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Till Death Us Do Part
Cristina Slough
Published by: Limitless Publishing
Publication date: December 29th 2015
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense
Published by: Limitless Publishing
Publication date: December 29th 2015
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense
The fateful day Mimi Marcus has dreaded begins with a phone call…
The wife of a U.S. Marine, Mimi spent countless nights worried that her husband Joel would fall in the line of duty. He had fought valiantly and served his country with honor. That’s exactly what they tell her when they deliver the news—Joel was taken by the enemy in Afghanistan. Her husband is dead.
In desperate need of closure, Mimi travels to the one place Joel still has ties—The Marcus Ranch in Texas, inherited by his handsome younger brother Austin.
New beginnings are only an illusion…
The closer Mimi grows to the Marcus family, the more she considers it home. But when suspicions of Joel’s past surface, Austin refuses to disclose family secrets—even to his brother’s widow. It’s only by accident she uncovers evidence of Joel’s tainted past. Devastated by his lies and betrayal, she slowly opens up to Austin, and together they unfold layers of pain and grief.
Mimi is sure she’ll never love again, but is Austin the man to prove her wrong? Then the unthinkable happens…
Just as Mimi finds new hope in a future with Austin, Joel returns home from war. Enraged, traumatized, and teetering on the edge of insanity, Joel confesses to a history of deception, revealing yet another secret—this one too terrible to forgive.
In an awful twist of fate, Joel proves marriage vows are made to be honored.
No matter what.
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Mimi had been dreaming of a storm. Heavy rain, violent claps of thunder, and lightning flashing simultaneously.
She saw Joel, reaching out for her, his body bloody and wet. She awoke in the darkened room. It was 2:17 a.m.—the exact time she had woken up for three nights in a row. She slipped out of bed, her pyjama bottoms loose around her ever-shrinking waist. The air was freezing. She dashed across the room to wrap herself in the fleecy dressing gown her mother had just bought her for Christmas.
6:47 a.m. in Afghanistan.
Her stomach growled, begging for food. She couldn’t eat. She clicked onto her Twitter feed to check for more updates since the suicide bombing in Kabul, which had claimed at least six—two were American Marines.
Mimi had contacted the Embassy several times, but nobody could tell her anything. The pain of not knowing was taking away her ability to breathe normally. The silence was too loud. She had tried to remember their last conversation. Did she tell him that she loved him? Words so quick to fall off the tongue to end a phone call. Love you—bye. Often she had felt like she was holding a grenade—being the wife of a Marine, always waiting for a letter, hearing his voice, waiting for news that he was alive or dead.
#TeamJoel
or #TeamAustin
Brother
vs. Brother Face Off
Name: Joel Marcus
Age: 28
Occupation: U.S Marine
Physical Description: Dark, muscular, intense
Likes: The Corps, guns, and women
Dislikes: His brother
Relationship Status: Married (to Mimi)
Typical Friday Night: Beers with the boys
Drink of Choice: Beer
Favorite Food: Fried chicken
Favorite Song: Slash:
No more heroes
Choice of Transportation: Anything fast
Boxers or Briefs: Boxer-briefs. Boxers
Best Memory to Date: Marrying Mimi
Words to live by: Semper Fi
VS.
Name: Austin Marcus
Age: 27
Occupation: Owns a family ranch
Physical Description: Dirty blonde hair, moody cowboy, athletic
build.
Likes: His son Jake, horses, and wide open spaces
Dislikes: His brother, busy cities, giving-up
Relationship Status: Single (until Mimi came along!)
Typical Friday Night: At home with his son, Jake.
Drink of Choice: Whiskey and beer
Favorite Food: Rack of ribs
Favorite Song: Garth Brooks: Thunder Rolls
Choice of Transportation: His truck
Boxers or Briefs: Boxer-briefs. Boxers
Best Memory to Date: Hearing his son call him daddy
Words to live by: ‘There
was never a horse that couldn’t be rode;
never a cowboy who couldn’t be throwed’.
Cristina has always been a bookworm, rarely seen without a pen and paper in her hand, she loves delving into a literacy fictional world of her own.
At the age of 11, her junior school teacher told her mother that she would be wasting her life if she didn’t become an author. Throughout her teenage years and beyond, her parents spurred her on to keep writing. She later began a career in commercial real estate, working in London’s West End, a corporate bubble where she was unable to fuel her passion to write.
It was on her Californian honeymoon in 2012 that the bug to write was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. After visiting Yosemite National Park she was inspired by the natural beauty of the land that surrounded her. Holding a special place in her heart, Yosemite would later be written into her debut novel.
She finally gave up the ‘big smoke’ when her son, Lucas, was born in October 2013.
When Lucas was a newborn, Cristina was told to sleep when the baby sleeps. She never could. There was a calling inside her to write. After getting to grips with her new role as a mother, she began working a psychological thriller, but she couldn’t fully connect to the characters she created. She ditched the manuscript and started Till Death Us Do Part (Limitless Publishing, 2015).
Cristina is married to Adam, who runs a successful business; together they share their Bedfordshire home with their son, crazy white German Shepherd and three spoiled cats. They can be found trekking through woodlands, or around the many shops Cristina loves to explore. As a family, they love to travel frequently, the United States being a firm favorite.
That ending....Many Readers didn't see it
ending as it did. How much of that ending was you and how much was you
letting the characters take the wheel?
That ending was
all them. I didn’t even know what was going to happen until my fingers
typed the final words. Suddenly, my mind raced right back to the opening
chapter of the book where Mimi was dreaming about Joel; his body, bloody
and wet. All of the feelings and emotions I had throughout the story came
together in the final scene. The best way to describe it would be—putting
a needle and thread throughout the book and stitching it all together. Truly,
it felt like I was right there with them. The ending resulted in showing
readers what I saw…even I was shocked!
Favorite Scene of TILL DEATH US DO PART?
There were
quite a few scenes that I loved writing. If I had to make a firm choice
then it would have to be Chapter 30 titled: Joel. This is where my
emotional investment to the story hit its highest level. It is the moment
that my voice was no longer my own. It was all theirs.
Team Joel or Team Austin?
Ultimately, Team
Austin. But I loved writing about Joel, he was very complex, there was
far more about him than meets the eye.
Who is your celebrity dream cast for TILL
DEATH?
Scott Eastwood
would make the perfect Austin. I’d love to see Zac Efron play Joel,
although he would have to be more rough around the edges.
Looks wise, Shay
Mitchell would fit Mimi perfectly but I have no idea if she could pull off a
British accent!
I think that
Julianne Hough would also fit the physical profile of Meg, but again, she’d
have to be able to pull off being a Brit.
If you can pick one song that
encompasses the whole story, what would that song be?
I Won’t Give Up by
Jason Mraz. I wrote the end scene to this song. It could have been
from either Joel or Austin’s POV.
Do you have plans to write more with the
characters from TILL DEATH?
No. I truly
feel like my journey with the characters has ended. That being said, they
will forever be a part of me.
What is in the works now?
I am working on a
new standalone novel about a woman that fakes her own death to escape from her
abusive husband. Some of my research is being carried out by working with a
lady who has been a victim of domestic violence. She has offered to share
her experiences with me. It is not based on her life, however she is
helping me to understand what some women may be feeling that are or have been
in an abusive relationship. This one is going to be emotional for sure.
Love the excerpt.
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