A big WELCOME to Lilas Taha, author of SHADOWS of DAMASCUS, A Contemporary New Adult, Soft Romance book.
****GIVEAWAY ALERT****
One randomly chosen commenter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
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Shadows of Damascus
by Lilas
Taha
Bullet wounds, torture and oppression aren’t the only things that keep a man—or a woman—from being whole.
Debt. Honor. Pain. Solitude. These are things wounded war veteran Adam Wegener knows all about. Love—now, that he is not good at. Not when love equals a closed fist, burns, and suicide attempts. But Adam is one who keeps his word. He owes the man who saved his life in Iraq. And he doesn’t question the measure of the debt, even when it is in the form of an emotionally distant, beautiful woman.
Yasmeen agreed to become the wife of an American veteran so she could flee persecution in war-torn Syria. She counted on being in the United States for a short stay until she could return home. There was one thing she did not count on: wanting more.
Is it too late for Adam and Yasmeen?
EXCERPT
Hot cup of coffee in one hand, phone receiver cradled on
shoulder, Adam dialed the phone number at eight thirty the following morning. A
decent time. A woman’s soft voice greeted him.
“Good morning, ma’am. I’d like to talk to Mr. Pemssy?” He
barely contained his excitement.
“Sorry?”
“My name is Adam Wegener,” he enunciated his words. “I want to
speak to Mr. O. R. Pemssy.”
“Wrong number.”
Click.
“Damn it.” His excitement disintegrated like a popped
balloon. He went back to the kitchen table and re-worked the letters again,
only to end up with the same number. Frustrated, he crumbled the papers and
threw them across the kitchen floor. To hell with this, he’d wasted enough time
on this shit. If Fadi wanted something from him, he damned well better call
him.
Hungry and angry, he stabbed a slice of toast and smeared it
with peanut butter. Tension building in the muscles of his arms, he wanted to
throw or break something. Instead, he swallowed the sandwich and went outside
to work. Climbing astride his rusty old tractor, he cranked the motor.
Rising heat squeezed sweat from his body like a sponge with
no regard to his fragile mental state. His mind crunched numbers without end
while he worked. Thoughts of the cool fridge full of icy drinks beckoned him
for an early lunch. He abandoned his tractor in the middle of the field, and
headed home, discarding his wet shirt on the way. He walked around the kitchen,
stomping papers. It felt good and satisfying. As satisfying as the icy Coke he
gulped down. Needing to put things in order, he collected the discarded papers.
When he reached to crush the envelope, his eyes landed on the Turkish stamp. A
surge of excitement gripped his stomach. One more thing he needed to try.
Logging onto his laptop, he searched Turkey’s city codes for
area code 216. Istanbul on the Asian side. He searched for the country code, then
the time difference. Eight hours ahead put it close to nine p.m. in Istanbul.
He dialed the sequence of international code numbers and
held his breath while the same ringing tone played with his nerves.
“’Allo?” A man’s voice greeted.
“May I speak to Mr. Pemssy?”
“Yust a minute.” The man spoke with an unmistakable heavy
accent.
Adam dropped in a chair and closed his eyes in anticipation.
“I see you got my letter,” a deep voice said.
“You’re the one who sent it? Who am I speaking to?” Eyes
wide open now. Could it be Fadi? Damn it, he couldn’t remember his voice.
“You know who I am. I can’t use my real name. How is zat hib
of yours? Giving you trouble?”
Fadi. Same annoying accent. “What the hell is going on?” He
grit his teeth and tried to ignore the mispronunciations. “Couldn’t you have
given me your phone number in the letter, or called me directly?”
“I didn’t know if you still lived at that address, and I
didn’t want my number to fall in the wrong hands. You’re not listed. I knew you
liked to count things. That was the best I could come up with.”
“I too tried to find you many times. What can I do for you,
man? What do you need?” Was there a better way to say he hadn’t forgotten Fadi?
“I need a favor. But I can’t explain over the phone. Get on
a plane and come here as soon as possible.”
“You want me to fly to Turkey? You serious?”
“You promised to help if I needed anything, and I do.
Desperately.”
Adam coughed to steal a moment. What the hell? Fly over
there? Could he even afford it? He’d like to help the guy, but this was insane.
“Can’t just drop everything and leave. I’ll do my best to
help you from here if you tell me what you need. Nothing illegal, you should
know this upfront.”
“I can’t tell you, and I can’t stay on the line for too
long. A life is at stake. Are you in or out?”
Adam was torn. Torn and ashamed to admit he looked for a way
out of the promise he’d given years earlier. “Your life?”
Fadi remained silent for a few seconds.
He heard an agonized exhale.
“You’re my only hope.”
BUY LINKS
AUTHOR BIO
Lilas Taha is
a writer at heart, an electrical engineer by training, and an advocate for
domestic abuse victims by choice. She was born in Kuwait to a Syrian mother and
a Palestinian father, and immigrated to the U.S. as a result of the Gulf war in
1990. She earned a master’s degree in Human Factors Engineering from the
University of Wisconsin- Madison. There, Lilas met her beloved husband and true
friend, and moved with him to Sugar Land, Texas to establish a family. She is
the proud mother of a daughter and a son. Instead of working in an industrial
field, she applied herself to the field of social safety, working with victims
of domestic violence.
Pursuing her
true passion for creative writing, Lilas brings her professional interests, and
her Middle Eastern background together in her debut fictional novel, Shadows of
Damascus.
Where can you find Lilas?
Wesite: www.lilastaha.com
Author Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/LilasTahaAuthor
Blog: http://lilastaha.blogspot.com
Twitter: Follow @LilasTaha http://twitter.com/LilasTaha
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lilastaha
Email: info@lilastaha.com
SHADOWS of DAMASCUS -the book- Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shadows-of-Damascus/577132239031259?fref=ts
The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
$50 Gift Card from Amazon.com or Barnes & Nobles
Thanks for stopping by today Lilas and good luck with SHADOWS of DAMASCUS.
Cheers,
Nancy
An excerpt that makes me want to read more.
ReplyDeleteMary, I do hope you will get to read the entire book and enjoy it :)
DeleteLooking forward to this read Lilas. You've gotten some great reviews on Amazon~ congrats!
ReplyDeleteElise-Maria, thanks. It would be great if you add your review once you are done reading the book. Enjoy!
DeleteThanks for hosting me today, Nancy!
ReplyDeleteAnytime Lilas!
DeleteInteresting characters
ReplyDelete