I BREATHE YOU Now Available!!!!
The Tease
When a tragic accident leaves Rhane Evans — lead vocalist for the rock band Fate’s Crazy — permanently unable to speak above a whisper and kills the love of her life, she moves across the state to pick up the pieces. Shattered, Rhane struggles to understand what happened the night of the accident, an accident everyone blames her for, even though she wasn’t driving the car.
Enter Ian Callahan. He’s the one person who may have a more tumultuous past than Rhane. Though they try hard to deny the sizzling attraction between them, it proves nearly impossible. When Ian’s troubled past threatens to tear them apart, they begin to believe happiness isn’t in their cards.
Because Fate’s Crazy that way…
5 Star Review
The girl who has everything going for her - sensational singing voice, member of an up-and-coming band that is already making waves; sexy, understanding boyfriend...life is good for Rhane. Until it’s not.
I started this book and could not put it down until I was finished...then I was really mad that I didn't have a Book 2 waiting in the wings. I loved that this was not the usual "girl with a broken past - boy will fix it with mind-blowing sex" story. Rhane had to fight through some deep-seeded issues, while dealing with some hidden demons, and a boat load of guilt. And I absolutely loved that she was the one that had to fix the problems in her own life.
Not that I don't think Ian was a major driving force (in more ways than one) in her road towards a potential recovery. But he had some issues of his own to take care of before he could deal with Rhane. Both characters brought past relationship drama to the mix. Again, in a shift from the norm, Rhane's issues with her previous love had more to do with her problems, and less to do with his. It was refreshing to stray away from the "horrible ex syndrome”!
I would love to see more of Ian's story (wink, wink). There is also the whole discussion on T, and his life...I really want him to find someone to love...and stop smoking.
Another great departure from the boilerplate love story, Lori L. Clark has put forth a must read that will have you begging more.
Sneak Peak!
Get an advanced look at the Prologue for Book 2 -
I Breathe You, Too
"Stop calling me that!" I yelled as my fists clenched by my side, ready to start swinging.
"Whadaya gonna do about it, Ian-peein'?" Sam Decker continued to taunt.
I swore the swimming pool water sizzled off my skin, I was so mad. My eyes darted around for my sister, Addy. Not so she could save me, but to keep her from butting her nose into my business. I wanted to knock Sam's teeth down his throat, braces and all. I stepped closer, getting right up in his face, while my ten-year-old brain scrambled for something real bad to call him that rhymed with "Sam." I thought I was pretty clever, when I shouted at him, "Shut up, Decker-Pecker!"
He looked at me through squinty eyes. "My daddy says your mama's a drunken whore," he spouted.
"You take that back!" I yelled as I dove for him. I shoved him hard against the chain link fence. He regained his footing and came barreling back at me, he swung and clipped my mouth. I pulled my lower lip between my teeth and swallowed the coppery taste of blood.
"Ian Raymond Callahan!" Addy screeched from the other side of the crowded pool.
"Ooh here comes your big sister to save you," Sam mocked in a sing-song voice.
He was right. Addy would be across the pool in about ten seconds, so I needed to hurry up, and connect my fist with Sam's ugly mug, otherwise, she'd break up our fight and make me look like an even bigger pussy than I already was. No boy wants his older sister butting in.
Don't ask me how I managed to do it, because I'm sure I closed my eyes. I reared back, and swung with all I had. Sort of like "poke and hope." My fist landed with a solid, direct thwack, against his freckle-covered nose. Blood started spurting instantly.
"You broke my nose!" he cried.
I didn't have but about two seconds to let the smug satisfaction wash over me, before the lifeguard blew his whistle and pointed at me. "Callahan! You're out of here!"
About that time, Addy's pincher-like claws gripped my scrawny shoulders, yanking me backwards. "You're bleeding all over the swimming trunks Grandma just bought you," she hissed.
Sullenly, I shrugged out of her grasp. "So what."
"Mama's gonna kick your butt, that's what's 'so what.'" She thrust her towel at me. "Here, stop that bleeding."
I grimaced when I touched the towel to my busted lip. "He started it." I protested. "He should have to leave, too."
"God, Ian," Addy sighed and put her hands on her boney hips. "The hottest day of the summer. Fourth of July weekend, and you have to go and get us kicked out of the pool."
Addy was two years older than me and she resented the fact that wherever she went, mama made her bring me along. She grumbled under her breathe while she shoved our things into the oversized beach bag she'd toted with us.
I stuffed my feet into my flip-flops and handed her the towel I'd been using to stop the bleeding. She glared at me and said, "Keep it now. It's ruined. Just like those." She pointed at the bright yellow trunks I wore, which were now covered with big splotches of dried blood.
I may not have felt bad for popping Sam in the nose, but I did feel pretty bad for ruining my new shorts. "I'm not sorry I punched him," I announced.
"Of course not," she mumbled. "Just like you're not sorry for making my life miserable."
That's Addy. Miss melodramatic herself. "Whatever," I said with a shrug.
She rolled her eyes and let out another exasperated sigh. "Well, Mama said not to come home until after three. It's only two, so I don't know what we're going to do for another hour," she huffed as she headed for the exit while tugging her t-shirt over her flaming red hair.
"If we walk slow, that'll kill some time," I offered.
"God, Ian," she growled. Addy said "God" a lot when she got mad at me. "It's a ten minute walk to the trailer court. And that's if we take our own sweet time."
I shrugged. "We can just sit under the shade tree in back until three," I reasoned.
She shook her head and began walking in the direction of our trailer in Fairfield Meadows, a few blocks over on the other side of town from the pool. I had to trot to keep up with her long-legged strides, until I got tired, and lagged behind.
When we got home, Addy tried the front door, but it was locked. Neither of us said anything, but we both knew Mama was home. I wanted to hold my hands over my ears to try and shut out the laughter and loud music coming from inside. Even at ten years old, I think I kind of knew Mama wasn't alone, and whatever she was doing probably had something to do with the things Sam had said about her earlier.
Addy and I knew we'd only get in trouble if we knocked on the door. So we sat next to each other on the metal front steps. Soon, the music grew silent and the laughter more raucous. "What time is it now?" I whispered.
"How should I know?" she said, clearly irritated.
I don't know how long we sat there, baking in the sweltering Missouri heat, before we saw Daddy's work truck creeping up the street. Addy and I exchanged a nervous glance. The truck coasted to a stop out front and we watched him get out. "What are you two doing out here? I thought your mama sent you to the pool?"
"Ian got into a fight with Sam Decker and we got kicked out," Addy blabbed.
"It must be a hundred degrees out here, why aren't you inside in the air conditioning?" he asked.
I picked up a stick and dug small ruts in the dirt while Addy fidgeted beside me. "The door's locked," she said softly.
Daddy's lips pulled tight, "You kids go on around back, wait under the tree until I say so, okay?"
We nodded and ran for the back yard.
What happened next caused my stomach to clench as tight as a fist. Daddy's shouts came first, and then Mama's screams. I heard the voice of a third person, male, but I don't know who it was. Seconds passed, then there were three loud pops, like firecrackers, only louder. Then there was nothing. Quiet. Eerily quiet. Except for Addy sobbing beside me.
She snatched my hand and ran, half-pulling, half-dragging me down the street behind her. "Let's go get Gram."
We ran all the way to our Grandma and Grandpa Callahan's house. By the time we got there, I had a stitch in my side, causing me to nearly double over from pain. I put my hands on my thighs and tried to catch my breath while Abby ran inside. Within a minute, Gram, Gramps, and Addy emerged from the small blue house.
"You kids wait inside," she ordered. "We'll be right back. I'm sure everything's going to be okay."
The dull, thick ache in my gut told me that was a lie. I knew they weren't going to be right back and I knew that nothing would ever be okay again. At least not with my mama and daddy.
Mrs. Sharp, from across the street, came over within an hour. Her lips smiled, but her eyes didn't. "Your Gram phoned and asked me to come over and fix you kids something to eat," she said.
I couldn't speak for my sister, but I most definitely was not hungry. I curled up on the sofa and mindlessly flipped through the channels on the TV. Addy stood staring out the front window. I don't think Mrs. Sharp meant for us to hear the one-sided phone conversation she was having in the kitchen.
"Raymond Callahan came home from work early and caught his wife with Anthony Decker," she said. After a brief pause and a few one line responses, she commenced to fill in the rest of the story. "I know. That boy wasn't but half her age. Ray shot 'em both point blank in the head. Right there in his own bed. Then he shot himself."
Addy began to wail, covering her ears, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
I tried to blink away the tears. Boys weren't supposed to cry.
Get to know Lori
AUTHOR BIO:
I read, I write, I run 1/2 marathons for fun.
Ten things about me:
1. I’m an only child.
2. I love dogs!
3. I was born in Iowa City, Iowa and lived in Iowa my whole life until January 2007.
4. I worked as a professional psychic reader for 2 years.
5. I’m a Pisces Sun, Leo Moon with Aquarius rising.
6. I’ve written 5 books and am in the process of brainstorming a 6th.
7. I don’t look or act my age!
8. I ran my first 1/2 marathon at age 50.
9. I love 80′s hair band music.
10. My day job is as a claims payment analyst for one of Fortune 500 Magazine’s “Top 100 places in America to work.”
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I Breathe You
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It's a delight to read a story with haunting agony that yearns for release with just the right blend of love, humor, and second chances. Park's release, Strangers, hits the notes in all the right places. A little bit of sorrow. A little bit of hope. And a lot of human connection to round out this contemporary story. Life will never be the same for Abby. After suffering heartbreak (and in her wedding dress!) she can't pick her self up to move on, until the day she meets the stranger. He's all that she's been looking for since that fateful day, but can she allow herself to finally have these new yet familiar feelings of love and bury the man her soul wanted to marry? Strangers is a beautiful tale about learning to love again, a journey of the heart bruised by agony and troubled by longing. It's a tearjerker, just so you know, but worth the moments you find yourself nudging Abby on and into the arms of a perfect stranger. 
