And we have feedback for book #1!
Lisa A: I definitely had to one click. I loved Grayson and wasn’t aware there was a second one coming out…so, I’m off to revisit this favorite character.
A little bit about Grayson:
Grayson is an unlikely hero who suffers from schizophrenia. But we don’t always need a hero, just the love of one incredible man.
Grayson and Angie have an extraordinary love, but when their world is toppled by an insidious instigator, Grayson spirals into a schizophrenic crisis. Is this threat real, or a delusion crafted by a psychotic and paranoid mind?
Told from dual points of views, get inside Grayson’s head, navigate through a labyrinth of tangled thoughts and cognitive deception. Can Grayson break through his mentally fragile walls? Will the love of his life help him find his way back to the truth?
The author says:
My hero, Grayson, suffers from schizophrenia. This is book 2 of a series but can be read as a stand alone.
I’m a nurse practitioner and has been practicing for over thirty years. Mental health is an area that’s very important to me. I see so many mentally ill patients who feel they don’t have a voice or are not represented well in society. That’s why I enjoy writing these books about real people.
About this latest release:
A stand alone adult contemporary romance
A journey through the labyrinth of insanity
—and love is the only way out…Love is patient. Love is kind.
But love is never perfect
Grayson and Angie’s marriage isn’t typical
Grayson suffers from schizophrenia, a mental disorder of delusion and fantasy.
Their deep love, and an unyielding bond have allowed them to endure.
This gorgeous, kind , sexy man has refused to be defined by his diagnosis.When Grayson spirals into psychosis, Angie is powerless to stop it.
He retreats into a world of delusions and paranoia, distrusting everyone around him.
The danger he perceives appears to be an elaborate mental concoction,
a reckoning of his tragic past and his crumbling present.
Are forces working against them? Are the OTHERS real or has Grayson finally succumbed to the demons in his head?This time, can she be his salvation, or will this crisis leave their family in ruins?
Can she save Grayson from himself?
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love can also be devastating.
SERIES READING ORDER:
P.S. Here’s an excerpt of Grayson’s Way that I found on the author’s Facebook page:
I followed Grayson to a sofa on the far side of the sterile waiting room. This was the third time he’d be seeing this new therapist. He lowered his tall frame. Face splitting into a smile, he patted the cushion next to him, beckoning me to sit. Today he was back to his charming self, all dimpled-smiled and bewitching blue eyes. It was as though nothing had happened.
When I sat, he draped an arm around me and shifted closer, gentle lips brushing my bare shoulder. “Finally, I get you alone.”
I suppressed the delightful quiver his nearness provoked. His comment made me laugh out loud. “You’re here for therapy. This isn’t a date, Grayson.”“It could be. Too bad Kathy is a third wheel,” he scoffed with an objectionable turn of his upper lip.
Pulling back so I could see his face, I frowned. “I thought you liked her.”
With a resigned sigh, his gaze moved around the fastidiously tidy room. “She’s okay. Look at this place. She needs therapy.”
Flabbergasted, my elbow caught his rib in a playful rebuke. He coughed up a chuckle and grinned at me. I shook my head at his crusty humor.
His brows hiked in feigned innocence. “Just sayin’. Although, we can all use a little therapy.” He laced his fingers in mine.” I just like having you all to myself. No Others.”
“Others?” I asked, confused. “You mean other people?”
A knot formed between his brows. “Others.”
I knew Grayson liked his solitude. He really wasn’t a people-person, and would rather simply enjoy the company of his family. That was something he and Kathy had been working on, making him comfortable around others. He hadn’t left the house in months except for therapy.
“How was lunch with your mom and Anna?” he asked.
“Like tag team boxing.”
Full lips kicked up in a smirk. “Bet Anna came out swinging.”
“She actually came to my defense today.”
He stretched his long legs in front of him, crossed them at the ankles. “I’m not surprised. She’s someone who’d always have your back.”
I stared for a moment, shocked to hear him speak so favorably of my sister.
Sensing my hesitation, he frowned, “What?”
“I’m surprised—happily—to hear you say that. It’s just that you two are always going at it.”
He leaned his head back and laughed. I adored the rich velvety notes resonating from his chest. “That’s just how we are. She makes me laugh.”
Nodding, I agreed. “That she does, but sometimes her off-colored comments to you irk me.”
He fully faced me, head tilting, eyes with a look I couldn’t read. A thumb swept across my bottom lip and he smiled slowly.
“Alway coming to my defense. It’s my job to protect you, not the other way around.”
I kissed the thumb still devoted to my lips and looked into his eyes. “You do, Grayson. You protect my family, my life, my heart.”
He leaned back and pulled me close again but I couldn’t see his face. I thought of my sister again. “Feel free to tell Anna when she’s gone too far.”
His broad shoulders leveled before he shifted me closer. Looking thoughtful, he said, “She’s not malicious. And she spars with me the way she does with everyone else. It makes me feel… normal.”
His raw, honest confession lit a bulb somewhere inside me, and I wanted its glow to spill all around him, to illuminate this beautiful man so the world could see him as I did.
“Normal is overrated,” I whispered as my head found the ledge of his strong shoulder. I felt the earnest brush of his lips on my forehead.
And this one…
“I know how much family means to you, Gray.” Angie’s tone was almost wistful as she filled a cup with water and set it in front of me. She started unscrewing one of the pill bottles. Head down, her long dark hair fell like a lush curtain to conceal her face.
My fingers itched to reach out and touch it—touch her, but I held back. It was my nightly ritual to take my schizophrenia medications as we got ready for bed, but it had been a long time since Angie had needed to give them to me. Was she simply helping me prepare for bed while we talked, or was she checking the bottles, making sure I’d been compliant with taking my meds?
She held out a small, round, white pill, finally looking up. I could see sadness settling like dust in her eyes.
“I love you, Grayson. I’m sorry Dad is so difficult.” She held my gaze steadily as I took the pill, popped it into my mouth and swallowed it down with a sip of water.
“I love everything that makes you you.” Her voice cracked slightly, and I couldn’t help but touch her then. I glided my fingers up the smooth curve of her cheek to lose them in her hair.
“I’d hoped Dad would come around by now,” she continued. “You and I have been together for years. He’s just so stubborn and narrow-minded.”
I simply stared. I could think of other words to describe David, but wouldn’t share them with her. My stomach sank at the distress in her eyes.
“Angie, I—”
“Let me finish, Grayson.” She roughly twisted open another pill bottle. Her throat worked down a distasteful swallow. “I’ve asked you to try to work things out with him so many times—and I know you have—for me. But I won’t ask you to again. I should never ask you to tolerate such enmity from anyone. Not even my father.”
Her voice broke again, and my heart lunged into a somersault. A stubborn line pulled her lips and fire danced in her eyes.
“You are never to apologize for who you are. I want you to know he is no longer welcomed here.”I should’ve been relieved, overcome with joy, but instead, I felt Angie’s pain as if it were my own. She’d been forced to choose between a father she’d loved her whole life, and her husband.
F*cking, David!
Eenie meenie miney mo. Catch a piggy by his toe. Forever on a farm. Forever for her. Everything forever. Everything for her.
I definitely had to one click. I loved Grayson and wasn’t aware there was a second one coming out…so, I’m off to revisit this favorite character.
Oh wow I had no idea you already read #1. That’s awesome feedback, Lisa!! 😀
I just read the synopsis of GRAYSON on Amazon and I swear I’ve read it before. I remember reading a book just like it maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Very good book. He lived upstairs in a cluttered house etc. Going to have to read this one soon.