Coming soon- Through the Fire
I’m thrilled to announce that Through the Fire would be available for ebook and paperback purchase soon!
Genre: Contemporary romance
Tropes: Friends to lovers, love through sickness, opposites attract.
Heat level: ?? ? ?
Release date: 08/10/2022
Cover
Blurb:
Busy plastic surgeon Oke Amayo lives life on her own terms. No husband, no children, no commitments. She prefers toy boys and freedom.
Then, a breast cancer diagnosis changes her mind, but only about children. Oke wants a baby, and only one man will fit the bill as her baby daddy.
Can she convince her friend Arinze to sign on to her co-parenting plan without the bogus happily-ever-after that everyone knows doesn’t exist?
Widower Arinze Ibeh still grieves the loss of his beloved wife to cancer. When he discovers his friend now has the disease, he immediately offers his help. But Oke wants a little something extra from him. A baby?!
Arinze has dreamt of having children, but certainly not according to the unconventional terms of Oke’s proposal.
Will she consider his counteroffer?
Excerpt
Arinze watched her, his heart beating at breakneck speed. He wanted to continue with the conversation, broach the subject of their night together. At least talk about their feelings, not keep brushing it under the carpet.
“Oke, can we talk about what happened between us nights ago?” he asked softly.
She stiffened, jerking her gaze to him. “I’m not pregnant, so you don’t need to worry,” she blurted out.
It was Arinze’s turn to freeze. “Wha—” He broke off, taking a deep breath to gather his thoughts together. Was it relief or disappointment he was feeling? His emotions were so jumbled up that coherent speech seemed almost impossible.
“I got my period three weeks before my surgery. We’re in the clear,” she went on, her tone chirpy like she was trying too hard to be carefree. “We got lucky. Imagine if you knocked me up?”
Silence followed her question. Arinze had imagined it. But not in a negative way at all. In fact, if he was being totally honest with himself, he’d imagined quite the opposite, projected his thoughts way into the future. He’d envisioned her being ecstatic about her belly swelling with his child. He’d gone as far as trying out names in his head. Rowland if a boy, and Adaku if a girl.
Her expression of relief on not being pregnant felt like being doused with a bucket of cold water, a hard slap back to reality.
He cleared his throat, swallowing back his disappointment. “I guess we got lucky,” he echoed her sentiments, his gut still rumbling with unease.
“Yep. Absolutely lucky.” She turned to face the television again.
Blowing out a sigh, he refocused his attention on the TV screen, but he could no longer see anything. His interest in Ted Bundy’s documentary had suddenly evaporated.
“I cried.” Oke’s soft voice snagged his attention back to her.
“Cried? What do you mean?”
“When I got my period. I cried.” She swung her leg sideways until she was facing him squarely. “I was disappointed. Imagine, Arinze. I was scheduled for major surgery in three weeks, and I cried because I wasn’t pregnant with your baby. Isn’t that crazy?”
Arinze’s entire body became stiff as a block of concrete. Blood pounded in his ears, making him almost light-headed, her revelation shocking him to the core and snatching away his ability to speak.
“I wanted it so badly, more than anything, I wanted it.” She blew out a sharp breath. “I want it.”
“A baby?” His voice suddenly came back. “Or my baby.”
“Your baby.” She dragged her fingers through the ridges of her cornrows. “I know I sound crazy, and I don’t blame you if you walk away now, but it’s all I can think about, Arinze. I’m shocked by how much this desire has possessed my soul, especially since I never wanted children, but I can’t seem to shake it off.
Thank you for reading. Please drop your comments below.
