Read Courageous Love: A Christian Romance Novel (The Hawaii Love Series, #1) Online
Authors: Kelsey MacBride
Tags: #Christian, #Romance, #contemporary, #religious, #inspirational, #suspense, #women's
Courageous Love: A Christian Romance Novel (The Hawaii Love Series, #1)
Courageous Love
Hawaii Love Series: Book One
By
Kelsey MacBride
AVAILABLE TITLES BY KELSEY MACBRIDE
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Courageous Love is Book #1 of 2 Christian Romance books and offers a Preview of the first half of the Hawaii Love Story. It begins with the story of Michelle Clemens’ struggle to come to grips with the loss of a relationship, the discovery of an unplanned pregnancy, and her journey back to Hawaii to pay her last respects to her dying grandmother Lilo. This story highlights Michelle’s journey of courage as an unwed mother, her hopes, her struggles, and her achievements as she trusts God to help her grow.
*This is a Preview and not a stand-alone novel*
In this first book, Michelle Clemens’ life turns upside down when her longtime boyfriend Luke walks away from their relationship, leaving her to deal with an unexpected pregnancy. Afraid of what the future has in store for her, Michelle returns to her faith, trusting God to help her pick up the pieces of her shattered life. But when she thought life couldn’t get any worse, she discovers her precious grandmother Lilo in Hawaii is dying and only has weeks to live. Michelle rushes back home to Trinity Ranch, a cattle farm tucked in the beautiful valleys of Haleiwa, a small town on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The ranch has been in her family for decades ever since Queen Lili-uokalani, the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Islands granted it to her great-grandfather. Michelle is apprehensive about visiting her family, especially because of the estranged relationship with her father since she ran away with a boy eight years ago. During her journey home, she meets Daniel, a handsome man who touches her heart with his kindness and genuine concern for her wellbeing. But Michelle is forced to keep her love for him secret when she finds out that Daniel is engaged to be married.
Daniel is a stunt man working a shoot for an action movie in Hawaii. While on location away from his home town of Newport Beach, California, he struggles with his conscience trying to rationalize his engagement to Kimberly, the daughter of a wealthy family. He goes through the motion of planning the wedding with his fiancé, but his life is changed forever when he bumps into the beautiful Michelle at the Honolulu airport. A mix up with their airline tickets sends Daniel on a mission into the beautiful countryside of Haleiwa in search of Michelle. But instead of a quick trip to swap plane tickets, he becomes mesmerized with Michelle and the grace and beauty of Hawaiian life on Trinity ranch. Unable to resist, he accepts the Clemens’s hospitality to stay longer even though he knows Kimberly expects him back home soon. Will Daniel recognize the soul mate God has brought into his life or will he leave Hawaii and succumb to the worldly pressures of marrying into a wealthy family?
Inspiration Point Series
Glen Ellen Series
Bradley Sister Series
Choices of the Heart: Lauren’s story
Desires of the Heart: Megan’s story
Passions of the Heart: Tiffany’s story
Redemption of the Heart: Katie’s story
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Copyright © 2015 by Kelsey MacBride
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Jimmy Gibbs.
Book design by Kelsey MacBride
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Kelsey MacBride
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: July, 2015
New Prosperity Publishing, Inc.
ASIN-
“N
ot in a million years,” said the nearly bald man who held the key to Michelle Clemens financial future. “There’s no way I would ever allow my wife to force me to take that pill.” He gave her a hard look as he stabbed a thick finger at her.
Michelle took a hard swallow. She couldn’t understand why most of the male retail purchasing agents were so against the tiny pill. A pink pill that had the potential to drastically preserve the delicate bond of marriage and help a couple, especially the husband, be accountable to his spouse. It was the latest and greatest miracle drug from New Life Pharmaceuticals designed to extinguish a man’s lustful urges. A medication that was designed to help men stay faithful to their wives.
Michelle sucked in a breath and continued. “Mr. Holt, let me explain ...” She tried her best to sound professional. But the truth was, she was having a disappointing day with sales and had been fighting a nauseating feeling in her stomach all day. She had been rejected by two other retailers and knew she had to update her supervisor Stan with today’s numbers. If this last prospect fell through, her day would be a perfect trifecta of losses.
“There’s nothing to explain young lady,” Holt continued, eyes on his paperwork and not on Michelle.
Well, at least he called her young. That was a check in the win column for the day, she thought.
“Listen, I know what your company is trying to do. You want to market to women who are afraid their husband or boyfriends are cheating on them. Well, I’m not buying into that.” Holt looked up and gave her a hard stare.
Michelle recognized that look and knew there was nothing that could sway the man’s mind. Another wave of nausea swept over Michelle as she sat back, too tired to fight.
“Here’s what I think,” Holt went on as Michelle began to dream about the account she had just lost. She saw Shopper’s Depot, the store she was sitting in, carrying the magic pill. She saw the bright red packages lining the shelves of every store they had and watched as women filled their carts with the miracle drug, pushing and shoving to get their hands on the last bottle.
Holt went on, “It’s not about the urges, little lady. It’s about the marriage. Lust is a natural human emotion. And if a woman doesn’t want her man to lust after other ladies, then maybe she should up her game.” That caught Michelle’s attention. She snapped back to reality.
“If women took better care of their appearance and didn’t nag so much, maybe men wouldn’t have wandering eyes.” Michelle felt her jaw drop as the visions of eager customers and big commissions evaporated from her mind.
Holt noticed Michelle’s reaction. “Listen, I don’t want to have a women’s lib fight here.”
Was this guy serious?
Michelle was almost too stunned to speak. Almost.
“Mr. Holt, if you’d just allow me to ...” But he cut her off before she could recite her well-rehearsed script. The script she had blurted out dozens of times in the past weeks. The script that she detested and that made her skin crawl. Just the thought of cheating spouses made her sick. Maybe that was why she was nauseous, she considered.
“Listen, I’m sorry. I can see this means a lot to you,” Holt went on. “But I’m not interested. Now, I have a busy schedule, so if you don’t mind,” Holt flicked his eyes to the door behind Michelle, signaling her that the appointment was over.
Exhausted and too sick to even try, Michelle conceded and headed to the door. “And Miss Clemens,” Michelle spun around, hoping he had changed his mind. “Just because your guy cheated on you, doesn’t mean all men do.” And with that and a wink, Holt dismissed her.
The California sun had heated Michelle’s car to a scorching 120 degrees. Throwing her briefcase onto the back seat, she slipped out of her black stilettos and slid her feet into her comfy beach sandals for the long rush hour commute back to her apartment in Newport Beach. She loved the California life but hated the traffic, especially at rush hour. In the three years that she had been with New Life Pharmaceuticals, Michelle had seen her life turn around. After being plucked from obscurity as a coffee shop waitress by one of New Life’s recruiters, Michelle had taken on the role of sales rep with no experience at all. But she was a natural. She rose up quickly in the company, gaining territory after territory and winning nearly every award the large corporation offered. Her name, Michelle Clemens, was printed on several certificates that adorned her cubicle walls: fifteen leader of the month awards, half a dozen top achievers and one trophy that Michelle had received when she was inducted into the elite President’s Club.
Along with her financial success, Michelle had found the love of her life and was engaged to be married to Luke Young, a successful realtor. The two had met at a friend’s party two years before, and Michelle fell hard. His California good looks were only outdone by his charismatic personality. People were drawn to Luke. He had a killer smile, golden hair and bronze skin. And when he spoke, people listened. Not only was he funny, Luke was also well versed in the ways of the world. And although Michelle was hesitant to get involved with anyone after her break-up from Justin, she felt drawn to Luke. And the two had been together ever since.
As she sat in traffic, Michelle’s mind wandered back to her first real love, Justin. She remembered the first day they met in English class. They were both students at the University of Hawaii, and although she had been attending for a year, she had never seen him before. Justin and Michelle both swore it was love at first sight. They were both Hawaii natives, both loved literature, and both wanted to get off the island and flee to the mainland to experience what life was like in California. As their relationship deepened, so did Michelle’s desire to please him. As a lukewarm Christian, Michelle knew that they shouldn’t live in sin, but her heart and flesh overcame her Christian beliefs.
When Michelle’s father got wind of the relationship, he pressured her to break it off. Larry Clemens was a third generation cattle farmer. He had worked on Trinity Ranch, the Hawaiian farm his family owned his entire life. When he met Michelle’s mother Elizabeth, she joined him on the farm and there they raised Michelle and her younger brother and sister. Her parents were loving and always provided. But Michelle’s father was emotionally distant. He had always made clear his expectations for his children—that they would obey God as their Holy Father and him as their earthly father.
From the time Michelle was old enough to show interest in boys, Larry had begun his search for the perfect husband for his first born. Kana was the son of a prominent family that owned a very successful pineapple plantation on the Big Island. In high school, Larry merely hinted of the impending union. But when Michelle began college and became more independent of her parents, Larry became more insistent that Michelle and Kana wed.
To avoid the harsh criticism of her father and to satisfy their physical and emotional desires, Justin and Michelle ran off together in their second year of college and fled to Newport Beach, California. It was there, after the glow of new love wore off, that Michelle saw Justin for who he really was. His quiet, loving demeanor was replaced by a controlling, jealous and often violent one. Within three years, Michelle realized her mistake and fearing for her self-respect and safety, she chose to end the relationship and established her own life on the other side of the city.
At first, life was difficult. Estranged from her father and having very little contact with her mother or grandmother, Michelle was forced to make it on her own. Although she had some college under her belt, she didn’t have the degree she needed to secure a high paying job. But when the dust from the break-up settled, Michelle found herself alone in a small apartment on the north side of Newport Beach with no income. When she was with Justin, he had supported her in a very simple way. Michelle didn’t have to work, and instead dabbled in photography classes, yoga and even spent time volunteering at the local humane society. Her farm roots beckoned her to the wayward animals and Michelle felt an instant connection with them. For the first year after her break-up, Michelle focused on her passions instead of a career. Eventually, the money she had stashed away began to dwindle, and she realized she needed to bring in an income. Either that or call her father for help.