We are pleased to present:
Jessica Moriarty appears to have it all—a successful
career as an architect, a loyal group of friends, a gorgeous apartment, and an
on-again-off-again affair with Boston's most eligible bachelor. Behind this
“perfect life” façade, Jessica hides the loss she feels over giving up her
dream career as an artist, copes with a destructive relationship with her
alcoholic mother, and struggles with heartbreak over a lost love.
Jacques Sinclair only needs his cameras, a backpack,
and a good pair of walking shoes. A world-renowned photographer, he is a man
without boundaries. Despite fame and fortune, he still yearns for the woman who
shattered his heart when she vanished from his life five years ago.
A chance meeting brings Jacques and Jessica back
together. Reunions aren't always planned or welcomed, but chemistry has a way
of revealing what is denied. Ensnared in a web of sabotage and
conspiracy—carefully constructed by people who want to control their
lives—Jacques and Jessica struggle to trust each other, break free from the
status quo, reclaim their love, and build a life of extraordinary possibility.
Amber Lea Easton is a multi-published fiction and
nonfiction author. Smart is sexy, according to Easton, which is why she writes
about strong female characters who have their flaws and challenges but
ultimately persevere. She currently has six contemporary romance and romantic
suspense novels out in the world: Kiss Me
Slowly, Riptide, Reckless Endangerment, Anonymity, In Between, and Dancing
Barefoot. Her memoir, Free Fall,
is dedicated to suicide prevention, awareness, and helping others navigate the
dark journey of grief.
In addition, Easton works as an editor, freelance
journalist, and professional speaker. She speaks on subjects ranging from
writing to widowhood. Some of her videos on romance writing have appeared on
the international Writers & Authors television network. Current radio
appearances are linked via her author website, http://www.amberleaeaston.com.
Easton currently lives with her two teenagers in the
Colorado Rocky Mountains where she gives thanks daily for the gorgeous view
outside her window. She finds inspiration from traveling, the people she meets,
nature and life’s twists and turns. At the end of the day, as long as she's
writing, she considers herself simply to be "a lucky lady liv'n the
dream."
Easton also publishes under the name Dakota Skye who has
one paranormal erotic romance, Blurred
Lines, currently available and another, Deadly
Decadence, due out in the fall of 2014
She stood on the threshold of the bookstore dodging
patrons and pedestrians. Ten past seven. Regret sagged her knees. For the
second time in her life, she labeled herself the Queen of Self-Sabotage. As if
leaning against a fierce wind of remorse, she pushed the door open, and forced
one foot in front of the other.
“I’m looking for Jacques Sinclair.” She forced the
words from a too-dry throat.
“I’m sorry, you just missed him.” The employee didn’t
look up from the stack of books she arranged on a table.
Missed him. She
nodded without truly understanding how she could have undermined herself like
this. Again. “He’s really gone then?”
The girl worked as if she hadn’t spoken, head down,
oblivious.
Her gaze connected with the cover of Jacques’s book. Legs heavy and unsteady, she maneuvered toward
the display until she touched the cover with her fingertips.
Rome.
Closing her eyes, she smelled the overpowering scent
of the roses, felt the early morning breeze against bare skin, sensed him
moving behind her, tasted him on her lips, heard the low sound of his voice
saying her name.
“Excuse me, do you know if Mr. Sinclair is staying in
Boston tonight?” she asked.
The woman looked at her as if she were a stalker. “He
probably went back to New York. His gallery exhibit isn't until next weekend.”
“Back to New York?” Information overload crashed her
system. So close. The same side of the Atlantic. She braced herself against the counter.
“He lives in New York,” she answered as if speaking to
a small, slow child.
“Right. He has
an exhibit next Saturday. I saw that in the article...what gallery?” She handed over her credit card and blinked
at the cover again.
"The Bliss Institute."
Breathing ceased again and she silently cursed Fate.
Her friend Miranda owned the Bliss Institute. What was happening? Did Jacques
know that? Of course not, how could he? She felt like an insane woman on the
precipice of a major nervous breakdown.
“Are you all right?”
The woman grabbed the book and slipped it into a bag.
“Perfect, never better.” She needed a martini…she’d give her life for
a martini. Oblivion sounded like heaven right now.
The girl handed her the receipt before stepping away
as if afraid of catching the insanity bug.
Six weeks. Jacques planned on being in Boston for six
weeks.
Laughter from upstairs halted her retreat. As if
dragging her legs through mud, she walked toward the stairs. With every step,
memories overpowered her. Laughing in bed with rain falling outside open
windows, whispered secrets in the dark, sharing wine directly from the bottle,
feeding each other bread with their fingertips.
Him asking her to marry him, her saying yes.
Her throwing it all away for reasons that now seemed
meaningless.
“We should go,
Jacques. We’re running late. Miranda's already at the restaurant.” A stick-like man with shaggy brown hair and
black-framed eye glasses appeared at the top of the stairs.
She stood on the bottom step, one foot poised to
ascend, her hand on the railing and blocking the way. She clutched the bag to her side and turned
to flee.
“Jess?” The quiet question stopped her descent.
“Jessica Moriarty?”
She gripped the railing and looked up at him.
Jacques stood at the top of the stairs, blond hair
falling across his forehead and skimming his ears, different from the picture
on display, more like it had been when they'd known one another, shaggy and
disheveled. Emerald eyes snapped with fire as his gaze raked over her from head
to foot. A cobalt blue shirt had been stuffed into black jeans, half in the
waistband and half out as if he simply didn’t give a damn. He’d rolled the sleeves to his elbows,
exposing tanned forearms, and a leather bracelet twisted around his left wrist.
He walked toward her like a predator who’d cornered his prey. Slowly...surely.
Sexuality oozed from his pores with every step he took.
She stepped back and swallowed the rush of saliva that
flooded her mouth.
He stopped two stairs above her. “Running away from me
again?”
***
Q) What do you do for fun?
A) As someone who tends to get bored
easily, I like to do a diverse range of things for fun. I play with my dogs a
lot and take them on hikes. I can't get enough of seeing local bands at various
venues. Movies are also a passion of mine, especially a good thriller. I also
enjoy simply sitting in my backyard at night with friends by the fire pit and
chatting over a glass of wine.
Q) When did you first start writing?
A) I started
writing professionally when I was 22 as a reporter. As a hobby, I began
scribbling stories in notebooks when I was 9 years old.
Q) Why did you write this book?
A) This is a story about a woman who has
lived her life for everyone else while putting her own dreams and desires
aside. There were times in my life when I felt I had compromised myself to the
point of forgetting who I truly was at my core. What did I want? Who did I want
to be at the end of my life? Those are the central conflicts of this story as
the main characters struggle to break free of all that holds them back so that
they can truly live a life of extraordinary possibility.
Q) What is the best advice you ever
received?
A) That it's best
to be true to yourself because, at the end of the day, you need to look
yourself in the eye in the mirror and be content with who you are.
Q) How long did it take to write?
A) I actually
started writing 'Dancing Barefoot' in 1999. I wrote it, started pitching it in
2000, then shelved it for a few years while I wrote other novels that have
since published. After awhile, I pulled it back out, ripped it apart, and wrote
it again. Then it went through having an agent and even a publisher, all while
other books again published before it. I finally decided to take matters into
my own hands, took it back from the agent, revised yet again, and now it's
finally being published. I guess you could say "it's time has come."
Six novels published before 'Dancing Barefoot', yet this is technically the
first story I wrote.
Q) What is your next project?
A) I have a project
about a psychic I'm writing under my pen name, Dakota Skye. It's a paranormal erotic
romantic suspense. I use my pen name to explore all things fringe element. It's
a liberating experience.
Q) What do you measure success to be?
A) The ability to live
my life on my own terms and the freedom to do what I want when I choose.
Q) Who inspires you?
A) My father is one
of the kindest, most generous people I know. So was my grandfather. If, when I
die, people still speak of my kind and generous spirit, then I will have lived
a good life.
Q) Who is your favourite author?
A) Heather Graham,
Sandra Brown, Jennifer Cruizie.
Q) Who are you as a person?
Tell us things about you that are not already in your bio?
A) I am a seeker. I'm always reading
about spirituality and regularly practice meditation. I read Rumi every night
before I sleep. I enjoy listening to others, especially travelers. I find
people and the Universe to be infinite sources of fascination.
Q: Where did you get the
inspiration for the title?
A: While writing
this story, I listened to a lot of U2. One of their songs is called 'Dancing
Barefoot' where they sing of spinning ceaselessly and losing gravity. "Oh
God I fell for you" is one of the lyrics. It truly struck a chord within
me—no pun intended. In fact, I've included the lyrics to the original Patti
Smith song on the dedication page of the novel.
Q: What
are the lyrics to 'Dancing Barefoot'? Could you share so we get a sense of what
inspired you?
A: You betcha!
Here are the original lyrics sung by Patti Smith, later redone by U2.
Dancing Barefoot Song Lyrics (Patti Smith)
She
is benediction
She
is addicted to thee
She
is the root connection
She
is connecting with he
Here
I go and I don't know why
I
flow so ceaselessly
Could
it be he's taking over me
I'm
dancing barefoot
Headin'
for a spin
Some
strange music draws me in
It
makes me come up like some heroine
She
is sublimation
She
is the essence of thee
She
is concentrating on
He
who is chosen by she
Here
I go when I don't know why
I
spin so ceaselessly
Could
it be he's taking over me
I'm
dancing barefoot
Headin'
for a spin
Some
strange music drags me in
Makes
me come up like some heroine
She
is recreation
She
intoxicated by thee
She
has the slow sensation that
He
is levitating with she
Here
I go when I don't know why
I
spin so ceaselessly
'Til
I lose my sense of gravity
I'm
dancing barefoot
Heading
for a spin
Some
strange music draws me in
Makes
me come up like some heroine
Oh
God I fell for you
Oh
God I fell for you
Oh
God I fell for you
Oh
God I fell for you
Songwriters:
Kral, Ivan / Smith, Patti
Q: Why
did you feel compelled to write this story?
A: The characters'
struggle with learning to live according to their own truth rather than being
bound by others' expectations resonates with me on a core level. As human
beings, it is easy to be caught up in someone else's life agenda and forget
that we are here with our own purpose.
There were times in my life when I became consumed with putting other
people's expectations above my own and that is no way to live.
Q: What
would you like people to take away from this story?
A: We're all
unique and the status quo doesn't always serve us well. It's important to find
what makes your heart sing and pursue it even if it's scary as hell for you to
take that leap.
Q: As an
author, what is your main goal when connecting with a reader?
A: Entertainment.
Despite the nature of some of my stories, such as human trafficking in Reckless
Endangerment or breaking free of co-dependency/expectation in Dancing Barefoot,
my goal is to entertain the reader. When someone tells me they write 'literary
fiction', I roll my eyes at the pretentiousness of thinking that entertainment
genres like romance or suspense are somehow 'less than.' I want to entertain,
to take the reader into someone else's world for awhile, and to make them smile
when they turn that last page. The greatest compliment I receive from a reader
is when they tell me that they didn't want the book to end. That's when I know
I've done my job well.
But first a taste of the early reviews...
4 stars
via Avid Reader:
"I loved this
story.
It was refreshingly honest, brutally tragic, and at times lyrical in
it's flow. Their connection was so intense that as I read it, I was like this
absolutely cannot survive. Love this intense and in your face has a slow burn
to it, and will torch everything in i's path until it is stamped out...There
was nothing contrived about it. I felt like I was literally a fly on the wall
and this was happening in reality and not fiction land. I liked them both,
probably one of the best couples I have ever read."...read entire review http://goo.gl/R191Sa
5 stars via ChristophFischerBooks
"Conflicting emotions and insurmountable chemistry cause both of
them to reassess the past, their current lives and priorities. Easton shows the
magnetic and hypnotic effect of physical and emotional attraction very well and
the gradual crumbling of outer facades and deep inner resolve. This is a
romantic fantasy written in a convincing and heart warming manner and with
enough complications thrown in to make for a very entertaining and gripping
read."...read entire review http://goo.gl/R191Sa
5 stars via Sglas, Amazon reader review:
"Excitement, intrigue, twists and turns! Dancing Barefoot has it
all. Very hard to put down." read entire review http://goo.gl/R191Sa
GET IT TODAY!!
Link to the prequel, In Between: an Italian love story, that is a permanent free read on the author blog (14 chapters total): http://goo.gl/T9XCOj
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