Book 4, in The Polaris Series
"Hearts Aligned"
Genre: Contemporary Romance. 165 pages.
Price: $1.99 ebook (at time of post)
- SYNOPSIS -
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea.”
Great advice if you’re a fisherman.
I wasn’t.
I also wasn’t a player.
I wasn’t a ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy.
I wasn’t scared of commitment.
That is, until Melissa Cross showed up, stole my heart, and then disappeared with the pieces.
It took awhile, but I made a new life for myself, one that didn’t include any part of her.
Except, it turned out, it did. Our lives are more connected now than they ever were…and maybe my heart wasn’t as disconnected as I fooled myself into believing.
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“Keep your friends close and your heart closer.”
I always assumed this little pearl of wisdom from my mother meant to treasure the man I fell in love with more than anyone.
Until the day I learned that it really meant to hold tight to your heart, because once you gave it away, nothing in the world hurt more than leaving it behind when the relationship had to end.
I thought I’d moved on. I thought I’d built a new life that didn’t—couldn’t—include Chris Matthews; until the man I’d never forgotten showed back up in my life.
Turns out I must still own a piece of my heart otherwise I never would have been able to feel it shatter all over again. Our lives seemed destined to be aligned, but would there ever come a time when our hearts would as well?
**This is a STANDALONE with an HEA**
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My Thoughts: "It Was only Ever You"
If you haven't read any of the Polaris Novels please do, but for this story it could be as a standalone. However, past characters are greatly apart of this story and this possible new couple adds to the amazing group. The main characters for this book are hilarious, sweet, real and true, I loved their story.
Moving on from the woman that destroyed his heart wasn't easy, but just as Chris Matthews was finding happiness with someone else his world gets surprisingly small. After wondering why the woman he deeply loved left him, Chris suddenly finds himself face to face with the very woman that broke his heart. Melissa Cross never believed she'd see the love of her life ever again, but Chris still makes her breath hitch and heart stop. With secretary's and reasons Melissa never told anyone, she hides why she so suddenly left Chris and returned home. The only excuse Melissa offers to Chris is that she wanted to have him hate her enough to forget her, but Chris is beginning to realize he may never forget the love he feels for his lissa.
Overall, oh so good, I loved it! When I saw there was going to be another Polaris novel I got extremely excited because 1) it's a novel from this series and 2) this author is giving the world another book. Seriously, loved this new couple. Melissa is self sacrificing to a fault and Chris needed to learn to forgive. So when the two of them finally open their eyes, and hearts, to what went wrong, Chris and Melissa chance for love again gives way to clarity about their past, which is key to any possible future together. Seeing Chris and Melissa fit into the family of characters already developed in the series, was too precious at times, like hallmark cute. But seriously I enjoyed the sense of levity in this novel and the value of family which is a highlight in this series. So if you're looking to read about a girl trying to solve her own problems and protect those she loves while running from genuine love only to be reunited for a possible second chance at happiness, then this story will be great.
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EXCERPT
Chapter 3: (Chris)
So caught up in my anger, I almost missed the entrance to the hospital emergency room and had to hit the brakes hard, causing the car behind me to honk its horn as it swerved around me. I lifted my hand in apology only to have it replied with a middle finger.
Nice. And I was here to remind a kid about paying attention. Once parked, I took a few minutes to draw some deep breaths. Tempers were never helpful in this situation, and since I suspected I’d be dealing with Josh’s, I needed to calm my own.
By the time I strode through the lobby door, I felt in control again. Almost. The second the antiseptic smell hit my nostrils, I felt sick. I hated hospitals. I’d identified my parents’ bodies in one. I’d held my sister’s hand as she lay unconscious
after a terrible accident, then once again when I’d visited my friend Jen after she’d been viciously attacked. It had been all I could do to visit when my nieces had been born, but at least I hadn’t had to pass through the emergency room then.
“Sir?” The nurse’s voice brought me back to the present.
“I’m Chris Matthews. I’m here about Josh Daniels. I’m his work supervisor, and I have medical authority for him until his parents can be contacted.” I showed her the signed forms that our secretary had shoved into my hands as I left. Thank goodness for Delia, or I’d have wasted my time in coming.
The nurse scanned the form, made a copy, and handed it back. “Right this way. His guardian hasn’t been reached, yet.” She directed me to come through a door and lead me to a small room. Pushing the door open, I saw Josh sitting up on the hospital bed holding an ice pack to the side of his face. He grimaced when he saw me, and I could feel the nervousness rolling off him.
Someone tall in a white medical coat swung toward me as I walked in.
“Chris? What are you doing here?”
“Tyler.” I nodded in greeting at my other best friend whom I’d temporarily forgotten was an ER doc. “Josh is one of my interns. I’m responsible until someone from his family can get here.” Tyler nodded and returned his attention to sewing up what looked like about a three-inch jagged cut on Josh’s forearm.
“No need to call anyone else,” Josh’s sullen voice said. “I’ll be fine. I can get home on my own.”
Tyler glanced up at his patient. “You eighteen, yet?”
Josh started to nod but looked at Tyler’s raised eyebrows, and his cockiness deflated. He shook his head.
“Then, for now, you’re his responsibility until your parents get here,” Tyler said.
“Ain’t got no parents,” Josh muttered. I flash of pain crossed his features, but whether it was from his injuries or his statement, I couldn’t be sure. But it was enough to thaw my icy demeanor. No wonder the kid seemed so angry. No parents meant he was maybe in the foster system, and while I had no personal experience with it, the stories I’d heard were usually not great. I was curious to see who, if anyone, cared enough to meet him at the hospital. Josh’s slumped shoulders did nothing to alleviate my concern.
Tyler’s concerned expression matched mine, but he remained silent and finished his last stitch. “You’re all set. I’m going to find a nurse who will finish putting some ointment and a bandage on this. I’ll work on your paperwork.” He squeezed Josh’s shoulder. “Try to be more careful next time, okay?” Tyler nodded at me. “I’ll see you later?”
I nodded, and Tyler left the room.
I’d come here prepared to tell him he didn’t need to bother showing up tomorrow, but I sensed Josh was waiting for someone else to let him down. I shoved my hands in my pockets and blew out a breath. “Are you okay?”
He shrugged. “Guess so.”
“Want to tell me what happened?”
Another shrug. “Tripped.” He looked intently at a tile on the floor.
My fingers clenched in my pockets, but I managed to continue to speak patiently. “I remember being your age. Seems like overnight I grew several inches and my feet just couldn’t manage the extra height. Got a little clumsy myself for awhile, but it all worked itself out. The important thing is you weren’t injured worse than you are, but I’m sorry you got hurt at all.”
A flicker of surprise flashed across his face, and his shoulders relaxed a little. “I—”
“Joshua?” A loud, feminine voice rang from the common area outside his room.
The young man startled as the door to his room swung open. He glanced up at the woman who flew to his side before quickly looking away, a mask of indifference falling into place by the time she reached him. A waft of soft jasmine reached my nose, and my mind immediately reacted to it, falling back to a time when I used to bury my nose into a supple neck or soft cleavage just to breathe in that scent.
She reached out to my intern, who flinched and jerked his head out of her hand, and I could see her body stiffen in reaction. One hand rested on her hip while the other reached back to smooth a ponytail of red hair. Her back was to me, and her curves were nearly hidden underneath the shapeless pink scrubs she was wearing, her hair was straighter than it used to be, but I was so familiar with that nervous movement I’d recognize it anywhere.
“Lissa?”
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**Checkout the Polaris Series Tour Post: Link Here**
Price: $2.99 (at time of post)
Price: $2.99 (at time of post)
Price: $2.99 (at time of post)
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M.E. Montgomery has been an avid reader her entire life, and after falling in love with so many characters created by other authors, a new one began to form in her head. With the support of her family, she decided to to write it.
She is the homework queen to her four school aged children who think she is a genius in math, science, history and spelling. Fortunately, her biology and elementary school teaching background help her to keep up the expert façade, at least for now.
Although born and raised in the Washington DC metro area, she has considered many places to be called home since she left to attend college in North Carolina. She is a proud Navy wife, setting up a home wherever the Navy sends her husband. When she’s not reading or writing, she loves to go camping with her family, drink wine on the deck, and be swept off to romantic getaways.
