 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
Regret is a formidable foe.
Eden Kelley is the primary caregiver for her mother who’s in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and she’s only twenty-four. Not what she planned to do when she left her husband for a new start with her four-year-old daughter in tow. She’d hoped for free babysitting, but instead she found a mystery. The discovery of an erroneous marriage document leads to more questions, and unfortunately Eden can’t ask her mother for answers because she doesn’t remember.
Her mother’s antics drive her crazy, but Eden’s determined to make the best of it. That includes finding the exciting romantic adventure she’d dreamed about. But when trouble knocks, it’s her husband Cade who arrives to help. It’s awkward and tense. And Eden comes to one sure conclusion: leaving her handsome, caring husband was a huge mistake.
Her parents had a second chance at love? Would she and Cade get one, too?
Eden Kelley is the primary caregiver for her mother who’s in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and she’s only twenty-four. Not what she planned to do when she left her husband for a new start with her four-year-old daughter in tow. She’d hoped for free babysitting, but instead she found a mystery. The discovery of an erroneous marriage document leads to more questions, and unfortunately Eden can’t ask her mother for answers because she doesn’t remember.
Her mother’s antics drive her crazy, but Eden’s determined to make the best of it. That includes finding the exciting romantic adventure she’d dreamed about. But when trouble knocks, it’s her husband Cade who arrives to help. It’s awkward and tense. And Eden comes to one sure conclusion: leaving her handsome, caring husband was a huge mistake.
Her parents had a second chance at love? Would she and Cade get one, too?
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Excerpt:
Someone had stuffed her mouth with cotton
balls and stitched her eyes shut overnight. Her tongue, thick and parched,
moved like a dehydrated slug. With much effort, Eden swallowed. Her throat felt
gritty and swollen, saliva forming in low quantities. She thought she was dying,
but the drumming pulse in her head proved she was very much alive.
Eden rolled onto the floor and crawled to her
housecoat. She went to her pity-party solo last night and presently decided
that the party was now over. She wouldn’t give Cade the satisfaction of
watching her become unglued over this.
The walls of the hallway wobbled as she made
her way to the bathroom. She fumbled with the jar of Tylenol, retrieving two
pills that she downed with a full glass of water.
She used the facilities, and washed her hands
and face. Now she had to face the whole day ahead of her, probably with a
booming headache. Just her and her crazy mother.
Which reminded her. Where was her mom?
Eden put on her robe, which hang on the back
of the bathroom door and searched the upper level before heading downstairs.
She found Lorraine in the kitchen just as she was stuffing all the tea-towels
into the oven and was about to turn it on.
“Mom!” Ouch. Loud volume, especially from her
own mouth, hurt. “You can’t do that,” she said in a near whisper. “You want to
start the house on fire?”
Eden shoved her out of the way and removed the
tea-towels from danger. She’d have to disconnect the oven now. Looked like it
would be turkey dinner à la microwave this year.
Eden settled Lorraine at the table but not
until after she absconded with the jug of juice and drank the whole thing. What
Eden really needed was a shower. Then a coffee.
“Mom, your show’s on.” TV as a babysitter
would have to do for the next twenty minutes.
After her shower; Eden found that her stomach
had calmed down enough to request her morning coffee. Lorraine was in the kitchen again, feeding the cats. There were
three tins already emptied on the counter. No wonder those cats were fat.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Eden said after her first
long sip of Sophie, “for how I behaved last night.” She didn’t expect an answer
and never got one. Talking out loud, even if no one responded; helped to keep
her sane.
“I mean, it was awful what happened to Jimmy
and all, but…. Anyway, it’s a new day, right? We’re not going to spend the
whole of the holidays feeling sorry for ourselves. No. we’re not. I know! Why
don’t we put up the Christmas tree? You could hang up the rest of those ugly
decorations you have collected over the last few decades.”
Fatso, who happened to be the skinniest kitty
of the bunch, rubbed against her leg. She bent over and gave him a rub behind
the ears.
“Hey, you spoiled cat. Does that feel good?”
She condescended to the pet-the-cat voice. “You guys aren’t supposed to be in
the house.” She opened the back door. “Out with you.”
Maybe Marti would like to help with the tree?
Nah. Why would a newly engaged, unencumbered girl want to hang out with the
likes of Eden and her senile mother?
Eden dug out the box that contained the artificial
tree from the storage area under the steps. It was hard to keep her spirits up.
She and Cade had always cut down a fresh tree. When Eden lifted the lid, she
was greeted with a blast of unfriendly odours.
“Whew! Why have the fresh smell of pine when you
can enjoy the cozy smells of dust and mothballs.”
She cranked up the radio station now obliging
its listeners with the top twenty Christmas hits. Sinatra crooned, “White
Christmas,” while all the lower mainland listeners wistfully thought of snow.
The local forecast was for more rain. No word of the fluffy stuff.
Eden screwed the three post pieces together,
tightened the tree stand and set it in front of the window.
“Okay, Mom, here comes the hard part.” She
tried to explain the colour-coded system. The branches with the red paint on
the tips went in around the bottom first, then the blue tip and finally the
green tips.
“See, here’s a red one.” Eden inserted the
wiry branch into a hole on the bottom level of the green pole, then handed one
to Lorraine. She placed it randomly into a middle hole.
“No, Mom. It’s supposed to go like this.” Eden
demonstrated what she meant by removing the offending branch and placing it
into an appropriate hole. She gingerly peeked through the worn cardboard box,
looking for another fake branch with red markings. When she turned back towards
the tree, she saw that Lorraine had returned the branch in question back into a
hole in the middle section.
“I see,” Eden said. “Okay, fine. Who needs
instructions?” She let the paper fall to the ground and watched Lorraine as she
cheerily popped in branch pieces where she pleased. Eden cranked up the radio
and then followed Lorraine’s lead. In the end it was lopsided and far from
perfect, but at least it was balanced enough to stay standing.
“Now comes the fun part.” Eden pulled a chair
in from the kitchen, placed the first bulb from the string of lights onto the
top branch of the tree and began winding it around and around until the cord of
lights ended somewhere not quite at the bottom of the tree but close enough to
an outlet that it could be plugged in. Then precariously, she attached a worn out
angel, who was also balding, on the top branch. She chuckled. A glowing,
bald-headed angel.
“Good. We’re almost done. Now for the
decorations.”
Eden hummed along with the radio, choosing
decorations with pretended importance, feeling strangely contented. Lorraine
seemed to focus on one spot on the tree, all of her decorations hanging in a
clump. Eden scattered hers about to fill in the tree. When they were finished,
Eden pulled the curtains to darken the room.
“Are you ready?” She plugged in the tree
lights.
Lorraine clapped her hands together with pure
childlike delight. Eden couldn’t keep herself from smiling. She re-arranged the
couch so they could sit down and look at their masterpiece. Lorraine sat close
beside Eden, who put her arm around her mother.
“It’s a beauty, eh, Mom?” she said. The truth
was, it was horrible, but in a lovely sort of way.
“I think we should celebrate.” Eden reached
over to the end table and picked up an unopened box of chocolates. She ripped
off the cellophane, opened the lid and offered her mother the first piece.
Lorraine took her time choosing, then Eden quickly picked one and plopped it
whole into her mouth.
The radio station they had been listening to
switched its selection from Christmas favourites to golden oldies. Eden was
admiring the tree and sucking chocolate when she heard it, the song, the one her mother had been singing at Aunt Lillian’s
apartment. Eden snapped up her head to watch her mother’s face, wondering how
it would affect her. She was smiling. She started to sing softly.
“East of the sun, west of the moon...”
It was the first time Eden had heard the song,
it not being one of Frank’s more popular hits, but the chorus was easy enough,
so she sang along.
They would have amused the angelic realm, the
both of them singing out of tune, in a darkened room with only the light of a
very homely Christmas tree to illuminate their chocolate-smudged faces.
About the Author:
Lee Strauss writes historical and science fiction/romance for upper
YA and adult readers. She also writes light and fun stuff under the
name Elle Strauss. To find out more about Lee and her books check out
her facebook page. Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/elle_strauss to find out about new releases sign up for her newsletter at www.ellestraussbooks.com
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Author Interview:
1. 1 - I hear there is a story behind
the story of East of Eden? Can you tell us about that?
East of Eden is a back list book meaning it was once published traditionally
and went out of print. It was published in 2000 by a German Publishing company
in the German language. I made major revisions to the original version
including a title change, character name changes. I also deleted scenes, wrote
new scenes and moved scenes around. This is the first time it has been
available in English and I’m happy to have it out there.
2. 2 - Is that why it’s set in 1990?
Yes. I wrote the early drafts in the 1990s (so the
setting is authentic!) I didn’t update it because the mystery involved depends
on this time frame.
3.
3 - What’s with the funny spelling?
The story is set in Vancouver, BC and being a
Canadian myself I decided with this book I would stick with Canadian/British
spelling.
4.
4 - So is this a love story or a
mother/daughter story?
Both. East of Eden is a
romance with strong themes of regret, forgiveness and second chances. It’s also
a family drama where Eden learns how to look beyond her own needs and wants,
and what it means to love unconditionally, especially when it comes to her
mother.
5.
5 -Do you have any personal
experience with loved ones and Alzheimer’s disease?
My grandmother passed away from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease. I remember
the first time she didn’t remember who I was, what that felt like. How I’d lost
opportunity to ask her questions about her past. She kept asking me over and
over again if my baby was a boy or a girl. It was heartbreaking.
6.
6 -What’s next for Lee Strauss?
I’m really excited about my next project, a collection of
stand-alone contemporary romance companion books set in the singer-songwriter
world called The Minstrel Series. The first book Sun & Moon is set in Dresden, Germany about a risk-taking
singer-songwriter whose world collides with a brooding uptown banker. The books
will include mp3 links from songs written by talented Indie songwriters whose
songs feature prominently in the books. It’s a unique opportunity to
collaborate with the Indie Music scene. Sun
& Moon will be out Jan 27. Pre-orders are available on itunes, Kobo and Barnes
& Noble
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