Praise for Kate Hoffmann fromRT Book Reviews â¦
âHoffmannâs deeply felt, emotional story is riveting. Itâs impossible to put down.â
â on The Charmer
âFully developed characters and perfect pacing make this story feel completely right.â
â on Your Bed or Mine?
âSexy and wildly romantic.â
â on Doing Ireland!
âA very hot story mixes with great characters to make every page a delight.â
â on The Mighty Quinns: Ian
âRomantic, sexy and heartwarming.â
â on Who Needs Mistletoe?
âSexy, heartwarming and romantic ⦠a story to settle down with and enjoyâand then re-read.â
â on The Mighty Quinns: Teague
Dear Reader,
The Traveling Quinn Saga continues this month, with Cameron Quinn hopping on a bus that will take him to Vulture Creek, New Mexico. What kind of new life will he find there, do you suppose? His two brothers, Dermot and Kieran, have already found love in Wisconsin and Kentucky. And next, Ronan, the youngest Quinn, will end up in over his head in Maine.
This series has been a lot of fun to write, especially since Iâve been able to explore four different settings. Choosing the place my characters come to life is one of my favorite parts of writing. Researching a new location and then weaving the details into my hero and heroineâs journey is always a challenge, but itâs one I love to take on.
After writing almost seventy books, I really should go back and see how many states Iâve visited in my stories. Too bad I canât deduct literary mileage on my tax returns!
All the best,
Kate Hoffmann
A DAMP WIND BUFFETED the mourners standing around the grave site. Cameron Quinn stared up into the slate-gray sky, then closed his eyes against the tears that threatened. He couldnât remember the last time the sun had shone. It had been a year of dark, gloomy days strung together with nights of strange and disturbing dreams.
Cameron held tight to the umbrella as it was buffeted by the wind. His younger twin brothers, Dermot and Kieran, stood on one side of him, huddling close more for comfort than for protection from the coming rain. Ronan, his youngest brother, stood in front of him, his posture stiff, his hands shoved in his coat pockets.
After a year of searching and waiting and wondering, it was finally over. Jamie and Suzanne Quinn had been declared dead. Cameronâs parents had been due to arrive in Vanuatu in the South Pacific a little more than a year ago, ferrying a sailing yacht across the Pacific for a wealthy buyer.
The trip was originally meant to be a summer vacation for the whole family, but when the owner pushed up the delivery date, Cameron and his three brothers had been forced to stay behind for school. The trip was to take just over a month.
Cameron and the younger Quinns had marked off the calendar on their grandfatherâs kitchen wall as each day passed. Every few days, theyâd heard from their parents via satellite phone, but then their parents missed a night and then another. A week passed and the boys could sense the worry in their grand fatherâs demeanor. And yet Suzanne and Jamie werenât officially missing. And then they were.
âWhy are we burying aâa box?â Kieran asked.
âCoffin,â Cameron murmured. âItâs called a coffin.â
Dermot drew a ragged breath. âWhat if they come home? Will we dig it up again and get our stuff back?â
Cameron glanced down at his brother and shook his head. âTheyâre not going to come home.â Though he wanted to believe differently, Cameron knew the reality of their situation.
A week after the planned arrival date, the search for his parents had begun. Two weeks later, there was still no word, no sign, no explanation. And after his parents were a month overdue, a harsh truth began to creep into the boysâ lives. Their parents might be lost. Perhaps they were adrift in a life raft, or captured by pirates, or marooned on some tropical island. No one could say for sure, not even Cameronâs grandfather. And he always had answers for the questions his four grandsons asked.
It was not knowing the truth that bothered Cameron the most. That tiny flicker of hope that refused to fade. For a year, heâd believed, along with his brothers, that this would all turn out to be a very bad dream. But as he watched the empty casket being lowered into the dark hole in the earth, that flicker of hope faded, then extinguished.
âIâm scared,â Ronan said, turning to face Cameron, his eyes swimming with tears.
Cameron wrapped his free arm around Ronanâs shoulders. âDonât be scared. Weâre going to be all right. I promise.â