Introducing A Dream of Something More by Jane Carter, a new contemporary romance from Momentum Moonlight.
From the Blurb:
When her life collapses, Robbie trades a big sky for a bigger horizon.
In the small community of Farrow, Robbie is seen as the perfect daughter, wife and mother: conscientious, dependable, and devoted to her family. But when her marriage falls apart after her husband Brian has an affair with a girl barely out of her teens, she makes a choice that will change the course of her life in a way she could never have imagined.
She decides to become a teacher, a dream she abandoned for the sake of her marriage. And to finish her studies, she must entrust her beloved daughter Allie to the care of Brian and her own mother Elaine. Only Elaine knows the real reason Robbie divorced Brian. To the rest of the townspeople she has become a scarlet woman—deserting her husband and daughter in order to selfishly pursue her career.
Finding her feet as a student in Sydney is a daunting task for country born-and-bred Robbie. And the very last thing she expects is to fall for her young, drop-dead gorgeous neighbour Nick. For Robbie is in Sydney on borrowed time and is convinced there an be no place for a new man in her life once she returns home ...
Excerpt:
“YES, I JUST GOT here, Allie. It’s stinking hot. I think I’ll go for a swim later. Have you given Gran your new uniform yet? She’ll take it up for you. I’m sorry I didn’t have time before I left.” Robbie hadn’t realised how much Allie had grown, or that the uniform that she thought would last her till the end of the year was now too small.
She hated leaving her. When she began the long drive from Farrow to Sydney each February, she felt awful knowing she wouldn’t see her daughter for a few weeks. It was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do in her life. Still, she knew Allie would be all right. Her mother Elaine adored her, and her ex-husband Brian was a good father. She shouldn’t worry, she knew she shouldn’t worry, but she just couldn’t help it.
“Oh, and tell your father I’ve left a week’s lunch box snacks on the kitchen bench. He wants to talk?” Robbie waited for Allie to hand over the phone. “I love you,” she added quickly. “Speak to you tomorrow.”
“Robbie, I was wondering where you put the tax file?”
That was short and to the point. Brian had always taken her for granted, but she no longer felt bitter about it. Her long hours at the Farrow pharmacy were a thing of the past, and it was Brian’s problem now. She’d finally gathered together every shred of courage she’d possessed and left him. They’d been divorced for a year, but he was still partly supporting her, and so she was still doing his tax. An unusual situation for sure, but it suited them. It was only for one more year.
“The file is in the filing cabinet.” Robbie felt that this was not a totally outlandish place for it to be.
“Allie says there are no chips in the snacks box.”
It was times like these Robbie wondered if being divorced was really that different from being married. At least Brian was forced now to be more of a hands-on father, but she sometimes had to question whether he was living on the same planet.
“Allie knows very well she’s not to have chips or fizzy drinks at school,” Robbie said patiently. “That’s why I left the box of snacks for you. So you can see exactly what sorts of things she should be having.”
Conversation over. Honestly, how on earth did the two of them cope without her? Allie ran rings round her father. When hadn’t she? Robbie had a sneaking suspicion it had been getting worse lately, but her control over the situation was severely limited due to one simple detail: the 350 kilometres between Sydney and Farrow. It was lucky her own mother was close by to keep an eye on them.
Robbie unlocked the front door of her flat and dragged her suitcase inside. She rummaged around in her handbag again till she found her favourite photo of Allie, placing it on the battered old bookshelf in the hallway. Her daughter looked back at her with her big brown eyes and her butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth expression. Looks could be deceiving. Allie was adorable but quite good at getting her own way nevertheless.
Robbie frowned at the photo. Allie took after Brian. All she could see of herself in Allie was the spray of freckles over her nose. She tried to remember if she’d put the 30+ sunscreen in her school bag. Allie hadn’t inherited her olive skin and needed to be covered up when she went out in the sun. She had lovely dark hair, shiny and straight. Her own was browner and quite thick, unruly if she didn’t have it pulled back into an elastic band. And it definitely needed cutting. Another thing she hadn’t gotten around to before she left.
A Dream of Something More by Jane Carter was released by Momentum Books on June 26, 2014, and is available from Amazon and the Publisher.
